Pictured are Rep. Paul Ryan (left) and former intern Adam Savader (right).
Um, Republican family values?
Adam Savader, reportedly a former intern for Paul Ryan, was arrested and charged with Internet extortion and cyber stalking by the FBI on Tuesday. Savader apparently sent anonymous text messages to 15 women saying he had nude photographs and threatening to distribute them unless he was sent more photographs. If convicted, he faces a maximum of five years in prison.
A 21-year-old Great Neck, New York man was charged in a criminal complaint in the Eastern District of Michigan with Internet extortion and cyber stalking, announced United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade.
If you can stomach watching, big name Republicans like failed presidential contender Mitt Romney and Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) are some of the headliners of this year's 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference.
The gathering brings Republicans to National Harbor near Washington, D.C., to hear conservative "all-stars" ... *cough* like former Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) and Donald Trump speak. The 40th annual conference takes place March 14th to 16th.
@ singernews : "McConnell says Democratic candidates for 2016 look like "a re-run of the Golden Girls" (Hillary/Biden) #CPAC
@ USATMoore : Mitch McConnell: "Don’t tell me we’re the party of intolerance when ... some pac is sending out racist tweets about my wife." #cpac2013
@ howardfineman : #CPAC, begun decades ago as an earnest effort to mix ideas, policy and grassroots politics, is ending now not in Triumph but in Trump.
@ maggiepolitico : Dead silence for most of Trump's speech. Now getting some applause for Gingrich suggesting he pay for WH tours
Yes, FSM help us, the 2012 Presidential campaign has returned. Back from his “rollercoaster” election campaign, Mitt Romney has emerged from hiding to criticize President Obama’s handling of the sequester.
In his first public comments since Election Day, Romney slammed Obama for “berating Republicans” instead of leading the country, adding that the president’s habit of “blaming and pointing” has contributed to Congress’s inability to reach a deal. “That causes the Republicans to retrench and to put up a wall and to fight back,” he told Fox News’s Chris Wallace.
“It’s different. But it’s like, you know, riding on a roller coaster. We were on a roller coaster, exciting and thrilling, ups and downs. But the ride ends. And then you get off. And it’s not like, oh, can’t we be on a roller coaster the rest of our life? It’s like, no, the ride’s over,” Romney said, according to an excerpt provided by Fox News. This rather gives new meaning to that post-election trip to Disneyland.
Meanwhile, poor Not-A-First-Lady Ann Romney reflected on being a “nobody” in her post-election life.
“You know, it’s interesting; in our church, we’re used to serving and you know, you can be in a very high position, but you recognize you’re serving. And now all of a sudden, you’re released and you’re nobody,” she said. “And we’re used to that. It’s like we came and stepped forward to serve. And you know, the other part of it was an amazing thing, and it was really quite a lot of energy and a lot of passion and a lot of — a lot of people around us and all of a sudden, it was nothing.
"I'd say he is in a better place than she is," Wallace said, reflecting on the interview. "Not to say she’s bitter — and she enjoys her life. Look, they live on the beach, north of San Diego and a bunch of their grandkids are around. You know, they’ve got a pretty great life. But I think she feels the pain and the "what-ifs" and the hurt more than he does. And that comes through in the interview. There’s a lot of emotion that comes through in the interview, and she’s more open about it — the "what might have been."
The Fox News host said that Romney "Obviously thinks he made some mistakes," but is "very defensive and very supportive of his campaign." He also said Romney pointed to a liberal media bias and a "long and expensive" primary battle as factors in the loss, but described the former candidate as "at ease" and "serene about it."
The full interview airs on Fox News Sunday this weekend.
One of Mitt Romney's top campaign advisers wrote a letter to Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler, asking him to reconsider the Four-Pinnochio ruling that Romney's Jeep-to-China lie wasn't actually a lie. I don't know why the effort to clear one lie from a campaign built upon lies, but that's what Stuart Stevens has done:
Stevens said his note was prompted by Chrysler’s announcement that it would begin building Jeep models in China.
“I would hope that you would take another look at this and stress test it for accuracy away from the heat of a campaign,” Stevens wrote. “I've been doing campaigns and writing about campaigns for some time and I believe that the ad and Romney's statement were completely accurate, unusually so by any standards.”
"First of all, we should note that our critique of the ad covered more than the Jeep issue. We also faulted the ad for incorrectly citing a PolitiFact column to suggest all fact checkers were critical of Obama’s comments on the bailout. And we noted the Detroit News endorsement cited in the ad was highly critical of Romney’s position on the bailout — and lauded Obama for his “extraordinary” response to the auto industry crisis.
Just those facts alone are worthy of at least Two or Three Pinocchios. The Detroit News editorial, after all, actually backed up Obama’s criticism of Romney’s response to the auto industry crisis, thus undercutting a key message of the ad."
After being informed that Republican candidate Mitt Romney had lost the presidential election, billionaire Mr. Burns admitted it was time to explain the looming “fiscal cliff” to America.
“Think of the economy as car, and a rich man as the driver,” Mr. Burns explained. “If you don’t give the driver all the money, he’ll drive you over the cliff. It is just common sense.”
“Furthermore, rich people feel things more deeply than the common man,” he added, showing a clip of depressed and suicidal billionaires following Romney’s defeat.
Mr. Burns also announced his new “progressive” immigration plan, which consisted of allowing 200 Irishmen into the country each year and speaking in broken Spanish.
Well, at least he won something this year. GQ has named former presidential candidate Mitt Romney one of its least influential people. The list is “a collection of people so uninspiring that we should round them all up and stick them on an iceberg.”
The magazine explains that although Romney is listed as No. 1, the list is ranked in no particular order, “because all zeroes are created equal.” However, it did note that “voting for Mitt Romney is like hooking up with the last single person at the bar at 4 a.m.” Other noninfluential on the list included Amanda Bynes, Michelle Obama, Ryan Lochte, and Jerry Sandusky’s lawyer.
Chrysler Group LLC, the U.S. automaker majority owned by Fiat SpA, said on Thursday it will invest $238 million to boost engine and truck production in Michigan and add up to 1,250 jobs to meet new demand.
The company is spending $198 million to make its Pentastar V6 engine at the Mack I Engine Plant, which currently builds a larger engine for the Ram 1500 truck. Production will begin in early 2014 and Chrysler may add up to 250 jobs there, subject to market conditions.
The automaker is spending $40 million to install a flexible production line at its Trenton North plant, which can build both the V-6 engine and the Tigershark four-cylinder engine.
Romney's false claim that Chrysler was sending all new jobs to China is just one of many of his tall tales from the campaign trail. I doubt his billionaire donors will be pleased to see all of his campaign statements crumble, just like his second failed run for president.
"President Obama's victory over Mitt Romney in last Tuesday's presidential election was driven, in part, by the president's strength in urban areas, where robust support cushioned the incumbent against electoral deficits in rural America. But almost a week after the election, it is now becoming clear just how lopsided President Obama's victory was in some cities: in dozens of urban precincts, Mitt Romney earned literally zero votes."
Angry Republicans on Twitter with the hashtag #electionfraud and #voterfraud:
"There's demonstrable evidence of #VoterFraud and #ElectionFraud and nary a word. It's impossible Mitt Romney got NO votes in Philly district"
"There's something wrong, just wrong, about Romney not getting 1 single vote in several Ohio precincts. It's beyond the realm!"
"Im SURE that the Pres vote was stolen. As the truth comes out, it will awaken a sleeping giant. #ElectionFraud #WeThePeople"
"#VoterFraud...Soooo how many Repub polls had 100% votes only for Mitt..nothing to see here move along as Dems steal election .#VoterJustice"
"There should be a national outrage about how the Obama campaign hijacked this election."
"It is statistically impossible for Romney to not have received a single vote in 59 Philly voting divisions."
Do you think it will ever sink in that they lost the election to a black man? That their candidate was a lying flimflam man? Or, will they cry for the next four years?
Willard Mitt Romney may have been shell shocked when his second attempt to rule the empire failed, but he stayed true to himself right up until the very end.
"From the moment Mitt Romney stepped off stage Tuesday night, having just delivered a brief concession speech he wrote only that evening, the massive infrastructure surrounding his campaign quickly began to disassemble itself. Aides taking cabs home late that night got rude awakenings when they found the credit cards linked to the campaign no longer worked."
"Fiscally conservative," one Romney campaign staffer told NBC.
In case you are wondering, this did not have to happen. The Mitt Romney for President entity does not end with Romney’s Tuesday night loss. There are papers to be filed with various federal commissions and bills to be paid ….
The Mitt Romney for President financial entity survives for as long as two more years as these tasks are completed.
The staff would also still have to face the bitter billionaire donors.
On Wednesday, Romney had a post-defeat breakfast with some of his wealthiest and most loyal donors. At the private gathering, the donors allegedly unloaded on Romney staff for its failed "junior varsity operation."
At some point, early Wednesday morning, when Gov. Mitt Romney and family were tucked into bed, a quiet call went out on the radio channel used by his Secret Service agents: "Javelin, Jockey details, all posts, discontinue."
Of all the indignities involved in losing a presidential race, none is more stark than the sudden emptiness of your entourage. The Secret Service detail guarding Governor Romney since Feb 1. stood down quickly. He had ridden in a 15-car motorcade to the Intercontinental Hotel in Boston for his concession speech. He rode in a single-car motorcade back across the Charles River to Belmont. His son, Tagg, did the driving.
For over fifty years, the tiny New Hampshire village of Dixville Notch has been the source of Election Day's first official result, and this year was no different.
For the first time in Dixville Notch history, all 10 of the township's registered voters, were split down the middle in their choice for America's next president.
"It's a little exiliharating, a little intimidating. It's actually the second time I have had the honour of being the first of the nation. I love the Dixville Notch tradition, I think it's a microcosm... I really hope it's an inspiration for people to see the small town voting process. I hope it shows people the importance of getting out there and making your say heard," said Tillotson.
The tradition of being the first town to vote was given to Hart's Location in 1948 so that railway workers could participate in the polls without taking leave. Dixville Notch started midnight voting 15 years later.
It should be noted that when Dixville Notch picked Obama to win the 2008 election, it was the first time in 40 years the right-leaning village went for a Democrat.
Also, a short hop south of Dixville, in Hart's Location, where the second "first-in-the-nation" ballot casting was being conducted, the results were far more favorable for the incumbent.
There, Obama received 23 votes to Mitt Romney's 9.
