Romney’s bold new strategy

Andy Borowitz reveals that in an effort to duplicate New Gingrich’s success in the primaries, Mitt Romney has decided to have an affair.

“Republican voters have sent the message that they want to vote for an adulterous scumbag and I have heard them loud and clear,” he said. “I promise that I will engage in a world-class extramarital affair that will make all of us proud again.”

According to one senior advisor, the Romney campaign was already holding focus groups and conducting special polling to determine the best person with whom Mr. Romney should conduct his extracurricular dalliance.

Will this new strategy reverse Romney’s fortunes? Stay tuned!

Stephen Colbert says that he is the true religious conservative

Stephen Colbert says that evangelical leaders who met recently to decide on one conservative candidate to endorse made a mistake in picking Rick Santorum as their standard bearer. They should have endorsed him instead because, among other things, he is much more homophobic than Santorum.

Still not coordinating!

I think that what Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart are doing is one of the most brilliant pieces of political satire, directly exposing the sham that is the current campaign financing restrictions and the highly porous wall between campaigns and Super PACs.

Here is the latest Colbert ad running in South Carolina.

The Republican debate crowds run amuck again

In an earlier post, I noted that in the first three of the interminable series of Republican debates, the main story was the response by the crowds, cheering wildly at the most extreme policies while booing anything that seemed tempered and reasonable and humane. One suspected that the crowds in subsequent debates were told to tone it down to prevent the impression being given that Republican voters were nuts.

But in Monday’s Republican debate, the crowds seem to have slipped their leash and were back in full baying frenzy. The Daily Show captured the moments.

Stephen Colbert asks people to vote for Herman Cain

Since the South Carolina primary ballot was locked some months ago, Stephen Colbert cannot get on it and Herman Cain can’t get off it, although the latter has dropped out of the race. So Colbert is urging everyone in the state to vote for Cain as a proxy to show their support for his own candidacy.

And here is the ad that is being run in South Carolina right now by the The Definitely Not Coordinating With Stephen Colbert Super PAC, also known as the America for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow Super PAC.

Cain has actually agreed to join Colbert for a rally on Friday in South Carolina.

Is this the future for American workers?

Jon Stewart of The Daily Show looks at the working conditions at Foxconn, the Chinese mega-factory which manufactures so many of the electronic products that we use. The working conditions are so appalling that the company has to take suicide-prevention measures, all so that we can save about 25% on the prices of these gadgets.

There is no doubt that the US oligarchy would love to see American workers in the same situation, as can be seen by their union-busting efforts. Some of us may ridicule Newt Gingrich’s suggestion that we should replace each union janitorial job with 30 child laborers, but bear in mind that this is how the oligarchy thinks, that their goal is to maximize profits and their ideal of ‘efficiency’ is to drive wages down as low as they can go.

Stephen Colbert, Citizen’s United, and Super PACs

Much has been written about what the US Supreme Court unleashed with its CITIZENS UNITED v. FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION ruling that allowed much more money to invade the electoral process in new ways. One of the obvious new features are the so-called Super PACs that are free to pour money into ads as long as they work independently of the candidates.

While many have noted that this leaves the door wide open for abuses, Stephen Colbert is the one who has best exposed this potential, by creating his own Super PAC. Last week’s segment beautifully described how the required separation between the candidate and the Super PAC can be easily made a sham.

Note that Colbert’s personal lawyer and advisor during all this is Trevor Potter, who served as a commissioner and chair of the Federal Election Commission during the George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations, that is supposed to monitor elections and that the election laws are followed. So you can be pretty sure that what Colbert is doing, as ridiculous as it looks, is likely legal.

Here is the ad that the Super PAC that Jon Stewart now runs is airing in South Carolina.

The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Colbert Super PAC Ad – Attack In B Minor For Strings
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog Video Archive

Colbert then went on ABC’s This Week to defend himself against charges that he is attacking Mitt Romney.