The Oscars ... "Perfectly awful!"

I have to say, I watched every moment of last nights Oscars, throughly enjoying myself, totally enthralled with the evenings' program.

On yeah, all of that, in the spirit of Leonard Pinth Garnel.

"Stunningly bad!", I could hear him dripping.

You would think, with 80 of these things under their belt, they would have the system down by the 81st.

But, noooooooooo ... 

They have to reinvent themselves - every year.

And not, necessarily, to the better.

"Gotta Dance!"

It worked for Gene Kelly, in "Singing in the Rain", but that was what, 57-years ago?

Hopefully, the "Exquisitely awful!", song-and-dance numbers last evening will, once-and-forever, end the torture of watching the industry make fools of themselves, year-after-year.

Robert Bianco, from USA TODAY, who, otherwise, liked the program, seems to agree;

Unfortunately, the improvements often seem to come more in spite of host Hugh Jackman than because of him. Jackman is an appealing performer, but despite his Broadway background, he is more an actor who can sing than an actual singer. That's a problem for a broadcast that twice stopped dead for the kind of production numbers that were corny when the June Taylor Dancers were doing them.

Memo to the Academy: You are the Academy of Motion Pictures - Show Clips!

If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium

Great, and heartwarming, considering the lack-of-stars, relatively low-budget, and whatever production hassles they had to endure, that Slumdog Millionaire cleaned up.

However, if I were the movies' caterer, I would be mighty pissed off, for it seems they were the only ones associated with the movie that were not present in the Kodak Theatre last evening.

And the nation's xenophobes must have been in gut-wrenching agongy watching the program, between the Austrialian host, Penelope Cruz, and the Slumdog parade to the winners circle.

I wonder how many shoes Lou Dobbs threw at this television screen ... He must have spent the better part of the night, to the chagrin of his family, berating the motion picture business, just marking off the time before it will all be part of "Communist China", or that they will have to subtitle the broadcast, in English.

Jerry Lewis

God Bless'em.

I thought they were going to have to lay down some dolly tracks in order to bring that segment to us.

Couldn't the producers given him a break, and conduct the honoring in the special booth section he was sitting, rather than have him careen around the stage, obviously the worse for whatever recent health issues that have befallen him. 

No doubt some in the audience might have had fear, the way he was swinging the Oscar around, a few times, like he was warming up for the hammer toss.

It's likely the Academy will get a nod for pulling the French out of their economic slump

Honoring Lewis will be setting off the employment of thousands, all working on new awards to give to their beloved cinematic hero.

The Wicker Man Effect

Who was the genius that came up with having the gaggle of past winners, come out, verbally describe the actors role, being sure to include some nod-and-a-wink "personal" touch?

It had the feel of "The Wicker Man", or "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", how they circled behind the winner, almost as if to pounce on them, tackle them, and begin devouring them like a pack of wolves.



Memo to the Academy: You are the Academy of Motion Pictures! ... 

It's a visual medium! ... If you were the Academy of Gabbing Heads, fine, but you're not, so show the fucking clips.

And when you do show the clips, you don't edit them with the entire history of motion picture film, a montage of your 81 years! ... The night is to celebrate, honor and award, a set number of people and pictures - from 2008 - and not to play "Where's Waldo" as to this years nominees ... 

Bring Out Your Dead

This is the standard, der rigeur segment of the show, the honor roll of those in the industry who have passed away.

And, it always plays out, that the more recent death, the younger the star (or the gigantically more famous) always get the big applause, as if the other dead were mere tag-alongs.

So, here was one of their heralded improvements - let's have a song sung during the Scroll of the Dead.

Well, for me, I started to cringe, and shout "No, No, you're not going to do that, are you?"

Seeing Queen Latifah come out, thinking how she can really belt it, my fear was - now think back to the above, of having the Gang of 5 talk about the nominees - that she was going to sing the names of the dead, to some snazzy, jazzy reworked rendition of, say, "La Mer", or "I've Got You Under My Skin".

They weren't that far off the mark, with "I'll Be Seeing You", which Wikipedia describes as;

The lyrics take a jaunty commonplace of casual farewell ..."

You don't, typically, associate "jaunty" and "casual" with death.

Maybe, that "the song became notably associated with Liberace, as the theme to his television show of the 1950s", it was another political statement to the Prop. 8 crowd.

Oh yeah, having the dead ping-ponging among multiple monitors was not a cool thing.




The Missed Kodak Moment

All kudos to Sean Pean, but the Academy voters missed the money shot, by not voting Mickey Rourke as the winner.

It doesn't come around too often, that story of a movie resembles, almost perfectly, the life of the lead actor, but they had that to consider, with Rourke's turn in 'The Wrestler'.

Yeah, but that does come every year, a "We Wuz Robbed" story.

Just like the "Unrelentingly bad!" song-and-dance numbers.

Which, undoubtedly, will be aplenty in the 82nd Oscar show.


Bonus Oscar Riffs

'Slumdog' wins big at Oscars ...Film takes eight trophies at Academy Awards

A ‘Slumdog’ Kind of Night at the Oscar Ceremony

Oscars backstage: Kate Winslet hugs, Sean Penn on Mickey Rourke, more!

Looking at Mickey Rourke and the Oscars

Joy in the Castro as Penn wins Oscar for 'Milk'

First Thing For Obama To Say At Tuesday's Debate ...

This is rather opportunistic.

If Leonard Pinth Garnell were around, he might describe it as "Bad Character Assassination Theatre"

Since the Rove Rats (and likely, the Turd Blossom himself) has pointed Mommy Moose, and the Dead Campaign Express, to throw mud on Barack Obama - over the William Ayers thing (Hey Guys, Hillary tried to work this and it didn't fly ), Obama might like to open Tuesday's debate along these lines

John ... Since your campaign has started another negative campaign against me, calling me unpatriotic, the old William Ayers story, which another major publication, the NYT, just did another story on it, citing my extremely limited connection to Mr. Ayers ...And since our debate this evening is to be about the economy of the country, why don't you spend a few minutes and tell our audience, many who are likely too young to remember it, refresh us all on the Keating Five scandal, and your role in it ...I think, especially with the troubles we have now, the audience here, and at home, would like to hear that ...

If McCain doesn't faint, or have a heart attack, it will likely cause Fly Boy to put together a Palinesque string of sentences, with reddening face and bulging neck veins, that will included a bevy of "My Friends", "Maverick", "Country First", and a POW-POW-POW story, or two.

And Garnell's assessment of the McCain-Palin Smear Job?

"Monumentally ill-advised!"


Bonus McCain Smear Job Links

Juliet Eilperin: Palin Turns to NYT, Citing Article on Ayers

A Tiny Revolution: Yes, How?

Katharine Mieszkowski: Quote of the day: Palin on Obama

Ben Smith: A shot across the bows

Steve Benen: YES, PALIN CAN GET WORSE...

Greg Sargent: Palin's Attack On Obama's Patriotism Legitimizes Questions About The Palins' Association With Group Founded By America-Hating Secessionist

Joe Sudbay: McCain wants to talk about candidate's "associations." Let's start with Charles Keating

Nate Silver: Why It (Probably) Won't Work

"I'll Try To Find You Some, and Bring'em To Ya ..."

OMG!

It is being openly speculated, that the reason Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain poured gasoline on his campaign today, and put a match to it, was Mommy Moose's interview with Katie Couric.

They needed to bury it.

If, by chance, you just got zapped onto earth, had a quick crash course on its' culture, and then viewed this interview, you might come way with thinking, that Katie was still in her NBC 'Today Show' mode, interviewing some turnip from the latest new reality show.

It's only a short snip, about 5-minutes, but it could .... Possibly ... It could leave Leonard Pinth Garnell speechless.

CBS Sarah Palin interview



Bonus Bombs Away Riffs

No More Mr. Nice Blog: IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW

Spencer Ackerman: I Saw My Head Laughing, Rolling On The Ground

Kyle E. Moore: What the McCain Campaign Really Didn’t Want You To See

Emptywheel: Did McCain Blow Off Letterman to Pre-Empt Sarah and Katie?

This Was Too Surreal ...

Ed. Note - Just popping in for a quick post, while it's hot (both literally, and figuratively; I may not get to posting to later tonight, due to both, things on the homefront, and the OPPRESSIVE HEAT AND HUMIDITY rolling in here today, and staying around another two days).

I had been sitting here, going through email, responding, etc, with the television on in the background (tuned, at the moment, to MSNBC).

Not really paying attention to what was on, I suddenly heard a voice railing against Barack Obama, that he's raise your taxes and if you want someone who will lower your taxes, then I am the candidate to vote for.

The voice sounded tinny, and false ... Feigning enthusiasm and, straining to create a pace and cadence ...

I thought, quickly, that MSNBC must have been showing a report on the comical and satirical YouTubes aimed at the campaign, as they do from time-to-time.

Well, when I swung around to see what was one, I almost fell out of my chair.

It was a live report, from Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain, speaking at an "Economic Town Hall", in Denver.

I believe he was unwrapping his grandiose Economic Plans, the one that promises to balance the budget by the end of his first term (if elected, of course) and, since he's including the money in the plans, victory in Iraq and Afghanistan.

(You can look at Josh Marshall's post to get a feel for how much this is already being derided; Think Progress's Wonk Room also has "McCain’s Victory Dividend" and Steve Benen offers "When a candidate unveils an economic plan — without any numbers", and, the plan is, reportedly, being rejected by his own economists)

It was nearly surreal, for to match the voice, Stumblin' Bumblin' John had a cheesy, shit-eating grin plastered on his face, obviously struggling with attempting to speak and smile at the same time.

I mean this was really, truly bad ... Really bad public speaking.

It was a man giving a speech, as if he was standing in front of his bedroom mirror, practicing giving the speech ...

Man ... Saturday Night Live has to bring back Dan Aykroyd this fall, to have him reprieve his Leonard Pinth Garnell character, run one each week until the election, perhaps changing the skit title from 'Bad Theatre" to 'Bad Campaign Speeches', and have him, ever so drolly, take Stumblin Bumblin' John apart.

As far as Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain and public speaking goes, if this were boxing, the ring doctor and referee would be calling the fight, seeing that he was being brutally beaten, and not letting him injury himself any further with continuing to go on.

And, almost as if on cue, this appeared yesterday;

McCain Battles a Nemesis, the Teleprompter

By his own admission, Mr. McCain is not a great orator. He is ill-suited to lecterns, which often dwarf his small stature, and he tends to sound as if he is reading his lines, not speaking them. His shortcomings have been accentuated in a two-man race, particularly because the other man — Senator Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee — can often dazzle on stage.

You don't need to compare him to Obama, to see how awful he is.

The McCain Campaign does seem to recognize this problem, and, in the classic American "Can-Do" spirit, they're spinning the ol' "making lemonade out of lemons" saw;

Indeed, Mr. McCain and his advisers seem to be trying to present him as a kind of anti-Obama whose weaknesses as a political performer underscore his accessibility to regular voters.

Yet, in the same article, a former aide has a different perspective;

Dan Schnur, Mr. McCain’s communications chief during his 2000 presidential campaign, said, “Besides his convention speech, the only time I would even put him behind a podium at all between now and the end of the campaign is when he’s announcing a policy position.”

This has the makings, of a good, old-fashioned screwball comedy, with a gaggle of people running around crazy, trying to keep Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain away from a microphone, and/or giving speeches.

Hmmm ... That would have to star William Bendix... He was a big lug-of-a-guy, always good playing someone that was clueless ...Not, necessarily, the brightest bulb in the patch ...

“Who Let The Dogs Out?” ... Mitt, Did You Check The Roof of The Car?

“Who Let The Dogs Out?”

God, it it moments like this, during campaigns, that really, despite whether you care for the candidate, or not, makes you feel embarrassed for them.

Time will tell if this was Willard M. Romney's "Dukakis-in-a-tank" moment, or John Kerry's windsurfing adventure (and, to keep it in this season, Mike Huckabee's "Elmer Fudd" hunting gear photo shoot)

But getting back to the man-for-all-positions (just not at the same time, or, necessarily, in order), we can stand down Leonard Pinth Garnell, regarding Make-Up Mitt's less-then-spirited foray into rap music today.

No doubt, Mr. Garnell would have had inveighed, with phrases such as "Astonishingly ill-chosen!", "Unrelentingly bad!" and, to wrap it up, "Really bit the big one!"

And, oh, the irony ...

Whatever possessed Make-Up Mitt to come up, in his MTV moment, with that song?

Oh all the songs ... Rap, Hip-Hop ... Show tunes ... Whatever, pick any genre ...

“Who Let The Dogs Out?”

From the man who strapped the family dog to the roof of the family car...

The incident: dog excrement found on the roof and windows of the Romney station wagon. How it got there: Romney strapped a dog carrier — with the family dog Seamus, an Irish Setter, in it — to the roof of the family station wagon for a twelve hour drive from Boston to Ontario, which the family apparently completed, despite Seamus's rather visceral protest.

Some days, this stuff just writes itself ...


Bonus Make-Up Mitt Woofs!

Watch the CBS News Video of Mitt and his Who Let The Dogs Out Moment

Who Let the Dogs out??- Baha men Original version

dday: Uptight White Guy Out Of His Element Alert

Breaking News! Romney On Debate Gaffe: "Meant To Say I Would Consult With My Sons"; Candidate Feverishly Works To Correct Impression; Campaign Said To Be Firing All Its' Lawyers

Is John Boehner Consulting The Romney Campaign, Giving Make-Up Mitt Crying Lessons?

Top Ten Cloves: Other People Mitt Romney Saw His Father With

















"I can sing "How Much Is That Doggie In The Window" instead, if you want ..."

Top Ten Cloves: Other People Mitt Romney Saw His Father With

News Item: Romney never saw father on King march; Defends figurative words; evidence contradicts story

10. The first Super Bowl... I still have the picture in my head, Dad standing there, arm-and-arm, with Max McGee

9. Margaret Mead... I was very young, and it was on a dig in some foreign country ... I can still see, both of them, in their dirty khakis

8. U Thant... I believe that I saw Dad be the first person to greet him at the United Nations

7. Charlton Heston... In the early 60's, I think it was on the set of "The Greatest Story Ever Told" that I saw them ... If Dad were still alive, I can see him, at the NRA convention - who has endorsed me, by the way - handing Mr. Heston the "cold dead hands" rifle

6. John Glenn... It's so crystal clear, that I could swear Dad was on the first orbit with him

5. Miles Davis... It was just before 'Bitches Brew' came out ... Not many people saw it, but Dad was an old hipster ...

4. Ian Smith, the Rhodesian Prime Minister... In fact, as I remember seeing, Dad had, kind of, a Mormon Prophecy, and told Smith that the country would, some day, have a name like "Zimbaby", or something like that ...

3. Hank Aaron ... Dad was there the big night, No. 715... Almost can see Dad himself, hitting that homerun

2. Abba Eban ... I can still see them, like they were standing here today ... Dad told Eban, he could wrap things in in five, or six-days

1. I can see it clearly... August 15, 1965 ... Shea Stadium... Dad up there with The Beatles ...


Bonus Make-Up (and Made-Up) Mitt Riffs

Steve Benen/Crooks and Liars: Romney’s tall tale about MLK

Josh Marshall: Saw in the Sense of Imagined

TBogg: Black History Month with Rahsaan Roland Romney

Andrew Sullivan: It Gets Better

Is John Boehner Consulting The Romney Campaign, Giving Make-Up Mitt Crying Lessons?

Romney Speech: Where's Leonard Pinth Garnell When You Really Need Him?


















Well ... Mitt would have seen his Dad there ... But, what the hey, he got the NRA endorsement, anyway ...

Is John Boehner Consulting The Romney Campaign, Giving Make-Up Mitt Crying Lessons?

Maybe there's a product endorsement deal from Kleenex?

Make-Up Mitt Romney has been bawling his eyes out lately. If it gets any worse, someone will remake the movie and title it "Play Romney For Me".

Joe Gandelman, over at The Moderate Voice offers a good post today - "Advice For Mitt Romney: Beware Of Too Much Crying";

"Romney first misted up when recalling how he felt when he heard his LDS Church admitted blacks to the priesthood in 1978. And, then, a day later, he misted up when he talked about how he felt in seeing a casket of a fallen soldier killed in Iraq and imagining it could have been one of his sons.

Fortunately for Romney, his two eye-mistings in two days happened when Jay Leno and David Lettermen were in re-runs due to the writers’ strike. And there is a larger political danger."

But Joe doesn't offer, perhaps, the only explanation - Is John Boehner now a consultant for the Romney campaign? Is he giving Make-Up Mitt crying lessons?

Boehner is the reigning champ of crying, flooding the House floor on numerous occasions this past year.

Must be a new, macho thing ... Something along the lines of "Real men eat quiche ... Real men cry ..."

I wonder if Make-Up Mitt cried, after discovering he left the family dog on the roof of the car, on a long road trip?

Romney seems to be taking on the persona of our Court Appointed President (h/t Barry Crimmins), pulling the "you can't criticize me" routine.

He cried and whined about people picking on him because he is a Mormon, so much to the point, that he just had to do something about it.

Building it up like he was going to lay it all on-the-line, sucking up comparisons to JFK, and his 1960 Catholic speech, Make-Up Mitt went out, stayed as far away from Mormonism as he could (only mentioning the word "Mormon" once), and delivered a clunker of a boiler-plate speech on faith.

While most of the MSM is treating Romney's fast food faith speech last week (see The Garlic's "Romney Speech: Where's Leonard Pinth Garnell When You Really Need Him?") like it was the "Song of Bernadette", both Lawrence O'Donnell (twice, having to fight back against an onslaught of double-barreled criticism) and Frank Rich saw through it.

So Make-Up Mitt has to up-the-ante (or, perhaps he forgot to cry during his speech), and get all misty with Little Timmy Russert, on 'Meet The Press', telling of the first time he cried, about learning his church was now - suddenly - accepting of blacks;

I was driving home from, I think, it was law school, but I was driving home, going through the Fresh Pond rotary in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I heard it on the radio, and I pulled over and, and literally wept...

Hmmm ... I was born-and-raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts ... I wonder if Make-Up Mitt pulled over at the IHOP (though, it could have still been a Howard Johnson's back then) or the liquor store, because those were the two most prominent establishments on either side of the rotary (and he didn't say he pulled into the Fresh Pond Mall, which would have been about 200-ft from the rotary) and in the direction he would have been heading, going home, up to Belmont.

We should mention that the Fresh Pond Rotary, with its' heavy, peak-time traffic, where one could wait double-digit minutes before someone will let you through, has been known to frustrate drivers, perhaps, to the point of tears.

But we digress.

We're not here to talk about urban planning and gridlock, but rather to point out the continued pandering of Make-Up Mitt.

If he thinks he can pass off policy and positions by sprinkling a few tears on them, think again.

But then again, we already rated Make-Up Mitt's chances of winning the presidency;

"Hey, we do have 2000 as precedent, and, anyway, you'll likely see Elvis, with monkeys flying out of his ass, before that happens."

And, as it has been said, over and over, "Elvis has left the building".

But don't tell Make-Up Mitt that ... He might start crying again.


Bonus Make-Up Mitt Riffs (with no tears)

Ryan J. Davis: Lawrence O'Donnell was Right About Mormonism

Michael Scherer: "A vote for Romney is a vote for Satan"; Some members of the GOP's largest voting bloc, like Florida preacher Bill Keller, think a Mormon in the White House would mean more souls going to hell.

Top Ten Cloves: Disappointing Things Left Out of Mitt Romney's Mormon Speech Yesterday

Breaking News! Romney On Debate Gaffe: "Meant To Say I Would Consult With My Sons"; Candidate Feverishly Works To Correct Impression; Campaign Said To Be Firing All Its' Lawyers

"You question me? ... My faith is out to here!"

Romney Speech: Where's Leonard Pinth Garnell When You Really Need Him?

Yeah, we hit this last Friday with a Top Ten Clove offering, but it just isn't sitting right.

Instead of laying it all out there about the Mormons, we got a dumpster-full of boiler-plate bullshit, the kind of campaign speech typically reserved for one of those Main Street, USA, 7AM Politics-and-Pancakes event.

If you listened to, primarily, the mainstream media punditry, and/or the Rightwing Freakshow, you may be lead to believe that Willard Mitt Romney, Republican panderer for President, gave a speech that ended war, famine, found a cure for cancer and otherwise, came off like an old Coca Cola commercial ("I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony ...").

Where was the droll Leonard Pinth Garnell when you really needed him, for this was, surely, an episode of "Bad Political Theatre" if there ever was one.

Pinth could have warned us, ever so slyly, indicating we were about to see a "a monumentally ill-advised, exquisitely awful, unrelentingly bad, pandering orgy of the highest order, drenched in self-importance, inflated with an astounding eye towards nothingness and dripping, so sweetly, with intolerance, it will make a bigots spine tingle ..."

Hosannas are being hoisted and the word "Presidential", and that "he looked Presidential", is being flung around like it was a Frisbee convention.

Listen to this dreck from 'The Boston Globe';

"Mitt Romney's highly anticipated religion speech yesterday was a political tour de force, rejecting the notion that he'd be bound as president by the leaders of his Mormon Church but also placing his faith among the many religions that constitute the "moral heritage" of the United States."

"Tour de Force? Moral Heritage?"

Peggy Noonan, that aging #1 Reagan Groupie, every so aching for a New Gipper, blew this wet kiss to Make-up Mitt;

"Mr. Romney gave the speech Thursday morning. How did he do?

Very, very well. He made himself some history. The words he said will likely have a real and positive impact on his fortunes. The speech's main and immediate achievement is that foes of his faith will now have to defend their thinking, in public. But what can they say to counter his high-minded arguments? "Mormons have cooties"?

It was a 40-minute-plus game of dodge ball, not even in the same ballpark of talking anything remotely close about Mormonism. No Joseph Smith banners on that stage. In fact, Make-Up Mitt only uttered the word "Mormon" once.

"Made himself some history?"

It was a Mad Lib, fill-in-the-blank stump speech, of the most generic terms, on Religion and Beliefs, not the bombshell, clear-the-decks, cover-your-childs' eyes, discourse on Mormonism.

He, and his campaign staff (the one's left not pretending to be a cop), knew that couldn't get the wall-to-wall, live, cable news coverage if Make-Up Mitt was going to prattle on about a cult (though, it could have been of interest to MSNBC, for the Doc-Bloc specials)

Lawrence O'Donnell, taking some heat for his comments yesterday on the McLaughlin Group was on-target with;

"This was the worst political speech of my lifetime. Because this man stood there and said to you "this is the faith of my fathers." And you, and none of these commentators who liked this speech realized that the faith of his fathers is a racist faith. As of 1978 it was an officially racist faith, and for political convenience in 1978 it switched. And it said "OK, black people can be in this church." He believes, if he believes the faith of his fathers, that black people are black because in heaven they turned away from God, in this demented, Scientology-like notion of what was going on in heaven before the creation of the earth."

Here's a few gems from Make-Up Mitt;

"Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom. Freedom opens the windows of the soul so that man can discover his most profound beliefs and commune with God. Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone.

"I believe that every faith I have encountered draws its adherents closer to God. And in every faith I have come to know, there are features I wish were in my own: I love the profound ceremony of the Catholic Mass, the approachability of God in the prayers of the Evangelicals, the tenderness of spirit among the Pentecostals, the confident independence of the Lutherans, the ancient traditions of the Jews, unchanged through the ages, and the commitment to frequent prayer of the Muslims. As I travel across the country and see our towns and cities, I am always moved by the many houses of worship with their steeples, all pointing to heaven, reminding us of the source of life's blessings.

WOW!

Move over, Elmer Gantry, there's a new healer in town!

And that is was calculated to "end the discussion", as to his Mormonism, is extremely lame, or, as Leonard Pinth Garnell might say, "Astonishingly ill-chosen!"

That he can get away with an extended photo-op and now he's untouchable?

If, and it's big, huge, monumental "if", Romney does get elected (Hey, we do have 2000 as precedent, and, anyway, you'll likely see Elvis, with monkeys flying out of his ass, before that happens), you better get your God on ... And it better be the "right" God, or your toast.

"We separate church and state affairs in this country, and for good reason. No religion should dictate to the state nor should the state interfere with the free practice of religion. But in recent years, the notion of the separation of church and state has been taken by some well beyond its original meaning. They seek to remove from the public domain any acknowledgment of God. Religion is seen as merely a private affair with no place in public life. It is as if they are intent on establishing a new religion in America – the religion of secularism. They are wrong.

More On Make-Up Mitt's Holier-Than-Thou Stump Speech

Pam's House Blend: Mitt's pious bullsh*t

The Carpetbagger Report: Did Romney’s speech work?

Lee Harris: How and Why Romney Bombed

Maureen Dowd: Mitt’s No J.F.K.

Matthew Yglesias: Romney's Terrible Speech