Tag: Republicans

Marco Rubio Says He Used to be a Mormon

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Florida SenateNot since Justin Bieber’s biopic, “Never Say Never” has an autobiography been so premature. But first-term Sen. Marco Rubio isn’t letting lack of material keep him from writing a full-length, in-depth look back at his life: all 41 short years of it.

Rubio’s main accomplishment so far has been being born at the right time with genes for attractiveness steeped in his parents’ ideology as Cuban emigrant, right-wing anti-Communists.

The book, reportedly titled, “An American Son,” will acknowledge Rubio’s personal story line deficit of triumph over adversity by drawing heavily on his parents’ lives. That includes their decision to leave Cuba after the Vegas-style excesses of the Batista regime began to fade, and before Castro came to power.

Rubio spokesperson: ‘His faith journey was part of the pitch to the publishers’

It also reveals his father’s role in a plot to overthrow the Dominican Republic’s dictator, Rafael Trujillo, when the elder Rubio was 18.

But perhaps one of the most interesting tidbits to surface will be Rubio’s admission that when he was 8-years-old, his parents began practicing Mormonism.

[…]

‘Signs’ of Trouble? Newt’s Campaign Refuses to Pay for Yard Signs

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YardSignNot only is Newt Gingrich’s campaign failing to win continued support among deep pocket Republicans, it looks like it’s trying to save money the old fashioned way: by not paying bills.

To be fair, the campaign says it never authorized St. Augustine, Florida screen printer Rob DePiazza to make yard signs and bumper stickers ahead of the Florida primary.

DePiazza does not dispute that, but says he was commissioned by a local political operative for whom he has worked in the past without issues. Now DePiazza is caught in the middle, and out $3,200.

The closer it got to the vote, he said, the slimmer Newt’s chances looked.

“I started worrying, because the need for the signs was diminishing rapidly,” said DePiazza.

DePiazza says he was contacted by Robert Smith, a St. Augustine resident who had put him in touch with campaigns in the past.

“We had to reproduce the official artwork, and the artwork has the disclaimer on it. Newt.Org, Paid For By Newt 2012,” he said.

But when it came time for payment, DePiazza says he got a check from Smith, not the Gingrich campaign.

That check bounced, and Gingrich lost Florida badly.

The small businessman was left with more than a rubber check. He also had a bad taste in his mouth from the Gingrich folks.

“All they care about is money and if people get hurt along the way, they really don’t care,” he said.

Santorum’s Charitable Record a ‘Glaring Inconsistency’

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He apparently believes in church doctrine about contraception but not about tithing.

— Jennifer Rubin, a conservative blogger at the Washington Post, commenting on the shameful fact that the murine Rick Santorum gives less than 2% of his income to charity. Rubin called Santorum’s record a “glaring inconsistency, and added, “I focus on the charitable giving because so much of Santorum’s career and a good deal of his writing focus on faith-based charities. So why did he personally give so little to the groups he lauds?” [emphasis is Rubin’s]

Florida Republican Legislators Give Themselves “Absolute Shield”

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sealed-lips

If you noticed an avalanche of lawsuits over your decisions, would you:

a) Take a moment to consider objectively what you’ve been doing and adjust your actions going forward, or

b) Pass legislation that says you can no longer be sued.

If you’re a Florida lawmaker, you will pick option B in a heartbeat. And so, Florida’s super-majority Republican legislature, facing court challenges to ALEC-written laws, is now shielding its members from giving testimony or depositions explaining their intentions.

Republicans on the panel [committee] said the move was necessary because more and more groups – teachers, unions, and others – are filing lawsuits against the Legislature and attempting to compel lawmakers and their staff to testify about the “legislative intent” behind what they’ve passed…

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Romney Should Be Concerned About the Very Poor

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If Romney truly wants to be president, he sure as heck should not be dismissive of the nation’s poor. In fact, he should be willing to listen to them, understand how hard many of them work and determine what policies he can advance that will help them graduate from poverty to the next level.

— CNN’s Roland Martin, reflecting on Mitt Romney’s statement that, “I’m not concerned about the very poor. There’s a safety net there, and if it needs repair I’ll fix it.”

Ties Between Ron Paul and White Supremacists Exposed

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PaulWhiteSupremacists
From left, Paul at the 2007 Values Voters debate with Don Black, of the neo-Nazi web site Stormfront, and his son, Derek Black

We’ve all wondered about the zealotry of Ron Paul followers and dismissed it as the idealistic naivete of his frequently young apostles. They call into radio shows and protest that their man isn’t being respected. They wave signs from freeway overpasses. They post on Facebook that, despite all evidence to the contrary, Paul still has a path to the White House. And they whisper to each other about a third party run.

But what if there is more to this devotion? What if, like the racist statements in Paul’s newsletters that appeared regularly and for years, it is exactly what it looks like?

Anonymous, the internet hacking group, is exposing close ties between Ron Paul’s campaign and neo-Nazis and white supremacists.

Members of the nationalist American Third Position Party (A3P), whose website was defaced by Anonymous, organised Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul’s meetings and campaigns, according emails hacked by the collective…

“According to these messages, Ron Paul has regularly met with many A3P members, even engaging in conference calls with their board of directors,” read a statement from Anonymous.

Paul is apparently unconcerned about these supporters’ views.

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Toward Understanding Callista

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O.K., we’ve all seen this one on Facebook, although I think it does a disservice to Dwight:

NewtDwight

But what can we discover about Callista Gingrich from this?

callistacat

Here’s my theory. Remember when Newt told Mrs. Gingrich II that Callista didn’t care who he sleeps with? I think if Mrs. G III were to loosen up that helmet and let some oxygen get to her head, she might encourage Newt to satisfy his lusty urges with other women even more emphatically.