Justin's Political Corner
Top Mitt Romney surrogate Rudy Giuliani admitted that the GOP is accusing President Obama of covering up the violence that led to the death of an American ambassador in Libya for political gain.
During an appearance on CNN’s Starting Point on Monday, the former New York City mayor argued that the administration is purposely delaying investigations into the incident until after the election to “cover up” its own failures. But asked to substantiate the claim, Giuliani became agitated. He announced that he did not have to give Obama the benefit of the doubt or withhold judgment about the incident until a full investigation is complete because the president is a Democrat:
SOLEDAD O’BRIEN (HOST): The one thing I’m debating with you is just specifics. When you quote someone or you paraphrase them the only thing I ask is that you get that accurate. That’s all I ask.
GIULIANI: We’re also entitled to interpret what the president is saying without this, like, massive defense of everything he says.
Q: Do you think, foreign policy, including Benghazi is going to play a significant role in the election? Because my bias would be to think — it’s really interesting for us to talk about – but I think people are essentially going to vote on the economy.
GIULIANI: I think if, in fact, this becomes a question of the president’s lack of leadership, then it cuts into the economy as well. It’s beginning to become like that. The White house — the White House has been remarkably — The White House has fumbled this — whether it’s a deliberate cover-up or they’re making it look like a cover-up they have fumbled the ball four or five times here. Several contradictions. Excuse me if being the fact that I’m a Republican, I don’t give them as you do, all the benefit of the doubt.
Republicans have a long history of politicizing acts of terrorism for political advantage: from using the 9/11 terrorist attacks to push the country into a war in Iraq, to portraying Democrats as terrorist sympathizers to score political victories in 2002 and 2004.
The Raw Story: Pawlenty suggests that Soledad O’Brien doesn’t understand English
Romney surrogates going up against CNN host Soledad O’Brien clearly haven’t learned their lesson.
A day after former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu angrily told O’Brien to “put an Obama bumper sticker on your forehead,” former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney’s national campaign co-chair, suggested that the CNN host didn’t understand English.
During an interview on Wednesday, O’Brien told Pawlenty that one of the presumptive Republican presidential candidate’s ads falsely claimed that President Barack Obama had cut $716 billion from Medicare — but the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) had determined that it was actually reduction in spending, not benefits.
Although O’Brien is of Latino (and Irish and African American) descent, she actually only speaks English fluently.
On Monday, Sununu, who serves as the chairman of Romney’s national steering committee, hadlashed out at O’Brien after she tried to fact check his claims about vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan’s plan to cut Medicare.
“Soledad, stop this!” Sununu shouted. “All you’re doing is mimicking the stuff that comes out of the White House and gets repeated on the Democratic blog boards out there.”
“I’m telling you what Factcheck.com tells you, I’m telling you what the CBO tells you, I’m telling you what CNN’s independent analysis says,” the CNN host explained.
“Put an Obama bumper sticker on your forehead when you do this!” the frustrated surrogate shot back.
“You know, let me tell you something,” O’Brien said. “There is independent analysis that details what this is about. … And name calling to me and somehow by you repeating a number of $716 billion, that you can make that stick when [you say] that figure is being ‘stolen’ from Medicare, that’s not true. You can’t just repeat it and make it true, sir.”
CNN’s O’Brien Corrects Right-Wing Media Medicare Falsehood
CNN anchor Soledad O’Brien debunked the pervasive right-wing media falsehood that President Obama “stole $700 billion” from Medicare.
Right-wing media have repeatedly claimed that the Medicare savings included in Obama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA) “gutted” the Medicare program. However, on CNN’s Starting Point, when Romney senior adviser John Sununu claimed that Obama “gutted Medicare by taking $717 billion out of it,” O’Brien was quick to correct him.
O’Brien pointed out that Sununu’s talking point has been debunked by the Congressional Budget Office, which found that the Medicare savings in the ACA are not cuts, but rather a reduction in the expected rate of growth of the program.
O’Brien also noted that independent fact-checkers have found that the Affordable Care Act does not cut Medicare benefits. These fact-checkers also determined that the claim that hundreds of billions of dollars have been cut from Medicare is outright false.
Amanda Peterson Beadle at Think Progress: GOP Congresswoman Blackburn Wants To Repeal Obamacare Every Day: “We’d Do It ‘Again And Again And Again’”
On Wednesday, the House will vote for the 31st time to repeal President Obama’s health care reform law. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) defended the repeal vote on CNN’sStarting Point, arguing that it is more than “political theater,” and that she wishes they could vote to get rid of Obamacare every day:
RICHARD SOCARIDES (CO-PANELIST): You’ve voted [to repeal] 30 times already this year!
BLACKBURN: And we’re going to do it again. We’re going to do it again. We’re going to do it again.
SOCARIDES: How many times?
BLACKBURN: I wish we’d go do it every single day. It is a terrible piece of legislation.
Openly-gay former football player Wade Davis told CNN Wednesday morning that he should have come out as gay while playing professionally in the NFL, saying, “If I could do it all over again, I would come out while I was playing. I now understand the impact that would have had.”
From the 06.06.2012 edition of CNN’s Starting Point:
H/T: Think Progress LGBT
