OBAMA/ROMNEY DEBATE #1 - PRESIDENT OBAMA WINS - SCORE Obama 100% Romney 0%

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By Gloria Dulan-Wilson

Just finished watching the Obama/Romney Debate Numero Uno:  Let me just say for the record that while Romney panned his grin for the audience, and showed that he had done a great job of rehearsing how to be engaging,  tn the realm of the Mitt-twit's dog and pony show, that dog won't hunt.

There was a play entitled “The Great White Hope” about the legendary boxer, Jack Johnson, where the fight promoters sought feverishly for a white opponent to defeat the legendary boxer. They were willing to stoop to any level, pay any price for someone who could demoralize Johnson, regardless of how much they had to lie, cheat, fudge the rules, or distort the opponent's image to make him seem stronger than the veteran pugilist.

Much the same thing happened last night at debate number 1 between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. Needless to say Romney's repeated rehearsals worked very well in making him look as though he might just know something. He actually appeared to be human for the first time in his life; and with enough rehearsal, he might just be able to carry the persona forward. 

He even admitted to having actually deigned to speak to a supporter who was having hard times (a departure for all his Koch, Bain, Rove, uber rich supporters)!!! Wow! Even remembered her name (though I'm still waiting for the fact checkers to let us know if this was a real person, or someone who's bank account is down to a mere $10 million dollars, and it's a struggle for them at this level - you know, one man's roe is another man's caviar - {by the way, I do love caviar - don't get it twisted :}).

President Obama's “low key” “rope-a-dope” stance as characterized by the mean stream press, made it look as though Mitt-twit's "energy" had actually won him the debate. But, not so fast – that dog in the dog and pony show just won't hunt.

People seem to forget that President Obama is also running a country while running for re-election. Romney is just running. Period.

While our President is keeping America safe, keeping us out of new internecine wars, bringing our troops home, balancing the budget, putting together criteria for quality education, and making it possible for our youth to have access to educational and vocational opportunities; keeping China from making inroads into America's private property and fielding inferior Chinese products from flooding our markets; and – whew!! – at the same time bringing back manufacturing and jobs back to America from overseas – all Romney has to do is compile lies and try to make it look as if he's sincere.

Those of you who turned the TV off immediately after the debate should be ashamed of yourselves. Had you waited for the fact checkers (you know, those pesky little people Romney and his Mitt-twits hate so much) who were busy debunking Romney's statements, you might have learned something. 

You might have learned that the sum total of the entire debate is that ROMNEY LIED big time!!! And, though we would have loved it if the President had thrown that "47% statement" in his face, or if he had bragged on the more than over 500 different accomplishments (and counting) that he can already point to with pride over his first 4 years – what the President really did is set up in a very calm, intelligent, confident manner, the unvarnished truth in contrast to the mountain of lies that continuously spewed out of Romney's faked smiling mouth.

Given the fact that we have witnessed the “great white hope syndrome” before, in other circumstances, coupled with the fact that some Americans really are gullible, I think it's time to remind the President of the edict from WEB duBois, that we always have to be ten times smarter,  ten times more intelligent, ten times more animated, etc. etc. etc. than our white counterparts to get half the respect we deserve. And when it comes to some of our own African American brothers and sisters, you may have to up that by a factor of 20%; since we seem to judge each other even more harshly than those of other ethnicities.   And while I applaud the fact that you held your own, just remember the rule of the “Talented Tenth.”  

However, just so you'll know, President Obama, you did a fantastic job - my kudos to you.

However, for those of you who may have found the intellectual, Presidential persona a little beyond your ken, I'm going to share with you info the FACT CHECKERS so adroitly pointed out immediately after the debate, which you would have heard had you not flipped the channel so quickly (with a few asides from yours truly, of course);

AND BY THE WAY, JUST TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT, ONE MORE TIME: PRESIDENT BARACK  OBAMA WON THE DEBATE (I thought it bore repeating so you could go through the facts with a clear mind):

ROMNEY LIE #1: ROMNEY SAYS HIS FIVE POINT PLAN WILL LEAD US TO PROSPERITY, BUT INDEPENDENT ANALYSTS SAY IT WOULD ACTUALLY HURT THE ECONOMY: According to Senior Adviser At Moody’s Analytics Mark Hopkins,  "If We Implemented All Of His Policies, It Would Push Us Deeper Into Recession And Make The Recovery Slower.”

ROMNEY LIE #2: “I Will Not, Under Any Circumstances, Raise Taxes On Middle-Income Families.” 

ROMNEY CLAIMS HIS TAX PLAN WOULDN’T HURT THE MIDDLE CLASS, BUT IT WILL RAISE TAXES ON THE MIDDLE CLASS WHILE CUTTING THEM FOR MULTIMILLIONAIRES AND BILLIONAIRES: According to the Tax Policy Center, on the distributional effects of base-broadening income tax reform, if Romney’s tax plan was paid for, families with kids who make less than $200,000 would see an average tax increase of $2,041.

ROMNEY LIE #3: ROMNEY WOULDN’T REDUCE TAX CUTS FOR THE WEALTHY – BUT IN FACT, THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT HIS PLAN DOES: Per Romney: “First of all, I don’t have a $5 trillion tax cut. My view is that we ought to provide tax relief to people in the middle class. But I’m not going to reduce the share of taxes paid by high-income people. High-income people are doing just fine in this economy. They’ll do fine whether you’re president or I am.”   But, according to the Tax Policy Center, on the distributional effects of base-broadening income tax reform, if Romney’s tax plan was paid For, The Top One Percent (of the wealthiest in the nation – which by the way does not include any of you reading this blog) would see an average tax cut of $246,652; while the rest of us, including the 47% of those Romney does not even consider, would likely see an increase of $2500 in taxes. 

ROMNEY LIE #4: ROMNEY CLAIMS HIS TAX PLAN ISN’T LIKE ANYTHING WE’VE TRIED BEFORE – BUT IT’S THE SAME TRICKLE-DOWN SCHEME WE’VE SEEN BEFORE:  (shades of Nixon-Reagan-Bush!!!)  He will make the Bush tax cuts for the rich permanent; in fact Romney can't show or explain how what he will do will be any different from what Bush did – scary isn't it?  Now, do you remember, was that trickle down, or trickle on?  Hard to tell the difference.

ROMNEY LIE #5: ROMNEY’S PLAN WOULDN’T AFFECT CURRENT SENIORS’ SOCIAL SECURITY, BUT HIS TAX PLAN WOULD TAX SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS:  All I have to say to Seniors: be afraid, be very afraid. 

ROMNEY LIE #6: ROMNEY SAID HIS TAX PLAN WON’T COST $5 TRILLION, BUT HIS PLAN HAS BEEN SCORED AT $5 TRILLION – IN ADDITION TO THE COST OF EXTENDING THE BUSH TAX CUTS: Per Romney,“I think first of all, let me — let me repeat what I said: I’m not in favor of a $5 trillion tax cut. That’s not my plan. My plan is not to put in place any tax cut that will add to the deficit. That’s point one. So you may keep referring to it as a $5 trillion tax cut, but that’s not my plan.” However, according to the Center On Budget And Policy Priorities, Romney’s New Tax Cuts Would Cost $4.9 Trillion Over A Decade, in addition to the costs of extending the Bush Tax Cuts. You do the math – it looks like $5+ trillion to me!!

ROMNEY LIE #7: HE CLAIMED HIS PLAN WOULDN’T ADD TO THE DEFICIT: Per the Mitt-twit “my number one principle is there’ll be no tax cut that adds to the deficit. I want to underline that — no tax cut that adds to the deficit.” However, according to the Tax Policy Center: Romney’s Tax Plan Would Drive Up The Deficit By $480 Billion In 2015 Alone. 

Hey! Were any of you around during the bad old days of Watergate? Do you remember when Richard Millhouse Nixon, when he looked into the camera in Television Land and said in all sincerity “I am not a crook”? I watched Romney and got a deja vu. Chilling to say the least.

ROMNEY LIE #8: ROMNEY CLAIMED THERE ARE SIX STUDIES THAT CALLED HIS PLAN REVENUE NEUTRAL, BUT FACT CHECKERS SAY HE’S WRONG: The Washington Post's Columnist, Glenn Kessler states, ”Those studies actually do not provide much evidence that Romney’s proposal would be revenue neutral without making unrealistic assumptions.”

ROMNEY LIE #9: ROMNEY ARGUED THAT HIS PLAN WOULDN’T CUT EDUCATION, BUT IT COULD MEAN A CUT OF MORE THAN $115 BILLION OVER THE NEXT DECADE: He stated, “All Right, I’m not going to cut education funding...and grants that go to people going to college.” However, if his running mate Ryan's budget is implemented, it would cut the Department of Education by more that $115 Billion over the next decade, per Jeff Zients, acting director of the OMB (Office of Management and Budget).

By the way, did you hear his threaten to cut the budget for Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), including Sesame Street; and state to Jim McLehrer that though he liked him, he was going to cut him too?  That's educational Television, without which so many of our children would be at the mercy of some pretty low performing schools (schools which President Obama, in his "Race to the Top" is now trying to bring into the 21st century).  Wow - that's like having a mafia hit man give you the kiss of death, while proclaiming to love you.  I wonder if that was why Jim Lehrer was so nervous in trying to moderate the debate? 

ROMNEY LIE #10: HIS ENERGY PLAN WILL MAKE NORTH AMERICA ENERGY INDEPENDENT, BUT IT’S TOO DEPENDENT ON OIL AND DRILLING: He smugly and glibly stated: “I want to get America and North America energy-independent so we can create those jobs.” “and, by the way, I like coal (huh - really???). I’m going to make sure we can continue to burn clean coal. People in the coal industry feel like it’s getting crushed by your [President Obama's] policies. I want to get America and North America energy independent so we can create those jobs.” (Oh well back to blackened walls and lungs from inhaling the blow-by of coal fired heating systems). According to other news sources, Romney has failed to spell out those deficit cuts; unlike President Obama, Romney does not support curbs on demand. In fact, he proposes boosting supplies, with freer access to development of oil, gas, coal and more ( no doubt so his cronies can continue to collect high rates of return on investing in these products, as opposed to the development of alternatives that make it possible for Americans to have safer, cleaner, more reliable, more sustainable (and greener) forms of energy. 

Remember the off-shore oil leak of 2009, when a 5,000 mile deep pipeline broke because the Bush Administration had failed to inspect the drillers?  Do we want more of that and the polluted waters and beaches it brought?

ROMNEY LIE #11: ROMNEY’S “HEALTH” PLAN WILL “DEAL” WITH PEOPLE WITH PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS, EVEN THOUGH HE PLANS TO REPEAL OBAMACARE AND IT’S PROTECTIONS FOR PEOPLE WITH PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS, LETTING INSURANCE COMPANIES DISCRIMINATE ON WHO GETS WHAT. It's been well documented that Romney plans to take people in need of health care back to the bad old days of letting the insurance companies decide. If the person has a pre-existing condition, and did not have health care in the past is SOL in terms of getting any kind of care under the Romney plan. According to the Daily News, Romney has stated that insurance companies should be allowed to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions.

He stated repeatedly that the Government would be making the decisions as to who gets what kind of care under Obamacare, to which President Obama rebutted, {paraphrasing here}: not only does the Federal Government not get into making the determination over who gets treatment (which would be against the law), the programs specifically applies to helping the millions who have been shut out of the system by the very insurance companies that would be re-established if Obamacare was repealed.

ROMNEY LIE #12: ROMNEY CLAIMED HE WAS A BIPARTISAN GOVERNOR, BUT IN REALITY HE BARELY TOOK THE TIME TO WORK WITH DEMOCRATS IN THE LEGISLATURE: According to those who were in office with him at the time, he actually had a private entrance and exit set off by a red velvet rope for himself and those he approved of. Some Democratic lawmakers accused Romney of being aloof, unapproachable and not much interested in working with them to build the kind of friendships and alliances that are needed to help pass legislation. They say Romney’s legislative agenda on big issues like transportation and higher education fizzled as a result. When he left, and Deval Patrick was sworn in, it is stated that he actually avoided the new governor, and went out a side entrance. For most of Massachusetts, his exit was more like “glad you're gone; sorry you stayed so long.” 

As stated in the beginning of my article, Romney put on quite a dog and pony show; and for the fascile minded he “won” the debate. But for those of us who are concerned about substance over form, President Obama not only won the debate, he took us through some areas we had not been privy to in the past, while at the same time allowing Romney to snare himself in a net of his own lies. This is the very reason Romney doesn't like “fact checkers.” Because while he was dazzling the world with his bullshit, the truth makes Americans even more aware of what kind of person they would be getting if they elected a man who was consistently contriving to lie to us with a straight face and a smile; skirting the issues, and trying to make it look as if he's as much a mensch as the rest of us, when nothing could be further from the truth.

Make no mistake people, this ain't no game. This is real reality TV. Not “Survivor” (although we're the ones who would truly have to worry about our survival if we elect Romney to anything); not the
“Real House wives of Atlanta, New Jersey, New York, the NBA,”... or any of those other mindless wonders you follow; this ain't about who can zing who the most – this is about the leadership of the entire free world. And when it comes down to it, quiet though he may have seemed, subtle though he was, point by point, issue by issue, policy by policy PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA WON THE DEBATE!!!

AGAIN, ACCORDING TO THE FACT CHECKERS:  Obama was the same man he always is, not the phony Romney tried to be; and while that might bore the pundits and even the voters, when we think about who we would rather have leading this nation in times of crisis, it’s the cool, calm guy. The one who doesn’t lie to us as a course of business. We know who he is and what he stands for. No one can say that about Romney without being made a fool of the next day.

By the way, this was only round 1; make sure you're front and center for the debate between Ryan and Biden; followed by debates two and three between President Barack Obama and Mitt-twit Romney. And instead of having a “watch party, let's have a 'listen' party” so when Romney tries to run a snow job on you again, you can hear the strings as they pull him into the appropriate positions to make you think you're not looking at a puppet.

Stay Blessed &

ECLECTICALLY BLACK

Gloria Dulan-Wilson