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With Clint Eastwood's to-hell-with-this-wooden-chair speech in the past, the brutally drawn-out Republican National Convention has come to an end, leaving the Romney campaign to finally focus on the last three months of the election season. And these upcoming few weeks are the most important: as the candidates mark out their final talking points, the notorious yet senselessly hopeless skeptics known as the 'independent voters' go through the ultimate process of elimination. Hooray for the two-party system!

Moving on from Tampa, Mitt has found himself in hurricane territory: after accepting an invite from Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, the Republican hopeful traveled down to the devastated lands in Isaac's path. These were the towns that unfortunately exist outside of the vast levee system that "protects" Louisiana's shores after Katrina. And most of them were found underwater by authorities after the storm hit.

Once there, Romney spent close to an hour with Jindal shaking hands with first responders and National Guardsmen. The Governor pointed out to reporters that he extended the invite to Mr. Obama as well even though the President is coming on his own accord this Monday. And Jindal has a history of not accepting invites from the President, too: he was one of the few Republican governors that refused to accept stimulus funds a few years back. At the time, Louisiana had one of the worst unemployment numbers in the country

Mitt also met Jodie Chiarello, a 42-year-old woman who lost her house thanks to Isaac. Since the federal funds did not come to her area a few years back, her house was submerged under water and, now, she has nowhere to go. When Jodie asked Mitt what he could do about the situation, he had a brilliant plan to salvage what was left.

"He just told me to, uhm, there's assistance out there," she told reporters. "He said, 'go home and call 211.'"

For those who do not know, 211 is a public service number one calls for basic human needs resources and other physical/mental resources in times of crisis. According to its website, you can also call it for unemployment benefits, daycare and donation centers. It's like the 311 number we have here in New York - it's a direct connection to your government, except they'll probably put you on hold for fifteen minutes or so. Relax, the government will help you when it gets around to it.

Besides the fact that Jodie has no home to call 211 from, Romney's suggestion relies upon an individual responsibility that lies as the cornerstone of his partner-in-crime's budget. In Path to Prosperity, Paul Ryan offers an 80% cut in discretionary spending - the largest gutting of governmental public services in our lifetime - and FEMA finds itself stuck on the chopping block. Although exact numbers aren't given to how much disaster funds would be cut, it's safe to say that calling 211 might be the only option left in a nation starved for cash flow.

This was the point made by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid yesterday when he chastised Mitt and Paul for even thinking that they could show sympathy for the hurricane victims. A bit harsh? Yes. In a statement, he wrote,

"It is the height of hypocrisy for Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan to make a pretense of showing sympathy for the victims of Hurricane Isaac when their policies would leave those affected by this disaster stranded and on their own."

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Doesn't 211 connect you to GOVERNMENT help?

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Originally posted by NewOldBrownCoat:
I'm waiting for the R's to claim that Obama did just as bad a job as Bush and Brownie, because there was some flooding and half a million people are without electricity, and, at last count, 4 people died. As big a fail as the response to Katrina.

Yah, sure, you betcha.

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Originally posted by Geezer:
Just curious, Mike. What would you have told Ms. Chiarello to do?

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Originally posted by 1kiki:
Perhaps HE could have showed a little human concern? Perhaps temporized his platform to say that yes indeedy, there might be a few instances where government could do some good? Made some kind of understanding comment on how serious the disaster was?

Yanno, either be a politician and pay lip service to a potential voter or the other potential voters who might be interested in his response, or be a human, rather than an unfeeling greed machine trying to brush away a piece of trash as efficiently as possible?

B/c it does look really, really bad when the person who is intent on taking away government help is callous and mendacious enough to refer a person in need to that very help.

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Originally posted by Kwicko:

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Originally posted by Geezer:
Just curious, Mike. What would you have told Ms. Chiarello to do?

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Me? Personally? I'd have asked her to step inside with me, taken her information, and promised to get her some help. And then I'd have followed up on that promise.

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Originally posted by Geezer:
Just curious, Mike. What would you have told Ms. Chiarello to do?

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Originally posted by Geezer:

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Originally posted by Kwicko:

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Originally posted by Geezer:
Just curious, Mike. What would you have told Ms. Chiarello to do?

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Me? Personally? I'd have asked her to step inside with me, taken her information, and promised to get her some help. And then I'd have followed up on that promise.

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And the thousands of other Ms. Chiarellos in Louisiana?

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On the visit from the pair of Republicans, Chiarello said, "He’s good. He’ll do the best for us. He has our best interests at heart. I thought he’d be more like a politician, but it was more understanding and caring."

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Originally posted by NewOldBrownCoat:

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Originally posted by Geezer:

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Originally posted by Kwicko:

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Originally posted by Geezer:
Just curious, Mike. What would you have told Ms. Chiarello to do?

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Me? Personally? I'd have asked her to step inside with me, taken her information, and promised to get her some help. And then I'd have followed up on that promise.

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And the thousands of other Ms. Chiarellos in Louisiana?

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An ALMOST valid question. But those 1000's other of Mrs C's weren't there, weren't asking at that moment.

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Originally posted by Geezer:

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Originally posted by NewOldBrownCoat:

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Originally posted by Geezer:

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Originally posted by Kwicko:

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Originally posted by Geezer:
Just curious, Mike. What would you have told Ms. Chiarello to do?

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Me? Personally? I'd have asked her to step inside with me, taken her information, and promised to get her some help. And then I'd have followed up on that promise.

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And the thousands of other Ms. Chiarellos in Louisiana?

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An ALMOST valid question. But those 1000's other of Mrs C's weren't there, weren't asking at that moment.

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So Mike, and apparently you, would have asked her to step inside - somewhere, since her home was destroyed - and taken down her information and ... called 211?

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And when you stepped back out and there were 100 other people lined up for your help?

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Originally posted by Geezer:

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Originally posted by NewOldBrownCoat:

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Originally posted by Geezer:

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Originally posted by Kwicko:

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Originally posted by Geezer:
Just curious, Mike. What would you have told Ms. Chiarello to do?

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Me? Personally? I'd have asked her to step inside with me, taken her information, and promised to get her some help. And then I'd have followed up on that promise.

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And the thousands of other Ms. Chiarellos in Louisiana?

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An ALMOST valid question. But those 1000's other of Mrs C's weren't there, weren't asking at that moment.

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So Mike, and apparently you, would have asked her to step inside - somewhere, since her home was destroyed - and taken down her information and ... called 211?

And when you stepped back out and there were 100 other people lined up for your help?

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Originally posted by Kwicko:

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Originally posted by Geezer:

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Originally posted by NewOldBrownCoat:

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Originally posted by Geezer:

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Originally posted by Kwicko:

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Originally posted by Geezer:
Just curious, Mike. What would you have told Ms. Chiarello to do?

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Me? Personally? I'd have asked her to step inside with me, taken her information, and promised to get her some help. And then I'd have followed up on that promise.

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And the thousands of other Ms. Chiarellos in Louisiana?

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An ALMOST valid question. But those 1000's other of Mrs C's weren't there, weren't asking at that moment.

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So Mike, and apparently you, would have asked her to step inside - somewhere, since her home was destroyed - and taken down her information and ... called 211?

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Quite possibly. Also, it helps if you remember (and I know your memory's tricky in your old age, Geeze) that neither Kiki nor I are advocating slashing funding for programs like 211. That would be Romney and Ryan and the GOP who are behind that move.

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And when you stepped back out and there were 100 other people lined up for your help?

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You have a choice: Keep helping people - which is why you SAY you're running for office in the first place - or tell them to sod off. If you're really a good politician AND a good person, you've likely got support staff who will step up and help them work their way through the paperwork and red tape to get the help they need.

Or, if you're Mitt Romney, you can just tell them to leave you alone, then go onto your next speech and tell people how useless such programs are when they try to help.


So what exactly would YOU have done, Geezer?



"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero

Mitt Romney, introducing his running mate: "Join me in welcoming the next President of the United States, Paul Ryan!"

Rappy's response? "You're lying, gullible ( believing in some BS you heard on msnbc ) or hard of hearing."

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Originally posted by Kwicko:
So what exactly would YOU have done, Geezer?



Huh. No answers from Geezer, eh?


Must be too busy with all that trolling...

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