November 2, 2012
By Cosmic SurferIf we needed more proof that Mitt is out of touch, his comments at a recent campaign event in Ohio will fill the bill.
On October 30, at what was billed to be a “storm relief event” in Kettering, Ohio, Mitt asserts he knows all about cleaning up after a record breaking hurricane in the Northeast as he compares the clean up and relief efforts for Hurricane Sandy to the clean up of a football field covered with “rubbish and paper goods” after the big game – just how could Mitt deal with such a horrific challenge?
“The person who was responsible for organizing the effort said, ‘Just line up along the yard lines,’” the candidate said. “‘You go between the goal line and the 10-yard line. And the next person, between 10 and 20, and then just walk through and do your lane. And if everybody cleans their line, why, we’ll be able to get the job done.’”
Really, Mitt? I mean REALLY, MITT?
******Of course, I guess he forgot all about the football field clean up story the next time he was confronted with a football field left in a mess. The Land O’Lakes’ football field in Florida which the campaign rented for a rally. His campaign left it in a mess and even damaged the goal posts – to the off key tune of $34,000 in damage….but I digress
Our story of Mitt and the Kettering event doesn’t stop there.
The event was hurriedly changed to a “storm relief” event, and attendees were asked to bring non-perishable foods and other items for those affected by the storm.
The press was treated to a visual of long white tables to one side of James S. Trent Arena. All piled with flashlights, batteries, diapers, toothbrushes, mini-deodorants, fleece blankets, cereal, toilet paper and canned goods.
Great, right?
As reported by Buzzfeed and picked up by Rachel Maddow, “The Last Word” with Lawrence O’Donnell and ThinkProgress, the event was not exactly as it appeared to be.
Some of those “donations” were, in part, not donations from attendees but part of the props.
$5,000 in Romney “$bucks$” and a local Wal-Mart
As reported by Buzzfeed:
The plan was for supporters to bring hurricane relief supplies to the event and then deliver the bags of canned goods, packages of diapers, and cases of water bottles to the candidate, who would be perched behind a table along with a slew of volunteers and his Ohio right-hand man, Senator Rob Portman. To complete the project and photo op, Romney would lead his crew in carrying the goods out of the gymnasium and into the Penske rental truck parked outside.
But the last-minute nature of the call for donations left some in the campaign concerned that they would end up with an empty truck. So the night before the event, campaign aides went to a local Wal-Mart and spent $5,000 on granola bars, canned food, and diapers to put on display while they waited for donations to come in, according to one staffer. (The campaign confirmed that it “did donate supplies to the relief effort,” but would not specify how much it spent.)
After Romney’s speechifying with stories of football fields and experienced clean up, he went to shake some hands….
As reported by Buzzfeed:
As supporters lined up to greet the candidate, a young volunteer in a Romney/Ryan T-shirt stood near the tables, his hands cupped around his mouth, shouting, “You need a donation to get in line!”
Empty-handed supporters pled for entrance, with one woman asking, “What if we dropped off our donations up front?”
The volunteer gestured toward a pile of groceries conveniently stacked near the candidate. “Just grab something,” he said.
Two teenage boys retrieved a jar of peanut butter each, and got in line. When it was their turn, they handed their “donations” to Romney. He took them, smiled, and offered an earnest “Thank you.”
Yep, it appears part of the Romney Kettering event was staged to look like everyone brought donations; to appear that all jumped in to pitch in — in order to save the nation without FEMA, government or those pesky relief efforts that have saved millions of people (well, we won’t count GW and Heckovajob Brownie” during Katrina or daddy Bush and Hurricane Andrew in 1992)
So, while President Obama spent the last few days actually BEING “presidential”. A Obama was doing his job – directing relief efforts, talking to governors and mayors, touring disaster zones, meeting with Governor Christie from New Jersey and speaking with the victims of Hurricane Sandy’s fury – we find Mitt, once again, proving all show and no substance….
More rubbish one line at a time.
Special thanks to YouTube’s SalonASW for posting the video.
For more Cosmic Surfer Check in at The Cosmic Surfer – Rantings of a Mad Woman
