Romney, just a candidate and already alienating our staunchest ally.

Quote from travfar : Dude, he and I pale in comparison to your partisanship. You bring it to a level that I can never hope to reach. Good try with the misdirection though. I see you read the hobbit handbook. 'Tillery sent e-mails to A.J. Barto, a former Salt Lake City firefighter helping the 9-11 widows and orphans, citing a policy barring giveaways, but Romney gave 100 free surplus tickets ($885 each) to Utah legislators. "I was outraged at the hypocrisy," Barto told Kranis and Helman. "In less than two months, he went from saying, 'We're going to run a tight ship' to throwing out free tickets to a group of people who could help him politically."' Why let widows and orphans have them? What would Romney have gotten out of it? Better to use them to buy political capital.

That's funny coming from the guy who basically just posts whatever talking point threads are on Dem Underground over here on a daily basis. lol

You have no clue what happened as far as any tickets were concerned. You're just copying the same lines from whatever blog that you found it on. That entire story verbatim, including the original quote from Barto, seems to have come from a 2007 article by Bob Hohler at the Boston Globe (owned by the NYT) who doesn't seem to be a real big Mitt fan to begin with. They likely had thousands of requests for tickets from people claiming all kinds of affiliations and you have no idea how he presented the request or whether it was even real. Barto doesn't appear to have been anyone who would have been recognized as being associated with such a group and I find nothing to indicate that he was.

Quote : Yeah, did you? I guess you STILL find it too tiring to completely read something. "The bust that was returned was returned as a matter of course with all the other artwork that had been loaned to President Bush for display in his Oval Office and not something that President Obama or his Administration chose to do." Which backs exactly what the White House Curator has been saying all along. “Some Britons took offense when Winston Churchill’s bust was replaced with King’s,” the story read. “But the decision to return the Churchill bust to the British – it had been presented by former Prime Minister Tony Blair to Bush on loan – had been made before Obama even arrived. ‘It was already scheduled to go back,’ Allman said.”

I'll stick with the British Embassy's version given that they have no vested interest versus Pfeiffer who does (and who got the story wrong to begin with lol). Again, the curator didn't say that it wasn't declined, only that it was to go back.

The Telegraph reported it as above.

The BBC reported it in the same way in a number of articles from 3/2009 re the relationship between Brown and Obama as follows:

Quote : But then - oh horror of horrors! - why has Barack Obama sent the bust of Winston Churchill that graced the Oval Office of his predecessor back to London? When Winston is put in a box the portents are not good.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7922428.stm

Quote : What may worry them is the fact that when Mr Brown enters the Oval Office, he'll see that the gift from Britain which used to have pride of place there has been sent back. It's a bust of Churchill.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/nickro...obama.html


The Winston Churchill Centre and Museum noted it in the same way in a January 2009 article speculating on why it was returned

Quote : Winston is Back LONDON, JANUARY 23RD- The BBC announced that President Obama has sent George W. Bush's Jacob Epstein bust of Winston Churchill packing from the Oval Office (while retaining a bust of Abraham Lincoln). This touched off a buzz of media speculation over the implied symbolism of his action.

http://www.winstonchurchill.org/l...ht-volumns

While there are the above and more reflecting the Embassy's account that it was declined, I see nothing from the time saying 'no biggie, it was scheduled to be returned.'

Quote from jonsmith74 : Hmmm, then why did the British Embassy say that Oabama chose not to extend the loan?

You buy a house. You run into your future neighbor and he mentions that the former occupant borrowed his lawnmower 8 years ago and never returned it. The neighbor asks if you still need it? What do you say?

Quote from Mike A. : That's funny coming from the guy who basically just posts whatever talking point threads are on Dem Underground over here on a daily basis. lol

Uh huh, you aren't partisan at all.

Quote from Mike A. : You have no clue what happened as far as any tickets were concerned. You're just copying the same lines from whatever blog that you found it on. That entire story verbatim, including the original quote from Barto, seems to have come from a 2007 article by Bob Hohler at the Boston Globe (owned by the NYT) who doesn't seem to be a real big Mitt fan to begin with. They likely had thousands of requests for tickets from people claiming all kinds of affiliations and you have no idea how he presented the request or whether it was even real. Barto doesn't appear to have been anyone who would have been recognized as being associated with such a group and I find nothing to indicate that he was.

Just proof you have no idea what you are talking about. You know what they say when you assume. It was written up here.

http://www.amazon.com/Real-Romney...0062123270

Page 221.

Quote from Mike A. : The Winston Churchill Centre and Museum noted it in the same way in a January 2009 article speculating on why it was returned While there are the above and more reflecting the Embassy's account that it was declined, I see nothing from the time saying 'no biggie, it was scheduled to be returned.'

Taking speculation over the Curator of the White House backed by a US government official. Hmm.... could it be because Obama is President? Nah, that would imply that you are partisan.

Thanks for a link to this quote though.

Quote : In the years since, some demanded its return, claiming that Bush was undeserving or was using it to proclaim himself another Churchill.

Quote from travfar : Uh huh, you aren't partisan at all. Just proof you have no idea what you are talking about. You know what they say when you assume. It was written up here. http://www.amazon.com/Real-Romney...0062123270 Page 221.

*sigh* I guess Hohler had a time machine then in order to go back in time to write his article (excerpt below) on June 28, 2007 given that Kranish (who also works at the Globe btw and has access to their archives and Hohler) published his book in 1/2012. lol

Quote : But he angered safety officials when his office denied free or discounted tickets to widows and orphans of firefighters who died at the World Trade Center. Romney's executive assistant, Donna Tillery, twice rejected the requests, citing a policy barring ticket giveaways, according to e-mails she sent to former Salt Lake City firefighter A.J. Barto. Romney's staff says he was unaware of the request. Six weeks later, the committee found itself with unsold seats and Romney approved distributing 100 tickets valued at $885 each to Utah legislators. ''I was outraged at the hypocrisy,'' Barto said. ''In less than two months, he went from saying we're going to run a tight ship to throwing out free tickets to a group of people who could help him politically.''

http://www.boston.com/news/nation...?page=full

Now what was that you were saying about when you assume?

Quote : Taking speculation over the Curator of the White House backed by a US government official. Hmm.... could it be because Obama is President? Nah, that would imply that you are partisan.

Uh huh... A direct quote from the British Embassy and multiple reports in multiple British publications from the time is "speculation." The only speculation was over what it meant, not over it happening.

And btw I voted for Obama knucklehead. lol

Quote : Thanks for a link to this quote though.

Give up on the partisan stuff. Your last line makes that clear (as always).

In case anyone missed it, Embarrassed White House Issues Apology to Charles Krauthammer [newsbusters.org]

Quote from travfar : LOL!!!!!! The great AC debacle!!!!! If it's a heat wave, then why are the beach volleyball teams putting on clothes due to the cold? "The Olympic beach volleyball players said bye-bye to their bikinis when temperatures dropped below 20 degrees for the start of the first night session at Horse Guards Parade." http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/n...d=10824055

Yawn...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/...entre.html

Quote : The heatwave engulfing London over the past week has sent temperatures soaring above 30C on the pool deck, prompting coaches to raise concerns on behalf of their athletes.

Quote : So not much out of the ordinary for an olympics then?

Anything to substantiate this?

Quote : Hardly the doom and gloom that Romney was hinting at. He is an expert on empty seats at the Olympics though. If I remember right there were plenty of those in Salt Lack City in 02. The scandal then was that he refused to offer the unused seats to widows and orphans of 9/11. Nice.

Straw man and red herring.

Will you take any articles as proof that London was/is having problems?

The 2012 London Olympics ‘Empty-Seats’ Debacle [investorplace.com]

London Olympics security debacle hits UK troops in Afghanistan [presstv.ir]

Athletes' Rooms In The Olympic Village Have No Air Conditioning [businessinsider.com]

Olympic Village Controversy: Great Britain Enjoys AC While Other Athletes Melt [bleacherreport.com]

G4S IT failure ‘root cause’ of London 2012 Olympics security debacle [computerworlduk.com]

London 2012: Minister admits security 'debacle" [telegraph.co.uk]

Quote from travfar : And from the press we can gauge how the British public feels

You've got that backwards. The press tell the British public how to feel based on the agenda of the tabloid owners.

Quote from vivahate : You've got that backwards. The press tell the British public how to feel based on the agenda of the tabloid owners.

Got it. I guess Murdoch brought that over to the US with Fox News.

Quote from Mike A. : That's funny coming from the guy who basically just posts whatever talking point threads are on Dem Underground over here on a daily basis. lol You have no clue what happened as far as any tickets were concerned. You're just copying the same lines from whatever blog that you found it on. That entire story verbatim, including the original quote from Barto, seems to have come from a 2007 article by Bob Hohler at the Boston Globe (owned by the NYT) who doesn't seem to be a real big Mitt fan to begin with. They likely had thousands of requests for tickets from people claiming all kinds of affiliations and you have no idea how he presented the request or whether it was even real. Barto doesn't appear to have been anyone who would have been recognized as being associated with such a group and I find nothing to indicate that he was.

And BOOM goes the dynamite! Perfect summary!

Quote from travfar : Got it. I guess Murdoch brought that over to the US with Fox News.

I don't know what the second part is getting at but historically The Sun (owned by Murdoch) was a Conservative (big C) paper. They offered to switch allegiance to Labour if Tony Blair agreed to keep Britain out of the ERM. Tony Blair, in his memoirs, acknowledge the role The Sun played in getting him elected.

You just have to look at the conveyor belt of people who switch between working for the press and working for the Govt to see the influence of the old-school-tie network.

Quote from Mike A. : Now what was that you were saying about when you assume?

OK, you've showned that you only made the first 3 letters out of yourself. What did this have to do with your accusation? You said

Quote from Mike A. : That's funny coming from the guy who basically just posts whatever talking point threads are on Dem Underground over here on a daily basis. lol

And I showed that quote came out of that book on Romney. Nice how you've taken the "revise history" lesson to heart out of the hobbit handbook.

Quote from Mike A. : Uh huh... A direct quote from the British Embassy and multiple reports in multiple British publications from the time is "speculation." The only speculation was over what it meant, not over it happening. Give up on the partisan stuff. Your last line makes that clear (as always).

A direct quote from the White House Curator backed up by the Obama admistration. Yet you let your partisanship blind you to it all. You repeated act like you never read any of those statements. Just like you ignored this statement from the British.

Quote : In the years since, some demanded its return, claiming that Bush was undeserving or was using it to proclaim himself another Churchill.

When someone lends something and wants it back, it's good form to return it. Once again, thanks for proof for that. Even though you refuse to acknowledge it's existence.