In what was yet another lie-filled, robotic speech following his primary victories in Michigan and Arizona this Tuesday evening, Mitt Romney decided to dust off a right-wing attack on President Obama that Politico reported on in December of last year following his appearance on 60 Minutes -- that uppity black president of ours dared to claim that he is the "4th best president" of the United States.
Except of course that's not exactly what he said during a web exclusive interview with the crew of 60 Minutes that the right decided to go on the attack over. From the Politico article, here's what he actually said:
The issue here is not going be a list of accomplishments. As you said yourself, Steve, you know, I would put our legislative and foreign policy accomplishments in our first two years against any president — with the possible exceptions of Johnson, F.D.R., and Lincoln — just in terms of what we’ve gotten done in modern history. But, you know, but when it comes to the economy, we’ve got a lot more work to do.
Touting legislative accomplishments and saying that you're the "4th best president" are not synonymous. While criticism of President Obama and taking issue with his policies are completely fair, and I've got a long list myself of areas where I'm in disagreement with this administration on everything from foreign policy, to not going after Wall Street and the banks for wrecking our economy, to not wanting to "look backward" and go after the Bush administration for their crimes along with a lot of other issues too long to list here, taking his words out of context and twisting them are not.
What you cannot fairly say as Romney did here, is that the Obama administration and the Democrats in Congress did not get a record amount of legislation passed despite the unprecedented obstruction from Republicans and having to deal with the likes of Joe Lieberman and Ben Nelson and their ilk mucking up the works whenever humanly possible. And it's just a shame that we had a record number of bills that passed through the House which would have helped our economy get back on track and helped to dig us out of the recession Bush left us that sat and died a slow death in the Senate.
Sadly Mitt Romney would rather resort to partisan attacks on President Obama and parrot the likes of Andrew Breitbart and The Gateway Pundit during his victory speech this week. The so-called "moderate" Mitt Romney has done nothing but prove himself to be every bit the right-wing flame thrower out there right in line with the likes of the Rush Limbaugh's and his ilk on the right and their rhetoric.
I keep hearing the Republican talking heads on cable pretending that Romney is somehow going to be able to walk all of this back should he win the nomination this year once we get into the general election where he's got to appeal to middle of the road and independent voters. I say good luck with that since they all seem to be ignoring that fact that we've got these things called recording devices these days and this stuff can be played back for the public.
I guess they're hoping their allies in the corporate media are going to choose to ignore all of it. After what what I would call a barn burner of a speech before the UAW earlier the same day by President Obama that my cohort here at Video Cafe Dave posted a portion of, I'm actually looking forward to watching Romney have to square off one on one against President Obama. I think Mittens "I love the trees in Michigan" is going to have his hands full when this becomes a one on one race against a popular Democratic president who most people like personally even if they've got issues with his policies and a sad stereotype of Gordon Gekko that the GOP base hates and doesn't trust.
Transcript of Romney's remarks below the fold.
Our campaign is about more than replacing a President. It’s about restoring America’s promise.
From generation to generation, Americans have always known that the future would be brighter and better. Americans have always believed in a tomorrow full of possibility and prosperity.
That’s what it means to be a land of opportunity. In America, if you work hard, you can build a better life. If you teach your kids the right values and help them make the right choices, you know their future will be prosperous and secure.
That deep confidence in a better tomorrow is the basic promise of America. Today, that promise is being threatened by a faltering economy and a failed presidency.
Four years ago, we warned that the Presidency was no place for on-the-job training. Today, we have an economy to prove it.
This President likes to remind us that he inherited an economic crisis. But he never mentions that he also inherited a Democratic Congress. With majorities in the House and Senate, President Obama was free to pursue any policy he pleased.
Did he fix the economy? Did he tackle the housing crisis? Did he get Americans back to work? No. He put us on a path toward debt, deficits, and decline. It is time to get off that path and get back on the path to prosperity.
These days, when he’s not spending our money or infringing upon our rights, President Obama is busy running for re-election. He believes he ranks among the top four presidents in history.
He thinks he deserves a second term. He keeps saying, “We can’t wait.” To which I say, “Yes, we can.”