Posts Tagged ‘Rick Santorum’
Rock Star Dave Mustaine: Obama not born in U.S.
Dave Mustaine of Megadeth
Megadeth singer and guitarist Dave Mustaine believes Barack Obama was born somewhere outside the United States, and he’s not crazy about GOP candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich either.
The comments came in an interview with George Stroumboulopoulos on the Canadian television show “The Hour.”
Before he closed down, he said he’s concerned about life in America at the moment, as the government takes away more rights.
He said for him, the big issue is the right to freedom of speech: “I’ve got a big mouth.”
He has a lot of questions about Obama but “certainly not where he was born.”
“I know he was born somewhere else than America,” Mustaine said.
When the host brought up Obama’s history, the rocker said, “How come he was invisible until he became … whatever he was in Illinois?”
Stroumboulopoulos concluded Mustaine must be a “birther.”
Mustaine replied, “I don’t want to talk about my president.”
He said his song “We The People,” on his new “13″ album, sums up what is happening in America: “People having their savings stripped away, Wall Street run amok, $500 million given to Solyndra when the Obama administration knew it was going under.”
“I’ll have to do some more homework where Obama came from now,” he said.
Turning to the GOP primaries, Mustaine showed his support for Rick Santorum, who appears to have no chance of overcoming front-runner Romney.
“It’s such a disappointment watching what’s happening right now,” he said. “George Soros came out and said Romney is just like Obama. So you have Obama’s mentor saying Romney’s like him!
“And Gingrich is so completely angry.”
But Santorum, Mustaine said, is “to me, the guy that makes the most sense. … He just looked like he would be a really cool president. Like a JFK-kind of guy.”
Mustaine, with Metallica for a time in the 1980s before launching Megadeth, has gone through several battles with drugs and alcohol. He’s also sustained neck injuries from the “head-banging” of hard rock, as well as an arm injury.
He explained he had been baptized as a Lutheran as a child, but then his mother became a Jehovah’s Witness.
“They don’t celebrate Christmas. That sucked,” he said. “They don’t celebrate birthdays, which sucked. I couldn’t have friends that were normal people, because they were ‘of the world.’
“I felt really empty. The drugs weren’t doing it. The alcohol wasn’t doing it,” he said.
It was like “peeing in your pants on a cold night. It feels good for a little while, but it’s not a long-term solution,” he said.
He sought out friends he knew to be familiar with Christianity.
“I started to make amends to people I had harmed. I am enemy-free right now, which is a great feeling,” he said.
Related articles
- Dave Mustaine Reveals ‘Birther’ Opinions (rollingstone.com)
- Dave Mustaine Is A Birther (buzzfeed.com)
- Megadeth frontman: Obama not born here (politico.com)
- Dave Mustaine Strikes Again: “i Know President Obama Was Born Somewhere Else Than America” (metalsucks.net)
- Rick Santorum looks like he could be a really cool president – kinda like a JFK kind of guy. (culturedsavages.com)
- DAVE MUSTAINE Opposes Gay Marriage (roadrunnerrecords.com)
Sensing Victory, Romney Turns Attention to Obama Fight
By Steve Holland | Reuters – 2 hrs 34 mins ago
- APPLETON, Wisconsin (Reuters) – Closing in on the Republican nomination, presidential hopeful Mitt Romney turned his attention on Friday to a general election fight with President Barack Obama over the U.S. economy.
At the start of a five-day blitz in Wisconsin that could prove crucial to the Republican race, Romney ignored his three party rivals and tried to position himself as the presumed nominee to face Obama in the November 6 election.
A new poll put Romney ahead of conservative Rick Santorum in Tuesday’s Wisconsin primary where the front-runner would take a large step toward becoming the nominee if he wins.
Romney, the former head of a private equity firm, said Americans face a stark choice in the November election over which direction to take the country in.
“He (Obama) has spent the last four years laying the foundation for a new government-centered society. I will spend the next four years rebuilding the foundation of our opportunity society, led by free people and free enterprises,” he said.
The prolonged Republican campaign, pitting Romney against a series of conservative challengers who have fallen short, is entering what could be a decisive phase.
A Wisconsin victory on Tuesday, combined with potential wins on that day in Maryland and Washington, D.C., would put more distance between Romney and Santorum and make it nearly impossible to catch him. Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul are also in the race but not campaigning as heavily.
The White House hopefuls are in a state-by-state battle to accumulate the 1,144 delegates needed to win the nomination. Romney leads with an estimated 565 delegates, according to Real Clear Politics, followed by Santorum with 256, Gingrich with 141 and Paul with 66.
The next big primary date, April 24, looms as increasingly important with six states to vote and Romney expected to win at least five of them. Santorum’s home state of Pennsylvania is the only question mark and Romney plans to campaign there.
But Tuesday’s vote will be significant as well. Romney got a big boost in Wisconsin with the endorsement of the Midwestern state’s Representative Paul Ryan, the powerful chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Budget Committee.
Ryan, who introduced Romney in Appleton, is a popular figure among conservatives and a potential vice presidential choice for the Republican nominee. His backing could further help Romney with those conservatives who fear he is too moderate and untrustworthy.
ENTERING KEY PHASE
Speaking to Fox News, Ryan said the Republican race has gone on long enough and that it is time to rally around Romney.
“I think we’re entering a phase where it could become counterproductive if this drags on much longer,” he said.
Romney enters the Wisconsin campaign with a lead in the state’s polls over Santorum.
The former Massachusetts governor won support from 40 percent of likely primary voters while former Pennsylvania Senator Santorum got 33 percent in an NBC/Marist poll on Friday.
Texas Representative Paul was at 11 percent and former House of Representatives Speaker Gingrich had 8 percent.
A Romney victory in Wisconsin, said Republican strategist Rich Galen, would be further evidence of what many Republicans think, “that this is essentially over, that Romney has gone from the front-runner to being the prohibitive nominee.”
Romney’s speech in Appleton was a sign that his campaign believes it is time to begin focusing even harder on Obama, who will have the advantage of incumbency and many millions of dollars to spend on his re-election effort.
Romney made a case that Obama’s economic strategy has been a “bust,” and laid out a number of specific accusations, that 800,000 jobs have been lost under Obama, 46 million people now live in poverty, just as many on food stamps, and 2.8 million homes have been foreclosed upon.
He said Obama has become disconnected with everyday Americans – the same charge Democrats make about the wealthy Romney.
“He (Obama) remains surrounded by true believers who attack anyone who challenges their power. And, as we see each day, they will fight even more fiercely to hold on to that power. All of this is to be expected,” said Romney, reading his speech from a teleprompter.
“That power loves power and never lets go easily is hardly new. And that a White House has lost touch, well, I think we’ve seen that once or twice before,” he said.
To underscore the Romney case against Santorum, his campaign played over the sound system the Kenny Rogers’ song, “The Gambler.” Former President George H.W. Bush had cited a “you have to know when to fold ‘em” line from the song in endorsing Romney on Thursday and urging Romney’s rivals to step aside.
Santorum has vowed to stay in the race and is unlikely to withdraw no matter the Wisconsin outcome, but a loss could impact the amount of money he is able to raise and put further pressure on him.
“At some point reality has to set in and he’s got to realize that there is no path to victory here,” said Jennifer Duffy, political expert at the non-partisan Cook Political Report. “Either come up with a different rationalization for staying in, which I think will be tough, or get out and call it a day.”
(Editing by Alistair Bell and Eric Beech)
Related articles
- Paul Ryan Endorses On Fox & Friends: ‘I Think We Need To Coalesce As Conservatives Around Mitt Romney’ (mediaite.com)
- Poll: Romney leads in Wisconsin, falls against Obama (politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com)
- Romney wins Rep. Paul Ryan’s endorsement (worldviewtonight.com)
- Democrats applaud Paul Ryan’s endorsement of Mitt Romney (dailykos.com)
- Romney edges into mop-up phase of campaign (sfgate.com)
- Election Notes: Who Will Be Romney’s Running Mate? (bigthink.com)
- NBC/Marist Poll: Romney leads in Wisconsin primary (firstread.msnbc.msn.com)
- Romney challengers say they’ll fight on (cnn.com)
- Battle of addition: 150 days until GOP convention (politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com)
- Keith Olbermann Fired From Current TV (perezhilton.com)
- Olbermann Out At Current TV (lezgetreal.com)
- Keith Olbermann fired by Current TV, replaced by Eliot Spitzer (nextlevelofnews.com)
- Olbermann Out (Again) (talkingpointsmemo.com)
- Current TV Terminates Contract With Keith Olbermann, Replaced By Eliot Spitzer Beginning Tonight (mediaite.com)
- Keith Olbermann: Fired By Current TV! (thehollywoodgossip.com)
- Keith Olbermann Fired From Current TV (inquisitr.com)
- Current TV Fires Keith Olbermann, Replaces Him With Eliot Spitzer (kaystreet.wordpress.com)
- Keith Olbermann Fired (theconservativehillbilly.wordpress.com)
- Keith Olbermann FIRED by Current TV (blippitt.com)
Romney’s Illinois Victory May Signal an End to the GOP Primary
Romney’s Illinois Victory May Signal an End to the GOP Primary
Mitt Romney’s Illinois win could be the beginning of the end of the Republican nomination fight. In order to get there, he faces two challenges: He’ll have to convince on-the-sidelines Republicans to endorse his candidacy, contribute to his campaign, and muscle Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich out of the race. And he’ll also have to persuade the media to reflect the reality that Romney is the only candidate who can win a majority of the delegates needed for the nomination and that he has a good chance of reaching that milestone well before the party meets for its Tampa convention in late summer.
The Romney campaign had made progress on both those fronts before his Illinois win, but the commanding victory is likely to accelerate his cause in the coming days. Once that happens, the normal rules that have prevailed in past nomination fights will kick back in. Santorum and Gingrich can choose to stay in the race, but they will be marginalized and unable to slow Romney down in his accumulation of delegates. They will become ghost candidates, on the ballot and campaigning, but effectively lifeless. Chatter about a contested convention will be greatly diminished.
(PHOTOS: The Illinois Primary in Pictures)
Santorum probably has one more chance to change the paradigm with a win in Wisconsin on April 3, after an expected victory in Louisiana on Saturday. But even if that happens, Romney will win many more delegates in a cluster of northeastern states over the next month.
There has been much debate about whether a long nomination fight helps or hurts general election prospects, but a prolonged battle usually weakens a candidate. Barack Obama’s 2008 experience, which allowed him to learn, strengthen, and familiarize himself with the process and voters, was the exception. Romney’s tussle with Santorum and Gingrich is not building him up, and his campaign knows that.
In the last days before the Illinois vote, and in his election night victory speech, Romney refocused his rhetoric on a philosophical contrast with President Obama, virtually ignoring his GOP opponents. With Santorum’s failure to best Romney in another major industrial state, it may well be that the Republican frontrunner can now focus on his rival in the White House all the way through November.
Related articles
- Romney’s Illinois Victory Signals an End to the GOP Primary (swampland.time.com)
- Romney scores a solid win in Illinois primary (vancouversun.com)
- Mitt Romney scores convincing win in Illinois primary (news.nationalpost.com)
- Romney routs Santorum in GOP primary in Illinois (newsok.com)
- Romney routs Santorum in GOP primary in Illinois (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
- Did Santorum lose the GOP civil war at Gettysburg? (cnn.com)
- Illinois: Romney looks to pull away from Santorum (newsok.com)
- Romney wins Illinois GOP presidential primary (newsok.com)
- Illinois win is a big boost for Mitt Romney (latimes.com)
- Mitt Romney Secures Big Illinois Victory (thestreet.com)
Gingrich: Obama Must Apologize for De Niro’s ‘White First Lady’ Remark
Robert De Niro
By Martin Gould
Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich called on President Barack Obama Tuesday to apologize for Hollywood icon Robert De Niro’s comment that the country “isn’t ready for a white first lady.”
DeNiro made the remark at a New York City fundraiser on Monday attended by Michelle Obama. “Callista Gingrich. Karen Santorum. Ann Romney. Now do you really think our country is ready for a white first lady?” De Niro asked a cheering crowd of Democrats. “Too soon, right?”
But Gingrich hit back, reports CNN. “What De Niro said last night was inexcusable and the president should apologize for him,” Gingrich said at a rally in Shreveport, La. “It was at an Obama fundraiser, it is exactly wrong, it divides the country.”
Gingrich compared De Niro’s comment to the controversy surrounding Rush Limbaugh calling a university student a “prostitute” after she testified before a House panel on why contraceptives should be covered by health insurance.
“If people on the left want to talk about talk show hosts, then everybody in the country should hold the president accountable when someone at his event says something that is utterly and terribly unacceptable,” said the former House speaker, adding that he thought Michelle Obama and his rivals’ wives were all “fine ladies.”
The first lady’s campaign press secretary has already described the actor’s remark as “inappropriate.”
But Gingrich said the president should also condemn the remarks, saying De Niro should not concentrate on the wives of presidential candidates.
“This is not about the first lady, it’s about the president,” he said.
“De Niro is rich enough he probably doesn’t notice the price of gasoline. He’s successful enough he probably doesn’t notice the unemployment rate. As a Hollywood actor, he might well be shortsighted enough he doesn’t understand what it might do to our children and our grandchildren.”
© 2012 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
Read more on Newsmax.com: Gingrich: Obama Must Apologize for De Niro’s ‘White First Lady’ Remark Important: Do You Support Pres. Obama’s Re-Election? Vote Here Now!
Related articles
- Gingrich: Obama Must Apologize for De Niro’s ‘White First Lady’ Remark (genomega1.wordpress.com)
- Ann Coulter Defends Robert De Niro’s First Lady Joke (kaystreet.wordpress.com)
- Gingrich to DeNiro: ‘The Country Is Ready’ for a White First Lady (crooksandliars.com)
- Gingrich demands Obama apologize for De Niro joke – msnbc.com (firstread.msnbc.msn.com)
- Newt Gingrich Goes After Robert De Niro For First Lady Crack [Video] (inquisitr.com)
- Newt fails to see the humor in De Niro’s comments about nation not being ready for a white First Lady (twitchy.com)
- Robert DeNiro Responds To Newt Gingrich Remarks – Huffington Post (huffingtonpost.com)
- Robert De Niro Lambasted by Michelle Obama’s Camp for “Inappropriate” Race-Related Joke at Fundraiser (eonline.com)
