Pelicans. They are everywhere. This shot is not as clear as I'd like it to be, but he was waaaay down the cliff at Muir Beach and moving pretty fast. Have some close-ups from the Wharf that I will post eventually.
Some thoughts...
What is Mitt hiding, besides the common sense to know that his campaign was going to get attacked on the Bain/tax return front? Good question, and, because Romney doesn't have an answer and won't come forth with any details, the ads and the pundits are going to continue to speculate. And please, spare us the faux indignation at being asked these questions. Republicans have accused Obama of being responsible for everything but the Lindbergh kidnapping at this point - just because the Bain ads ring true and are hitting home doesn't mean Obama is being "mean". Man up already.
Ezra. Nail. Head. "There is an increasing sense in the United States that the rich play by different rules than the poor or the middle class — rules that make it easier for them to get even richer. Romney’s problem is that he seems to have taken unusually aggressive advantage of those different rules." Klein points out that Romney himself is risk-adverse, always covering his personal wealth and life, but yet asks the rest of us to live (and die) by the rules of vulture capitalism - and that is what is creating the cognitive dissonance out there. It's not that people are jealous of business success; it's that Romney seemed to risk very little to earn it, while others paid the price of their jobs and homes as he made his millions.
Jonathan Cohn has more: "Remember, Romney’s economic policy is to weaken the safety net, to reduce regulations on what corporations can do, and to give the wealthiest Americans huge tax breaks. The theory behind this is that, by eliminating government meddling in the market and letting the rich keep more of their money, the economy as a whole will grow faster. But experience, here and abroad, suggests otherwise. In the end, the issue with Romney isn’t his business practices. It’s his governing strategy, which fails to blunt the harsh impact those business practices have on ordinary Americans." In other words, Romney would Bain America. That sound like a good idea?
No, Americans want tax hikes on the rich. By a 2-1 margin.
And on the subject of attack ads and what not, as Republicans block the DISCLOSE act in the Senate again, their big money allies are about to launch more hit campaigns on the House and Senate races. The US Chamber of Commerce is going after the Senate in Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico and North Dakota, and the Boehner-funded, Norm Coleman-run American Action Netwrok SuperPac has announced another $6 million ad buy for key House races. I'm sure those ads will play fair, right?
Don't worry folks, Dick Cheney is flying in to set those Republicans straight.
George W. Bush has his own Institute? Really? Who thought that was a good idea?
Canada. Richer than you. How did they do it? "Fiscally conservative socialism." Yes, you read that right. Less people and lots of oil helps, too.
That's all I have time for right now - have a great day.