News Nuggets 1064

DAYEE PICTURE: Ural Owl mother and chick in Estonia.  From National Geographic.

UP-FRONT OBAMA AD NUGGET!!
Boy -- it didn't take the Obama team long to get an ad out using the Romney fundraiser video.  Here it is:
Romney's Fatal Word: "Victims" (Andrew Sullivan) from the Daily Beast 
"The Obama campaign has put out an online ad that uses two of the most potent things in political commercials - a candidate's own words in his own voice and the opinions of ordinary voters, in their own voices."
Sullivan's commentary that accompanies the ad is quite devastating as well.

Mitt Romney's Very Bad Day: Roundup from Daily Kos
"Here's a roundup of today's news about the Mitt Tape, the leaked tape of Mitt Romney addressing a $50,000-per-plate fundraiser by, of and for the very rich. Yes, the release of this one tape has become a big enough thing that it requires a "roundup," mostly because it consists of Mitt saying stupid things at two-minute intervals for the better part of an hour. It's like a standup routine, except not funny."

Romney Offers No Apologies for "Victims" Remarks from CBS News
"At a hastily called news conference late in the day, Romney offered no apologies for his remarks, and when he was asked if he was concerned he had offended anyone, he conceded the comments weren't "elegantly stated" and they were spoken "off the cuff.""

A Note on Romney’s Arrogant and Stupid Remarks (William Kristol) from the Weekly Standard
"Recalling that a good chunk of the 47 percent who don't pay income taxes are Romney supporters -- especially of course seniors (who might well 'believe they are entitled to heath care,' a position Romney agrees with), as well as many lower-income Americans (including men and women serving in the military) who think conservative policies are better for the country even if they're not getting a tax cut under the Romney plan. So Romney seems to have contempt not just for the Democrats who oppose him, but for tens of millions who intend to vote for him."

How the Romney Campaign Scrambled to Respond to Secret Video from the New York Times
"Mr. Romney and his advisers quickly grasped the severity of the footage, shot surreptitiously in Florida a few months ago and suddenly dominating the cable news airwaves and political blogs."

The Real Romney Captured on Tape Turns Out to Be a Sneering Plutocrat (Jonathan Chait) from New York Magazine
"... the video exposes an authentic Romney as a far more sinister character than I had imagined. Here is the sneering plutocrat, fully in thrall to a series of pernicious myths that are at the heart of the mania that has seized his party. ... Romney genuinely seems to conceive of the lowest-earning half of the population as implacably hostile parasites."

Mitt Romney’s Darkest Hour (Chris Cillizza) from the Washington Post 
"Taken individually, none of the incidents referenced above are that big a deal in the constant swirl of politics. Taken together, they paint an image of a campaign in disarray and a candidate not ready for primetime."

The Romney Campaign is in Trouble (Ezra Klein) from the Washington Post 
A must-read.
"There are two sure signs a campaign is in trouble. The first is that it begins changing its strategy rapidly and erratically. The second is that it begins attacking its strategists fiercely and anonymously. The Romney campaign is in trouble. ,,,  the most surprising of Erikson and Wlezien’s results, and the most dispiriting for the Romney campaign, is that unlike the conventions, the debates don’t tend to matter."

Romney in Panic Mode (Alex Seitz-Wald) from Salon
"Way ahead of schedule, the finger-pointing has already begun in Romneyland."

A number of conservatives are slamming Romney for a wide range of reasons: 
Conservatives Agree: Romney's Wrong (Michael Warren) from the Weekly Standard
"Plenty of conservatives are pushing back against the worldview espoused by Mitt Romney in his "arrogant and stupid' remarks at a private fundraiser earlier this year. ... Romney's reductive characterization of the political landscape indicates he doesn't understand any of this."

Here’s Why Mitt’s 100% Wrong on the 47% (David Frum) from the Daily Beast 
"Mitt Romney has just committed the worst presidential-candidate gaffe since Gerald Ford announced in 1976 that "there is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe." Irreparable? To Romney's image, yes; to his election chances ... we'll see. But you know who's determined that Romney never recover? His deluded supporters in the conservative media world."

The Sinister Message Behind Romney's "Gaffe" (David Frum) from the Daily Beast
"The background to so much of the politics of the past four years is the mood of apocalyptic terror that has gripped so much of the American upper class."

Seven Weeks Out, Romney Oversees Campaign in Disarray (Steve Benen) from MSNBC
"While "talk of infighting within the Romney headquarters" has been "percolating for months," we've clearly entered a new stage. Politico published a lengthy piece last night filled with unnamed aides pointing fingers and casting blame -- for Romney's muddled message, ineffective ads, disjointed convention, and useless speeches."

Mitt Romney Secret Video: Why Remarks to Republican Donors Tell Us He Won't be President (Amol Rajan) from the Independent [of the UK]
"His supporters are straining every sinew to defend the indefensible. They've lost their narrative completely. This week he probably lost the election."

There's Just No Stopping Romney (Clive Crook) from the Atlantic
"Of course it was dumb, dumb, dumb for Romney to say what he said anywhere within reach of a recording device. It stuns me that politicians running for president still need to be told that nothing is off the record. But in this case it's not just the tactical ineptitude, it's the gross misjudgment on the point of substance."

We Are All Welfare Queens Now (Ta-Nehisi Coates) from the Atlantic 
"In all this you can see the insidious and lovely foresight of integration which, at its root, posits an end to whiteness as any kind of organizing political force. I would not say we are there. But when the party of white populism finds itself writing off half the country, we are really close."

GOP Civil War Is Coming as Mitt Romney Campaign Flails in Video’s Wake (Robert Shrum) from the Daily Beast
"The video carping about government moochers may well have sealed it. Mitt Romney is going down, and the fight already is on for the future of the Republican Party. The battle will be bitter—and prolonged, says Robert Shrum."

First Thoughts: Romney's Brutal Last Three Weeks (Chuck Todd et al.) from NBC News
"...  the last three weeks for Mitt Romney have been about as brutal as we can remember for any presidential candidate, especially this close to the election. ... What is so potentially deadly about this video is the timing, because it comes as the Romney campaign was already viewed to be behind and in crisis."

Romney’s Libya Response May Have Done Real Damage from Talking Points Memo 
"Mitt Romney’s tough — and inaccurate — response to a fatal attack on the American Consulate in Libya last week is not sitting well with voters, according to several new polls. ... Polls show significant swaths of America are interested in the Mideast attacks and generally unhappy with Romney’s reaction."

FiveThirtyEight Forecast: G.O.P. Senate Hopes Slipping (Nate Silver) from the New York Times
"Democrats are now favored to retain control of the Senate when the new Congress convenes in January, according to the FiveThirtyEight forecast, breaking a summer stalemate during which control of the chamber appeared about equally likely to go either way."

Eastwood: If They Were 'Dumb Enough to Ask Me…' from CNN
""If somebody is dumb enough to ask me to go to political convention and say something, they're gonna have to take what they get," said Eastwood in an interview Tuesday with the television show "Extra" about the convention speech that won rave reviews, puzzled looks and slacked jaws."

ANCIENT CHRISTIANITY NUGGET!!
A Faded Piece of Papyrus Refers to Jesus’ Wife from the New York Times 
"A historian of early Christianity at Harvard Divinity School has identified a scrap of papyrus that she says was written in Coptic in the fourth century and contains a phrase never seen in any piece of Scripture: “Jesus said to them, ‘My wife ...’ ” ..."