Report: Romney PAC Donated $36,000 to SC Nikki Haley BEFORE she Endorsed him

If true, this is disgusting on so many levels. South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley rode the Tea Party wave to office in 2010. She was smeared relentlessly by the media as being an adulteress and the only way she was able to overcome it was avid Tea Party supporters who fought for and defended her honor.

Now this.

Via Posner Politics:

Gov. Nikki Haley announced her endorsement of Mitt Romney in mid-December. 

The Republican presidential candidate, regarded to be somewhat moderate, earned her Tea Party support because “he knows how the private economy works, how to fix it, and most importantly how to solve problems,” Haley said in her announcement.

The fact that Romney knows how to donate to campaigns might have more to do with it, though.

His “Free and Strong America” political action committee donated $36,000 to Haley’s campaign in 2010.

If true, this goes a LONG way to explaining why so many prominent Republicans have come out for Romney. It also would mean that Romney's PAC likely foresaw this scenario back in 2010, when it contributed to Haley's campaign.

h/t Free Republic

Is this Ron Paul's 'Jeremiah Wright'?

Not sure if the relationship between Robert Pape and Ron Paul is as close as the relationship between Barack Obama and Jeremiah Wright but the fact that Paul defers to Pape's 'expertise' on the former's website is more than a little disconcerting. In a web entry on his site about why Muslims are attacking the United States, Paul (are we to assume it's actually Paul) writes:

Robert Pape has extensively researched this issue and goes in depth in his book "Cutting the Fuse:  The Explosion of Global Suicide Terrorism and How to Stop It".  In fact, of 2,200 incidents of suicide attacks he has studied worldwide since 1980, 95% were in response to foreign occupation.

Pape notes that before our invasion of Iraq, only about 10% of suicide terrorism was aimed at Americans or American interests.  Since, then however, not only is suicide terrorism greatly on the rise, but 91% of it is now directed at us.

In a column by Joel Richardson at WND, the writer points out that Pape has some disturbing ties to the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), which has extensive ties to Hamas and the larger Muslim Brotherhood. He links to an article written in 2010 and posted to the Investigative Project on Terrorism website:

University of Chicago political scientist Robert Pape, whose research finds religious extremism has a limited role in suicide bombings, is working secretly with a suspected Hamas front to pump up sales of his new book, the Investigative Project on Terrorism has learned. That includes a secret agreement by CAIR to have its chapters around the country to buy them in bulk so they can manipulate the sales to move up the bestseller ranks. Pape is also scheduled to appear at this weekend's national banquet for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)

If Paul is citing Robert Pape as someone who has helped to reinforce the congressman's view on these subjects, it explains quite a bit about the presidential candidate's insane positions. It also helps to explain why he's getting the 'Truther' vote. Ain't it funny how much of the Islamic world consists of truthers too?

Read it all.

Romney Video: 'I like being able to fire people...'

Did Mitt Romney say that? Yes. Is it likely to be taken out of context? Yes. Will it work? Probably. Should it be done? Well, it depends on if you see doing so as a being a matter of two wrongs making a right or turnabout is fair play. In November, an attack ad from Romney targeted Obama by playing a clip of the president saying, 'If we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose.' It caused a stir because Obama was quoting McCain and was taken completely out of context.

While on the campaign trail in New Hampshire, Romney was talking about people being able to change health insurance providers if they don't like the service but what came out of his mouth was:

"I like being able to fire people..."

Normally, that quote may not be a big deal but Romney said it at a time when talk about his time as CEO of Bain Capital is getting traction. What did he do there? Well, he fired a lot of people.

In this case, it's all about what's currently on people's minds being magnified by Romney saying something that reinforces suspicions.



That can probably be called Romney's 'Acorn doesn't fall far from the tree' moment. Obama said this on the 2008 campaign trail at a time when his connection to ACORN was being bandied about in conservative media circles (liberal media kind of ignored that).



h/t Hapblog

Video: Paul Shows his 'Testy' Side to CNN Again

I've been consistently critical of Ron Paul because, well, his foreign policy views warrant it. However, in this case, it's hard to fault him. If there is fault to be found, one could argue that his top aide, Jesse Benton, overreacted here but even that may be a stretch.

CNN's Dana Bash asked Paul about his potential inability to connect with New Hampshire voters while citing an earlier incident at a diner in which Paul's campaign ended the visit because of what it saw as a media mob forming. As a result, a woman who said she voted for Obama in 2008 but was considering Paul in 2012, didn't get to shake Paul's hand.

When Bash asked the question, Benton shouted, 'That's a junk question.' Paul blamed reporters 'like' Bash for his having to leave the diner. Fast Forward to the 1:00 mark to see the exchange.

Via Washington Post: