Post-Election Silly Season Wrap-Up

We in the U.S. had an election recently.  Roseanne Barr came in sixth.  The election went on forever and cost a fortune and won't make any change to our perennial governmental gridlock.  It did prove that the people who most appeared to be blowing smoke out of the their asses were actually doing just that.

Also there was a lot of lying.  Out and out prevarication.  Dissembling.  Other big words that mean not telling the truth.  So much lying that it was remarkable when someone actually did say something accurate and verifiable.

The Right wing lies came thick and fast.  They need to be put into categories, or maybe we should say, into binders:  "Romney's Victory", "Voter Fraud", "Religion" and "Female Reproductive Biology" got lied about often.  

Here are screen grabs of two Google search suggestions to complete the phrases "Obama is a ..." and "Romney is a ...".   Between them there are only three unassailable honest answers - "democrat" and "christian" for Obama, "mormon" for Romney.

One of the biggest sources of election falsehoods appeared right here at Mixed Meters in my post Lies, Damn Lies, Statistics and Politics.  As it turned out, my fanciful projections of how the contest would play out were just that - fanciful. 

From that point on I kept an informal list of election news stories I would have liked to predict.  There were plenty of crazy happenings that could have fit right into my list.  Most of them didn't get much media attention.  Today, with the horror of the election silly season still fresh in our minds and the next Presidential race barely begun, I think it's the perfect time to share the list.

Note: some of these are probably fraudulent.  I've not included anything I was sure was fake - but I offer no guarantees.  In time some of these links will disappear so enjoy them while you can.  I bet there are many more items I would have included had I known about them.

• Hurricane Isaac was a plot to mess with the Republican convention in Tampa.
• A black camerawoman is taunted as an animal by Republican convention delegates.
• Website urges passage of Florida law allowing illegal voters to be shot by legal gun owners.
• An article about National Review's 689-item list of reasons not to vote for Obama.
• Pro-Israeli lobby puts out anti-Obama attack ad with music by Richard Wagner.
• Romney is accused of wearing fake tan for appearance on Hispanic television.
• A website which "un-skewed" the pro-Obama polls before the election.
• "Obama will force doctors to help homosexuals buy surrogate babies" (see picture)
• Man murders family because he dreaded the thought of an Obama victory.
• Arkansas GOP candidate advocates biblical-style death penalty for rebellious children.
• Another Arkansas politician asks "If slavery was so bad, why didn't Jesus condemn it?"
• Shots fired at an Obama field office.
• Mississippi Tea-Party says women are too emotional to vote.
• Billboards announce penalties for voter fraud in predominantly black neighborhoods.
• Man gets Romney logo tattoo on his face in exchange for $15,000.
• Texas woman believes than an eggplant in the shape of a mitten is a sign from God.
• Josh Whedon tells us that Romney will put the US onto the path to the Zombie apocalypse.
• Man drives a truck carrying an effigy of Barack Obama hanging by the neck.

Hurricane Sandy

• Hurricane Sandy is a result of marriage equality, preacher tells us.
• West Virginia Republican candidate killed by Hurricane Sandy
• People named Sandy are more likely to donate to the Democrats.

The Election

• Spanish-speaking Arizona voters are told to vote two days after the election.
• Two Republicans are arrested for trying to vote twice.
• A woman wearing an MIT sweatshirt is restrained from voting.
• Irish betting company pays off to people who bet for Obama one day before the election.
• Romney puts his administration's transition website online the day before the election.
• Romney campaign has computer problems on election day.

After the Election

• White People Mourning Romney
• Southern red states want to secede.
• Arizona woman runs over her husband, angry that he forgot to vote for Romney.
• Florida man, unhappy about the election, kills himself.
• Arizona gun shop refuses to sell to people who voted for Obama. (see picture)

The most embarrassing campaign moment:

And finally, as a personal note, I know they no longer matter, but I would still like to see Mitt Romney's tax returns.  I would like to know for sure whether Harry Reid was lying when he told us Romney didn't pay any taxes for ten years.

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Prevarication Tags: Mitt Romney. . . election+lies. . . Republican disbelief