This story is part of a larger profile appearing in the March 12th, 2012 issue of FORBES magazine. The complete cover story will appear online beginning Wednesday, February 22nd.

Sheldon Adelson plays as stubbornly in politics as he does in business. So the criticisms that he’s trying to personally buy the presidential election for Newt Gingrich are met with a roll of the eyes. “Those people are either jealous or professional critics,” Adelson tells me during his first interview since he andhis wife began funneling $11 million, with another $10 million injection widely expected, into the former speaker’s super PAC, Winning Our Future. “They like to trash other people. It’s unfair that I’ve been treated unfair—but it doesn’t stop me. I might give $10 million or $100 million to Gingrich.”

Adelson, the 78-year-old CEO of casino giant Las Vegas Sands,  certainly can afford to: With a net worth of roughly $25 billion, that $11 million, which jolted Gingrich’s flatlining presidential bid back to life, equates to 0.044% of his fortune. For someone with a $1 million net worth, the equivalent would be $440, or a two-night stay at Adelson’s Venetian casino. Adelson could personally fund an entire presidential campaign—say, $1 billion or so—andnot even notice.

CONTINUED at Forbes.

*Written by Rob Rimes.

I’m finally back home and have enough time to actually sit down and write. The drive back from Orlando last night, immediately after the debate was insane! Drivers on Interstate 4 are beyond awful and they have no regard for the written and unwritten rules of the road. I nearly died a few times and by the time I got home, I just needed to chill out with some rum and watch ‘Firefly’ on Netflix. I intended to write this immediately after the debate but it just wasn’t possible. Between the lack of sleep the night before, the traveling and the two days of heavy discussions and debate, I was a vegetable. Thank God for my own bed and a bottle of Cruzan Black Strap rum as I feel much more alive this morning.

To start the day, I rolled out of bed at 7:30, which was pretty hard considering I was up late writing and drinking the night before and I just couldn’t get to sleep in a strange bed. I’ve always had trouble sleeping on the road. In fact, the only hotel that I’m comfortable in is the Hampton Inn across the street from the New Orleans Convention Center. Hell, I even have a hard time sleeping in Vegas without a ton of alcohol as a sedative, which is still partially ineffective, as that oxygen they pump through the vents has me wide awake pretty quickly.

So I woke up, got ready and suited up for my day, packed my suitcase and took a few minutes to watch part of the first half of the Liverpool v. Manchester United game before I had to check out. I went downstairs about twenty minutes into the game and ate breakfast with my friends from the Libertarian Party of Collier County. Shortly after this, we headed into the banquet room for the Libertarian Party of Florida’s business meeting. I’m not going to discuss the details but the meeting was informative and entertaining. Like one would expect, peering behind the scenes of politics at any level, the meeting had it’s fair share of heated debates between different factions all vying for control of the Party. Don’t take this the wrong way, this isn’t a bad thing, it is a very healthy way of addressing issues and concerns. All in all, it was a cool experience to see how the Libertarian Party operates in Florida.

At around 11:30, we split for lunch and I took that time to go upstairs and meet with Gary Johnson one last time before the debate. It was your typical meet and greet but there were more people present at this one than the two that I went to on the previous day. I listened in for awhile but I didn’t really interject myself this round. I asked a lot of questions the day before and I felt it was only fair for those who missed out on the earlier meet and greets to have their chance at asking Governor Johnson whatever it was they wanted to know.

I left after about a half hour, as the subjects being covered were already addressed at the previous meetings. Plus, my claustrophobia was kicking in as ten to fifteen people in a small hotel room is too many. I went downstairs, had some killer buffalo wings and spoke to congressional candidate Calen Fretts. If you live in the Florida panhandle, you should vote for Mr. Fretts. He’s got a good head on his shoulders and is a true representative of liberty. I think that may have been an endorsement. Anyway, we all headed back into the banquet hall at 1:00 for the second part of the business meeting. At 3:00 the debate officially started.

Contrary to what I wrote before, Roger Gary was not a part of the debate. Also, Leroy Saunders, a candidate from the State of New York joined the debate. I don’t know much about Mr. Saunders but his involvement added some energy to the event. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a Facebook page or anything else on the social networking level and that can only hurt his campaign, in my opinion. He does have a decent website however. The other candidates were mentioned in an earlier article, they are Gary Johnson, R.J. Harris, R. Lee Wrights, Bill Still and Carl Persons.

Before the debate, those of us who are members of the Libertarian Party of Florida were asked to write down any questions they had for the candidates. Two of my three questions were used in the debate and in fact, they were the first two questions used after the moderators were done asking theirs. The first question, which I asked in an effort to give a boost to Bill Still, went directly to Mr. Still first – how’s that for luck? The question was “What’s your plan to bring about economic recovery? Is it as simple as abolishing the Federal Reserve, returning to a gold standard and significantly cutting spending?” The reason I wanted this question to go to Still is that he takes the stance that a gold standard isn’t the answer. I wanted to give him the opportunity to explain his position, which he did by stating that the majority of the gold is held by the elite, so it isn’t a good way to give control of money back to the people and that throughout history, the gold standard hasn’t been as great as many economists claim.

The second question I asked that was used was “Is there ever a time when U.S. military intervention is necessary?” Most of the candidates said “no”. Gary Johnson however pointed to the Afghan War and said that he was for us going over there and wiping out Al-Qaeda but that we should have come back six months after going to war, as we sent the “evildoers” running for the hills. Leroy Saunders pretty much agreed with Johnson and added that if we are attacked, we have the right to go after the attacker and seek justice but other than that, we need to stay out of the business of all these other countries, except for trade – which should be free.

My third question “How would you curb the Supreme Court from making unconstitutional decisions?”, wasn’t asked. In fact, there was nothing asked about how they would work with the judicial branch, which was unfortunate. This is a subject I don’t hear libertarians discuss very often.

While watching the debate, I noticed that there weren’t a lot of philosophical differences between the candidates. They had different ways to achieve certain goals but for the most part, everything they said, I found to be correct and pretty on point. It’s hard to do a proper critique of the content, as these men know their stuff and were all pretty damn effective at expressing it and hammering their points. It’s really different when you have a debate where the candidates aren’t idiots and they don’t have to constantly explain their stance to an idiot crowd. Libertarians are cut from a different cloth and they typically educate themselves on a variety of topics. They are a group that is constantly in the know and on top of things. I’m not trying to toot my own libertarian horn here but those who truly represent our beliefs, don’t need to have everything explained to them. They are the self-educated minority and have reached a higher plane in their political philosophy that one can’t get to by blindly following mainstream ideas and not questioning what they’ve always been taught.

In the end, I felt that Gary Johnson did a solid job and articulated himself well. Bill Still did really good when the questions were economic based but needed to say more on some of the other subjects. R. Lee Wrights was great and really won me over. Even though I hope Johnson gets the nomination, I’d love Mr. Wrights as VP. R.J. Harris did alright but I was expecting a little more thunder, especially after hearing all the positive things my friends and colleagues have said about him. I wasn’t disappointed by my expectations of him but I wasn’t really impressed either. Leroy Saunders did a pretty good job but often times went on some tangents. He needs to get his talking points down and sharpen his skills. He’s a young guy though and he has a lot of time to get it right, just not in this race. Carl Persons had some sharp insight but he just didn’t bring the fire. I honestly can’t see him as a leader, which is unfortunate, as I did like the things he had to say. Truth be told though, I would take anyone of these guys over Barack Obama or the GOP contenders minus Ron Paul.

After the debate, I immediately left and drove home. I wish I could’ve mingled some more and gone to the Libertarian Party dinner but I really needed to get back. All in all it was a great weekend, I got to spend a lot of time picking Gary Johnson’s brain and I met a lot of like minded people from all over the country. It’s not everyday that an average joe can sit down with a presidential candidate and ask them questions face-to-face. I got to do it twice in one day.

*Written by Rob Rimes.

Man, the last few days have been horrendous as far as the primaries have gone. Saturday night we got the results of the Nevada caucuses, which had Mitt Romney just barely getting the majority vote at 50.1 percent! Yes, Ol’ Mittens got the majority vote! Gingrich came in second with just 21.1 percent with Ron Paul in a close third at 18.8 percent and Rick Santorum in last with a dismal 10 percent. The thing to look at is that this was a horrible night for Santorum, who one would think would bow out at this point but luckily for himself, he didn’t, as you’ll see why shortly. Paul did well but not well enough even though he was just behind Gingrich. Romney killed it however and really solidified the fact that he is the man to beat in this race.. well as of Saturday anyway.

Now when it comes down to it, the race is really about delegates and even though Romney walked away with the most at 14, both Gingrich and Paul got a decent number: Newt at 6 and Paul at 5. Ricky Boy only got 3 in this contest. Now while Mitt Romney owned Las Vegas and Reno, Ron Paul had a strong finish in the south central part of the state in the largest county Nye, as well as neighboring Esmeralda County. Gingrich only took Mineral County and Santorum took none.

Now while these results might seem fine and dandy to some, there has been a number of reports pointing to voter fraud in Nevada. As I have mentioned in a previous article, voter fraud was suspected in the Harry Reid-Sharron Angle midterm election for Senate back in 2010, so this almost doesn’t surprise me. It’s funny how in the primaries where Romney has won, or was originally announced the winner, there has been some form of foul play reported. I’m not saying that Romney and his people are up to something, I’m just saying that shit doesn’t add up and homeboy is constantly the benefactor. Realistically, I shouldn’t spend too much time on this, as I need to look into it deeper and don’t want to speculate without all the evidence. Feel free to look into it yourself but I did post a story about it on The Swash a few days ago.

Moving away from the disappointment of Nevada, we come to the next stop on the campaign trail which is actually split between three states: Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado. The godawful insane truth about this dark Tuesday night was that Rick Santroum walked away with a victory in all three states! America got rick roll’d and hard! The guy who has been the biggest dork dick in this election who should really have no chance at winning, just gave Mitt Romney a stiff uppercut to his man meat! Mittens, who was sure he had this whole show sewn up, was left with some seriously rotten egg on his face. To top that off, Gingrich wasn’t on the ballot in one state and only got third place and last place in the two other. Man, Newtie Bootie truly suffered on this dark day in American history. One positive however, is that Ron Paul, despite Santourm’s incredible performance, rock and rolled so hard in Minnesota that he blew Romney and Gingrich out of the water.

In Minnesota, Santorum got 45 percent with 6 delegates, Paul got 27 percent with 4 delegates while Romney got 17 percent with 2 delegates and Gingrich got 11 percent and 1 delegate. So even though Santorum did really well and so did Paul, neither still earned enough delegates to really sock it to Mitt, who is still riding high from those 50 delegates he ripped away from Florida last week.

In Colorado, Santorum and Romney were literally neck and neck by the time I fell asleep. Actually, last I remember, Romney was ahead by a point or two. In the end, Santorum got 40 percent with 17 delegates, Romney got 35 percent with 13 delegates, Gingrich got 13 percent with 2 delegates and Ron Paul only walked away with a single delegate after finishing at 12 percent. Colorado, another state where Ron Paul was bringing out the people and generating large crowds, ended up being all for naught for those of us who support the Constitution. I guess the Evangelicals were too numerous to be stopped in the Rocky Mountains. It’s truly exasperating to see Dr. Paul get so much strong support from the people yet somehow it doesn’t translate into votes. I guess there are more people in the boring religious sect, that are hiding in the basements of those megachurches, than we realize.

Missouri is another state that Santorum took by storm. However, winning Missouri is kind of pointless, as there were no delegates to be awarded. Santorum, Romney, Gingrich and Paul all walked away with no delegates, regardless of how the race went. Apparently they are supposed to hand out delegates sometime next month but the state’s whole caucus system is goddamned confusing and these caucuses were really just some sort of over-hyped straw poll. Regardless, Santorum got a disgusting 55 percent, which just makes me hate Missouri. He also won every county, which makes me hate the state even more. If Vincent Price didn’t come from that Jesus freak acid trip of a state, I’d lobby to have it removed from the United States. Romney got 25 percent, Paul got 12 percent and 4 percent went to some mystery candidate that only goes by the name of “Uncommitted”.

I’m really kind of speechless at this point, as I can’t believe anyone would vote for Rick Santorum, the worst choice for president, let alone three whole states worth of people! I guess this goes to show a few things. First, there is no super strong candidate, as the Republican collective isn’t backing just one guy. Romney may have been pulling away with this thing but Ricky Boy just stole his thunder. Secondly, due to the fact that there isn’t a strong candidate, the guy that Americans are choosing is different from region to region. This is a very regional race and despite what part of the country each candidate caters to, it is going to be the candidate that caters to the larger states that walks away with this thing. The final observation, based off of the two previous observations is that we’re completely fucked.

I will say this, the race has been so topsy turvy it’s insane and it provides for some real entertainment. This is like the World Series mixed with a trashy reality show and blended up with a circus sideshow; there is no other way to describe it. However, as much as it entertains, amuses and even gets under one’s skin at times, the results of this shit show are really what is important and at this point, those results are looking pretty damn horrible.

*Written by Rob Rimes.

Four states down and only forty-six more to go! Next up is Nevada, where three villains and one hero will clash over who will take the reigns of the GOP elephant! Regardless of what happens, Romney will still have the reigns, as Florida gave him so many delegates that it’ll take a few solid wins or second place finishes for one of the other candidates to catch up, which can be done fairly quickly mind you. Newt Gingrich could come out strong, Ron Paul’s already got the jump on the others and Santorum may just generate enough wacky religio-fascist rhetoric to get the crazy cultic mole men who live in the Vegas sewers to rise up in the streets just long enough to cast their vote. I’ve been told that this overly-religious subterranean sect of mole men are nothing more than an urban legend but when I was in Vegas about six months ago, I could’ve sworn that I saw a few wandering around the dumpsters behind Circus Circus. I found it odd that they had two lesbian Thai prostitutes chained to the hood of an ’85 Yugo GV in some sort of sacrificial rite but this was Vegas and I never involve myself in religious mumbo jumbo – so I kept on walking. Plus I tripped and crashed through a table full of pills earlier in the night, so my head could’ve been providing me with some form of strange entertainment that no one else could see.

Anyway, one big plus for us Ron Paul fans is that the Grandmaster of Constitutional Liberty ditched Florida and went on the road elsewhere, one of these places being Nevada. Dr. Paul beat the other three candidates to the punch, as two out of the three of them wasted so much of their time and money in a state where they walked away with nothing more than a kick in the balls and a slap on the back. So who’s the most economical candidate, I have to ask?

Ron Paul’s events in the Battle Born State have been met with great fanfare and he’s getting a lot of support from the people out there in the neon desert. Now will this translate to votes? I certainly hope so but just like in other states, this trend hasn’t necessarily worked in Dr. Paul’s favor. He had great events in South Carolina while Newt Gingrich had to cancel a major event just before the primary out there due to “lack of interest”. Strangely, Newt Gingrich won South Carolina by a large margin and Paul finished last. This could be because Paul’s supporters are so passionate and gung ho that they’ll attend every event in an attempt to push their candidate to the moon while the supporters of Gingrich, Santorum and in many cases Romney are just couch potato assholes that don’t pay much attention, have no passion and only go out to vote based off of two things: Fox News tells them to hate Obama and Fox News tells them that Ron Paul is crazy. I hope the Drunken Party State doesn’t follow this bullshit craze because from my time out there, these people don’t seem like they need a shepherd.

However, polls indicate that Romney is going to take Nevada as well and it looks as if Paul will be in last place. When you peel back the surface on Nevada, especially Las Vegas, you come to see that the town is pretty much run by unions. All the casino employees are unionized and therefore are probably going to want to protect their jobs and their benefits by voting for one of these progressive liberal conservatives. Hell, this state has been voting for Harry Reid for what seems like centuries now. Tea Party favorite Sharron Angle nearly beat him in 2010 though and there is a lot of speculation that there was foul play and election fraud going on the day of the election, so who’s to say that there isn’t a big front of fiscally responsible conservatives that want a better candidate that can and will bring forth positive change economically? Then again, in their short history, the Tea Party has proven to be more rhetoric than action. In the case of Nevada, a poll today shows that Tea Party members are split between Romney and Gingrich with Ron Paul dead last! What the hell is wrong with these people? Everything they say is completely different than how they vote! The Tea Party has no room to bitch anymore. That’s it! They’re done!

Despite how this is seemingly projected to go, the Nevada caucuses have not happened yet and, as this race has proven, anything can happen. I think Ron Paul’s doing better out there right now than some of these polls indicate based off of his early arrival and successful events. Romney is the man to beat however and he is in a position where he can pull away with the nomination. Being the favorite and having a significant advantage in the number of delegates collected, Mr. Mittens is on the verge of solidifying his position as Barack Obama’s 2012 nemesis. As I’ve said, the others can rock out and catch up but it will not be easy by any means. If Romney wins Nevada and the next few states after, the GOP voter base will pretty much fall in line and unify behind their top dog and will just make the rest of his primary journey that much easier.

Now is the time to pull out the big guns and take it to Mitt. I still believe that this is a two man race between Romney and Paul, as Newt, even with his successes, continues to crash and burn week after week and Santorum is just a dickbag dork that can only rally people who are Jesus freaks and too inept to remotely follow politics on a real level. If Paul can win this or finish in a strong second, he is still solidly in the hunt. If he finishes last and then has a few not-so-great performances post-Nevada, this thing may be over. Dr. Paul’s message is spreading like it never has before. The question is, has it truly penetrated Nevada yet? We shall see shortly.

Keep in mind that what happens in Vegas, affects the whole country – if not the whole world. I’m hoping that my home away from home doesn’t disappoint me like Florida did. Truth be told, I’m looking for real estate outside of this phallically-shaped state.

Newt Gingrich is taking a decidedly populist tone as he tries to revive his candidacy after a big loss in Florida.

While his archrival Mitt Romney was getting an endorsement in the GOP presidential race from real estate mogul Donald Trump, Mr. Gingrich was speaking at Xtreme Manufacturing, a company that makes telescoping forklifts, delivery trucks and cubes that can be used for everything from living space to laboratories. He start off with “some fascinating differences” between himself and Mitt Romney. “Let me say first of all that I like hiring people,” he said, in a dig at the former Massachusetts governor. Mr. Romney made headlines last month for saying he liked “firing people” when talking about health-care companies that fail to provide good service.

As he campaigned in Nevada ahead of the state’s Saturday nominating caucuses, Mr. Gingrich continued to mock the GOP front-runner for saying Wednesday that he is not concerned about the very poor because they’re protected by social safety net programs.

“Mitt Romney and Barack Obama seem to believe that a safety net is all the poor need,” Mr. Gingrich said. “What the poor need is a trampoline so they can spring up.”

It’s the second time in recent weeks that Mr. Gingrich has taken up the banner of the working man. After losing badly in the New Hampshire GOP primary, Mr. Gingrich attacked Mr. Romney for practicing unethical capitalism at Bain Capital, the Boston private-equity firm he helped start. His latest volleys, some of which he first launched in Florida, are more focused on propping up low-earners.

Mr. Gingrich, for instance, often says those receiving unemployment assistance should have to enroll in business training programs. Meantime, Mr. Gingrich brushed off reports that Mr. Trump is supporting Mr. Romney. While touring the factory, Mr. Gingrich said he hadn’t expected the endorsement and wondered aloud how the star of reality TV show “Celebrity Apprentice” manages to garner so much attention.

Source: Wall Street Journal.

*Written by Rob Rimes.

Continued from: The Mitt Romney Problem, Part I: Smaller Government.

“If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.” – James Madison

Foreign Entanglements:

Mitt Romney is like the world’s dumbest used car salesman for war. While that might sound like an unfair and unjust observation, let’s look at this guy’s ideas on what our foreign policy should be. To be frank, his actions either call for immediate war or create and perpetuate the environment for war. If Mr. Romney were to have his way, we’d be locked in wars with Iran and China not to mention all the other ones we’re involved in at the moment. Also, who’s to say that this guy wouldn’t pile on even more wars with his careless actions due to his inability to understand why other nations hate the American Empire.

Let’s first look at Iraq, an issue that Romney has either been confused by or has flip-flopped on, the latter is more likely as that is his modus operandi. On whether or not he has supported the war, Mitt’s stance has been cloudy to say the least. The main reason is that there isn’t any consistency between the different times he’s been asked the question. Recently in December of 2011, Romney said that if he had intel that said that there weren’t nuclear weapons in Iraq, then we shouldn’t have invaded that country. In fact, here is how that interview with NBC’s Chuck Todd went down:

Romney: ”If we knew at the time of our entry into Iraq that there were no weapons of mass destruction, if somehow we had been given that information, obviously we would not have gone in.”

Todd: ”You don’t think we would have gone in?”

Romney: ”Well of course not. The president went in based upon intelligence that they had weapons of mass destruction. Had he known that that was not the case, the U.N. would not have put forward resolutions authorizing this type of action. The president would not have been pursuing that course. But we did not know that. Based upon what we knew at the time, we were very much under the impression as a nation, our president was under the impression, that they had weapons of mass destruction, that Saddam Hussein was intent on potentially using those weapons, and so he took action based upon what he knew. But to go back and say, well knowing what we know now would we have gone in. Well, knowing what we know now, they did not have weapons of mass destruction, there would have been no effort on the part of our president or others to take military action.”

Odd, considering what he has said before this interview. During a 2008 presidential debate, Mitt Romney said the Iraq War was “a good idea worth the cost in blood and treasure we have spent. It was the right decision to go into Iraq. I supported it at the time; I support it now.” For the record, it was well-known in 2008 that Iraq didn’t have any weapons of mass destruction. You see, Mitt Romney’s stance in the Iraq situation is all over the place. Like most answers he gives, the words he speaks are dependent upon who he is talking to or what the political climate is at the time. Romney, like the professional politician he is – yet claims he isn’t, will say anything to win the hearts of the voter. The reason I have started with this example is to show you how soulless the man is and how his stance on the other foreign entanglements, which I’m about to get into, could be nothing but pandering bullshit and probably is.

On the ongoing war in Afghanistan, Romney has given us a giant spoonful of his bullshit rhetoric. He’s said that he will refuse to talk to the Taliban. Well okay asshole, how do you expect to get anything done or solve the problems over there if you aren’t willing to talk to the other side of the conflict? Romney is either a complete fucking idiot on this issue, a total coward or just pandering to the GOP voters in order to get cheap pops at the debates.

So with the moronic stance that Mitt Romney has, what can we expect for the future of the United States-Afghanistan relationship? Well, contrary to the sort of hype and bullshit that these politicians and pundits try to feed you, we cannot conquer Afghanistan and force our ways on them. The country doesn’t have the structure of a typical nation. It is made up of feuding tribes that fight for dominance and supremacy; there isn’t one organized enemy to point your guns at. Sure, the Taliban takes the blame for everything but the issue of Afghanistan certainly isn’t as black and white as that.

Besides, who gave the Taliban their power to begin with? Well, the United States did. Why? Because we were scared shitless of the Soviets during the Cold War and we training and gave arms to these men that we now call terrorists. If Mitt even listened to what the people in countries like Afghanistan said about us, he’d understand their hatred towards America. However, guys like Mitt (and Santorum and Gingrich for that matter) have all the answers and have apparently never heard of a little something called “cause and effect”. If he had, he’d know that these people are sick of us being in their country swinging our dicks around and telling them what to do. Common sense is just too fucking much for some people to muster!

On the issue of Libya, Mitt has also pandered and always found himself on the side of the issue that best fits his situation at the time. In March of 2011, around the time the conflict started, Romney immediately came out in a radio interview and said that Obama waited too long and should have acted earlier. He said that the president’s handling of the situation made him look “weak” and that we should have led the charge instead of following NATO. Jesus, where do I even start on how ridiculous his statements are? The truth is, we shouldn’t have been involved.. AT ALL! Once again, America intervenes and oversees a regime change. Throughout history, this action has always proved to be disastrous. Also, Romney apparently, at that time, didn’t care about the Constitution as the invasion of Libya wasn’t properly brought before Congress. None of this matters though, as Romney flip-flopped again and again on this – like every other issue.

Less than a month later, Ol’ Mittens was in Las Vegas to speak to the Republican Jewish Coalition. When asked about his stance on Libya, Mitt Romney ignored the concerns and refused to provide an answer. In fact, it was reported by Las Vegas Review-Journal that:

Romney was silent on Libya, the newest and stickiest military and U.S. policy problem as the United States and its NATO allies enforce a no-fly zone to help rebels oust Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. After his speech, Romney refused to take questions from reporters about his position on Libya. Instead, he and his wife, Ann, fled down a hallway and escaped up an escalator at The Venetian, where the event was held. ‘I’ve got a lot of positions on a lot of topics, but walking down the hall probably isn’t the best place to describe all those,’ Romney said, deflecting a Libya query as he walked quickly with half a dozen journalists trailing him.

Writing about this situation, Daniel Larison of American Conservative said:

Romney seems unable to stake out a foreign policy position until after the Republican consensus has formed, and he then adapts himself to whatever that consensus happens to be…This does save him from the acrobatics required to maintain an anti-Obama position when Obama switches from restraint to starting a war, but it is just another reminder that Romney doesn’t hold foreign policy positions so much as he mimics those who do….For someone who is so fond of mocking Obama’s leadership or lack thereof, it is revealing that when Romney has to stake out a position one way or the other on a controversial question he is unable to show any leadership at all.

So while Romney went from bashing Obama for acting too late and then went mute on the situation, he then flip-flopped completely and took the position that Obama was acting too aggressively! Mitt wrote an op-ed for National Review where he stated that Obama should have just enforced a no fly zone, this way Libya couldn’t bomb their own citizens. Right, the Libyans bombing the Libyans is what we need to worry about? Has Mitt seen the pictures of Tripoli before and after the NATO strikes? I think NATO shouldn’t have been flying over Libya because they treated the damn place like a litter box in the house of a cat hoarder!

Romney then decided that maybe he did like the Constitution and that the way this war started, being that it wasn’t approved by Congress, suddenly had Mitt’s panties in a bunch. He wrote:

Military action cannot be under-deliberated and ad hoc. The president owes it to the American people and Congress to immediately explain his new Libya mission and its strategic rationale.

Well shit man, you were all for it only a few months earlier, what-the-fuck-ever. Shortly after that he was quoted as saying:

Now the president is saying we have to remove Gaddafi. Who’s going to own Libya if we get rid of the government there?

Funny he should say that since Gaddafi was killed shortly after that. After Gaddafi’s death Romney said:

I have seen those reports and if accurate I think the response is it’s about time. This was a tyrant who has been killing his own people and of course is responsible for the lives of American citizens lost in the Lockerbie attack….I think people across the world recognize that the world is a better place without Moammar Gaddafi.

Apparently he wasn’t too concerned with who would take over for Gaddafi, as he was worried about it a few weeks prior. The truth is, the “freedom fighters” that the United States and NATO helped and have propped up as the new dictators are comprised of Taliban members – you know, those people Romney refuses to talk to. Point is, Mitt is all over the place on this shit and the term he is often times associated with, “flip-flopper”, is a massive understatement!

On Iran, Mitt Romney is already geared up to go to war if he is elected president. He feels that if they are developing a nuclear missile, then it is America’s job to go over there and bomb the bejesus out of them. The truth doesn’t matter to guys like Romney, even with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta recently admitting that Iran has no immediate plans for a nuclear warhead. Nope, who cares about the truth, lets just keep selling lies to the American people and push the nation towards war with Iran. But what’s the real issue here? If it is known that Iran is not making a nuclear bomb, then why is Romney (and also Gingrich and Santorum) so quick to go to war with them? Could it be because they just don’t want Iran working on getting any sort of nuclear capabilities or is it something more sinister?

Well, Romney wants to put serious sanctions on Iran, which will just harm the innocent people there and in turn, create another group of people who would have a reason to hate us. Romney also wants to focus these sanctions on the CBI (Central Bank of Iran). Why does Romney want to try and cripple the Iranian financial system? Maybe it’s just a way to thank all of his top ten contributors, each of which is a major banking firm. Now I am not trying to play conspiracy theorist here but when you destroy a country’s financial infrastructure, it isn’t hard to move your banks in and start trading off of the resources of that toppled country. When that main resource is oil, it isn’t hard to see where this is going. Hell, former economic hitman John Perkins has made a career out of writing about this stuff, which is a lot more common than people think.

What Romney should be doing is trying to tap into the growing liberty movement in Iran. The youngsters there want to be free and generation after generation, regardless of what their monstrous Iranian government tries to do to stop it, the people become more and more Americanized. Our influence on the younger culture of Iran is paramount and for a so-called leader to bomb them instead of reaching out to them, as the guard will change eventually, is completely careless, reckless and vile! It’s obvious that Romney doesn’t care abut the people of Iran or he just chooses to be ignorant of what is actually going on over there.

This brings me to China, a country that has more in common with Iran than most people know. This is because China also has a younger generation who are sick and tired of the archaic ways of their leaders and want nothing more than a freer society that resembles something along the lines of the American Dream as opposed to the stifling grip of communism and tyrannical control. Instead of recognizing this and working towards a better situation with China through free trade and friendship, Mitt Romney wants to get stricter and punish China, who we do a lot of business with.

Mitt Romney wants tariffs and sanctions and all types of stupid crap, which will just hurt China and hurt us in the long run. Romney believes the fairytale that if we make business difficult for those we don’t like then somehow they’ll bow down to the great and powerful America and thus jobs and prosperity will magically return to the United States. I guess Romney can’t wrap his head around the fact that a tariff is a tax that will just be pushed on to the end consumer, that being the American people. Essentially, we will have to pay for this form of punishment from China, as they will just pass the buck to us. Doesn’t Romney the self-procliamed King of Business understand how this stuff works?

He talks about how China needs to be slapped around because they manipulate our currency. I guess Mitt fails to understand something else. The truth is, we manipulate our own currency by allowing the Federal Reserve the power to print money and manipulate the markets! Romney wants to punish China over an issue where we are the real criminals! I hear him talking all this trash about being strict and not rolling over for the Chinese but I don’t hear anything about shutting down the Federal Reserve. Oh yes, I almost forgot, Mitt has all those big banks in his pocket and he wouldn’t want that!

Mitt Romney’s stance with China can only lead us down one path and that is a trade war with the biggest manufacturer in the world. We will lose more American jobs, people will buy less from us and our currency will continue to be devalued because this puppet of the corrupt financial system either can’t see for the forest for the trees or he has to obey the masters who own his campaign.

On foreign policy, Mitt Romney is a joke and a whole slew of disasters just waiting to happen. For someone who claims to be so business savvy, you’d expect him to bring some actual knowledge to the table. His understanding of foreign affairs and economics is about as on par as that moronic blowhard Bill O’Reilly. Chances are Mitt, like O’Reilly, has probably never heard of Keynesian economics. He certainly doesn’t know how to take this great country of ours and pull it out of the depths in an attempt to set it back on the right track. Mitt Romney’s foreign policy will cost us so much money that our economy will become a sinkhole. The damage is already damn near irreparable and Romney will only make it worse. This shuckster should either open a used car lot or a pawn shop because if he has his way, we’ll be in a few more expensive wars and in a trade battle with China. Mitt Romney wants America to wear cement shoes to the pool party.

“Domestic policy can only defeat us; foreign policy can kill us.” – John F. Kennedy

Continued shortly in Part III..

THE SIGN SAYS NO TOUCHING, LADY!

This was the coolest thing on display at the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Granted I didn’t go, but I showed this video (and ONLY this video. Okay, plus a cat one) to a couple friends and they agreed. It’s a smart window from Samsung – basically a one-way window (people on the other side can’t see in) with a full-pane electronic touchscreen display where you can display info, roam the internet, watch adult films, etc., etc. It can even turn into virtual blinds!!!!!1 Just watch the video. The future, ladies and gentlemen — it’s really almost here!

Hit the jump for the worthwhile video. I know I’m a crappy describer but it really is pretty cool.

Thanks to lilco, who once watched a guy pick his teeth for two minutes straight in a mirrored window not realizing there people on the other side. OMG — what an idiot!

Source: Geekologie.

Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson is planning to direct $20 million to an outside group backing Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign, multiple sources told POLITICO — the first answer to urgent pleas from allies to the former speaker’s longtime billionaire supporters.

After leaving Congress, Gingrich cultivated a network of a few dozen über-wealthy backers who poured tens of millions of dollars into a network of groups that helped him maintain a foothold in politics. Now, operatives supporting his presidential campaign are asking those same donors to write fat checks to a suite of new super PACs they hope can spend big on ads to offset Gingrich campaign fundraising that had lagged behind his rivals’.

Adelson is considered the prized get for pro-Gingrich groups.

Adelson spokesman Ron Reese denied the $20 million commitment, saying “there’s no truth to any speculation that Mr. Adelson has made a commitment to either contribute or raise this amount of money.”

Reese declined to comment on potential future political giving by Adelson on behalf of Gingrich or in general, saying Adelson doesn’t talk about his political activities. Many major donors prefer to keep their activity low-profile, though federal rules require super PACs to disclose their donors in the coming weeks.

Sources with direct knowledge of the $20 million figure, who requested anonymity, told POLITICO that Adelson planned to cut a check to one of the PACs as soon as this week.

A major contribution from Adelson would enable the recipient group to start airing ads in Iowa to counter a weeklong anti-Gingrich on-air assault that is already taking a toll on his front-runner status in the Hawkeye State, according to private and public polling.

Adelson and his wife Miriam Adelson each contributed the $2,500 maximum to Gingrich’s campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in August. But there weren’t many options for them and other wealthy donors looking to give more to help Gingrich through the summer, when his campaign was on life support.

That changed as Gingrich’s campaign started surging last month, prompting his allies to create new outside groups known as super PACs that can accept unlimited funds to air ads supporting him.

Perhaps the leading player in the pro-Gingrich super PAC space, Winning Our Future, was unveiled this week and is being headed by Becky Burkett, who was the lead fundraiser for Gingrich’s main political vehicle over the past few years, the fundraising juggernaut American Solutions for Winning the Future.

That group raised $54 million — including $7.7 million from Adelson — between its late 2006 creation and its collapse this year after Gingrich left it to run for president, according to Internal Revenue Service filings.

CONTINUED at Las Vegas Sun.

I don’t know how these will perform, but holy f*ck the new Vizio PCs and notebooks look amazingly good. Indeed, they may beat sleepy PC giants at their own game. Their designer must be a genetic mix of Jon Ive and Tony Stark.

Vizio is really pushing this one full speed ahead. Their all-in-on PCs come in 24 and 27-inch flavors look impressively clean and cool. I’m hoping all this is aluminum and stainless steel. Beautiful. They are also releasing a 14 and 15.6-inch light laptops, which seem rather MacBook Air-esque thin, as well as a 15.6-inch laptop. They are a bit me too, but I think they are the best looking PCs for now.

More good news: all of them are running a completely free-of-bloatware Windows 7 version optimized by Microsoft. Yes. It seems these guys may follow the Apple way all the way. Here’s hoping.

Oh, and there is a 10-inch Star Trek-ish tablet too.

Source: Gizmodo.