The Delusional Mr. Romney

Exclusive: Mitt Romney told supporters behind closed doors that he’s disadvantaged because he was born to a rich white family, that he’d have a better chance to win if his dad were a Mexican. It’s getting hard to decide if Romney is simply a country-club racist or delusional, writes Robert Parry.

By Robert Parry

Mitt Romney has taken some heat for comments made at a Republican fundraiser disparaging “47 percent” of the American people as leaches who get government benefits and “believe that they are victims.” But perhaps even more troubling was his claim that he would be better off politically if his father were Mexican.

The comment suggests that the GOP presidential nominee has no idea the challenges faced in the United States by immigrants and people of color, compared to the advantages that he enjoyed being the son of a wealthy white auto executive who also had a successful career in politics, becoming governor of Michigan.

A crowd of Mitt Romney's supporters. (Photo credit: mittromney.com)

Given Mitt Romney’s limited intellect and his clumsy people skills, the odds are that he never would have made it very far in America if he had not been born into a family of prominence and privilege.

Yet, in Romney’s mind, he’s the victim here, the beleaguered white guy from a rich family; the kid who attended a pricey prep school and Harvard University; the business executive who was set up by wealthy friends with tens of millions of dollars to succeed in private equity. Romney was born on third base with a silver spoon in his mouth and convinced himself that he had not only hit a triple but had taught himself to be a world-class silversmith.

But now he finds himself struggling in the presidential race against an African-American with the middle name Hussein who grew up a semi-orphan — with an absentee father from Kenya and a single mom who later remarried and moved to Indonesia — raised mostly by his aging grandparents in Hawaii, and who required scholarships to get an education.

So, naturally, it is Mitt Romney who deserves our pity. In the recently released video of Romney’s comments at a closed fundraiser last May, Romney is heard lamenting that he would have a better chance to win the White House if his dad were Mexican.

“My dad, as you probably know was the governor of Michigan and was the head of a car company,” Romney said. “But he was born in Mexico, and, uh, had he been born of, uh, Mexican parents, I’d have a better shot at winning this.”

This self-pitying comment the New York Times characterized the remark as “joking” recalls another clunker told by Romney last month poking fun at President Barack Obama for being the target of right-wing “birther” conspiracies challenging the Hawaii state records showing that Obama was born in Hawaii.

Speaking in his native Michigan and standing alongside his wife Ann, Romney said, “Now I love being home in this place where Ann and I were raised, where both of us were born. Ann was born in Henry Ford Hospital. I was born in Harper Hospital. No one’s ever asked to see my birth certificate. They know that this is the place that we were born and raised.”

After the “punch line,” Romney paused to take in the appreciative laughter and applause from his predominantly white audience. U.S. media pundits were quick to reassure the American people that despite the tasteless “joke” referencing the racist lie that Barack Obama was born in Kenya the Republican presidential candidate was surely no racist.

But Romney is rapidly building a record as one of those clueless rich white guys who thinks of himself as a self-made winner  while portraying people with darker skin and less money as pathetic losers and parasites. His vice presidential running mate Paul Ryan is known as the devotee of Ayn Rand but Romney also seems to have internalized her philosophy of selfishness, which divides society into productive supermen and useless moochers.

Now, Romney has taken his country-club racism a step further, suggesting that being a person of color whose parents emigrated from a poor country is actually an advantage that gives you a leg-up on someone like him.

No Apology

Yet, while wishing to be a Mexican-American for its presumed political advantages, Romney disparaged Mexicans in his book, No Apology, which delves into academic theories about their alleged cultural inferiority. Describing his thoughts as he traveled the world, he wrote:

“I wondered how such vast differences could exist between countries that were literally next door to each other. How could Americans be so rich and Mexicans so poor? How could Israelis have created a highly developed, technology-based economy while their Palestinian neighbors had not yet even begun to move to an industrial economy?”

Romney praised the writings of Harvard professor David Landes, who in Wealth and Poverty of Nations said “culture makes all the difference.”

Romney added that “What people believe, value, strive for, and sacrifice for profoundly shape the nature of their society and affect its prosperity and security. So while America’s abundant natural resources certainly facilitated its ascent, it is America’s culture that enabled the nation to become and remain the most powerful and beneficent country in the history of humankind.”

Then, Romney cited some cultural aspects possessed by such countries that prosper contrasted with those that don’t including a strong work ethic, creativity, entrepreneurial spirit, cooperation, commitment to education, faith in God, devotion to family, patriotism, honor, trust in the law, and respect for life.

“There are cultures where life is cheap, but thankfully, ours is not one of them,” Romney wrote.

Romney reprised some of these thoughts during his gaffe-filled foreign trip in late July. He offended Palestinians and even some Israelis with a similar condescension toward Arabs living in Gaza and the West Bank. Pandering to an audience of Jewish-Americans in Jerusalem, Romney contrasted Israel’s prosperity against the poverty in the Palestinian territories.

Again citing Landes’s book, Romney asserted that “culture makes all the difference. And as I come here and I look out over this city and consider the accomplishments of the people of this nation, I recognize the power of at least culture and a few other things,” an apparent reference to divine intervention on Israel’s behalf.

“As you come here and you see the G.D.P. per capita, for instance, in Israel, which is about $21,000 and compare that with the G.D.P. per capita just across the areas managed by the Palestinian Authority, which is more like $10,000 per capita, you notice such a dramatically stark difference in economic vitality.”

Romney misstated how big a discrepancy there was between what the average Israeli makes versus the average Palestinian. He put the difference at about 2 to 1, when it is more like 20 to 1. According to the World Bank, Israel’s per capita G.D.P. actually is $31,282, compared to a Palestinian per capita G.D.P. of around $1,600.

But Romney’s larger point was that Israel’s relative economic success, versus the Palestinians’ economic struggles, could be traced to Israel’s cultural superiority, not to the long-term Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories that has denied those inhabitants a reasonable chance to build a modern economy.

Saeb Erekat, a top aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, told The Associated Press that Romney’s comment was “a racist statement” and ignorant of the facts.

“This man doesn’t realize that the Palestinian economy cannot reach its potential because there is an Israeli occupation,” Erekat said. “It seems to me this man lacks information, knowledge, vision and understanding of this region and its people.”

Romney’s campaign denied that his remark was intended to slight the Palestinians. But there’s no doubt that when you say that one nation thrives because of its superior culture that means that another one fails because of its deficient culture. For the Palestinians, that assessment is particularly offensive since much of their poverty relates directly to the harsh conditions from decades of Israeli occupation, including barriers to outside trade.

But the new disclosures from the video, which was initially leaked to Mother Jones magazine, reveal Romney as not just a person who looks down at Mexicans for their cultural deficiencies but who also thinks that their ethnicity gives them some unfair advantage over him.

In Romney’s delusional world, Mexicans are simultaneously inferior and privileged, while being born a white male into a rich and prominent American family makes you the victim.

Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories in the 1980s for the Associated Press and Newsweek. His latest book, Neck Deep: The Disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush, was written with two of his sons, Sam and Nat, and can be ordered at neckdeepbook.com. His two previous books, Secrecy & Privilege: The Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq and Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, the Press & ‘Project Truth’ are also available there.

43 comments for “The Delusional Mr. Romney

  1. Lyle Courtsal
    September 25, 2012 at 17:53

    Romney attacks the 47%, but the fact is that the long term budget cutting, economic de-regulation and union busting his party and the corporations have been involved in are the true causality for the present mess. This is a typical projection by a fascist, create the problem and then blame the victim. It repeats itself throughout fascist history internationally. Take the stimulus mess; the republicans block the stimulus investments, then blame Obama for the consequences. This is also what happened to Roosevelt and before. The bankers withheld capital access, then blamed Roosevelt for the consequences. History shows that because of their obstructionism, the cash spent on regrowing the eoonomy both then and now is not enough to turn the situation around. Look at canada; no drug war, legal cannabis legal hemp and their society is doing a lot better than ours. They are sane and well educated. We aren’t

  2. Four Housecats of the Apocalypse
    September 21, 2012 at 21:10

    Eisenhower warned us about the military/industrial complex. Kennedy was assassinated because he was about to tell us who really runs this country. Since then, all Presidents, Representatives and Senators no matter from which party have played the game and danced to the tune of the multinational corporations who want the United States to be a nation of mindless sheep greatful for even a crumb that is thrown their way. Nothing short of the violent overthrow of the government will return true power to the citizens of this country. Line a few folks up in front of a firing squad and watch how quickly meaningful good paying jobs are returned to this country. See how quickly education becomes true learning and not brainwashing. See how rapidly anyone how wants to earn a fair share in the wealth of this nation will be able to do so. Watch how rapidly the natinal deficit disappears and funds are ‘magically found for Social Security, Medicare, and other social programs. Only by impowering the citizens of this nation and destoying the power of the multinational corporations and their lackeys in government can we once again become a great nation.

  3. clarence swinney
    September 20, 2012 at 12:32

    CAP GAINS HEARINGS IN CONGRESS
    Why have workers paid a 28% tax rate and investors+ gamblers pay a 15% Tax Rate.
    30 million make minimum wage. 4 million make less. 30 million  makes $7.25 per hour And pay full payroll tax. An income of 10 Million pays 1% and above that it is less and less and less. Some millionaire incomes pay none.
    Is our labor not worth a Fair share in our prosperity?
    We MUST tax Wealth to get rid of our debt. Only Way.
    50% Top on income and Estates.
    A must.

  4. September 20, 2012 at 09:52

    Romney appears to think that the corporate media still has a monopoly on dissemination of information. Radical right parasites like him have enjoyed protection for decades, none of these facts about him would ever have become generally known without that monopoly. This became clear during the 2008 election, when the two Gops running for the White House were revealed to be worthless fools by the internet. I am astonished that neither Baby Boomer Romney or the younger Ryan have been smart enough to learn from that Gop debacle.

  5. clarence swinney
    September 20, 2012 at 09:20

    DEBT FACT CHECK
    Romney ad states Obama increased debt by 5Trillion. LIE.
    Bush last budget ended 9-30-09 with a Debt of 11,900B
    Current Debt is 16,000B.
    Increase of 4100B. Most the result of Bush programs.
    Bush Tax Cuts–Two Wars—Part D Medicare
    CBO reported that 2001-2010 Bush “New” programs added 5100B
    and Obama “New” programs added 1300B.

    Bush tax cuts cost $1900B– 2001-2010 -over ten years.

    Sad part is Top 1% gained 37.6% and Top 5% gained 48.3%
    and bottom 60% gained 16.5%.

    Romney has the ignorance to attack that 60%.
    He is proposing Tax Cuts where the top will get a $250,000 tax cut.

    The Top 10% need a Tax Increase not a Tax Cut.
    The top 10% need a larger tax on their Estates.
    It is shameful when one family, Walton, has more wealth than 90% of the families.

    It is unAmerican plus unlike Christlike to enrich the rich more when we have 46 Million getting Food Stamps and unemployed or under employed at highest since Great Depression.

    We need jobs, higher pay for workers, health insurance, and pensions for all workers which is what built the great American Middle Class and gave us a happy society.
    Clarence Swinney ticked off

    • bobzz
      September 20, 2012 at 21:44

      Let’s pile on here. What did Obama inherit? The figure I saw was the Bush tax cuts over eight years cost $2.7, updated by now to $3 trillion. The Iraq War: one trillion, just for the war itself. Afghanistan: approaching $1 trillion (were it not for the Commander and chief’s incompetence he could have killed or captured all of AQ at Tora Bora, but he did not send enough men to get the job done. He would have been the new Schwartzkoff (sp.). How much has it cost for Homeland Security and the treatment of our troops that came home to joblessness? And the hidden costs: marriage breakups, more single mothers whose kids will be stuck in the 47%? The feckless war on drugs: $1 trillion. The ancillary cost to the legal system to prosecute drug offenders and support a new Jim Crow penal system. The bank failure: that is partially on Clinton for following the Republican advice of Greenspan, Rubin, and Summers. The objections to Glass-Steagall came from Democrats like Kucinich and others while most Republicans were on board. Cost: 11 millions jobs and lost tax revenue, unemployment comp, surely in the billions, but I do not have the exact figures. And they that fought tooth and nail to keep the reform teeth out of Dodd-Frank, setting the potential for a repeat of 2008: Republicans. The stimulus that would not have been necessary were it not for the “trust us” banks. Revenue losses from exporting good paying jobs overseas thanks to Republican (mostly) CEOs. Then there is NAFTA that sent millions of Mexican farmers el norte because they could not compete with big farm America. All I am saying is that the largest chunk of the debt, by far, is not on Obama, but a continuation of Bush policies—policies so bad that even the Republicans have buried him. When we went through the Great Depression, we had a manufacturing base. We don’t have that now, and we ain’t getting it back. Hey cheer up; the Romney tax break for the rich will put $4 million in Sheldon Adelson’s pocket.

  6. ORAXX
    September 19, 2012 at 17:38

    I can’t see Paul Wolfowitz, John Bolton, Dick Cheney, and the other neo-cons leading Romney down the garden path. No siree. (Sarcasm)

  7. Aaron
    September 19, 2012 at 12:13

    “Romney reprised some of these thoughts during his gaffe-filled foreign trip in late July. He offended Palestinians – and even some Israelis – with a similar condescension toward Arabs living in Gaza and the West Bank. Pandering to an audience of Jewish-Americans in Jerusalem, Romney contrasted Israel’s prosperity against the poverty in the Palestinian territories”

    – It comes as no surprise because Romney is merely being a politician catering to whomever he thinks might make him win votes in the long run. Surely, he would have said the same thing had he spoken in Riyad before an audience of rich Saudis.

    Kinda reminds me of last season’s Saturday Night Live opening sketch in which Romney does a speech catering to just about any organization, from the Dungeon & Dragons crowd to a body piercing convention…”We don’t believe you !”

  8. Root
    September 19, 2012 at 11:59

    Romney said he would be more electable if he were Latino, which is a true statement. At no point did he say being rich & white was a disadvantage. IMHO Romney is a poor candidate. Surely you agree but you’re also a journalist. This is a good article with a sensationalist headline.

  9. mc1964
    September 19, 2012 at 11:38

    Poor Rmoney! If only he were Mexican, all his problems would be solved.
    Because the Republicans love Mexicans, especially the ones in Arizona.

  10. Hillary
    September 19, 2012 at 09:28

    Yossi Sarid of the Israeli Knesset ( 1974 — 2006 ) wrote about Israel’s “segregation policy”

    that “what acts like apartheid, is run like apartheid and harasses like apartheid, is not a duck – it is apartheid.”

    • boron
      September 20, 2012 at 02:16

      Borat-

      When an Israeli Jew who was a former Knesset member, and a Minister of Education and Minister of the Environment is quoted by someone you insult as lower than an animal, is the official who was quoted also lower than an animal? And, can one take your comments as representative of the people you are defending? What is it that you really want?

      • Roger
        September 22, 2012 at 22:30

        What we want and need is action against Zionist aggression, justice for Palestinians, restoration of their stolen land and recognition of their rights as human beings not just muslims and christians – oh and, of course, peace in the Middle East. It is your people, Borat, who are the nazi imitators with their multitudinous crimes against every international convention known.

  11. rosemerry
    September 19, 2012 at 02:36

    Huge subsidies are given to oil companies and other corporations ie people like Romney. To charge tiny tax rates for unearned income , capital gains etc which apply only to the rich means that the poor support them.
    As for Rmoney’s weird take on Palestine and Iran; is he really on this earth? Such ignorance shows the value of private education in the USA!!

  12. bobzz
    September 19, 2012 at 00:37

    That 47% pay no taxes is a myth. They pay FICA taxes—at a higher rate than withholding. Back in 1983, even Ronald Reagan was smart enough to realize trickle down was not working, so he raised taxes (He still tripled he debt: Thomas Sowell, of the conservative Hoover Institute and apologist for the rich wrote that Reagan raised taxes more than any previous president.) Raising the withholding tax would have been honest, but very unpopular. What Reagan did was quite shabby. He and J. J. Jake Pickle, congressman from TX, under the guise of saving Social Security raised the FICA tax rate appreciably. I forget the exact percentage, but it took a real chunk of change from the middle class and working poor. The kicker, however, was that the biggest percentage of those ‘FICA’ taxes paid for general expenses. The earnings cap meant the FICA tax did not go up nearly as much for the rich. FICA tax is now another name for withholding tax. Some, notably Noam Chomsky, have written that the SS trust fund has over $2 trillion today but, because it has been tapped for general expenses, the ‘trust’ fund only has IOUs. You might recall that Al Gore wanted to put the FICA tax in a “lock box.” He knew most of the FICA taxes were not going into the trust fund. So, yeah, the 47% do indeed pay taxes.

  13. Mastiff Labrador
    September 19, 2012 at 00:26

    Seriously! Just rewrite history why don’t you, of the peaceful Palestinians ( never existed before the Brits, derogatory name- palestines slang for philistines) And of course we the U.S. give no money to any other mid east country. Especially not to the peace loving dogmatists that want nothing more than to wipe every Christian and Jew off the face of the earth. But hey those aren’t my words they come straight from the mouths of their loving Muslim leaders.You need to find a new drum to beat and maybe a few less tired rabid cliches. Bloody imitation intellectuals!

    • rosemerry
      September 19, 2012 at 02:32

      the wiping off the earth is being done by the USA, Israel and NATO. Your extreme words show a romneyesque attitude.

  14. Walter In FL.
    September 18, 2012 at 21:48

    In 2003 Marco Rubio Perjured of Both Oaths!
    His Oath of Office for the Florida Legislature and His Oath to the Florida Bar

    In order to satiate his own ideological and political needs, Governor Jeb Bush unethically manipulated Chapter 2003-418, (a.k.a. “Terri’s Law”) through the Legislature, bypassing constitutional procedures and constitutionally afforded rights. The Governor’s exercise of this unconstitutional authority committed further constitutional violations, perjuring his Oath of Office as Governor of Florida.

    The 21 Attorney/Legislater supportive votes for the enactment of the unconstitutional Chapter 2003-418 resulted in violations of the Constitutions of the United States and of the State of Florida, which they all took Oaths to support (preserve), protect and defend. Each has perjured their Oath of Office as legislator and Oath to the Florida Bar as a Attorney..

    The Attorney/Legislater who voted for Chapter 2003-418 abandoned their legal ethics and expertise and “rubber stamped” this legislation based on hearsay.

    In violation of the “Separation of Powers Doctrine” and the Constitution of the State of Florida, their supportive votes surrendered the Legislative Branch to the dictate of the Executive Branch which allowed the Governor control of the Judicial Branch.

    Each and every one of these 21 learned Attorney/Legislater should have used their combined legal expertise, ethics, and leadership in the correction or prevention of this hastily enacted legislation, preventing additional constitutional violations. Yet, each and every one voted in support of this law. See if you can locate the HB-35E and SB-12 vote records now!

    For their actions, each should not be further involved in legislation or the legal profession. Each has undermined the ethical and moral integrity of their legislative office and the legal profession and acted in a manner subversive to the rule of law and justice, to the manifest injury of the person of Terri Schiavo and the people of the State of Florida.

    Ethical Attorneys are “guardians of the law”. Attorneys in the legislature should be leaders in the creation of grounded and constitutional laws using constitutional procedures and not “rubber stamping” legislation based on the Governor’s (Bush) dictates, Legislative (Byrd and King) leadership’s demands, and hearsay.

    The Florida Bar Association is required to enforce the Rules Regulating the Florida Bar.

    Florida Bar Rule 3-4.7 Oath
    Violation of the oath taken by an attorney to support the constitutions of the United States and the State
    of Florida is ground for disciplinary action. Membership in, alliance with, or support of any organization, group, or party advocating or dedicated to the overthrow of the government by violence or by any means in violation of the Constitution of the United States or constitution of this state shall be a violation of the oath.

    The Florida Legislature needs to enforce its penalties for Perjury of Oath of Office. Any and all legislators, who did not support this law, should file charges against the supporting legislators. This is corruption at the highest levels. Florida needs legislators with ethics, integrity and honor.

    If there is NO ENFORCEMENT OF PENALTY FOR PERJURY, why take an OATH?

  15. Walter In FL.
    September 18, 2012 at 21:47

    Mitt Romney does not scare me, its the people that vote for Romney that scares the hell out of me. These are the ones that does not have a clue. Mitt Romney doesn’t have to know anything. He has enough money to pay someone to wipe his butt and everything else. Mitt even has someone to carry his hat for him.

  16. clarence swinney
    September 18, 2012 at 16:13

    “There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. There are 47% of them who are dependent upon government, who believe they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, you-name-it and the government should give it to them. These are people who pay no income tax.” That was Mitt Romney swan song bye bye election. He attacked 50% of those who are working poor and pay full payroll tax. He did not mention his thousands of rich pals who pay no income tax and who pay 1% or less in payroll tax. He did not mention corporations like Verizon with 6 Billion income in 2011 and paid no tax. Or GE over 5 years paid 2.3% on profit of 81 Billion. Or that we rank ahead of only Chile and Mexico As Least taxed in Oecd nations. Or that 1% pay 28% of total income in Federal-State-Local taxes as a percent of gdp and middle class pay 27%. MITT IS GONE. A RICH NUT.

  17. kathleen
    September 18, 2012 at 14:47

    I wish consortium would trace the people and money behind the anti-Islam film trailer that was cited as one cause of recent riots. Is this another Iran-Contra in the bud?

  18. ORAXX
    September 18, 2012 at 14:44

    Romney has tried to run for presdident on the strength of good hair, a plastic smile, and the desperate hope he can convince the American public he represents anything but the second coming of G.W. Bush.

  19. R
    September 18, 2012 at 13:18

    We need to see your tax returns and income $ources Robmoney-Caymans. Now.

  20. gregorylkruse
    September 18, 2012 at 13:16

    Fat chance indeed. Romney doesn’t understand what you are saying. Niether do most of the people in the Republican Party, and many in the Democratic Party. Their truth is different. To them, it has been the way of the world for thousands of years that the strong form a group, a tribe, a society, a culture that must be kept pure if it is to keep its strength. It keeps its strength also by destroying the rivals they can, and by making alliances with those they can’t. For them it is acceptable to be defeated by a stronger enemy, but they will fight to the end. What is not acceptable is the idea of giving power away or allowing an enemy to assimilate.

  21. Bebe99
    September 18, 2012 at 12:39

    There are leaders and followers. The leaders on the right know that the stuff they tell the followers is b.s. but its what the rubes want to hear and makes them easy to control. But the leaders can tell the difference between reality and propaganda. I don’t think Romney knows the difference, I think he swallows everything he hears on Fox just like the other followers. Believing your own propaganda does not make for smart choices, and puts Romney in a bad light every time he opens his mouth.

  22. Joe Lauria
    September 18, 2012 at 12:16

    When takeover artists like Bain throw so many people out of work, aren’t they legitimately victims? This is self-justification from Romney to bury a guilty-conscience…if he has a conscience.

    • Mastiff Labrador
      September 19, 2012 at 00:05

      If you are upset with Bain, tell me how you feel about Herr Obama sending hundreds of millions of your tax dollars to build industry and jobs in foreign countries with a REAL unemployment figure of over eleven percent here at home. Socialism, ya gotta love it!

      • Anthony-Frank Cerone
        September 19, 2012 at 02:34

        CORRECTION: Just so you know, Actually it’s capitalism that President Obama is spreading globally. And, for U.S. corporations. Nevertheless, the Dow is near 14,000! Not too shabby while happening under your so-called current “Socialism”. F.Y.I., President Obama’s stimulus spending saved the USA from another “Great Depression”.

      • SanSalvatore
        September 19, 2012 at 19:55

        Give me an example!
        If you are talking about foreign aid, that is something almost as old as the USA!

    • Anthony-Frank Cerone
      September 19, 2012 at 02:44

      Conscience? Romney’s wealth soothes it. He and his cronies don’t worry about “conscience”. Everything they do or do not do is justifiable. They’ve brainwashed themselves into thinking that everything is A-OK in the name of crony capitalism. Anyway, in London, UK, some are calling Romney “The Mitt-wit”. It’s tough to beat British humor.

  23. JonnyJames
    September 18, 2012 at 12:08

    Romney is finished. He pretty much handed the “election” to the other puppet of the oligarchy, Obama.

    Romney is a classic sociopath. The man is in need of mental help.

    Meanwhile the Obama regime is resisting the injunction by Judge Katherine Forrest (against the indefinite detention of NDAA). With neo-fascists like Obama we don’t need no bumbling idiots like Romney. Obama is a much better speaker, much more sophisticated and slick, a much better liar, and much better at neutralizing dissent from the so-called left.

    • Anthony-Frank Cerone
      September 19, 2012 at 02:26

      Hello,

      V.G., you may be correct. Nevertheless, it’s apparent President Obama has more empathy for striving, working people than the ENTIRE Republican-Tea Party. And, the Democratic Party has always had that ability of empathy. So, Vote Obama! And, Vote Democratic for the foreseeable future. Until a viable alternative (Green Party?) comes along. Step one, join Senator Bernie Sanders (I) VT for a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court ruling, “Citizens United”. And, to also place caps and limits on lobbying for ALL special interests. Without accomplishing that real change will not happen. And, this oligarchy will only get bigger and stronger. End of story.

    • Mike
      September 19, 2012 at 08:56

      The appealed the indefinite detention ruling because they have to. As he executive branch they must defend any law on the books. Obama said he did not support that provision but wasn’t about to stop funding for the entire DOD. He took the position knowing that specific part of the law would be challenged.

  24. Peter
    September 18, 2012 at 12:03

    First and foremost the Republican agenda is to promote the well-being of the wealthy elite. However, this small group cannot provide a sufficient amount of votes to achieve the goal so that the party must continuously incite and or frighten the conservative base with issues of hate, racism, pseudo-christian ethics and their one genuine economic concern, the wealthy should not be taxed. So that there has to exist an inherent dichotomy between the hidden agenda and their fabrications. They can never be honest and this leads to an orgy of relentless mendacity as they continuously grope for an effective message. It is no surprise that Willard Romney appears to be a befuddled, equivocating liar, he has to be.

    • lexy
      September 19, 2012 at 13:07

      You have just described “saint” Reagan’s Campaign in 1980; But the white working class; the real victims of Reaganomics bought it “hook, line and sinker” because he pandered to the “conservative base with issues of hate, racism, pseudo-christian ethics………etc” and he won……and we are still paying the price for electing him in 1980; not to mention the fact that the Republicans have been on a “roll” since then; using the same tactics over and over again with stunning success.

  25. hidflect
    September 18, 2012 at 12:02

    Name one speech Romney has ever nailed. The guy has had an extraordinarily courteous run from the press and public considering his totally unsuccessful record in connecting with the issues. He has all the forward momentum of an oil tanker plonked in the middle of the Amazon jungle.

    • September 19, 2012 at 13:14

      Ended up here after Googling who is the better speaker Obama or Romney. As it seemed to me that Romney has stuttering difficulties. Maybe it’s trying to keep track of all the lies. and after reading your comment it’s great it was really good for a laugh.:) So I’m evidentily on the right track.

  26. GeriS
    September 18, 2012 at 11:37

    I’m one of the 47% who has worked all my adult life and just retired, paid into the system for 48 yrs. I guess a white female working all these years doesn’t count to Romney — I’m still a freeloader? And, he wants to be President? It seems to me he has “open mouth, insert foot” disease being a Republican to boot! He needs to think before he speaks (Paul Ryan take notice). The real facts overload both of these idiots. Obama/Biden 2012!!

    • September 18, 2012 at 13:35

      Well stated. However, keep your eyes on the prize too. They want to take AWAY exacted what you have EARNED. You see in Rumnutsland everyone is a millionaire. Go to hell if your not.

    • Zachary
      September 19, 2012 at 13:44

      So…you “paid” into the system? I congratulate you for your hard work and determination for your entire life. Sad part is…he is NOT talking about you. Can’t you be smart, and experienced enough to know he is speaking about the “free-loaders” who take government aid like it is crack-cocaine?

      Once again, he is not speaking to you…HELLO. I am speaking to you though, and you must figure it out…

      Neither candidate is worth a damn, and especially not Obama. He had his chance, now its someone else’s turn to f*ck it up.

      • Ken
        September 19, 2012 at 14:48

        No, Romney clearly IS talking to her, as one of the 47% that does not pay “income tax”. The 47% he thinks are freeloaders who, for the most part, actually work hard, actually pay payroll tax, or are elderly and have retired and are getting back the entitlements they are due from having paid into it their whole lives.

      • Michael
        September 19, 2012 at 16:26

        Actually, Romney was referring to the 46.4% of Americans who paid no income tax in 2011, and if GeriS no longer pays income tax (elderly/retired most likely) as she claims, then yes, Romney was indeed directly speaking to and deriding GeriS, a person who has evidently paid into the system her entire life.

        Also, what “free loaders” are you talking about exactly? A very large portion of the 47% that pays no income tax still pays a number of other taxes including payroll tax, state tax, and sales tax. Everyone, in one way or another, pays into the system and though there are definitely those that may abuse so called “handouts”, they are a very small portion of the general population, and yet nearly half of the electorate is being tagged as “freeloaders”. This is nothing more than another Republican scapegoat. I call shenanigans.

        Also, you sir, are a f*cking moron.

      • Revo
        September 20, 2012 at 00:04

        That reactionary, half-literated, aristocrat dunce, Bush, left such a mess that even a divine intervention wouldn’t have been able to clean it in just 4 years.
        If Obama couldn’t turn the economy around, for sure, it won’t be that corporate robber, Romney, to turn this mess around.

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