Monday, December 3, 2007 at 11:09 pm by Darryl
I Hate Mitt
I should love Mitt Romney…he really, really is the Republican’s best shot at losing in 2008. I should be doing everything I can to ensure he is the Republican nominee in 2008. But I can’t.
You see, every time I hear Mitt Romney talk, I am overcome by the feeling that he is bullshitting us. Not in the usual sense that all politicians bullshit—much worse than that. He oozes some vacuous froth of phony friendliness, lying through his teeth as he simultaneously smiles and grits ‘em, and topped off with a heaping tablespoon of condescension.
(Here is a YouTube medley if you need a reminder.)
Today NPR’s Robert Siegel interviewed Mitt on All Things Considered. I found the following exchange between Siegel and Romney highly grating (The audio begins at 5:50).
Robert Siegel: One last point: In the CNN-You Tube debate, there was a moment when one of the people who submitted a question asked all the candidates whether they believed in every word of the Bible, and two of your rivals — Mayor [Rudolph] Giuliani and Gov. [Mike] Huckabee — both made a point of saying, “Well, in some parts it’s allegorical, in some parts it should be interpreted, but yet, I believe in the Bible.”
And you seemed — if I read you right — to make a point of saying it’s the word of God, and even when considering some modification, you backed up, said, “No, I’ll just stick with that. It’s the word of God.” [That] left the impression — and I want to ask you — do you hold a literal belief, say, in the Genesis version of creation?
Mitt Romney: You know, I find it hard to believe that NPR is going to inquire on people’s beliefs about various parts of the Bible in evaluating presidential candidates, and actually, I don’t know that that’s where America has come to — that you want to have us describing our particular beliefs with regards to Genesis and the Book of Revelations, so —
Robert Siegel: I raise Genesis only because creationism is a national issue in a variety of ways, and —
Mitt Romney: Well, but then you could ask me a question and say, “Do you believe that we should teach creationism in our schools, in our science classes and so forth?” and I’m happy to give you an answer to that. But I don’t know that going through books of the Bible and asking, “Well, do you believe this book? And do you believe these words?”, that that’s terribly productive. Particularly when we face global jihad, when we have 47 million people without health insurance, when we have runaway costs in our entitlements, to be asking presidential candidates about their specific beliefs of books of the Bible is, in my view, something which really isn’t part of the process which we should be using to select presidents.
My point is the Bible is the word of God, and I try and live by it.
Just answer the question, you condescending, equivocating, smarm-infested asshole!
Look for more non-answers, dodges, equivocation, and a patronizing attitude when Mitt gives his “religion speech” on Thursday.
Update: Comedy Central has a photo caption contest called Mitt Romney and the Nuns.
Tuesday, December 4th, 2007 at 2:51 pm
Hmmm, is there nothing in the Book of Mormon that contradicts the Bible? If there is, which one does Mitt “believe”? (That’s in quotes because I suspect that the guy believes only in himself.)
Tuesday, December 4th, 2007 at 9:24 pm
You see, every time I hear Mitt Romney talk, I am overcome by the feeling that he is bullshitting us. Not in the usual sense that all politicians bullshit—much worse than that. He oozes some vacuous froth of phony friendliness, lying through his teeth as he simultaneously smiles and grits ‘em, and topped off with a heaping tablespoon of condescension.
Because he IS bullshitting us.
“Vacuous froth of phony friendliness” – damn near poetic.
And not to mention how he has defined him as very good-looking. What?! I find him – at best – bland looking.
Wednesday, December 5th, 2007 at 1:03 am
Candidates SHOULD refuse to answer questions about religion.
Why? Two reasons, the Bible, and the Constitution.
1) The New Testament has Jesus criticising the Pharises, who pray aloud in public, for the purpose of demonstrating their piety. He says instead that we should pray in a private place in our houses, not in public. When presidential candidates proclaim their faith in public, they are using their religion to promote their quest for power. This should make all Christians oppose each candidate who prays or proclaims his faith in public. To do so uses religion for personal gain. Doing so should disgust us.
2) Article VI, the last substantial part of the Constitution says “…but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” Presidents swear an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution, and to the extent that their religions are incompatible with the Constitution, they are to support the Constitution instead. To the extent that it can be inferred that the media is colluding with government in order to set up a sort of religious test, such questions by members of the media subvert the Constitution.
JFK dealt with this issue when he ran as a Catholic. Was his loyalty to the Pope greater than that he owed to the Constitution? Does Romney’s Mormonism compromise his ability to uphold his oath? Should we be concerned?
It does not matter. Ours is a predominantly Christian nation, but we have a totally secular government. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” First amendment.
Religion should not be debated in presidential races. It is not seemly to do so. It violates the spirit, if not the letter of the Constitution as well. If we care about the free exercise of our religion, or our freedom of conscience, we must be very careful about the topic of religion in presidential races.
I’m an atheist, and a Ron Paul supporter, in spite of the fact that he is religious. But Ron Paul makes a point of saying that he does not make religion a point in his campaign. Ron Paul knows that our freedom of religion is a result of the separation of church and state.
Wednesday, December 5th, 2007 at 5:51 am
Daryl,
What a lame article. Look for other work! As far as i’m concerned all christians have bazaar beliefs.
Wednesday, December 5th, 2007 at 10:49 am
Scott R
I think it bizarre that you think “all christians have ‘oriental market’ beliefs.” ROTFLMAO
Wednesday, December 5th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
I actually agree with you to a point. I don’t give a crap about the NPR stuff, but I agree Mitt is more then a little too slick for his own good and seems to have no core beliefs at all.
That said:
You see, every time I hear Bill Clinton talk, I am overcome by the feeling that he is bullshitting us. Not in the usual sense that all politicians bullshit—much worse than that. He oozes some vacuous froth of phony friendliness, lying through his teeth as he simultaneously smiles and grits ‘em, and topped off with a heaping tablespoon of condescension.
Please, please tell me you are intellectually honest enough to realize that I can change that name and justifiably feel the same way. Because he did the exact same thing.