by Rich Abete
(Graphic by Steven T.)
As the election draws nearer, Mitt Romney has left much of the public rather bemused as to exactly what kind of an agenda he would pursue as president. After his brilliant, metamorphic slight-of-hand during the first of three presidential debates a couple of weeks ago, even those of us who pay close attention to politics are scratching our heads. To be clear, this is nothing new with Mr. Romney, who has been on every side of every issue during his illustrious career in politics, and much of the flipping (or is it flopping?) has occurred during his almost six year quest for the White House (see Mitt Romney: The Shape-Shifter). But what he did last Thursday night was no ordinary flip-flop. It was pathological. Sometime recently, after years of incessant pandering, Mr. Romney has come to the conclusion that once he makes a declarative statement, then by definition it becomes an unimpeachable fact despite what he may have said the day before.
So, if today Mr. Romney denies the existence of his proposal to provide the wealthy with another $4.8 trillion tax cut after months of touting it, then it simply never existed. If he says that his proposed tax cut (regardless of how big it is) will not increase the tax burden on the middle class or blow up the deficit, then his statement becomes fact despite the analysis of most economists who have studied his proposal. And if he says his healthcare plan (like he even has one aside from repealing the ACA!) will not exclude those with pre-existing conditions, then it is so (of course this “fact” was immediately walked back by his campaign after the debate). And if he says he’s not really going to dramatically increase the defense budget (by $2 trillion over 10 years), but has repeatedly said he will right up until he took the stage for the first debate, then it suddenly is just not true. I could continue, but I think I’ve made my point. Wait, wait! One more: If he says he’s a huge champion of higher education for the middle class, yet he will cut Pell grants and other means by which the middle class can afford higher education, well, it’s true and cannot be denied. Sorry, I can’t stop…If he says his main domestic priority is the welfare of the middle-class, yet his proposals might just snuff out the American dream once and for all… then…he is a $#%&@^% LIAR! I know, I threw you off there! I just couldn’t help it.
Clearly, he was off his game, but it’s no wonder that President Obama was flustered that night he finally met what he thought was going to be… Mitt Romney, Severe Conservative! How can one respond to a guy who is wholly unencumbered by facts, or even by anything he himself has previously said to be true of his own proposals? How can one debate someone who suddenly states in steroidal earnestness that he cares about the needy, the elderly, the poor and the middle class, after years of campaigning on policies that will prove devastating to those very populations? Who the hell does he think he is all of a sudden? George McGovern? FDR? It would be laughable if the potential result wasn’t so frightening. Personally, I think the President should have made an earnest statement himself, perhaps something like, “With all due respect Mr. Romney, you sir, are a big, fat, liar!”
What’s particularly troublesome is that more than just a couple of folks bought into his eleventh hour Kafkaesque transformation. The news junkies and politicophiles who have been acutely watching the process unfold all year saw it for what it was: the obvious culmination of the candidacy of a conviction-devoid panderer. Regretfully, the folks that aren’t included in either party’s base and have just tuned in to the process will cast the votes that determine this election. God help us! Our future depends on the whims of the undecided. To be candid, not a good situation! But if the real President Obama shows up tomorrow night armed with a list (not unlike the bullets in my previous post, Our Herculean President) of his copious achievements…and he exposes the egregious violation of the public’s trust that the magnitude of Mr. Romney’s lies constitute, then… game on!
