The worst of Romney’s now-infamous comments about “the 47 percent” came in this couplet: “My job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
Put aside the tin-eared term “those people.” When he said this, Romney didn’t just write off half the country behind closed doors. He also confirmed the worst suspicions about who he is: an entitled rich guy with no understanding of how people who aren’t rich actually live.
The thing about not having much money is you have to take much more responsibility for your life. You can’t pay people to watch your kids or clean your house or fix your meals. You can’t necessarily afford a car or a washing machine or a home in a good school district. That’s what money buys you: goods and services that make your life easier, that give you time and space to focus on what you want to focus on.
That’s what money has bought Romney, too. He’s a guy who sold his dad’s stock to pay for college, who built an elevator to ensure easier access to his multiple cars and who was able to support his wife’s decision to be a stay-at-home mom. That’s great! That’s the dream.
The problem is living the dream has blinded him to other people’s reality. His comments evince no understanding of how difficult it is to focus on college when you’re also working full time, how much planning it takes to reliably commute to work without a car, how awful it is to choose between skipping a day on a job you can’t afford to lose and letting your sick child fend for herself. The working poor haven’t abdicated responsibility for their lives. They’re drowning in it.
Wow! That is beautifully put.
And that is pretty much it. Romney has NO idea what is like to be a person who requires support from the government or help from their community. He is a wealthy man, who came from a wealthy family, and who is surround by wealthy peers.
Unless he is running for office he has no use for us, and obviously WE have no use for him.
Mitt wasn't the biggest bozo in the repulican clown car just the one able to wear the most make up. Yet he still can't hide all of his flaws.
ReplyDeleteSomething else Romney has no clue about is the millions of families in this country who deal with mentally ill relatives whose disorders ebb and flow with good or bad medical care. The pressures of dealing with the mentally ill loved one will tear apart a good marriage; I cannot begin to think about being a SINGLE parent trying to earn a living, pay the bills, get some sleep at night, and still stay one step ahead of my relative's bad choices, ER visits, misdiagnoses by a string of smug psychiatrists, running away from home, and all the rest of exhausting care for a mentally ill loved one. And this applies in a similar way for loved ones who are disabled, who suffer PTSD, who have no medical insurance, and millions of other issues that only respond to sufficient funds to fight the underlying problems day-by-day, year-by-year.
ReplyDeleteAnd the Republicans continue to fight to cut funds for the elderly, the disabled, for research in mental illness, for women and men's health needs, and a hundred other quality of life issues.
Romney, and Ryan, and the rest have NO CLUE, besides which, they just really don't care.
Lawrence O'Donnell had an interesting interview last night with a Mormon and former Romney supporter, who addressed Romney's arrogance of deviating from the church's ordinary social beliefs about caring for the poor. It's worth a look at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45755883/vp/49113471#49113471
Off topic, but it seems that Mitt Romney and his family are pro-choice when it suits them personally. TMZ is reporting that Mitt's son Tagg (seriously, where do they get these names?) who had twins with his wife via a surrogate, had an abortion clause in the contract. The surrogate had the right to abort in 'non life-threatening situations' and Tagg and his wife had the right to abort the fetuses if they felt they were not healthy. TMZ is also reporting that Mitt Romney covered part of their expenses for the surrogacy. They're claiming it was all just a stupid mistake buried in a bunch of legal mumbo jumbo, but a former business man should know to read through an entire contract, or pay someone to do it for him! I guess it's ok for the Romney's to be pro-choice when it suits their needs, but it's not ok for anyone else.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.tmz.com/2012/09/20/mitt-romney-son-tagg-abortion-clause-surrogate-birth-agreement-contract-bill-handel/
ReplyDeleteMitt Romney turned 65 this year. Does he collect Medicare for himself, and a pre-existing condition for his wife?
He has the money to pay all medical costs out of pocket. If he's not, that says all we need to know about the 47%: included the Romneys, taking advantage of programs designed for the poor and working poor. An excellent debate question.
Isn't it grand? I can hardly wait for the scrambling that is going on in this campaign to show itself at the debates. Wanna bet he tries to blame everything on the media and Obama and even the poor, who surely can't wait for a ruler who despises them. Keep it coming Mitt.
ReplyDeleteThere was a letter in my local MI paper yesterday that DEFENDED the treatment of Seamus. She said that he probably preferred bei g on top of the car instead of in the back seat with five boys, and that he just wanted to be with his people. Aw, how sweet. She must have missed the end of the story when the dog got sick, and then ran away when they arrived at the vacation home.
This is wonderfully put.
ReplyDeleteHowever, to make our country better, we have to have better resources for our disabled and people on disabilty. We should not pretend that there is not abuse of the system. I have an ex BIL that abused the disability system so he could race cars....couldn't weld at a job, but could race cars and weld said car. And he collected disability from three states he once worked in as a temporary traveler worker. Not sure how that worked, but he bragged about it. Most people really want to work though, but can't. With all the online services available, homebound people should be helped to do some at home work. There is so much growth potential . We are a very imperfect country, but a president can't write off half of it. Come on Mr. Businessman Romney, show us some plans lol!!
Thank you Gryphen for sharing these words by Ezra Klein. This was very difficult to read, in that Ezra described so succinctly the plight and struggles of the poor and unfortunate. His 2 closing sentences of the article were a stark summary and brought a tear to my eye:
ReplyDelete"The working poor haven’t abdicated responsibility for their lives. They’re drowning in it."
“My job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
ReplyDelete-GOP Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney 2012
So does Mitt Romney feel that he is qualified to be the Commander In Chief of our armed forces?
How can President Romney lead the armed forces of the United States of America when President Romney is willing to leave behind 47% of his people and expect our armed forces to follow their motto?
The Army Soldier's Creed:
I will always place the mission first.
I will never accept defeat.
I will never quit.
I will never leave a fallen comrade.
Or the world famous motto of the United States Marine Corps:
Leave No Man Behind
GOP Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney has already left half of America on the battlefield and he hasn't even taken his oath yet!
I'm voting for President Obama, he is in this for all of America and not for 1/2 of America like Romney is.
DeleteExcellent analysis. Maybe it's just me..but I'm also insulted when marieAnntoinette Rmoney says 'I love you women!' It's condescending because she has explained before that she thinks it's great that there are women who have to work and raise children because they are the sole breadwinners in their families. Apparently she marvels at that.
ReplyDeleteShe has no clue what's that like or the struggle these women face on an hourly basis. None whatsoever. She's literally never worked a day in her life outside one of her many homes other than of course raising 5 boys with which she had household help and nannies, with oodles of money to spare.
Both Rmoneys sicken me.
And while I'm at it, in 2008 someone asked Mitt why none of his 5 sons had ever served in the military and his response? 'They are doing their patriotic duty by helping me get elected president.' Sweet flying spaghetti monster I hate these people!
It's not just you, Blue Girl Liz, It made me want to scream. She talks down at us like we're stupid dogs. She uses her MS as a shield and a ruse to elicit empathy for her "suffering, yet plays the stoic, dutiful, obedient wife.
DeleteSARAH PALIN YOU AND PIMP DADDY TODD OWES UNCLE GRYPH AND THE IMMORAL MINORITY COMMUNITY!!
ReplyDeleteYou were bullshitting about running for POTUS and collected everybody's best donations and ran off to the bank to make your deposit of your last big haul before your donors realized what your true intentions were..... Before finally admitting that you weren't running for POTUS!
You think Romney has it rough, if you would of ran for POTUS you would of looked like the Wasilla Hill Billies Trailer Park Grifting Retarded Locusts that you are.
You really need to thank Uncle Gryph and his loyal Immoral Minority readers for helping convince you not to throw your fake Belmont titties into the race!
FUCK YOU SARAH PALIN AND YOUR ENTIRE RETARDED UNEDUCATED FAMILY
GOP First Lady In Waiting "marieAnntoinette Rmoney" would like to revise and correct her previous statement of 'I love you women!' to:
ReplyDelete'I LOVE ABOUT 50% OF YOU WOMEN!'
"LET DETROIT GO BANKRUPT!"
ReplyDelete-GOP Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney 2012
"My job is not to worry about those people!"
ReplyDeleteI can't fit all of them into my new car elevator.
47%, where would I put them?
(FYI Romney said part of this)
Delete"Let them eat cake" ~ Marie-Anntoinette Romney
ReplyDelete(FYI Romney didn't say this)
Delete"Truly I say to you that this very night, before a rooster crows, 47% of you will deny Me three times."
ReplyDelete(Romney didn't say this, I made it up))
Delete"I like being able to fire people who provide services to me." –Mitt Romney 2012
ReplyDelete"I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there." —Mitt Romney
ReplyDelete"No one's ever asked to see my birth certificate. They know that this is the place that we were born and raised." —Mitt Romney
ReplyDelete"I should tell my story. I'm also unemployed." —Mitt Romney, speaking in 2011 to unemployed people in Florida. Romney's net worth is over $200 million.
ReplyDeleteAnd let's keep him that way!
Delete"My wife drives a couple of Cadillacs." –Mitt Romney, campaigning for president in Michigan (February 2012)
ReplyDelete"I have some friends who are NASCAR team owners." —Mitt Romney
ReplyDelete"I like those fancy raincoats you bought. Really sprung for the big bucks." —Mitt Romney to a group of NASCAR fans wearing plastic ponchos at the Daytona 500 (February 2012)
ReplyDelete"I love this state. The trees are the right height." —Mitt Romney, campaigning in Michigan (February 2012)
ReplyDeleteYe gods. I still can't figure that one out.
DeleteWhat an idiot.
"I get speaker's fees from time to time, but not very much." —Mitt Romney, who earned $374,000 in speaking fees in one year according to according to his personal financial disclosure (January 2012)
ReplyDelete"I'm not familiar precisely with what I said, but I'll stand by what I said, whatever it was." —Mitt Romney (May 17, 2012)
ReplyDelete"We have a president, who I think is is a nice guy, but he spent too much time at Harvard, perhaps." —Mitt Romney, who has two Harvard degrees (April 5, 2012)
ReplyDelete"I'm running for office for Pete's sake, we can't have illegals" –Mitt Romney, recalling his reaction when he learned that there were illegal aliens working the ground on his property, employed by a firm that he subsequently fired (October 2011)
ReplyDelete"I'm not sure about these cookies. They don't look like you made them. No, no. They came from the local 7/11 bakery, or whatever." —Mitt Romney, visiting a local bakery while campaigning in Pittsburgh, PA, April 17, 2012 (The owner of the baker later told MSNBC he was offended by Romney's remarks.)
ReplyDelete"There were a couple of times I wondered whether I was going to get a pink slip" –Mitt Romney, attempting to identify with the problems of average folk (January 2012)
ReplyDeleteLet's make sure that sumbitch gets a pink slip, come November.
DeleteYeah, his personal shopper couldn't find pink slips, Wonder if he settled for pink silk panties and fishnet stockings?
Delete"Join me in welcoming the next president of the United States, Paul Ryan." –Mitt Romney, committing a gaffe while introducing his running mate, Norfolk, Va., Aug. 11, 2012
ReplyDelete"When you give a speech you don't go through a laundry list, you talk about the things that you think are important." –Mitt Romney, when asked about failing to mention the troops in his nomination speech at the Republican National Convention, Fox News interview (Sept. 7, 2012)
ReplyDeleteSo what he's saying is that our American men and women in combat who are dying and/or getting horrifically wounded in dangerous war zones around the world, are not important. Nor, by extension, are their families who mourn for their wounded and dead.
DeleteWhat a peach of a guy.
"Is $100,000 middle income?" -George Stephanopoulos
ReplyDelete"No, middle income is $200,000 to $250,000 and less." -Mitt Romney, ABC's "Good Morning America," Sept. 14, 2012
"We have a potentially volatile situation but we sort of live with it, and we kick the ball down the field and hope that ultimately, somehow, something will happen and resolve it." –Mitt Romney, talking about his plan for the Middle East in leaked comments from a Florida fundraiser, May 17 2012
ReplyDeleteWHO IS THE GOP RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA?
ReplyDeletePEE WEE HERMAN?
Please don't insult Pee Wee.
DeleteI'd take the playful genius of Paul Ruebens over the arrogant flubs of Twittens any day.
DON'T FORGET ABOUT ME!
ReplyDeleteSarah Palin must hate Romney?
He is taking all her headlines and getting all the attention!
Sarah, time for another Palin reality show or breaking and entering or underage pregnancy or prostitution ring or homophobic rant or Sarah Palin Endorsement Curse or scam or screw another black basketball player or.......
You can't let the Romneys dominate the news like that.
Great Paul Krugman article in Huffpo today. They are calling this Rmoney's Boca moment since he gave teh speech in Boa Raton. It reminded me that Boca = mouth in Spanish and low and behold:
ReplyDelete"Boca Raton" can be loosely defined as "Mouth of the Rat" or "Rat's Mouth" (In Spanish "boca" is mouth and "raton" is "mouse" and sometimes referred as "rat."
Yeah, that about sum it up, doesn't it?
Thank you for posting Ezra Klein's insight. I recall the years as a child growing up without a car. Indeed a work ethic is instilled to use a cart to walk to a laundromat, clean house to essentially assume adult responsibilities forsaking childhood for survival.
ReplyDeleteMitt Romney lacks empathy and compassion. He exudes arrogance and disdain for others including Great Britain hosting the Olympics. Romney acts under his presumption or delusion that 47 to 95 percent of the electorate are suckers, stupid that he can feed BS to to manipulate for his personal gain.
New flash to Romney: your belief and practice of etchasketch Mitt is tellung. You are unfit to lead our country and unfit to represent our country.
A truly powerful person seeks to empower others Mitt seeks to create more wealth and power at the expense if others. The Romney campaign is a destructive campaign. It became self destructive..
Ezra has made it clear....most of us are drowning in responsibility. As a single mother of 2 toddlers I struggled daily with a full time job, and several at home businesses just to make ends meet. There were no new cars or vacations for 20 years. Then came college where I made too much money for state aid. I eventually had to sell my home to finish paying so my kids didn't start out drowning in debt. I think Lady Ann actually makes my skin crawl more than Lord Robme. I know it is never mentioned, but Michelle's Dad had MS and used a walker to go to work everyday...Lady Ann bought a horse for half a million to ride, ain't that just the sweetest thing.
ReplyDeleteThe Senate voting down the Veterans Job bill and then taking a 2 month vacation is so sickening, I hope and pray this gives us the senate and congress back...then watch Obama soar!
Don't forget the $70,000 write off for the horse. And since the american taxpayers are essentially funding this horse, shouldn't we all get a turn riding it?
DeleteI'm a life long Democrat that's been working since the age of 15. I work hard and pay all my taxes. I'm currently paying tuition for two of my kids who attend well respected universities with one more to go.
ReplyDeleteMitt Romney can kiss 47% of my ass.
Oh, and I'm also a Veteran. Fuck You Mitt.
Somewhat OT, but I felt you might want to read this too: http://www.alternet.org/tea-party-and-right/billionaires-and-ballot-bandits-karl-rove-and-republican-dark-art-election-theft?akid=9427.302809.yPGiVy&rd=1&src=newsletter714105&t=3&paging=off
ReplyDeleteEzra puts it quite succinctly with "drowning in it". I think many of us know full well the struggles we went through, and those of our parents and ancestors to get us to a better station in life than they dared dream. But dream they did, set goals and sacrificed to meet them.
ReplyDeleteThat's what struck me with President Obama and First Lady Michelle. They're relatively wealthy, yet they were close enough to the "sacrifice" their parents and grandparents made, they lived it, "Drowned in it", and they never forgot where they came from.
The Romney's- not so much.
You emphasized hard work and sacrifices made to
ReplyDeleteGet us to a better station in life. Romney has disdain for those who have not achieved his station of wealth and privilege. Worse, he has sick need to falsely allege people do not take responsibility for their lives. Then he mischaracterizes people as entitled and wanting a free lunch leeching off those like himself.
Romney is projecting his malignant envy to take away from others. He seems to be clueless the majority do not have trust funds nor entry into a world of privilege. He was born with advantages that he has chosen to not respect, have gratitude instead ridiculing and degrading those not born into extreme advantages.
It was telling when Romney advised the public to ask their parents to loan them money for college. He appears to believe people want the government to pay for college given he believes the average family makes $200-250k a year or less.
Maybe he rationalizes outsourcing jobs conning his self half our country does not want to work.