I've been a Republican for more than 30 years. I dutifully supported Bob Dole and John McCain. My car sports a Fred Thompson bumper sticker, hence the moniker, the FredMobile.I'm on the verge of leaving the party because of Mitt Romney.
It's not just that I find the fellow to be loathsome in the extreme and wonder what he's up to with his presidential obsession, it's that the entire Republican establishment has told me I need to support him. Why? If he was the second coming of Barry Goldwater, I'd understand it. He's not. He's a hyper-wealthy weasel with no core values who simultaneously puts on a cloak of piety and runs a vicious and dirty campaign.
The grand poobahs in the Republican Party could have stayed neutral. There was nothing forcing them to support a candidate. They knew Mitt was disliked by many and yet they all decided to rally around him. Again, he's not a principled conservative like Goldwater, he's just a standard-issue politician. What's behind all of this?
I don't know and it creeps me out. There's a better than even chance that I'll be writing a "Why I Left The Republican Party" post in the near future.
I hope he was worth it for them.
Yeah, I think it is long past time for a major shakeup of the US party system. I can't get behind either party, because they each mix a few good ideas with a boatload of boneheaded ones. And given that about a third of the US population doesn't affiliate with either party, I doubt I'm alone here.
ReplyDeleteWhat would probably be best at this point, is for both the Democrats and Republicans to splinter so that some new parties can actually form based on the issues that are of current importance. Based on what Wikipedia has to say about the history of the US party systems, we are well overdue for a shakeup anyway.
I think both the Republicans and Democrats are more invested in maintaining the status quo than anything else.
ReplyDeleteThe status quo is doomed.
ReplyDeleteSee also: Greece, economic collapse of.
Tim, it feels like both parties are jackals. The Republicans certainly understand the perils of the debt, unfunded liabilities and regulations and it's possible some Democrats do as well. Yet they persist in going on as if nothing is happening. The most amazing thing about what I see when I read Eurocrisis articles is that even their political establishment is in denial.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, you "Don't know."
ReplyDeleteLook closer at Mitt Romney. He's not the person you described in your post. Shocking!
Valerie
What part of my analysis of Mitt was wrong - that he lacks values or his fake piety?
ReplyDeleteI know exactly how you feel. it's disheartening.
ReplyDeleteI think the most charitable view of Mitt Romney is that he is a "money manager". He has spent his career taking companies, organizations, and finally a state that are in financial difficulties, and getting their financial affairs in order. That is what he does, what he loves, and what he wants to do for the US government. And given how much money he has made in the past by doing this, he probably is passably good at it.
ReplyDeleteI don't think he actually cares one way or another about most other things. He's not so much "flip flopping" on issues, as being asked his opinion on things that he doesn't actually care about or give much thought to. And he's convinced that saying "I don't care one way or the other" is no good, so he just parrots back whatever he thinks the asker wanted to hear.
So, if the entire job of the President is to be to sort out the national finances, find ways to meet our monetary obligations, and set up a debt-payment schedule, Romney would probably be OK.
But if you expect *anything* else from a President, he'll probably have big problems.
He reminds me of the "head of state" in Atlas, pushed forward because he was a complete non-entity and not a threat to anyone. And always willing to be pushed around by any stray breeze.
ReplyDeleteYou have to see Sarah Palin's comment on Facebook
ReplyDeleteligneus, I've seen the extreme kindness you've done me by spreading this link!
ReplyDeleteAs for Sarah's post, I saw the excerpt on Legal Insurrection. Just what these nimrods are trying to accomplish by shoving Mittens down our throats is beyond me. It all seems very shady.
You're welcome! You were spot on with your post.
ReplyDeleteI heard this comment "He's running on his hair." how true. Reminds me of a party, I went to. All said how great obama was, and its sad that he has to term in a rescission. I said name me one bill he passed that you liked none could answer. One said the shovel ready thing. I said both parties supported that, it doesn't count. He's another man that's running on his hair. sad
ReplyDeleteNow you are starting to understand how the rest of us feel.
ReplyDeleteI've said for years that my political standing is "disgusted". The Democrats are focused like a laser beam on destroying the country. The Republicans come off as 'Marie Antonette'-ish.
I don't vote in primaries, ever. I vote in the 'real' election because of rote and a sense of duty, trying to find the lesser of the evils.
MN, I'm really wondering if I will vote at all in the general election.
ReplyDeleteBy the by, did you see that Bob Dole came out with a hit piece on Newt? Bob Dole? Really? If it were up to Bob, we'd never have taken back the House. Talk about a useless establishment stiff!
KT: I hate to add to your pain, or funk, here here is something you should see --
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/01/were-screwed-florida-ag-pam-bondi-claims-mitt-wants-romneycare-in-every-state-video/
Mut, that's horrifying. Just why are we supporting this guy again?
ReplyDeleteOnly Jesus Christ has lordship of this Earth, and it is time we put our faith back in him. If party leadership is not 100% the servants of Christ their master, then they should not partake in leadership of the party.
ReplyDelete"He's a hyper-wealthy weasel with no core values who simultaneously puts on a cloak of piety and runs a vicious and dirty campaign."
ReplyDeleteHear, hear!
This ties into what you are saying too
ReplyDeletehttp://www.leftcoastrebel.com/2012/01/lets-be-perfectly-honest-mitt-romney.html
I don't like Romney either. But I have long since abandoned the Republican party, per se.
ReplyDeleteBut it's Newt Gingrich who's driving me away from conservatism (or, at least, other alleged "conservatives"), mostly by re-defining it.