I made a claim yesterday to an old friend of mine, that Romney is a "horrible human being." The response I received was expected: "What makes him horrible? He doesn't beat his wife, he loves his family."
My disdain and contempt for Mitt Romney falls far outside of policy differences. I accept that the Right and the Left have different views on how to solve our collective problems. My issue is with him, the man. My reply was this:
Romney is horrible for so many reasons. Forget about policy differences. I accept that as a matter of being involved in the political game. I'm talking about his character as a human being, as a man. If your definition of not being horrible is not abusing your spouse, and loving their own family, then most people are not horrible.
But he is horrible because he doesn't seem to understand that the world in which he lives doesn't operate the way he thinks it does. That is, his life experiences are vastly different than the majority of people that he wants to lead. And he just can't seem to bridge that gap. In of itself, this doesn't make him horrible. It's how he repeatedly treats people who aren't like him. It's in what he says to people who aren't like him. He has shown no real empathy or sympathy for people who are struggling. Here are some examples.
In high school, he was a bully. So much so, he literally cut the hair off of a fellow classmate because it was long and the kid was suspected of being gay. Romney claims he doesn't recall the event, but several of the other students who participated now express regrets and openly accept what they did. For them, remembering isn't the issue. It's trying to forget. He laughed during one interview on the subject and described it as "hijinks." It gives me the willys to think he believes he did nothing wrong.
He is mendacious. For months now, we have witnessed him say one thing, and then within seconds tell the media he did not say it. Does he not realize he's on video? Which version of his statements are we supposed to believe? I sincerely think the man has no principles he holds dear and lives his life by. A former member of the Mormon Church says it's actually acceptable within the Church to lie. That it is taught. Remember, he was a bishop within his church. The person saying this was the great-great granddaughter of Brigham Young himself. Scary.
He is horrible because he is simply a mean person. He doesn't understand that as a candidate for president, he just simply shouldn't say certain things. For example, he insulted a local bakery in Bethel Park, PA when he said, "I'm not sure about these cookies. The don't look like you made them...they came from the local 7-Eleven...or wherever." In one sentence insulting both the private business and the 7-Eleven chain. Both entities later said how dissapointed they were.
He brags his friends are NASCAR team owners (way to identify with the common people, Mitt), but then goes up to a group of NASCAR fans who were wearing plastic rain ponchos, laughs, and says, "I like those fancy raincoats you bought. Really sprung for the big bucks." He is simply unaware that most people don't have the luxury of worrying about the cost of things. I think the biggest tell here, is how he laughs about it. In fact, he frequently laughs when describing horrible things.
He laughed when responding to an interview question about his dog being on the roof of his car for 12 hours. I don't think it was funny that the dog was sick and the car (and the dog) had to be hosed down. Dog owners are rightfully outraged at his insensitivity on this matter. It is a big deal.
He brags/laughs about being able to "fire" people who provide services to him. Really? Who is this heartless? Firing people is awful. Clearly it has to be done at times, but who really enjoys it?
He says he is "not concerned about the very poor, there is a safety net there." Yes, the poor are very grateful for their section 8 housing and the horrible schools. Yet most Republicans, including him, blame the poor for all of the nation's budget problems when only about 2% of the total budget goes to these programs. And he wants to eliminate many of these so called "safety nets" as if that will solve our problems.
"Planned Parenthood, we're going to get rid of that" -- Again, he was talking about balancing the budget, something everybody wants to see accomplished. But nonchalantly casting aside an organization that helps millions of American women, who have no other choice in their health needs, is unacceptable.
Taking credit for something he wasn't involved in. For example, the auto industry's rebound from the abyss. After famously writing an Op-Ed in the WSJ saying to let them go bankrupt, he is now on record as saying "I'll take a lot of credit for the fact that this industry's come back." What?! He was in no position of authority to effect change on that industry and wished them death. If his "opinion" were policy, the unemployment rate would have been much much worse. He had absolutely nothing to do with the solution. What kind of person takes credit for something they didn't do?
Making a $10,000 bet on live TV. If it were $1,000,000 at least we would have known he was being facetious. But he looked sincere, and that is the consensus view on that.
His recent foreign trip proved he is not ready for being a world leader or diplomat. But that doesn't make him horrible. What makes him horrible is that he insulted country after country by the things he said, most likely because he believes them to be true. He really believes that Mexico, Peru, and the Palestinians are economically inferior because they have inferior cultures. As if there may not be any other reason for economic disparities. What a callous thing to say. He is a laughing stock among real world leaders for his poor performance abroad.
He went to London and insulted the London Olympic Committee, the London Mayor, and Londoners themselves.
"I should tell you my story. I'm also unemployed." He said to a room of unemployed people. Yes Mitt, you currently don't have a paycheck. In fact, the last job you had, as governor, you didn't have a paycheck either. But did you mention to the room of people on the unemployment dole that you receive over $30 million a year in income from your investments? Horrible.
He has given tens of millions (or hundreds of millions) to a Church that actively keeps people who are gay from getting married. The same church that posthumously converts Jews (and other religions) to Mormonism. WTF?!
"Corporations are people my friends." I could go on and on about this one. What kind of person believes that a corporation should have the same rights as a flesh and blood person? Yes, corporations have people inside of them. So do cars. Are cars people?
And in my view, the possibly worst thing he does, and does so often, that makes him a horrible human being: he doesn't disavow the horrible and abhorrent things that other Republicans or Right Wingers say. For example, when Rush Limbaugh was calling Sandra Fluke a "slut" (and worse) because she uses birth control (and thereby calling ALL who use birth control, sluts), he did not say that Rush should not have called her a slut, or even that Rush is just an overbearing entertainer. No. All he said was that he wouldn't have used the same language. The implication being that Rush was right, but maybe he was being too mean about it.
The man, quite simply, isn't fit to be President of the United States.