Mitt Romney’s the Republican establishment’s choice for President. So was George W. Bush. “W” was good with a chainsaw, someone you could drink a beer with and do some fishin’. He was mostly a principled guy, even if I disagreed with him. Mitt knows how to cut jobs, not trees. He seems stiff, hollow, detached. Hang out with Mitt? Maybe we could talk off-shore tax havens! He flips and flops so much he seems dizzy, unsteady with character vertigo. Doesn’t seem conservative enough for Republicans, though he’s trying hard to evolve. Mitt’s misspeaking often lately, except we’re finding out it’s the real Mitt–a window into his soul.
It’s Romney’s essence, his core, that’s troublesome. He shows remarkable disconnect to the struggles of common Montanans. He lives, has always lived, in another world–a world of vast riches, limos and blind trusts. Yes, it’d take a Bitterrooter 535-odd years to make Mitt’s annual income. Reckon that’s OK. I don’t begrudge his massive wealth.
It’s those darn unsettling, exceedingly honest statements and details, like the money he made last year for speeches, $375,000 Mitt describes as “not much.” Talks of routine off-shore accounts in Switzerland and the Caymans. Why? US banks not good enough? Seems at ease making $10,000 bets. Paid a paltry 13.9% tax rate last year, less than a logger, nurse or secretary. Doesn’t seem fair, yet declares he’s over-taxed! Says “I’m not worried about the very poor….” because they have a “safety net,” ignorant that millions of working poor lack any net.
Mitt “Corporations are people!” Romney has never known what middle class or working poor feels like, whether lived by a struggling Republican, Democrat, or Independent. At this point there’s no teaching Mitt how to use a chainsaw, not even a hedge trimmer. Betcha $5 he doesn’t even fish.
Van P. Keele
Hamilton