How Mitt’s constant falsehoods help make the “bully” label stick
For weeks Rachel Maddow, Steve Benen, Greg Sargent and various other people with ears have been wondering if Mitt Romney would ever pay a price for repeating lies that had been debunked, again and again.
It seems to finally have happened. But not the way anyone expected.
By focusing on repeating lies about President Obama, Mitt was clearly avoiding a more important subject: Mitt Romney.
Howard Fineman of Huffington Post explains:
Most of the American people don’t know who Mitt Romney really is. They don’t know what is good and decent about his life story, his family, his work, his philosophy or his personal ethics. They don’t know the bad news either. They don’t know much of anything except a few caricatured, cartoonish facts.
Why doesn’t Mitt focus on Mitt?
Mormonism plays a role in this. In the same way President Obama wanted to avoid constantly confronting the issue of race on 2008, Romney wants to avoid discussing his religion except to align it with evangelical Christianity.
But the broader story is that Mitt Romney’s story sums up exactly what’s wrong with the Bush economics he advocates. Mitt’s habit of reaping in huge profits for the .01% at the expense of everyone else is particularly unpopular at this point in history.
Even former Bush speechwriter David Frum sees it:
His own job-creation record as governor of Massachusetts was not especially impressive. As a CEO, he was better known for downsizing purchased companies, than for new hiring. And he has been pressed by his party to campaign on a platform that emphasizes radical spending cuts for the young and the poor and another big round of upper-income tax cuts on top of the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003.
So what can Mitt Romney run on? Romneycare.
By implementing his reforms nationally, the President turned Mitt’s greatest achievement into something that made Rick Santorum call him the “worst possible candidate” on health care. Tucker Carlson points out that only two men in history have signed health care mandates into law, and the GOP is about to nominate one.
Stranded in the fight of his life without a life story to tell, Mitt has had to rely on his one advantage: His ability to repeat debunked lies.
Then came the story that Mitt bullied a gay kid in his prep school. It pointed out two things: 1) Mitt, like a kid who couldn’t fail, has no empathy for the millions of us who can; 2) Mitt’s strange willingness to bend to the truth has a bullying quality to it. Who are you to tell me what I can or cannot say? I will never apologize for being so awesome. NEVER.
Mitt’s favorite lie is to say this President apologized for America. Never happened but today Mitt will probably say it did and then say he’d never apologize. You know who else never apologizes? Bullies.
With RomneyEconomics.com, a site that exposes Mitt’s business practices, the Obama Administration is now exploiting Mitt’s inability to tell his own story. Using middle class workers, the campaign is explaining why Mitt has a hard time telling us exactly how he creates jobs—because that has never been his goal.
Some will say. Didn’t Newt’s allies try this in the primary? Yes, in fact, as of May 14, 2012 at 11:07 AM EST KingofBain.com is up. People forget what a miracle and victory for the Occupy movement it was. Mitt’s business record cost him South Carolina IN A REPUBLICAN PRIMARY. And it could have cost him Florida if Newt hadn’t suddenly veered to issues like moon bases.
This video tells Mitt’s story: Mitt’s goal has been to do well for Mitt and Mitt’s friends. He’s able to focus on his gain at the expense of others, I’d argue, because it seems he doesn’t understand how hard it is to be middle class or the kid being held down.
This morning, Mitt’s spokesman claimed that Mitt created more jobs at Bain and as governor than the President has for the country. But Mitt, India doesn’t count.
Another lie.
So Mitt still thinks he can lie his way out of this—the problem is he’s taking a hose of flammable bullshit to fire. His argument only makes sense if you blame President Obama for the massive layoffs Bush left him with, layoffs that the President reversed.
Once people find out what Mitt’s story actually is, no lie is going to erase that memory.
