Day: May 25, 2007
Deciphering Romney-Speak
Translating what Mitt Romney means — and when — is almost as challenging as parsing out a George W. Bush screed.
Listen to what America’s best-known Mormon said in a recent “Ask Mitt Anything” convocation in Florida.
Romney would not say whether he thought homosexuality was immoral.
Suffice it to say that Romney’s answer to the question of whether homosexuality is immoral was not a simple, “No.”“I don’t think that a person who’s running for a secular position as I am should talk about or engage in discussions of what they in their personal faith or their personal beliefs is immoral or not immoral.”
But suffice it to say the answer to the question was not a simple, “No.”
And here’s a clue why:
“What you look for in a leader is someone who will welcome and treat with respect people who made different choices and have different beliefs in their lives and have differences. I have nothing but respect and feelings of tolerance for people with differences from myself and feel that way with regards to those who are gay.”
Got it. Romney believes that being gay is a “choice” and a “belief,” not a physiological state.
His views on immigration are equally enlightening. Apparently, he thinks the only immigrants are Mexicans. And welfare-seeking, criminal Mexicans at that.
“I don’t think that we’re going to round up 11 or 12 or however many million people and bus them out of the country. That’s not what I’m talking about,” Romney said. “Those who committed felonies, of course, would be deported. Those who require government assistance to stay here would surely need to get off government assistance and ultimately could not remain here on government assistance.”
Put them on a bus, eh? I hope he wasn’t talking about the immigrants I see a lot of down this way: Haitians.
Romney’s little Mormon mind isn’t nearly as inscrutable as he would have us believe. Maybe the average Republican would miss these clues to his true world-view but those of us on this team just aren’t feeling him.
Gotta See This Video. Then Show It To Somebody Else
Outrage fatigue and Bush fatigue make us forget there are others like us out there. Watch this video and remember there is cause for hope as well as outrage. Then visit the web site to learn more.
Avaaz.org (Our name means “Voice” or “Song” in several languages including Hindi, Urdu, Farsi, Nepalese, Dari, Turkish, and Bosnian) is a community of global citizens who take action on the major issues facing the world today. Our aim is to ensure that the views and values of the world’s people — and not just political elites and unaccountable corporations — shape global decisions.
Quote du Jour
The truth is often a terrible weapon of aggression. It is possible to lie, and even to murder, with the truth. It is easier to fight for principles than to live up to them.
— Alfred Adler, Austrian psychologist
President Referred to al Qaeda 39 Times in Coast Guard Address
Political terror: Five years ago, in the wake of the 2001 terror attacks, Pres. George W. Bush had considerable success terrifying the public into supporting him. Today, however, the vast majority of Americans have come to regard George Bush as — at best — a serial prevaricator.
With his credibility is in tatters, and his approval rating mired in the low 30s, all he has left is his base — conservative Americans who are apparently addicted to, and easily manipulated by, fear.
Desperate to keep them in goose-bumps, he has dredged up the scarifying rhetoric from the bad old days. There is no better example of this than the president’s commencement address to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy on Wednesday, when he used deployed the bogeyman of al Qaeda no fewer than 39 times.
The transcript follows, picking up the narrative 15 paragraphs in:
