Well done, Mittens:
Expected Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney tread on socially dangerous ground last night as he talked about the need to “hang” a misery index around the neck of Barack Obama, the nation’s first black president.
Romney almost immediately caught himself, with the English major declaring “metaphorically” speaking, but the mix of nervous laughter with applause indicated at least some in the audience realized its potency.
You know, the fact that he immediately realized what he was saying and that it was a tragic word choice shows to me that at the very least, Romney possesses a degree of self-awareness and the tiniest sliver of decency, something that I think has eluded a lot of the other Republican hopefuls.
On the other hand, there is the fact that Romney simply isn’t as stupid as the many policies he has adopted in his rightward lurch the past few years. Some of his positions have been straight out evil- whether it be his double Gitmo bullshit, or hiring advisory staff who recommend knifing prisoners in the thigh, or his decision to grab up a baton and stand at the front of the Planned Parenthood Hate Parade, or any of the millions of other issues in which he once had maybe not the ideal position, but one that was at least humane and defensible, but jettisoned in order to curry favor with the wingnut primary voters.
So basically, my general position is that there is a sliver of humanity in that shell of a man, but it is being held down and waterboarded by the inner sociopath that just has to be President to show up daddy. I leave it to you all to decide what is worse, to just be plain evil, like Palin, or to know better but do evil anyway like Romney.
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2011/04/30/ill-give-him-a-little-credit/