I'm putting political issues aside for the moment and focusing on character. I won't vote for Mitt Romney because he has a pattern of bad choices, which reveals much about the man.
I know this came out in May, and I know we all have short memories, but I think it's really, really, really, important to remember that Mitt Romney is a bully.
"Oh," you say, "that happened when he was in high school. Don't we all have things like that from high school?"
No. I don't. I never held another person down and cut their hair. Did you?
And, if you did something like that, don't you think you would remember it? And be a human enough to own up to it, and apologize for it, no matter how much time had passed? Mitt didn't. Well, he did say he did some "pranks" in school and was "sorry if he hurt anyone". In other words, he didn't give a shit. Not about the act and certainly not about the boy he mangled.
Maybe we as adults can live with a bully in the White House, and maybe some of us would welcome one, but we have to think of the message our kids would absorb from that. Are already absorbing from their churches, the media, and those televangelists who think it's their moral duty to make sure gay kids are ridiculed and beaten because they can. And don't think they don't read, or listen, or watch--you put this bully in the White House, and those kids who are different? It's going to be open season on them in the hallways of school. Because the message will be sent, loud and clear.
And do you remember Seamus the dog? I urge you to follow the link to the story, just to refresh your memory. It's written by the guy who unearthed the story in the first place. He makes some good points; I was particularly struck by what he said about how it related to Mitt-the-Man.
Mitt-the-Man does not get it. He has never had to think about the feelings of another being. Basically, he sucks at empathy. He's awkward, and you only have to look at his "this is my sincere" face to know there's no there there. I can't imagine him greeting families of dead soldiers or hurricane victims. My guess is he will never do it.
Perhaps all I've written here has just made Mitt MORE attractive to you; you think it would be great to have a shrewd, stone-hearted, "man" in the White House. One that will stand up for 'Merica. We've had those types before, and it usually doesn't end well.
Because Americans want to know that they are understood. They might want a "heart of stone" bully in the White House, until they need something. Like FEMA. Like a well-considered plan before going to war. Like health care because their child has been diagnosed with some heinous disease.
Mitt IS a calculating bully. You only have to Google it. Type in "Romney bullies" and you get 95,000,000 results. Because Mitt's bullying ways didn't end with the gay kid he gave a haircut to, or Seamus the dog. He's been a bully during primary debates, and was rude, interrupted, spoke over, and came real close to actually touching the POTUS.
Bullies don't change their ways, not unless they're called on it. Mitt hasn't , nor will he ever be called on it. Perhaps we just need to make sure he's got no way to bully our country.
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