The "47%" Who
Think They're Entitled To Food, Healthcare And Housing Might Take Note
Try as they might, the Romneys will never get
past the image of being "beastly bourgeois babbity" snobs. No matter
how many visits they make to Cosco for publicity purposes, such strategies will
never make them into "one of us."
Yes, the "Cosco interview" was a
debacle of condescension: what other reason would Ann Romney go to a Cosco for
Mitt's shirts than publicity since the concept of them trying to save money to
put in a Cayman Islands account is ridiculous. David Letterman debuted a new
segment to his show called "The Romney Lies" with the interview, putting
the Romney quest for commonality into a perspective the Right wishes would
disappear.
The 47% Babbity Blunder
The latest debacle of condescension was the
"47% ... think they're entitled to food, to healthcare, to housing, you
name it," for which Romney did not actually apologize, instead giving
another "trickle down" explanation. However, It was taken for what it
was worth: contempt for humanity in stating that everyone does NOT deserve
decent housing, food nor health care. And by cutting himself off from that 47%
(which, by the way, was the same figure of previously uninsured Americans)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Already scrambling to steady a struggling campaign, Republican
Mitt Romney confronted a new headache Monday after a video surfaced showing him
telling wealthy donors that almost half of all Americans "believe they are
victims" entitled to extensive government support. He added that as a
candidate for the White House, "my job is not to worry about those
people."
In a previous statement while on the primary
trail, he said he didn't worry about the poor. Same thing. And his extremely
narrow focus of economy-jobs-middle class has cut off almost all discussion of
social issues and foreign policy. Campaign manager Matt Rhoades has made it
very clear that in being a "Polkian President" Romney will ONLY
concentrate on jobs: crime, terrorism, gay rights, women's rights, immigration,
foreign policy, will be distinctly secondary.
The "47% Babbity Blunder" and Romney's
background have had an effect on normally conservative low-income voters:
(Reuters) - Sheryl Harris, a voluble 52-year-old with a Virginia drawl,
voted twice for George W. Bush. Raised Baptist, she is convinced -- despite all
evidence to the contrary -- that President Barack Obama, a practicing
Christian, is Muslim.
So in this year's
presidential election, will she support Mitt Romney? Not a chance.
"Romney's going to
help the upper class," said Harris, who earns $28,000 a year as activities
director of a Lynchburg senior center. "He doesn't know everyday people,
except maybe the person who cleans his house."
She'll vote for Obama, she
said: "At least he wasn't brought up filthy rich."
The
subject of Romney's upbringing has also brought up the subject of class
warfare: forget the item about his persecution of a gay fellow classmate, the
prep school persona lingered long after his graduation from Cranbrook.
The Philosophy of Auntie Mame
While "Life's A Banquet and Most Poor Sons
Of Bitches Are Starving To Death" is ingrained on the American psyche as
quintessential Mame, it is her open mind and and her open heart that place Mame
in the forefront, leading the way to a better life. In essence, she's a
bleeding heart liberal with a mind bursting with creative ways to disperse her presence,
her philosophy, and even her money. Her extreme sophistication emanates without
a hint of ego or self-satisfaction because it's to be shared and not merely
spotlighted as so many snobs do at social gatherings.
At every turn, Auntie Mame redefines social
mores to better suit others. She even redefines "family:" in the
play, Patrick says "I don't want you airing your old flames and fairy airy
friends from Fire Island in front of Gloria." And when Patrick reacts
embarrassingly to the stream of people coming into the party for the Upsons,
Mame says "Why this IS our family!" And in doing so, she shows up the Upsons for the insular lives they lead, separated from LIFE!
"I won't let you marry him off to an Aryan
from Darien with braces on her brains."
Speaking of family, while Ann Romney definitely has some brains, she has little knowledge of the "little people" and none of "you people." Cosco aside, Ann Romney appears clueless, thinking that a woman with two mammoth vacation homes and a horse trained for dressage can appear "down home" ... to anyone.
Pretense. It all boils down to pretense, something
for which Mame has no use, especially from any member of her
"family". Unlike Ann Romney, Mame wouldn't hide her money because she
would have considered it inconsiderate to appear to be something you're not.
Instead of hiding her money, she spent it on living ... and on everyone else.
Establishing a home for refugee Jewish children was not just to get back at the
Upsons, it was a statement as to the kind of person she was.
Bleeding Heart Liberal
One of the most telling things about Mame Dennis
is her generosity: one scene has her plunking what seems to be her last dime
into a Salvation Army bucket just after she's fired from Macy's. This could be
in stark contrast to Romney's runnning mate, Paul Ryan, whose tax returns
revealed less than average charitable giving - even after he stated that any
social newtwork "slack" would be picked up by charities).*
Foiling Mitt
It is perhaps a failure of the Obama campaign
not to go the full Auntie Mame route in strategy: Barack Obama's innate sense
of compromise has weathered poorly through the last four years, but it still
lingers on. Mame would never have compromised on matters concerning the
public's welfare, and during the campaign, she would have flaunted conventions
with panache, bringing social issues to the fore instead of merely defending
economic policies.
In this
election, we need an Auntie Mame, to permanently foil Mitt Romney with his own
elitism and to point the way for Obama's true focus.
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