I must confess to expecting a bit better from Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney than what he has delivered. Perhaps that's because, after all, he did serve as governor of Massachusetts, one of the most progressive states in the nation, and in those days he did not come across as a complete nitwit. But then, as the Romans said, "O Tempora, O Mores!" -- the times and morality change, often not for the better.
Mitt Romney is a case in point -- he just doesn't get it. Mitt doesn't understand that only the One Percent in America could or would casually offer to bet another candidate ten thousand dollars that his record had been misrepresented. Mitt doesn't understand that boasting about enjoying firing people -- even if he meant health care insurers -- does not sit well in a country where such firing, de-hiring, riffing, oursourcing, or otherwise taking away vitally-needed jobs has damaged or even destroyed the lives of so many Americans. And most recently, Mitt made clear that he doesn't understand the severe poverty problems afflicting some fifty million people in this once-land-of-opportunity.
Mitt Romney gratuitously insulted all of those millions when he said, loud and clear, that he was not concerned about the poor -- because they have "safety nets" which will save them from their poverty. Of course, when you have a net worth in the tens of millions of dollars, much of it squirreled away in the Cayman Islands or Switzerland, it's hard to relate to the poor in America -- hard, that is, unless you also have a conscience and some sense of common decency. And Mitt's alleged worry about the "middle class" ignores the fact that for decades the wealth disparity has been growing and eroding that same middle class, which is rapidly moving towards non-existence. O Tempora, O Mores!
Still, Mitt Romney recently managed to sing a verse of America the Beautiful (admittedly, off-key) on the campagn trail, in his endless quest for the Presidency. So, much more relevant to Mitt's rude and insensitive campaign, here is a variant on one of our iconic national songs, this verse and version titled Mitt the Bountiful: "Oh bountiful, money and power, you are my destiny; Soon I will rule, it's my hour, for I am Mitt Romney! America, America, I'll stifle all dissent; Indeed, forsooth -- to tell the truth -- I am the One Percent!"
