Here (we think) are the some of the best!
One of the biggest, most inane blunders in Presidential
campaign history continues to enrage and entertain the American public: Mitt
Romney's statement about defunding PBS and - by extension - firing one of
America's most beloved TV characters has given the public the biggest political
laugh it has had in a long, long time.
Putting things in their (hysterically funny
but) proper perspective, Mitt Romney has given us a series of blunders that
dwarfs John McCain's VP pick of Sarah Palin. And the number of gaffs is quickly
catching up to Michele Bachmann's entire political career. Of course, this may
be one comical misstep SNL might not attempt to parody: millions have already
done a fantastic job of skewering the Romney campaign. It may be Romney's way
of creating jobs - The Big Romney Bird is already booming industry. The amiable
avian has even managed to combine some of the past blunders and image faux pas:
Big Bird has been pictured as down-and-out, elderly, one of the 47%, and
strapped to the top of a car. He's also been pictured in numerous ways as
Romney's "take out" in counterpoint to Obama's Bin Laden. He has yet
to be pictured being featured in Costco's food section, but give him time.
Fit To Lead?
Underlying the hilarity of it all is the
point: with ineptitude in foreign relations (England) and social issues (47%),
how can a clown whose campaign gaffs put Michele Bachmann to shame be a
national and world leader? A funny reality show maybe, but a champion of the
free world? I think not.
Remember the short-lived sitcom called
"That's My Bush!"? It had some hilarious moments:
Maggie (the Maid): "I've got to do to the
laundry what your father did - separate the whites from the coloreds!"
The image of the White House being one big
sitcom ala Romney is, however, disturbing: with a President so out-of-touch
with America and the rest of the world (and its cultures), the Oval Office
might devolve into a terrifying drama with one of its denizens looking more
perplexed than George Bush on a cloudy day.
Eviscerating Programs, Eliminating Institutions.
With his declaration of how he would defund
Obamacare (modeled on his own healthcare reform in Massachusetts) and PBS, the
erstwhile Romney gives way to the question of what else he would expunge from
federal programs: The Smithsonian? National Parks? Federal highways? The
Library of Congress? The FCC? The EPA? His enlisting of corporations to provide
services in absentia (like having PBS operate on advertising) is disingenuous
at best: for example, corporations may not be willing to put up road
signs stating "If you don't want too many potholes on this road, buy
Nabisco Wafers!"
Want Vs Need
In Romney's world, the lines between want and
need are too subjectively drawn, too concrete, too black and white for him ever
to be considered a leader "of the people." In that sense, his choice
of PBS' Sesame Street and its characters as something America does not
"need" makes it all too obvious that Romney knows little of the needs
of the people: it recognizes the need for education at an entertaining level
few education institutions have ever been able to reach. The people know their
needs better than Mitt Romney and while they love Big Bird as much as Romney,
they need Big Bird - as well as all the things that Big Bird represents.
It's highly unlikely that Romney will tuck his
tail between his legs on this "misstep" or "inelegantly
put" blunder. His spin doctors will have a hard time wiggling out of this
one. Mutterings of "stupid" and "lame" may pass their lips,
but they will certainly never tell the Great One that his take down of a
national icon was the worst thing he's done yet in a campaign littered with
mistake.
Enjoy!
Insofar as Romney has cooked his campaign with
the Big Bird Blunder, we think it appropriate to give you some of the best. You've probably seen most of them by now, but a second look
might help you get through this weekend with a comical sense of WTF!
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