Mr. Romney, I Presume

How wonderful! Mitt Romney, who belongs to a religion that believes their underwear is sacred, as well as a number of other somewhat unusual beliefs, a religion that many believe is really a cult, is the leading contender for the Republican nominee for President, and is also regarded by most non-Tea party folks as probably the most “respectable,” as well as probably the least insane of their top three choices. By all measures of reason I can think of it would seem to me he will inevitably become the choice to run against President Obama. I mean, seriously, do you think the Republican Party, “when the chips are down” is going to allow Michele Bachmann to run? She has a history of saying things that are either so patently “crazy,” or often outright lies, I do not see how she can expect to be taken seriously once outside of Iowa. I don’t think she is helping herself when her response to every question she doesn’t want to answer is, “I’m running for President of the United States.” Her supporters complain that her photo on the cover of Newsweek makes her look insane, that it was a deliberate attempt to make her look that way, and perhaps it was, but frankly speaking, on the basis of her record to date, it is somewhat difficult to think otherwise.

Then there is Governor Perry of Texas, a truly far-out right-winger if ever there was one. I can’t believe Republicans can be serious about running this guy for President. He just finished his famous Prayer Meeting, an absolutely blatant violation of the Church/State rules, featuring speakers that represented the farthest lunatic fringes of the already lunatic far-right, has announced publicly that he believes Social Security and Medicare are unconstitutional, seems to falsely believe there is some reason Texas ought to have the right to secede from the Union, has been Governor for nine years in a state where more children are uninsured for health care than any other state in the union, and tells demonstrable lies about the so-called “Texas miracle.” He boasts about having created more jobs than any other state, but it turns out most of those jobs had nothing to do with him and, in fact, are mostly poorly paid service jobs. He fails to mention the nine billion dollar shortfall in the Texas budget and is basically little more than a huckster for a failed state. This is doubly so in that the Governor of Texas is little more than a figurehead while the Lieutenant Governor in Texas has most of the responsibility for the budget and other important matters. Apparently Republicans are so determined to not want Romney they are trying to rally behind Perry. He is a handsome fellow, has nice hair, a Texas swagger, and appears to be Presidential, but there is, as Gertrude Stein said, “No there, there.” Perry is another religious nut-case just like Bachmann. If Republicans think he will garner many votes outside of Iowa, Texas, and a few other truly conservative states, they are living in dreamland. Either they are just desperate or their opinion of the non-Tea party voting public is one of outright contempt. Can they really believe we are all so stupid? Horrors, what if they should turn out to be right? I cannot bear the thought. But not to worry, in the background we still have Rudy Giuliani, hero of 9/11, champion of civil rights, defender of Bernie Kirk, still making noises about running again, as if we should be thrilled. And don’t forget that other fake candidate, who used to represent “The Great State of Alaska,” intrepid fisherman and hunter “par excellence,” particularly of moose, mooses, (mice?), wolves, caribou, (I’ve heard tell she even wrestles grizzly bears), attention and publicity, who still has the audacity to claim to be running for President (maybe, perhaps, possibly, tee-hee, we’ll see, I’ll announce someday if not before, or after, or whatever).

I think it’s fair to say the Republican attack on President Obama has been in some measure a success, he’s been wounded and is vulnerable. But if Republicans can’t do any better than Romney, Bachmann, and Perry (the MSM has decided we are never to hear again of Ron Paul), I think they might well have thrown in the winning hand. Obama will probably win some kind of pyrrhic victory and we’ll be in for another four years of Republican recalcitrance and failure to compromise. A Black President is not going to be allowed to succeed, it is too threatening to the basic paradigm into which we have all been enculturated. Obama is ahead of his time, perhaps in another generation or two things will be different (if, indeed, we last that long). I’m beginning to believe the situation is far too complicated for any single President to deal with. It ‘s like the well-known case of killing moles, one pops up in Egypt, then another in Syria, still another in Yemen, once more in North Korea, then Iran, Somalia, Pakistan, Libya, the Sudan, and so on and on. And that doesn’t even mention the other important and critical problems facing a President: global warming, the environment, unemployment, health care, debt, natural disasters, and those simpletons who believe it’s just a matter of “lower taxes and less government.”

“Rick Perry is George W. Bush without the brains.”

Unknown speaker.