"Star Power," Really?

Earlier today while seeking in vain to find some news that was not “political,” I spotted a headline that said, as I recall, “Dick Cheney to Lend Star Power to the Romney Campaign.” Political, I know, but it did make me pause and wonder, ‘Star Power,” really? Doesn’t it make you wonder what a “Star” is? I mean, like, really, when Cheney left office his favorable rating was 13%, below that even of George W. Bush, the President, lower than that of Congress at that time (they may have exceeded that by now), somewhere about level with a snake’s belly. There may be some who think Cheney is a Star but they have to be very few and very strange. Probably the same people who want to believe Adolf Hitler was a great man because he made the trains run on time. Cheney is such a big Star he is afraid to leave the U.S. for fear of being arrested for war crimes. Such a big Star he is not to be seen in public with Romney and the $30,000 a plate fund raiser he is hosting in Jackson is not going to be photographed. It is being said by some that the purpose of this underworld event is the symbolic passing of the Republican torch from Bush/Cheney to the new leader of the Republican cause, Mitt Romney. You know, from one lying administration to the next.

It appears that Mitt Romney’s claim that he left Bain Capital in 1999, and therefore cannot be responsible for some of its worst offenses, may not be true. I guess there is evidence he may have still been with the company (his company) until 3 years later, 2002. If this is so he obviously lied about it. One reason I believe this might be true is that Romney immediately attacked President Obama for lying, the absolutely classic Karl Rove strategy of projecting your own worst faults on your enemy. Or, conversely, turning someone’s strength into their weakness (remember the Swift Boaters and what they did to Kerry?). I wonder what the Mormon Church position is on lying? There is little doubt that even as a Presidential candidate Romney is an unusually consistent liar. Maybe lying to become the first Mormon President is okay with the Church. I haven’t heard any criticism coming from them about Romney’s often blatant, transparent, opportunistic , and sometimes outrageous lies.

Now there is all this noise about Romney’s offshore accounts, his investments in China, his taking advantage of all the tax breaks, and so on. This may well hurt him but does anyone believe that someone who has accumulated fortune of a quarter of a billion dollars (quite likely more) would not have used offshore accounts, invested overseas, and taken advantage of all the tax breaks possible? I don’t know what Romney did, or if he broke any laws or not, but if nothing else his case should help point out the absurdity of our tax laws and business regulations that allow this to happen.

I find it hilarious that at this particular moment in time, with all the controversy over outsourcing and such, whoever is in charge of the Olympic Games actually had our new Olympic uniforms made in China. Not only are the uniforms ugly (at least I think so) they also carry the logo of the Chinese company that manufactured them. I wonder if Romney had any input into this, as previous head of the Olympic committee he may well be a consultant to the current head, whoever he or she is. It would be even more hilarious to learn that Romney may have stock in the company that made these uniforms (I doubt that even President Obama could be that lucky).

I guess the moral of this tale, if even it has one, is beware of headlines. Remember after the recent Supreme Court decision on health care some newspapers ran headlines that said, “Supreme Court Gives Blow to Obamacare” (or something like that), while other papers said, “Obama Wins Major Victory.” The Court had, of course, held that three of the four provisions were constitutional and the fourth was questionable. The absolutely worst (completely misleading) headline of today was, “Sarah Palin Was Right About Death Panels.” You only had to begin to read the piece to learn it had nothing whatsoever to do with Palin’s silly prattlings on the subject. Not to worry, it’s the American way.


The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible.

Bertrand Russell