Last updated on August 3rd, 2012 at 12:58 am
There are few character traits as despicable and off-putting as arrogance, except maybe pathological lying, and Americans have had a steady dose of both from Willard Romney the past six months. It comes as little surprise then, that the presumptive Republican nominee accused reporters of overlooking the “substance” of his world fundraising tour, and then assailed the media for what he considers is its insistence on diverting attention from real issues. The main-stream media have given Willard deference he does not deserve, and they have been remiss to report on his penchant for lying about everything from his religion to his record at Bain Capital, and particularly President Obama. However, Romney crossed the line yesterday when he listed the topics he considers important and they portend an out-of-touch sycophant who is stuck in another era as well as a man who is as ignorant as he is arrogant.
Prior to leaving Poland yesterday, Romney told a Fox News reporter that, “I realize that there will be some in the Fourth Estate, or whichever estate, who are far more interested in finding something to write about that is unrelated to the economy, to geopolitics, to the threat of war, to the reality of conflict in Afghanistan today, to a nuclearization of Iran. They’ll instead try and find anything else to divert from the fact that these last four years have been tough years for our country.” It is not that Willard is diverting attention from his appalling behavior that embarrassed this country, but that the topics he considers important are either non-existent, or are being addressed by the President, Congress, and the media on a daily basis. Regarding his back-handed insult to the so-called Fourth Estate, if they all did their jobs and reported accurately on the persistent lies uttering forth from his lying mouth, he could not show his face in public.
First, Romney’s assertion that the last four years have been tough ignores the simple truth that the economic sluggishness is the result of Bush-Republican policies he promises to repeat and exceed if he is elected in November. Romney’s Republican cohort bears full responsibility for blocking job creation crucial to get the economy back on track, and without Republican obstruction and austerity measures, unemployment would be closer to 5% than 8%. Obviously, as more Americans get back to work earning living wages, the economy will rebound quickly, so either Willard misses the President’s speeches promoting job plans and tax cuts for the middle class, or he ignores news that the GOP refuses to hold a vote to implement the President’s plans creating millions of jobs immediately. The press has devoted plenty of space for Romney’s economic solution of over $6 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthy and deregulating Wall Street that caused the near-collapse of the world’s economy in 2007-2008, but apparently it is not sufficient for arrogant Willard.
The liar also reverted to cold-war rhetoric in bringing up geopolitics again like he did in late March when he claimed “Russia is the United States’ No. 1 geopolitical foe.” His remarks prompted Russian President Medvedev to tell him to “look at his watch” and reminded him “we are in 2012 and not the mid-1970s.” Medvedev recognized Romney was using “ideological clichés, and phrases like ‘enemy No. 1,’ that smells of Hollywood and certain times in the past.” Romney demeaned Russia again in Poland claiming “there are parts of the world today where the desire to be free is met with brutal oppression” before listing Russia, Venezuela and other countries, but omitted his party’s oppression of women, seniors, children, and gays he promises to increase if he is in the White House.
Then there is Romney’s contention the media ignores the “threat of war” or the “reality of conflict in Afghanistan today.” First, the only threat of war is from Romney and his Bush-Cheney foreign policy team whose unrelenting rhetoric for a “very substantial war in the region” is his foreign policy, and begins with Israel launching an unprovoked and pre-emptive military strike. It ties in with Willard’s “nuclearization of Iran” that President Obama, Secretary of State Clinton, and Congress have spent no small amount of time imposing sanctions on to pressure them to abandon their nuclear aspirations. It is unclear what his “reality of conflict in Afghanistan” remark meant, because for ten years, Americans, our brave military, and the economy has suffered the effects of the conflict, and for we who lost loved ones, the reality never ends. Perhaps Romney referred to his objection to President Obama’s plan to order 23,000 troops out of country by September 30 because Willard wants the option of keeping combat troops there beyond 2014 as part of the Iran war plan contingent on a large military presence in the neighboring country for easy strike capability when the fighting begins.
The truth is Romney, and not the media, is diverting attention from the disastrous PR failure of his fundraising tour. It is telling that he resorts to assailing the media for not reporting on fake topics like the threat of war, geopolitical foes, or the economy that Willard is clueless to get working for all the American people. He has also accused the Obama campaign of the same “diversion tactics” in calling into question his Bain Capital experience, his record as governor, refusal to release tax returns, his tax havens, or his lies about when he left Bain Capital. As an aside, the really important question is not when Willard Romney left Bain Capital, but why waited until August 2001 to finalize his departure. More later.
Romney’s arrogance prevents him from acknowledging that as a presidential candidate, his secret little world is about to come under extreme scrutiny, and that all the media is not beholden to write or cover stories he deems important. He gave away his diversionary tactic when he mentioned the “threat of war,” “geopolitical foes,” “the reality of conflict in Afghanistan,” and particularly why the media was “overlooking the substance of his international” fundraising tour. There was no substance to his tour just like there is no substance to Willard, and regardless his self-importance, self-aggrandizing, and delusion of grandeur, he is just an arrogant rich guy who is hiding information that will prove toxic to his campaign, and as usually happens with arrogant people, they will fall and as the American people learn why he refuses to release his tax returns, why he lied on SEC disclosures, why Bain Capital was involved in massive Medicare fraud, or why he hides millions in offshore tax havens, they will reject him for what he really is; a pretentious, self-important rich guy attempting to buy the White House because as his equally arrogant wife said, “it’s our turn” and “we’ve given you people all you need to know.” Fortunately Mrs. Willard, you and Mr. Willard are about to learn what members of the real Fourth Estate who are not distracted reveal because you had the temerity to blame the media of diverting attention from real issues.
Born in the South, raised in the Mid-West and California for a well-rounded view of America; it doesn't look good.
Former minister, lifelong musician, Mahayana Zen-Buddhist.
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