Okay, I have to vent here about Romney. From the get go, he’s struck me as smooth, fast-talking and the quintessential politician. He says what we want to hear, and he says different things to please different groups of people. I’m sure there is more to him than this, and I’d probably even vote for him if he won the nomination, but my suspicions endure.
Before I air out the dirty laundry here, let me make one thing clear. Huckabee is not my choice because I’m a fundamental Christian. Videos like this one, make me cringe. America is not the Christian land the Bible speaks of. We are wrong to spiritualize politics and I disliked Bush’s many attempts to do just that.
Huckabee, in my view, doesn’t do this. He takes his faith and its morals and applies them to big issues like poverty, health and education. He aims to do what is right, but he isn’t out trying to spiritualize America as the last Christian nation on earth. He may use Biblical tales as metaphors and figures of speech, but he is not trying to win America for the hard Religious right. (They don’t even support him fully.) Sure he is pro-life, and he is a former pastor. But with 10 years of gubernatorial experience, and a record of accomplishing important things in a highly democratic state, Huckabee’s record proves that he aims to bring America up, not into the grips of one particular ideology.
Okay back to Romney. You’re ready to hear me say “flip-flop” right? And Romney supporters roll their eyes.
But wait, let me stress, I welcome conversions to pro-life views and other conservative positions. I genuinely give Romney some benefit of the doubt. But upon looking more closely at other issues, it becomes clear that this conversion may well be a little too politically motivated.
Convenient Exaggerations
In the news recently, Romney has taken flack for claiming to have seen his father march with Martin Luther King, when in fact the evidence strongly points to the contrary. Worse, Romney then tried to spin his former clear statements into literary devices quibbling over the definition of the word “saw” (in Clintonesque fashion).
This reminds us of Romney’s past statements that he was a lifelong hunter, which turned out to be false. And his more recent claim that the NRA endorsed him as a candidate for Governor, when in fact they didn’t.
Converted to the Pro-Life Cause, Or Not?
In light of these convenient mistakes — convenient in that the statements scored points for him at the time, even though they were doubtful in veracity — this excerpt from a Washington Post blog entitled “Mitt Romney’s Flip Flop Flip” should alarm you.
Romney announced his conversion to “pro-life” views in an editorial in the Boston Globe on July 25, 2005, the day after vetoing a bill expanding access to the so-called “morning after” pill, which required that it be made available to rape victims….
That was not the end of the story, however. The controversy over “emergency contraception” continued to haunt Romney. In October 2005, another bill came to his desk, seeking a federal waiver to expand the number of Massachusetts citizens eligible for family planning services, including the “morning after” pill. Romney signed that bill over the objections of his new anti-abortion allies. On this occasion, he was applauded by “pro-choice” advocates.
The issue came up yet again in December 2005. After weeks of agonizing, Romney instructed all hospitals in the state to comply with the terms of the emergency contraception law, and make the morning-after pill available to rape victims. He acted on the advice of his legal counsel, over the objections of half a dozen Catholic hospitals, which had previously refused to provide emergency contraception on the grounds that it conflicted with their religious views.
“Flip,flop,flip,” editorialized the Boston Herald, on December 9, 2005. “Yes, Gov. Mitt Romney has now executed an Olympic-caliber double flip-flop with a gold medal-performance twist-and-a-half on the issue of emergency contraception.”
This raised my eyebrows because it shows that Romney was flip-flopping on the pro-life issue even before he was seriously running for president. And it should cause even more concern in light of his recent and repeated claims that on every bill that came across his desk concerning abortion, he came down firmly on the side of life. “Abortion” maybe, but “pro life issues” not necessarily, or so it seems.
Yet even on abortion, there is cause for concern. On the campaign trail, Romney has repeatedly traced his conversion to a November 2004 meeting with a doctor regarding stem cell embryos. But this ABC News article points out that:
Within two months of his epiphany on this issue, Romney appointed to a judgeship a Democrat who was an avowed supporter of abortion rights.
Notice this wasn’t a “bill” so Romney may be technically correct, yet this is not what a genuinely pro-life governor does. And to add another twist to that story, the doctor involved has publicly disputed Romney’s version of the facts.
Other Flip-Flops
Hold onto your seat, because there are even more evidences of flip-flopping for good ol’ Mitt.
On Reagan
- In 1994, when running for political office in liberal Massachussetts, he said: “I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I’m not trying to return to Reagan-Bush.” — Boston Herald — 10/27/94
- Now when running for the Republican presidential nomination, he says: “Ronald Reagan is … my hero. … I believe that our party’s ascendancy began with Ronald Reagan’s brand of visionary and courageous leadership.” — Boston Globe — 1/19/07 [HT: Politics & Christianity, drawing from this source, I believe.]
On His Desire to Serve in Vietnam
- “I was not planning on signing up for the military. It was not my desire to go off and serve in Vietnam…” — Boston Herald, 5/2/94
- “I longed in many respects to actually be in Vietnam and be representing our country there and in some ways it was frustrating not to feel like I was there as part of the troops that were fighting in Vietnam.” — Boston Globe, 6/24/07 [HT: Politics & Christianity, drawing from this source, I believe.]
On SCHIP
- Romney helped expand the federal State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) in Massachusetts by signing a state health care plan depending on SCHIP in 2006.
- In September 2007, Mitt Romney said he would veto expansions to SCHIP, which Congress passed and President Bush promised to veto. [HT: Politics & Christianity. See also this article for documentation.]
Other instances could be given, but many of those could properly be credited to legitimate growing and changing his mind. But all in all, when you add all of this up, the picture becomes fairly convincing that Romney is all talk. Especially when you consider his underhanded (our outright dishonest) campaigning.
So, there you have it. Romney’s Mormonism in no way prejudices me against him. The above mentioned history of political pandering does. And his record on judicial nominations seals the deal.
If you watch Romney’s explanation, i.e., he was an English major and we all misunderstood the word “saw” (which in itself is painful), and this quote from the Globe recounting his previous claim to have been there marching with his father and MLK,
“My father and I marched with Martin Luther King Jr. through the streets of Detroit.”
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/12/21/romney_never_saw_father_on_king_march/
This negates Mitt’s explanation. It demonstrates his stories change as he gets caught lying and his elaborate excuses contain lies in and of themselves. That he dredged up two people to say they saw it, but history never recorded it and nobody else in town remembers it, is part and parcel of the whole deception package.
Hey, none of us are perfect, and we cannot imagine the tension he has got to be under as he subjects himself to the limelight and always finds himself being attacked, and unfortunately, recorded. You hit it on the nose, he is a smooth talker and flip flops to score with the crowd, but that is not going to fly in this era because of how quickly we can disentangle his web of lies. He must learn to actually think before he opens his mouth. He is his own enemy, his own downfall. The ship has been damaged, and it is going down fast. No need for Hillary or Huckabee or anyone else to pump in the water, he’s capsized.
yep. i agree
Mike Huckabee News – http://www.mikehuckabeenews.com
Mitt Romney fli-flops, lies and endorses judges who lie. During his campaign for Governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney promised judicial reform for Massachusetts. The reality is he left the system more broken than it was before his term in office. Judge Tuttman is not an isolated incident. Governor Romney also nominated and pushed for the confirmation of Judge Mitchel J. Sikora to the Massachusetts Court of Appeals. When Romney did this, he was made personally aware by me that Judge Sikora had a track record of “outrageous” leniency toward violent criminals. By way of example only, prior to the judicial confirmation hearing, members of the public made Governor Romney personally aware that Judge Sikora had:
ï‚· Acquitted the man who killed Jacqueline O’ Donald finding that, giving her the date-rape drug GBL was not “reckless or wanton” enough to sustain the charge of manslaughter because Dolan “did not know the drug was dangerous to the point of grave bodily harm.” (See Boston Globe article dated December 31, 2003, “Plymouth Man, 34 Cleared in Death”)
ï‚· Released a rapist from the Treatment Center for the Sexually Dangerous in Bridgewater, over the strenuous objections of the Department of Corrections. Governor Cellucci called Sikora’s decision “outrageous.” Shortly after Judge Sikora released him, the rapist/pedophile was arrested for stalking girls with a rope, rock, and knife in his car, – his weapons of choice. (See Boston Herald article dated March 12, 1999, “Freed Mass. Rapist Arrested in UConn Stalking Incidents”)
ï‚· Conducted Monty-Python type trials complete with jurors dressed in Halloween costumes. (See Boston Herald article dated October 31, 2004, “Judges Trick No Treat for Litigants”)
The above are merely a few examples of the abhorrent behavior of Judge Mitchel Sikora. The public record documents that Judge Sikora was untruthful during his confirmation hearing. In spite of his personal knowledge of that kind of record, Governor Romney elevated Judge Sikora to a higher court. If Romney becomes president of America, we will see a callous disregard for the quality of the federal judicial appointments and the protection of the public.
Stefano Picciotto
(978) 741-0218
Thanks everyone. I distrust Romney because of his smooth talking. I kind of hope his ship does sink and Huckabee’s stays the course. Thanks too,Stefano for more info on the judicial record.
Have a blessed Christmas one and all,
Bob Hayton
Read the script to the Romney Joe Isuzu commercial – thevaluesvoter.spaces.live.com
Values guy, that’s pretty funny. Well, maybe not funny, actually. Thanks for sharing.
I saw the interview that his press secretary had with Chris Matthews on Hardball. They got nailed, and this is just the “little stuff” (in Matthew’s words) what is going to do with something major?
Shane, I saw that interview too. Let’s just say that the Romney gang are glad Romney himself wasn’t in the hotseat!
Thanks for the link.