Dr. Word asks Romney: When you reach a crossroads, do you turn around?

by David Safier

Dr. Word received one of his regular snail mail pitches from Republicans, this time from Mitt Romney. Being a student of metaphor, he is puzzled by the Mitt's metaphorical mixed message. (Please feel free to criticize the Dr.'s overuse of alliteration. He acknowledges he has a problem.)

Romney began with:

Our country is at a croosroads. In one direction lies bigger government, even bigger debt, and certain decline. In the other direction lies limited government, free enterprise, and economic growth.

Dr. Word knows about the crossroads metaphor from Sophocles (Oedipus), Robert Frost (The Road Not Taken) and Robert Johnson (Crossroads), along with other sources. The image is of someone traveling along a road when the road forks, and the traveler must choose which path to follow.

Romney chose a different option.

I am runnning for president because I believe I have what it takes to turn America around. [boldface added]

Romney's metaphorically declares he would take us backward, not in one of the two forward directions. However, he doesn't say how far back we would go. To George W.'s failed economic policies? To the imaginary Garden of Eden of the 1950s — an Eden where only whites have the chance to be Adam and Eve, and everyone else is there to serve fruit and tend garden (and it's not really so great to be Eve)? To Santorum's beloved 17th century? As usual, Mitt is short on specifics.

WEASEL WORDS BONUS: The following passage from the same money pitch is supposed to make us more confident of Romney's ability to "get Americans back to work."

I spent my career in the private sector. I know how jobs are created and how jobs are lost. I have helped guide more than one enterprise that was in crisis. [boldface added]

Helped guide them? Where? Toward greater job creation or toward job loss and bankruptcy? Mitt, who has done both during his tenure in the private sector career, isn't saying.