Posted by Bob Lord
[Note: I actually wrote this before seeing AZBlueMeanie’s post, but having seen it, am happy pile on]
My gut reaction to Mitt Romney is and always has been that he’s a lying piece of shit. Although I easily could put support that same view objectively, truth is that there’s some aspect of his personality I just despise at a base level.
So, I’ll admit, up front, my objectivity here is a bit impaired. At the same time, however, I may have some standing to examine Mitt’s supposed empathy for average Americans, the classic example being his statement that he’s “lived in fear of getting a pink slip.” And based on my personal experience, the guy just couldn’t be more of an elitist liar.
During my own campaign, I was challenged as to why average Americans should support me. It wasn’t a question I had prepped for. After all, if you’re a Democrat speaking to union members (in this case, the Steelworkers) and you’re running against a true enemy of organized labor, you’re not expecting to be challenged like that. But that’s a good thing, because it means my immediate reaction to the question has some value. Had I been prepped, my reaction simply would have been to regurgitate my canned answer.
Here’s the question, as best I can remember: “Why do you, as a wealthy tax lawyer, believe you understand the challenges faced by middle class Americans such that you can represent them?” It was a totally appropriate question. Yeah, I could quibble with his definition of “wealthy,” but that would deny the essence of his question, which was “if you haven’t walked in our shoes, why should you be speaking for us?”
My answer to the question isn’t all that important. But my reaction to the question, I think, is. I’m about a thousand times as close to average as Mitt Romney. Unlike Mitt, I came from humble beginnings. I actually have had to worry about job security in my life. Nonetheless, when I was asked that question, I could never ever have entertained the notion of concocting some reason why my situation was in any way similar to the positions of the Steelworkers to whom I was speaking. How fucking ludicrous and phony would that have been? They’re doing back breaking work 8 hours a day and hanging on by their fingernails financially, while I’m lucky enough to be sitting at a desk and earning a comfortable living. It would have been unthinkable to suggest that I was just like they were. I’m actually not wealthy, but whatever financial challenges I have are trivial compared to those of average Americans. Real empathy is great, but false empathy is, well, revolting.
Some ass hat conservative will read this and accuse me of tooting my own horn, but my point is the opposite. My reaction was the reaction almost anyone other than Mitt Romney would have had. The only thing that sets me apart is that I actually was placed in this situation, so I don’t have to guess at what Mitt’s reaction would have been if he were genuine. And his reaction, based on personal experience, is totally absurd.
But it’s not the absurdity of Mitt’s attempt to be “average” that’s so telling. What’s really telling about Mitt’s false empathy, as evidenced by his concocted portrayal of himself as average, is that it exudes disrespect for the folks to whom he’s speaking. For a quarter billionaire like Mitt to think that his audience will buy into such a phony claim, speaks volumes. It says, in no uncertain terms, that Mitt has no respect for the intelligence of his listeners. In order to spew the kind of bullshit Mitt spews, you have to view your listeners as total morons. And to have that type of disrespect for average Americans, you have to be an elitist. You have to think average Americans are “lesser” than you are. And that is at least a part of why I so despise Mitt. That’s the reason he could do the things he did while at Bain. If you think the workers at a plant in Indiana are below you, it’s easy to justify mass layoffs. To Mitt, those people just got what they deserved.
So, perhaps that’s why I can’t stand Mitt. Or maybe it’s just the condescension in his voice. I’m not really sure.
[My answer to the question, for what it’s worth, was a blah answer. I acknowledged that it was a fair question, and acknowledged that I was more fortunate than most, then said that if you have your eyes open, if you think about how much money you spend on the essentials of life and compare that to what you know those less fortunate than you make, if you speak on a regular basis with friends and co-workers who are middle class, you can “get” the challenges facing average Americans, even if you yourself are affluent and removed from those challenges. But as I said, the answer is beside the point.]