Romney called himself that, but where else do we see that phrase?
Having read that collection of quotes, do you feel that you see something about Romney's nature? Or was it a meaningless grab for an adverb or an attempt to get to "seriously" that didn't quite make it?
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If oatmeal could be severe he'd be it!
In that word-search moment the word 'cynically' appeared and was quickly squashed by the words seriously and severely.
If only the national media had vetted Barack Obama as closely as they are vetting Romney, Gingrich and Santorum.
Romneybot is having as much trouble acting like a conservative as he is having acting like a human.
Romney's basically trying to placate the social conservatives is all. Obambi did the same thing with independents since his leftwing bonafides were already set in stone with the moonbat faction of democrats.
Elections are determined by independents which Obama will have to fight for if Romney is the nominee. If its Santorum, then they'll stick with the devil they know like they did in 2004.
That was certainly an entertaining exercise in free association.
But how can severe and conservative not call up fashion?
Romney was talking about his suit. Conservative gray or navy with a severe crease.
President Obama also does best in severe conservative styling. Jeans are not his friend.
If only the national media had vetted Barack Obama as closely as they are vetting Romney, Gingrich and Santorum.
I look forward to hearing this excuse when Obama wins again. Waaah! it's the media's fault!
Elections are determined by independents which Obama will have to fight for if Romney is the nominee.
A big factor in elections is turnout. This will be a problem since no one actually wants to go vote for him, even if they might theoretically prefer him to Obama.
"... Romneybot is having as much trouble acting like a conservative as he is having acting like a human..."
Heh. Well hes been able to produce five more humans than you'll be able to.
"... This will be a problem since no one actually wants to go vote for him, even if they might theoretically prefer him to Obama..."
Don't be so sure. Obama provided 3.8 trillion reasons why he shouldn't get one vote.
If he was any kind of conservative, it was only in relation to those in the state he governed. He was neither severely, nor seriously, nor sincerely conservative as governor by any other standards (except maybe fashion, as identified above) .
But I meant to say, "Happy Valentines" -- is it? You are all so lovely and lovable.
I noticed a traffic spike and looked behind to see specifically what was being targeted, expecting it was the wonderful thing I had just posted, but no, people were searching 'valentine' and got this Valentine anim wot I dun a long time ago.
But I wish I had written this because I think it's brilliant and I voted it for it yesterday and in the next minute it did win.
As an experiment I tried searching for the phrase "Severe Conservative" in Google advanced search, focused ONLY on PDFs.
Try it for yourself
This is much more entertaining.
The very first hit is a "dress for success" brochure with a reference to the Matrix.
The most positive hits are to scientific literature, where "severely conservative" means "we are taking no liberties with our data". For example, from the 9th hit:
"(this conclusion
is based on the severely conservative
estimate of 1 million stool samples
submitted per year)."
Andy, the anybody but Obama voter will be a large percentage of the electorate. Obama may still win, but the "he's inevitable" attitude doesn't fool anyone here.
I am not a Republican, and won't vote Romney in any primary, but will vote for him in the general if he is the only alternative to Obama.
I suspect that Romney may have formed the phrase from his atavistic financial past.
"Severely conservative" means "low risk."
If you put it in context -- of his tenure as governor of Massachusetts -- it creates an interesting idea. The difference between liberals and conservatives in this framework is not in ideals, but in risk. Liberals, like Romney's Massachusetts' opposition, are in favor of high risk policies. Conservatives, like Romney, are in favor of low risk policies.
See how Romneycare suddenly makes sense? As a severe conservative Romney created a low-risk healthcare policy: it could only destroy one state at a time.
Romney has a tendency to misspeak off the cuff. Saying he "enjoys firing people" when he meant to say he likes to choose who will work for him or saying "he doesn't care about the poor" when he wanted to say that his main concern is with the middle class.
What's strange about "severely conservative" was that it was used in an important set speech. Perhaps he was going for "strict" and "strong" and thought "severe" conveyed that. Or, maybe that's how he views the conservatives he's courting and tried, in a clumsy way, to show that's he one of them.
When you use a conjunction of words that are slightly out of rhythmn, it brings them into greater focus--it's like using a mixed metaphor....Someone who wishes to think kind thoughts about Romeny might believe that his use of the word severely showed his subconscious wish to sever large parts of the federal budget.
Romney is sending us a signal that underneath his smiley faced cardboard exterior there is a heart that will steal anything not nailed down, and then when it has become his, he will conserve it.
Mitt severely demands that he gets what he wants. Them's the Romney Rules, sucker.
Amexpat...What you just said about Romney's wording is exactly what the study on spotting lying dating profiles says to look for.
If only the national media had vetted Barack Obama as closely as they are vetting Romney, Gingrich and Santorum.
You just can't help but feel both bitter and sad for the victims.
I suppose rigid and hidebound were out.
Also chaste, intemperate, rabid, narrow-minded, and wearisome.
When mittens is spotaneous he's a frickin' train wreck. So if he's reading one of his handler's speeches, you can only blame his inept campaign manager or lack thereof.
Just trying to be fair to mittens, as is my way.
ie mittens discombobulated campaign is the perfect storm! :D
Since it's Valentine's Day, I'd like to tell my wife that I severely love you.
It was a meaningless grab or an indicator that he lies in his online profile at Match.com.
Since Obama'e left the economy severely fucked, we could use some conservatism, whether severe, medium, or even slightly underdone.
I suggest that Romney's supporters chip in to buy Mitt some teleprompters once used by Adele. That should help with his emotion to word syncopation deficit.
What else can we do help Mitt? He cannot drink alcohol, coffee or tea, nor smoke or get female therapy from other than his wife. And we can't trust him with dogs.
Most likely, they did a google search for "severely conservative." I don't see how any of those uses illustrates their point--that the phrase "severely conservative" is used to mean "proudly conservative."
In fact, some of those quotes don't even use "conservative" in the political sense, suggesting to me that they didn't even read them (not even the editors).
Careless cut and paste job.
Frankly, I'm much more concerned about the severely left wing, totalitarian wannabe in the White House that Romney's use of the word "severely." He was simply trying to appeal to the Gingrich/Paul/Santorum supporters. Anyone who thinks it goes any deeper than that is a liar or an idiot.
He was simply trying to appeal to the Gingrich/Paul/Santorum supporters. Anyone who thinks it goes any deeper than that is a liar or an idiot.
Of course. The idea that there is some underlying political ideology with Romney is a joke. He wants to be president for the sake of being president.
"severely conservative" sounds like the opposite of...
"compassionate conservative"
I think MR reached -- and missed -- for a tag that would resonate with his audience. Something muscular, "red meat." I assume he/they will try again.
He wants to be president for the sake of being president.
So, if Romney wins the Republican nomination, we'll have two major candidates with the same motivation. The difference will be that Romney's a lot smarter and has a long record of success in various endeavors.
He's as severely conservative as my dog is a philosopher.
That word just popped out in frustration.
The purists at CPAC don't seem to have a clue just how difficult it is to become a Republican governor in one of the bluest states in this nation.
Can they appreciate just how hard it is to govern when you have both a Democrat controlled house and senate?
An odd turn of phrase.
He may well have more Conservative sensibilities than most think, but he needs to put those elements of his past that display them more prominently on view.
Andy R. said...
Romneybot is having as much trouble acting like a conservative as he is having acting like a human.
Takes one to know one.
Amexpat said...
Romney has a tendency to misspeak off the cuff.
As opposed to President Uh, Um?
"... He wants to be president for the sake of being president..."
Well that would be a refreshing change since the current occupant is still trying to figure out the job.
I'd classify Romney as living a "severely conservative" personal lifestyle from living his religion. I daresay not a drop from a 2,000 dollar bottle of wine paid for by taxpayers or firms has passed by his or Ron Paul's lips - unlike Gingrich, Obama, and Santorums pleasurable days of being wined and dined to get the desired pork, earmarks and higher spending Inside the Beltway.
To me, Mitt has passed the "severely conservative" test on fiscal conservatism. I suspect though, that as a religious minority, he is more tolerant of other minorities than Gingrich, and certainly Santorum. So in the ex-KKK, ex-Southern white Democrat definition of a "true, pure, social conservative" - he isn't. Neither is Ron Paul.
The Republicans best wake up. This isn't 1988 and a prosperous, post-Reagan America where the only thing they had to dwell on was Buchanan-Bush-Evangelical Pat. And we could afford to neglect economic, deficit, and foreign policy threats to focus on:
1.Abortion
2. More death penalty for more crimes.
3. How much more than the next guy each candidate loved Jesus and was saved by him.
4. The need to double the budget of the DEA Heroes to put more drug users in prison.
5. How much to pander to Christian family values.
6. More space shuttle flights.
7. The damn gays and how HW Bush is tolerant of sodomites.
Republicans other than Paul and Romney are in a time warp. The last 25 years didn't happen....Santorum and Gingrich give the allure of pretending we can obliviate all that and just slip back into the Good Old Days of Reagan.
A 15 trillion deficit can magically vanish! Moon colonies! More Santorum Big Government aid to "faith-based groups". The gays must be brought to heel. Mention Saint Reagan 50 times in one speech like Democrats in the 60s brought up long gone FDR, or how 25 years later obsessed about how much each candidate in the 80s was like JFK.
Romney and Ron Paul at least recognize these are serious times and things have to be fixed. And we have Oprah-fied voters that want Santorum because he hates gays and loves his dying birth defect daughter. Or believe SURELY we have a few extra trillion lying around to fuel Newts moon colonies, a new carrier group for Florida, a new Federal 300 billion program to bring "more computers and IT into the schools".
The conservative rubes are in a time warp.
It's comforting.
Just like the Left believes it is still the 1960s and liberalism is in full blossom despite 50 years of events.
Or black leaders stuck in a 1950s timewarp of blacks in slave-like Southerr society.
"I fought against long odds in a deep blue state, but I was a severely conservative Republican governor."
In context, Romney is contrasting his "severely" conservative stance with the "deep blue" Massachusetts liberal political environment he was governing in.
I think he was trying to bolster his conservative bona fides by recounting how he was viewed by his liberal opponents at the time, especially the Boston Globe.
EDH -
"I fought against long odds in a deep blue state, but I was a severely conservative Republican governor."
---------------
As EDH said, the Boston Globe, a tool of both the NY Times and Teddy Kennedy - had shitfits over many of Romneys 800 vetos.
And compared to Bush? In the same time period, 2002-2006, Bush did not veto a single porkonormous bill or anything else pushed to him to sign.
Compared to Dubya, Romney was severely conservative.
Compared to John McCain or big government spender Huckabee, who never saw a spending bill he didn;t like - Romney was severely conservative, at least fiscally - compared to both.
But now we have a different time. As America has gone to hell under Bush and Obama..we have had a steady rant from Clown Prince conservative media entertainers that Obama is the demon and they were lied to in 8 years of near blind support of American Churchill Dubya....and what Republicans really need is a return not simply to quasi-RINO Reagan, not to moderate traitors like Nixon or Bush I.....but the hardcore pure stuff of Goldwater as What Jesus Really Wants.
(Sanctimonious Rick was not available for comment about Goldwater's later support for sodomite rights and rejection of the idea Barry was personally guided by Jesus through prayer)
(Gingrich was not available for comment on how Goldwater personally could not stomach Newt, calling him a vile little man)
Okay, awesome. Ryan Lizza can use LexisNexis and type "severely conservative." A national treasure, to be sure.
Anyay, I think the problem here is this: English is an intrinsicly nuanced language that is bring dulled by sloppy use. We have a rich language steeped in history and influenced by virtually every other major language on earth. But it's being diluted by people who treat adverbs and adjectives with all the subtlety and delicacy of gang-rape--such as people who treat words like fabulous, awesome, terrific, sensational, spectacular as synonymns for good/great. They aren't synonymous. But people are starting to treat all words in that Orwellian good/ungood scheme wherein all words have only positive or negative connotations but no nuance of meaning. This is where Romney stumbled and what Althouse and Lizza identified: "severe" doesn't mean intense/fierce/unyielding; it means "ungood." Given the state of the conservative momement and Tea Party, I think a "severe" conservative is exactly what they're looking for. Let's not ignore Romney's description of himself just because we're too retarded to place it in context.
If Romney's "severely" conservative, then I'm a flamin' liberal.
Why does everyone insist on shortening Romney quotes? He said he was a "severely conservative Governor." And he was in blue blue blue Massachusetts. 800 vetoes is pretty darn severe, if you ask me. Which, of course, no one did, but I had to say it anyway.
President Obama also does best in severe conservative styling. Jeans are not his friend.
I dearly love Willard but he needs to stop wearing mom jeans. :(
"Severely conservative" is a term of art used in financial projections and corporate valuations.
I'm not saying that's how or why he used it, or even how he might be confused into using it.
The term has to do with using the most conservative of estimates in making projections - the lowest revenues and revenue growths, the highest expenses and growths of expenses, the most unfavorable tax projections, the highest regulatory burdens, in short everything you can think of in the worst case. If the projection (or valuation) still comes out desirable, then it's a deal that is safely, conservatively, and fairly reliably - an attractive deal.
Too bad it wasn't 801 vetoes, because then I might consider voting for Der Mittens in the primary. Alas, now all I can consider is "Robamneycare". That said, he will get my vote if he is the nominee.
We've got your number now, you chooser of suboptimal adverbs, you.
Cotton Mather was severely conservative. Jerry Mathers was the beaver.
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