"... from governor of Massachusetts to constant candidate for president — Mr. Romney is now a restless chief executive with no organization to run."
He was heard to say, last Tuesday night, "I will not fall off the map."
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90 comments:
Didn't he promise to retire from politics?
Does he not realize what a horrible person he is and how much people don't like him?
Nobody voted for Mitt Romney, they voted for Not Obama. Hard to turn that into a career.
I think he will take his talents and use them for his Church.
"Does he not realize what a horrible person he is and how much people don't like him?"
-- Romney has, quite literally, risked his own life to save people from drowning. He has thrown away money by closing his business to find a missing girl who would have died without his massive efforts.
You're an idiot if you think he is a horrible person. I disagree with Obama's policies; I don't slander him baselessly.
He'll muddle thru somehow. He can always play w/his car elevator.
Rhetorical question: Like cheney/bush, will he be invited to the 2016 Rep convention ?!?
You can try to save a drowning person and still be horrible.
"...to the Olympic Games..."
Oh yes - tha's right...he came over here and told us we weren't ready for what would become (a few weeks later) the most successful and least partisan games in the last 70 years, if not since the modern Olympic movement began...
He would have made such a fine President, what with that common touch and his deep understanding of World Affairs!
Wasn't it Andy crying about someone not being self aware? I love those lefties, always projecting, never realizing how clueless they are.
You lefties define horrible. You aren't fit to even shine Romney's shoes. Go fuck yourselves.
Right. How could I forget that someone willing to risk their life, sacrifice millions for charity, stay up with a dying kid to comfort them -- clearly when every last piece of evidence points towards Romney being a decent human being, I must be wrong.
Andy: Think this through, really. Obama won the election, but you're poisoning any good will towards working with him by behaving badly.
"Does he not realize what a horrible person he is and how much people don't like him?"
Projection
Or Romney could decide to take up Andy Ratso's occupation, which is, apparently, to sit around all day, reloading a blog that he hates, waiting for a new post so that he can rush in and leave the first comment, generally some sort of rancid, dyspeptic sarcasm that he mistakes for cleverness.
You can try to save a drowning person and still be horrible.
For awhile there, you were becoming one of the more reasonable commenters here from the opposite side of the aisle from a majority of the commentariat.
You were engaging, even funny. You were interested in a wider range of topics. You provided links to back up your claims and statements, and took the time and consideration to drop a six-word bomb and then leave.
Where did that go?
Why the return to the snarky bore?
and took the time and consideration to drop a six-word bomb and then leave.
NOT drop a six word bomb.
Blogger's edit feature is awesome, BTW. I can't wait to see all of the new commenting features at Althou.se!
You can try to save a drowning person and still be horrible.
You can be a pudgy, pasty superfluity who seems to do nothing at all and definitely be horrible.
Does Andy not realize what a horrible person he is and how much people don't like him?
You were engaging, even funny. You were interested in a wider range of topics. You provided links to back up your claims and statements, and took the time and consideration to drop a six-word bomb and then leave.
Where did that go?
I tried doing this, and made absolutely no progress with anyone. I was polite. I provided links to evidence. I patiently explained things. No one budged. No one learned anything.
A good portion of the commenters here are terrible, and the ones who aren't terrible don't ever stand up to them or call them out.
Andy R. said...
You can try to save a drowning person and still be horrible.
11/9/12 10:43 AM
I know Mitt Romney.
He's a friend of mine.
You're no Mitt Romney.
You are a projector.
You, Andy R., are horrible.
A good portion of the commenters here are terrible, and the ones who aren't terrible don't ever stand up to them or call them out.
Sure we do! We're doing it right here and now!
The most frustrating thing for me was the debate about the impact of the stimulus on job creation. I laid out the social science approach to how to evaluate the stimulus, and why it was silly to say that the stimulus didn't have an impact on jobs just by looking at crude numbers in a simplistic way.
And the people I was talking to clung to their ignorance even more tightly.
You can try to save a drowning person and still be horrible.
Which brings to mind a passage from the Sherlock Holmes story "The Sign of Four":
"... I assure you that the most winning woman I ever knew was hanged for poisoning three little children for their insurance-money, and the most repellent man of my acquaintance is a philanthropist who has spent nearly a quarter of a million upon the London poor."
I guess it all depends on how one defines "horrible."
That being said, I could hang around here and continue to snark at all of you for your hate and ignorance, but it would probably be better for me if I took a break from Atlhouse for a while.
I'll probably keep reading, but I don't think there is much to be gained by me participating in the comment section.
Andy: The stimulus was a failure. Every measure that existed when it was proposed and enacted failed. The only way to claim it is a success is to go backwards, redefine what metrics to measure it by, and reinterpret years of data and flat out declare things by fiat.
The stimulus failed. Unemployment is higher than expected along with all sorts of other economic troubles.
No amount of anything makes those facts untrue.
The stimulus failed.
Since I just said I was going to take a break from here, hopefully you don't mind if I don't stick around to hash this out with you.
I personally hope that Romney goes the Bill Gates route and becomes a full-time philanthropist. His organizational skills could really help in a field where good intentions too often don't get the job done.
He will live a long, happy, and productive life (living well is the best revenge, after all) while all our little trolls are huddled around 60 Watt bulbs for warmth.
Thirty pieces of silver don't buy much.
Smilin' Jack said...
Nobody voted for Mitt Romney, they voted for Not Obama. Hard to turn that into a career.
No, the people who voted for Romney have their votes at the bottom of a shredder someplace.
shiloh said...
He'll muddle thru somehow. He can always play w/his car elevator.
Rhetorical question: Like cheney/bush, will he be invited to the 2016 Rep convention ?!?
Stupid question.
A more pertinent one would be, where were you between 10/5 and 11/5 when the Romster was winning?
I know, sobbing in front of your wall of Althouse pictures, unable to understand how she could reject you.
The story of his life, of course.
wise_kaplan @wise_kaplan
"You say the man ran the '02 Winter Olympic Games? Then we've GOT to find a place for him somewhere! He's GOT to be an asset to us somehow!"
LOL
I think Romney was a fine candidate with a capable message. He just wasn't the man who convinced America this message was right or that he was the man to bring this message to fruition.
Part of that, I think, was because he has spent so long now as a candidate, not as an executive. And a candidate for Republican primaries.
My critique in the primaries was that he was a professional candidate rather than coming out of a present role in government. He picked a VP who had one a district and was in the House. So, while both were capable, they didn't have the ability to sell the message and get people on their side.
All that to say, I wish Romney had engaged in other-than-candidate defining tasks before running and I hope he does something like that now. He needs to go back to being a governor. Or he needs to run a non-profit.
Put his message into practice. Don't become the perpetual candidate. The benefit for him is that he doesn't need to be corrupt to make money, so he can be a real benefit to this country--unlike Gore or so many others.
If he truly believed what he said, he doesn't have to be President to help lead this country in those directions. Show how it can be done in other ways, and give conservatives leadership in being a transforming presence in their communities.
The classic revisionism in defending the stimulus is: "We're stupid and didn't know how bad it was." If you're best defense of your suggested policy is you're an idiot, let's just say, I am not inclined to believe you.
Oddly enough, the folks who said the stimulus would make things worse were right. And I don't have to believe they were also idiots to have correctly predicted an effect from a cause.
I'm not worried about Romney. He'll be fine. He's a super competent, nice guy, with all the money he and his family needs. He will or will not go into business, work for his church, whatever. At all of it, he'll do well.
Better than the rest of us.
You can try to save a drowning person and still be horrible.
Or you can let him drown and be wonderful. It all comes down to doing what really matters, which is agreeing with Andy.
"You're an idiot if you think he is a horrible person. I disagree with Obama's policies; I don't slander him baselessly."
Matthew, you are not a lefty nor gay. It's part of the mentality.
Andy R. said...
That being said, I could hang around here and continue to snark at all of you for your hate and ignorance, but it would probably be better for me if I took a break from Atlhouse for a while.
Please do that Andy--or more preferably, change up your tune a bit. But I'm fairly certain that even if you do leave, another archetype will emerge. Your character space will just repopulate.
He could always run for Senate from Massachusetts again. Or now that he's been defeated, he can go back to cheerleading for open borders and Amnesty.
"
The most frustrating thing for me was the debate about the impact of the stimulus on job creation. "
Yeah, I was frustrated, too. No clue that throwing away billions on government jobs that are superfluous does not move the needle. I guess that's why the recession is over. Get a job.
" it would probably be better for me if I took a break from Atlhouse for a while. "
Better for us, too.
"And the people I was talking to clung to their ignorance even more tightly."
Your lack of self awareness is epic.
I tried doing this, and made absolutely no progress with anyone. I was polite. I provided links to evidence. I patiently explained things. No one budged. No one learned anything.
A good portion of the commenters here are terrible, and the ones who aren't terrible don't ever stand up to them or call them out.
Linking to a picture of a fetus post abortion, calling it "red goo" is polite in no sense of the term.
"Matthew, you are not a lefty nor gay. It's part of the mentality."
-- Says who? There's plenty of evidence I'm center-right to right on average, but I've given no indication on the second one either way. Little digs like that are not going to help bring Log Cabin Republicans into the fold.
For the record, I'm not gay. Even if I was, however, that would have no bearing on whether or not I was likely to be a jerk.
I patiently explained things. No one budged. No one learned anything.
Giving up is easier.
Personally, I wish Bill Gates had stuck to running his company, which is something he did well and benefitted all of us.
I am worried about how much mischief he can cause in this world devoting his and Buffett's billions to philanthropy and "good" causes!
I agree, Hagar. Gates did far more good for the world building his company.
Like Matthew S, I do not slander Obama baselessly--I have good reasons.
How about set up a Bain Capital for his supporters?
Yeah, Romney risks his own life and his own money, gives 40% of his annual incomes to charity is a "horrible" person.
Obama who gave away billions of taxpayers' money to cronies is such a great savior. (To the slandering idiot, some examples: he gave 2 billions to Soros Petrobra to drill off-shore oil, taking American jobs to Brazil; $500 millions+ to Kaiser to close down Solyndra, telling 10,000 employees to collect unemployment, giving multi-millions bonuses to management...)
It makes me sick that my hard earned tax dollars are used to support slandering ignorant idiots.
Hagar and Patrick: I make my living getting computers to do what they're supposed to, and I agree with you - Gates brought a lot of benefits to us through his business.
But that was then, this is now, and he can still do a lot. I really think do-gooderism can benefit from someone who's used to measuring success from results, not intentiions.
I really think do-gooderism can benefit from someone who's used to measuring success from results, not intentiions.
Absolutely, Graham. I don't mean to imply that do gooders can't do well, but they rarely are doing as much good as they think they are. They also shouldn't assume (as many in the non-profit world do) that they are doing good simply because they lack the profit motive.
Andy R said,
"A good portion of the commenters here are terrible, and the ones who aren't terrible don't ever stand up to them or call them out."
Andy.That's not true. I call you out all the time. I haven't lately because you're boring and your not even gay.
Mitt could go back to venture capital and turnaround expert, focusing on industries that will attack the dem base (such as education automation, entertainment, media).
He is a brilliant guy and would have been great at streamlining government but is not a natural politician.
He was an awful flip flopping candidate who has no soul and no actual political convinctions. And he was the biggest fucking liar. I voted for him as governor but he changed every position and could change it within 5 minutes.
He should go back into business and making money, he is good at that, which is a compliment. He has been running for higher office since 1994 and has won once-he needs to disappear.
He should also move to Utah where he is popular. Take the horse ballet whore and the Osmond sons with ya too. How do you live in a state where you didn't win a single county or even your fab home town? His claim to fame will be the presendential candidate who lost his home state more than any other in history-remember when the manwhorepig thing Gore did that and we were loving it-well Romney whacked that one out of the park.
Andy R. said...
The stimulus failed.
Since I just said I was going to take a break from here, hopefully you don't mind if I don't stick around to hash this out with you.
Since you can't argue it in any cogent way,............don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.
Write when you find work.
Titus said...
He was an awful flip flopping candidate who has no soul and no actual political convinctions. And he was the biggest fucking liar. I voted for him as governor but he changed every position and could change it within 5 minutes.
And yet OBama's lies and flip flops were somehow more compelling?
Garage, we owe Mitt Romney nothing. However, what we now witness will be the new narrative from the MSM about what a nice guy he is, how capable and how the Republicans need to find a place for him in a more moderate Republican Party. Why don't they just let us see their high fives, drunken self-congratulatory toasts from Tuesday night and just come out and dance on his grave.
That's a rhetorical question BTW meaning the answer is known before the question is asked.
.
"You stupid horrible people aren't learning from me. I think I'll go away now and then you'll be sorry."
The above attributed to any at level first grader and/or Andy
Mitt Romney is a,lot of things but I don't think he is "horrible"...
...and he is not brilliant either...the Obama campaign totally outsmarted and outworked the Romney bunch...ORCA anyone?
My guess is he will do alright...
@caplight
More importantly, when is that Althouse blog post going to be posted??
Andy R. asks (1st comment) "Does [Romney] not realize what a horrible person he is and how much people don't like him?"
Do horrible people ever know that they are horrible people? Andy R. doesn't seem to.
"He should also move to Utah where he is popular. Take the horse ballet whore and the Osmond sons with ya too."
Wow. Just wow.
It is too bad that he will not be able to use his talents to get the country out of the current economic mess. We will never get another candiate who is better equiped to handle the economic problems facing America---a Harvard MBA (to 5% of his class), Harvard Law degree (top 30% of his class), years of successful business experience so he knows how to read a balance sheet and what it takes to make a business be profitable, plus prior experience governing in an extremely partisan state like Mass. What did Obama bring to the job that will help him to understand the current economic problems faced by this country or to work with Democrats and Republicans to get something done?
My husband asked if Romney was going to go back to what he was doing before he ran for election... and what was that anyhow?
And the thing of it is (and maybe you lefties should think about what this means) that unless he was elected to some other office and running at the same time he *couldn't* do anything. He couldn't work for a company or head a foundation even or sit on a board, and he certainly couldn't manage his own financial portfolio, that had to go into a blind trust.
Conflict of interest only counts when it's absolutely everything but working for government, right?
If he just takes back control of his own money he'll have something to *do*. The private sector exists.
Shocking, I know.
Priscilla said...
Wow. Just wow. Titus' posts usually assume the fecal position. He's an old hand here, though & Harvard educated. No one ever knows if he's serious.
It's always helpful to assume for, the sake of mental health, that Titus is not serious.
Constant candidate for president? He's only run twice? WTF?
Andy R. said...
Didn't he promise to retire from politics?
Does he not realize what a horrible person he is and how much people don't like him?
Folks, this is the utter bile and vilification campaign that Obama ran for 4 years against any and all competitors to his throne. People like Andy are the quintessential representation of who that campaign targeted and how it's affected them. It wasn't merely enough to say that Romney isn't good enough to be president, but that 10's of millions of people like Andy actually believe that Romney is a horrible person and that people don't like him. This is what the electorate has been reduced to.
Now tell me if you see any silver lining in how republicans or conservatives will see a presidency again in the near future with this kind of demonization? Outside of the fact that Andy is a scumbag, there are perfectly reasonable people who voted for Obama and believe what Andy believes. The scorched earth policy that Urkel waged worked and this is what we are left with.
Romney is not a horrible person. It is absurd to say that. The majority of voters just didn't connect with him. Smilin' Jack has it right. It is tougher to win when your strongest argument is to have voters vote against your opponent than it is having them vote FOR you. Especially in a presidential election.
demonization...scorched Earth...
Really? the party of Rove...do you still have your purple band-aid?
You can try to save a drowning person and still be horrible.
No, you most likely can't. Be a horrible person is a behavioral trait reinforced time after time by the decision one makes and the actions one takes.
Romney has shown time and time again not to be a "horrible person."
Methadras
I don't want to shock your political world view but you don't have to look too hard to find utterly vile hateful comments about Obama coming from the mouths of conservatives. Some people genuinely hate Obama and they don't hide it.
Maybe he can brush up on usability. Link
machine said...
demonization...scorched Earth...
Really? the party of Rove...do you still have your purple band-aid?
They can dish it out, but they can't take it.
They want war, give 'em war.
Graham Powell said...
I personally hope that Romney goes the Bill Gates route and becomes a full-time philanthropist. His organizational skills could really help in a field where good intentions too often don't get the job done
=================
Leaving aside the predictable drama queen home snark on how he is the most awful person to walk on American soil - Romney - as they say, has options.
If he follows his Dad's arc, and he idolizes his Dad..the next phase of Mitt's life would be establishing new volunteer networks and improving existing ones.
Hopefully, unlike Gates and Buffett, he would not ignore America to focus on Africa and Haiti . Great for the 4th World, but the money the two made in America has done little to help Americans in the billionaire's "philanthropy outreach".
(I personally don't think any money taken out of America for distribution to non-Americans should be tax deductable).
Of course when George Romney focused on Volunteeerism - there were still many situations where people slipped through the net of government and charities. But jobs creation and the fiscal health of America and Europe in the 70s and 80s and 90s while George was doing volunteerism - had not deteriorated so badly to the grave situation Western Civ faces today.
Romney already served his Church with commitment of tens of thousands of hours of his life serving as minister and pastor and I don't see the guy as eager to become a Salt Lake City Elder and devote all his time to Inner Circle Mormon stuff.
The thing he might want the most is a role at a fiscal institution where he works to streamline government costs and red ink...so that America and the rest of Europe do not become Greece.
The job offers will come.
So maybe
"the Obama campaign totally outsmarted and outworked the Romney bunch...ORCA anyone?"
machine, I will give you this. They totally outsmarted their own voters.
No, doucher, I don't want war...just pointing out hypocrisy.
Both sides play nasty....I just think making fun of those who served is a little lower than usual...
Matt said...
Methadras
I don't want to shock your political world view but you don't have to look too hard to find utterly vile hateful comments about Obama coming from the mouths of conservatives. Some people genuinely hate Obama and they don't hide it.
==============
The difference Matt, is that the programmed demonization of political enemies was integral to the Obama campaign itself. It was systematic to the organization by use of surrogates that laid out hatred and villification, not hope and change. To cultivate cabals of liberals and progressive Jews in the media like JournoList - as Alinskyite surrogates.
Hillary, McCain, Boehner, McConnell, Romney were nothing but targets to be carefully and methodically demonized.
The opposition had nothing like that, internal to the Hillary, McCain, or Romney campaigns.
Just organized and unorganized citizens and pundits not plotting behind closed doors as the Obamites did - that hated Obama and all he and his minions stand for.
There is a huge difference. Last time we saw someone like Obama and his White House, it was Nixon and his team. (And at least Nixon was competent and a true patriot and believer in the America he had grwon up and succeeded in.)
I don't think the next 4 years will go well for Obama. The mask will eventually be peeled off the inept, incompetent bullshit artist.
His place in Presidential history alongside Carter and slightly below Nixon and George W Bush is all but assured.
I get the impression that Andy's homosexuality made his adolescence a rough and frightening time and for that reason am always willing to cut him slack.Ritmo the lunatic, Shiloh the creep, Garage the off-brand Michael Moore wannabe, and, most vile of all, Inga the latter day Leni Riefenstahl, are all just simply sub-marginal human beings.
Does he not realize what a horrible person he is and how much people don't like him?
Go fuck yourself, you little shitbrick.
You aren't deserving to sniff Romney's taint, you fucking genetic mistake.
Do you really want to compare the good he has done as opposed to the non-stop embarrassment to your family that your ill-begotten existence is?
machine said...
No, doucher, I don't want war...just pointing out hypocrisy.
Both sides play nasty....I just think making fun of those who served is a little lower than usual...
The mindless automaton may not want it (surprise!), but he's getting it.
If he calls the other side's merely pointing out facts playing nasty, he'll never be able to stand up to a real fight.
Their nightmares are still haunted by Lee Atwater.
Inga is just in it for the attention.
Cedarford
I don't want to shock your world view but a good number of the attacks leveled at Romney [Bain Capital etc] came from Gingrich, Santorum et al during the Republican primary. Were their views hateful and or were they really just nice guys playing politics for the cameras?
The bottom line is people did not connect with Romney. You can blame the media all you want but blaming Romney himself would probably be the best way to go. Afterall his 47% comment wasn't made by the media. It came straight out of his mouth - and it took him a while to own up to it.
"Nobody voted for Mitt Romney, they voted for Not Obama."
I voted for Romney. I think he could have been a great president.
He can always play w/his car elevator.
so, what is it with the hatred and distrust of rich people? I asked a FB friend why she hated rich people and she said, "There's no way they have the same worries I have." Must we have the same worries to value each other? If I worry about my health and you worry about your mortgage, how does that make it impossible to be have faith AT ALL in each other? If Romney worries about the Olympics, what does that have to do with whether he would be a good president? If you worry about your mortgage and the price of milk, does that mean you are better able to be president? Why, if you hate rich people, is it okay to like, love, or idolize Obama or Michael Moore or Beyonce?
I voted for Romney. I think he could have been a great president.
I figured somebody had to vote for Romney. He ran a decent campaign. I probably would have voted for Huntsman if the Repubs had nominated him.
More about Orca, from a Romney volunteer.
So, the end result was that 30,000+ of the most active and fired-up volunteers were wandering around confused and frustrated when they could have been doing anything else to help. Like driving people to the polls, phone-banking, walking door-to-door, etc. We lost by fairly small margins in Florida, Virginia, Ohio and Colorado. If this had worked could it have closed the gap? I sure hope not for my sanity's sake.
The bitter irony of this entire endeavor was that a supposedly small government candidate gutted the local structure of GOTV efforts in favor of a centralized, faceless organization in a far off place (in this case, their Boston headquarters). Wrap your head around that.
Why, if you hate rich people, is it okay to like, love, or idolize Obama or Michael Moore or Beyonce?
I don't understand it either. If you demonize the rich, and essentially make it illegal, in a sense you preclude yourself from ever becoming rich. Now, you could counter that what people really despise are the too rich, but that takes us to how to quantify "too rich."
Wanna know what else could cure the tax system of too few contributors? Fix the definition of rich at say $250k, and then unleash a nasty bout of inflation coupled with growth which makes it politically bearable. Soon, in a matter of years, bracket creep puts a good number of people into that $250k rate. Problem solved!!
I figured somebody had to vote for Romney. He ran a decent campaign. I probably would have voted for Huntsman if the Repubs had nominated him.
The GOP prefers to nominate actual Republicans for President.
After several moderate guys lost --- why not go with a far right guy? No matter how moderate, any candidate will be called extreme by the donks.
If a talented guy like Romney were to start, say, a private equity fund, with some money from the Adelsons and the Kochs and the like, it'd probably be child's play to acquire effective control of outfits like the NY Times and a couple of the broadcast networks...then, ideally:
a) Take them out of the news business, and/or
b) Sell off the assets to non-media buyers.
Love of country my ass, it's time for some revenge, and this time let's make sure we hit the right target.
@Chikelit,
But the Democrats have got - and indeed are led by - the very very rich and the poor.
The Republicans are mostly from that "middle class" that everybody claim to be so concerned about.
These campaign slogans make no sense whatever!
@leslyn,
Did you see the video clip from the VIP lounge at the DNC?
machine said...
demonization...scorched Earth...
Really? the party of Rove...do you still have your purple band-aid?
I don't belong to the party of rove you insipid monkey. I see what is before me, not with 6 hands covering eyes, ears, and mouth. You want to live in a fantasy land where all your butthurts will be righted by Obama, then by all means, you're kind just inherited the earth. And your kind will do what they always do, commit fiscal suicide to prop the idiocy of social policy you've adopted since Das Kapital was published. You are going to get your wish, but the problem is, is that there 10's of millions of people that don't want to go along with it. Oh well, what's the point of a Constitutional Representative Republic when having just a plain old democracy is all that matters now.
Matt said...
Methadras
I don't want to shock your political world view but you don't have to look too hard to find utterly vile hateful comments about Obama coming from the mouths of conservatives. Some people genuinely hate Obama and they don't hide it
Matt, did you have a reset within your brain? My world view isn't shocked at all. I expected a Romney win. However, if he were to lose, by all accounts it would have been a squeaker. A lot of people figured they were going to be in for a long night of back and forth in the electoral count. BAM!!! It was called just like that. That's what shocked me the most. Then the numbers started to pour out and they made no sense. There was never an indication that this was how it was going to play out.
I've never hidden my dislike for Urkel. I know what he is and so do millions of others. Fortunately for him, he's been able to characterize himself along with his media cadre in such a way that the millions who voted for him simply do not care.
Why assume that a billionaire is in need of "an organization to run"?
Oh, Lord, smite me with this curse!
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