The analysts will be too kind. Sorry.
The re-election of George Bush showed just how stupid our country had gotten. The election of Barack Obama in 2008 showed the world that America had its fill of stupidity. The re-election of Barack Obama has re-affirmed that attitude ...
...but barely.
With George Bush, we had the world's greatest diplomatic dimwit: reading the
expression on his face as he descended from Air Force One, you had the distinct
impression that he didn't have a clue as to where he was. His presidency was a
diplomatic void so vast that everyone and their mother screamed to him in his
last year "Legacy, can you spell legacy?" And after years of
blood shed in Iraq, then Afghanistan - blood shed essentially for Bush's ego -
other countries were wondering if they would be next, and Bush's last year was
a feeble attempt to make him look like a statesman for peace.
By contrast, Mitt Romney's forays into foreign policy were prize-winning
blunders that showcased his ineptitude against the Nobel Prize-winning Obama.
And while Romney didn't talk with his mouth full of turkey sandwich to heads of
state, he did have his foot in his mouth most of the time.
Comparisons in stupidity, however, may stop there since Romney and his campaign
seemed to have a stupidity uniquely its own.
Worse Than George?
The possibility that Mitt Romney might be a mental lightweight surfaced early
on in his campaign: no intelligent official refuses to be transparent when it
comes to tax returns, then states that there could not possibly be anything
incriminating in them. And the Bain debacle: Dick Cheney may have convinced the
public that he had absolutely no ties to Halliburton, but that was before
Halliburton got the most lucrative of all Iraq War no-bid contracts - and
behind closed doors. Romney's convoluted non-explanations of his exit from Bain
did nothing to keep liberals from scratching their heads. Then there followed
"I'm not concerned about the poor", "47%",
"Eastwooding"*, "Obama screwed up Lybia," "I shop at Costco,"
"Fire Big Bird," "Binders full of women," and, by
extension, the idiocy of Paul Ryan's tax returns (less than 2.4% to the
charities he told everyone would "pick up the slack" from his budget
hatchet job), gym photos and "cleaning clean pots."
Image Problem? What Image Problem?
Molly Ivins' uncovering of the Bush Texas Ranger shenanigans did not dent the
image of George Bush: he was a spoiled brat-turned-wheeler-dealer, but somehow
his innate "good ole boy" oafishness covered him. That image, indeed,
served him well afterward when people were disbelieving of the fact that he
held 100,000 acres in non-extradictable Paraguay (for a quick and easy get-away
should the "war crimes" heat get too much). Romney' attempts at an
image change were, by contrast, pathetic and useless (e.g., the best joke to
come out of the Hurricane Sandy disaster: "Romney's Hurricane Sandy Tip:
'Upon approach of the hurricane, evacuate to your second or third
home.").** He seemed clueless as to how he presented himself to the public,
thinking that they would like him no matter what he said - or how he lied. He
couldn't put his past governorship of Massachusetts in the light enough to
obscure the fact that he was a rich Gordon Gecko playing at being a politician.
The Real Problem
Throughout it all, however, the most glaringly stupid thing about Romney's
campaign is that people actually dismissed the idiocies: they dismissed the
lies, the foreign policy ineptitude, the image blunders, the feigned concern
for all Americans. Almost HALF of America.
Maybe the same people who voted for Bush twice. They're still with us.
Scary.
Deferrment Of Stupidity, But Not Of Anger
The
re-election of Barack Obama may have deferred the onslaught of stupidity in
terms of campaigning and policies, but it will not quell the anger of the
Right. Consider the other people who won/lost: Akin and Mourdoch lost, while
Tammy Baldwin and Elizabeth Warren won.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
1
1
