My mother was a nursery school director which put her in a great position to find playmates for me when I was a young kid. And she was smart about it. She made sure that some of my playmates were from the less well-to-do parts of town. She made sure some of my playmates were black. And she also arranged it so one of my playmates was the son of then-Governor Brendan Byrne. I still remember going to play at Morven, which was the governor’s mansion in the 1970’s. I was probably 40 years old before it struck me as peculiar that I’d had these divergent early experiences. In any case, I know a little bit about what it’s like to be the son of a governor. And it doesn’t mean you have to grow up to be a really entitled arrogant prick. Brendan Byrne’s kids are all down to earth well-rounded decent adults. And my black playmates turned out great, too. One of them got a degree from elite New England university and (last I heard) works there as a recruiter. Whether you were born on first, second, or third base, you can still succeed in this country, and you can succeed without thinking you did it all because of your superior status in life.
That’s what I kind so irritating about Mitt Romney. For him to boast that no one ever questioned his birth certificate? That’s just not something one of Brendan Byrne’s kids would ever think to do. They don’t think they’re better than Barack Obama because they’re 100% white, or because their father was an important man. If anything, they have first hand knowledge about how much hard work it takes to succeed in politics, and they know that the president has more talent than they do. And they know that the president had to overcome many more obstacles to get where he is than they would have, if they had been capable of getting there.
What Romney lacks is humility and respect for others. And it’s makes me angry.
Talking about angry, I am just getting more and more worked up over the republican decision to turn this race into a race war. And over most of the media’s unwillingness to call it for what it is (Rachel and Matthews excepted). It is just foul and deeply destructive.
Mitt has chosen at every turn not to be humble. He seems to believe distance is power and humble is not only a waste of time but diminishes power. These are choices he makes. Strange because the narrative tells us his parents at least tried to embrace humble.
You forget one thing. He has serious daddy issues, just like Dubya. Meaning, he thinks he has to succeed where dad failed.
You’re right and it’s interesting to see where and how Mitt perceives his father’s failures and how Mitt leads his life to correct his father’s choices. He’s so busy not following his father’s footsteps he’s lost his father’s strengths.
My husband and I moved closer to downtown from the suburbs when we got married, and our kids went to a public school in the city. It meant greater diversity in economic, ethnic, and religious backgrounds for all of the students, and they benefitted greatly from it.
You cannot govern a nation as widely diverse as the US if you cannot understand the makeup of the population on all of these levels. Mitt Romney has no desire to unify or even understand the people of this country. He has shown again and again that he serves only the wealthy and the corporate sectors. He thinks he’s running for King.
But was your friend’s dad also one of the richest men in America in his time? I think that’s where Romney gets the arrogance and cluelessness. It’s straight Republican doctrine: the more money you have the more entitled, the fitter to hold power you must be. Willard’s daddy may or may not have come by his fortune honestly, but Willard did nothing to earn it, and yet the entitlement clings to it like a pilot fish on a shark. Now the doctrine is fully ripe with the spectacle of felons like Scott reaping the credibility that money confers, even though he got it by theft.
The GOP sense of entitlement was once known by another name.
Mitt Romney never was a good person and it showed very early on. That incident in school where he led a group of his bully friends to hold down while he personally cut the hair of that gay blond kid told you all you ever needed to know about his character, or lack thereof. In case that was not enough, he claims to not even remember the incident, while others who participated, were haunted by it for the rest of their lives. This is because he is devoid of any humanity. It should then be of no surprise that he made his fortune with his foot on the necks of others. I despise him and all the other people out there who are just like him. Of course he could never have any sense of humility or respect for others. He has always thought he was better than everyone else and still does. Being an ass comes to him naturally but I must admit, he does make a good Republican.
i wouldn’t deny him his humanity, but otherwise I agree.
Yeah, it’s only fair. After all, he wouldn’t deny Bain Capital its humanity.
He remembers, but he can’t admit it publicly because he wouldn’t be able to hide the glee and satisfaction that he takes from the memory…
That’s “could” not “can”. That window is closed.
Mitt lacks anything “human.” How stiff and unaware can a person be?
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Less warmth than Nixon. It boggles the mind.