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.
