Disappointed over President Clinton’s dalliance with a White House intern, the Dean of the Washington Press Crop famously quipped, “He came in here and he trashed the place, and it’s not his place.” Most of us shared at least most of Mr. Broder’s disappointment, but we laughed at him nevertheless. It was a perfect illustration of the DC Village mentality, that the ultimate fate of the presidency should be decided based on a small clique of elites’ outraged sense that they were the custodians of the Republic’s reputation.
So, believe me, just because everyone in the Beltway bands together to condemn the behavior of a politician doesn’t mean I am going to be moved by it. I mean, fuck them. But that’s what Mitt Romney has accomplished with his foray into foreign policy. Condi Rice ignored his comments. Peggy Noonan said they were indiscreet. Mark Halperin called them craven. Chuck Todd and Gang called them “over the top” and “inaccurate.” John Sununu criticized them. Anonymous Republican staffers called them things like “a cheap news cycle hit” and “unbelievable” and “bad.”
There are plenty of places you can go to see assemblages of these types of responses. Meanwhile, Republican leaders like Mitch McConnell, Eric Cantor, John Boehner, John McCain, and even Paul Ryan all refused to follow suit and echo any of Romney’s accusations or characterizations.
Let’s face it. The GOP may talk smack about the State Department, but it’s a big, respected part of our government, and it’s integral to the culture of Washington DC. When four members of the Department are killed in the line of duty by a rocket propelled grenade, the city goes into mourning. Mitt Romney was acting like the loonies from the Westboro Baptist Church who protest our soldiers’ funerals. It was offensive to everyone who lives and works in the District. I mean, it was offensive period, but it was personal with people on Capitol Hill.
Romney’s insensitive remarks were squeezed in between the remarks of Secretary of State Clinton and President Obama. Clinton and Obama then proceeded to the State Department to console the staff there. This only made Romney’s move look even more crass and unpresidential.
People do not want to defend him.
Nevertheless, the Romney campaign is passing out stupid talking points to Republicans on the Hill.
No one likes Mitt Romney. That was true yesterday. Today the feeling is just more intense.
