The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.
- Aristotle
Nothing is more disgraceful than insincerity.
- Marcus Tullius Cicero
In another time and place, the story of Mitt Romney putting his dog in a kennel and strapping it to the roof of the family station wagon for several hours might be passed off as old news. After all, it was 1983, right? If you or I were to be held responsible for something stupid we did in the ’80s…well, I can barely remember that far back. Of course, we’re not running for President, are we? We don’t have the media and bloggers dissecting our history looking for evidence to confirm theories about our character.
The reporter from the Boston Globe who first wrote about this incident stated that many observers took it as evidence of Romney’s defining characteristic: emotionless crisis management. I don’t know about that, but when you combine it with Romney’s business record, it becomes clear that he’s not a person known for exhibiting a surfeit of human emotion. Certainly, what Romney subjected the family Irish Setter to was reprehensible. As much as I love dogs, though, I’m less concerned about that than what it says about Mitt Romney’s (lack of) humanity.
Listen to Romney’s campaign speeches, and what comes through is that he’s a candidate desperately trying to convince voters of his sincerity and humanity…while having no clue as to how to seem honest and believable. The focus is on the goal, and the methods to be employed to reach that goal are whatever needs to be said or done. Morality, ethics, and humanity are merely impediments to reaching that goal.
Emotionless crisis management? How about emotionless personality? How about a candidate with no core principles, who was before things (abortion, health care reform, gay rights) before he was unalterably opposed to them?
If you’re looking for a candidate without integrity, a soul, or a functional sense of simple human decency…well, it would seem that Mitt Romney’s your man. Just don’t start complaining when Romney reverts to form as President- a patrician member of the 1% who knows little of and cares less for the plight of the poor and middle class.
