Gone, Baby, Gone

Calhoun’s Cannons for October 23, 2012

            For months, candidate Mitt Romney has been going around the country attacking President Obama’s foreign policy.  It was wrong headed, incorrect, unraveling, dangerous, unworkable, terrible, terrible, just awful.  Then, at last night’s final presidential debate, there occurred a weird transformation:  Mitt Romney etched his last sketch and in front of millions of viewers, -- Poof! –  turned himself into Mister Me Too.  Talk about “no daylight” between him and Obama on foreign policy.  Suddenly, he was out-Obamaing Obama, which must have given Mitt’s 17 former Bush NeoCon PNAC foreign policy advisors heart failure. “No! No! Mitt, you’re the Severely Conservative  Bomb Iran Pax Americana Guy, remember?”   

            And once again, Romney continued to spout fake stuff like the untrue and repeatedly debunked “Obama apology tour,” and throughout the debate, when Obama referred to Mitt’s many previous statements and changing positions, Mitt looked right into the camera with that strangely smirky small smile and repeatedly and sincerely claimed that he always never didn’t say whatever it was he actually had said previously.  Which caused me to holler at the screen, “Doesn’t this guy know about videotape?”  Followed by, “Oh, Boy, wait until Jon Stewart gets ahold of this one.”

            Equally creepy was listening to Romney start in on one of his nervous riffs ‘splaining his view of the Middle East, for example, and thinking how much like Sarah Palin he was.  When she tried to wade into a complex issue, she always gave me the sense that she was winging it.  That she was a person without a deep background understanding of an issue, but rather, was like a student who had crammed for a written exam and had just enough of a grasp of the key phrases and buzz words that would let her skate by with a “C.” Which is fine for a student, but not so fine for a President. And didn’t work out too well for Ms. Palin either.

            But the evening did have a “zinger:” Mitt insisting that when he was President, he’d buy the Navy more ships.  At which point, President Obama snarkily reminded him that times have changed and that just looking at the numbers of things isn’t a smart defense strategy for the future.  The Army has fewer horses and bayonets than it used to,  but that didn’t mean it needs more horses and bayonets now.

            But I’m not sure that practical observation holds much weight with Romney and the Republicans since it has long been clear to me that if there’s one thing right-wing Republicans in general fear most, it’s being seen as “weak.” Not actually weak, just appearing to be weak. Get two far right Republican candidates on stage and they’ll out-belligerent each other right into the realm of the ridiculous – I’ll buy six battleships!  Yeah, well, I’ll buy six battleships AND 10,000 horses and sabers!  But while constant blustering rhetoric, saber-rattling, NeoCon hostile threats, and the belief that only an excessively armed belligerent America can “lead” the world may work on the campaign trail, it makes for bad governance and ginned up wars.  As we have found out, to our sorrow.

            Well, debates are theatre and in this case, it turned into the theatre of the absurd.  By the end Mitt Romney had again dishonestly denied himself, again, and then disappeared before our eyes into Me Too Guy.  And then, in an act of astounding hubris, looked right into the camera at the American people and said that if elected President, he’d “lead in an open and honest way.”

            “Open and Honest?”  WTF??

            Right now, the various polls show that it’s nearly a dead heat between these two men.  If the numbers remain the same after tonight’s debate, then half the voters in this country need to answer one incredibly important question:  Exactly who/what/which Romney are you voting for now?  Does anybody know?  I sure don’t.

            President Obama has repeatedly said that this election will determine the future direction of America.  He’s right about that.  So far, our record hasn’t been too promising.  We’re Clueless Jingo Nation – so poorly informed about the world we live in that too many of us think Iranians are Arabs and Sikhs are Muslims.  We’re  Alzheimer Nation – can’t remember even recent history and so repeat it.  We’re  Battered Wife Nation – don’t believe we deserve anything more than abusive trickle-down crap and every few years, having learned nothing, we return again and again to Handsome Wall Street Suit Guy who says he’s sorry and won’t loot our bank accounts again, until he does and we go- Boo-Hoo, then wash, rinse and repeat.

            Nope.  Not too promising.  Which means it’s going to be a long two weeks and Jon Stewart’s going to be in comedic hog heaven.