Welcome to the companion blog to the "America's Evil Genius" political webcast series. In this space, I'll supplement my weekly video blogs with timely opinion and analysis on current issues, both large and small. Think of this as "extra credit" delivered by one of the great political professors of modern times!



You can view the "America's Evil Genius" web series at: www.youtube.com/americasevilgenius





Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Mitt Romney's Rich...So What???


Second verse…same as the first…a little bit louder…and a whole lot worse!

Some of our more loyal readers may remember that, last December, I made quite the criticism of Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry when they began attacking Mitt Romney’s wealth in the primary.  (Original post here:  http://www.americasevilgenius.blogspot.com/2011/12/should-we-really-criticize-10000-bet.html )  Now, if you’ll recall, I was no fan of Romney in the primaries.  He was my last choice of last choices among the field (ok…maybe I would have backed him ahead of Jon “May I become a Democrat, Please?” Huntsman, but that’s about it!).  But despite my intense dislike…Hell, my hatred of Mitt Romney, I still believed that attacking him for his wealth was senseless.  There are many reasons to dislike or doubt Mitt Romney, I always used to say…but his wealth is not among them.

And so it has come to pass (or run, if you’re Georgia Tech) that seven months later, with the GOP primary a distant (if not fond) memory, that Obama and his minions are picking up those same “anti-wealth” arguments right where Gingrich, Perry, and the rest left them.  The last several weeks have been filled with talk of Swiss Bank Accounts (legal fiscal maneuver, last time I checked), people who lost their jobs when their companies were acquired by Bain Capital (although the alternative in most of those cases—for Bain not to buy those companies and allow them to die on the vine, costing even more jobs—would seem to be far worse), and general accusations that Romney’s wealth has somehow made him “out of touch” with regular Americans.

And seven months later, I ask the Democrats—just as I asked Gingrich, Perry, et al back in December—“As a voter, why should any of this dissuade me from voting for Mitt Romney?”  Should I consider it a character flaw that someone may legally place their money in a Swiss Bank Account as to avoid an unfair and arduous tax code?  Because I don’t.  Should I consider it an indictment of Mitt’s leadership skills that he consistently made decisions at Bain Capital that resulted in the company turning a profit (in other words, he successfully did his job)?  Because I don’t.  Should I worry that Mitt doesn’t always “relate” to that group of Americans who sits on their couches, watches Maury Povich while eating junk food purchased with their EBT cards and ironically bitching that the wealthy aren’t “doing enough” for them?  Because I don’t.

Now, if the subject is Romney’s lack of Social Conservatism, Romney’s own version of Health Care (aka “Obamacare v 1.0”), or Romney’s flip-flopping on nearly every issue during his political career, or Romney’s lack of chutzpah in going after Obama (where is the nut-cutting Mitt we saw in the primaries, anyhow?), then I’ll criticize Romney until the proverbial cows come home.  But on the subject of Romney’s wealth and how he attained it, I simply can’t see any reason to criticize him.  And I’m a guy who loves criticizing Romney whenever I get the chance!

To put it simply, I don’t want a President who can “identify” with society’s parasites.  Instead, I want a President who identifies with society’s producers.  And in this election, there’s only one clear choice in terms of which candidate stands with the producers, and which candidate stands with the parasites.  Obama is hell-bent on appealing to America’s “victims”…

…well I’m no victim, and I don’t believe that the majority of Americans consider themselves to be “victims” either, regardless of what socioeconomic class they might currently reside in.  Romney probably doesn’t identify with the “victims”.

And in 2012, neither does the rest of America.