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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsI think Mitt Romney chooses not to connect with regular people
He is supremely confident that he'll get anything he wants just because he wants it. He's never had to pay any price for anything he's done. You can see it in his slightly puzzled look when people bring up Seamus or the kid whose hair he cut off or when answering questions about his taxes. He's always been given a pass because, he believe, he's a special breed of human and he fully expects the same treatment now. He is his God's chosen. Chosen to fulfill a religious destiny as a Mormon President. He simply doesn't believe he has to pay or be held accountable. I think Ann is the same way. They don't hold themselves accountable for what his business practices do to people. It's just business and it's OK because it makes them rich. When people lose their jobs that's just what happens in the real world. To care for those people would stand in the way of their own success and wealth, so they've made a choice.
It's not that Romney is suffering from a strange disconnect. It's a deliberate action with a fundamental and profound belief that they don't need to connect, ever, if it doesn't suit their purposes. Why should they? Their chosen path has made them wealthy, so why would they ever consider doing anything in a different way? Except for the occasional meeting with their servants, nannies, cooks, horse trainers, gardeners, bellboys, retail sales people and middle managers they simply don't rub shoulders with the likes of you or me. Their social circles are with Mormons (their church groups) and CEOs. Nothing in between. We are an abstract afterthought, if even that. We are the faceless masses beneath their feet to be played in their real life Monopoly boardgame as they amass their wealth by using us as pawns.
I've noticed that Mitt has never appeared to feel embarrassed, nor has Ann acted in the least bit contrite, or even really disturbed about the gaffe's. The so-called gaffes don't matter to them, which means they truly don't feel they're doing anything foolish or unseemly. They will readily pick and choose whatever part of a phrase suits them and use it because we're not real to them. Not real human beings, or real in any important way. We're beneath them and always will be. So why should they care what we think? The truth is, they don't care and they never will.
When he loses the election it will never occur to him that he lost it through gaffes, inconsistencies, lies, or dishonesty because dishonesty is his successful trump card. He will blame someone or something else, but it won't be his fault. He may be left with a bit of a sour taste in his mouth, but not about anything he did.
enough
(13,268 posts)I think the media culture and the money culture of our country at this time may mean that he will not lose. Otherwise, I think you are right on here.
I would also add that he is not only a devout member of the church you describe, he is actually a priest in that church. It appears to be a church in which you absolutely can worship God and Mammon simultaneously, or in which they are one and the same. This only reinforces your point.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)But you may be right and he'll once again get what he wants, reinforcing his cavalier and dismissive attitude.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)It's funny to see people trying to assign brilliance to his motives.
He's a guy who goes through life getting what he wants because he has money. He's knows how to get money, even if it means crushing people by cheating and lying.
Like Sarah Palin, he knows what he knows. His gaffes are his limited knowledge of things, a functional idiot in terms of a politician.
Mitt doesn't care where China or Iran is on the map. He just knows the monetary benefits of holding the positions he does.
It's all about money, nothing else.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)He simply doesn't care nor does he feel much of an urge to pretend otherwise.
Marie Marie
(9,999 posts)They don't offer him tax shelters for his money.