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The pressure may be getting to Mitt Romney a little bit. A South Carolina protestor asked him this morning about his agenda for helping the 99%, and the former governor got more than a little testy in his response:
“Let me tell you something: America is a great nation because we’re a united nation. And those who try to divide the nation, as you’re trying to do here, and as our president’s doing, are hurting this country seriously. The right course for America is not to try to divide America, and try and divide us between one and another, it’s to come together as a nation.
“And if you’ve got a better model — if you think China’s better, or Russia’s better, or Cuba’s better, or North Korea’s better — I’m glad to hear all about it. But you know what? America’s right and you’re wrong.”
As Greg Sargent joked, “Clearly this protester isn’t someone who wants to discuss inequality only in ‘quiet rooms.’”
The Romney campaign seems to think the candidate did a great job with the question. I don’t see it that way. The country deserves to have a meaningful, substantive debate about a generation of policies that have rewarded wealth while making conditions harder for working people. There are real issues that reflect real-world challenges facing Americans: rising income inequality, poverty, an unjust tax system, and wealth that’s increasingly concentrated at the top.
For Mitt Romney, those who even consider this a legitimate area of debate prefer, in his mind, communism.
This is nothing short of twisted.
That the reflexive “go back to Russia” attitudes are coming from a far-right politician who amassed a vast fortune after laying off thousands of American workers, wants to give himself another tax cut, owns multiple luxury homes, and stashes cash in the Caymans — all while pursuing an agenda that would make things tougher on American’s working class — makes me feel as if I’m trapped in a Dickensian nightmare.
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Hedda Peraz on January 19, 2012 4:38 PM:
I hope Romney fired that disrespectful protestor!
unabogie on January 19, 2012 4:45 PM:
Remember when Joe the Not Plumber did the same thing to then candidate Obama? Barack Obama proceeded to discuss the issue of taxes for about 5 minutes, never insulted, never yelled.
That's a man who's confident that he's thought things through.
I don't know how to describe a man who yells and shuts down the dialogue at the first whiff of disagreement.
Mary Lou Grier on January 19, 2012 4:47 PM:
Romney also implied in his comments in Greer S.C. that it is unfortunate when an "individual" gets fired, but it could be required to save the "life" of the company in which he and his partners invested. Who is he listening to? Are the corporations now entitled to fundamental rights and individual liberties?
Texas Aggie on January 19, 2012 4:48 PM:
Mitt, my boy. Let me tell you something that your father knew, but you apparently never learned. It isn't the workers who are responsible for you and your kind taking all the productivity gains for yourselves. Your father introduced a profit sharing plan at American Motors. It isn't the middle class who tilted the playing board in your favor. That was done by the lobbyists that you and your kind paid so well out of your ill gotten gains. It isn't the poor who want to give up their safety net while you and your kind get all sorts of favorable tax dodges. You want those on the edge to sacrifice, but you aren't willing to shell out an extra dime for other people. If you want the USA to be a united nation again, you see to it that you and your kind join the rest of us and stop separating yourself from everyone else.
Trollop on January 19, 2012 4:48 PM:
Wow, what a D-bag! Romney bringing the nation together.. Now that's a laugh riot right there!
Perhaps he meant bringing the nation together under the mantle of corporate interests..
mike reilly on January 19, 2012 4:51 PM:
Sounds like Russia today and probably of yesterdays as well where the 'elite' had their dachas, private clubs, and private everything......
Gandalf on January 19, 2012 4:54 PM:
Romney is a sneering arrogant miscreant. He feels that he's entitled to be president because he's above the rest of us. Instead of giving an answer to that person he reacted in an arrogant royalty like fashion. Sort of like King John in the latest Robin Hood movie.
MuddyLee on January 19, 2012 4:54 PM:
Mitt's response is similar to something said by Chad Connelly, the SC Republican Party Chairman (aka Chairman Chad) on the public radio program The Takeaway this week. He attacked Obama for having "socialist" policies that would never work anywhere and said just look at "North Korea, Cuba, and Russia." My question is: who gives the repubs their script or cheat sheet on the language to use? I think this kind of talk is outrageous. Reminds me of the old "love it or leave it" stuff that conservatives used to say to people who opposed the Vietnam War. By the way, Chairman Chad is perfectly suited for his job with the SC repub party. Ignorant and happy to be that way.
Texas Aggie on January 19, 2012 4:54 PM:
"The Romney campaign seems to think the candidate did a great job with the question. "
If they actually believe that Romney's response was a "great job," then this is the scariest part of the whole episode. It paints in stark contrasting colors the mindset of a really twisted mentality that isn't unique to Romney alone. This mentality is part and parcel of the whole 1% privileged elite's way of thinking, and it is the same thing that gave us the Divine Right of kings.
Grumpy on January 19, 2012 4:56 PM:
Since 9/11, nothing has united Americans more than the idea of the 99%. That the 99% are united against the 1% does not diminish the power of the idea to transcend the usual divisions.
beep52 on January 19, 2012 4:59 PM:
Actually, the Russian model fits Romney to a tee. But it's a complex argument, not suitable for bumper stickers or CNN.
T2 on January 19, 2012 5:03 PM:
I have occasion to work with really wealthy people from time to time. I've found they break down into two categories - just real nice down to earth people who happen to have tons of money. And The Privileged, who never want to hear the word NO and do not, under any circumstance, want to be inconvenienced. Romney is that category. So was George W. Bush. Both of them Ivy League educated sons of very rich and powerful families. Both of them making their "living" in easy picking jobs. Both of them not working at all for large chunks of time, coasting on their family fortune and name. Both of them quick to anger when put on the spot. We saw how George W. worked out.
Romney's response to the protestors question indicates to me that when the pressure is on, he's going to be looking for the door.
Dan on January 19, 2012 5:05 PM:
This guy is a hot-head douchebag. I will bet he will have a Macaca moment, a game changing screw up caught on camera, before the general election is over.
MikeBoyScout on January 19, 2012 5:07 PM:
Romney/Putin 2012!
They're rich & powerful and know better than you.
Danp on January 19, 2012 5:10 PM:
China and Russia have economic policies much closer to what Romney proposes than what we have today. Russia is not a communist country anymore, and China is communist in name only. Both have rules that greatly favor the tiniest of minorities. If used properly, Romney's response today could be the most damaging thing he has said so far.
Kathryn on January 19, 2012 5:11 PM:
Please, please, please let Romney be the candidate.
Kathryn on January 19, 2012 5:13 PM:
Please, please, please let Romney be the candidate.
John__C on January 19, 2012 5:15 PM:
Did anyone notice that Romney essentially said the protestor wasn't an American while at the very same time decrying attempts to divide America?
Talk about cognitive dissonance!
kanopsis on January 19, 2012 5:18 PM:
But you know what? America’s right and you’re wrong.
As if HE weren't dividing Americans right there...
dalloway on January 19, 2012 5:33 PM:
Mitt's pissed. His expensive consultants told him just yesterday he had it in the bag. Today he's trailing Newt in SC, all because of his gaffe-licious week. But in Mitt World, nothing is ever his fault. So you're in trouble, Mitt Staffers. You know how he likes to fire people...
Nathan on January 19, 2012 5:37 PM:
Talk about false equivalency? I'll take the America of the 1990s over the America of today when it comes to income inequality.
June on January 19, 2012 5:42 PM:
Looks like Mitt the Chameleon has been spending too much time around Chris Christie.
Romney's answer was a disgrace for a guy who wants to be taken seriously as a presidential candidate.
SecularAnimist on January 19, 2012 6:16 PM:
Romney said: "The right course for America is not to try to divide America, and try and divide us between one and another, it’s to come together as a nation."
Yeah, sure. Tell it to Madame Defarge, asshole.
AMS on January 19, 2012 6:33 PM:
So Romney thinks that "the right course for America is not to try to divide America", does he? Pretty rich coming from someone who, along with the entire Republican field, has done everything he could to pander to and fan resentment between groups of Americans. Let us count the categories of their fellow citizens that Republicans have gone out of their way to insult during this interminable primary season of endless debates: government workers, union members, minorities, immigrants, urban dwellers, non-Christians, the poor, the unemployed, the highly educated---the list goes on. Even when (rightly) pointing out the increasingly worrisome divide between the very rich and the rest of us, I don't recall Obama using anything approaching the divisive and incendiary language the Republicans have deployed to whip up their base. Obama, I believe, genuinely wants to be President of all the people. That a certain segment will never accept him as such is not his fault.
Josef K on January 19, 2012 6:35 PM:
Just when I thought the outrage meter had been maxed, Willard manages to bury the needle. At this rate, it'll be in China by October.
Tyler on January 19, 2012 6:41 PM:
Apparently Mr. Romney doesn't love America enough to keep his millions here in this country or to pay his fair share of taxes. What a hypocrite! Move over, Newt GingRICH!
http://www.readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/9517-focus-romney-parks-millions-in-cayman-islands
Doug on January 19, 2012 6:47 PM:
"Patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels." Samuel Johnson
Apparently, with Mittens, it's the FIRST refuge. Even most of those WITH jobs realize that Republican-inspired tax and financial regulation policies aren't designed to help the majority, only the already rich. Nor are their education policies. Or, for that matter, ANY policy proposed/supported/enacted by Republicans. The Republican assault against unions is back-firing, not only because it's seen as not contibuting to any solution of our problems, but also because too many middle-class members either are union members or came from from families that became middle class BECAUSE of their parents' membership in a union. Mittens will lose ANY discussion of economic inequality, which is why he went so overboard in trying to claim that the ONLY alternative to our present economic/political set-up is, OH NOZ!!!!, Communism.
DADT is history. A majority of citizens support, at a minimum, civil unions for gays/lesbians, while a large plurality support equal marriage rights for them. The right-wing; ie, Santorum, has drawn back the curtains and shown that abortion isn't what they object to, it's contraception (sex) and THAT is NOT a vote-winning position ("You'll pry my Pill from my cold dead hands!"). In other words, the "culture war" isn't going to be a big vote-getter for any Republican candidate outside of those who'd vote for ANY Republican rather than a Democrat.
Racists, unfortunately, are still among us but, as far as I'm concerned, Mittens can have them. It's not as though he's not as delusional as they!
Even the old tried-and-true, Republican-trade-marked campaign strategy of running on "National Security" isn't going to work. We're out of Iraq. We're still scheduled to leave Afghanistan starting in 2014 and even should the withdrawal take longer than it has getting out of Iraq, that won't help Mittens in 2012. Then there's the matter of Osama Bin Laden...
I have little doubt Mittens is going to be the 2012 nominee (unless we're "blessed" with Newt) and as such is going to be defeated. He offers nothing to those not already 110% against the present administration. He can't debate his "policies" as he, currently, hasn't any and any adopted by the Republican Convention will be merely re-cycled "voodoo economics" and attempts to exploit a culture war Republicans have already lost.
Let him try and campaign on "Quiet talks behind closed doors" about the economy, just let him...
Ken on January 19, 2012 6:47 PM:
unabogie: I don't know how to describe a man who yells and shuts down the dialogue at the first whiff of disagreement.
CEO material?
Steve on January 19, 2012 7:44 PM:
If Romney gets elected it will be like having an oligarch like Berlusconi in charge, but without the bunga bunga fun.
TCinLA on January 19, 2012 8:12 PM:
If you want to understand Mormons like Romney, remove the second "m." There, see how much easier it becomes??
boatboy_srq on January 19, 2012 9:03 PM:
Two thoughts.
1) Romney does indeed seem to be taking us to Russia: Russia circa 1905, that is.
2) So, with the current unemployment filing figures, we're down to one vacancy per three applicants instead of the one to four ratio we got from Shrub. Exactly where does Romney expect all that surplus labor to go?
... Captcha: "boats wthnABI." Is that a Waterworld reference?
SYSPROG on January 19, 2012 9:23 PM:
This has always been the problem with CEO's in politics. They DEMAND respect and adherance to their policies. LEADERS try to motivate you. What did the great Grace Murray Hopper say? 'You don't manage people, you manage things. You lead people.'
smintheus on January 19, 2012 9:35 PM:
Romney/Bain have offshored money in Hong Kong. Curious that Mitt should tell those protesting against that kind of thing that they are the ones who "think China's better".
oaguabonita on January 19, 2012 10:23 PM:
Hey, Steve.
Replace "seems" with "pretends" and I think you might be on to something!
RE: "The Romney campaign seems to think the candidate did a great job with the question."
RT on January 19, 2012 11:54 PM:
@AMS: A critical mass of Americans is figuring out that they are among the Republicans' designated Others, and those designated Others add up to... 99%!
beejeez on January 20, 2012 12:39 AM:
Actually, I think Mitt's campaign advisor was right. That was the best answer he could possibly give.
SKM on January 20, 2012 6:19 AM:
Romney told the protestor he was dividing the country - then said 'like our president...'
I wish Steve would do a story on the Mormon church, or would that be considered discriminatory?
Okay, well, let me say something. In the Mormon church, you have a hierarchy of leaders, like elders, bishops, apostles - yes, apostles... believe it not, they are not allowed to lie to each other, especially one of the leaders (but, it isn't considered a lie to people in the public). They spy on each other in the church - and tell the higher up's if someone did somethng against the norm.
Today's practices, which they don't announce publicly, the church has to approve marriages, and they don't do interracial marriages-it isn't allowed. If a interracial married couple joins the church - it may (I stress the word may) be acceptable. Only the chosen few can get married in 'the temple.'
I think people need to read up on "The Black Hawk War 1832" actually, it really began in 1804, some say 1812. But this was the biggest war and longest war ever done on our soils - as it removed Native Americans from their lands.
And for the record, women do not have the rights that people believe. So there is the issue with rights for women, LGBT, minorities (the called dark-skinned people, like Natives, Latinos 'Lamanites' per their teachings.
Minorities do get baptized in their churches, but, again, but, they are usually baptized separately - meaning usually they are baptized on a day where they may be the only person baptized.
SKM on January 20, 2012 6:44 AM:
Oh, and something else people are not understanding, most of the people left behind in Obama's Administration are from the Bush Adminstration and most are LDS members, and yes, the republicans won't let Obama make the appointments he like to make for his own administration - Ronald Reagan named the Mormon Tabernacle Choir 'America's Choir.'
If you were to ask a Mormon about the 'white horse prophecies,' they will deny knowing about it, but, it is actually the 'color horse prophecies' in which people are somewhat color-coordinated, like the Brown Horse, Red Horse, Black Horse...and I believe Glenn Beck/Alex Jones has been prepping their followers for a very long time, yet, they are considered conspiracy theories - some of the information is true and some is false.
To somewhat explain my comments, just look at the list of republicans...on the list of John Birch Society, Mormon Church, and that tout the book 'naked capitalism.' You can also look at the speech "Mitt Romney Gives Major Speech to CPAC," that was sponsored by John Birch Society and OathKeepers in 2010.
And with Romney making the comment about Russia, look up the name Alex Itkin, and see his ties this man. People don't realize, the Mormons have been staking big claims in this country without them knowing it - naming a lot of universities (including building LDS religious institutes on public college campuses), building temples, they even own quite a bit of land in Nebraska (home of Ted Turner) for example, Meg Whitman has the building or something name after her, then naming stadiums after themselves...I do expect that if Romney is still in the race, that Idaho may vote for him as they do have a big Mormon population there.
Here's another joke, they are going to take your beer and wine away.
SKM on January 20, 2012 6:52 AM:
Oh, and something else people are not understanding, most of the people left behind in Obama's Administration are from the Bush Adminstration and most are LDS members, and yes, the republicans won't let Obama make the appointments he like to make for his own administration - Ronald Reagan named the Mormon Tabernacle Choir 'America's Choir.'
If you were to ask a Mormon about the 'white horse prophecies,' they will deny knowing about it, but, it is actually the 'color horse prophecies' in which people are somewhat color-coordinated, like the Brown Horse, Red Horse, Black Horse...and I believe Glenn Beck/Alex Jones has been prepping their followers for a very long time, yet, they are considered conspiracy theories - some of the information is true and some is false.
To somewhat explain my comments, just look at the list of republicans...on the list of John Birch Society, Mormon Church, and that tout the book 'naked capitalism.' You can also look at the speech "Mitt Romney Gives Major Speech to CPAC," that was sponsored by John Birch Society and OathKeepers in 2010.
And with Romney making the comment about Russia, look up the name Alex Itkin, and see his ties this man. People don't realize, the Mormons have been staking big claims in this country without them knowing it - naming a lot of universities (including building LDS religious institutes on public college campuses), building temples, they even own quite a bit of land in Nebraska (home of Ted Turner) for example, Meg Whitman has the building or something name after her, then naming stadiums after themselves...I do expect that if Romney is still in the race, that Idaho may vote for him as they do have a big Mormon population there.
Here's another joke, they are going to take your beer and wine away.
Steve P on January 20, 2012 9:06 AM:
"Governor, what would you say to someone who says that no executive needs to make more than $1.4 million a year?"
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/23/business/23wealth.html?_r=1
"George Romney, on the other hand, voluntarily turned down $268,000 in pay over five years when he was chief executive, which was equal to about 20 percent of his total pay during that time. In 1960, for example, he refused a $100,000 bonus. Mr. Romney had previously told the company’s board that no executive needed to make more than $225,000 a year (about $1.4 million in today’s dollars), a spokesman for American Motors explained at the time, and the bonus would have put him above that threshold."
SKM on January 20, 2012 12:04 PM:
Romney told the protestor he wasn't American?
Well, that goes to show, people do need to read up on Mountain Meadows Massacre.
This is the same scenario - when they killed 120-140 people from Arkansas that was traveling by wagon to settle in California. The Mormons called them 'emigrants.'
This goes to show how long the Mormons have been in Utah.
toowearyforoutrage on January 20, 2012 1:01 PM:
Is Romney surpassing Ayn Rand?
John Galt left America and took nothing with him, confident he could rebuold a better world with little but the clothes on his back.
Romney tells the 99% to take a hike, but, uh,... leave all the stuff you made (crumbling bridges and antiquated railroads) here with us. Write us a postcard! We'll send cookies!
rrk1 on January 20, 2012 5:47 PM:
Legitimate questions about who is the 'real' Romney have now been answered. His aggressive response to this protester gives us a glimpse. He's an arrogant and uncivil authoritarian.
It's important to remember how hiarachical Mormons are. It's a very top-down structure, and you must obey. Romney has been high up in that structure for a long time, in fact he is directly descended from Joseph Smith, assassinated founder of Mormonism. To be a good Mormon you must let the church contol every aspect of your life, and the local Bishop (which Romney once was), or the State Leader (which Romney also once was) have great power. He obviously likes it that way.
Like George W., Mitt feels entitled to be dictator, and his bullying response to this protestor is clear evidence of that sense of entitlement. He's the boss. No questions thank you. Such arrogance plays well with your fans, but generally doesn't get you any additional ones. Let's hope he continues to lose it this way. However, the Bush tactic of screening all audiences and making them sign loyalty oaths will no doubt come back if the real Romney emerges many more times.
chi res on January 20, 2012 6:19 PM:
Let's see...99% on one side, and 1% on the other.
Actually, that's pretty damn close to undivided.
bill wrubel on January 20, 2012 9:02 PM:
fairness cuts both ways. MSNBC, can we all say bias, discussed Romney's taxes and showed him paying 15% due to what Rachel Maddow called the "Special Millionaires tax break". Like this is some special "deal" Romney and rich people get. Here is another way to look at it. Tax law says you pay 15% on capital gains...the law of the land for all. Anyone with capital gains, regardless of your income pays 15%. Not a special millionaires rate...everyone pays it!!! If all your income is from capital gains then the TAX LAW charges you 15%. This is such a biased distortion of fact its why I call them Middle School NBC and they are what they are...biased presenters of one side of every story...please open your eyes and think