Romney's 'Free Stuff' Speech Is a New Low

Wow. If you live long enough, you’ll see some truly gross things in politics, but Mitt Romney’s work this past week "courting black support" was enough to turn even the strongest stomach.

Romney really showed us something in his luridly self-congratulating N.A.A.C.P. gambit, followed by the awesomely disgusting "free stuff" post-mortem speech he delivered the next night in front of friendlier audiences. The twin appearances revealed the candidate to be not merely unlikable, and not merely a fatuous, unoriginal hack of a politician, but also a genuinely repugnant human being, a grasping corporate hypocrite with so little feel for how to get along with people that he has to dream up elaborate schemes just to try to pander to the mob.
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So Romney did that, and then the next night he went to Montana and he discussed the experience in front of a friendlier audience. And this is what he said:

When I mentioned I am going to get rid of Obamacare they weren’t happy, I didn’t get the same response. That’s O.K, I want people to know what I stand for and if I don’t stand for what they want, go vote for someone else, that’s just fine…

But I hope people understand this, your friends who like Obamacare, you remind them of this, if they want more stuff from government tell them to go vote for the other guy — more free stuff.

So now this is the message: I tried to reason with the blacks, I really did, but it turns out they just want a free lunch.

How’s that for bridging the racial divide? Time to wake up the Nobel committee in Oslo!
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As far as free lunches go, we of course just witnessed the biggest government handout in history, one that Romney himself endorsed. Four and a half trillion dollars in bailout money already disbursed, trillions more still at risk in guarantees and loans, sixteen trillion dollars in emergency lending from the Federal Reserve, two trillion in quantitative easing, etc. etc. All of this money went to Romney’s pals in the Wall Street banks that for years helped Romney take over companies with mountains of borrowed cash. Now, after these banks crashed, executives at those same firms used those public funds to pay themselves massive salaries, which is exactly the opposite of “helping those who need help,” if you’re keeping score.

That set of facts alone made the “free stuff” speech shockingly offensive. But the problem isn’t just that Romney’s wrong, and a hypocrite, and cynically furthering dangerous and irresponsible stereotypes in order to advance some harebrained electoral ploy involving white conservative voters. What makes it gross is the way he did it.

Romney can’t even be mean with any honesty. Even when he’s pandering to viciousness, ignorance and racism, it comes across like a scaly calculation. A guy who feels like he has to take a dump on the N.A.A.C.P. in Houston in order to connect with frustrated white yahoos everywhere else is a guy who has absolutely no social instincts at all. Someone like Jesse Helms at least had a genuine emotional connection with his crazy-mean-stupid audiences. But Mitt Romney has to think his way to the lowest common denominator, which is somehow so much worse.

What? Is somebody finally become aware of how the big banks screwed over everybody, were bailed out, bribed (I mean donated to) politicians to corrupt the free market, became too big too fail by taking advantage of relaxed rules....

Is this news to anybody?

Keep voting for your favorite incumbent!

You mean the Republicans who want to repeal that meager effort at reform known as Dodd-Frank?

he did not imply that IMHO. He implied that people who support obamacare want free stuff, and i agree. that is not racial at all.

And how is Obamacare different from Romneycare?

Secondly, one could leave Mass if they found that law particularly offensive.

he did not imply that IMHO. He implied that people who support obamacare want free stuff, and i agree. that is not racial at all. many people of all races support that legislation and they mostly support it cause they want free stuff.

Romney must be doing something right because the race card is being used. we all knew it was just a matter of time.

he did not imply that IMHO. He implied that people who support obamacare want free stuff, and i agree. that is not racial at all. many people of all races support that legislation and they mostly support it cause they want free stuff. Romney must be doing something right because the race card is being used. we all knew it was just a matter of time.

One party, by themselves, rarely has the power to F everybody over. Time to pull your partisan head of the sand.

Why did they need Dodd-Frank in the first place? Why not just re-implement the laws of the past that to prevent it from happening again.

Do you trust the fate of the US to Dodd-Frank? Has anything changed, are banks and investment firms reigned in, not too big too fail?

I'm sure Dodd and Frank put the country ahead of themselves and resisted all the lobbyist's efforts and money.

How does supporting Obamacare give the impression that you want free stuff? Have you read the bill? There's nothing in it that gives stuff away for free.

Establish health insurance exchanges and rebates for the lower and middle-class, basically making it so they have an easier time getting affordable medical coverage