Mitt Romney, His Own Worst Enemy

Via John Casey, I learn that Romney claims to be hesitant to take positions on important issues lest he be misinterpreted.

"One of the things I found in a short campaign against Ted Kennedy was that when I said, for instance, that I wanted to eliminate the Department of Education, that was used to suggest I don’t care about education,” Romney recalled. “So I think it’s important for me to point out that I anticipate that there will be departments and agencies that will either be eliminated or combined with other agencies. So for instance, I anticipate that housing vouchers will be turned over to the states rather than be administered at the federal level, and so at this point I think of the programs to be eliminated or to be returned to the states, and we’ll see what consolidation opportunities exist as a result of those program eliminations. So will there be some that get eliminated or combined? The answer is yes, but I’m not going to give you a list right now."

As one might expect of the Weekly Standard, the article continues with a presentation partisan demagoguery about the President and his record. But it's also fair to point out that Romney is repeatedly and habitually guilty of the offense that supposedly keeps him from being honest about his positions. He can't seem to mention the name "Obama" without spouting a lie or distortion about the President or his record.¹ There he goes again.

Mr. Obama probably would not have been that candid if he’d known the mic was live, but really all he was doing was describing reality. There’s no way to have an intelligent discussion about American anti-missile systems in Europe in the midst of this presidential campaign.

As if to prove his point, Mitt Romney, who’s fond of claiming that the president’s weak on national security, didn’t miss the chance to pounce. During an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, he said: “It is alarming. It is troubling. … Russia is not a friendly character on the world stage, and for this president to be looking for greater flexibility, where he doesn’t have to answer to the American people in his relations with Russia is very, very troubling, very alarming. I’m very, very concerned.” He went on to call Russia “without question our number one geopolitical foe,” which should come as a surprise to anyone who hasn’t been in a coma since before the September 11th attacks.

Poor Mitt Romney - a constant victim of people who have no scruples, and as a result behave exactly like... Mitt Romney.
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1. Was that an ambiguous reference? I of course reference the President's record, although it seems fair to argue that Romney is no more honest about his own record and past or present opinions.