While it certainly might be photoshop magic, I could not help but laugh, cringe and feel a pang of frustration when I came across this image. The laughter is easy for multiple reasons. The cringe comes from the pity I feel for Romney as I have never witnessed in my life time a serious presidential candidate so inept and witless at public communication. "I like firing people." "I don't care about the really poor, they have a safety net." "It was not much money made last year from paid speaking events, oh, about $374,000." And on and on. Yes, Bush II gave us "strategery", "I'm the decider" and the "fool me once" mess, but he had a diabolical political machine behind him that could overcome his flubs and spin them into the bullshit everyman image they so masterfully created. But Romney is so disconnected from the world most of us live in, a direct product of this frightening development of "power enclaves" that dot areas in Maryland, Connecticut, New York, the north shore of Chicago to name a few, where people have safely and securely separated themselves from the rest of their country, permanently. And Mitt is so clearly one of these folks. And yes, "the I like firing people" comment has been unfairly taken out of context, but if he doesn't realize that we live in a soundbite world, well, should he be president? Mitt should not be criticized for being born into wealth, I am not envious of his DNA or privileged access, despite this manufactured "politics of envy" crap, but I am troubled by his claims to business acumen when he was playing with loaded dice. He is not a venture capitalist, he is not interested in building things (the Staples investment notwithstanding), he is a private equity firm that has one interest and one interest only: make money for itself. Did they turn around a few companies, sure, did they close and lay off many more, yes. In either instance, they made money - is this the free market we hear so much about? Sorry, went off on a tangent there. I also felt frustration because this image is everything wrong with our politics: money. We will spend several billion dollars this year on a presidential election, and the costs are not just in dollars and sense. These campaigns will provide jobs for many folks, a good thing. But at what cost? It is clear to me that to run for a major political office in this country you lose forever a part of your soul, part of your moral compass. The best and brightest don't run because they know this sacrifice is too much. And this "corporations are people" business, give me a break. While flawed and imperfect on many fronts, I like several things about the British elections: six weeks long and no television ads. So, photoshop magic or not, this image is perfect for these times in this place.
A depressing but accurate assessment of one of our political system's main problems. However, of greater concern to me is the general lack of involvement and knowledge on the part of the citizenry. Money would likely be less of an issue with an informed and engaged public.
ReplyDeleteExcellent point, the problem with the public(s), the lack of involvement and knowledge is dangerous, heartbreaking, tragic, inexcusable, at times understandable, but also is a symptom of the fundamental un-truth at the heart of our experiment - the question of equality for all that disenfranchises so many and creates a crippling apathy toward the notion of citizenship and responsiblity. Excellent point, Thesaurus.
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