Mitt Romney has flip-flopped on whether he’s a flip-flopper (via):
In the town hall of 250 people … Romney addressed perceptions and concerns that he is “a flip flopper.”
“In the private sector,” he said, “if you don’t change your view when the facts change, well you’ll get fired for being stubborn and stupid. Winston Churchill said, ‘When the facts change I change too, Madam. What do you do?’”
That’s different from what he said a week ago, when he said he doesn’t change positions.
I’ve always thought that flip-flopping was a stupid criticism, since we elect representatives who can and should change their mind on issues as the facts, or even durable public opinion, change. It’s also become a meaningless accusation since it’s thrown around indiscriminately.
But of all the politicians who have been called a flip-flopper — that is, someone who changes their position every time it suited their narrow short-term interests, without regard to principle or even common sense — Mitt Romney is the one guy who most richly deserved it, and his most recent comments are moving him into parody territory.