All I can say in the poor woman’s defense is that she was essentially kidnapped by the Willardbot when she was 16, and kept sequestered inside various One-Percenter compounds ever since, so maybe it’s Stockholm Syndrome:
Tell me more about the private Mitt Romney.
__
People see him as a business guy, but he has a silly side. He loves to roll on the floor with our grandkids. And he’s a prankster…
__
Tell me about a prank he’s pulled on someone else.
__
As governor, he had a security detail. One of the troopers short-sheeted Mitt’s bed at a hotel—that’s the kind of relationship they had—and he expected a funny response. Instead, Mitt wrote a letter to the hotel telling them he was upset with the staff, and then he faked a reply saying, “We’re so sorry. We fired that person.” The trooper thought he was responsible for someone being fired. Everyone else was in on the gag. That’s how Mitt got him.
What sanctimonious “pranksters” are irking the Reality-Based Community this evening?
EvolutionaryDesign
I’m glad Willard thinks that a blue collar worker getting fired is hilarious. For short-sheeting nonetheless.
Villago Delenda Est
Amazing. The private OvenMitt is as much of an asshole as the public one.
His mom just got herself a reservation for a tumbrel. Where did George go wrong?
Villago Delenda Est
Amazing. The private OvenMitt is as much of an asshole as the public one.
His mom just got herself a reservation for a tumbrel. Where did George go wrong?
Warren Terra
Another “prank” he pulled as governor was to spend at least a hundred thousand dollars of taxpayers’ money replacing the computers in the governor’s office (halfway through the existing lease on the equipment, and with the new contract coming an at twice the price of the old one) and an untold sum printing out millions of pages, all so that there would be no electronic records of his conduct in office. He shredded an unknown quantity of the records he didn’t otherwise destroy, and he’s trying to prevent access not only to the remaining paper documents but also to records of just what records were destroyed.
That Mitt, such a kidder.
Villago Delenda Est
Ack sorry about the double post.
Given that his wife didn’t raise so much as an eyebrow, it seems, at the entire dog on a roof incident, why the hell should anyone be surprised?
amk
what, no kids parade on teevee a la the other mormon in the field ? only wifey to do the fluffy, willard ?
Betsy
And that’s the BEST example of his “humor” she presumably saw fit to provide.
Disturbing pattern emerges when you think about the other behavior: strapping the poor dog to the roof of the car, firing thousands via Bain Capital, repeatedly faking that he gets a “goose” when he is in a photo-op with women. The guy is creepy.
jl
@EvolutionaryDesign:
I’m not sure that the gag shows that Jitt thought a blue collar worker getting fired was funny, but it’s a definite possibility.
But, it does show a weird ‘sense of humor’ So weird, I put the phrase in quotes.
Any interviews of the dog that was ‘roofed’? I would bet interested in its perspective.
Waldo
Hmm… and here I was thinking the whole tight-ass douchebag thing was just a facade. I stand corrected.
trollhattan
Evidently, that rascal Obama is teeing up Mittens for a hearty game of Find the Sane Republican, yet doesn’t mention him by name.
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/12/obamas-uses-roosevelt-to-go-after-romney.html
Martin
Wait, security detail for a Republican governor feeling bad for someone getting fired? Is there a glitch in the matrix?
existential fish
So Mitt Romney is Michael Scott, fake firing someone?
That’s basically where it comes down?
The Moar You Know
hahahahaha somebody lost their livelihood that’s fuckin hilarious
EvolutionaryDesign
@jl: I stand corrected. Actually, now that I think of it, it seems Willard’s prank was predicated on the security officer possessing empathy. I wonder how he figured that out.
Niques
My initial reaction was that Mitt actually did get a staff member fired . . . then claimed it not his fault, as “it was just a joke.”
Isn’t that how these guys roll?
slag
This is probably the least bad thing I’ve heard about Mitt Romney.
Anne Laurie
@Martin:
Mass(hole) state trooper. By the middle of Romney’s first-and-only term, it was obvious that the more time humans spent around Romney, the less they liked him. Troopers on security detail are used to seeing, shall we say, the less admirable facets of alpha human behavior, but Romney was such a… prankster… he exceeded even their cynical standards, apparently.
bemused
I had read this yesterday. Short sheeting and tricking someone into thinking he got an innocent person fired. Not only not funny but pretty pathetic prankster skills. The Romney family gatherings must be a laugh riot a minute.
singfoom
I actually think that’s kind of funny. I don’t like Mitt, but evidence of a sense of humor, even one based on making someone else think they cost someone his job is refreshing in a candidate who otherwise seems like a robot.
YMMV
Anya
@amk: I guess you have not seen Josh Mcweird then? He’s also talking about how sweet and down to earth dad is.
WereBear (itouch)
the TerLminators do not fool the humans; yet.
The dogs, of course, will never be fooled!
Rihilism
Note to Mrs. Romney: the only way the “joke” works is if the trooper believes Romney is capable of being a such an asshole in the first place…
danimal
@singfoom: Agreed. Not the funniest prank in the world, but not a big deal. There are plenty of policy and political reasons to not like Mitt, this is a nothingburger.
ETA: For example, corporate raiding, sucking out the firm’s equity and laying off innocent, hard-working Americans for real. There’s a reason to not like the man.
lamh35
@trollhattan:
speaking of Obama’s Kansas speech today, just saw this video and had to share it.
Oldest Woman in Osawatomie: Obama Visit Fulfilled Dream
lamh35
Seems the “reasonable” Republican some Dem/Libs seemed to love has flip-flopped on climate change to try to kiss the conserv rings I guess.
Jon Huntsman Flip-Flops On Climate Change
Warren Terra
With Prick Erry cratering, Romney is buffing up his Prick credentials. Always agile, that Romney.
Catsy
@lamh35: To which I say “good”. Anything that helps counter the illusion that Huntsman is anything other than a garden-variety wingnut who manages only to not be a complete lunatic like the rest.
West of the Cascades
Do people who wear Magical Underwear get Magical Wedgies?
West of the Cascades
@Catsy: Meh, Huntsman’s doing that to get elected, but it’s pretty certain he doesn’t really believe his “new” position. He governed Utah as a genuine moderate just five years ago (or else he’d never gotten the ambassadorship). There was no need for him to take the moderate positions he did while he was governor of the wingnuttiest state besides Wyoming, yet he did so anyway – probably a more accurate indicator of Huntsman’s true beliefs that any position Mitt Romney has ever taken.
amk
hackperin’s fluffing of mittens
here and here
Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn
I don’t know if this story humanizes the Romnster, or just makes it look like he has a programming glitch.
lamh35
I don’t care what anybody says, I loves me some Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Doll in A MusicBox
shortstop
@bemused: It’s sort of Hardy Boys meet the kid who tortures small animals.
ETA: I’m changin’ that to: Hardy Boys meet Allen West.
4tehlulz
The shocking part of this revelation is that the housekeeper actually wasn’t fired.
Eric k
So maybe this makes me a jerk, but I think that is actually kind of clever and funny.
It works as a joke because the trooper would think Romney is so serious that he didn’t get that the trooper pulled the joke on him and then would complain to the hotel. It shows that Romney is self aware enough to get that people would think of him that way.
Brachiator
Dammit. Goddammit.
I’m sure there may be more to this story, more details to fill in.
But still….
Vodkamuppet
Wait, he actually sent the letter? Hilarious!
bemused
@shortstop:
Mitt did put the family dog in a crate on top of the car for a long trip which doesn’t sound very small animal friendly.
Mitt’s sense of humor is so lame (even worse than George Bush) and his personality is totally uninteresting, not even a spark of pizzazz whatsoever. I’d bet that he didn’t have a chance of being re-elected governor in large part because he probably bored everyone to sleep.
harlana
this confirms that he is one creepy twisted mofo
beltane
How does Mitt do it? He almost, almost, makes George W. Bush seem warm and charming in comparison. That magic underwear must be very powerful.
WereBear (itouch)
For the Luva Gawd, give the woman food for her children.
Yeah, I’m looking at Republicans.
lamh35
Alec Baldwin kicked off plane because he wouldn’t stop playing “Words With Friends” on his iPad.
Wow is “Words With Friends” really that damn serious…LOL! I’m have to ad it to my Ipad/Iphone.
harlana
personally, i think you would have to be mentally ill to be able to Mitt’s wife, or any of these bastards’ wives
trollhattan
@lamh35:
Wow, what a way to bookend an incredible life!
harlana
i have my problems, no question about it, but at least i’m not crazy or craven enough to be chained to some evil fuckwad just for some money and prestige or because i think God will punish me, these women are major sellouts who sell out and degrade their own sex
trollhattan
@Brachiator:
Ugh. I hope those kids make it, but lord knows what sort of life awaits them.
My brain is already working on likely wingnut responses to this tale. Gotta stop and go do anything else.
WereBear (itouch)
@lamh35: Yes.
I figured that deciding to live in a SEPARATE WING from the Mittster was not just conspicuous consumption a la Thorstein Veblen.
harlana
@beltane:
isn’t it just absolutely cold-sweat terrifying that it has come to this? i mean, Newt makes Cheney look warm and charming!
Martin
@Brachiator: In the immortal words of the GOP: Let them eat lead.
lamh35
Ugh dumb freakin’ mofo:
Rick Perry Issues Nasty Statement Condemning Obama’s Push To Protect LGBT Human Rights
WereBear (itouch)
This is an open thread, so let me shout out to Rev Al devoting his show to the Block the Vote effort throughout the country!
harlana
@WereBear (itouch): oh no, i want to slap Dana Perino
WereBear (itouch)
@harlana: Yeah, lately so do I!
Stillwater
I just read this at ESPN:
Heh.
harlana
ugh, the specter of Gingrich and Trump together, could they be the two ugliest human beings on earth? they almost make Ron Paul look devilishly handsome.
trollhattan
Open thread needs moar bug. A really, really BIG bug.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3972007/Worlds-biggest-ever-insect-found-called-the-Weta-Bug.html
gbear
Every time he pushed a company into bankruptcy, he said “Hey guys, watch this!”
Mike in NC
The Daily Show covered the Romneys-on-the-cover-of-Parade-magazine absurdity last night. Good stuff.
4jkb4ia
At the opposite pole of the musical universe, I am watching my great guilty pleasure, Michael Buble, and both he and “The Sing-Off” opened the show with “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”. I suppose no one could get sick of that.
Not that I am not the perfect Michael Buble demographic…
JoeShabadoo
I don’t see this as bad. It just isn’t what you tell the news when your husband had a job where his he was paid to essentially put people out of work.
The guard plays a joke on him by shortsheeting his bed and Mitt cleverly gets him back by making him think his joke backfired.From the type of joke it is obvious that these kind of things weren’t uncommon so I dont’ get the big deal.
Not a single person was hurt and Mitt turned the tables on the prankster. A classic way of turning the tables on any prankster is by making them think their harmless joke somehow had real life consequences.
If the guy put peanut butter in Mitt’s magic underwear and after Mitt put it on he fibbed and said he was allergic to peanuts making the guard freak out and look for something to help everyone would see it as funny. The only bad part of the joke Mitt’s wife mentions is the optics for a man in Mitt’s position.
PurpleGirl
@West of the Cascades: LOL.
PurpleGirl
@trollhattan: No, you don’t want to envision winger comments. I, unfortunately read some of the comments at Reuters and then I needed to play a jigsaw game for a while. I think it’s a sad story; Texas should have given her temporary food help while she got together all the documentation they wanted. It’s possible that some papers got lost or misplaced in her move.
PurpleGirl
@WereBear (itouch): I voted for Rev Al in a Democratic primary some years ago. On one of the Sunday morning talk shows he was the only person making sense and talking about ISSUES. The other two Democrats were picking at each other, acting like little children.
Amir Khalid
@harlana:
The thing about Gingrich and Trump is, the kind of ugly they have isn’t in their looks.
bob h
Young Mitt evidently left Stanford after freshman year to be closer to this woman at Brigham Young. That is really a bit immature.