Even though Mitt tells it “stay down, do you want to mess me up”, it still sings from time to time, as it did yesterday at the Daytona 500:
Asked by the AP reporter if he follows NASCAR, Romney responded, “Not as closely as some of the most ardent fans. But I have some great friends who are NASCAR team owners.”
Mitt’s bluebird is kept in a golden cage covered with temple garments, but even when Mitt is reading from a script, we still heard it sing in Detroit on Friday when it told the world that Ann drives “a couple of Cadillacs”.
The reason we hear Mitt’s bluebird is because it is used to living in a world where money is how you keep score, and Mitt was a winner in that world. Whenever Mitt has to debase himself by pretending that his money doesn’t matter, that he’s just like everyone else, his bluebird gets angry and sounds off. It’s not right to call these little glimpses into Mitt’s heart “mistakes” or “gaffes”. He believes very deeply that people should be impressed that he knows other rich people, or that he can buy as many cars as he pleases, and that’s why these little slips are so telling. Everything else that comes out of Mitt’s mouth lacks the authenticity of his bluebird’s song.
Cargo
Who among us doesn’t love NASCAR?
c u n d gulag
Give Mitt a break!
He said, “NASCAR team owners,” not ‘Formula 1 team owners.’
Schlemizel
@Cargo:
When I lived in Florida I had a bunch of neighbors who loved them some left hand turnin’. I would intentionally troll them because it was fun and they knew I was sort of a joker anyway. One day during a race Dick Petty Jr was having some issues making all those left hand turns & lost the lead. I mentioned that he was a lucky kid, if his daddy hadn’t been a successful driver the kid would be laying sod for a living. It almost became a near death experience for me as another guy there thought the sun rose out of Jrs behind!
vtr
Two Cadillacs. This is the easy stuff. All he had to say was, “and my wife has a couple of nice cars made my GM.”
WyldPirate
Why do you hate Mitt for being incredibly successful? He just wants to apply the knowledge he gained from picking the carcasses of American companies and selling them off to America as a whole so he can sell it out.
Can’t you understand that this is what is needed to get all the freeloaders to make bootstraps out of their belts so they can bend over to pull themselves up? Why should the 1% have to depants everyone so they can fuck all the losers up the ass? Make all the lazy fuckers do it themselves as it saves time and effort for the job producers.
Elizabelle
At least it’s honesty from Mitt Romney.
About the only honest stuff out of his mouth these days.
c u n d gulag
Does this NASCAR reference mean that Mitt’s trying to switch away from appealing to ‘the base’ and into general election mode?
In NASCAR, they turn left.
Is he?
Linda Featheringill
Romney’s worst enemy might turn out to be the Occupy movement.
Betty Cracker
In a Fox News interview Sunday, Chris Wallace gently tried to convey to Mittens that there’s more to projecting a “man of the people” image than wearing jeans and docksiders and eschewing neckties:
I believe him. Mittens was raised a privileged princeling who never had to do an honest day’s work, and every time he opens his gob, 24-carat privilege is going to gush out. Because that’s all he knows.
Let’s not kid ourselves. No one gets within striking distance of the presidency without having clawed his way into the upper class. But some contenders — like Bill Clinton — actually did come from humble circumstances and retained the common touch. Not-too-bright prep school cheerleader George W. Bush somehow pulled off the folksiness thing. Mittens? He just can’t do it.
Keith G
I am not even sure it’s about impressing people. It’s just the way his life is.
ET
I know in Mitt’s bubble saying stuff like that is no big deal and wouldn’t seem out of place, but someone on his staff needs to clue him in.
The past few years the economy has been horrible and for many it isn’t much better know, so you can’t say stuff like that! Heck Republicans really really have to be careful stuff like that even if the economy is good! I mean really – he obviously has no clue. He obviously has no idea about how he comes across. I am no fan of Dubya but at least that rich white boy had the sense to fake the down home Texan on a ranch thing.
SiubhanDuinne
What he really says to his bluebird.
Southern Beale
LOL. Y’know, I saw that quote on Twitter last night and I thought it was a JOKE. I mean Jesus. STFU already Mitt, you’re not helping yourself.
I was talking to my mother in law about Mitt yesterday. She thinks Mitt just grew up so isolated and sheltered that he really IS very disconnected and out of touch. He just has no fucking clue. Bless his heart.
Southern Beale
So on a related note, here’s my Gannett fishwrap this morning. Liberal media, my ass.
RSA
I’m guessing that before each appearance Mitt’s handlers tell him, “Whatever you do, don’t talk about being rich.” Now he’s got a process running in the background saying, “Don’t talk about being rich… Don’t talk about being rich…” And these little bits can’t help coming out.
SiubhanDuinne
What he really says to his bluebird.
Sargent Pepper's Spray
Thank God Mitt’s family never owned a plantation. God only knows what he’d say.
Villago Delenda Est
What amazes me is that OvenMitt’s handlers don’t seem to have a fucking clue as to how badly OvenMitt comes off, and haven’t coached him accordingly.
Unless OvenMitt is impervious to coaching, in which case, why are the handlers bothering? Are they just going through the motions to collect a pay check?
That’s probably it. They’ve got this gig, might as well milk it for what they can, after all, OvenMitt is good for it, unlike Gingrich.
Rome Again
@c u n d gulag:
Not really. The conservative base loves them some left turning but only in NASCAR style, other left turns are not permitted. When I lived and worked in FL, the crazy conservatives in my office were the only ones who would go to the Daytona 500 every year like clockwork.
Jim C
Every time he does this I think of this Herblock cartoon of Barry Goldwater and wish it was better remembered. (Though I know there are people around here familiar with it)
Southern Beale
@Villago Delenda Est:
I know, that surprises me too. I have to wonder who is running his campaign? This is not the A team of seasoned politicos. Maybe all of those people are sitting this race out. It’s just puzzling because this ain’t the first time Mitt has thrown his hat in the ring. He’s sorta been down this road before … a LOT! So you’d think he’d have this shit down by now.
The fact that he doesn’t tells me he’s either incredibly dumb or else has been told he’s got this thing locked up no matter how bad he is and he just doesn’t care or .. geez I dunno. I have no fucking clue.
Rome Again
@Southern Beale:
Holy shit! I would have dumped my route before I’d deliver that paper. Now I gotta figure out if I’m pissed enough to be quit my Arizona route.
::Thinking how sad it is that I’m not proud to work for Gannett::
amk
Had a look at willard’s “one-term fund” – 1.25 mil so far.
Obama’s two-term fund launched after mitt’s – 4.26 mil so far
Yet another proof the ‘plebes’ are not taking a shine to mitt and to whatever he is selling.
The worst candie evah.
MikeJ
@Elizabelle:
Romney would go up ten points in the GOP race if he’d just start wearing a monocle and saying, “I’m rich, bitch!” He’d be much better off just telling people to suck it.
Thank god he’s such a moron that being himself would never occur to him.
Amir Khalid
I’d appreciate it if someone would clue me in on this: Is there any association between American fans of other motor sports and their politics? Like f’rinstance, are Indycar fans generally liberals, F1 fans effete Europhiles, etc. ?
Villago Delenda Est
@Southern Beale:
Perhaps his staff is some sort of Mormon Mafia that also is made up of yes men, who dare not offend OvenMitt’s delicate sensibilities. The princeling thing rings true.
From what I’ve read about his campaign in Mass, all these nice polite Mormon missionary types surrounded him. Perhaps they still are, and just defer to him naturally.
Sometimes handlers get in the way (they killed Bob Dole’s chances of taking on Bill Clinton, for example, by killing Dole’s natural sense of humor that might have helpled him) but they’re obviously not having an effect on OvenMitt, who keeps reinforcing the “rich guy who’s trying to fake being just folks” meme that is killing him with the GOP base.
Montysano
@Villago Delenda Est:
I’m sure the handlers are working overtime, but he’s simply not coach-able. He just doesn’t have “it”. As noted above, Clinton has it in spades: the common touch, plus tremendous authority and intelligence. Jan Brewer wouldn’t have poked her bony digit in his face and walked away unscathed.
MikeJ
@Amir Khalid: Basically there are no indycar fans, and yes, F1 fans are elite europhiles.
Villago Delenda Est
@MikeJ:
Well, you know those Europeans. They turn right AND left. Totally unAmerican.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
What makes it bad for Mitt is that he gives off nothing that would indicate that he hopes other Americans become wealthy. He has his, and…that’s it.
MikeJ
@Villago Delenda Est: The turning in both directions means the top speeds aren’t as high as if they just put the cars on a three miles long oval. Americans don’t like the nuance part, they want the top speed to be a high number.
RossInDetroit
Here’s where Mitt grew up. It explains quite a bit about his orientation to money. The rest is probably explained by the MI Governor’s mansion.
Suffern ACE
So who believes that any of the other candidates follows NASCAR? It was a stupid question from a stupid reporter about some shit that doesn’t matter.
Eric U.
I think car fans tend conservative. I used to read some of the more effete car magazines, the ones that cover F1. Unfortunately, they have decided that their readers want them to spew Republican nonsense. I would rather keep politics out of subjects like that, it seems that it’s a good way to lose readership.
Commenting at Balloon Juice since 1937
Oh dear. There’s dog poop on the Mittens again. I wish he’d watch where he’s walking.
kay
@Villago Delenda Est:
Romney is risk-averse, and the lock-step conventional wisdom 6 months ago was the election was going to be a referendum on Obama.
It didn’t matter who Romney was, and there was risk in actually re-introducing Romney, so they simply didn’t do it.
It was the safer choice, because he’s not a particularly appealing person.
Run out the clock, hope the economy gets worse, throw big bags of money at demonizing Obama in the general and present Romney as not-Obama.
IMO, Romney is too cautious to be President. I think he always, always takes the most conventional route, and he never makes a real, affirmative decision that might put him in harm’s way. His whole approach is passive positioning using negative ads. He doesn’t move first, ever. He responds.
I wonder if it’s too late to re-introduce him. I think they should have done it 6 months ago. It would have been easy. No one knows who he is.
If the election isn’t a referendum on Obama/economy, they’re in trouble.
Villago Delenda Est
@kay:
Yeah, given that Romney didn’t take on the founding of Bain Capital unless he had a gold pressed latinum parachute, the guy is very much into following the conventional wisdom, and furthermore not questioning it in the least.
Idtt
I was actually at Daytona yesterday and when they announced the governor he was resoundly booed, I even heard a couple of “Obama” chants. Not much is being said about that (Political mentions it in the last paragraph of their story about the gaffe) but methinks this election won’t be as close for GOP as the media keeps insisting it will be.
rikryah
I have come to the conclusion that he can’t help himself.
he can’t.
it’s hilarious, but he truly can’t help himself.
kay
@Villago Delenda Est:
It’s completely fascinating to me, because it so fits in to what we were told about finance masters of the universe, and risk, and how that turned out to be complete bullshit. They insulated themselves. They risked nothing, personally. They took huge gambles with other people’s money and lives, but they always, always got paid, and they always, always walked away.
Romney won’t tell us who he is or what he stands for, because there’s personal risk involved in doing that. We’d be rejecting HIM if he were to do that, so he won’t, and he thought he could win w/out it, so why gamble?
He could still pull it off, but, jesus, what a disastrous approach for a president. I can’t imagine him in some kind of crisis or emergency, and the only crisis or emergency that gets to the president is where there’s a host of risk-laden choices, and no one else wants to be blamed if it goes bad.
amk
@kay:
Even if the election is a referendum on Obama/economy, they’re toast at this point.
kay
@Villago Delenda Est:
The auto bailout. He was convinced trashing it was the SAFER CHOICE, and you know what?
IT WAS.
Defending his health care law. Safer to make bullshit distinctions and run out the clock as the not-Obama than defend that law, which he is OBVIOUSLY proud of.
Defending the gay soldier in that debate. He froze. He covered his own ass. The race could have changed for him that night, but he passed.
It should scare people. He’s incapable of taking a risk where he’s personally responsible or vulnerable.
Cassidy
@Amir Khalid: NASCAR has very southern roots. It also started with anti-gov’t
rebelscriminals and helps perpetuate the southern myth of independence. No one talks about how filthy rich you have to be to start/own a NASCAR team.kay
@amk:
I think he could still do it, but not if the primary drags on, which is another factor he ignored.
jayboat
@Idtt:
Totally agree. That picture of his speech in the stadium did it for me. 1200 people my ass- there may have been 350 TOTAL. If you account for staff, friends, family and curious workers at the venue, then maybe, maybe there were a few dozen supporters who showed up.
My take is that people have begun to realize what a huge phony he is and aren’t the least bit interested in what he has to say. Especially if they have to burn gas and time to hear him say it.
Cacti
@RossInDetroit:
And here’s where Mitty went to school…
If you’ve seen the movie “8-Mile”, Eminem’s character references Cranbrook in a rap battle with his supposed “gangsta” rival.
redshirt
@Amir Khalid: Here’s your full American Sport Political Breakdown:
NASCAR – Confederate Sport
Baseball – Elite effete Liberal
NFL – Perhaps the most bi-partisan sports fan base
Hockey – Northern Liberal Union RINO
Basketball – Blackity black black
College Football – Somehow, Confederate. Not if Rih gets his way!
Any other obscure sport that doesn’t involve an engine of some sort you can assume is LIBERAL.
amk
Do it on what basis ? He couldn’t pass the 50% mark even with his own party thus far.
Sargent Pepper's Spray
@ Montysano
Yes, but Clinton is a white southern male and Obama has to fight by a very different set of political rules. This doesn’t mean he can’t win of course, (he usually does) but like Gandhi or King, he has to tolerate a hell of a lot more public humiliation in the process.
Wapiti
As a kid in bible school, I was always puzzled about the concept of worshiping “Mammon”, or having another “god” before G_d.
Seeing Romney’s attitude brings back those lessons to me. Much becomes clear, and I think I understand the concept now. I wonder if wealth is what makes Mitt Romney whole.
HRA
Mitt can not be what he does not want to be. Even when he does not make stupid remarks, he still gives examples of his being privileged and above the masses. Evidently being George Romney’s son did not teach him how to connect with others of lesser means
George W. did not have Mitt’s problem of connecting. Although some make snide remarks about his cheer leading days, his ability to do it came from being taught by his parents to connect with others of lesser means.
IOW it all comes from how you were raised.
Cargo
@Amir Khalid:
Yes, different motorsports have slightly different politics but they all skew right, because at core motorsport involves burning lots of gasoline for no real purpose.
NASCAR is middle, suburban Republicans who drive large but clean pickup trucks and the wife has an SUV and they live in places like Virginia and North Carolina.
Indy is slightly wealthier, something about open-wheel is more upscale.
F1 is very Euro/global, and too internationalist for most Americans, but is the fastest, highest technology and flashiest. So it is even MORE upscale than Indy, but in a douchebaggy, techno-music, designer-sunglasses way. The engineering appeals to a lot of tech-heads though (like me!)
Further upscale than F1 you have classic-car races and the enduro races (the stuff where Bentley and Mercedes compete), and the top of the heap of rich-guy races, Paris-Dakar (which now takes place in South America).
Downscale from NASCAR you have the more white-trash motorsports like dirt-oval, monster trucks, and the lowest-class of all, swamp buggy racing.
Villago Delenda Est
@kay:
This baffles me, because the Mass Health Care Initiative was to be the CENTERPIECE of his entire Presidential run. Yeah, he’s proud of it, but because anything Obama does is bad, he has to trash his own CENTERPIECE.
You can’t tell me that the GOP base doesn’t understand that OvenMitt has zero integrity. He can’t stand by his own work, he can’t make an argument to support it, he can’t tell them that their fears about it are misplaced. Again, as you’ve illustrated, there’s a risk involved in doing so. So he avoids the risk. He only goes for the “sure thing”, which right now is to Obama-bash, even though in the process he bashes himself on his own policy choices…and Obama very calmly points this out, and the base picks up on it.
OvenMitt is a phony, and the base knows it. That’s why there will always be a NotMitt. Quite aside from his religion, which he refuses to wear on his sleeve, which also undermines his credibility…the fact that he’s so obviously pandering makes his authenticity void even more apparent.
His handlers don’t know how to deal with this. It’s an integral part of his personality, it seems. He make look “presidential”, but he doesn’t act it, precisely for the reasons you cite.
pk
I can imagine him saying “We did not have a lot of slaves, and those we had we treated really well. In fact they were so happy that they actually fought for the confederacy”.
Soylent Green
Lyrics from “If I Were a Rich Man,” in “Fiddler on the Roof” (1964):
The most important men in town would come to fawn on me!
They would ask me to advise them,
Like a Solomon the Wise….
And it won’t make one bit of difference if i answer right or wrong.
When you’re rich, they think you really know!
Roger Moore
@MikeJ:
NHRA says thank you.
Villago Delenda Est
@redshirt:
If there was ever a team sport that is more into conservative in the original meaning of that word, it’s baseball.
Not fast moving, few rapid changes, can only score four points max at a time.
Yet, you’re quite right, it’s considered to be a “thinking man’s game” in many ways, so it’s obviously effete liberal.
Makes you wonder why George Will waxes about it constantly.
Cargo
Come to think of it it is kind of weird that off-road races are the top and bottom of the class spectrum of racing. I never really noticed that before.
But Rally racing and paris-dakar appeals to billionaire adventurers, and dudes in trailer parks can afford to maintain a dirt-oval sprint car.
Irving
George Will says hi.
Yevgraf
Swear to god, the guy would benefit from looking like a fucking slob every once in a while. Ted Kennedy did it in a genteel way and it worked for him. It even works to some extent for Gingrich, who always looks like the guy who comes home after a hard day of wheeling and dealing, throwing off his coat and displaying a shirt with sweaty pits.
Mitt seems like the guy who never farts, even in private, because it might be unseemly. And if he put his feet on the coffee table, would insist on looking uncomfortable in slippers.
Senator Sanitorium, of course, doesn’t fart because his asshole is so tight that he shits spaghetti noodles. And there is no room on his coffee table to put his feet, as it is covered with fetus books, bibles, Latin codices and fetus-in-formaldehyde jars.
Cacti
@HRA:
Disagree.
I believe Dubya’s ability to connect with “folks” was innate, because I can’t think of two people worse at connecting with those of lesser means than George H.W. and Barbara Bush.
samara morgan
i initially read that as there is a bluebeard in mitt romneys soul.
a tie in for mormon polygamy?
samara morgan
@Cacti: Dubya connected with WECs just fine.
He was one.
Kirbster
This is all speculation on my part, but I’m guessing that Mitt Romney’s parents were old-fashioned about etiquette, and made young Mitt write formal thank-you notes to adults who gave him gifts, emphasizing that it was not enough to just say “thank you for the gift.” because it was too generic. The actual gift had to be mentioned to make it sound more authentic and personal. Mitt really took this to heart, which is why he has to earnestly mention his only connection to NASCAR (i.e., knowing some team owners) instead of just enthusing about what a great, uniquely American sport NASCAR is, as anyone with an ounce of political talent would.
Villago Delenda Est
@Cacti:
Agreed. George H.W. thinks that his love for pork rinds makes him ‘just folks’. The Quaker Oats Man just oozes the “let them eat cake” meme at all times. Yet she felt that Nancy Reagan considered the Bushes to be “beneath” the Reagan California crowd. The nerve of that nouveau-riche upstart bitch.
redshirt
@Villago Delenda Est: I was just thinking about this this morning. R-Money is trapped in all regards save one, the “R” behind his name.
He can’t take much credit in his business career other than generic “I ran businez”
He can’t take any credit in his wealth, and must downplay it.
He can’t take any credit from his high standing in the Mormon Church, and must severely downplay it.
He can’t take any credit at all as Gov of MA, and in fact must heap scorn on any accomplishments.
The only thing he’s got possibly is the Olympics. And of course, he’s a Republican.
Not a good strategic place to argue from.
RossInDetroit
@Cacti:
I work in the adjacent Birmingham/Bingham Farms/Beverly Hills school district. Cranbrook is an excellent school. So is Detroit Country Day*, which is a few miles away. They’re both quite exclusive.
*Steve Ballmer, among other illustrious alumni.
Sargent Pepper's Spray
Mostly agree with @ 47 Redshirt except for college football.
Like the NFL, college football cuts all ways. There are liberal schools like the University of Oregon and Cal, hardcore ‘Union’ schools like Ohio, Michigan and Penn State, elite private institutions like Stanford and USC, and of course, as the author notes, teh South with Bama, Auburn, Florida, etc. Football is pretty much all American, all-classes, all regions.
redshirt
@Irving: RINO.
Yevgraf
@Villago Delenda Est:
Conservative men pretend to adore baseball because when they were kids, anybody could play it and look good – as a kid, size and skill differentials wouldn’t affect the outcome all that much. Football and basketball are not nearly as forgiving.
redshirt
@Sargent Pepper’s Spray: That’s all true, and of course I was being as sweeping as possible in my generalizations. That said, College Football is pretty much a non-entity here in the capital of LIBERALISM, the Northeast Corridor. From DC to Boston, College Football is barely on the radar and thus my categorization. Concede the point about Midwest/Western schools though.
Villago Delenda Est
@Sargent Pepper’s Spray:
I remember that one day at the UofO one of the campus preacher guys was attempting (in vain) to convert the heathen students, and told the crowd that the UofO was “worse than Berkeley”.
The crowd cheered.
RossInDetroit
@Cargo:
The hierarchy of motorsports would be an interesting discussion. Drag racing should be in there somewhere.
Think Mitt has ever turned ’em over at a stoplight? Highly unlikely.
ksmiami
@Cacti: since we moved @RossInDetroit: to Michigan, Cranbrook is up the street, but the school is really not up to the academic snuff like Deerfield or Andover; more a place for future corporate minions…
I think dcds is more rigorous, but my kids go to Birmingham public schools – shout out to Oakland County!
BTW why was Fox news broadcasting on Maple this AM? Losers.
RSA
@redshirt:
Can’t forget “sports” that involve shooting. Cars, trucks, and guns.
rikyrah
@kay:
They never had a plan ‘ B’ with Willard. THey never did. He has no relatable American narrative.
kay
@Villago Delenda Est:
When he kept saying he made Ted Kennedy take out a mortgage to defend?
Just bizarre. It’s that same passive, negative positioning. What was he running on? It doesn’t matter. What matters is Ted Kennedy had to take out a mortgage. Had he been able to damage Kennedy he would have won by default, I guess.
This is HIM. It isn’t handlers. This is HIS approach. He “runs” by standing still and keeping his entire focus on the other person who is actually, affirmatively MOVING. It’s SO passive and self-protective.
MikeJ
@redshirt: You never go to The Game?
RossInDetroit
@ksmiami:
Howdy, neighbor. I know those B’ham schools inside and out. I ran through all 13 of them last week doing worker training on Midwinter Break. BPS is an OUTSTANDING public school system.
Yevgraf
@Villago Delenda Est:
Was it Bro. Jed?
http://www.brojed.org/index.php
Yevgraf
And who could ever forget the lovely Sister Cindy, his lovely bride?
http://www.brojed.org/sistercindy.php
She once threatened to sue me for slander, just as a member of the jeering crowd.
Svensker
@Cacti:
Babs, yes. But GHW I’m not so sure. I knew people who worked (low level) in his Administration and they all said he was a very thoughtful boss, sincerely concerned about their welfare as his employees, made a point of knowing small things about their families, asking after kids, etc. They all really liked him as a person.
Yevgraf
This site is an awesome trip down jeering lane…
http://www.brojed.org/Vintage.php
samara morgan
@Sargent Pepper’s Spray: university of Michigan is semi-private.
that means they can charge more tution.
;)
rikyrah
@jayboat:
The GOP can say what they want to about candidate Barack Obama, but it tears them up that he built, FROM SCRATCH, the best campaign operation in modern times.
The Romney camp- strictly amateur hour.
redshirt
@MikeJ: Harvard? They could throw out real gladiators and killings at half time and it would still be rated: LIBERAL.
Gin & Tonic
@Yevgraf:
No, if you can’t hit you can’t hit, and you can’t look good whiffing. Baseball is more forgiving of different body types, and the scrawny kid with good fielding skills can still be a good player, but it’s more skill-oriented than many other sports.
I’ll bet you $10,000 that George Will was always the last kid picked when sides were being chosen.
RossInDetroit
@ksmiami:
To be annoying. Biggest possible bottleneck to morning traffic. Idiots.
Villago Delenda Est
@kay:
His handlers are supposed to be coaching him away from those passive approaches, because they turn off a lot of voters. Santorum is being aggressive. Noot is being aggressive. Romney is not. The NotMitts know something that OvenMitt does not, but his handlers, if they’re at all competent, must know too, but can’t coach OvenMitt to overcome.
He wants to be President, I think, in the “I’m the King of England” sort of way. A ceremonial leader who lets the help from Parliament take care of the actual work.
Hurling Dervish
@Southern Beale: I used to write for that fishwrap. But I never subscribed to it and couldn’t even be bothered to read it, even though I could get it for free. Just looking at it made me stupider.
PeakVT
@Yevgraf: Is this from a Björk video?
different-church-lady
@Cargo:
Repaired.
different-church-lady
@rikryah: Took the letters off my fingers.
Surprised nobody else has brought this one up:
Dude thinks ‘Zeitgeist’ is a city in Europe.
eemom
Good post, mixter.
Perhaps the blog might yet recover from the peak suckage it attained over the weekend.*
*yes, whatzisdumbass and fellow hall monitards — that one’s for you.
Cargo
nobody got my “Who among us doesn’t love NASCAR” quote! It was attributed by MoDo to John Kerry in the 04 elections, although he never said it, much like Al Gore never said he invented the Internet, but that’s what the Village likes to do to Dems.
http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh100204.shtml
RossInDetroit
It’ll be interesting to see what happens this spring when the weather warms up outdoors and Occupy can start occupying in greater numbers again. There will be a lot of opportunities between April and November for demonstrations. This will probably not be to Mr 1%’s benefit.
different-church-lady
@different-church-lady:
DIY repaired.
WhyKnot241
What a maroon.
Better answer #1: “No, but I enjoy watching the Baja 1000” (avoids having to know anything about NASCAR and plays to another demographic)
Better answer #2: “No, but you have to admire the precision that those guys [*cough*] need to have to talilgate at 200mph.
Better answer #3: “No, NASCAR is not really my sport. I watch football, and enjoy nothing more than [insert underdog here] kicking the hell out of [past Superbowl winner here]”
It’s really too easy.
daveNYC
@WhyKnot241: The football one would have been a great response. I don’t think anyone ever went wrong by saying they’re a football fan.
ksmiami
@RossInDetroit: Yeah seems indulgent to “want more” than what one of the best public districts offers…
Anyway, nice that Detroit is finally getting some momentum – esp. Royal Oak and mid-town too!
RossInDetroit
@ksmiami:
We lived in a rented house in Royal Oak 12 years ago and liked it a lot. But we decided that it was just going to get busier and more congested, and that we’d like to grow old in a city with less potential to annoy and inconvenience old people. So we bought a house a half mile west in H. Wds.
But I have to brave Royal Oak traffic this morning to go to the Post Office. And I’m out the door…
Mnemosyne
@RossInDetroit:
My best friend had to spend half of her time in college explaining that when she said she was from Detroit, she was from De-troit. The city. Not Bloomfield Hills, not Grosse Pointe.
But since she was white, blonde, and blue-eyed (daughter of immigrant Polish autoworkers), no one ever believed her until she explained it for about the 20th time. She went to a Catholic girls’ school there, but I’m not sure which one. They were a little bit above 8 Mile, but not much.
Paul in KY
@Jim C: Great cartoon. A lot of his stuff I didn’t much care for, but he hit it out of the park there. Thanks for linking to it.
Paul in KY
@MikeJ: They used to do that back in F1 in the 30s. Avus was a track that I’d have loved to see NASCAR on.
MCA1
@Yevgraf: Size, perhaps, but re: skills, you’ve got it entirely backwards. One with minimal actual coordination and hand-eye skill can hang on in football for quite some time. One without those things in baseball is found out by age 8, based on the fact they strike out every single time they come to the plate. George Will obsesses over baseball because of its sense of history and preservation and endless fetishization of various golden ages that were never actually so golden. (I say this as a huge baseball fan). Baseball, contrary to Villago’s comment upthread, has some very liberal tendencies, too. Everyone gets to bat, and score runs, for instance. And brawn and force and pure speed are a leg up but don’t guarantee success, and can be overcome by wilyness and refined skill. Also, too, the 99% are united in their hatred of the Yankees.
Re: redshirt’s original list, I’d include a note that hockey has a significant Tea Party element and some reactionary fear of the Other and constant feeling of being under attack from all sides. This might stem to some degree from the fact that it’s a sport that one country basically stole from another country at the professional level.
Also, golf: almost as Republican as NASCAR. In fact, it’s a great analogy for the GOP generally: A combination of the 1%ers, and those who either delude themselves into thinking they’re better at the game than they are, or think that, despite their complete lack of skill and talent, if they work hard enough they’ll be scratch players at some point, despite the fact that will never happen for the vast majority of them. The perfect vote against your own economic self-interest demographic. I should also note that approximately 75% of the Americans on the PGA tour are godbothering nondenominational Tebows, minus the charisma.
Paul in KY
@redshirt: Competitive shooting? ;-)
Paul in KY
@Cacti: He was Rush Chairman or something like that at his frat. Probably got some experience there nicely shepharding the liberals/poor to the special sofa over in the library.
Paul in KY
@Yevgraf: I always thought Mr. Will liked the bats. The big bats…
Paul in KY
@Yevgraf: So he’s still alive! He used to harangue us at UK. Man, we really got into some screaming fights. Good times, good times…
Rafer Janders
@Gin & Tonic:
Yeah. Baseball requires fast hand-eye coordination, a skill not all of us are blessed with. If you don’t have that, you can’t hit the ball, and you won’t always be able to catch it when fielding.
Which is why I got into sports that rewarded stamina, strategy and strength instead (running, swimming, martial arts, boxing, sailing, skiing, surfing). Any sport which required ball handling [insert joke here] was not to my advantage.
Jim Treacher
Money is bad unless it’s in the hands of Democrats.
geg6
Jeebus. Mittens made no friends at all at Daytona yesterday, did he?
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/27/us/politics/santorum-makes-case-for-religion-in-public-sphere.html?_r=3&pagewanted=2&hp
wrb
@Villago Delenda Est:
I suspect that Mitts handlers live inside his bubble. Would he be comfortable around someone whose family was on food stamps while they were growing up? Doubt it.
He briefly went to Stanford before transfering to BYU. Even at Stanford I see him as the type that didn’t mix. The sort that joined a frat of the wealthy where every guy drove a $40,000+ car daddy had bought and where everyone flew to a posh resort on breaks.
He’s surrounded himself with rich frat-boy Mormons because those are the people he believes in.
Jager
Mitt’s Dad sponsored Roger Penske’s Trans Am racing team back in the late 60’s early 70’s. Mark Donohue, one of the best of all time, drove the AMC Javelins. Donohue had an elite education, prep school and Brown. Mitt, probably didn’t even have a passing interest in one of the greatest and most popular racing series of all time, evn though his father was a major sponsor.If he did he would have mentioned it, don’t you think?
Idtt
Has anyone fact check the Kennedy mortgage claim? Last time i checked the Kennedy family is rather wealthy.
Yutsano
@wrb:
One small point: BYU does not allow fraternities. They exist, but they’re underground organizations not officially recognized by the school. Not to say there aren’t Mormon fratboys elsewhere or that Willard didn’t join one at Stanford.
Paul in KY
@Yutsano: Wonder if there is a frat that is officially or unofficially thought of as the ‘Mormon Frat’?
‘Alpha Alpha Alpha’, we would like to have multiple sororities as our little sisters.
Mr Furious
My wife came from some money (not Romney-money, but enough) and went to Detroit Country Day. It was a much more diverse school, with lots of Indian and Asian students and a seemingly greater emphasis on inclusion from other minorities than Cranbrook, which by comparison seemed like exactly what you would picture with students like Romney.
This was early nineties, though, and I suspect in Romney’s day they were both lily white bastions of WASP wealth.
Precious Roy
Gods spare me from leebuhruls talking about motorsports… hell, sports in general.
BTW, the correct answer is “Rallying”. Doesn’t matter what the question was.
stinger
Best post I have read on the subject.
wrb
@Yutsano:
I was picturing where he would have placed himself at Stanford. I don’t know BYU.
I believe he was only at Stanford for a year, which means he wouldn’t have been able to join a frat yet.
My point was he probably looks at his staff and says “this guy is from Stanford/Harvard/Yale or whatever so is top notch, I can’t do better,” when the particular grad he would gravitate to would be the one who, within the larger diverse environment, had limited him or her self to only knowing Mitt’s kind of people.
rb
@Jim C: Thanks for sharing that. I’d never seen it before. Plus ca change, and all that.
WaterGirl
@Kirbster: That rings true for me. I read a book once that said when you are looking at a little kid’s drawing, don’t just say, “good job” or “oh that’s pretty”. Instead, say “oh, i love the yellow sun” or something like that so they know you have really seen what they have done.
I see the same thing in responses here on BJ, when Cole posts photos. People talk about the look on Tunchie’s face, or mention the book that’s on the coffee table, or or the way his ear looks, or whatever.
Romney remembered the rule (say something specific) but not what’s behind it (so the kid/person will feel like someone really noticed them or something they did). His comments are always about him, not the person he is talking to.
He has also had a lifetime of what I think of as a variant of name dropping. It’s “wealth” dropping, and he has used it his entire life to remind people that he is richer and better and more powerful than they are. It is built into who he is, and you cannot hide something that is in your core. It is also a lifetime habit. He simply cannot help himself.
moonbat
Fortunately, he held back on his next NASCAR observation: Make the races more exciting by strapping dogs to the roofs of the cars.
RossInDetroit
@WaterGirl:
That sounds reasonable for someone named Smith, but Romney is as good as Rockefeller as far as status goes, or nearly.
The NASCAR quip would sound like bragging from anyone else but from him I think it’s just an unfortunate unguarded comment that shows the gulf between him and the people in the stands drinking a $7 beer.
WaterGirl
@RossInDetroit: I guess maybe we disagree on the causes, or maybe it’s both, but either way, it hurts him with the voters, and that’s what counts!
Visceral
@Yevgraf:
In other words baseball is our most socialist sport. For the others you have to be born superior or you’ll never play the game well no matter how hard you try.
LABiker
Mitt Romney: NASCAR Daddy.
Heimlich Bimmler
@Gin & Tonic:
Throw the ball George, throw the ball!
http://snltranscripts.jt.org/89/89qsportsmachine.phtml
Marcellus Shale, Public Dick
i love the bukowski reference but then again, i am what passes for a hipster in these parts. mitt’s raincoat comment totally undid anything he was trying to do by even mentioning nascar. of course, it will be interesting, because many of their devotees go to the races a week a ahead of time, and camp out in rvs, if some sort of political momentum arises from these gatherings being back in session.
slightly-peeved
@119: as a foreign liberal, I’d suggest talking about real sports, rather than the ones only Americans play.
Joel
@Southern Beale: This is going to sound charitable, but it’s really not. Mitt Romney is just being honest in these moments. He’s a bad liar and he demonstrates that often. However, he’s also a bit of a coward. Even when he’s been honest about his background and tried to stand for it, he eventually backs off with some weasel wording or whining. Basically, he’s a weak candidate.
Joel
@Amir Khalid: Pretty much conservative across the board. The NBA draws the least conservative fans, however.