Mitt Romney Lies About Vietnam
"I longed in many respects to actually be in Vietnam and be representing our country there and in some ways it was frustrating not to feel like I was there as part of the troops that were fighting in Vietnam."
- Mitt Romney, Boston Globe, 6/24/07"I was not planning on signing up for the military. It was not my desire to go off and serve in Vietnam."
- Mitt Romney, Boston Herald, 5/2/94
Okay, when I saw these two quotes, on Townhall.com this morning, I thought: This looks kind of bad. John McCain has a pretty clear record on Vietnam -- he bombed it -- whereas Mitt Romney spent the turbulent '60s proselytizing to the French. Now we find out that Mitt Romney both passionately wanted to serve his country under arms and had no interest in doing anything of the sort. At the very least, it doesn't seem terribly consistent. To a biased reader, it might even seem like he's full of shit.
But I knew that couldn't be right. So I read it again.
Here's where I'd gotten confused. Mitt Romney "longed" to be in Vietnam, but his "desire" was to be not in Vietnam.
Is this really a contradiction? Only if you don't appreciate that longing and desire are two totally different things.
Socrates knew they were as different as different could be. That's why he called one thumos and the other epithumetikon, the dark and light horses that pull the chariot of the lover's soul.
Mitt Romney famously snapped at Mike Huckabee: "Governor, don't try to characterize my position." (You might as well try to calculate Pi, Gomer.) In this case, though, to understand what Mitt Romney is getting at, you just have to go back and reread Pheadrus.
"Now, when the charioteer (Mitt Romney) beholds the vision of love (Vietnam), and has his whole soul warmed through sense, and is full of the prickings and ticklings of desire, the obedient steed (thumos, the desire to go somewhere other than Vietnam) then as always under the government of shame, refrains from leaping on the beloved; but the other (epithumetikon, the longing to be "in the shit"), heedless of the pricks and of the blows of the whip, plunges and runs away, giving all manner of trouble to his companion and the charioteer, whom he forces to approach the beloved and remember the joys of love."
(Only by taming both horses, by synthesizing longing and desire, can the soul of the lover follow the beloved in modesty and fear. Not unlike how Tony Blair used to look at George Bush.)
So you see? It all makes perfect sense, when you understand that Mitt Romney was talking about two entirely different parts of his soul.
Like the half that doesn't hunt, and the half that hunts.
It's all about the id and the superego. Of course Mitt wanted to get shot down over Hanoi and locked in a box for five years -- who wouldn't? -- but his better angels told him to go to Cannes and spread the Word of the Lord, except to black people.
--
The Fighting Romneys Extra
It's been six months since Mitt Romney was asked why none of his sons were in Iraq, and answered:
"One of the ways my sons are showing support for our nation is helping me get elected because they think I'd be a great president."
And he's still a candidate for the nomination. (Okay, barely.) Let's pretend a Democratic politician had said the same thing. How long would it have been -- in hours -- before he was forced out of public life forever?
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This is a very clever piece indeed, and I am sorry I overlooked it earlier!
Way to go, Chris! Keep telling the TRUTH on Romney - it's his greatest enemy.
You're about all that keeps me coming back to HiffPo. For me, the happening is over at DailyKos.
PA Firefighter
"Cogito, ergo Liberal!"
Brilliant!
Suggestion to Romney: Read Plato, spend next 4 years in conceptual analysis.
Anyone who can make 180-degree turns in views, and agendas so quickly for political expedience is surely dangerous. Romney's wealth was built on the backs of US businesses and workers, whom he closed down. He is a vulture and turn-coat in every respect.
Bush was AWOL from the Guard and like his cabinet (most Chicken-Hawks) feel war is worthwhile so long as they and their children aren't in the conflict. Bush had a series of failed business ventures which were all bailed out by friends of daddy's, and he made money off each.
Neither Romney or Bush have done anything to SERVE their country, its people, and neither have truly WORKED at any worthwhile job. BOTH have been gluttonous sharks feeding off others who do serve and work hard.
BOTH are liars and snakes with narrow minds and void of intellect. Neither can see beyond what immediately profits them and their inner circles. They care nothing about this country or its citizens.
Chris, It is pretty obvious that you dislike Mitt. OK, so what. How about John McCain being a Manchurian Candidate? How about his breaking while a POW. No one reports that at any media outlets. How about billary having her husband releasing the FALN terrorists (16 of them)to help her get elected. Does no one google to get information? With all the candidates America is in a world of hurt, or should I say open borders Mr. Soros.
Precisely! I fully expected Romney to be drummed out of the race by the evening of that day when he made that fatuous comment about his sons. In '68, when his father George said he'd "been brainwashed" in Vietnam, he was a goner. These days, a bunch of craven "pundits" are brainwashing the uninformed "base" of the Republican party. (They're "base", all right). Sad.
So we have a stuffed shirt (stuffed with some taffy-like material) running against the Manchurian Candidate (with echoes of Captain Queeg), with a snake charmer bringing up the rear. Republicans should feel proud.
Republican are good people ,,,,, but they are a little mean.
Looks like Romeney is fading away.
Good article. Romney needed to be exposed for what he and his sons are..."better than everybody else". Can you imagine what this idiot would do if he were ever to be elected President? I don't even like to think about it. I think America has had enough of fools in the White House.
Mitt Romney is a hollow, soulless husk, which is why I refer to him as "Scarecrow of Mitt Romney Marsh." Like his bird-scaring counterpart, Romney is so full of shit as Chris Kelly pointed out, one can easily see the brown level behind his empty eyes, and his hypocritical flip-flopping bombastic imbecility should be rewarded with a resounding SLAP! to his vacuous face, which I would be DELIGHTED to administer countless times. No need to worry about slapping him silly, Romney is already NUTTIER than a fruitcake!
That's so funny. The secret is out though, now the other empty suit chickenhawks (i.e. most non-veteran republican baby boomers) can start with their alibis too. Too bad Cheney hadn't thought of this rap.
"Is this really a contradiction? Only if you don't appreciate that longing and desire are two totally different things."
Welcome to Romneylandia, where Romnish (also known as double speak, or complete-lack-of-shame-for-saying-whatever-needed-to win-and-meaning-none-of-it) rules the day.
OK, Kelly...
Who's going to pay for the drink that you just made me spill...
And the hernia operation that I will surely need...
And who is going to explain to the frustrated people on the phone - to whom I was uselessly trying to relate this insanity - what I was trying to articulate through manic gales of uncontrollable laughter?
WHO... I ask you... WHO?
It's actually kind of a shame that the Mittster is such a loser anyway, because I'd love to see you follow him around, like Dick Tuck used to follow candidates, and just CRACK UP the very audiences who were roped in to see and hear the MoreMan.
I really think Mitt's got a career in Hollywood just waiting for him.He is the stereotypical used car/snake oil/insurance salesman come to life.The only drawback is the fact that after 30 seconds of his "magic",you really feel the need for a shower.
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