The NBC Today show has a yearly segment called Where in the World is Matt Lauer. Lauer travels all over the world to report on exotic places and viewers guess where he’s located. Democrats should have a show or an online game called What in the World is Mitt Romney Saying Today? It would be a hit.
Mitt could be seen from all over at different campaign stops talking loud and saying nothing. And let’s not forget his recent international trips where he tripped all over himself offending foreign dignitaries.
We could keep score on how many times he contradicts himself. We would not have to keep track of the consistent statements he makes. That would only amount to one score. Romney’s only been consistent about his refusal to release more than one year’s tax returns. But then again, he has even been inconsistent on that issue. He required 10 years tax returns from some candidates that he vetted for vice president.
So here’s how the game would be played. Every time Mitt says something inconsistent or idiotic, take your choice, you post online via Twitter or Facebook with the hashtag (#) of MittSays. I’ve give you a few starters. And no, I didn’t make any of these up.
First Mitt Romney was for health care reform. He was so much in support of health care reform that as Governor of Massachusetts, he introduced the same type of quality health care reform that the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) is based upon. But when he learned that President Obama was basing the “Obamacare” on Mitt Care, Romney decided quality health care was no longer a good thing for Americans—only for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Here’s how Romney flip flopped all over himself on the pre-existing clause of the Affordable Care Act which forbids insurers from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions. First he was for it and then he was against it and then for it again but with limitations. As reported in Bloomberg, it goes something like this:
“It started with the Republican presidential candidate saying during an appearance on “Meet the Press” that he liked the Affordable Care Act’s provision that requires insurers to cover preexisting conditions, and would support something similar. Hours later, his campaign clarified he did not, however, support a federal ban against denying coverage for preexisting conditions. Around 10 p.m., the Romney camp had circled back to the same position it held back in March: that the governor supports coverage for preexisting conditions for people who have had continuous coverage.”
Now if the Republican Presidential candidate cannot stick to one consistent thought about health care in one single day, how does he intend to run the country with so many issues to deal with in a single day? The answer is he won’t be able to make up his mind.
Health care is not the only thing that Romney can’t seem to agree with himself on. He’s had his flip flops on for abortion and a woman’s right to choose. In 1994 when he ran against Ted Kennedy for his Senate seat, Romney was pro- choice and Roe v. Wade. He even kept that position when he ran for governor of Massachusetts in 2002 after losing the Senate race to Ted Kennedy. But then he converted to pro-life somewhere around 2004 as he began to think about running for the Presidency. And today with his ultimate pro-life vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan who supported the bill that forbids abortion even for rape or incest, calling it murder, he’s at the extreme end of pro-life. So that’s how far his views on abortion have changed.
As for climate change, Mitt Romney at first came out saying that he understood global warming was caused by humans and we need to do something about it. Then he didn’t understand global warming after Rush Limbaugh disagreed with him. After Limbaugh blasted him in the primary, he changed his tune to:
And here’s where the real problem is with all of Mitt’s flip flops. I was always taught that your word was your bond. In the case of Mitt Romney, how can your word be trusted when we need a score board to keep track of its evolving changes.
Mitt Romney can’t keep his stories straight to save his life. Unfortunately, it’s our lives that will depend on it if he’s elected President.
Washington, DC based Debbie Hines is a former prosecutor and founder of LegalSpeaks, a progressive blog on women and race in law and politics. As a legal and political commentator she has appeared in national and local media including the Michael Eric Dyson Show, NBC, ABC and CBS affiliates, RT TV, CBC- Canadian TV, NPR, XM Sirius radio, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, USA Today, Black Enterprise among others. She also writes for the Huffington Post and the Women’s Media Center.
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