The more I see Mitt Romney, the more I dislike the man. For a long time I couldn't put my finger on what it was, beyond the obvious difference between his worldview and mine. But this clip reveals Romney's chameleonlike character. There is something so phony about his puffed-up hissing over Bain Capital, jobs and capitalism that it reeks, and I think that's why Newt Gingrich is getting traction. Newt Gingrich could fill a stadium with his ego before anyone else walked in, but he's unashamed to wear it like a badge of honor. When Newt bloviates, it comes from his tiny little soul. When Mitt bloviates, it feels like an act.
When Mitt Romney gets defensive, it just comes off as sort of a distant arrogance dressed in a puffed-up costume. When asked a reasonable question about whether he could explain how Bain Capital created 100,000 jobs, he launched into a tirade about jobs, profits, and capitalism. It felt more like he wanted to apologize for it but had someone poking him with a sharp pin to keep him angry at the question.
Never let it be said that Mitt Romney wastes an opportunity to take aim at the President. He's quite adept at that. At least, usually. In this case, it sort of fell flat, because it just didn't sound sincere coming out of his mouth:
And I'm going to stand and defend capitalism across this country, throughout this campaign. I know we're going to get hit hard from President Obama, but we're going to stuff it down his throat and point out it is capitalism and freedom that makes America strong.
As if Barack Obama does not understand this? Romney knows he understands it, which is why he must have felt so ridiculous saying it.
To be clear, what Mitt Romney is defending isn't capitalism. It's financialism. Here's a good summary of what financialism is:
“…financial instruments become progressively further removed from their role in supporting commerce in the real world and develop a life of their own, a weird shadow dimension, a hall of mirrors, a distorted alternate reality that intersects and reacts with the real economy in unpredictable and destructive ways.” [Seeking Alpha]
The reason Mitt Romney cannot explain or defend Bain Capital on the jobs question is because he has no clue. Bain Capital doesn't exist to create jobs. It exists to create profit, and profit alone. And as Romney points out, that profit then benefits investors. The whole jobs argument is a canard, since they can't account for or factor the number of smaller companies put out of business by the Bain-financed companies, nor was Bain a close enough investor to even know what activities were taking place in the companies they acquired.
As for the "stuffing down the President's throat", well. That's a common obsession with Republicans. I'm sure there's a mashup of all the times they've used that verb, or its companion verb, "shoving", always in connection with someone's throat, either theirs or someone else's. The President was so afraid of Mitt's stuffing threat that he appeared live at the Apollo Theater and sang a few bars for the crowd.
So Mittens, if you're going to stuff something down the President's throat that's as big as capitalism, reconsider. If Mr. Obama isn't President, perhaps he can launch a new career in the music business.
Full transcript follows.
... and I find it -- I find it, kind of, strange, on a stage like this with Republicans, having to describe how private equity and venture capital work and how they're successful and how they create jobs.
(APPLAUSE)
But let me tell you the answer. We started a number of businesses. Four in particular created 120,000 jobs as of today. We started them years ago. They've grown well beyond the time I was there, to 120,000 people that have employed by those enterprises.
There are others we've been with, some of which have lost jobs. People have evaluated that since -- well, since I ran four years ago, when I ran for governor. And those that have been documented to lost jobs lost about 10,000 jobs.
So 120,000 less 10,000 means that we created something over 100,000 jobs. And there's some, by the way, that were businesses we acquired that grew and became more successful like Domino's Pizza and a company called Duane Reade and others.
I'm very proud of the fact that throughout my career, I have worked to try and build enterprises, hopefully to return money to investors. There's nothing wrong with profit, by the way. That profit --
(APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: That profit went to pension funds, to charities. It went to a wide array of institutions. A lot of people benefited from that. And by the way, as enterprises become more profitable, they can hire more people.
I'm someone who believes in free enterprise. I think Adam Smith was right. And I'm going to stand and defend capitalism across this country, throughout this campaign. I know we're going to get hit hard from President Obama, but we're going to stuff it down his throat and point out it is capitalism and freedom that makes America strong.
