UPDATE: Buzzfeed relays an interesting development regarding this interview:
The saddest rapid response… The Romney campaign just uploaded a video with the title “Ann Romney to FOX31: Mitt Doesn’t Disdain the Poor.” UPDATE: Apparently the campaign has removed the video from its official account…
—–
FOX 31’s Eli Stokols:
Ann Romney, the wife of GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, spoke exclusively Tuesday with FOX31 Denver about her husband’s controversial comments in a video that surfaced Monday characterizing nearly half of the country as Obama supporters who don’t pay taxes and live off the government.
“I’ve been on, obviously, on the trail a long time with Mitt and if you listen to the whole context of what Mitt talks about, he is talking about what’s happening right now in America and how more and more people are falling into poverty,” Ann Romney told FOX31 Denver.
“He wants to make sure to bring better opportunities for everyone. I know the guy, I know him really well, I know he cares. That’s why he’s running. It’s unfortunate when something gets misinterpreted like this, when it gets taken out of context…”
We’ve said before that we really do view Ann Romney as Mitt Romney’s campaign’s best asset–especially when the time comes, as it has repeatedly this election season, to humanize a candidate who consistently underperforms in the area of likability.
The problem, of course, is that Ann Romney’s defense contradicts what Mitt Romney actually said in the now-infamous “47%” videos. There’s no context to soften the meaning of the words “my job is is not to worry about those people.” You can’t make “I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives” sound compassionate. You can’t change Romney flatly stating that 47% of Americans “believe that they are victims, believe the government has a responsibility to care for them” into a less contemptuous statement.
Bottom line: of course Ann Romney comes out for damage control. Much like the excellent quality lifeboats on the Titanic, she’s the best defense the campaign has left.
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SALT LAKE CITY-Seeking to limit the fallout from a videotaped speech in which he asserts 47 percent of Americans “pay no taxes” and do not take “personal responsibility and care for their lives,” Mitt Romney hastily called a press conference today to apologize personally to the “150 million starving, filthy beggars [he] might have offended.”
…
“I know just how hard it must be to get through a miserable, destitute life that is rife with crying babies whose shrieks consistently disrupt the affluent members of society who actually contribute something to this world,” said the GOP candidate, adding that he wanted to make amends for his recent statements and reach out to what he called the country’s “snaggle-toothed street people” and “hell-spawned savages.” “I know it can be challenging to wake each morning, covered in your own feces and refuse, and get back out there on the streets to beg for spare change and food scraps, always one step from dying right there in an alley.”
The camera/phone appears to be just sitting on a coffee table. The person who walks by and sometimes blocks the view of Rmoney is OBVIOUSLY one of the 47%. I’m going to guess that he/she was in on the taping, if not the taper.
The 53%’ers are so obviously out of touch with ordinary Americans they don’t notice what should have been a huge red flag, the camera.
Of course, “those people” serving them were invisible, too.
It was Jimmy Carter’s grandson who found clips of the video on YouTube and convinced the maker to allow him to release the full video.
Touche’.
I watched all 7+ minutes of that drivel and didn’t hear it, then I stuck the phrase into Google and only found this diary. No one said “stopped” in that context at all. And “disdain” was even Eli’s word.
Have you guys really jumped over the incomplete, half-assed line to just msu?
This is pretty misleading.
ColoradoPols – Please remove the quotation marks in this diary’s heading. It’s misleading if not false.
But it would have been a helluva lot funnier interview if she had actually said “stopped disdaining”.
” urinating on a hobo ” ” I’ve told him a thousand times to stop disdaining the poor “. Its kind of like leaving the toilet seat up with Mitt – just a bad habit he can’t break.
In May, in a venue in which he thought he could speak frankly about his beliefs, Romney showed contempt and disdain for not only the poor, but vast swaths of the country he claims he is fit to lead.
Now he trots out Stepford Anne to tell us that no, he really does care.
Assuming arguendo that both statements are true, a reasonable interpretation is that Anne is telling us that Willard has stopped disdaining the poor.
Of course, it’s not true: Anne is lying.
Maybe if they had appeared in the body of the diary only…
Accurate quoting matters. Even if ColoradoPols is a fully leftwing outfit, getting this stuff right is the difference between maintaining and losing credibility. There’s a huge difference between Fox31’s actual headline (visible on the video above) and how Pols is reporting it in the headline of this diary.
Shorter Romney: “Fuck the poor”?
But it would be okay to write:
Shorter Romney: Fuck the Poor
Ann didn’t say it, that’s how it was titled by Romney’s campaign.
I’m starting to think there’s an outbreak of Foot-in-Mouth disease in the Romney camp.
How it was titled was “Mitt Doesn’t Disdain The Poor.” That’s Fox31’s headline, and most likely what it said at Romney’s website. (Anyone have a screen capture?)
That’s very different from “Mitt Has Stopped Disdaining The Poor.”
Very good point.
When would it be OK for CoPols to not check something they’re posting as fact?
I am happy that this correction wasn’t met with “Hitler” at all. I appreciate that.
satirical publications such as The Onion, quotation marks ought to be reserved for actual quotes and quotes ought to be sourced. The title should dispense with the quotation marks.
I would observe the same rule in all cases outside of a known satiric publication.
Has anyone told ArapGOP and Libertad?
The full video makes it clear that Mitt’s comments about 47% of Americans were not out of context in the least.
we know that context isn’t a problem because the full video has been released. We’ve heard all the stats but for anyone who may have missed them:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…
Also
http://economywatch.nbcnews.co…
But to me what’s most shocking isn’t the let them eat cake mindset but the sheer lack of common sense. If Romney assumes that this 47% (non-income tax payers) is exactly the 47% that supports Obama in any poll that shows Obama with, say, 47% support that would have to mean all non-income tax payers support Obama and no one, or next to no one, who pays income taxes would vote for him. Seriously?
So what happened to all the latte liberal elite Dems the right is always yammering about? And what about all those white blue collar males who pay no federal income taxes after all their deductions and credits but who are always the toughest demo for Obama to get? And what about seniors, vets and serving military in that 47%. Don’t a lot of them vote Republican? How about the wealthy who pay no federal income taxes? Do they all vote Dem?
The assumption that the two groups, the 47% who pay no federal taxes and the 47% that support Obama, are identical is absurd on its face. Once again we have evidence of Romney believing things that are obviously and demonstrably untrue and which a few seconds worth of thinking things through on his part would reveal to make no sense, none at all. Like Russia being our number one geopolitical enemy or that all students who want to attend college have parents with piles of extra money lying around to lend.
God help us all if we actually elect someone so ignorant, muddled and confused and so prone to jumping to ridiculous conclusions and then voicing those conclusions without stopping to think for a second as President of the United States and leader of the free world. Honestly, having Palin for President couldn’t be any worse. But then, what other type of person can make it through a GOP primary anymore?
is that Mitt is supposed to be the more moderate, “sensible” choice. We saw a whole slew of ignorant dingleberries who took turns as the Not-Romney during the GOP run-up because Romney was extreme enough for the base. Romney was Republican governor of Massachusetts, with a nice moderate record.
Now, it’s possible that his remarks are simply one more piece of evidence that Romney will tell his audience whatever it is they want to hear. He was addressing some very wealthy conservative clients who likely believe that most non-wealthy people are little more than leeches on their wealth; a room of John Galt wannabes who tell themselves that their fortunes are all proof of their superiority over the rest of us.
Basically, what I get out of all this is that the man wants to be president but has no rock-solid belief system at his core. Perhaps he believes in unfettered capitalism, but the job of president requires a belief in what our place on the world stage ought to be, and how best to educate our youth, and how to pay for it all. Topics which are extremely complicated. One’s belief system acts as a compass when navigating them, and Mitt hasn’t shown that he possesses much of one at all.
Frankly, we’re looking at yet another GOP nominee who was probably recruited and pushed through the process because of his ignorance. Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush proved to be pliable presidents who were easily persuaded by the industry and think-tank advisers in the White House to follow bad policies that benefited only a few. Mitt Romney would be the third such president if elected.
except for the part about it being shocking. That goes for my comments too. We all should be way beyond the shocked stage by now.
I followed your suggestion for apples and honey. Loved it
for this new year 5773.
Another High Holiday practice that shouldn’t conflict with other religious beliefs is that between now and the Day of Atonement (starting at sundown the 25th) it feels very good to make things right with those with whom we’ve had a falling out or just to reach out to someone you know you should have called long ago but never got around to it and say… sorry it’s been so long. How are you doing?
Forgiving and asking forgiveness to start out with a clean slate is the object and the belief is that we can ask God to forgive us for sins against God but we also have to ask the actual people we’ve hurt for their forgiveness and to forgive those who have hurt us. It’s hard to make the move but feels really good. A weight lifts.
I’m only casually and selectively observant but I do love and appreciate the Jewish High Holiday traditions including the fast on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. I like the rituals surrounding a fresh start every year.
especially if they involve food or talking with old friends
” We saw a whole slew of ignorant dingleberries who took turns as the Not-Romney during the GOP run-up because Romney was not extreme enough for the base.”
with your assessment that Romney would say anything to anyone to get elected (and is very poorly informed to boot).
His refusing to back off his comments (Ann Romney’s damage control notwithstanding) suggests that he is finally showing his core values–and they ain’t pretty.
How can you back off the entirety of that video? He can’t claim to have been misquoted. “Out of context” is a weak and highly specious argument. Nope, he’s got no choice here but to double down; “I’ll bet you [another] $10,000.
The only thing Team Willard is consistent at is never saying, “I’m sorry.”
Trust me, Willard would love to walk this back and get back to spieling his spiel to the next group of suckers — the circumstances here just won’t allow it.
“I did not have sex with that woman!”
“I am not a crook!”
etc.
Willard, chanelling his inner Wormer . . .
Done. And, done.
in a situation where the other candidate basically said he’s a victim who will be voting for Obama no matter how convincing he (Romney) is.
Mitt’s unemployed and has been, in the conventional sense, in the federal income tax sense, for years. Like a lot of years.
When it comes to politics, this is what they believe and how they talk.
1%ers really believe they are yeoman business owners who have struggled all their lives, being victimized by the government and “those people” who are jealous of their succcess. The Ayn Rand simplistic philosophy corresponds to their emotional self-interest.
Self-interest means they are intensely focused on lowering their own taxes and removing the estate tax so they can pass on their money without paying taxes.
They project their greed onto the 99%ers.
I think the Occupay Wall Street movement has been quite effective at scaring the 1%, probably more so than in consolidating the 99%.
too sanctimonious . . .
Our Revolting Elites
http://nyti.ms/PQXEQj
How can that be? It’s only the 47% who don’t pay income taxes who are voting for Obama and will never vote for Romney because his promise of tax cuts isn’t relevant to them. How can there be rich people who also vote Dem? Aren’t all Dem voters in that 47%?
Romney’s never going to believe this. Next you’ll be saying there are Republican families of 5 who make 50K a year and pay no income tax but are voting for Romney anyway. Wait… that’s true?
The world no longer makes sense. At least not to Romney and friends.
and so forth, and so forth. Challenges to Mitt Romneys’ 1950’s worldview.
it’s not just a 50s world view problem either. He also thinks that he earned everything he has by his own hard work (as if he was digging guess ditches or something) because he allegedly gave away his inheritance. This was after his mommy and daddy put him through private boarding school, college, graduate school (he thinks being middle income means mommy and daddy can only lend you the money for those things, not pay for it all out right) and then bought him his first house. He also thinks being a struggling young married couple means having to sell some stocks (or stock options. I forget which) to get by. One can only wonder what he considers just getting by. And on and on.
Brooks has it right: Meet Thurston Howell Romney. The only difference between Romney and Thurston Howell is that the latter was a fictional character on a ridiculous sitcom. The former is for real.
to keep Bain afloat which was first used to give bonuses
Thus allowing Romney to claim he “Saved” it.
His dad had to go on welfare (horrors!) when he first came to America.
it was 1995, Romney was already very, very rich and giving away the measly (for Romney) one million that his dad left him was a nice write off.
Is that the rich Democrats are 100% correct.
There is nothing friendly or charming about her in this video. She does seem more “real” though than she has in the past. Real angry.
Without listening to the words, she looks and sounds fine. I assume anyone planning to vote for Romney doesn’t listen to words, so that should be just fine.