Via the invaluable Charlie Pierce, we learn that Deval Patrick, Mitt Romney’s successor as governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (channeling CP: God Save It!), has very helpfully stepped in and filled out that bit of Mitt’s resume that his predecessor somehow neglected to mention last week in Tampa:
“I guess the main observation I would make is that (Romney) was a lot more interested in having the job than in doing the job,” Patrick said. “We were forty-seventh in the nation in job-creation. Real wages were declining. Our roads and bridges were crumbling. We had a structural deficit that he left behind. Business taxes went up.
“He did one profoundly important thing — really profoundly important, and I say that sincerely — and that’s health-care reform, and he makes no mention of that. I can’t understand that as anything but some kind of political calculation. The presentation he’s making right now is that he was Mr. Fix-it, and I’m telling you, he didn’t fix much.
“People ask me all the time what is the real Mitt Romney? Is he a conservative? Is he a moderate? Is he a pragmatist? I think he’s an opportunist. I think he does and says things he needs to do and say to win elections and to appeal to the people in front of him.”
I love it. Perfect. Kills Romney with his friends, because heaven forfend they should dwell on the fact that his greatest accomplishment was to enact a socialist-fascist-will-sapping-dependency-inducing-anti-American-wholesale-seizing-of-the-health-care-sector-big-government-tyranny private-sector focused health care bill just like Obama’s — except for its superior women’s reproductive health provisions. And it does him no favors with everyone else, given that he did, as Deval says, botch the rest of his job.
That line “more interested in having the job than in doing the job” is going to sting too, or should — because it pretty much describes what he’d bring to the presidency. Does anyone here recall any real act Romney has persuaded you he really wants to complete as President?
Sure — he’ll loot the place, shifting the tax code in his favor; he’ll shower goodies on his friends too. That’s how he rolls. But he refuses to say anything detailed about anything he wishes to do — and by detailed I mean anything even a hint more concrete than “We’ll create the same number of jobs over the next four years a normal economy would.” (via)
And so we get the delightful prospect of seeing Romney portrayed for all to see as the man who nonchalanted his last crack at being a political CEO — and is getting hammererd for it by another guy who has had to pick up after a GOP mess — speaking sometime after 9 tonight, in case you’re keeping score at home.
I wonder why the elephant has a sad?
A personal note: I know Deval a bit. We overlapped in college and became friends after we both had the great good fortune to travel abroad on the university’s dime after graduating in a program that made sure that outgoing fellows (me) got advice and counsel from returning ones (Deval). I’m not in anything like regular contact with him now — I see him very occasionally at political events, and we hug, and that’s it — but in our twenties and early thirties I got to know him reasonably well. He’s the real deal: as smart as they come, very tough, and a good guy. I’m really looking forward to the speech tonight — when he’s on, he’s as good or better than Obama himself.
All of which is to say: this election is going to be bitter indeed. I’m scared of all the money the bad guys will throw at it. I despair on a daily basis of a media to which I once belonged with so many members that seem committed to not doing their jobs. But I look at the lineup coming this convention and I am relieved to see that a lineup the Yankees of the ’20s would have feared. We’ve got the big boppers, and they don’t.
Image: Franz Marc, Elephant, 1907
Xecky Gilchrist
I’m scared of all the money the bad guys will throw at it. I despair on a daily basis of a media to which I once belonged with so many members that seem committed to not doing their jobs.
I’m hoping Citizens United will hasten the day when no one trusts television news at all. TV news has been a sewer for decades and I’m not convinced it can ever be salvaged.
BGinCHI
There’s a line repeated over in the movie “Joe Versus the Volcano,” which is hilarious (it’s a one-sided phone conversation) and applies here:
How would Romney govern, specifically? That has to be a question asked over and over.
aimai
Interesting, Tom. I didn’t know you knew Patrick. I saw him give an electrifying speech at the convention where he got nominated for Governor. Electrifying. I think he’s probably too short to get to be President but he’s a good guy and I’m proud to have him as my governor.
aimai
jl
” I wonder why the elephant has a sad? ”
Because elephants deserve much much better?
Was looking for Teddy Roosevelt quote damning trickle down economics, but can’t find it. But found these TR quotes on womens’s rights:
“Viewed purely in the abstract, I think there can be no question that women should have equal rights with men.”…”Especially as regards the laws relating to marriage there should be the most absolute equality between the two sexes. I do not think the woman should assume the man’s name.”
“The Practicability of Equalizing Men and Women before the Law”
Senior thesis at Harvard, 1880
“Much can be done by law towards putting women on a footing of complete and entire equal rights with man – including the right to vote, the right to hold and use property, and the right to enter any profession she desires on the same terms as the man.”…”Women should have free access to every field of labor which they care to enter, and when their work is as valuable as that of a man it should be paid as highly.”
An Autobiography, 1913
“Working women have the same need to protection that working men have; the ballot is as necessary for one class as to the other; we do not believe that with the two sexes there is identity of function; but we do believe there should be equality of right.”
Speech, National Convention of the Progressive Party, Chicago, IL, August 6, 1912
http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/life/Quotes.htm
The GOP has regressed over one hundred years on some things. Amazing when you think about it.
Scuffletuffle
Deval Patrick is a great guy and a terrific governor. I’m definitely a fan, having met him twice.
BGinCHI
I would like to hear from the commentariat about famous people you’ve hugged. The hug needs to have been mutual. No listing of stolen hugs please.
I’ll go first.
Michael Stipe.
(I think that’s a brave opener for a straight dude)
Chris
@BGinCHI:
LMAO! Unless we’re talking tax cuts (insofar as there’s anything left to cut) and deregulation (insofar as there’s anything left to deregulate), not even Mitt can answer that.
BGinCHI
Look what Deval Patrick makes look so easy in that snippet from his speech: speak truth to power. You might not win every election, but you’re doing the right thing.
Say it loud and say it proud.
I thought Jimmy Carter was pretty good too. I’d link to the Blue Mountain song “Jimmy Carter” if I could.
Yes, I’ve also hugged Cary Hudson (at Schubas after a discussion about Larry Brown, sadly missed).
Randy P
@BGinCHI: Exchanged a few words with Garrison Keillor at a reception. That’s probably about as close to fame as I’ve gotten.
Edit to add: And had a brief conversation with John Pankow (played Paul Reiser’s brother in “Mad About You”) in the hallway of a theater he was appearing at. No hugs there either, I’m afraid.
Chris
@jl:
The good guys and bad guys were spread out more across both parties. And politics were more localized, I think, which helps on the diversity front.
aimai
Can I say that I have hugged Alan Rickman? At least, I gave him a hearty handshake and served him dinner. That has to be the coolest thing of my entire life and I’m about to be 52.
aimai
BGinCHI
@Randy P: I’m sorry but the judges cannot accept light banter, no matter how spirited.
Levenson has set a high bar for us here and we shall meet it.
BGinCHI
@aimai: Checking.
Yes, the judges say a hearty handshake from an Englishman over 40 is as good as a hug, and better than a wink to a blind man. Serving dinner put you well over the top in addition.
Love Rickman and wish he did more film work. Great stage actor as well.
Davis X. Machina
@aimai: I’d have kneed Rickman in the groin — nothing personal, and I rather like Snape, but he played DeValera in Michael Collins and it’s too late by decades to knee the Cute Hoor himself in the groin.
Haydnseek
@BGinCHI: Thanks for that. A great bit of dialogue from a very good movie (albeit a real sleeper.) Oscar for best sign? Easy. “Home of the Anal Probe.” The fact that Romney an Ryan both are afflicted by the “brain cloud” is icing on the Antoinette-like cake.
Randy P
@Davis X. Machina: Before there was Snape, there was Dr. Lazarus
By Grapthar’s Hammer… what… (sigh) a savings
I played Richard the Third! There were five curtain calls. I was an actor once, damn it. Now look at me. Look at me! I won’t go out there and say that stupid line one more time.
And of course before there was any of those, there was.. Hans the Terrorist!
aimai
Ok, because I”m among friends, of course Galaxy Quest is my personal favorite of his movies. I was embarrassed to say that to him when I met him at the party so I played it cool but he was so incredibly sweet to my two teenage daughters that we ended up inviting him and his friends back to our house for dinner the next night. We found out then that Galaxy Quest is his favorite movie and his favorite scene is the one where he has to choke out “By Grapthar’s Hammer…oh what a savings…” because he and all the cast where so hysterical with laughter that they had to do take after take after take. We’ve cut that scene into a little birthday tribute to my mother for her 80th birthday and just dubbed in the last part of the line “by grapthar’s hammer…oh what a birthday.”
aimai
Elizabelle
The elephant has a sad.
“I thought I signed up for Teddy Roosevelt, and I got Todd Akin. But at least, I recognize a circus when I see one.”
BGinCHI
@aimai: That anecdote makes hijacking Tom’s thread totally worth it.
Thanks aimai!
/I always wanted to see Rickman do a Western or a good noir. Bummer.
Amanda
I just came from reading the Deval piece @ Charlie Pierce’s place — fantastic stuff as always. He really is morphing into the heir of the Molly Ivins franchise isn’t he. So needed and so good.
I am a proud constituent of Governor Patrick’s, and worked really hard both times doing tons of GOTV to get him elected. And you are so right — when he is on he is electric.
His speech at the Democratic state convention here in Mass several months ago was no doubt his trial run for tonight. It blew me out of my seat in that hall, seriously, along with everyone else there. For those of you who’ve not seen it, here’s the link to Gov Patrick’s speech.
This is gonna be good…[proceeds to pop popcorn and pour another glass of wine).
Cheers to my Gov and to the excellent Teddy K video with the always excellent replay of TK schooling RMoney and labeling him multiple choice LOL
SFAW
@aimai:
What, are he and Paul Ryan the same height?
Oh, wait, I forgot – Ryan is 6’2″, right?
But can Deval Patrick run a sub-3:00 marathon? I thought not.
Roger Moore
@jl:
FTFY.
Katherine
i met and hugged and was hugged by A.S. Neill, founder of the Summerhill school in England when i went there to see if i cd get my daughter into the school / of all known peoples he was the one i most wanted to meet / it was in the 60’s
redshirt
Mrs. Patrick would be savaged during a national run, sadly. Such is our nation.
Yutsano
@aimai: You just made wifey haz a mad jealous. I’m gonna get an earful when I get home.
PS your grandfather doesn’t count? :)
Roger Moore
@aimai:
You should avoid mentioning it while AsiangrlMN is around, unless your goal is to drive her into a jealous rage.
jl
Didn’t notice that was a Franz Marc elephant at first. I love Marc. Good with horses.
Be there unicorns? Perhaps!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Franz_Marc_005.jpg
the color’s right for Obama unicorns and rainbows.
rb
@aimai: Aimai you are on an Amazing Stories of Me and My Family Being Awesome roll tonight!
Sherlock Hound
@redshirt:
Early in his tenure, that’s exactly what happened.
Deval’s wife had a depressive episode. The local Fox reporter actually asked if he would resign!
I met the Governor once–and I agree with everyone who’s met him, he’s a great guy!
Roger Moore
@BGinCHI:
I’ve never hugged anyone famous. My closest brush with fame was serving lunch to Stephen Hawking and Kip Thorne.
rikyrah
absolutely
Lurking Canadian
@aimai: My wife, who calls herself black_rabbit at your other hangout, is insanely jealous. For that matter, so am I.
JustRuss
@BGinCHI:
I’ve never been hugged by anyone famous,but I did get heckled by Howie Mandel once, when he had hair. And had a chat in a bar with the guy who played Boomer in the original Battlestar Galctica.
Damn, I’m dating myself, aren’t I?
Spaghetti Lee
@BGinCHI:
I would have hugged Jerry Reinsdorf, but he was in a hurry.
BGinCHI
@JustRuss: Getting heckled and getting hugged can be the same thing. If you’ve ever been hugged during a break-up you know what I mean.
BGinCHI
@Spaghetti Lee: You’re on a boat miles from shore with Jerry. You have scuba gear on and he doesn’t. You hug him and hang on until you feel the bottom.
aimai
Sorry for the hijack! Mr. Aimai and I can’t get our cable to work and can’t get the Obama liveblog to work and we are just sitting staring at a black screen and checking out various twitter feeds and liveblogs to try to get a sense of the convention.
And I thought relatives wouldn’t count so I didn’t include my grandfather. Also, I think a punch in the nose doesn’t count or I would have included Joe Klein.
aimai
master c
Deval!!!! killing it.
master c
Deval!!!! killing it.
Dems ….Grow a backbone!
master c
Deval!!!! killing it.
Dems ….Grow a backbone!
WereBear
I once shared a ham sandwich with Harlan Ellison. And had dinner with Will Wheaton. And I did exchange a very warm handshake with Elmore Leonard, after we’d spent two hours talking shop when I took him to the airport.
Got a lovely thank you note afterwards, too.
WereBear
Oh, and after jumping around the room for just the first half of Deval’s speech… he’s my guy, too.
master c
@master c: @master c: Deval!!!! killing it.
Dems ….Grow a backbone!
Tom Levenson
He killed it, IMHO.
Tom Levenson
He killed it, IMHO.
Also too, David Brooks is an idiot. Just saying.
Tom Levenson
Deleted for relentless and I-should-know-better button jabbing repostitis.
piratedan
he kicked some serious patootie, very well spoken, hit all the high spots and despite the temptation, kept the focus on what WE stand for, not on what a bunch of shitheads that they are…..
Catsy
Not a hug, but I once had dinner with Watase Yuu when I was running a translation project for one of her series.
Bonus points for anyone who knows who that is without the googles.
Tom Levenson
@aimai: Hah! Someday, I have to tell y’all my Vincent Price story…
(Not my Dennis Hopper story. He was just scary.)
(Actually, my best up-close-and-personal-famous-person story isn’t the one where I knocked Prince Harry to the ground. It’s the afternoon I spent with Louis Leakey, who was accompanied by Jane Goodall’s mum. For another time…)
JoyfulA
@Tom Levenson: I proofread a book Jesse Jackson wrote that he wanted to see immediately—but my boss insisted on taking it to him.
gwangung
U, Tamlyn Tomita and Ming Na Wen?
Roger Moore
@Catsy:
She’s a manga author best known for Fushigi Yugi. And, no, I didn’t have to Google it.
Catsy
@Roger Moore: Still her best work, though the series I was focused on was Ayashi no Ceres.
master c
@Tom Levenson: yes also too
being a glutton for punishment, Im staying tuned to pbs.
gloryb
I hugged Obama’s professor Derrick Bell. He was a close childhood friend of my Mom.
Juju
Peter Graves told me to leave him alone years ago at the Smithsonian. Does that count? I also got a handshake from Bill Clinton when he ran for governor of Arkansas for his first term. Oh, I almost forgot, John Belushi pinched my a$$.
BGinCHI
When I was an undergrad at Purdue in the 80s I was going into the student union one day and some old dude stopped in front of me and then held the door open for me. George McGovern.
I stopped and said, no, after you, and we walked for a bit and I told him how much I admired him.
He told me I’d be a great blog commenter some day.
Jerzy Russian
I saw Carl Sagan once, no hugs.
BGinCHI
@Jerzy Russian: He died in 96 and I moved to Ithaca in 98, so I didn’t have a chance to hug him. If I had seen him at the grocery store I would have given him a nice hug. He seemed like such a nice man.
BGinCHI
For latecomers, I also hugged River Phoenix in 1993, shortly before his death. He was a really nice guy: sensitive, confused about his life, but generous and funny. He spent a lot of time in Athens when I lived there. Wish he’d have lived longer.
asiangrrlMN
@aimai: I came here ‘coz BGinCHI wanted me to play the game, but now, I can only seethe with jealousy that you got to meet Alan Rickman. You lucky, lucky woman, you!
@Roger Moore: I can’t even. I mean, I can’t even. I mean, GREEN with envy, I am.
@BGinCHI: OK. I’m here, but after aimai’s story, I can’t even think. I don’t think I’ve actually hugged anyone famous. I’ve met people I’ve personally admired such as Nellie Wong (author), but as to actual famous people? I don’t think so. Too much Alan Rickman on the brain. I’ll have to think a bit more about it.
ETA: Aw, River Phoenix. That’s so sad.
Mnemosyne
@BGinCHI:
I’ve hugged (and been hugged by) John Lasseter several times. But that’s one of the hazards of working where I do. The man is a hugger.
@Tom Levenson:
Commenter dance around in your bones has a Vincent Price story (she sold him a rug once). There is a new, quite nice art museum in East Los Angeles that bears his name since he and one of his wives were very strong supporters of East LA College and donated a lot of art and time to the school.