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Romney of the Uncanny Valley

You are here: Home / Archives for Romney of the Uncanny Valley

GOP Stupidity Open Thread: Mitt Romney Has Nothing to Worry About

by Anne Laurie|  February 10, 20209:57 pm| 36 Comments

This post is in: Impeachment Inquiry, Open Threads, Republican Stupidity, Republican Venality, Trumpery, Assholes, Decline and Fall, Romney of the Uncanny Valley

And yet Marion Maréchal-Le Pen, a French fascist from a party founded by some of Hitler’s last bodyguards, was welcomed with thunderous applause. https://t.co/4Cvc7fWspn

— zeddy (@Zeddary) February 9, 2020

And CPAC was never exactly Mitt’s kinda people anyways. Remember when we could make fun of the grifters, resume-padders and grievance voters who hung around that event like flies circling carrion?

But he’ll go to a place he knows would result in violence against Romney

Of all the supposed “true conservatives” who’s become Trump bootlickers, Schlapp is one of the dumbest and one of the worst https://t.co/NIEFaiJac2

— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) February 9, 2020

I wish I could remember which twitter wit referred to Matt Schlapp as ‘the sound made by two porkchops falling onto a wet kitchen floor.’

These Trump remoras can’t make me like Mitt Romney, but they’re making me more sympathetic to the general, near-extinct class of Honorable Republicans.

Worth the two minutes.

Colbert is a gem. pic.twitter.com/To69UTmYxU

— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) February 6, 2020

Mitt’s an upper-class Mormon. He grew up in a wealthy suburb in Michigan, moved to Massachusetts for college and to New York to make his fortune, moved back to Massachusetts to jump-start his political career because ‘nobody elects a president from Utah‘. He still has multi-million-dollar ‘family vacation homes’ in California and New Hampshire. But his primary loyalty has always been to his class and his faith, not necessarily in that order, and there’s no better place on earth for a well-to-do Mormon of impeccable LDS lineage than the state of Utah. They don’t care what that vulgar gentile in the White House thinks, although they’ll dutifully pull the (R) lever during the general election.

If you don’t trust my insight, McKay Coppins is also a Mormon:

Unsurprisingly, Romney’s vote to convict is not being met with the same apocalyptic rage in Utah as it is in much of MAGA country. https://t.co/hxhcAYJiFf

— McKay Coppins (@mckaycoppins) February 10, 2020

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GOP Stupidity Open Thread: Mitt Romney Has Nothing to Worry AboutPost + Comments (36)

Open Thread: Mitt Romney, (Would Be) Man on A White Horse

by Anne Laurie|  October 9, 20194:42 pm| 73 Comments

This post is in: Impeachment Inquiry, Open Threads, Repubs in Disarray!, Romney of the Uncanny Valley

Romney rejecting donors’ calls for him to primary Trump, but he’s planning to rally Senate Republicans to vote against Trump in impeachment trial. My latest:https://t.co/ps0SCpY8CC

— Gabriel Sherman (@gabrielsherman) October 8, 2019

This is physically painful for me — I’m grinding my teeth right now — but if he can actually bring himself to step up and lead a GOP challenge against the Oval Office Occupant, then props to Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts governor & current Utah Senator:

… According to sources, donors have in recent days called the Utah senator and encouraged him to run against Trump in the primary. “There is a half-billion dollars on the sidelines from guys who are fed up with Trump,” a GOP donor told me. Their hopes were raised when Romney attacked Trump on Friday, tweeting: “By all appearances, the President’s brazen and unprecedented appeal to China and to Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden is wrong and appalling.” Former White House communications director turned Trump antagonist Anthony Scaramucci tweeted a poll showing Romney beating Trump 55% to 37% in a hypothetical primary. Trump fired back on Saturday. “Mitt Romney never knew how to win,” Trump tweeted. “He is a pompous ‘ass’ who has been fighting me from the beginning, except when he begged me for my endorsement for his Senate run (I gave it to him), and when he begged me to be Secretary of State (I didn’t give it to him). He is so bad for R’s!”

According to people close to Romney, he’s firmly decided against primarying Trump, an enterprise he believes to be a sure loser given Trump’s enduring GOP support. Romney has also told people that, as an unsuccessful two-time presidential candidate, he’s the wrong person to take on Trump. Instead, a Romney adviser told me, Romney believes he has more potential power as a senator who will decide Trump’s fate in an impeachment trial. “He could have tremendous influence in the impeachment process as the lone voice of conscience in the Republican caucus,” the adviser said. In recent days, Romney has been reaching out privately to key players in the Republican resistance, according to a person briefed on the conversations. “Romney is the one guy who could bring along Susan Collins, Cory Gardner, Ben Sasse. Romney is the pressure point in the impeachment process. That’s why the things he’s saying are freaking Republicans out.” (Romney, through a spokesperson, declined to comment.)

GOP elected officials and donors are privately war-gaming what an endgame for Trump would look like. “It’s clear the House is going to impeach,” the prominent Republican told me. Making matters worse for Trump, a policy wedge has opened up between Trump and the Republican Senate at a moment when he needs its support most. Trump’s surprise decision to pull back American troops in Syria and allow Turkey to take on our Kurdish allies has enraged Trump’s closest GOP allies, including Lindsey Graham. “The Syria decision is a much bigger deal,” another former West Wing official said. “No one on the inside can hold Trump accountable. The Senate Republicans are the only check on power right now.”

Mitt Romney did not ask Trump for an endorsement in his Senate run, per two people with knowledge of the situation. https://t.co/7XPvbXFE6z

— McKay Coppins (@mckaycoppins) October 5, 2019

What say the political touts? Well, Chris ‘Mad Bitcher’ Cillizza is visibly excited by the possibilities for media-worthy strife (as of course he would be). And the Boston Globe reports that some name-brand Never-Trumpers are clapping for Romney already. Then there’s the Never-Trumpist house organ, The Bulwark:

… [W]hat if—hear me out—Mitt Romney is the only person in America who is capable of saving the Republican party from itself, and in the process, saving the world from the current occupant of the Oval Office?

Lest we forget, Romney is a former Bain Capital man, and if there is one thing private equity knows, it’s how to read the numbers—and the writing on the wall…

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Open Thread: Mitt Romney, (Would Be) Man on A White HorsePost + Comments (73)

Open Thread: An Interlude with Willard “Mitt” Romney

by Anne Laurie|  May 5, 20184:34 pm| 155 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Clown Shoes, Romney of the Uncanny Valley

Mitt Romney is running for the Senate again, this time from his spiritual home in Utah. (Extra points to Murphy the Trickster God’s lack of discrimination for arranging that his GOP primary opponent will be named Kennedy — no relation to the Masshole clan.) People who know these things agree that Mitt will walk away with the nomination, and therefore in Repub-friendly Utah the election. After which, Mitt says, he will be A Strong Voice against that terrible, lawless RINO now occupying the Oval Office… please do not bring up the unfortunate frog-legs dinner.

So Romney is once again doing interviews, which continue to be… well…

“My favorite meat is hot dog, by the way. That is my favorite meat” Romney said. “My second favorite meat is hamburger. And everyone says, oh don’t you prefer steak? It’s like, I know steaks are great but I like hot dog best and I like hamburger next best” https://t.co/DbYn951L9k

— Matt Viser (@mviser) May 4, 2018

My immediate thought was ‘I prefer things that seem to have been factory-produced, like me’.

Mr. Charles P. Pierce believes this is pandering, done badly. (“Have some respect for the craft, Willard.”)

Me, I believe it is a glimpse at the sad soul of our former Governor, a high-end formed-meat product in a world increasingly divided between those who won’t touch the nasty things, and those who prefer their meat products as cheaply and obviously mass-produced as possible.

Open Thread: An Interlude with Willard “Mitt” RomneyPost + Comments (155)

Open Thread: Local Races, Utah Edition — High & (Very, Very) Low

by Anne Laurie|  January 3, 201810:08 pm| 89 Comments

This post is in: Election 2018, Repubs in Disarray!, Nobody could have predicted, Romney of the Uncanny Valley

I need you now, in Utah.

Everyone deserves #healthcare—especially kids. #Taxreform should help the middle class. Women deserve an equal shot. Immigrants deserve our welcome. #Climatechange is REAL.

With @SenOrrinHatch out, let's fight. Join me now: https://t.co/6fpg6tL4HK

— Jenny Wilson for UT (@JennyWilsonUT) January 3, 2018

5th generation Utahn and Democrat @JennyWilsonUT has been taking on Hatch from the start, long before today.

$50k goal starting NOW for the resistance to support her & show her we stand with her. Let's do this!

Chip in here and share far and wide! https://t.co/Pn3iURHcJT pic.twitter.com/swdsGoGwFO

— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) January 2, 2018

.

The professionals weigh in…

I think Romney has a chance, you guys. pic.twitter.com/pjN6Xx3zoM

— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) January 2, 2018

The saddest moment for my #nevertrump friends will be when Mitt Romney wins a Senate seat and immediately follows McConnell, Ryan, and Rubio into the deep end of the pool of Trump shame

— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) January 2, 2018

Would Romney really lead the NeverTrump movement? He was willing to be his secretary of state. https://t.co/PsmY6bnup8

— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) January 2, 2018

This is the wrong question. No US Senator from Utah is going to "lead the NeverTrump movement." But would the signer of Romneycare vote to repeal Obamacare? I don't think so. Of course we prefer the Democrat win IN UTAH but let's have a plan B, please. https://t.co/ZPWvDHCaDe

— Al Giordano (@AlGiordano) January 3, 2018

As a fellow Masshole, I concur with Mr. Pierce:

The surest bet on the board is that Willard will get bored of being Mike Lee's junior after about 6 months, basically quit on the job, and then run for president again.

— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) January 3, 2018


.

Wanna-be Breitbrat Jacob Wohl chips in with a cunning plan…

Steve Bannon should run for Orrin Hatch's Senate Seat. That would place him in a good position to run for President in 2024

— Jacob Wohl (@JacobAWohl) January 2, 2018

Securities fraudster asks alcoholic to run for Senate in Mormon state…sounds about right #notright

— Aaron Gershoff (@ajg6882) January 3, 2018

TBH, since the Fusion GPS / Wolff book news dropped this morning, I suspect Steve Bannon’s got quite enough on his plate without an expensive referendum on how much consistent GOP voters don’t like him. But it’s good to know the hardcore racist/sexist/nativist bigots will be harrassing Romney from the right while the Democrats are pushing our “leftist” (humanist) agenda!

Open Thread: Local Races, Utah Edition — High & (Very, Very) LowPost + Comments (89)

General Repub Malfeasance Open Thread: I’m *Not* Gonna Start Saying Nice Things About Mitt Romney

by Anne Laurie|  January 3, 20186:33 pm| 89 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Republican Stupidity, Assholes, Clown Shoes, Fools! Overton Window!, Just Shut the Fuck Up, Romney of the Uncanny Valley

The Republican opposition to President Donald Trump is poised to get a new champion: Mitt Romney https://t.co/neVJizjorn pic.twitter.com/LyxkEczbl5

— CNN (@CNN) January 3, 2018

The Republican opposition to Trump doesn’t exist https://t.co/dhgXu977h3

— JeremyConstantinople (@smartflexin) January 3, 2018

Yay! In @MittRomney, we’d get a GOP Senate nominee who is:
1. Not a sexual predator
2. Not Ignorant
3. Not Homophobic
4. Not Racist
5. Not Misogynist
6. Not Inexperienced
7. Not divisive
8. Not embarrassing
9. Not a Bannon puppet
10. Has good teeth
11. Has great hair
Run, Mitt! https://t.co/DYbjQafSwX

— Ana Navarro (@ananavarro) January 2, 2018

He *looks* the part of a TV-drama senator, and is not sufficiently interested in human interaction to have committed sexual battery! Yay for our side! Since Navarro is not an idiot, I have to assume this is sarcasm on her part.

The metric through which progressives can best judge the bona fides of their new NeverTrump pals from the right is how seriously those new allies take the laughable concept of Mitt Romney, Man of Principle.

— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) January 3, 2018

It's a bit silly to claim LOL Corker/Romney will vote with Trump 99% of the time, as if this is the end of the discussion.

Yes, that's true.

But it has value when GOP Senators state clearly that Trump is unfit for office. https://t.co/BivUWJoOYb

— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) January 3, 2018

… It is useful, because a Romney run — and victory — could set an example for other congressional Republicans to follow when it comes to acting as a check on Trump’s many excesses, from his dangerous international bluster, to his self-dealing and corruption, to his contempt for norms and the rule of law. If they don’t follow that example, their enabling of these Trump excesses will be thrown into sharper relief.

That is, this might be the case, if Romney is true to his own past statements about Trump. Let’s not let this get memory-holed: In his big March 2016 speech against Trump, Romney flatly and unequivocally declared Trump unfit to serve as president. Will Romney reiterate this sentiment, when he’s running for Senate?…

Spoiler alert from a Masshole, Mr. Sargent: Nope! Willard will fold like a cheap lawn chair, because that’s his signature legislative tactic. Although he will look very stateman-like as he makes his excuses for letting Trump and the Oval Office Trumplodytes do whatever they damned well choose.

People forget. I will never forget the smile on Romney's face after he interrupted the 2012 presidential campaign to politicize Benghazi less than 24 hours after it happened. https://t.co/7vysoxDrXK

— Ragnarok Lobster (@eclecticbrotha) January 3, 2018

General Repub Malfeasance Open Thread: I’m *Not* Gonna Start Saying Nice Things About Mitt RomneyPost + Comments (89)

If Corporations Are People…

by Tom Levenson|  December 14, 201712:31 pm| 148 Comments

This post is in: Assholes, Jump! You Fuckers!, Romney of the Uncanny Valley

Uber plays as a shitty, shitty version of the Snidely Whiplash of corporate persons:

The next step:* A letter from a former Uber security employee, accusing the company of secretly surveilling competitors, is expected to be released, in a redacted form, by the court on Friday.

(From The New York Times Dealbook newsletter.)

What’s the crappiest/dumbest thing you’ve ever seen management do where you worked?

And now, for a moment’s amusement and/or devant le revolution tumbrel reservation list, here’s the tea room at Claridges, in the West End, which I had the pleasure of visiting. And that’s it.  I didn’t stay.  Don’t even know where it is.  Really.  Don’t warm up the guillotine…please…

I was actually just across the pond for a quick trip, centered on a memorial trip for a beloved aunt, who is one of my models/mentors in the art of living a life with intention.  But I did get to do some publishing/broadcasting work while I was there (hence, Claridges) and, as always, had a chance to drop in on some old friends.

So, in a post that is intended to offer a little change of pace from our usual chronicling of the end of the American century, I’ll just sign off with a nod to some of my all-time favorite bovines. (Excuse the reproduction — that’s me with an iPhone.)

I should note — these are cattle ever ready for their closeup:

How now, Brown Cow?

And with a mite of randomness thus inserted into the day….

Open Thread.

*That’s the next step in the trade-secrets case being fought between Uber and Alphabet (Google).

Image: Aelbert Cuyp, The Large Dort, aka A Distant View of Dordrecht, with a Milkmaid and Four Cows, and Other Figures,  c. 1650.

It’s in the newly opened (reopened?) Gallery A in the basement level of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square.  The room is a hoot.  It’s huge, and it’s populated by a sample of the Nat’s collection across the full range of periods, medieval  to 20th c., one space with hundreds of paintings taking you on a wild journey.  The pictures are all good, and the room, on its own, would make a hell of a regional museum for almost any city around the world — and yet most of the work is stuff that didn’t quite make the cut for inclusion upstairs.  Totally worth a look.

If Corporations Are People…Post + Comments (148)

Open Thread: Will Mitt Be Donald’s New Best Friend?

by Anne Laurie|  November 30, 20162:49 pm| 299 Comments

This post is in: Hail to the Hairpiece, Open Threads, Republican Venality, Assholes, Riveted By The Sociological Significance Of It All, Romney of the Uncanny Valley

Romney should be holding up a newspaper with today's date on it pic.twitter.com/zZNBpABJcN

— Gray Connolly (@GrayConnolly) November 30, 2016

Trump & Mitt ate: young garlic soup & sautéed frog legs, diver scallops w/ caramelized cauliflower, prime sirloin, lamb chops. Thanks, pool

— Emily Ngo (@epngo) November 30, 2016

Pathetic. At least there’s a crumb of glee knowing that PEOTUS Gimme-My-KFC probably didn’t enjoy his frog-legs-and-sirloin plutocratic parody dinner. From the Washington Post:

… Stephen Pagliuca, who worked with Romney at Bain Capital and has socialized with Trump, urged advisers to the president-elect to press Trump to name Romney for the State Department job…

Pagliuca, a co-owner of the Boston Celtics and a Democrat, said he knew something that others didn’t. When he golfed with Trump at a Boston-area course some years ago, Trump had talked at length about how much he admired Bain Capital, a private equity firm that Romney led until 1999.

Today, as Pagliuca and other Romney backers see it, Trump, 70, and the 69-year-old Romney had far more in common than many realize: Both came to prominence as risk takers and dealmakers, and both have spent much of their lives seeking to emulate and outdo the success of their fathers. Trump’s father, Fred, was a New York City developer, and Romney’s father, George, was a governor of Michigan who unsuccessfully sought the presidency…

One of these things is not quite like the other, though it’s true that Romney has always fretted about not coming up to his sire’s standards. Also, much as it irks me to give him any credit, Romney is an actual billionaire and has prior governing experience — as if that last would mean anything to Accident-Elect Smallgloves. I can certainly see him hungering to demonstrate for the world that he’s more alpha than the Mormon on the White Horse…

And, of course, Romney is willing to debase himself in hopes of becoming the GOP John Kerry. Which may or may not work out for him:

This is a stunning 180 from Mitt Romney on Trump. "He continues with a message of inclusion and bringing people together." pic.twitter.com/vn0qEDDJdf

— Alexandra Jaffe (@ajjaffe) November 30, 2016

At least Romney, while spineless and untrustworthy as an ally, is neither full-bore crazy (Bolton) nor corrupt to the bone (Giuliani). Cold comfort, eh?

Open Thread: Will <em>Mitt</em> Be Donald’s New Best Friend?Post + Comments (299)

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