I am frankly surprised at how much press Mitt Romney’s “birther joke” (assuming it was birther and that it was a joke) has gotten. Even today, there are many articles on the subject:
- “Chris Christie, a Republican who was rumored to be on the shortlist for the vice presidential nod, said Tuesday that he suspects GOP candidate Mitt Romney "wishes he could take" his birther joke back.” Huffington Post.
- So is Romney a Birther? That isn’t clear; nor does it matter. The Root.
- “Wagner: Romney’s birther joke ‘irresponsible,’ ‘truly pathetic’.” NBCNews.com
- “This weekend, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus complained that the media is taking Mitt Romney’s “birther” joke far too seriously, saying, “Nobody seems to have a sense of humor anymore.” United Liberty.
- “Why blacks aren’t laughing at Romney’s birther “humor.” The Grio.
- “Move beyond the ‘birther’ jokes.” Lexington Herald Leader.
- “Mitt Romney Makes Birther Joke.”Midweek Politics
- “Romney’s ‘birther’ joke obviously just a joke.” CBS Baltimore
- “Falsehood takes the funny out of the ‘birther joke.’” Washington Post.
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It was not a joke; it was a dog whistle. Romney and his surrogates are being disingenuous.
Dr C: This bolsters my comment that I am not letting Romney off the hook. The damage has been done, which is Rmoney’s intention.
J’accuse.
in America humor is important
shall the best comedian become president
No one Jewish will ever become president.
See, birfers? The media is paying attention to you. 😉
Is the title a… BC reference, by the way?
I could not agree more.
See the Obama-being-lynched cartoon I posted yesterday.
– Wanna hear two short jokes and a long joke?
– Sure.
– Joke, joke, jooooooooooooooooooooooke.
😉
Politicians trying to be funny usually ends up in disaster, unless they are funny people to begin with. An organization in my country gives out an annual award “Wider den tierischen Ernst” (loosely translated as “For not taking things too seriously”) to politicians of the latter kind.
The real problem is that stuff like Romney’s comes across as truly dishonest. As if he can’t even admit having made a small mistake. Makes you wonder to what lengths he would go to cover up a real big one. That’s not what I am looking for in a politician. I admire those who admit they crossed a line, or made a promise they weren’t really sure they could keep. Even those who do a 180 turn on an issue, as long as they go “I was wrong before” and not “I never really said anything else”. Those are people I would vote for again. Because I’ve had my share of changing my mind entirely on an issue (such as going pro-choice after being pro-life for several years, or pro-immigration after being rather xenophobic before) and know these things happen. I just need to feel they didn’t happen because the party line demanded it or someone opened his pockets or because it’s the more popular opinion now.
The media are properly focusing on the non-joke because it is indicative of the new direction of the Romney campaign. Even the USA Today, an incredibly timid newspaper, reported that the new Romney strategy would be to court white voters of the racist persuasion, “going to the base” rather than trying to pick up independent or middle of the road voters. The video clip of Romney making the “joke” and the crowd’s reaction (very few laughs, lots of very loud cheers) is exactly the kind of shorthand today’s lazy news media likes to use; it also is as close as you can get to one candidate personally insulting the other on camera, at least until the debates begin. The media loves the clip for both of those reasons.