Mitt Romney is running for president but he doesn’t want my vote. Here’s what he said to New York Times reporter
Adam Nagourney recently from Iowa where he is campaignin…er visiting.
“The eavesdropping is a big matter on the coasts for people who are inclined to dislike the president,” Mr. Romney said.”
The Coasts, people. That’s me and you and more than half of the population of the United States. According to a recent report from NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Adminisitration), approximately 153 million people (53 percent of the nation’s population) live in U.S. coastal counties.
And for those of you reading this who don’t live in a coastal county? According to Mitt, you are one of
The great majority of Americans [who] think it is the president’s first responsibility to protect the lives of the American citizens in an urgent setting where there is a threat of terrorism.
He means that you won’t mind if the president eavesdrops on your cell phone conversations (just in case al Qaeda called, or got a wrong number). However! And let Mr. Romney be perfectly clear on this,
“I would never suggest that the president should break the law. My guess is, my assumption is, he did not break the law. The president has a responsibility to follow the law, which I believe is likely to be found, but he also has a primary responsibility to protect the American people.”
So although Romney believes the president has a responsibility to follow the law (a risky statement!)… and the law is likely to be found, or the president is likely to be responsible, or has a primary responsibility to find the law, or something like that, the president is also required by law or primarily responsible for or likely to find? protection of the American people. Well, except maybe those people on the coasts.
Romney is in remarkably close agreement with Karl Rove, who happend to be quoted saying (the very same day!):
Let me be as clear as I can be: President Bush believes if Al Qaeda is calling somebody in America, it is in our national security interest to know who they’re calling and why. Some important Democrats clearly disagree.
Now maybe Romney got “important Democrats” and people “on the coasts” mixed up but he most definitely thinks that the president should know who Al Qaeda is calling in America and why. (You know, it’s really not so hard to just answer your cell and, if it’s Al Qaeda, say “look, Al Qaeda, the president wants to know why you’re calling me and I want to know why you’re calling me so just stop it, okay?!!” Or, if Al Qaeda doesn’t identify himself and just breathes heavily into your receiver, call the phone company and tell them you’re being harrassed by Al Qaeda and they’ll call the president or something.)
But here’s something to ponder (you do ponder, don’t you?). Just a few months (but oh so long) ago Mitt Romney, talking about the Hurricane Katrina disaster, said it had caused more economic* damage than the September 11 terrorist attack and that the government’s reponse was “undermanaged” and an “embarrassment.” He then went on to deny rumors that he might accept a possible invitation from the White House to lead the Katrina disaster recovery effort, saying he’s happy being the governor of Massachusetts.
Until he’s happier Running for President. But that reminds me… doesn’t Massachusetts have a coast?
*the Katrina death toll now stands at 1,392. September 11 death toll is 2,752.