Election Time!

There is something about country club business Republicans that stinks. It is the entitled bullying, the use of money not only to keep score, but to batter someone else. First it was Bush II from the country club; now it’s Romney. What jerks.

“I’ll bet you $10,000!” What a threat. “I have $10,000 and it’s pocket change – what about you, Rick?” Nice man, no?

“I made Ted Kennedy take out a second mortgage on his house.” Is he bragging to his Bain friends, his B-School friends, or the other guys at the club bar? Enjoying inflicting pain, using money as the preferred tool. Cruel.

He uses his money to assassinate his opponents, not that they don’t deserve it. In Florida the ads were 13,000 pure negative ads by Romney to 200 against Gingrich. I can see Romney saying, “Just wipe him out.” Not that any of it was untrue, and not that Gingrich is not despicable, and I don’t know what I would have done. But I can just see Romney gloating and bragging. Bullying is his SOP.

What would he do as a President, playing these confrontational games? What kind of bullying would he engage in? He wants a very big military so no one would even dare oppose us. He’s nuts. Size isn’t the issue, Mitt. It’s being smart, not being a big, stupid, giant Empire.

What would he do domestically? Play to his own guys, the way Bush did, another country club guy at the bar. I’ve got mine, Jack, tough on you. Let’s see you guys crawl up from the bottom, he’d say. And he would pretend that that’s what he did.

He exudes a lack of compassion. He’s not at all nice. He doesn’t have a Jewish bone in his body. He’s a jerk.

Budd Shenkin