Saturday, October 20, 2012

Through the Political Looking Glass Darkly

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Three things, all related to politics, have recently caused me to do a double-take, and then to smile.  First, The Onion has come out with its presidential endorsement, and, as befits one of our nation's premier humor newspaper (that masquerades as a legitimate news source), The Onion went beyond the major party nominees and came up with an oldie, but definitely not a goody, for their presidential pick. The Onion has endorsed John Edwards!

Somehow, I think that Shakespeare would have loved John Edwards, too.

Yesterday as I was circling the local McDonald's a nice car backed out in front of me.   On its bumper was a sticker that took me back to the sixties.  It was a new, red and blue Nixon/Agnew sticker!  I have lamented before that modern politicians, particularly Republican politicians, are such right-wing ideologues that they make Nixon look like a statesman, so perhaps that is what that the owner of that sticker was implying.

The third unexpected political surprise came today when I saw the presidential endorsement of the Salt Lake City Tribune.  While certainly not an expert on Utah politics, I would have assumed that any major publication in the very Mormon state of Utah would be in the bag for Romney.  The Tribune, however, endorsed Obama.

The newspaper was very positive regarding Romney's "rescue" of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics from a "cesspool" of scandal.  But then it recounted his "servile courtship" of the tea party in order to win the Republican nomination, and his subsequent "shape-shifting" as he tries to transform into a candidate more acceptable to the rest of America.   The newspaper also bemoaned his lack of specificity in his economic plans.  The Tribune stated that the most frequently asked question in the campaign has become  "Who is this guy, really, and what in the world does he truly believe?"

Mitt Romney, shape-shifter.

Who is Mitt Romney, really, and what in the world does he truly believe?

Does Mitt Romney even know?

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