Everyone is watching the candidacy of Mitt Romney for the GOP Presidential nomination. Both Rudy Giuliani and John McCain have stumbled in the last few days, so it could be that Mitt will catch some mo. As we contemplated the tragic fall of Lyndon Johnson the other day, I couldn't help recalling that the Vietnam war ruined Mitt's dad, too.
George Romney was an automobile executive, a devotee of public service and a three-time Republican governor of Michigan. He was a good-government kind of Republican, fond of low taxes and a good business climate, but also a friend of civil rights and other progressive initiatives. He was considered a front-runner for the Presidency on the GOP ticket in l968, running ahead even of Richard Nixon, the eventual nominee and winner. That is, until he gave an interview in late l967 or early l968, I can't remember which, in which Romney came out against the Vietnam war, declaring he had been "brainwashed" during a l965 fact-finding mission in Vietnam. Some people took offense at what they believed was his insensitivity, in view of the ordeal of prisoners-of-war being paraded on TV. Other people thought he had a screw loose--how could a reasonable, balanced person have been "brainwashed?" It went over, as they say, like a pregnant pole vaulter...it really ruined his reputation and sank his campaign. It was too bad, because George Romney was fundamentally a good guy.
It is too early to tell how, or if, the Iraq war will affect the younger Romney. But his father's experience is just another example of how destructive the Vietnam war was--it ruined everyone it touched.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Interesting! Anyone so easily brainwashed should not be pres though... wonder who gave him THAT advice? I am watching Romney too. Too soon to really make a choice though... I was one of those very willing to cross the aisle to Barrack until the comment about men and women who died in Iraq serving this country. Being ex-military myself, that is pretty much unforgivable. That was a huge disappointment, but he still has time to redeem himself. Still have not seen anyone worth making the jump though.... we shall see!
i think you're wise to keep playing the field, so to speak. we have such a long way to go in this campaign, i think i am going to declare a moratorium on candidate talk until at least the fall. it's too much, too early.
on geo romney, i think he meant to say that he was taken in by all the talk of victory being just around the corner that was so common when the ground troops were going in. but the image of brainwashing is pretty alarming, and you have to be careful how you say things, as mr. obama found out. i don't think anyone in his right mind would say american lives were "wasted" in iraq...i think he meant to say that this war is not worth the lives of young americans, with which i agree completely. but again, it's important how you say things. words matter.
Agreed on the moratorium....kind of like the difference in finding out you are pregnant in the first month... it lasts ForEver! I try not to get involved in the election until January anyway, but this one seems so important... I feel like it gives us hope in a chaotic time, a little like LBJ as we saw in 388, but maybe not quite as extreme. With the hostage taking, genocides being committed here and there, definite chaos in the middle east, well it just seems that the right person comes along and we can all rest for a while. But agreed on the moratorium... now, if we can only get the news networks to agree to let the candidates talk to the people and debate each other without their neverending interference.....
I find it strange that so many people still claim the reason George Romney withdrew from the '68 presidential race was because of his "brainwashing" gaffe. In reality he should never has even been in the race. George Romney was born in Mexico and therefore not a "natural born" citzen as required by Article II of the Constitution. That was the real reason he withdrew. How sad it is that none of our political, journalistic, and educational leaders at the time recognized this problem for Romney. Forty years later not much as changed unfortunately...we are still a nation ignorant of the basic principles of American government.
Post a Comment