The title of this diary is found in an email from EJ Dionne's conservative friend and clipped from his latest article.
The most incisive reaction to Mitt Romney's disparaging comments about 47 percent of us came from a conservative friend who emailed: "If I were you, I'd wonder why Romney hates America so much."
A bit strong, perhaps. But the more you think about what Romney said, the more you wonder how he really feels about the country he wants to lead.
What kind of nation are we if nearly half of us are lazy, self-indulgent moochers who will never be persuaded to mend our ways?
Why does Romney feel the way he does about the 47%? That's a question every American will have to answer for themselves, because we all know they aren't going to get a straight answer from Mitt, and our media isn't going to ask the questions of him they asked of Obama. Of course it's unfair, but that's how it will go down in this country. And yet, that leaves every American the freedom to decide for themselves how this happened, and what led a man like Romney to a point in his life where he could feel the way he does about fully half of this country.
EJ Dionne goes on to discuss the issue in a rather normal way, asking rhetorical questions about the 47% that Romney in his private moments so despises. But the question for me is, why does Romney view America the way he does? And to be clear, this is where EJ stops and my thoughts begin. Because I'm going to go to a place that pundits aren't permitted to go, at least not with a white Mormon in America. Because, gasp, it might actually require having some empathy for a young Mormon growing up in a Protestant community in the 1950's, although maybe not for the stunted man he became.
If it were Barack Obama of course, we would be asking about his personal story for these clues. Since Romney is a white Mormon, I doubt the media will go through that exercise, so I will.
Mitt Romney's father was born in Mexico on a polygamist colony. He gave up that life and came to the US, and using the welfare system along with hard work, he made something of himself. Now imagine a person with Mitt Romney's character growing up with that legacy. It wasn't a secret then any more than it is now. His friends knew. His friends' parents knew. Imagine what they said in hushed whispers behind Mitt's back. Heck, maybe sometimes right to his face. Mitt knew. One can't help but have some empathy for young Mitt, for the behavior problems that likely masked a darker pathology - although of course the despicable man he became has exhausted any credit he had in that department with me.
Of course what follows is dimestore psychology, I admit. There's no point in pretending. Of course. But that's part of the political process and always has been - trying to figure out what makes our leaders tick - and I think it's perfectly natural, and given the level of secrecy about Romney's life - in fact I'd propose that it's quite necessary.
So I'll be blunt. I think the shame and self-consciousness that someone with Mitt Romney's shallow character would feel about his family's past could very easily lead to a defensive superiority complex in order to compensate. Of course nobody knows for certain why Mitt Romney hates half the America he grew up in so much, the exact kind of American his father represented, the 47%+ that he somehow convinced himself that he's superior to. But as many minorities know, religious and otherwise, it's extremely common for children with behavior problems to resent parents and families they think hold them back somehow, or who are a stain on the reputation they think they deserve. Even relatively kind/healthy children can develop these inclinations, this sense of embarrassment and the coping mechanisms that go with it, so for someone with Mitt Romney's cold awkward demeanor, it would come as no surprise. It's the classic story of the kid going off to Harvard and lying about what his father does because he's still immature and he's ashamed of the truth. Left unchecked, this psychosis can take on an ontological importance - crippling the person's perception of much of the world they see around them, and the people who inhabit it. I don't know how many movies they've made about that - to be clear, it's an archetype at this point.
Of course part of this pathology would be the denial. Mitt Romney probably even believes that he's unconditionally proud of his dad, and in many ways he is, because it's only natural to be. But the denial transfers the blame, onto the 47% Romney despises. And that's how he ends up where he is, hating the half the country he feels he's entitled to hate, the half that represent that time in Romney's father's life before he made the break and got off welfare and became what Romney wanted to be according to the conservative community's criteria - a "real American."
So that's my thinking. We're all entitled to our perceptions of the people like Mitt Romney who would lead our nation. And if these people are dishonest in nature, we all have a civic responsibility to ponder what it is that might make these people tick. They will have their finger on the bomb, after all. And our country is the only country to have used it. As long as we take these voting booth gut checks and suspicions with a grain of salt, they are in fact an important part of the process in a personal way for every voter. And every voter and reader and blogger will have to decide for themselves what led to Romney believing what he believes and feeling what he feels, with such vicious disdain.
Many prejudiced people wondered aloud if and why Obama might hate America because of his family story, but now that that's been dispelled by reasonable people completely (we all know who the real Obama is after 4 years, even conservatives - he's a decent man who loves his country), the real question is why does Mitt Romney hate the 47% so much? It's a shocking question to have to ask about the man who would be president. Many if not most will avoid it because to even have empathy for the Mormon situation in a Protestant community is to broach the subject, and that's not allowed. But the American public have a duty to not ignore the statements he's made, an obligation to our fellow human beings, abroad as well as here at home. And for a bishop, a highly religious man, faith and its place in our society, the prejudices that harm people and create psychosis, these are real tangible issues. Even if they're taboo to discuss.
What led to Romney's hatred for the 47%? Where does it come from? I think it comes from a very specific coupling of shame about his family story, a crippled and stunted personality, lifelong immaturity, a dark mean streak you mark down to chance and brain chemistry, and a sense of unbridled entitlement only the most wealthy Americans can acquire.
It makes for an extremely toxic mix of self-loathing and vicious hatred for the country he would lead. But wherever it comes from, there's one place it must never go, and that's the White House.