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grantcart

(53,061 posts)
Tue Jan 28, 2014, 02:11 AM Jan 2014

Mitt on Netflicks, a deeply disturbing documentary

It may have been thoroughly discussed here, don't have the time I used to keep up, but I suspect many folks are avoiding watching it because many Republican commentators have commented that it humanizes him and people will have a better impression of him.

The documentary did humanize Mrs. Romney, in my opinion because she talks of the fear she faces with the heavy travelling and how it will affect her delicate routine that she needs to maintain to effectively fight MS, a terrible disease. The fact that Romney never addresses that issue is just one of the many disturbing aspects of what is a very disturbing portrait of Romney.

The first and most lasting image is just how delusional this guy was that he was preparing for an acceptance speech and hadn't even thought that losing was possible.

But much more disturbing to me is how he manipulates his sons and daughters in law to be a constant greek chorus always cheering him on with a level of critical thinking that reminded me of my junior high church group 45 years ago.

They talk blandly of wide spread unhappiness with the President (everyone they know is voting for Dad). Never during the entire documentary do any of these intellectually stunted children ever speak to the issue of the Electoral College and the brutal reality that any Republican is going to have to face to try and get 271 electoral votes, the critical issues of war, the suffering of tens of millions of people. Really the only issue to be discussed is the terrible burden of losing privacy that each of them will have to bear, they really have suffered so much already that you expect them to pass out crying hankies.

One of the great myths about Romney is that he is some great CEO businessman. It is completely untrue. He was a paper/finance guy leveraging and exploiting. He never had a bricks and mortar business that had to please customers and keep them coming back. He didn't have to balance cash flow and suppliers and all of that. At one point he talks about watching the companies that he invested in and how hard they had to personally struggle to keep a business going. You can see the fear in his eyes, he could never take on such a personal challenge.

There are many astonishing moments that show a deeply disturbing level of self awareness. At one point he talks about his father, who I believe was a very great man and had he defeated Nixon would have had a very beneficial impact on the country (not the least of which was he was sceptical of the mission in Vietnam).

He talks about how he stands on the shoulders of his father. His father had a foreign background, came to the USA as an adult in poverty and built himself up. He became a real leader and people really liked him. He states clearly, "I could not do what he did". All the time he is completely unaware that everything he says about George Romney could be applied to Barack Obama.

Over and over again he goes to his family council with a painfully immature "aw shucks" shtick. Over and over again he makes his sons come up to the plate and make the case that he has to run because he is "a really swell guy". There is a revealing moment when he is playing in the snow and he loses the "aw shucks" shtick and tells the grandkids to not worry so much, don't be afraid if the sled goes to fast or to close to the pole, just jump off, it was one of the few really authentic moments in the whole hour and a half.

He is painfully aware that he has been permanently tagged as a "Northern Mormon flip flopper" and exudes the idea that both elements were fixed at birth, apparently unaware that many people reflect on the roots of Mormonism and move away from it, and that many people run for office without establishing completely contrarian policy issues on almost every important issue.

The documentary ends where it started with a tearful Romney trying to scratch out a noble concession speech. But even in that he fails to understand that these concessions speeches are a critical part of the democratic process and are essential for establishing legitimacy, and that if Republicans want Democrats to do it then it is up to him to make a magnanimous speech on the last night when something he says is going to give a damn.

Its going to be polite but he is determined not to give the President legitimacy. Up until now we have watch Romney talk earnestly about how important it is that he becomes President, but he never says why. Not to stop a war or help folks suffering in the economy. He has to become the President because Obama is taking the country into such deep debt.

Now this is both comical and again disturbing. This is the same juvenile type of 'happy talk' that he has been using on his rather stunted offspring, but Romney knows that it is neither true nor very compelling. The real irony is that Mitt was able to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in personal wealth by exploiting companies and saddling them with enormous debt, in many cases, like KB Toys, driving healthy companies into bankruptcy with their enormous unnecessary debt load all the while he was taking equity out the back dollars in the tens of millions.

Romney takes delusion to a new level, and among the evidence of it is the fact that he would allow film makers this kind of access while he played the role a very un-presidential hapless victim of such great misunderstanding by so many meanies. All they had to do is to talk to his sons and daughters in law to find out how swell a guy he is.

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Mitt on Netflicks, a deeply disturbing documentary (Original Post) grantcart Jan 2014 OP
Excellent! n/t defacto7 Jan 2014 #1
He's a guy who never had to work for anything in his life TlalocW Jan 2014 #2
Thank you for the recap tularetom Jan 2014 #3
was utterly unfit even to be running for the highest elective office in the country. AlbertCat Jan 2014 #4
They just keep getting worse and worse.. Cha Jan 2014 #7
Let's examine GOP presidential choices, shall we? AlbertCat Jan 2014 #14
I won't be seeing "mitt".. I can't stand to Cha Jan 2014 #5
Actually I didn't think I could get through 5 minutes of it, but found it fascinating. grantcart Jan 2014 #19
No question this country dodged a huge bullet in 2012. Drunken Irishman Jan 2014 #6
The scary part is how this idiot was allowed to get this far. SmittynMo Jan 2014 #11
Any person that carelessly threatens Unknown Beatle Jan 2014 #8
Three words for Mr Mitt "I'm human" Romney.. Cha Jan 2014 #9
It's very interesting hearing your point of view on the movie davidpdx Jan 2014 #10
I just finished reading it last weekend. avebury Jan 2014 #12
I'm glad to hear a few DUers read it davidpdx Jan 2014 #15
There is only one Republican candidate who provides any realistic chance of winning grantcart Jan 2014 #18
Just Another entitled boy from a wealthy family avebury Jan 2014 #22
Jeb is a much smarter guy than the rest of the Republican field grantcart Jan 2014 #23
It may not matter how smart Jeb is. His main avebury Jan 2014 #24
If we run Clinton then Jeb's association with his brother will be irrelevent. grantcart Jan 2014 #25
I am not sure that Hillary is the best candidate for 2016. avebury Jan 2014 #26
I prefer she doesn't run. grantcart Jan 2014 #29
Thanks because I'll never waste my time watching. Titonwan Jan 2014 #13
Seems like an accurate review. Romney is quite disturbing TheDonkey Jan 2014 #16
I watched it. Mz Pip Jan 2014 #17
Agreed Freddie Jan 2014 #28
What disturbs me about the Romney Family is... MarianJack Jan 2014 #20
Thanks for the excellent review NV Whino Jan 2014 #21
Thanks for biting the bullet on this Little_Wing Jan 2014 #27
I finally got to watch the documentary davidpdx Feb 2014 #30
I'll probably watch it Hawaii Hiker Feb 2014 #31
wonder how much he had to pay Netflicks to list Sunlei Feb 2014 #32
The film made Mitt look very isolated, though needlessly so CreekDog Feb 2014 #33

TlalocW

(15,358 posts)
2. He's a guy who never had to work for anything in his life
Tue Jan 28, 2014, 02:48 AM
Jan 2014

Who was always handed whatever he wanted on a silver plate. He couldn't process actually having to work for something, and he felt it was demeaning that he had to deal with "inferiors" and ask them for their support. He still felt though that like everything else in life, he would get it because he "deserved" it, and he surrounded himself with not only stupid people like his sons and advisers but insulated himself in a right-wing echo chamber (FOX) who were either as stupid as the aforementioned sons/advisers or just plain being dishonest about his chances because they never seem to focus on how Mitt needed to win 270 electoral votes, how many paths he had (which were already fewer than the paths Obama had). They focused a lot on national polls (and probably conservatively biased national polls) instead of state polls. The national polls probably told them what they wanted to hear - that people were not liking the president, but the important state polls were breaking for Obama or starting to move his way. The FOX talking heads pretty much ignored that for whatever reason except for one person - Dennis Miller, who told O'Reilly that a lot of important state polls were going for Obama, but he, "DIDN'T BELIEVE THEM!" (emphasis mine)

You can find enough footage for 2 hours to make just about anyone seem like a decent fellah, but when you look at his life as a whole, I'm so thankful that he didn't win.

TlalocW

tularetom

(23,664 posts)
3. Thank you for the recap
Tue Jan 28, 2014, 03:23 AM
Jan 2014

Now I won't have to watch this unfortunate attempt at turning a completely plastic person into an actual human being.

As I read your post I was both embarrassed for the poor delusional bastard and pissed that our "free press" seems unable to report what was painfully obvious to anybody with half a brain - that this douchebag was utterly unfit even to be running for the highest elective office in the country.

Maybe I'll toss back a couple of highballs and give it a try. With the edge off maybe I'll be able to have a few laughs as I watch a buffoon fool himself into believing he's a leader.

 

AlbertCat

(17,505 posts)
4. was utterly unfit even to be running for the highest elective office in the country.
Tue Jan 28, 2014, 04:40 AM
Jan 2014

And who HAS been qualified for the highest elective office, run by the GOP in the last 40 years?

Cha

(295,914 posts)
7. They just keep getting worse and worse..
Tue Jan 28, 2014, 04:49 AM
Jan 2014

Hard to imagine anyone more of sociopathic plastic monster than mitt.. but I'm sure they'll scrape somebody up off the bottom of the barrel.

 

AlbertCat

(17,505 posts)
14. Let's examine GOP presidential choices, shall we?
Tue Jan 28, 2014, 12:28 PM
Jan 2014

Reagan.... the GOP "cardboard cutout" Prez 1.0. The 1st model of a Prez that actually is not doing anything but serving as a PR front-man and fund raiser. Others, unelected, will actually govern. The country is fooled.

Bush 1..... "cardboard cutout" Prez 1.2... some improvements....but not on the governing side.

Dubya.... "cardboard cutout" Prez 2.0.... almost perfection, but a little TOO far in the "I'm really not in charge" dept, still very effective in the fund raising dept. Unfortunately, as usual, they overstepped their bounds and people saw the grift, so Bush II was never actually elected and they had to go to plan B involving the Supreme Court and voter suppression coupled with 9/11 paranoia.

McCain.... might have been perfect 3.0 but for the Palin glitch brought on by a clueless attempt to match Hillary. Whew! that was close! But Palin was SUCH A BAD IDEA, that we even got a black man as prez.

Mittens..... still clueless and blinded by their prejudices, they just knew that black guy thing was just a fluke and would easily be crushed by a white, religious, "you too can be a rich as me (suckers)" guy with tons of money. This is why they simply couldn't "get" they were losing and lost.

Because they're still freaking out about the black guy.... their next choice will probably be even MORE clueless....if that's possible.

But still they'll be running a "cardboard cutout" Prez who's job is to leave the governing (such as it is in GOP land) to some unelected sociopath in another undisclosed location.

Cha

(295,914 posts)
5. I won't be seeing "mitt".. I can't stand to
Tue Jan 28, 2014, 04:41 AM
Jan 2014

to look at the slimely fake sociopathic sludge.

So, shallow and "delusional".. the republicons would think "mitt" made him seem more human.

You, grantcart, have a strong stomach!

SmittynMo

(3,544 posts)
11. The scary part is how this idiot was allowed to get this far.
Tue Jan 28, 2014, 09:39 AM
Jan 2014

I don't even want to think about how it would be if he had won. OMG

Unknown Beatle

(2,672 posts)
8. Any person that carelessly threatens
Tue Jan 28, 2014, 06:58 AM
Jan 2014

the life of any animal, in this case Romney with the dog in a cage on the roof of his car while traveling a long distance, is all I need to know about the character of that person.

davidpdx

(22,000 posts)
10. It's very interesting hearing your point of view on the movie
Tue Jan 28, 2014, 09:16 AM
Jan 2014

I haven't seen it yet, but am waiting for it to come out on tor.... (ok, I can't say that word).

I am interested to watch it though and see the other side's reaction. I am almost done reading Double Down, which DUers have panned, but it turned out to be pretty good.

avebury

(10,946 posts)
12. I just finished reading it last weekend.
Tue Jan 28, 2014, 09:42 AM
Jan 2014

So many of the Repubicans that threw their name in the Republican Party Presidential sweepstakes were just flat out delusional to think that they ever had a chance. I never realized that there was anybody with a greater sense of entitlement until I ready the sections on New Gingrich.

I just cannot come up with one Republican that would be a decent candidate in 2016. They spend so much time pandering to the fringe groups that they just don't have credibility for the moderates which is necessary to have any shot at winning the big prize legitimately. That is why they always fall back on trying to game the system with passing laws to infringe on the rights of Americans to vote or try to rig the ballot boxes.

davidpdx

(22,000 posts)
15. I'm glad to hear a few DUers read it
Tue Jan 28, 2014, 01:46 PM
Jan 2014

Right now I'm on the part just after the 1st debate. The stuff about Christie was timely given what has been going on in NJ.

I'm such a political junkie I'll read or watch most anything just for information.

grantcart

(53,061 posts)
18. There is only one Republican candidate who provides any realistic chance of winning
Tue Jan 28, 2014, 04:00 PM
Jan 2014

Jeb Bush.

Much smarter than the President he has the opportunity to increase Hispanic votes for the Republicans.

He would probably deliver Florida and would have a reasonable chance in Ohio, NC, Virginia, Iowa and Colorado.

If our nominee is Clinton then they would not face a penalty from voters who are against the same families running again.

His biggest obstacle, ironically, is getting the nomination.

What he would have to do to get the nomination would make it impossible for him to win in the GE.

His best move is to toy with it and never actually announce, let the crazies kill each other off in the primaries and then be ready to accept a draft.

avebury

(10,946 posts)
22. Just Another entitled boy from a wealthy family
Tue Jan 28, 2014, 07:26 PM
Jan 2014

Remember when Jeb's wife got into trouble with customs?

http://www.sptimes.com/News/62299/State/Gov_Bush_says_his_wif.shtml

Monday that his wife misled U.S. Customs officials about $19,000 in new clothing and jewelry she brought into the country because she didn't want him to know how much she had spent on her five-day Paris shopping trip.

On Friday, the Bushes disclosed that Columba Bush had paid a $4,100 fine and was briefly detained by Customs agents for failing to declare merchandise when she arrived at Hartsfield International Airport. With that, the low profile enjoyed by the governor's quiet wife ended. "Shop 'til you drop," read a headline Saturday in the Bush's new hometown paper, the Tallahassee Democrat.

Then there is the illegal alien they employed:

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/getreligion/2013/04/that-all-but-missing-detail-about-jeb-bushs-life/

She was almost like a member of the family. An employee, but almost one of them. For three years, Maria Magdalena Romero had tended to the suburban Miami home of Jeb and Columba Bush, had helped to raise their three children, had twined into the fabric of their lives.

Then, with lurching swiftness, she was yanked away. On a mild winter morning in 1991, two immigration agents appeared at the door of the family home looking for the woman Bush’s younger son and namesake, then just 10 years old, remembers as “a super nice lady.” They carried deportation orders.

It didn’t matter that Bush’s father was president of the United States at the time or that a Secret Service agent had answered the door. Romero, who was in the country illegally but had a work permit, wasn’t getting a reprieve.


Other issues:

Jeb haunted by Sandals

http://reno4governor.tripod.com/index-85.html


Bribery scandal

http://www.progress.org/tpr/shameful-scandal-will-jeb-bush-resign/



grantcart

(53,061 posts)
23. Jeb is a much smarter guy than the rest of the Republican field
Tue Jan 28, 2014, 07:34 PM
Jan 2014

or his brother for that matter.

I don't think anything is gained by underestimating your adversary.

Neither issue you raised is very significant, nabbing his housekeeper 20 years ago sounds like a set up to me, they weren't going door to door.

The fact that he married a foreign national and learned to be bilingual shows how independent he is compared to other Republicans who just try and recite the same old catechism.

This subthread is based on the point that Jeb Bush is the only credible candidate that the Republicans have that has a chance of becoming President, and that is still the case.

avebury

(10,946 posts)
24. It may not matter how smart Jeb is. His main
Tue Jan 28, 2014, 07:46 PM
Jan 2014

problem is his highly toxic brother GW. Brother Neal is no prize wither. His sister ditched Husband No. 1 and went off to Washington DC when Dad took the White House (I was living in Maine when that happened).

Mainstream Americans just might be interested in sending another Bush to the White House.

I would recommend reading The Immaculate Deception: Bush Crime Family Exposed by Russell S. Bowen.

grantcart

(53,061 posts)
25. If we run Clinton then Jeb's association with his brother will be irrelevent.
Tue Jan 28, 2014, 07:51 PM
Jan 2014

The point under discussion is not whether or not Jeb can make it or not but simply is he the only credible candidate that could run a competitive national campaign,

I believe that to be the case but if he has to go through the primaries it will seriously undermine it so the only way the Republicans can even get close in 2016 is for Jeb to stay out and if they draft him close to the election. Christie would have been a good stand in for that plan but unlikely to be viable now.

avebury

(10,946 posts)
26. I am not sure that Hillary is the best candidate for 2016.
Tue Jan 28, 2014, 08:01 PM
Jan 2014

I could see her maybe for 1 term with the primary purpose to set up a new strong up and coming Democrat for 2020. If you could find the right VP candidate on the Democratic ticket it might set things up for the VP to then be elected for 8 years while finding the best VP candidate for those 2 terms.

We need to be thinking about a longer term plan while avoiding the clown car in the primary season that the Republicans are noted for.

grantcart

(53,061 posts)
29. I prefer she doesn't run.
Tue Jan 28, 2014, 11:32 PM
Jan 2014

There may be health concerns, you never know.

If she runs with 100% energy I am sure that she would win the nomination easily, and the GE convincingly.

It would be hard to not run, but we will see.

Titonwan

(785 posts)
13. Thanks because I'll never waste my time watching.
Tue Jan 28, 2014, 09:43 AM
Jan 2014

The man's vile and his followers are authoritarians who actually root for Colonel Jessup ('A Few Good Men') and think he's the good guy in the movie. That there should tell you all you should know about such thought processes. (Incidentally, this attitude infects some on this board regarding Edward Snowden, that he's a traitor for telling the truth).

TheDonkey

(8,911 posts)
16. Seems like an accurate review. Romney is quite disturbing
Tue Jan 28, 2014, 03:51 PM
Jan 2014

The vacant look in his eyes, the lack of empathy or understanding for most Americans and his nerve to tell bald-face lies is supremely disturbing! I'll pass on watching the documentary but this seems like an accurate review.

Mz Pip

(27,404 posts)
17. I watched it.
Tue Jan 28, 2014, 03:55 PM
Jan 2014

I found it very superficial. It had very little depth to it, little on his policies or on his business career. They just followed him and his family around from one hotel room to another. There were no real insights into him or any of them.

It's clear he loves his family but I didn't learn anything new.

Freddie

(9,232 posts)
28. Agreed
Tue Jan 28, 2014, 08:54 PM
Jan 2014

Watched it too and hoped to learn something new about him and found the film superficial. Kept thinking "do they really wear suits and ties *all* the time?" and "Chinese food again?" And all that family togetherness (aren't those grandkids supposed to be in school?).

MarianJack

(10,237 posts)
20. What disturbs me about the Romney Family is...
Tue Jan 28, 2014, 04:55 PM
Jan 2014

...that they tol such horrible stories about their father, like Seamus on the roof, fully expecting that the public would find endearing. I'm going to watch, but I can't imagine coming away with anything far from the impression that I now have of Willard and his brood...that they as a whole are one of the least likable and most entitled feeling of families to ever seek the presidency!

PEACE!

in memory of Pete Seeger!

Little_Wing

(417 posts)
27. Thanks for biting the bullet on this
Tue Jan 28, 2014, 08:21 PM
Jan 2014

I can't imagine ever willingly sitting down to watch this, no matter how neutrally the documentarians intended their film. Romney is a highly repellant politician, and any bullshit about his "reluctant" candidate shtick is inviting stink eye. Very well written.

davidpdx

(22,000 posts)
30. I finally got to watch the documentary
Wed Feb 5, 2014, 08:38 AM
Feb 2014

In fact, I just finished. Went to look for your post.

He sure is a piece of work and so is his wife.

What I don't understand is according to the documentary he had the concession speech written before the polls closed on the west coast (midnight EST). They waited two hours to give a concession speech.

Hawaii Hiker

(3,165 posts)
31. I'll probably watch it
Wed Feb 5, 2014, 12:15 PM
Feb 2014

I really want to see the part when he finally realizes that he will lose the election.......He probably thought even at 9pm or so that he had a chance...

CreekDog

(46,192 posts)
33. The film made Mitt look very isolated, though needlessly so
Wed Feb 5, 2014, 05:23 PM
Feb 2014

You make good points, I agree with your assessment too.

I realize I only saw what they filmed and chose to show us.

But there is precious little interaction of Mitt, day to day, with anyone outside his family.

Even with his family, with whom there's lots of discussion about strategy and policies --but I saw little discussion of what advisors were saying, actual political strategy (sure, lots of throwaway, one-off observations, but almost nothing substantial).

The idea that Mitt could be disengaged from policies, from real problems, from wide media coverage of the country and from the political state of his campaign actually makes sense if, as the film portrays, he's pretty much interacting with his sons and wife 95% of the time.

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