There is a very simple reason why Mitt Romney isn't going to be our next president and that is that he is not 'human' enough. He doesn't sound like a regular human being, he sounds like a robot that spews CEO talking points instead of heart-felt views and opinions. This tendency to sound rehearsed and stiff has gotten him only so far, but to become president there are going to be those inevitable rare unguarded moments of candor that are caught by cameras and microphones. And it has been during these unguarded moments that the real person, Mitt Romney has been revealed. And the real Mitt Romney has some very strange things to say. In his climb for the 2012 Republican Presidential Nomination, he has let slip such statements as he "likes to fire people", that he's "not concerned about the poor people" and possibly most puzzling of all that "corporations are people".
These quotes are taken out of context and easily spun by Romney's opposition. Still though, when I hear things like "corporations are people" I find it pretty baffling. I know that Romney spent the majority of his adult life as a corporate sapien, but does he really believe that corporations are people? And are there really other people out there who think corporations are people?
To figure this thing out, I did what any inquiring 21st century mind would do: I posted a question on a Conservative Republican internet message board to provoke a discussion and perhaps get my explanation. Here's what I got (my user name on this site is Jack btw):
Jack (me): Question. Are corporations people? Yes or No.
Nellie: Yes.
KD: Corporations are designed BY PEOPLE, operated BY PEOPLE, employ PEOPLE and are made or broken by people....so yes, Corporations are PEOPLE!
Mertle: Yes they are!
Me: KD, movies are designed by PEOPLE, operated by PEOPLE, they employ PEOPLE and are made or broken by PEOPLE. So therefore following your line of logic. Movies are People also. And so are lamps and so are poems and so is Preperation H. If that is your argument, then you are sounding like the Steve Carell character in the movie Anchor Man "I love lamp!
And Romney's statement that "Corporations are people" sounds like it belongs in a Matrix movie...If corporations are people and corporations can own other corporations that means that people can own people. Which is slavery. I'm not sure but I imagine if you polled all the people in America at LEAST 80% of those people would disagree with Romney's statement that 'people are corporations'. Of course if you polled corporations the results would be much less. Oh wait a minute...you can't poll a corporation, can you?
Dr. Rose: yes, they are people!
Me: If you are a Republican then I think you have to worry about this quote by Romney, because this question is going to splinter your Republican party. The goofball knee-jerk Right-wing exrtremists will HAVE to side with Romney. And that will only make them look like fools as they trip all over themselves trying to rationalize this bizarre Gordon Gekko-esque statement.
The more Independent thinking Republicans here will realize that Romney is completely off his rocker with this statement and it will make them look like fools if they vote for a man who would say such a thing.
Butch: Corporations are people in the legal sense.
Me: So if Romney is saying that corporations are people in he legal sense, then does he think that the U.S. Constitution should be changed to "We the Corporations of the United States...
Mertle: Do you even know what Corporatism is Jackhole?
KD: Jack Squat - please run along and sue the ever living crap out of your UNION TEACHERS and the Dep of Education for scr3wing you out of a proper education and then your Parents for scr3wing you out of some common sense!! Thanks - the 53% of us who pay taxes!!!
Me: Come on, face reality people. It is idiotic to think or say that a corporation is a person. Does a corporation have a soul? If you believe that God created people, then you cannot believe that corporations have souls and that they are people. Maybe Romney thinks that corporations go to heaven/hell when they die--I mean he has some pretty unconventional religious beliefs anyway.
KD: Jeffrey Dhalmer didn't have a soul, but he is considered a person! Just sayin'!
Me: So you are comparing corporations to Jeffrey Dalmer then KD? Oh there's a real peak to strive for!
KD: Do animals have souls Jack Squat? Yes they do, but animals are not people...... can you get THIS point?
KD: TO sum it up - Clearly Jack Squat - you do not know JACK SQUAT~~~
Me: Look, if any of you women here have souls and have given birth to a child, you should be able to understand what humanity is all about. You should be able to understand that people can love. Can corporations do that? Can corporations love?
KD: Jack Squat - I have TWO CHILDREN you tool ......and yes, if it were not for compassionate CORPORATIONS whom give money to CHARITIES, the homeless, help the poor go to college, then those people would be SCR3WED.......Rose: I work for a corporation. In exchange for my contribution towards the success of this corporation, I am awarded a salary, health insurance, paid vacation, annual raises and bonuses based on my contribution and the success of this corporation. I am an asset to the corporation, therefore I am the corporation along with the other individuals who contribute to the success and, therefore the existence of the corporation. Corporations ARE people!
Me: Corporations give to charities for tax breaks and to improve their public image. It has NOTHING to do with Love. Corporations are NOT about love. They are about the bottom line. They are about money. Plain and simple. And if you or anyone here is comparing the love they feel for a child with what they feel for a corporation, then I truly feel sorry for that child...
Harvey: Corporations ARE people. Deal with it, hippie!
Me: Let me ask you folks this - If corporations are people, then can I marry a corporation? And if I am a mormon, can I marry multiple corporations???
...This discussion went on, quickly descended into a rash of schoolyard name calling and nonsense. However it did show me that some people actually DO think that corporations are people--or at least that is what they say they believe. But what about Romney? Did he actually believe his own statement? To seek the answer to this I headed to my local library and picked up a copy of The Real Romney by Michael Kranish. And after reading it I feel that I gleaned a better idea of what makes Romney tick. A person's values have quite a bit to do with who they are. Romney has some very good values, but I honestly think that his values include the idea that corporations are people. And this value, is the worst possible value a President of the United States could have. The worst thing for this country would be if we elected a CEO-in-Chief. (CEO=Creating Employment Overseas). Because not only are corporations not people, but the United States is not a corporation, or at least it shouldn't be. Corporations put monetary concerns ahead of humanitarian ones. And if that principle was ever to become the core of our nation--the greatest, most powerful nation on Earth--then quite frankly, humanity is doomed.
Overall The Real Romney was easy to read and well researched and it rates 3 out of 5 WagemannHeads.
NEXT!
The problem with having a CEO-in-Chief is that a CEO makes profits for himself and his board of directors (in the case of a CEO-in-chief the board of directors would be the Wall Street bankers) while the majority of the employees live life as corporate slaves, sufficating in their cubicles without proper healthcare or education.
ReplyDeleteWell, I have to vote for one and at this point I just don't care. But again, one has to picked...
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