ClydeR
11-21-2016, 01:54 PM
The thing about Romney is that he was not running for President in 2016. And he was not even endorsing another candidate. He just volunteered to give a speech about what a terrible person Trump is. At least the other Republicans who were critical of Trump were running or endorsing. They can say it was just politics. Romney does not have that excuse.
Below is from Romney's gratuitous and highly publicized anti-Trump speech..
Let me say that again. There’s plenty of evidence that Mr. Trump is a con man, a fake. Mr. Trump has changed his positions not just over the years, but over the course of the campaign. And on the Ku Klux Klan, daily for three days in a row.
We will only really know if he’s a real deal or a phony if he releases his tax returns and the tape of his interview with The New York Times. I predict that there are more bombshells in his tax returns. I predict that he doesn’t give much, if anything, to the disabled and to our veterans. I predict that he told The New York Times that his immigration talk is just that — talk.
And I predict that despite his promise to do so, first made over a year ago, that he will never ever release his tax returns. Never — not the returns under audit; not even the returns that are no longer being audited. He has too much to hide. Nor will he authorize the release of the tapes that he made with The New York Times.
If I’m right, you’ll have all the proof you need to know that Donald Trump is indeed a phony. Attacking me as he surely will won’t prove him any less of a phony. It’s entirely in his hands to prove me wrong. All he has to do is release his back taxes like he promised he would and let us hear what he said behind closed doors to The New York Times.
You know, Ronald Reagan used to quote a Scottish philosopher, who predicted that democracies and civilizations wouldn’t last much longer than a couple hundred years. And John Adams wrote this, “Remember, democracy never lasts long; it soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” That’s John Adams.
I believe that America has proven these dire predictions wrong for two reasons. First, we’ve been blessed with great presidents, with giants among us. Men of character, integrity and selflessness have led our nation from the very beginning. None were perfect. Each surely made mistakes. But in every case, they acted out of the desire to do what was right for America and for the cause of freedom.
The second reason is because we’re blessed with a great people — people who at every critical moment of choosing have put the interests of the country above their own. These two things are related. Our presidents time and again have called on us to rise to the occasion. John F. Kennedy asked us to consider what we could do for our country. Lincoln drew upon the better angels of our nature to save the union.
More... (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/04/us/politics/mitt-romney-speech.html)
The last three paragraphs reminded me that lately I frequently see the phrase "illiberal democracy" used by smart commentators.
Below is from Romney's gratuitous and highly publicized anti-Trump speech..
Let me say that again. There’s plenty of evidence that Mr. Trump is a con man, a fake. Mr. Trump has changed his positions not just over the years, but over the course of the campaign. And on the Ku Klux Klan, daily for three days in a row.
We will only really know if he’s a real deal or a phony if he releases his tax returns and the tape of his interview with The New York Times. I predict that there are more bombshells in his tax returns. I predict that he doesn’t give much, if anything, to the disabled and to our veterans. I predict that he told The New York Times that his immigration talk is just that — talk.
And I predict that despite his promise to do so, first made over a year ago, that he will never ever release his tax returns. Never — not the returns under audit; not even the returns that are no longer being audited. He has too much to hide. Nor will he authorize the release of the tapes that he made with The New York Times.
If I’m right, you’ll have all the proof you need to know that Donald Trump is indeed a phony. Attacking me as he surely will won’t prove him any less of a phony. It’s entirely in his hands to prove me wrong. All he has to do is release his back taxes like he promised he would and let us hear what he said behind closed doors to The New York Times.
You know, Ronald Reagan used to quote a Scottish philosopher, who predicted that democracies and civilizations wouldn’t last much longer than a couple hundred years. And John Adams wrote this, “Remember, democracy never lasts long; it soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” That’s John Adams.
I believe that America has proven these dire predictions wrong for two reasons. First, we’ve been blessed with great presidents, with giants among us. Men of character, integrity and selflessness have led our nation from the very beginning. None were perfect. Each surely made mistakes. But in every case, they acted out of the desire to do what was right for America and for the cause of freedom.
The second reason is because we’re blessed with a great people — people who at every critical moment of choosing have put the interests of the country above their own. These two things are related. Our presidents time and again have called on us to rise to the occasion. John F. Kennedy asked us to consider what we could do for our country. Lincoln drew upon the better angels of our nature to save the union.
More... (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/04/us/politics/mitt-romney-speech.html)
The last three paragraphs reminded me that lately I frequently see the phrase "illiberal democracy" used by smart commentators.