WASHINGTON, May 8, 2012 — We all know actions speak louder than words. But the sound of silence can be deafening as well.
On Monday at an Ohio town hall meeting, GOP presumptive nominee Mitt Romney had a chance to chastise a woman who in the midst of her question to the former governor of Massachusetts, said she believe Obama “should be tried for treason.”
Instead of exhibiting character and quickly admonishing the woman for her outrageous remark, Romney chose to ignore it, veering off to his own deep respect for the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. The silence in the face of the unwarranted attack reverberated. Unlike four years ago when Senator John McCain was confronted by another woman who declared Obama was an Arab, Romney did nothing.
During the 2008 campaign, McCain grabbed the microphone back and set the woman straight in no uncertain terms, saying, “No, ma’am. He’s a decent family man [and] citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues and that’s what this campaign’s all about. He’s not [an Arab].”
Just look at the two contrasting videos below to see how a man of character handles a smear and how Romney did.
Romney missed the opportunity to squelch such invective that continues to plague the Republican Party. Until the GOP candidate stands up and denounces publicly such vilification of the President, he reveals a serious flaw in his character. Senator McCain had the guts to tell his audiences to tone down the heated revilement of candidate Obama, even receiving some boos for his efforts. But he had the courage of his convictions.
With Romney, we are seeing neither courage nor conviction. Later when pressed by CNN, and away from the town hall audience, Romney finally said, “I don’t correct all of the questions that get asked of me. Obviously I don’t agree that he [Obama] should be tried.” Talk about a tepid response. No denouncement of the treason charge. No concern about such over-the-top rhetoric. No standing up to the Right Wing fringe.
Why we should we be surprised? In fact, at the same town hall meeting, Romney was introduced by Ohio’s state auditor Dave Yost, who led off by lambasting the President for taking credit for the killing of Osama bin Laden and saying that would be like “giving Ronald McDonald credit for the Big Mac you had for lunch — I mean, everyone knows it’s the guy at the grill that deserves the credit, not the pitchman on TV.”
Yet Romney himself has said the President deserves the credit for the taking out of bin Laden. Just not on Monday when he had the chance.
This is merely the latest example of why the Republican Party is self-destructing, having sold its soul to the devil to get votes. The book “It’s Even Worse Than It Looks,” which I wrote about this week, highlights how such trash talk going unchallenged demeans the candidate, the GOP, America.
But for voters, Romney’s silence is just the latest chink in his character. Only last week, he allowed his trusted foreign policy advisor Richard Grenell to be thrown under the bus by Evangelical conservatives because Grenell is gay. Why would we expect Romney to suddenly be a stand up guy a week later?
It seems to be asking too much of Mitt Romney. Obviously he never listened to the lyrics of “Sounds of Silence” and heard the words of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel: “’Fools, said I, “You do not know/ Silence like a cancer grows.”
To contact Catherine Poe, see above. Her work appears in Ad Lib at the Communities @ WashingtonTimes.com. She can also be heard on Democrats for America’s Future. She is also a contributor to broadcast, print and online media.
See: Republican extremists: How the GOP broke America and called it leadership (VIDEO)
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