Mitt Romney is Unemployed and Needs your Vote!

[Profound Gibberish]

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/06/16/romney-tells-actual-unemployed-people-he-is-also-unemployed/#more-164012

So this guy worth 250+ million is trying to relate to some unemployed Floridians and says this. What a narcissistic ass. I have a feeling his mouth with be his ultimate downfall.

[Leaper]

Even if it is a joke (and I imagine it was), it does seem rather unnecessary to hand your opposition such easy ammo.

[JimH52]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/16/mitt-romney-unemployed-person_n_878339.html

I am sure the long term unemployed in America appreciate that a multi-millionaire feels their pain. :dubious:

[Voyager]

Romney's attempts to be a guy don't work very well, do they? However, I certainly can see why he thinks he can relate to the unemployed - he created lots of them.

[Broomstick]

Fuck him sideways with a pineapple. Unemployed with multi-millions of dollars is a completely different game than my form of underemployed, with total assets under $5,000.

Not that he had my vote anyhow....

[Exapno Mapcase]

If you watch the clip, it's not only obviously a joke but the people with him practically fall on the floor laughing. It was one of those great quips we all wish we made. And he continues to joke about the subject to roars of approval.

Bash him all you want, but with that clip as a response the bashers are going to look pretty silly.

[BobLibDem]

Meh. I want him to go back to telling how he grew up hunting for varmints.

[Simplicio]

Meh, there's plenty of real stuff to be outraged about without pretending to take jokes seriously.

[Broomstick]

Yes, I'm sure the joke got a lot of laffs from his audience there - doesn't mean it's funny to everyone. Frankly, I found it offensive. I'm sure others will, too.

[anya marie]

I vote for Mitt to eat shit and die. I would rather toss money in the gutter than give it to him.

[JimH52]

Romney should be ashamed of himself. What a jerk...

[JimH52]

Simplicio, if I were in the audience and been unemployed for a year, I would have walked away.

[Marley23]

Simplicio, if I were in the audience and been unemployed for a year, I would have walked away.
You wouldn't have been in the audience to start with, though. It's a dumb joke since Romney does have a job - he's been running for president since November 5, 2008 - but it's not worth getting upset about in any case.

[Broomstick]

Ah, sure, Marie Antoinette's line about "let them eat cake" was, I'm sure, considered quite amusing at the time she said it, nothing for the peasants to get upset about, right?

For some of us, such cluelessness IS something to get upset about in a presidential candidate.

[Marley23]

Ah, sure, Marie Antoinette's line about "let them eat cake" was, I'm sure, considered quite amusing at the time she said it, nothing for the peasants to get upset about, right?
She never really said that, and Romney is not the queen. He's a rich guy trying to get people to vote for him for president. I don't think it's funny, but there's not much point in treating the joke as a serious comment.

[Simplicio]

For some of us, such cluelessness IS something to get upset about in a presidential candidate.

What is he clueless about? Immediately after the joke, he goes on to talk about how he understands how stressful and detrimental it is for people to be unemployed, and gosh-darn that Obama for not doing anything, etc etc. The guys whole campaign is going to be about how Obama isn't putting people to work, he's hardly going to try and minimize the suffering of the unemployed at the same time.

I realize its early in the campaign season and we're still getting into the swing of thing. Hopefully as we move forward, people will be able to manufacture outrage of a higher quality. Maybe find someone trying to build a Halal bakery near Ground Zero or something?

[Broomstick]

A rich man who, even if he's experiencing a negative cash flow, saying "I'm unemployed" looks crass to someone who is staring potential homelessness in the face on a monthly basis. Is it that hard to understand? Romney may be "unemployed" but he doesn't have to worry about being able to keep a roof over his head or put food on the table. He's got a enough money that he could, given a little frugality, live comfortably for the rest of his life on his assets.

Compare this to people who are losing everything, who are homeless, who don't have the means to fix a vehicle that's their sole transportation if something goes wrong, who can't afford a dentist and are losing their teeth, or who are eating at soup kitchens or draining their 401k's just to keep going today and nevermind what happens when they "retire", or any of the thousand and one petty horror stories out there.

Not comparable. Not funny.

Yes, yes, I know I'm supposed to see the amusement in it all, cut him some slack, whatever but you know what? I still think there's nothing funny about it. I'm still offended. I'm just glad he revealed early on what sort of insensitive jackass he is.

[Chronos]

What is he clueless about? Immediately after the joke, he goes on to talk about how he understands how stressful and detrimental it is for people to be unemployed, and gosh-darn that Obama for not doing anything, etc etc.Yes, he talks about understanding unemployment, right after he proves that he doesn't. To even think that there's any connection at all, even a joking connection, between Romney's status and genuine unemployment is to betray an utter cluelessness as to what unemployment means.

[Marley23]

A rich man who, even if he's experiencing a negative cash flow, saying "I'm unemployed" looks crass to someone who is staring potential homelessness in the face on a monthly basis. Is it that hard to understand?
No, it's very easy to understand. If you think it makes him look like a jerk, I won't argue with you. I will say that I don't think it's a big deal, particularly compared to his inherent dishonesty as a politician (he was one person as governor of Massachusetts, a different one as a candidate in 2008, and a third one now). And I do think it should be kept in mind that an insensitive joke is not the same thing as a serious remark even though either could be objectionable.

[ElvisL1ves]

You're still going to see him quoted quite frequently, as long as he's the perceived frontrunner that is, along with pointing out that he got rich by laying people off.

[elucidator]

I more or less concur with the "it was just a dumb joke, get over it" crowd. Its the kind of joke told by someone with no innate sense of humor or irony, but carefully coached to fake the orgasm, so to speak. As it were.

But it probably isn't, not scripted, I mean. He's got professional handlers, somebody would have told him not to say it. Begging, more likely. Its probably a genuine insight into his nature.

So, OK, too much drugs is bad, no question. But look what happens when you take no drugs at all.

[BigT]

Seeing as Broomstick is the one person I know of on this board who is worse off than I am, I am going to defer to her understanding.

That said, I don't really care. I already dislike the guy due to his business strategy. I hated Trump for it, it would be disingenuous for me not to hate Romney for it. The latter just has better PR.