# Mitt and Ann cry when they tithe, but for different reasons.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-and-ann-cry-when-they-tithe-but-for-different-reasons/632510
**Category:** Politics & Elections
**Created:** [August 24, 2012, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-and-ann-cry-when-they-tithe-but-for-different-reasons/632510 "2012-08-24T18:11:36Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2012, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-and-ann-cry-when-they-tithe-but-for-different-reasons/632510/1 "2012-08-24T18:11:36Z")
From Parade Magazine:
[http://www.parade.com/news/2012/08/26-conversation-with-the-romneys.html](http://www.parade.com/news/2012/08/26-conversation-with-the-romneys.html)
From the second page of that article:
> [@](#):
>
> Let’s talk for a moment about your faith. How has tithing [the Mormon practice of giving 10 percent of one’s income to the church] shaped your view of how we treat each other?
> AR: I love tithing. When Mitt and I give that check, I actually cry.
> MR: So do I, but for a different reason.
😃
When I first saw this quoted on another website, I was sure it was a joke, but it actually is in the Parade interview.
Obviously it can’t mean what it sounds like. A little further down he talks about how tithing should be private and I think that’s what he was referring to. But he certainly gave a gift to his opponents.
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### Author:  [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2012, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-and-ann-cry-when-they-tithe-but-for-different-reasons/632510/2 "2012-08-24T18:16:25Z")
Not sure if it could be any phonier. Mitt has never written a check that caused him to bat an eye, let alone cry. When he cries about writing a check for the rent, knowing that means he can’t pay for groceries, then maybe I’ll believe it.
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### Author:  [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2012, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-and-ann-cry-when-they-tithe-but-for-different-reasons/632510/3 "2012-08-24T18:19:36Z")
Eh, that was actually a decent joke.
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-and-ann-cry-when-they-tithe-but-for-different-reasons/632510/4 "2012-08-24T18:20:40Z")
I’m sure this will cost him the election.
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### Author:  [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-and-ann-cry-when-they-tithe-but-for-different-reasons/632510/5 "2012-08-24T18:20:48Z")
Doesn’t do much for his Scrooge McDuck image, however. This is a joke best suited for the country club newsletter, not Parade Magazine.
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### Author:  [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-and-ann-cry-when-they-tithe-but-for-different-reasons/632510/6 "2012-08-24T18:21:10Z")
> [@Simplicio](#):
>
> Eh, that was actually a decent joke.
Agreed. The only way Obama could get mileage out of this is if the interview included a picture of Mitt smacking Ann with his checkbook.
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### Author:  [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2012, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-and-ann-cry-when-they-tithe-but-for-different-reasons/632510/7 "2012-08-24T18:25:58Z")
Yeah, I’ll give him that one, it’s a decent joke.
**BobLibDem** , I don’t think it was intended to be literal.
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### Author:  [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2012, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-and-ann-cry-when-they-tithe-but-for-different-reasons/632510/8 "2012-08-24T18:29:36Z")
> [@davidm](#):
>
> Obviously it can’t mean what it sounds like.
It sounds (to me) like Romney was joking that he cries at having to part with 10% of his income. I think it means exactly what it sounds like, and there’s nothing wrong with that, since it was a joke.
I also don’t think it’s politically damaging. People aren’t going to forget that Romney is rich no matter what he says, but he might still have a chance to convince them he has a sense of humor.
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2012, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-and-ann-cry-when-they-tithe-but-for-different-reasons/632510/9 "2012-08-24T18:31:47Z")
It was a pretty good joke. I think it might reveal a little about who Romney really is. Unfortunately in the election cycle he’s revealed a lot more about who he really is, and he doesn’t look very good.
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### Author:  [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2012, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-and-ann-cry-when-they-tithe-but-for-different-reasons/632510/10 "2012-08-24T18:52:25Z")
Decent joke. There’s plenty of other things to kick Romney for.
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### Author:  [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2012, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-and-ann-cry-when-they-tithe-but-for-different-reasons/632510/11 "2012-08-24T19:03:23Z")
Sounds like an old Jack Benny line.
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2012, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-and-ann-cry-when-they-tithe-but-for-different-reasons/632510/12 "2012-08-24T19:14:08Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#):
>
> Agreed. The only way Obama could get mileage out of this is if the interview included a picture of Mitt smacking Ann with his checkbook.
I dunno, I’ve seen videos of Michelle smacking Obama at a soccer match that were pretty popular, so this might make Romney more approachable.
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### Author:  [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2012, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-and-ann-cry-when-they-tithe-but-for-different-reasons/632510/13 "2012-08-24T19:57:12Z")
Shouldn’t a devout member of a faith, a bishop at that, be proud and happy to do what it commands its followers to do? Not to cry over it?
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2012, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-and-ann-cry-when-they-tithe-but-for-different-reasons/632510/14 "2012-08-24T20:02:39Z")
Back during the primaries, Romney was talking to a small group and some of them were complaining about the economy and their lack of jobs. Romney said, “I’m also unemployed.” And everybody in the room laughed.
Because it was a joke. They got it. His opponents tried to make something of it, but it was a good joke told with proper timing. It made him seem more likable, not less.
Same with this. Every person in his audience has made or heard a variation of this line. It’s old, it’s corny, but it’s surefire. The people who try to use it against him won’t get any traction.
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### Author:  [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2012, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-and-ann-cry-when-they-tithe-but-for-different-reasons/632510/15 "2012-08-24T20:42:02Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#):
>
> Shouldn’t a devout member of a faith, a bishop at that, be proud and happy to do what it commands its followers to do? Not to cry over it?
Meh, its a joke, not a theological dissertation. I’ve met Orthodox Jews that joke about wanting bacon, devout Mormons that joke about wishing they could have coffee, and I’m sure somewhere right now there’s a group of Amish elders joking about how they wish they could find out what that “Angry Birds” game is all about.
All of whom are devout, and all of whom are following the strictures of their religion because they want to (after all, they are at the end of the day, voluntary). But they still grouse about them. Its human nature.
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#):
>
> Romney said, “I’m also unemployed.” And everybody in the room laughed.
I actually thought that one was pretty crass. Its one thing to joke about a shared misfortune, its another to joke about other peoples misfortune that you yourself are insulated from.
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2012, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-and-ann-cry-when-they-tithe-but-for-different-reasons/632510/16 "2012-08-24T20:46:05Z")
Yeah, the comment about being unemployed was not only tone deaf, politically, but it was pretty darn tasteless.
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### Author:  [@Enkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkel)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2012, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-and-ann-cry-when-they-tithe-but-for-different-reasons/632510/17 "2012-08-24T21:02:24Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> Back during the primaries, Romney was talking to a small group and some of them were complaining about the economy and their lack of jobs. Romney said, “I’m also unemployed.” And everybody in the room laughed.
>
> Because it was a joke. They got it. His opponents tried to make something of it, but it was a good joke told with proper timing. It made him seem more likable, not less.
>
> Same with this. Every person in his audience has made or heard a variation of this line. It’s old, it’s corny, but it’s surefire. The people who try to use it against him won’t get any traction.
Yeah, it’s like when I’m talking to starving homeless people and they gripe about the upcoming winter… I always cheer them up by saying how it sucks that I only have 2 cords of wood to heat my 1700 SQFT home and the fridge has nothing but boring food in it. That gets them every time.
Here’s a hint… independently wealthy does not equal unemployed.
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### Author:  [@Enkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkel)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-and-ann-cry-when-they-tithe-but-for-different-reasons/632510/18 "2012-08-24T21:06:39Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#):
>
> Shouldn’t a devout member of a faith, a bishop at that, be proud and happy to do what it commands its followers to do? Not to cry over it?
Meh.. if you read the article, Ann Romney also hears millions of voices in her head telling her how Mitt _HAS_ to _SAVE_ America
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2012, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-and-ann-cry-when-they-tithe-but-for-different-reasons/632510/19 "2012-08-24T21:16:13Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#):
>
> Yeah, the comment about being unemployed was not only tone deaf, politically, but it was pretty darn tasteless.
What, just because his income for the year was in the low $20 millions? This joke is reasonably funny even though it’s a little bit ‘man, my wife is spending my money!’
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### Author:  [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2012, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-and-ann-cry-when-they-tithe-but-for-different-reasons/632510/20 "2012-08-24T23:00:30Z")
Please Mitt, stop trying to make jokes!
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