# Romnesia **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 19, 2012, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romnesia/638285 "2012-10-19T22:36:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romnesia/638285/1 "2012-10-19T22:36:07Z")
[This](http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/19/us-usa-campaign-idUSBRE89F07J20121019) is some seriously funny shit. The campaign may have hit upon the best catchphrase of the election runup. > [@](#): > > “He’s forgetting what his own positions are, and he’s betting that you will, too. I mean, he’s changing up so much and backtracking and sidestepping, we’ve gotta … name this condition that he’s going through,” Obama said. > > “I think it’s called Romnesia,” he said to hoots and applause from the crowd. He also said that Romney is in luck, because under Obamacare, he can get treatment for what is surely a pre-existing condition. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romnesia/638285/2 "2012-10-19T23:46:07Z")
I think it’s dumb mud-slinging and am severely disappointed in Obama. ---
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romnesia/638285/3 "2012-10-19T23:49:37Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > I think it’s dumb mud-slinging and am severely disappointed in Obama. Sauce for the goose. “Obamacare” started out as mudslinging, too. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romnesia/638285/4 "2012-10-19T23:55:58Z")
Is it mud-slinging when it’s true? I don’t like nailing people for simply changing their minds, but it really is hard to figure out just what Romney wants to do. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romnesia/638285/5 "2012-10-19T23:56:39Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > I think it’s dumb mud-slinging and am severely disappointed in Obama. Well, “flip-flop” was used up on John Kerry (or was it Al Gore?), and wasn’t resonating. Also, the careful pointing out how Romney is backtracking every single thing he supposedly believes in isn’t getting across very well. This one will stick, and is completely accurate. People who don’t like getting in the weeds with details will remember “Romnesia”. And he’s earned it, the smug bastard. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romnesia/638285/6 "2012-10-20T00:22:10Z")
To me there’s a difference between saying, “Romney has changed positions many times” and saying he has “Romnesia”. If Biden had said something like this, I wouldn’t have batted an eye. I just hold Obama to a higher standard I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Enkel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Enkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkel)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romnesia/638285/7 "2012-10-20T00:24:01Z")
Now, that is a perfect “made for twitter” meme. Here’s some from twitter: > [@](#): > > One of the most common symptoms of #Romnesia , aside from selective memory loss, is diarrhea of the mouth. > > BREAKING: Centers for Disease Control orders @FoxNews quarantined to control outbreak of #Romnesia. > > Are you suffering from Romnesia? Call the law offices of Binder and Binder. > > I forgot to throw a handful of rat meat into my wife’s cage yesterday. Is that Romnesia? > > CDC: " #Romnesia is not a new disease, merely a new strain of the virus in the South that wiped memories of events prior to January 2009." > > If you suffer from both constipation of the mind and diarrhea of the mouth, you might have #Romnesia. > > If you still think the Iraq War is such a good idea that you hire everyone who planned it, you’ve got some terminal #Romnesia. > > You might have #Romnesia if you think your Paris mission was really a deployment to Vietnam > > (Jennifer Granholm ‏@JenGranholm) You might have #Romnesia if you think the President followed your plan when he saved the auto industry. > > #Romnesia [rom-nee-zhuh] – a condition affecting Mitt Romney, who has shifted positions from “severely conservative” to “severely kidding.” ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romnesia/638285/8 "2012-10-20T00:25:22Z")
> [@AtomicDog](#): > > Sauce for the goose. “Obamacare” started out as mudslinging, too. Interesting you should bring that up, since later in the speech: > [@President Obama](#): > > Obamacare covers preexisting conditions. We can fix you up. We’ve got a cure. This is a curable disease. My wife and I were just talking about this. I think it’s brilliant. The criticism after the first debate was that Obama wasn’t agressive enough. Well, here you go. _And_ he did it with humor which takes the sting out of the “angry black man” stereotype (which is a stereotype and which accusation would resonate with a certain voter - and while Obama can’t expect those people to vote for him, certainly doesn’t want to add motivation for them to vote _against_ him). I especially enjoyed the shades of Jeff Foxworthy in the whole meme. That’s quality “get them thinking” stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romnesia/638285/9 "2012-10-20T00:28:37Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > To me there’s a difference between saying, “Romney has changed positions many times” and saying he has “Romnesia”. I don’t really see the difference. Ones just a humorous\* way of saying the other. I’m pretty sure Obama is not actually claiming Romney is suffering from a disease. He’s probably hoping it will hurt Romney’s Joementum. \*(in the eye of the beholder anyways. I don’t really see it as funny as the OP seems to, but in anycase, there isn’t any question its a joke.) ---
**Author:** ![Enkel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Enkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkel)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romnesia/638285/10 "2012-10-20T00:30:01Z")
On twitter, they’re starting to use Romnesia against other politicians, like the guy who taped himself demanding his girlfriend get an abortion. **@drewtwo99** - don’t worry, apparently this Romnesia stuff might be going around. If you catch it, you won’t even remember your disappointment come this time next week. ---
**Author:** ![Enkel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Enkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkel)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romnesia/638285/11 "2012-10-20T00:32:21Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > I don’t really see the difference. Ones just a humorous\* way of saying the other. I’m pretty sure Obama is not actually claiming Romney is suffering from a disease. The first one (@ romney changed mind) is too long for twitter. Romnesia = Flip flopper Mitt Binders of Women = Disconnected Mitt who doesn’t care about equal pay for women ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romnesia/638285/12 "2012-10-20T00:38:27Z")
> [@Enkel](#): > > On twitter, they’re starting to use Romnesia against other politicians, like the guy who taped himself demanding his girlfriend get an abortion. > > **@drewtwo99** - don’t worry, apparently this Romnesia stuff might be going around. If you catch it, you won’t even remember your disappointment come this time next week. Ha! Ok, I’ll admit it. It’s a decently funny meme and you got me to chuckle. ---
**Author:** ![Enkel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Enkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkel)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romnesia/638285/13 "2012-10-20T00:44:58Z")
SO… way back on Oct 9, someone else took a crack at Mitt’s memory problems by making a new movie poster called “Mittmento” (check out the pic at the link ['Romnesia,' Meet The 'Mittmento' Movie Poster (PICTURE) | HuffPost Entertainment](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/19/romnesia-meet-mittmento-movie-poster_n_1988837.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003) ) > [@](#): > > Back on Oct. 9, political satire blog Citizen Schwartz made this parody movie poster for “MIttmento”, making Romney the star of the Christopher Nolan classic. How fitting? > > Check out the poster below, including the clever tag line: “Some Positions Are Best Forgotten” This is a take off on the movie Memento which was \*\*\*a SEVERELY COOL movie \*\*\*about a guy with no memory ( [Memento (film) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memento_%28film%29) ). So each day when he woke up, he had to start from notes, tatoos, etc to figure out who he was and what he was doing as he tried to figure out who killed his wife. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romnesia/638285/14 "2012-10-20T00:51:29Z")
I laughed out loud at this one ---
**Author:** ![Enkel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Enkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkel)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romnesia/638285/15 "2012-10-20T00:52:47Z")
And credit where credit is due. David Corn, Mother Jones is likely the originator of Romnesia – his original article: [A Case of Romnesia – Mother Jones](http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/06/mitt-romney-history-problem) ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romnesia/638285/16 "2012-10-20T01:28:35Z")
> [@Enkel](#): > > On twitter, they’re starting to use Romnesia against other politicians, like the guy who taped himself demanding his girlfriend get an abortion. > > **@drewtwo99** - don’t worry, apparently this Romnesia stuff might be going around. If you catch it, you won’t even remember your disappointment come this time next week. Perhaps he’ll forget, perhaps change his mind, or perhaps just deny he ever said what he said and claim he never changed his mind. Also, Romnesia is fitting in that it is reminiscent of a white supremacist nation, but plausibly deniable of being so. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romnesia/638285/17 "2012-10-20T03:52:11Z")
Could be Romania if you accept the notion that Slavs are “white”. Anyway, Romnesia wasn’t built in a day, and you didn’t build it anyway. So fuhgeddaboutit… ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romnesia/638285/18 "2012-10-20T05:52:08Z")
> [@Enkel](#): > > And credit where credit is due. David Corn, Mother Jones is likely the originator of Romnesia – his original article: [A Case of Romnesia – Mother Jones](http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/06/mitt-romney-history-problem) It was [around](http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1012/82643.html)on Twitter in March. Obviously Obama using it took it a whole other level. Amazing how quickly these memes move around in the age of Twitter. I think it became a world trending topic within an hour of his speech. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romnesia/638285/19 "2012-10-20T06:09:20Z")
I don’t think it’s cheap. I just don’t care. It’s neither offensive nor effective, but if it serves to buck up his and his campaign’s spirits in the final days, more power to him. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romnesia/638285/20 "2012-10-20T11:29:47Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > I don’t think it’s cheap. I just don’t care. It’s neither offensive nor effective, but if it serves to buck up his and his campaign’s spirits in the final days, more power to him. You care, or you wouldn’t bother trying to be a brave little soldier about it. On a pundit show last night, one of the people talking referred to Limbaugh as an “FTD”, a Fox Transmitted Disease. I also found that one somewhat amusing, but I would suspect that you believe him to be an oracle of truth. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romnesia/638285.md?page=2)