Romney - the problem is that you can't open airplane windows

[Gyrate]

@Simplicio

There are a couple of subtle clues in the video that the context might be Boston’s St Pattys day breakfast.

Well yes, but when? During his governorship? Anyhoo, it was just a passing gag, not a substantive critique of the man.

[BigAppleBucky]

@littlespeedysuperbike

Hmm… Seems Gov. Romney’s not familiar with the concept of a “venturi”.

This means that he wouldn’t be able to answer the question “How does a carburetor work?” either.

Fortunately, this isn’t knowledge necessary to be President.

I wonder, though, if he’d get painted as out of touch and unable to deal with surprises if he were asked “How do you change a flat tire?” during a debate or interview.

(Set down safety triangle behind the car, unpack trunk, take out jack and wrench, loosen lugs till fingertight on the wheel that’s flat, jack the car up, remove lugs, remove wheel, jack the car to where the spare will fit on, slide the spare onto the hub, crank the lugs down a little, lower the car onto the ground, tighten the lugs all the way, put away the jack, flat, and triangle, repack trunk. Bonus points for saying to put the flat under the car so it can’t fall all the way if it comes off the jack. Penalties for not loosening the lugs before jacking up the car, failing to put down the safety triangle.)

I always block the wheel opposite the flat in addition to having the emergency brake on and the car in park or in 1st, if manual.

Bonus points for having a block and a pair of work gloves in your emergency kit. Flats always seem to happen when I’m wearing a suit, never in jeans and a tee shirt.

[Jophiel]

@Marley23

I agree it has no political significance, but it’s still dumb and funny and can (nay, must!) be appreciated on that level.

I don’t even blame him for saying something kinda dumb when he was obviously concerned for his wife in what could have been a very bad situation. It’s not as though he was writing a policy paper on airline safety.

But every dumb thing said now is a day wasted and he can’t afford a single one.

[Uncle_Jocko]

@Rhythmdvl

His policies and convictions are made of the finest weaksauce, distilled for six years in weeping willow casks. But this nitpickery of trying to find things to make him look generically dumb (hur hur, he thinks planes should have windows!) is missing the mark. Yes, he says some actual dumb things, and many of those dumb things reflect on who he is, what he values, and define his political monkeysphere. This, though, is not one of them.

@boytyperanma

This isn’t a campaign breaking issue or anything and if people are deciding who to vote for based on this that would be be rather ridiculous of them. It’s kinda in line with making fun of Obama for misspeaking or not knowing the the national debt number. Only ideologues are going to harp on it.

@Jophiel

But every dumb thing said now is a day wasted and he can’t afford a single one.

Jophiel has it. It’s not so much the comment itself … it’s a silly thing to say, but these things happen … but Romney is running out of time. If he’s going to win, he has to get the news cycle on his side. The quick-on-the-trigger Cairo embassy comments, the 47%, the “we have free health care at the emergency room,” those were all serious policy gaffes that he needs to come back from. Add this goofy comment to the pile, and it’s one more day of the news cycle he can never get back.

[Marley23]

I know this comment got enough publicity that we’re talking about it, but I’m skeptical that Romney lost a news cycle over this. I don’t think they drowned out any major policy comments.

[BigAppleBucky]

@boytyperanma

If it’s a joke it just says something completely different about his character and really makes me wonder what Ann sees in him. A week after he’s filmed saying we can’t put Ann out their too much because people will get tired of her, he’s making jokes about her potentially deadly experience. Guy’s a real hoot.

Mitt Romney: I don't understand why plane windows don't open.

I think Maddow is wrong. He was just joking in robo-mitt fashion.

[pseudotriton_ruber_ruber]

It fits the “Ready–Fire–Aim” meme that has plagued Romney.

If he had said something general, like “I sure hope they keep working on ways to extinguish airline fires more efficiently, because this was a scary event, a fire in a closed space”, no one would be saying anything. It’s the stupidity of offering a solution–MOAR OXYGEN NOW!!!—that would be disastrous that blows this up into something more than it need be.

[AnalogSignal]

@BigAppleBucky

He was just joking in robo-mitt fashion.

This was not a joke. This is a serious issue that a great thinker like Mittens can capitalize on. I expect he will announce two changes:

[ol]
[li]As president, he will fire the FAA. What good are they if they don’t mandate roll down windows in airplanes?[/li][li]Effective immediately, he will strap his wife to the roof of the plane where there is plenty of fresh air. If it worked for his dog’s car trips, it should work for his wife.[/li][/ol]

[Happy_Lendervedder]

@BigAppleBucky

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9j0brl9ZSA

I think Maddow is wrong. He was just joking in robo-mitt fashion.

It would’ve been even better if he ended it with a “Take my wife” joke, in robo-mitt fashion.

Like, “Take my wife…on a jet with windows that roll down…please!”

[TruCelt]

@Jophiel

I don’t even blame him for saying something kinda dumb when he was obviously concerned for his wife in what could have been a very bad situation. It’s not as though he was writing a policy paper on airline safety.

But every dumb thing said now is a day wasted and he can’t afford a single one.

• Must be able to maintain composure, think clearly, and communicate with appropriate gravitas during a crisis.

Seems to me that’s a primary job skill for POTUS.

[drewtwo99]

Definitely a joke, now that I’ve seen the video. Not even a particularly bad gaffe, in my opinion. It was a lot more damning in print, that’s for sure.

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

@littlespeedysuperbike

Hmm… Seems Gov. Romney’s not familiar with the concept of a “venturi”.

…

Fortunately, this isn’t knowledge necessary to be President.

You don’t have to understand what a venturi is to know that opening the window of a pressurized aircraft is a really, really bad thing. You don’t even have to be fully awake.

[Voyager]

@Marley23

I know this comment got enough publicity that we’re talking about it, but I’m skeptical that Romney lost a news cycle over this. I don’t think they drowned out any major policy comments.

Given that the news cycles these days seem to be about the latest Republicans backing off, or the latest group of the public backing away (the Time today reports that Baby Boomers, split evenly Obama-McCain, are now leaning heavily to Obama - about 60% IIRC), news about dumb jokes might be a plus.

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

@Marley23

I know this comment got enough publicity that we’re talking about it, but I’m skeptical that Romney lost a news cycle over this. I don’t think they drowned out any major policy comments.

He’d have to make one first (is “loving America” a policy?)

[Marley23]

I almost said the same thing. The election is still six weeks away but things are really starting to look bleak for Romney. The debates may be his last hope, and in general the debates don’t usually change the complexion of the race. They tend to reinforce what people already think about the candidates.

[ElvisL1ves]

A major gaffe in a debate can make a difference, but who would you rather bet on to make one?

[Acsenray]

@BigAppleBucky

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9j0brl9ZSA

I think Maddow is wrong. He was just joking in robo-mitt fashion.

Yeah, a joke. He clearly was using his “I’m trying to be funny” manner.

[elbows]

That oily, insincere, smuggish, smile that’s always plastered on his face is the problem. If he’s being serious, it means he comes off smug and self satisfied. If he’s trying to be funny, it means no one’s sure he’s not being serious.

The GOP should have held out for a more human guy.

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

Well, Chris Christie is more human, in the most literal sense.

[Zebra]

@EddyTeddyFreddy

Long story short, he played moderate Republican in a state with a long history of honorable MR public servants while running against a weak opponent.

Was he running against John Kerry?