Newsweek Wimp Cover

In a search to sell copies, Newsweek used a cover to wonder about R-money's wimp factor. I suppose we could go online to Merriam-Webster and see what they have to say about wimp: a weak, cowardly, or ineffectual person A couple things occur to me, no one runs for office without a pretty solid ego - they have the idea that they are the person to represent a sizable group of citizens. Another is that in the process of running, you are going to ask people you don't know to approve of you - to take a look at you and choose you above another. In order to do this, you need to be able to point to success in some endeavor, even if it only amounts to making more sense than your opponent. I'm sorry, Newsweek, wimp is the wrong word for any political candidate - even one I loath as much as R-money. If Newsweek had chosen nouns like "liar" or "panderer" I might go right along. This is the behavior of the "deal-maker." It is all about getting the deal done, not about what is objectively true. You don't really imagine that R-money went to banks as he loaded up companies with debt and told them, "we're gonna loot this outfit and leave you and the Fed holding the bag for it." Nope, they told banks they were all about turning a profit. (whose profit?) Now they sure couldn't get a bank to go along with loans if all they did was to leave banks holding the bag - it just didn't matter to them. This is how you get R-money directly contradicting virtually every position he's ever held. This is how you get R-money using video clips that are directly in opposition to what the entire clip says as an opposition ad. It doesn't matter that it is a lie, it matters that it panders to a deluded group that will vote for you. When it gets tough, because you've pandered to two groups that don't see eye to eye, you simply deny doing it to the less important one - even if you have to turn around the next day and deny it to them. It doesn't matter because the deal needs to be done. (deal = I'm President) If you live by the deal, you essentially become a sociopath. Morality or ethics is beside the point of the deal. Where the absolute edge of the letter of the law is matters - so you can stay out of jail and still do deals. If you have enough R-money you can pay good lawyers to keep you on the crumbling edge. If you have enough R-money you can pay accountants to keep you right on that raggedy edge with taxes, you sure don't want to show the rubes how it's done, that's R-money magic, not to be spoiled by showing what's behind the curtain. R-money's problem at this juncture is that a whole bunch of people in the deal think he stinks and that bunch isn't going to change their minds no matter what gymnastics he performs (or dressage if you prefer). You can just bet that a whole bunch of people in the Bain acquisitions knew they were going to get hosed - they just didn't have the R-money or influence to affect the outcome. This time around R-money is banking on that being the case, but he's up against some pretty savvy players with some good financing of their own. This means the lies and panders have to get a lot bigger than you could get away with in the legal structure of the deal where law enforcement (lax as it is) could get involved. Keep in mind, lying is protected political speech. That doesn't mean that even in the sociopath's milieu of the R-money deal that R-money has a lot of practice at whoppers this size and it keeps getting him into trouble. (there is also the little detail that in that sociopath R-money world of his there were his kind to be pandered to and "you people" who were simply told how it was going to be.) The wimp thing is mistaking Limbaughism for courage and conviction and being effectual. It uses a GOP delusion that talking big replaces thinking and acting big. R-money has all the charisma of a dog turd and sounds stupid when he tries to hard-ass and worse when he whines but that is neither cowardice or weakness. As for being ineffectual, the guy buried his Primary opponents - it may have been the Clown Posse, but he flat out destroyed them. Yes, he R-money bombed them. Money is a tool, also, and he wielded it effectively. As for effectual against Obama, that remains to be seen come election day, but I will flat out guarantee he gets at least 45% of the vote and that ain't cottage cheese. It isn't a good idea to bet against the abject stupidity of a majority of the electorate, but R-money does have to bet on it, a different thing. He's packed his economic and foreign policy teams with BushCo operatives and yet Bush/Cheney get to stay away from the Convention. The big bully from NJ gets a big speaking role because he is a bully but he'll stay on script and the Snowbilly from AK gets to stay away because even though she'll speak to the heart of the faithful she's a loose cannon and yes, those faithful would choke on NJ's actual politics.

Maybe this country has degenerated to a point where The Deal, with its attendant lying and pandering is all that matters.  I don't know, it's a tough bet when you consider what led up to the '07-8 crash, horrid recovery, and the behavior of those who won out of that Deal.  People may remember the bill of goods they were sold in the process of that Deal.