Ann Romney, in a Meet The Press interview — rare for a candidate and their spouse to appear together — took that opportunity and severely damaged her husband’s campaign. Ann Romney suffers from Marie Antoinette syndrome, apparently, and the Romney campaign is ludicrously unaware that when the 63-year old dressage equestrian speaks to the press, she often reveals just how much of a moneyed, out-of-touch one percenter she, and Mitt, truly are.
“And in particular, for Mitt — who really has been demonized in many ways as being heartless and for people to stand up and say, ‘Excuse me. He was there when my son was dying of leukemia. He came to my son’s bedside. He did all of these things for my son.’ And then another woman saying how Mitt was there for her. So there’s hundreds of those stories that haven’t been told,†she told NBC’s David Gregory, according to a report in The Hill.
Mitt Romney has been “demonized”? Really? Ann Romney has no understanding of the word — exposing her lack of empathy all the more.
Barack Obama has been called a socialist, a communist, a Marxist, a Kenyan, a foreigner, a Muslim, a nigger, the magic negro, a dictator, a Manchurian Candidate, a racist, a homosexual, married to a man, anti-capitalism, Hitler, Stalin, tied to Murderous Communist Terrorists, treasonous, a backer of global currency, a dope dealer, an Islamic terrorist, the most anti-religious president in history, “a Muslim president who hates farming, hates the military, hates the U.S.,” and much, much more. (Note: while all of these accusations are untrue, not all of them are bad, although their sources believe they are.)
Then there’s this:
Obama is surrounded by marxists, communists, progressives, socialists, radicals, anti-capitalists, terrorist bombers, corrupt unions, communist organizations, criminal organizations, murderers, cop-killers, and people that associate with Communist Cuba and Cuban spy rings. This is significant since Russia has been a long-time funder and partner of Cuba, and both have been long-time enemies of America.
By comparison, Mitt Romney has been accused of being robotic, storing money in foreign countries, liking to fire people, race-baiting, making a birther joke, violating music copyright laws at campaign events, wanting to end Medicare, not acknowledging the troops or that we’re at war in his RNC address, and not paying taxes. (Most if not all of those accusations are true, by the way.)
Ann says Mitt “has been demonized in many ways as being heartless,” and uses the example of him visiting a dying leukemia patient.
Ann neglects to connect the dots that Mitt may have visited a dying leukemia patient, but President Obama has worked to ensure that dying leukemia patients, people with pre-existing conditions, and practically all Americans can get the healthcare they need by making it more accessible and affordable, eliminating lifetime caps and pre-existing condition denials.
Mrs. Romney also told David Gregory on Meet The Press:
Well, I think the thing that I want to communicate to people, and that it’s so important that people understand, is that Mitt and I do recognize that we have not had a financial struggle in our lives. But I want people to believe in their hearts that we know what it is like to struggle. And our struggles have not been financial, but they’ve been with health and with difficulties in different things in life.
One of the things that I, again, like to remind people is that multiple sclerosis has been my teacher,†she added. “It has been at times a cruel teacher, but it has also been a great gift to my life because what it has done, it has taught me to be more compassionate in caring for others that are suffering. And I know people are suffering right now. And for people to think that we don’t have empathy just because we’re not suffering like they’re suffering is ridiculous.
While Ann Romney has had to struggle with breast cancer and MS — two devastating diseases that are no one should have to face in the 21st century — she had the benefit of access to the best healthcare, drugs and treatments — traditional and alternative — and doctors money can buy, something her husband would deny Americans who can’t afford it. Indeed, Ann Romney’s MS treatment regime is just plain inaccessible to the vast majority of those who might need it. While diseases place unimaginable stresses and struggles on anyone who is fighting them, and their family, Ann Romney never had to worry about how to pay for her treatments.
When Americans are literally cutting their prescriptions in half to make them last longer, Ann Romney has never used a pill cutter to save money, or worry about what to buy: medication or food, as far too many Americans do every day. The very Americans who her husband would like to deprive of access to those medications, and government programs that literally help keep them alive.
David Edwards at The Raw Story adds, “in her convention speech, Ann Romney had talked about the tough times after the young couple had gotten married and moved into a ‘basement apartment’.â€
“We walked to class together, shared the housekeeping, ate a lot of pasta and Tuna fish,†she recalled. “Our just was a door propped up on saw horses, our dining room table was a fold down ironing board in the kitchen. But those were the best days.â€
A fact check by The Atlantic‘s Elspeth Reeve determined that Ann Romney’s convention story did not match up with her previous claims.
“Neither one of us had a job, because Mitt had enough of an investment from stock that we could sell off a little at a time,†she had told The Boston Globe when her husband was running for Senate in 2004.
In short, Ann Romney and her husband Mitt no doubt have faced some of the same struggles as many Americans. Illness, a prime example. But their financial ability to shield themselves from the ravages of those diseases has apparently inoculated them from understanding how not being able to afford life saving treatment, drugs, and care impact the rest of America. If it hadn’t, they would be championing Obamacare, food stamps, and TANF.
Just like when Mitt Romney suggested those who want to attend college or start a business should merely ask their parents for money, Ann’s claims of unfair demonization peel back the very real layer of isolation and the alternate universe she and her husband are living in.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640
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Editor’s note: A previous version of this article stated the Romneys’ appearance was the first MTP interview in which spouses appeared together. While it is rare, it is not historic.