Don’t Glorify Mitt Romney

Tuesday, September 19, 2023

Left this as a comment on SubStack on a post that glorified Mitt Romney. God I hate that app.

I don’t know. He’s certainly no hero. Let’s not forget his party’s idea of democracy is deeply flawed in the first place. The policies and legislation and rules he helped put into place are all part of what got us into this mess. He and his buddies created this monster, fed it steak for dinner every night, and now (and only just now) think they can just walk away from it and suddenly they’re principled, upstanding freedom fighters?

No.

No.

He made this. His friends made this. The Republican Party made this. Decades of voter suppression and intimidation, decades of intolerance and bigotry disguised as policy, decades of inaction when it was needed, and decades of overreacting and overreaching when it wasn’t needed. Decades of corruption, power grabbing, gerrymandering, Christian supremacy, climate crisis denial, sexism, homophobia, racism—all of it just enough under the radar, and everyone whipped up just enough by the culture wars they created and perpetuated, that they’ve gotten away with it, and continue to as we just saw in Texas.

Mitt Romney may be walking away from politics, and good riddance, but he will always be a politician, and he will always be on the wrong side of what’s right.

Mitt Romney is no hero, just like Liz Cheney. They made this bed, and while the rest of us have to lie it they have the white privilege to wash their hands of it and appear like they’re so moral and patriotic. They and the people like them have done more harm to this country than I sometimes think we’ll ever be able to undo.

Don’t glorify Mitt Romney. And be VERY careful asking someone like him to stand proudly next to you as you welcome him into your life to “fight for democracy.” He may have shed a layer of skin, but he’s still a snake through and through.