Vitriol Disguised as Values

These thoughts are prompted by an article at americafirstreport.com on how RINO Sen. Mitt Romney states in unveiled terms his vitriol for President Trump. What is more, he is not alone as displayed by Bush and company.

“’With President Trump, it’s a matter of personal character. I draw a line and say when someone has been actually found [well, allegedly, through lies and fake news] to have been sexually assaulting, that’s something I just won’t cross over in the person I would want to have as President of the United States.’ Mitt Romney stressed that he isn’t warming up to Donald Trump."

Mr. Romney, having a considerable career in politics, you would think he should know that no true patriot would put their personal opinion about a candidate, before the will, best interest, and safety of the people. Nobody cares about your personal opinion of Trump or your “line” with regard to personal character. Romney seems to have forgotten “that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” 

The truth is Trump is a threat to the Republican “Romneys” and their political lackeys, and Romney’s criticism on Trump’s character was merely a ruse, an attempt to hide his hate for a man who could not be bought as Romney has been. Introducing “morality” into his job is merely a smoke screen to disguise his cowardice.

Almost a year ago, Romney declared he may support Biden (who was the likely Democrat party candidate at the time), over Trump. It is interesting to note that according to Trump, Romney "begged" for a Secretary of State appointment in 2016, and not receiving the appointment would be a factor in his contempt for Trump.

But don’t take my word for it. Romney’s biography Romney: A Reckoning, “features several moments of harsh Trump criticism from Romney, including his description of the ex-president as ‘really not smart,’" according to a Newsweek article dated published Oct 31, 2023. 

Reading favorable reviews of the book makes it clear; Romney believes himself to be “without sin” compared to Trump. After all, Romney spent decades climbing the ladder of political success, all the way to the top (presidential candidacy), only to lose the election to Obama, and subsequently had any aspirations of a second run stolen by Trump who did not spend decades in Washington brown-nosing and glad-handing his way to the top. Who would not be inclined to dislike such an arrogant upstart?

Seeing that Romney wants to first side with Biden, and second introduce morality as a ruse, let’s do that, let’s start with Jesus' own words. “The [one] sinless among you, let him cast the first stone.” (John 8:7) Sorry Romney, but neither Mormons nor you hold a monopoly on morality.

Whether Romney would admit it or not, his disdain for Trump is a matter of pride (and we know what God does to the proud), to think he is more righteous than Trump in God's eyes. Is Romney saying his self-righteous image is more important than the future of the 345 million-plus according to 2024 numbers, plus the 11 million illegals?

Despite his scarcely suppressed disdain for former President Trump, Romney for all his allegiance to RINO’s, should see that not uniting behind Trump for personal reasons via faux virtue-signaling is tantamount to voting for Harris. Perhaps unbeknownst to Romney, but perhaps not, his hate for Trump, like a cancer, is spreading.

Worse still, according to Jamie White with InfoWars, over 200 alums for neocons George W. Bush, John McCain, and Mitt Romney announced their endorsement of Kamala Harris on Monday, calling another term under former President Donald Trump “untenable.”

The letter from 238 former officials of three previous Republican presidential nominees claims that although they have “disagreements” with the Harris-Walz ticket, a Trump victory would “jeopardize” democracy.

“We reunite today, joined by new George H.W. Bush alumni, to reinforce our 2020 statements and, for the first time, jointly declare that we’re voting for Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz this November,” the letter reads.

By making his vitriol for Trump his main reason for not helping all the RINOs unite behind Trump, Romney is in essence saying, that he is better than Trump as a person, and for him, politics is a moral issue, not a political issue, however, the reality is that the mandate given by God to His Church is not the same as the mandate given to governments. Which is why trying to make political decisions from a moral viewpoint is tricky business.

Published at Harvard.edu, the International Encyclopedia of Ethics, (forthcoming) contains the following argument regarding the mixture of politics and morality, subtitled Political Ethics.

Political Ethics of Process

The central question is the extent to which the ethical principles that govern political office differ from those that govern moral life more generally (Hampshire 1978; Thompson 1987).

To what extent are politicians permitted to take actions that would otherwise be wrong? Ethics requires political leaders to avoid harming the innocent, but it may also obligate them to sacrifice innocent lives for the good of the nation. A President may be morally obligated to order military action even while foreseeing that civilians will be killed.

The ethical problems that public officials confront arise from two general features of public office - its representational and its organizational character.

Officials act for us, and they act with others. Because officials act for us, they assume rights and obligations that ordinary citizens do not have, or do not have to the same degree. For the sake of those for whom officials act, the duties of office may permit and even require officials to use force, lie, keep secrets, and break promises in ways that would be wrong in private life. These and worse violations of our shared moral principles create what is known as “the problem of DIRTY HANDS.”

Romney, with seemingly little to no understanding of the above ethical arguments, used no discretion in his remarks about Trump, glibly pronouncing him guilty of crimes horrifying enough to side with enemies of the state and endorse a candidate whose stated purpose is in effect the dismantling of the same country Romney espouses to serve. 

All that said, thank God that in the final scene of the Romney, McCain, Bush, et al vs. Trump stand-off, Trump will remain standing while Romney will be the one running, tail between his legs, as Romney “announced on Wednesday (Sept. 13, 2023) that he would not seek re-election in 2024, saying he wanted to make way for a ‘new generation of leaders.’” (New York Times) Bush - gone, McCain - gone, Romney - gone, Cheney - gone, and Trump - NOT GONE!

Links for related information.

https://americafirstreport.com/?s=Romney

https://www.infowars.com/posts/200-bush-mccain-romney-alums-endorse-kamala-for-president-slam-trump/

https://www.newsweek.com/mitt-romney-more-likely-support-biden-trump-2024-biographer-1839733

https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/us-population/

https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/dft/files/political_ethics-revised_10-11.pdf

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/13/us/politics/mitt-romney-retirement.html