Today in BadMitten

To quote the late, great Ann Richards on W: “Poor Mitt. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth.”

How many of you think Mitt could make it through one day on the money a “very poor” family receives each month from the so-called safety net? I bet you $10,000 he couldn’t do it.

@Mistress Cynica: What is that, like $400 a month? Let’s see, the mortgage on my very modest house, miles from downtown Seattle is $1200 a month… Oh.

I find it ironic that he’s so concerned when it was folks like him advocating/legislating/lobbying for the very policies (and working for the firms like Bane) that put many of those middle class (and very poor) people into the very abyss they’re looking at now.

That Mitt is a candidate at all is a testimonial to the fact that money can buy power and influence. Apart from his skills at acquiring other people’s money via sophisticated business scams, he has little native intelligence that I can see. In fact, at times he makes Dubya seem clever. So do I want him in the White House? Not unless he’s delivering a pizza there.

@gunnergoz: And following up on a point Rachel made last night: Has anybody asked Mitt the Teddy Kennedy Question? “Why are you running for President?”

Go ahead. Try to answer it. Seriously. No cheap shots. I can answer for Newt, Frothy, and Dr. Evol, but not Mittens.

@nojo: My only guess is that he wants to show he’s a better man than dear old Dad. I can’t think of another reason for taking a pay cut of that magnitude, not to mention replacing a board of directors with a Congress.

@Dave H:
The last guy with daddy issues in the WH worked out so awesome…

That’s badminton? I thought it was some new type of MMA.

(Time to Google “shuttlecock” — wait, is that the birdie?)

ADD: Why, yes. Yes, it is.

@nojo: when you’re already a prince and can’t become king the only thing left is preznint.

He’s now referring to ‘Democrat’ party? Any day now he’s going to appear with a banjo.

Also: ‘Bad Mitten’? Srsly? Je suis ėtonėe.

@Mistress Cynica: Wouldn’t keep him in hair product and Man Tan for a week.

@Benedick: C’mon now. Until Mozilla put the red squiggly under “badmitton,” yeah. Tu es etourdi.

@Benedick: Seriously, not enough coffee.

@Benedick: I do hope someone is working on the gay porn film of that title right now–a young Mormon missionary in Paris discoveries the true joys of Gay Paree.

@JNOV is like, Peace?: I’m a sucker for silly puns. And the Sephardim.

OK. That’s not really a pun. More what I’d call a quibble.

@Mistress Cynica: With hot Sephardic waiters at famous falafel joint. Finally some humus we can all get behind.

@Benedick: Mmmmmm. Sephardim. I thought Noje was Nordic or whatever.

@Mistress Cynica: Heh.

Thanks for the Ehrenreich info. I enjoyed Nickle and Dimed, but my quibble was that she always could have quit and gone back to life as usual. I don’t think that influenced her writing, but, I dunno, I have a problem with no one listening to the poor. It’s when Doug Masseys, Nancy Dentons, and Barabara Ehrenreichs speak that people listen. I guess what I’m saying is that the poor have no voice, and while I’m glad that many try to speak for them (us), I hate that they (we) are otherwise ignored. It’s a societal issue rather than one created by authors.

I met Massey, and I told him that I appreciated his work, especially because when poor or brown people speak out, many say that we’re just complaining, that so much has changed, that life is sooooo much better now, that the past is the past. But it’s the present. I thanked him. He looked embarrassed. Maybe he was sad.

@JNOV is like, Peace?: I really loved Bright-Sided because I get so sick and tired of being told to be “positive” when things just suck. She appeals to my naturally pessimistic nature. I can understand your quibble with Nickle and Dimed , but as you say, could a truly poor person have been heard, much less published? At least she tried.
Have you ever read Wilkie Collins (Victorian novelist, Dickens pal, author of Woman in White)? He was one of the first English writers to portray the plight of women, their total lack of legal rights. It was a recurring theme–and sometimes main premise–in his novels. No doubt it was galling to feminists of the day, but it did bring attention to the problem, and some property rights were liberalized as a result of his work.

@JNOV is like, Peace?: Italo-Swedo-Wightian.

@nojo: Close enough.

@Mistress Cynica: You are a treasure trove.