Tagg You're It!!

 

            This morning I was forced out of bed at 6:30 a.m. because of my dogs.  They were done sleeping and naturally assumed that I was too.  Fast forward to 6:45, both have eaten breakfast and are back to sleep in their beds in the living room.  I decide to make the most of this early morning by having a cup of coffee and watching the news on NBC.  During this time, I started to read that day’s issue of the Dallas Morning News (fine I was reading the comics).  Halfway through Dilbert, I overhead a story that almost convinced me to “Irish” up my coffee. 

            Tuesday night was the second Presidential debate between Governor Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama.  Don’t worry, this isn’t about the debate as much as it is about the aftermath.  After the debate, Tagg Romney, Mitt and Anne Romney’s oldest son, commented that he would like “to take a swing” at President Obama for calling his father a liar during the debate.  Tagg and his defenders later claimed that he was joking.  Joking or not, this seems like an overreaction from a nancy schoolboy.  Now that I think about it, both Tagg and his father are prep school graduates. I guess being spoiled and entitled runs in the family.  My mind tends to wander, so let’s get back on track.  Tagg’s reaction is amusing and upsetting for two reasons:

1.       Not once, during the debate, did the President call Mitt Romney a liar. 

There were a few statements made by Romney which the President labeled as not true.  Some people may call this splitting hairs, but there is a difference in saying a statement is not true and calling someone a liar.  This would be like saying there is no difference between a ham sandwich and a pizza because both are made primarily from bread.  Let’s be clear, the President did not call Mitt Romney a liar.  I am calling Mitt Romney a liar.  Lawrence O’Donnell has called Romney a liar. 

Romney stated twice in two weeks before the debate that he would completely defund Planned Parenthood, but at the debate he said that is not true and can we move on?  Romney has been running for President since 2008 and his one consistent policy has been lowering taxes for the wealthy to the tune of a 5 trillion dollar tax cut.  If you watched the debate, it would seem like he never said that, let alone if he has a plan on how to pay for that tax cut.  This is a man who switched his position on abortion, twice, in one week and oddly enough it was before the debate.  In the interest of time and sanity, let’s move on to the second reason.

2.       What Tagg said about the President is disrespectful.

This may not seem like a big deal but it is further evidence of an endemic pattern of disrespect towards this president.  The amount of disrespect that this President has been shown is distasteful and unprecedented. I am a student of history and political history and I have never seen or read of another President being treated this way, either in print or to his face.  Rep. Joe Wilson (R-South Carolina), during the President’s State of the Union address, stood up and screamed, “You lie”!  That had never happened before. Ever.  Can you imagine if you some backwater Congressman had done that to Lyndon Johnson? He would have leapt off the stage and yanked his ears off his head!  What can you expect a South Carolinian to say when some uppity President is addressing him?  Let’s not forget that little runway encounter between the President and Arizona Governor Jan Brewer when she stuck her finger in his face as they were having a conversation about immigration and border security.  Her defense was that she felt threatened by Barack Obama.  Threatened?  The only time I hear the “I felt threatened” defense, is when police officers try to justify shooting unarmed suspects.  Those are only the most public displays of disrespect and there are countless more, including the “Don’t Re-Nig in 2012” bumper stickers.

            Tagg Romney appears to be just like his father, in the sense that he didn’t earn his fortune and accolades through hard work.  Scratch that.  According to Conservatives, he did earn everything he has and he is also a job creator.  That is probably why he felt so disrespected by the way the President was speaking to his father.  Nobody wants to be told that they did not earn something, especially if they really did not.  Tagg is a graduate of Brigham Young University and Harvard Business School (his father is an alumni of both).  At one point he was head of marketing for the LA Dodgers and Reebok, Vice President of a pharmaceutical company, an equity consultant for various companies, and currently is a top campaigner for his father’s presidential run.  Adding insult to injury, years ago his father made him the primary benefactor of a family trust worth 100 million dollars.  I mention his pedigreed resume because it illustrates everything that money can buy; degrees, standing, and prestige.  In Tagg’s case, the one thing money can’t buy is class but I guess that runs in his family and most politicians.