Day: April 25, 2012

The Clashing Value Systems Of Mitt Romney And Barack Obama

Ronald 1 Comment

Last night, after proclaiming victory in five Middle Atlantic and New England state primaries, Mitt Romney declared that a person’s success in the business world, as he has had, should be respected, but also applauded as something to admire and praise.

This is Mitt Romney’s whole life, the acquisition of wealth for its own sake, no matter how it is gained, and it has shaped Romney’s value system of what is important in one’s life, economic success. And he wants us to tell him how impressed we are with his gaining of wealth!

Barack Obama, on the other hand, did not know what wealth was until he made money from books he wrote, an intellectual challenge not connected with the business world. He was a community organizer in Chicago, helping poor people in unpleasant urban environments to cope with a difficult world, and used his intellectual nature to be an adjunct professor of constitutional law at the University of Chicago. Along the way, he and his wife Michele borrowed money on student loans to make it through college and law school, and held comparatively low paying jobs where he was helping others, and educating others. And then he ran for public office with a commitment to the advancement of others.

One has devoted his life to profits and being admired and applauded for materialism, which he loves to brag about, while the other devoted his life to service to others, concern about others, struggling to pay off student loans, and wishing to make a difference to the masses of people who are not born to wealth, or become wealthy.

These different value systems and mind sets are the crux of the election that is coming up in November!

What kind of President do we want? A President interested in his own constant acquisition of wealth and constant glorification of his accomplishments and success? Or a President who wishes to leave a legacy of making life better for those less fortunate, those who are the backbone of what America is all about, the every day citizen who just wants to have a better life and a sense of security for his children and for his or her old age?

This is a battle for the soul of America in 2012, a crucial turning point in American history!

The Urgency Of Mitt Romney To Be Transparent About His Life

Ronald Leave a comment

When a person decides to run for President, he opens himself up to the American people, and we have a right to know as much as we can about his background , his history, his beliefs, and his agenda.

Of course, no one is tied down to what he says his agenda is, as circumstances and events will shape a lot of what occurs during his administration, if he is elected President.

But being honest, frank, transparent, is always the better way, as we value someone who comes across as not secretive, not deceptive, not manipulative.

Sadly, Mitt Romney, the presumptive GOP nominee for President, particularly after victories in New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, now needs to prove that he is not secretive, deceptive and manipulative, the impressions he has left in the battle for the nomination over the past year.

Therefore, if he wants us to take him seriously, and decide if he deserves to be President, he must come forward with information in precise terms about the following:

Romney needs to tell us about his Mormon faith, how he views it, what he thinks of its shortcomings and the criticisms made of it, as many wonder about a religion often considered a cult. We have a right to know how much his faith will govern his decision making and his world view.

Romney needs to reveal his investments, if any, based on reports, that he has in the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas, Monaco, or Swiss banks, and why he chose to invest there, rather than in US banking institutions.

Romney needs to explain his family history, and the truth about his father, instead of claiming how poor his dad, George Romney, was, and how Mitt pulled himself up all on his own without any help from family, a story that is seen as a myth. He needs to stop denying his heritage and his wealth and advantages inherited from being the son of the chairman of American Motors and the Governor of Michigan in the 1960s.

Romney also needs to tell us what his agenda is on foreign policy, how he plans to relate to the outside world. And he needs to tell us what kind of Supreme Court appointments he would wish to make, and how he sees the law and the Constitution, in specific details. And he needs to stop evasion as a tactic, as he will be confronted with it during the campaign by media investigation, and certainly by President Obama in the three televised debates. We have a right to know if he wished to govern as a moderate or a conservative.

Since he insisted that Obama should be forthcoming on his plans after the election, he must be willing to do the same, and be totally transparent in all regards, something he has not done so far.

If he is not transparent, then he will lose the election. If he is transparent, and we find the information unacceptable, then he will lose. But better to lose on transparency than the lack of it. To have an image of being honest, frank, and transparent, is always preferred, and a good character lesson for the nation at large!