What Mitt said, and What He Should Have Said

Recently, ex-Massachusetts Governor and my fellow Mormon Mitt Romney addressed the Conservative Political Action Committee. He told them:

"In a world where others have lost their liberty by trading it away for the false promises of the state, we choose to hold to our founding principles..."

That sounds good, if only he had followed it up with something like this:

"Therefore, we renounce oppressive measures such as the USA PATRIOT Act, which is tyranny masquerading as security. We reject the siren call of some who would trade-off the rule of law for fleeting tactical gains in the fight against terrorism. We recognize the rule of law as the bedrock principle of liberty; that adherence to justice--to every person being treated honorably and fairly, receiving his due whether or not we like him--is the most important constitutional value we defend."

But alas, all he was talking about was the usual neo-liberal baloney--the magic of the marketplace. If only Brother Mitt still sounded like he did as Governor of Massachusetts--a moderate, reasonable man of conviction. But no, to appease the Mike Huckabees of the Republican Party, Mitt sold out the moderation that made him attractive to people who might actually vote for him, which the Huckabees never will do.

Now, Mitt is the Chairman of Bain Capital Group, a private equity firm. Of course he loves no-net capitalism, it has made him immensely wealthy and powerful. It did the same for Alan Stanford and Bernie Madoff. He's never going to like economic regulation, any more than I like plutocracy. One doesn't expect him to abandon the Old Whig line that "those who would trade [economic] security for [laissez-faire] liberty, will end up with neither." (It comes from Edward Gibbon, not Franklin, by the way. Franklin was plagiarising.)

What would be nice is to hear a so-called conservative of the 21st Century recognize that the Constitution is worth more than lip service. All of it. "Promoting the general welfare" in addition to "providing for the common defense." And that as that greatest of American conservatives, Abraham Lincoln, put it, we are a country dedicated to the rule of laws, not men. Sorry, Mitt: I can't support a person who doesn't see this, LDS or not.