Many people have had that boss; you know, the one hired because of pedigree and promoted not for managerial skills, but for his or her ability to make the company money. Almost inherent with that sort of boss is a sense of entitlement, arrogance and a talent for treating those below as subhuman. He or she is often so lacking in social skills that even the company’s management simply tolerates him or her. Fortunately, not all managers are like that, but I would venture that most of us have met at least one in our lifetimes. Mitt Romney seems to be that sort of employer and nowhere is it more evident than on the campaign trail, where insults roll off his tongue so swiftly and easily that we are to believe that he’s never had the need to install the filter that keeps most of us from being pummeled by our classmates, coworkers and neighbors; that his pedigree and talent for making money have pushed him so far through life that he’s never been called on the fact that his behavior is impolite, inappropriate and frankly, that he’s a dick. If he has been called on it, it’s clear that he’s deemed social skills as unnecessary to his path for success and clearly, he’s right, at least until now.

Last week, Romney was infamously caught on tape saying what Republicans have said all along, only he said it a bit too bluntly, behind closed doors and in front of a crowd of very rich people. His claim? Nearly half the electorate are lazy moochers. I’m honestly not sure why his words took so many people by surprise. The 47% meme has been going on for a long time, at least since the start of Occupy Wall Street. The basis for the entire Republican philosophy comes from the fairy tale that both success and failure are entirely the responsibility of the individual, hence if you are poor, it’s your fault.

Of course, the smallest amount of digging revealed that the 47% who pay no federal income taxes (but still pay other taxes) are soldiers, veterans, senior citizens, single mothers, disabled people, etc. They are also overwhelmingly residents of red states – Romney’s base. A bit more digging would show that the average American pays a far greater percentage of his or her income to taxes (including payroll taxes) than does Mitt Romney.

At that same “47%” event, he insulted both African-Americans and Latinos. Then, he appeared to paint his face brown to appear on the Hispanic television network, Univision.

Romney’s insults range from big to small, like telling a baker that her cookies looked like they came from 7-11. Here’s the video:

Romney insulted Great Britain by saying they were unprepared for the Olympics (which went off without an apparent hitch). Then he insulted Israel, then Palestine. It’s a good thing Romney and Israel’s war-mongering Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, are old buddies. He called Russia our number one enemy, a comment that pleased their President Vladimir Putin. He regularly attacks China, the holder of much of our debt and a country to which he oversaw the outsourcing for many of his Bain Capital jobs.

Most recently, Romney insulted his very own donors. In a Beverly Hills fundraiser, Romney told the $25,000 per ticket crowd that their home state was what the country wanted to strive not to be. From CBS Los Angeles:

“He said that under President Obama we’re becoming a lot more European and that the state of California was something he didn’t want to see the rest of the U.S. look like in a few years,” a pool reporter related.

I might be wrong, but my assumption would be that wealthy California residents are quite happy with the successful environment that their “European” style home state offers.

Handlers were obviously concerned that offensive words would be exchanged at the $6 million event. Comedian Dennis Miller performed but reporters found themselves shut out. I’m sure that it will only be a matter of time before the banning of all reporters, cameras and cell phones from Romney events.

Follow me on my new Facebook page or on Twitter, @wendygittleson

Related posts: