Over the last week or so, you may have heard a few progressive friends and/or commentators say something like “I almost feel sorry for Romney” as a result of his epic meltdown. We can do no better than to refer them to New York Magazine, where Jonathan Chait has an aptly-titled piece, “The Poetic Justice of Romney’s Self-Immolation,” which should provide some relief for bouts of unwarranted sympathy for the GOP nominee. Here’s an excerpt, but do read the whole post:
…If the 47 percent comments do finish Romney off, as now appears likely, it will be eminently fair….There is a poetic justice in the substance of Romney’s self-immolation. This is not a random gaffe, a joke gone bad, or even a terrible brain freeze. It is Romney exposed for espousing a worldview that is at the heart of his party’s mania. The idea he summed up at that fund-raiser was a combination of right-wing fever dreams I’ve been analyzing since Obama took office — the Ayn Randism, the fact-free class warfare, the frantic rage at a changing America. The Republican Party is going down because its candidate was seen advocating exactly the beliefs that make the party so dangerous and repellant.
Compassion for one’s adversaries is occasionally appropriate. Considering Romney’s and the GOP’s shameless and total cave to the tea party and fat-cat agendas, this would not be one of those times.