by Benjamin T. Moore, Jr.

psy·cho·sis  (s-kss)
n. pl. psy·cho·ses (-sz)
A severe mental disorder, with or without organic damage, characterized by derangement of personality and loss of contact with reality and causing deterioration of normal social functioning.

Psychosis – A Peek into the mind of Mitt Romney

The more you see of Mitt Romney, the more apparent it becomes that something is just not quite right. At first I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. He presents a very polished package. Someone called him, “the Presidential candidate from central casting.” If you were shooting a movie that called for someone to play the role of the President, if Mitt Romney showed up at the auditions, he’d be a “shoe in.” Perhaps that’s just it! It’s as if he’s playing a role. What are his positions? Depends on the script of the day.

A “layman’s” definition of psychosis is that state of being when your subjective reality does not align with objective reality. We sort of define objective reality as what you bump into while walking around with your eyes closed. Subjective reality is often defined by how you process objective reality in your mind. For instance, someone who is anorexic looks in their mirror and sees an obese person looking back at them… even though they only weigh 95 pounds. That is a rather obvious psychosis.

Some psychoses are not nearly so obvious. To be sure, the mental health field delineates and categorizes them based on various other headings related to treatment methodologies, how they manifest and a host of other areas beyond the scope of this discussion. Our working definition will focus on that schism between objective and subjective reality.

What do we really know about Mitt Romney? Actually precious little. Except for the broad overview of his life, there are only two records we can be fairly certain of. We have an idea of what he did at Bain Capital and we have a record from his time as Governor of the State of Massachusetts. The rest is anecdotal as supplied by Mitt. Unfortunately, it has become apparent that Mitt and the “truth” may not even be passing acquaintances.

We really know more about his father, George Romney’s history than we do Mitt’s. We know he was given a million dollars at his birth by his father. I’ve also heard it was 100 million. We know he sat out the Vietnam war in France supposedly doing “missionary work” for the Mormon Church. We know he fully supported the Vietnam war going so far as to participate in counter protests. We know he holds a law degree and an MBA from Harvard. We know he is a “Bishop” in the Mormon Church. These are things we know… or think we know.

The reality is, what we have is a broad overview of Mitt Romney. It is much like reading the blurb on the back of the dust jacket of a book. Far too often, the synopsis on the back of the book exceeds the content contained between its covers. When it comes to someone running for the office of President, we need, demand a good deal more information. Given the number of people Mitt would have to of interacted with over his personal and professional life and careers, it has not escaped my notice that there are precious few people who have deigned to offer commentary on their experiences with Mitt, either growing up, in school or in business.

The most notable account we have of “Mitt the early years,” involves an act of viciousness which stretches the very definition of bullying. The incident concerns a young man at a boarding school Mitt was attending. This young man wore his hair in a manner Mitt found objectionable. Though unsaid, the flavor of incident implied that this youth may have been Gay. In any event, Mitt gathered a group of his friends, ran this kid down and forcibly cut his hair. 

Although this incident occurred in his youth, it does give insight into his character. By the time you reach high school, your sense of right and wrong should be thoroughly developed. This pattern of preying on the weak would manifest time and again, later in his life. Indeed this philosophy became the business model for Bain Capital.

From what we’ve been told and what we can reasonably deduce Mitt enjoyed a life of privilege. Money, status and power were his by birthright. He enjoyed the best that money and power could afford. As the result of this it is apparent that he developed a sense of entitlement. In particular there was the world he lived in, the circles he moved in and then there was the rest of the world.

Consider his counter-protest in favor of the Vietnam war. Nobody in Mitt’s family as far as we know, ever served in the military. Mitt had no intention of going to Vietnam himself. Everyday the news showed the bodies of service men being returned home. There were people who had been to Vietnam, returning with  missing arms and legs. Yet with the body count rising on a daily basis, Mitt Romney who could easily have volunteered, was taking issue with those students who were against the needless carnage of the Vietnam war.

In essence, Mitt was all for others sacrificing and dying for the Country, but not so much that he would risk his own life serving. When asked about this, I believe his statement was words to the effect, that he had more important things to do. There were a lot of young people who had more important things to do. However, they lacked the money, power and connections to avoid the draft by hanging out in France. Most people would have had that inner voice telling them, in a matter of life and death, such as war is, that the least you could do is remain silent.

Clearly to Mitt, the war was something to be fought and died in by those lessor than he. Privileged people such as himself, were above sacrificing and risking their lives. Only someone suffering from psychosis could compartmentalize the realities of the Vietnam war such that they could support the war, while refusing to participate in it. Personally, I find the insight this yields into Mitt’s character extremely disturbing. Empathy is extremely important for healthy human interactions. The inability to place one’s self in the shoes of another is a symptom if not the definition of a sociopath. Serial killers are sociopaths. They are incapable of being moved by the pain and suffering of others.

Connecting the dots

It might be easy to dismiss these types of events as isolated instances of bad judgement… but they keep occurring. You can draw a straight line from his bullying, to his view – paraphrasing – that war is great for the peasant class, but not for him, to the business model of Bain Capitol, to his comments about the “47%.” Even strapping the family dog to the roof of his car is evidence of a lack of empathy. When you cannot understand how others – even creatures – feel, your only true concern is what is best for you. Your focus becomes your own convenience. I submit, people who exist in this state are dangerous to be around. They are incapable of feeling responsibility for the welfare of others.

Mitt’s ability to lie at the drop of a hat is further symptomatic of this type of pathology. My suspicions are, he could easily pass any polygraph test because he has no compunction against lying. These are not the 1950’s. Not only are most interviews by public officials video recorded, they’ve got this thing known as “YouTube.” You could spend a day watching Mitt debate himself. When it was politically expedient to be “Pro-Choice,” Mitt told a heart wrenching story about his sister-in-law who had died because of a botched, back-alley abortion. Had abortions been legal, she might still be alive today. Of course now that it is no longer politically expedient for him to be “Pro-Choice,” he’s now all for the overturning of “Rowe v. Wade” and promises to appoint Supreme Court justices who would.

The very subject of abortion evokes an extremely visceral reaction in those who oppose it. It’s not like waking up one day and deciding you like chocolate ice cream instead of vanilla. People have been murdered over this issue. The fact that Mitt can so easily change his position indicates not only a lack of character, but the inability to empathize with either side. He has no dog in the fight so – as Jon Huntsman so aptly put it – “like a well lubed weathervane,” Mitt switches according to the direction of the wind wherever he happens to be.

Of water heaters, ironing boards and tuna fish

Most of the outrageous things that have come out about Mitt Romney and his family have not been the result of investigative journalist going through their trash or putting them under surveillance. Most of it has come directly from Mitt or Ann Romney in interviews. The story about the dog strapped to the roof, that was from Mitt recounting a story he thought would be funny. I believe he foresaw our reaction going a different way. Anyone who loves animals simply cringed in horror and were dumbfounded with amazement that:

1. He did it in the first place.
2. He thought it was funny.
3. He would actually tell anyone about it.

In her efforts to kick their “common folk credentials,” Ann Romney spun some incredible – dare I say ridiculous – tales as well. “Rule of Thumb,” trying to sound like you’ve experienced “hard times,” is extremely offensive to those who actually have. When you’re married to a man who was born with millions of dollars, if you really want to try and pull off a “hard times” story? You’ll do much better going back into your own life before you met your husband.

I simply shook my head when Ann recounted her and Mitt having to rough it in one of their son’s unfinished basements. The story of eating tuna fish, using the ironing board as a table and using a door stretched across two saw horses for a desk… even that didn’t work. Why? Poor people have no use for desks! As I listened to her further efforts to humanize Mitt by relating a story to show how “cheap” – her words – he was, immediately I saw the similarities with the movie, “The Coneheads.” These people simply had no clue how normal people live, thus they were making things up out of thin air!

When Ann Romney recounted how Mitt would turn off the water heater each time they left home – she didn’t mention they were going to one of their other homes – I said to myself, who on earth does that? Really getting into the spirit of things, she then related how upon their return they’d have to take cold showers until the water got hot again. Were they on some sort of a forced schedule? From cold water to hot water only takes the average water heater about 45 minutes max. She put the icing on the cake by telling her audience that “Mitt said that a cold shower was good for them.”

The therapeutic value of cold water notwithstanding, She really made her husband into kind of an Ass! What type of man, who is worth millions, does these types of things to the people he claims to love? I love my wife and there is no way I’d have her eating tuna fish, like cat food from a can off of an ironing board in an unfinished basement. If Mitt will do these types of things to his own flesh and blood, what wouldn’t he do to you? He claims to love them. He doesn’t even know you. Perhaps this is why he found it so easy to destroy perfectly good companies, break them apart, send jobs overseas, rape the pension funds and fire the workers?

He as much as said the same to Jim Lehrer the night of the debate. Flippantly and with his famous smirk on his face, he told Jim that if he were elected, he and “Big Bird” would be looking for work. No thought about the actual human consequences. Rather than even consider raising the taxes on millionaires and billionaires, like the bully he is at heart, he goes after whomever he perceives to be weak and or vulnerable. Wall Street? Leave them alone. Sesame Street? Gut ’em! The Public Broadcasting Corporation hasn’t caused one family to lose their retirement or get their home foreclosed on. Wall Street on the other hand damn near brought the World to it’s knees. Good looking out Mitt!

Mitt and the Brown people

Because Mitt has truly been like a “well lubed weathervane,” taking his word on some position he is claiming at the time, doesn’t really seem prudent. We’ve pretty much established that he will say and do anything to achieve his ends. Thus, oft times we find more truth in studying the forces and institutions that contributed to shaping whom he has become.

Central to Mitt’s narrative has been his Mormon faith. The problem is, when you look at the teachings of Mormonism you begin to understand why a Mitt Romney campaign rally simply does not look like the America most of us are familiar with. Mitt is surrounded by a sea of white faces. Yes, recently they’ve grabbed some Black and Brown people from somewhere and tried to position them in such away they’d be seen in the background pictures, the truth is, it’s all a set up fake. I saw one Romney rally where the hired minority didn’t even stay for the entire rally. He was standing over Mitt’s shoulder one minute and gone the next! Just long enough for a couple of photographs.

The fact that Mitt has no clue about minorities was further evidenced by him appearing in “Brown Face” on Univision. Really Mitt? You think the only thing we care about is who’s skin tone is similar to ours? Indeed this is a classic case of projection and says so much about the psyche of racist white people. For them, skin color is all they see. Thus, they – Mitt – simply assumed that Brown people would respond similarly. “Wait until they get a load of me!” “A little touch of spray on tan, and I’ll have them eating out of the palm of my hand!” As it turns out, not so much.

The problem stems from the teachings of the Mormon Church. According to Church teachings, Black and Brown skin is the result of a curse from God. If you were raised from an early age believing this, how might such a belief affect your opinions and shape your dealings with people you were taught to believe were cursed? The following short video presentation lays these teachings out.

Banned Mormon Cartoon

Yes, I know Mitt recounted his reaction to hearing about his Church’s change of position regarding Black people. How he wept to the extent he had to pull over. I suppose it is equally fair to wonder, was he weeping for joy or weeping in dismay? Given his proclivity for coming down on both sides of every issue, we may never know.

The problem with lying is, when you lie, you are really attempting to push a fabricated false reality off onto someone else. This actually requires some effort. You must remember the details and maintain the façade in order to sell it. The more lies you tell, the more this pressure mounts. At the rate and levels Mitt has been lying, the pressure is starting to show. Watch his eyes and watch his head movements.

What is Ann Romney trying to tell us?

“My biggest concern should Mitt be elected, is for his mental well being.”

In an interview given to KTVN in Reno Nevada on 27 September 2012, Ann Romney made this startling admission. What a peculiar thing to say. She’s not worried about the physical strain of the job. She’s worried about whether or not he could take the mental strain. Think about this for a moment. Ann Romney knows Mitt Romney better than anyone currently living on this planet.

Given our rather bloody and violent history, one might think most women would be concerned for their husband’s physical safety. “I hope the Secret Service are as good as they say they are.” This would have been an expected response. Even something like, “my biggest concern would be that his policies take affect as soon as possible so we can turn this country around.” Even though I’m rather fond of the direction we’re heading, that response would have been a politically cogent response. But no, “speaking off the cuff” – aka from her heart – the very first worry she expresses is for her husband’s mental health. Hell! Now I’m concerned… even more than I already was!

We know the office of President of these United States is possibly the most intense, complicated and stressful job on this planet. All one need do is look at how our Presidents age before our very eyes. Chris Christie need not apply. He’d drop dead of a heart attack or a stroke within 6 months.

Why is the President’s mental health so important? Along with all the daily stress of domestic and foreign events, at all times next to the President is a uniformed military officer carrying a black satchel. In this satchel is the power to alter the face of this planet or destroy it. I’m talking about the “nuclear football.” This is one of the things that brings a new President down to earth. It is a cold, hard and terrifying reality. Wherever he – or possibly she – goes, like a black shadow it follows them. Even when you see the President and First Lady out enjoying a romantic dinner, just out of camera range is a military officer standing nearby holding the fate of the world in his hands. It is an ever present and constant reminder of the seriousness of the job.

If Ann Romney is concerned, we should be too. The office of the Presidency of these United States is not some trophy you feel you’re owed. It is not the icing on the cake for an over padded résumé. You hold in your hands, not only the lives of every American, but the billions of lives around the globe. It would be nice to know that the person holding those lives, was a person who actually gave a damn! More importantly, it would be nice to know that their mental health was not in question and that their word actually meant something.