The JFK Moment That Wasn’t
Romney tries and fails the self-imposed religious test.
Well Mitt Romney finally gave was was long touted as his version of JFK’s infamous speech addressing his own religiosity some 37 years ago. The consensus seems to be that not only did Romney fail to assuage many’s concern over his Mormonism but he made some even more leery but for far different reasons than his religious dogmas. For unlike JFK’s speech in which he made clear that his first responsibility would be to uphold the Constitution, Romney seemed bent on giving winks and nods to the evangelicals who were his true audience.
His long winded but ultimately uninspiring speech also showed how intolerant the man can be (as if that were already evident enough). As someone who does not practice a particular religion but nonetheless values freedom I’d have to agree that Romney’s claim that “Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom” is deeply offensive. And his ignorance of the role that religion played to the founding fathers shows that despite his ability to pose, he really is no Jack Kennedy.
See also Walter Shapiro.
(X-posted at The Xsociate Files)
Comparing Romney to Kennedy is like
comparing a turd to a tiara.