About that concession speech ...

A disgusted reader sends his paraphrasing of some cable commentators' election-night praise of the loser's concession speech:

"During the campaign, Mitt Romney lied continually, questioned the President’s 'Americanism', was despicably hollow, tried to win based on never saying anything, was utterly secretive and a 100% flip-flopper (showing no discernible core values), and allowed the party’s crazies to say transparently unpatriotic things about Obama ... but oh that concession speech ... wow ... he’s clearly a wonderful wonderful man!"

That's precisely what was said, and unsaid. And that's a pity. Assorted commentators' gracious remarks unwisely bookended what was the most reprehensible presidential campaign ever conducted--the one in which a major party's nominee habitually and savagely accused a sitting president of the United States of treacherously apologizing for his own, and, once, of sympathizing with an enemy who had just murdered four honorable Americans. Meanwhile, a top surrogate--never rebuked by the nominee--was demanding that this, our most genuinely "exceptional" American president ever, "learn to be an American."

Don't get me wrong. I believe in a generous peace, a la MacArthur versus Japan. But I also believe in enduring abhorrence, as in Eisenhower's 1945 refusal to even attend the surrender ceremony. He righteously detested the savage losers that much.

Comments

[japa21]

I agree with the commentator's dislike for the reaction. And I really feel that the praise was overblown. I specially cringed when Romney talked about the need for honesty.
Yes, it was a load of tripe compared to what went on in the campaign. Yet even Obama's victory speech talked about the hard-fought campaign, not the lie-filled, hatred filled campaign that Romney waged.
Of course, Obama truly believes in the "charity toward all and malice toward none" philosophy.
Yet, as I mentioned in the previous post, Romney's speech is the most honorable thing that has come from the right wing since Obama was declared winner. It was better than I expected from the man.

[Peter G]

In that last moment of his campaign, when he was finally free of any obligation to anyone or anything, and he might have said anything, he said the right thing.

[hector]

i've always found this quote by Augustine timely and wise:

“Hope has two beautiful daughters: their names are anger and courage.

"Anger that things are the way they are. Courage to make them the way they ought to be.”