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<div class="timestamp">September 12, 2012</div>
<h1>Mitt’s Major Meltdown</h1>
<h6 class="byline">By
<span>
<a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/oped/columnists/gailcollins/index.html" rel="author" title="More Articles by GAIL COLLINS"><span>GAIL COLLINS</span></a></span></h6>
<div id="articleBody">
<p>
Mitt Romney broke our deal. </p>
<p>
Perhaps he didn’t know he’d made it, although, really, I thought it was pretty clear. </p>
<p>
He could do anything he wanted during this campaign as long as he sent
out signals that once he got in the White House he was not likely to be
truly crazy. </p>
<p>
We, in return, were going to be able to continue with our normal sleeping patterns through the fall. </p>
<p>
It didn’t seem to be a lot to ask, but when the crisis in the Middle
East flared up, Romney turned out to have no restraining inner core. All
the uneasy feelings you got when he went to London and dissed the
Olympic organizers can now come into full bloom. Feel free to worry
about anything. That he’d declare war on Malta. Lock himself in a
nuclear missile silo and refuse to come out until there’s a tax cut.
Hand the country over to space aliens. </p>
<p>
Here is the Republican candidate for president of the United States on
Wednesday, explaining why he broke into a moment of rising international
tension and denounced the White House as “disgraceful” for a mild
statement made by the American Embassy in Cairo about the importance of
respecting other people’s religions: </p>
<p>
“They clearly — they clearly sent mixed messages to the world. And — and
the statement came from the administration — and the embassy is the
administration — the statement that came from the administration was a —
was a statement which is akin to apology and I think was a — a — a
severe miscalculation.” </p>
<p>
Feel free to reread this when you’re staring at the ceiling at 4 a.m. </p>
<p>
This all began on Sept. 11. There were protests in the Middle East, at
least some of them involving an anti-Islamic movie, “Innocence of
Muslims,” which depicts the Prophet Muhammad as a cowardly, drunken
torturer of children and old women. I did not see any puppies being
dismembered, but then I only watched the 14-minute trailer. </p>
<p>
A man identifying himself as Sam Bacile told The Wall Street Journal
that he made it in California with $5 million from more than 100 donors.
However, nothing Bacile said about himself seemed to hold up in the
light of day. And if he did raise $5 million, those donors need to hire a
lawyer. The trailer looks as though it was made by a 13-year-old boy
with access to a large supply of fake beards. </p>
<p>
The film popped up on YouTube dubbed in Arabic, stirring outrage. In
response, the American Embassy in Cairo said it deplored “the continuing
efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of
Muslims — as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions.”
</p>
<p>
Does that seem all that bad to you, people? It was definitely a film
whose only point was to offend people of the Islamic faith. I would also
call whoever made it not well-guided. </p>
<p>
It isn’t clear how the movie, the protests in Egypt and the murders of
four American diplomats in Libya fit together. That’s the job of
intelligence experts. We’re stuck with the task of evaluating Mitt
Romney, who went for a cheap attack at a time when any calm, mature
adult would have waited and opted for at least a brief show of national
unity. </p>
<p>
The one big advantage to being a boring candidate is that you give the
appearance of calm and stability. But, suddenly, Romney seemed to want
to go for a piquant mélange of dull and hotheaded. </p>
<p>
Virtually nobody seemed to think this was all that great a plan. The
Romney campaign, according to CNN, helpfully passed out suggestions for
supporters who might want to defend Mitt. (When asked whether he was too
quick on the attack, loyalists were supposed to say: “No. It is never
too soon to stand up for American values and interests.”) </p>
<p>
But not all that many other Republicans seemed excited about joining in.
A few social conservatives did unveil a hitherto-unnoticed passion for
the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom to make fun of religion. “It
was disheartening to hear the administration condemn Americans engaging
in free speech that hurt the feelings of Muslims,” said Senator Jim
DeMint. </p>
<p>
And, let’s see, who else. Donald Rumsfeld tweeted support. Party
chairman Reince Priebus chimed in: “Obama sympathizes with attackers in
Egypt. Sad and pathetic.” Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona said the embassy’s
comment “is like the judge telling the woman that got raped, ‘You asked
for it because of the way you dressed.’ That’s the same thing.” </p>
<p>
On this side: Mitt Romney, a totally disgraced former secretary of
defense, a person named Reince Priebus, and a new Republican rape
comment. </p>
<p>
Two months to go and we’re rethinking our presumption that the Republican primary voters picked the most stable option. </p>
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<br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)<br><a href="mailto:art.deco.studios@gmail.com" target="_blank">art.deco.studios@gmail.com</a><br><br><img src="http://users.moscow.com/waf/WP%20Fox%2001.jpg"><br><br>