Quibbling with Romney

Three quick hits on everyone's favorite current Massachusetts governor:

• Last night's state-of-the-commonwealth address was, of course, positioning himself for a POTUS run.
• As that of most conservative's, Cap'n Brylcreem's education stand has been to suck fund from major cities and help maintain a two-tier (rich-and-white v. poor-and-diverse) school system.
• He was utterly cowardly and sleazy about same-sex marriage.

Prez Would Be

The Cap'n put up the résumé on which he will run — major economic accomplishments, major health and education programs, and traditional values.

He wasn't here or involved enough to take the blame or credit for economic changes. His education program is too damned late and he hasn't done the groundwork to make it meaningful. More important, his policies, particularly local aid, leeches 10 dollars from Boston for every one they return. Meanwhile, Beantown and other large cities have the burdens of overcrowded schools, many is disrepair, of being the staging grounds for immigrants and of teaching to kids from homes without the resources of educated parents, free time, computers and books. Fundamentally, the Bostons of Massachusetts fund the ease of the Belmonts and Westons.

Marriage, Who Me?

Our fleeing Cap'n tried, pretty lamely, to distance himself again from same-sex marriage. Tucked unobtrusively in his education prattle was:

Teachers can't do the job alone. Teachers need and deserve the support of involved parents and that will only happen if we take action.

Experience shows that kids have a far better chance of succeeding if they have a mother and a father at home. Of course, divorce or death means that there will always be many, many single parents; these single parents often make huge sacrifices and their kids can indeed succeed. But let's do everything we can to encourage our kids to have their kids after they've married, not while they're single and in school.

We have sex education in our schools. Let's also have abstinence education in our schools. Marriage and two parent families are fundamental to the development of children and to our success as a culture. We cannot afford to shrink from the timeless, priceless principles of human experience.

So, in one unspecific brushstroke, he got to:

1. Imply, but not state, that he was a DoMA guy "far better chance of succeeding if they have a mother and a father at home."
2. Confirm that he is really for the kids, while being really Christian, "Marriage and two-parent families are fundamental to the development of children and to the success of a culture."

So, the setup is to claim that he was always against gay marriage. Watch for that.

Of course, the reality was that years to deal with the issues related to SSM/civil union or something. He sat on his pointy butt instead.

Now he is suddenly for families and stability and all those things that help kids. How odd that he did nothing before now.