Romney Becomes a Chameleon During 3rd Presidential Debate

There was an old-time radio character named Mr. Chameleon who used various disguises in his work. Mitt Romney must have been a fan of Mr. Chameleon for Romney keeps changing disguises as he campaigns for President.

In the first presidential debate, Romney appeared as Zamboni the Hypnotist who lulled President Obama into a sleepy trance and won the debate. In the second debate, Romney reappeared, this time as the Bullying C.E.O. Susan Milligan of U.S. News comments (10/17/12):

"Romney,mmeanwhile displayed in the second presidential debate the sort of
dismissiveness and aggressiveness developed by someone who's been a CEO . . .
He interrupted the President showing not just a disregard for debate civility,
but a disrespect for the man himself. At one point, when Romney and Obama were in a testy back-and-forth, Romney turned to the leader of the free world and
said, 'You'll get your turn,' as though it were his role, not the moderator's
to monitor the rules."

The Bullying C.E.O. didn't go over very well. Romney lost the second debate.

A chastened Romney came back for the third debate as a Dickens' character,  the fawning, obsequious Uriah Heep. After bitterly criticizing Obama all through the Republican primaries, suddenly Romney agreed with the President on a host of issues - the use of drones, the killing of Osama bin Laden, the use of sanctions with Iran, American strategy in Syria, a timetable for withdrawing American troops from Afghanistan, the necessity for war in Iraq.

The ever-flexible Romney started his political career trying to be elected Senator from Massachusetts by presenting himself as more liberal than Ted Kennedy. Then, while running for President in the Republican primaries, Romney suddenly leaped to the other end of the political spectrum becoming more conservative than Newt Gingrich.

Now, in the closing days of the 2012 election, Romney suddenly shed his hawkish, neo-conservative disguise and moved to the political center in an effort to get more votes by appearing peaceful and conciliatory. If that required him to flip-flop on previous issue stands, so be it, the ever-elastic Romney was more than willing to do so.

Previously, Romney threatened war with Iran, saying "We must communicate to Iran that we are prepared and considering military action."

Whoops! Makeover time. Now, moderate Mitt says, "Our mission  is to dissuade Iran from making nuclear weapons through peaceful and diplomatic means."

Old bellicose Romney said about war in Iraq, "It was the right decision. I supported it then; I support it now."

New, suddenly centrist Romney claims "We don't want another Iraq; we don't want another Afghanistan."

And the amazing thing is that we never saw Romney leave the stage during the third debate to make these costume and disguise changes. Despite Romney's contortions, he lost the third presidential debate.

It makes me think about the founding fathers' attitude about telling the truth. About "Honest Abe" Lincoln. About George Washington telling his father, "I cannot tell a lie. I chopped down the cherry tree." About Thomas Jefferson writing "Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom." Or "To buy off one lie is to give a premium for the invention of others."

Somehow, I just can't see Mitt Romney on Mt. Rushmore with them. Romney lies and dissembles so frequently, it must be difficult for him to know when he is
telling the truth.

Now, with the election hard upon us, we have no idea who Mitt Romney really is. We have no idea what his issue positions are. They keep changing. He is indeed a man of mystery. He is Mr. Chameleon. His election would pose an enormous risk to our nation.