don sees the world

05 October 2012

An Open Letter To Mitt Romney And His Followers

In my daily news review online and on the air I saw a story that absolutely incensed me! Anyone who can still hold onto the belief that the right is really standing-up for the little guy read on.

Mr. Romney:

If you are serious about being concerned about the small businesses of America, I do believe you owe it to one of them that you have injured some consideration. You may not have thought that your campaign's attempt to use a small business as a backdrop would have the unintended consequence of threats of violence and boycott, but you certainly should have. How could you not have known that by allowing the news a local restaurant didn’t want to be a backdrop for your campaign could have had real consequences?

Have you not been watching the news? Did you not know that nearly half the country would never consider voting for you (what was that figure, 47%? I'd have to look it up…) while nearly half the country would never consider voting for your opponent? Can you not see how vitriolic the rhetoric from BOTH sides has gotten? Are you living on another planet?

You may not have personally released the fact that Rosa Linda's restaurant didn't want you interrupting their lunchtime service, but surely you have heard the news that Oscar Aguirre and his family have suffered death threats. Surely you have heard that their restaurant has been hit by a threatened boycott. Surely you must be able to see the causal relationship between the fact that the news that your campaign approached and was refused by a local small business and this mess. Surely! Aren't you the "Pro-Small Business" candidate!?

If you don't owe this man compassion because your campaign has caused this mess, do you not owe it to him as a fellow Mormon? Your campaign certainly seems to have assumed he would have been amenable to closing his business for your benefit because he shares a faith with you… You seem to put great value on your faith, but if you could allow this to happen to a member of your own church, I shudder to think what you will allow to happen to those of us who don't have any connection to you other than holding a passport from the same country.

Was your performance on Wednesday, just that – a performance? Do you really care so little for other people that you can allow this to happen without at least telling your supporters to stop? They are after all, attacking this small business for no other reason than that they happened to turn down your request to allow them to be used to further your political ambitions! The are attacking this family on your behalf – misguided as I hope that they are; they are doing this FOR YOU!

I sit here listening to the incessant ads that you and your supporters are running here in Colorado. You repeatedly claim that you "…care about poor and middle class families." You keep claiming that you want to be the president for "100%" of America. Is it just that the business your followers are threatening is too small a percentage to be counted part of that 100%?

Wherever you are today, Mr. Romney, I hope that you will do what is right – speak to your supporters – tell them that what they are doing to Rosa Linda's and its owners is in opposition to what you claim to stand for!

Don Bergquist – October 05, 2012 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

Happy anniversary to Shawn & Nancy

Happy anniversary to Michelle & Michael

Happy birthday to my brother Charles

01 October 2012

Skin In The Game

To have skin in the game is to be invested in the scheme, or to have money at stake in some endeavor; to have a vested interest in some outcome. I bring this up because I found it to be an interesting choice of idioms for Chris Christie to be tossing about yesterday on all the chat shows. The idiom is derived from the slang "Skin" meaning "Dollar Bill."