Why I Can't Vote for Mitt Romney

I cannot believe this tool won the Iowa straw poll the other day. I mean, I realize that the Iowa Straw Poll is basically who can pay the most people to show up to vote. Even so, I'm shocked that Republicans can vote for this guy. I list myself as an independent, and there is no way this guy can get my vote. The list is so long I have to document here just in case anyone else was thinking he was alright.

1) In 1983, he locked his dog in a kennel on top of his car for a 12 hour road trip. OK, (A) that is just plain cruel. I don't care how you try to spin it, no dog likes to trapped in a small box for 12 hours. And (b), turns out I'm not the only one who thinks that: carrying an animal on the roof of your car is actually against the law in Massachusetts as a form of as cruel and inhuman treatment. (In the interest of full disclosure, it was not illegal at the time of the incident).

His defense? "The carrier was airtight". WELL LA DE DA! That makes it all better now. So not only was he on top of a moving car for twelve hours, he was in the dark the entire time? They should put you up for sainthood! A wise man once said "Judge not a man by how he treats his equals, but by how he treats those he views as inferior". Well, I'm judging...

From an interview with Fox News where he tries to explain it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvE5Qm_SQ0c

2) When asked if his sons are now or ever have been in the armed forces, his answer was no, but "One of the ways that my sons are showing support for our nation is helping me get elected because they think I'd be a great president."

Seriously? You're going to compare helping you get elected with the guy in Iraq worried about getting his legs blown off from an IED? You have the balls to even show up at campaign events after saying that?

And bull shit explanation for this one: "Oh, I misspoke there." No shit!

3) He's a flip flopper, but that only seems to matter when a Democrat is running. First off, I don't have anything against changing your mind on a subject. I'm all for it. Honestly, I thought the whole idea that being able to take in new information and come to a new conclusion was some how a bad thing was a strange tactic all the way around.

So my problem with Mitt Romney is not that he is a flip-flopper. My problem is that Republicans all of the sudden don't seem to care that Romney was pro-choice, pro-gay rights, and pro-universal health care when he was governor of Massachusetts, but is suddenly pro-life, pro-gay rights, pro-universal health care now that he is running for President.

From his 1994 debate with Ted Kennedy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9IJUkYUbvI

Lets be honest: the guy is changing his stances now not because he had this big change of heart. It's because you cannot get elected in Massachusetts if you are not liberal. But when you are running for the Republican nomination, you have to bend over backwards for the moral majority or you can't win the primary. The real question is which one is he REALLY?