Tuesday night a couple of weeks ago I was down at Muscatine City Hall for a forum for the Muscatine County candidates for state office. At the end of the proceedings, Bobby Kaufmann raised a ruckus about a mailer from his opponent. The mailer apparently listed Mr. Kaufmann’s run ins with the law, including one about 8 months ago. I knew nothing of it at the time, but I asked around after the forum what he was so upset about. I was told about the mailer and told he felt it was a ‘smear.” My first question was is the information accurate? If so, I don’t believe it can be a smear.

Along those lines the Republican Party is the group that calls loudly and often for “personal responsibility.” Seems to me that multiple run ins with John Law would indicate that “personal responsibility” is not his schtick.

He is hardly the first politician to have legal problems. Sometimes a public outing of a problem will bring remorse and a personal rehabilitation. But often the response is arrogance and defiance. Used to be that the voting public had a soft spot for those who show remorse and little time for those who show arrogance. Looks to me based on his response in the forum he is still in that arrogance stage. I used to have a Republican friend who used to speak bumperstickerese. One of his favorite slogans was “you do the crime, you do the time.”

The other thing that kind of surprised me is that surely many people must have known about this record, yet no one stood up and said “maybe he’s not ready yet?” I know had I been in a similar situation, I would not have had to go any further than my father to get a straight answer. He would have told me to clean up my act. NOW!

This is just one local example of a party that is truly arrogant and feels that any criticism of them, their words or actions is wrong and they are therefore “victims” of – well who knows what? – a biased press, distortion, mass hypnosis? Before Youtube and cell phone cameras and other technologies recorded major screw ups for posterity many politicians would deny, deny, deny. Then it became the reporter’s word against the politician’s. But today it is really hard for a politician to deny. Yet they still try to.

Who can forget George Allen in Virginia being recorded calling a member of his opponent’s staff “macaca” knowing full well it was a racial slur. First he denied, then he tried to lie his way out of the incident. I can’t remember whether he eventually apologized, or did the Republican version of apologizing. The Republican apology is the one that starts out “I am sorry if anyone was offended….” No actual feeling of remorse or contrition on their part. No personal responsibility taken. By stating the “apology” that way they set themselves up as a “victim” of those who are too politically correct.

The Romney campaign has been rife with a constant victim mentality. For one thing, they (Romney and Ryan) are constanly lying, then playing a victim card when their lies are pointed out. And they show no remorse for their lies. No siree, they just keep on telling them. Like the one about Medicare, or how about the never happened Obama apology tour? Then there is the one about how they will not turn Medicare into a voucher program, even though that is exactly what is in Ryan’s budget plan. How about the whopper of how Romney really had the plan to save GM. And how he (Romney) never said “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.” No contrition for the lies, but when media points out the lies Romney falls into a ‘victim” mode.

Who can forget that poor, poor victim David Vitter? Caught using prostitutes, he tries to lie his way out. When that won’t work, he drags his poor wife on the stage to bring sympathy.

But my favorite this election year is Romney and his financial situation. For one thing as a candidate to lead the most powerful country in the world, he refuses to reveal his financial holdings. These holdings may have information that would indicate that Romney may on occasion make a decision that is not in the interest of the United States, but in his own financial interest. The Sensata incident is a good example of that. Yet when calls are made to reveal his investments, he cries out that his opponents only want to use the information against him. In other words he is saying “I am a victim.” Romney also has investments in tax-avoiding overseas accounts. For the same reason the public should see what his holdings are. Again he claims that he is a victim when someone calls to see these oversea tax avoiding accounts.

And of course there is the tale of his taxes that he refuses to reveal. Again he cries victimhood. It is indeed a very sad commentary that our media simply reports this. And it is also a truly sad commentary on our country that Romeny can get away with playing the victim. He even has his wife running cover for him.

And finally there are the various Republican politicians who have claimed in one way or another that there are no true victims of rape and there is no way possible that a woman can get pregnant from rape (Todd Akin, Richard Murdoch and our own Steve King). When this insane position is taken to task, they act like that they are victims of  those who are too politically correct.

Enough with the false victimhood. Take the credit for your actions. Show real personal responsibility.