Jim Hightower

When George Romney ran for president in 1968, he opposed the war in Vietnam. When it came out that he'd earlier supported the war, he blamed that on having been "brainwashed." At the time, Senator Gene McCarthy, noting that Romney wasn't known for being too bright, commented that brainwashing him wouldn't have been necessary, since "I would have thought a light rinse would be sufficient."

Now comes a chip off the old block, George's son, Mitt Romney, presently running for president. Mitt's a Republican, so he's trying to show the extreme-right-wing in his party that he's one of them. Abortion? Agin it! But, oops, running for office in Massachusetts, Mitt was pro choice. Gay Marriage? No way, says Mitt. But, oops again, he previously embraced gay rights.

The most fun, however, is Romney’s macho assertion this year that he's "been a hunter pretty much all my life." This is an important claim, since he wants the National Rifle Association to endorse him. But – oops, oops, oops – his campaign had to admit that, well... he'd actually gone hunting only twice in his life.

He later made this blunder worse by saying: "I’ve always been a rodent and rabbit hunter. Small varmints, if you will." Rodents? Not exactly Teddy Roosevelt big-game stuff! And, "if you will?" What NRA member talks like that? Still, Mitt brags that he's an NRA member. Yeah – he joined eight months ago. And, in Massachusetts, he supported gun control laws the NRA hates.

Well, he declared this year, "I have a gun of my own." Uh... not exactly. Mitt – your son owns a gun, not you. Still, he claims that he keeps his son's gun in his home. Which one? He owns homes in three states – just like your typical NRA hunter-guy, huh?

This is Jim Hightower saying... Worse than a flip-flopper, Mitt Romney simply can't shoot straight with the American people. Haven't we had enough of that from our current president?