Why I Support(ed) Romney

Scott Bradley

There is a scene in the movie Gandhi the historicity of which I am not sure, nor am I sure that my remembered details are correct, but as a supporter of Romney, these inconveniences are of little import. The scene is this: A Hindu man comes to Gandhi under an incredible burden of guilt; he has murdered a family of Muslims during the communal riots that marked the Partition of India. He asks what he can do to atone for his evil deed. "Find an orphaned Muslim child," Gandhi tells him, "adopt him as your own, and raise him as a Muslim." The Hindu man, as I recall, is nonplused.

For myself, and I suspect for most Americans, this presidential campaign has been traumatic. I am writing this on the day before the election and thus I feel this more poignantly than when you will read it. At the moment, however, as hard as I try, I remain unable to "equalize the opinions" of these two parties; it's a great deal easier when dealing with Mohists and Confucians! This is an admission to my being unable, in this instance, to live the Zhuangzian vision of unpartisan acceptance through illuminating the similarity of things so as to join them into a commonality. So I am trying a different tactic; I adopt my 'enemy'.

I admit that I might be motivated in part by the fact that I tend to choose losers, but still there might be some sincerity somewhere in this adoption.

Now it might be the case that as a consequence of a Romney victory the ultra-rich and their corporations will tighten their stranglehold on America and the rest of the world, that there will be more American imperialism, and more wars resulting in the death or displacement of millions, but the American people will have 'spoken' and they, despite the opinion of some, are also human. And this is what humans do.

Should it have happened that Romney won (or stole) this election, it might be helpful for those of you who did not support him to remember that sometimes things have to get worse before they can get better. It may be that this is precisely what we need to reach the point where we wake up and refuse to take it anymore. And it might not even yet be too late.

If, however, Obama should win (or steal) this election, it is you Obamanites for whom I have the greatest concern. We Romneyians might despair at the triumph of a devil, but at least we don't have the burden of having our devil in charge. We can wash our hands of the whole affair. You, on the other hand, given your supposed moral high ground, must spend the next four years wringing your hands and moaning, "Out, out damned spot."

You can check out Scott's other miscellaneous writings here.