Book of the Month

Mitt Romney is that Guy at your office who believes he's the only one doing any work.

by erica20 9/18/2012 - 12:30 pm

 

I don't drop by TPM much anymore, but I did yesterday, and saw Josh Marshall's post about Romney's 47% comments. I was trying to figure out why I so agree with Josh that the 47% speech will grate on pretty much anybody who hears it, and is effectively the last nail in the coffin of the Romney campaign. I think this is the reason:
 
Mitt Romney is like that really annoying guy at your office who truly believes that he’s the only one doing any work.
 
There’s a subset of humans who feel the same way—there’s pretty much one in every office, and regardless of their actual competency, they cling relentlessly to the belief that the success or failure of the group depends on their (theoretically) selfless sacrifice. Everybody knows who they are, and there’s always a certain amount of eye-rolling at meetings when they start to talk. They’re not usually such douchebags that you’d fire them outright, and you might let them head up a project or two if there’s nobody better. But the group wouldn’t ever put them in charge of anything REALLY important because they’re just so…unsettlingly deluded about the way things really are. The group, deep down, understands that. When push comes to shove--when it’s time to put somebody in charge of a really important project--the group will pick a man or woman with a more balanced outlook and genuine competence.
 
I think this is how Romney (and it’s true of the most ardent members of the Republican base) has always functioned. He believes he’s working hard, making special sacrifices, and is more than willing to take on the figurehead role. In a year when the party was falling apart anyway, he got to head up a bigger than usual project. But deep down, most people understand that having a take charge attitude and an unerring belief in the quality of your work--is not the same as actually being qualified to be in charge. So Mitt is not going to be elected President. The 47% remarks confirm the presence of the delusion that makes him a no-go.
 
 
(I think this message applies to the diehard base of the Republican Party as well—whatever their status, they believe they’re the only ones doing useful work—and I think the 47% comments spell trouble for them, too. Cat’s out of the bag, and they’re outta here.)
 
 
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Hadn't thought of this but it sounds spot on.  Also sounds like Romney at Bain. Notice that unlike places like Goldman, most of Romney's "partners" at Bain were really subordinates who are still paying off the boss a decade after he left.

by Michael Maiello 9/18/2012 - 4:24 pm

Thanks Destor. On my end, I hadn't noted the difference in the way Bain was run. But now I will.

by erica20 9/18/2012 - 5:14 pm (re: destor23)

Supreme confidence is a necessity in order to be successful.

I know that confidence is a relative term, of course.

But confidence is only one variable, one trait that might carry you to victory.

Now Peter Sellers has complete and total confidence as Inspector Clouseau.

I guess my conclusion is that all victors are confident but not all confident people are victors.

I was thinking about what I saw on SNL last Saturday and Obama sings and then Mitt sings. hahaahaha

Then we see Obama sing:

Both men have confidence. I guess!

That is all I got!

 

 

 

 

by Richard Day 9/18/2012 - 5:40 pm

Imma give you your mike back Dick, but I just wanna say, people - human people - should lay the fuck offa Al "THE GOD WHO CAME TO EARTH" Green. Don't do it. Unh uh.

Don't touch it. 

 

by quinn esq 9/18/2012 - 8:14 pm (re: Richard Day)

Insightful post, erica20.  It effectively suggests narcissism wrapped up inside the perspective Romney's remarks reflect.  

by AmericanDreamer 9/19/2012 - 8:06 am

I think it would be fascinating if a former secretary, janitor, temp worker, or other worker with Bain while Romney was there who might not have paid federal income taxes could be located and interviewed on their reaction to hearing their former boss in effect say he thinks they are a bunch of freeloaders.  

Politically engaged working stiffs who don't pay federal income taxes and whose boss is a known Romney supporter might be forgiven for fantasizing this week about walking out with their coworkers en masse from their place of employment, leaving a note to the boss saying that, since apparently they aren't viewed as actually contributing anything of value to the company, they figure the boss could do what needs to be done all by himself.  

by AmericanDreamer 9/19/2012 - 8:35 am

Hah, spot on Erica.. I definitely chuckled! I am pretty lucky now, I haven't met that guy at my new place of work, cause I work with almost all women and  dancers.

by tmccarthy0 9/19/2012 - 9:51 am

Gotta jump in here and say that men do not have a monopoly on this character trait, and my experience says it all too prevalent in the performance arts. 

by Another Trope 9/19/2012 - 10:04 am (re: tmccarthy0)

Right, "That Guy" can definitely be "That Woman" as well.

I will say, though, that I've worked in the arts and in regular business, and I think the "That Guy" syndrome is a little less galling in the art world. In the arts, the work is pretty hard and stressful sometimes, and every arts workplace has "That Guy" moments, but people usually manage to get over their cheap selves and admit that everybody has a job to do. (Because if they don't, the production is a disaster and nobody will get paid!) Artists are also pretty willing to let their colleagues know when they're dropping into smug martyrdom, and will tell them to knock it off--not always, but mostly, in my experience.

In the corporate world, though, people are a lot less willing to be straight with each other, so "That Guy/Woman" can go on for years without being challenged.....

by erica20 9/19/2012 - 11:16 am (re: Another Trope)

I would agree.

A difference between the art communities and the business communities is that former's hierarchy is (to use evil buzzwords) generally horizontally aligned and the latter's is vertically aligned.  Those below the offender won't say anything to someone higher up the pecking order and those above the offender usually don't see the behavior in action because the offender is in kiss up mode.  

I would add that in general with males this trait has the added expression of aggressive hostility toward others, which is of course the outcome of their cultural training.  This not only makes it more like the ugly American syndrome, but also adds a particularly annoying, if not threatening, facet to it.

by Another Trope 9/19/2012 - 11:48 am (re: erica20)

Thanks tm!

Maybe there isn't one in EVERY workplace.

by erica20 9/19/2012 - 11:04 am (re: tmccarthy0)

Erica, I think you've pegged him very well.  In addition, he's now and ever shall be the CEO.  He doesn't play well with others, and he thinks it's beneath him to come down to their level.  Whenever he has to, it's all he can do to keep from holding his nose.

He's the last person on earth who should ever be president of the United States.  I hope we're not the only ones to at long last see that.

by Ramona 9/20/2012 - 12:10 pm

I suspect that quite a few others see it as well, especially after the release of this video.

I think the release of the video and the responses to it have also given people a glimpse of how the 1% operates, believing they're the only ones who REALLY matter, but conferring a very fake and shallow pretense of mattering on people who agree to vote for them. 

The sheer wackiness of the numbers in Romney's speech kind of pulled the cover off the reality of their view that taxes, and government programs of any kind (except for corporate subsidies) are regrettable impediments to their real interest which is making money in the cheapest way possible and squirreling it away in the best possible location. (Which of course, happens to be overseas, what with all these Americans demanding a decent life and a stable economy rather than accepting their inevitable descent into third-world status.)

by erica20 9/20/2012 - 12:48 pm (re: Ramona)

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