Late Night Open Thread: Mitt Romney’s Strange New Stump Speech

Whoever dreamed this one up has to be bonkers. Today Mitt Romney held a rally at an aviation museum in Virginia Beach, unveiling his newly retooled stump speech built around a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.

In the early days of New Hampshire, it was a poem, “The Coming American,” by Sam Walter Foss. Later on, it was choice verses from “America the Beautiful.”

But at a Saturday afternoon rally here, Mr. Romney did not just recite the Pledge of Allegiance; he also metaphorically wrapped his stump speech in it, using each line of the pledge to attack President Obama.

Using the fight over whether “God” should be mentioned in the Democratic platform as a jumping off point, Romney pushed a bizarre right-wing conspiracy theory that Obama wants to remove “In God We Trust” from U.S. coins.

“The promises that were made in that pledge are promises I plan on keeping if I am president, and I’ve kept them so far in my life,” Mr. Romney said, standing among old airplanes in a hangar at the Military Aviation Museum here. “That pledge says ‘under God.’ I will not take ‘God’ out of the name of our platform. I will not take God off our coins, and I will not take God out of my heart. We’re a nation bestowed by God.”

Sitting in the front row in a place of honor behind the speaker’s platform was none other than right wing hater Pat Robertson. As Romney used the trappings of extreme nationalism to sow division, he claimed it is Obama who wants to divide the country.

Mr. Romney continued working his way through the pledge, moving to the part that refers to the nation as “indivisible.”

“I will not divide this nation,” he said. “I will not apologize for America abroad, and I will not apologize for Americans here at home.”

Has Mitt Romney lost his mind? Or is he just so out of touch with real people that he believes this kind of jingoistic garbage will fly with anyone other than ultra-right tea party crazies?

According to Little Green Footballs, this bizarre theory emerged in 2007 and was debunked by Snopes.

The Obama administration quickly responded the Romney’s insulting implications:

Obama spokeswoman Lis Smith called the insinsuation false and an act of desperation.

“It’s disappointing to see Mitt Romney try to throw a Hail Mary by launching extreme and untrue attacks against the President and associating with some of the most strident and divisive voices in the Republican Party, including Rep. Steve King and Pat Robertson,” she said in a statement. “This isn’t a recipe for making America stronger, it’s a recipe for division and taking us backward.”

Sometimes I wonder if Mitt Romney has been so isolated from everyone but his fellow Mormons throughout his life that he really doesn’t understand that not all Americans are stupid enough to buy into extreme right wing conspiracy theories. Mitt Romney has two degrees from Harvard. He can’t be a complete idiot, can he? Because he sure is acting like one.