Battlefield Earth

Being a former Mormon, I find Mitt Romney fascinating...mostly because guys like him are what helped to drive me out of religion in the first place; double talking, false image, and strange views. Really strange.

There is an interesting little development that has emerged as Romney's literary tastes have become public; namely his choice of fave novel - "Battlefield Earth".

Now people are trying to spin this as if to make Romney sound like the everyman (he loves trashy lit like the rest of us), that it reveals his Mormon roots thus making him seem weird (Mormons believe God came from another planet and was an alien), and that this novel is a symbolic story of the current War on Terror (Alien group settles on alien planet, faces terrorist actions from natives who wish to destroy not only the alien threat in their midsts but to also strike at and destroy the homeland of the "invader").

What do I think? First, I am one to readily admit that book tastes are dictated by psychological orientation. In other words, violent flicks don't make people violent. They are drawn to the material because they identify with and live through the material. I believe Romney gets a thrill out of his fave novel. The exact reason is any guess.

Now I'm not saying to read too deeply into his literary interests. Though it is a keen insight into his psyche, it could mean anything. To simply say he loves it because, A) The book is written by a cult leader, B) He is a Mormon, C) Mormons are a cult, thus D) He must be weird and/or twisted like any cult member is to dumb down the entire mental profile of Mitt. Maybe he simply likes sci-fi. Really bad sci-fi. To play the opposite end of the argument, a large base of sci-fi readers are actually well educated and liberal minded. Would anyone be willing to say that about Mitt? Hell, with the way he flipflops, God only knows what Mitt really believes in.

So what am I saying about the media's obsession over Mitt's choice of books? First, this has already proven too long a campaign season if the media has already run out of worthy material to print about the candidates. Second, who the hell even came up with this question when I'd rather hear about policy views and plans for the candidates' administrations? And finally, of all the candidates out there, this comment alone has actually served to garner my interest in the man.

The real Mitt is finally starting to come out and he is, gasp, just like us. Is it a flaw that he didn't point out a stereotypical choice like "War and Peace", "Odysseus", or any other novel that no normal person has read, cares for, or even grasps in today's world? For once, the veneer came off and we saw an honest politician. The fact that he was willing to admit one of his guilty pleasures is quite a boon in my eyes. One could say this little soundbyte could work towards establishing a link between him and the people. Then again...

If the guy would simply stop trying to placate everybody and admit who he is I bet he would score more votes versus the cross-dressing dictator in waiting Giuliani, the senile McCain, or the second coming of Reagan, Fred Dalton Thompson. People want an honest, normal individual they can relate to for their leader. Perfection is a joke. I believe people in this country are getting tired of the tailored images and the perfect phrases. They want someone different, real, flawed, yet strong. Mitt, my man, you can fit that bill. Just show you have the courage to be you as strange as you might be. If you can hold your head up high and admit who you are that makes you more of a man than any of the other contenders.