The Flip-flopper (one of them) who would be President

Not sure why I'm picking on Mitt Romney so much. It's not as if I think he can really win the Presidency.

From the column, talking about how Romney's been dancing around his pro-choice past/anti-choice present.

Romney proceeded to expound one of the odder positions I've heard in years of listening to politicians talk about a subject most would prefer to avoid: "I can tell you what my position is, and it's in a very narrowly defined sphere, as candidate for governor and as governor of Massachusetts," he said. "What I said to people was that I personally did not favor abortion, that I am personally pro-life. However, as governor I would not change the laws of the commonwealth relating to abortion.

"Now I don't try and put a bow around that and say what does that mean you are -- does that mean you're pro-life or pro-choice, because that whole package -- meaning I'm personally pro-life but I won't change the laws,
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During his Massachusetts races, Romney paraded his conviction that "abortion should be safe and legal in this country" and promised that "you will not see me wavering" on Roe v. Wade.

Now Romney says he opposes abortion except in cases of rape and incest or to save the life of the mother, and supports overturning Roe. At the National Review Institute Conservative Summit last month -- at the very hotel where he had told us of his commitment to not altering state law one way or another -- Romney boasted that each time an issue involving reproductive rights came up during his governorship, "on every single one of them I came down on the side of respecting human life."

Romney's "Extreme Makeover: Political Edition" goes beyond abortion rights. Once he supported allowing gays to serve openly in the military and backed a federal law to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation -- not anymore. He's gone from saying "I don't line up with the NRA" to becoming, last August, a life member.

I suppose I'm bringing this up to illustrate how strongly the Holy Terrors still have a hold on the Republican Party. A few years ago, Romney claimed to be a semi-progressive governor of a semi-progressive state. Now that he's seeking national office, he's abandoned any attempt to position himself in the political middle and he's moved to the far far right to secure the G.O.P.'s base. The only problem is that he's like the witness on the stand who's been caught in a prior statement inconsistent with his present testimony.

Lawyer: So tell me, Governor, were you lying then or are you lying now?