Brian Schweitzer, Montana Governor, Says Mitt Romney's Family 'Came From A Polygamy Commune In Mexic

[Quixote1818]

Snip> While discussing swing states, Schweitzer said Romney would have a “tall order to position Hispanics to vote for him,” and I replied that was mildly ironic since Mitt’s father was born in Mexico, giving the clan a nominal claim to being Hispanic. Schweitzer replied that it is “kinda ironic given that his family came from a polygamy commune in Mexico, but then he’d have to talk about his family coming from a polygamy commune in Mexico, given the gender discrepancy.” Women, he said, are “not great fans of polygamy, 86 percent were not great fans of polygamy. I am not alleging by any stretch that Romney is a polygamist and approves of [the] polygamy lifestyle, but his father was born into [a] polygamy commune in Mexico.”



Snip> Romney's father, the late Michigan governor George Romney, was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, in 1907 to American citizens living in a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints colony. The Romney family had left the U.S. to avoid being prosecuted for polygamy after laws against the practice were enforced, and returned to the U.S. after the Mexican Revolution broke out. Some family members stayed in Mexico and Mitt Romney has about 40 relatives still living south of the border.

More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/19/brian-schweitzer-mitt-romney-polygamy_n_1439239.html

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. I take very seriously anything Gov. Schweitzer has to say.

He is a forthright, intelligent Democrat, one that I would like to see run for President one of these cycles.

[CTyankee]

25. Love that guy! My dream ticket for 2016 is Warren/Schweitzer.

He's a good down to earth Dem, mountain state governor and a good balance to Warren in lots of ways.

[RZM]

2. Who cares? The president also comes from a family with a history of polygamy

It's actually one generation more recent in the president's case. His paternal grandfather had several wives. I don't think it's correct to say that Obama Sr. was a polygamist, but he was already married when he hooked up with Anne Dunham - though that sounds to me more like standard spousal abandonment than polygamy.

The polygamy in Mitt's line didn't go further than his great-grandfather. The Mittster's grandfather had one wife.

In any case none of this should mean a thing in this election. While it's interesting trivia, I don't care a whit what the candidates' great-grandfathers did.

[MADem]

9. The President's grandfather and father (who was a bigamist) didn't raise the President.

That end of the family abandoned the kid--he didn't touch base with them until much later, and even today, that end of the family humiliates him at every turn. Here in MA, he has an uncle, here without documentation, who, when arrested for DUI, started bellowing "Call the White House" in a "Do You Know Who I Am?" type scenario. There's a damn Billy Carter in every family, and Obama has more than his share (there's a troublesome aunt as well)--and they are all from Dad's branch, it would seem.

The Romney situation is quite different--the patriarchal family unit with a history of polygamy and attitudes that are detrimental to women nurtured Willard and raised him up to be the man he is today.

The President was raised by a single mother who made two bad and brief marriages, and grandparents--to include a very strong granny who was the principal wage earner of her generation in that family-- who plainly had a lot of love for their grandkids.

You might not care a whit, but others do. This is an issue, and it goes back past the "Chihuahua George" snark that his daddy got even before they started making fun of him for his brainwashing remarks.

[RZM]

10. Yes I know this

But it's still kind of a stretch. Mitt wasn't raised by polygamists either. What you seem to be saying is that it's worse to be raised by Mormons than by your secular protestant grandparents. I don't agree with that.

And let's not forget that the president has at times emphasized his father's side of the family, especially in the early days. Remember the 'herding goats' comment at the 2004 convention? And there's also the title of his first book. There's nothing at all wrong with any of that, but it does cast a wrinkle in your argument that his Kenyan family isn't relevant to who he is. He has encouraged us to believe that they are.

Like I said before, I don't think any of this matters. I don't care that Mitt's great-grandfather had 30 children. I don't care that Uncle Onyango is a drunken fool. And I don't care that Mitt was raised by Mormons or that Obama lived in Indonesia.

[MADem]

18. I think it's worse to be raised in a patriarchal society where women use

prescription drugs to cope in inordinate numbers, than be raised by a strong grandmother who teaches you right from wrong and gives you an understanding that all men and women were created equal.

I did not say his Kenyan background wasn't "relevant." Of course it is. He drags it around with him every day. It's imprinted on his very name. His Kenyan background is also important in the sense that he sees it every time he looks in the mirror. It's not something he could easily abandon even if he wanted to so do. His father is the "other" who shaped his appearance and gave him a name. But his father was always a "dream," not the guy who taught him to tie his shoes, play basketball, say "please" and "thank you," and leave a nice tip at the diner. The book is Dreams of My Father, not How My Father Raised Me Up To Be The Man I Am Today.

Romney was raised in a patriarchal family environment. Obama was not. It shows. I do think one is much worse than the other, and despite absurd wealth, I think RMoney got the short end of the stick--his upbringing was "deprived" in ways he'll never understand, because his entire world view was stunted from infancy. The prejudices he carries around today are a result of that crappy upbringing in a closed, tight and rigid society.

[Quixote1818]

3. I don't really care about this but if the right wing is consistent, then this should piss them off

I doubt if they will care since they loved Newt Gingrich who was basically into polygamy. They only care about the color of ones skin not the those who break the moral laws they scream about all the time.

[Quixote1818]

4. Didn't Geroge Romney run for president? And he was born in Mexico! HA!

Now that is funny!

Sorry about all the extra posts below. There was a glitch and I didn't think this post was going through.

[RZM]

11. George Romney was born an American citizen because his parents were both citizens

Same as Tim Tebow and Mike Judge, who were born in the Philippines and Ecuador, respectively.

Had he not dropped out, his primary opponents might have tried to smear him with it, but they wouldn't have had a legal case to exclude him from the race.

[Quixote1818]

13. This website brings up some interesting points

Not that I give a crap but the double standard is interesting: http://naturalborncitizen.com/

[guitar man]

12. Well then

I think we need to see Mitts birth certificate then. The long form one

[mmonk]

14. +1

[RandySF]

15. Someone tell me what he said that isn't true.

Based on what I know, what he said was entirely accurate.

[dimbear]

16. In a nutshell, Bishop Mitt Romney's great grandfather

Miles Romney fled to Mexico for marriage equality. Bishop Mitt Romney spends his money fighting against marriage equality here.

That's all you need to know.

[MADem]

20. The dimbear is anything but dim! I'd say the dimbear is a very clever bear!

Well said, dimbear!

[dimbear]

23. Thanks. It's the occasional massive messup that the dim applies to....

Believe me, they happen.

[MADem]

24. I resemble those remarks!

Happens to us all, at times!

[exboyfil]

17. What your parents did is irrelevant to you

Unlike the church which teaches that sins pass down multiple generations, you are only responsible to yourself. If your parents are alcoholics or racists, that is their business and not yours. If you were born out of wedlock you again are not responsible for what your parents did. I am all of these things, and I have not lived my life in this fashion.

The governor needs to tone down his statements. Also it should not matter where Romney the elder was born.

[MADem]

21. It's only irrelevant if you live your life differently from parents who are dysfunctional or abusive

or absent. Obama's father was entirely absent, for example, but Obama is present in the lives of his children. He probably learned that from his grandparents.

Mitt RMoney lionizes his father, lionizes his patriarchal society, and sees nothing wrong with his discriminatory world view. That's a problem, and it is one that should be noted and mentioned. Early and often. It goes to character.

If Willard's wife is such a business whiz (as he has been insisting recently), for example, why didn't she make sure his taxes were done on time? Between the two of them they should have carved out enough time to be responsible citizens and do what the rest of us, many working two or three jobs, have to do. After all, neither one of them have JOBS, they're living off the interest of ill-gotten gains, money made by destroying working corporations by buying them up, chopping them to bits, and selling off the pieces. Surely they could have planned their lives to find the time to settle up their tax issues with the government, like the vast majority of the rest of us do.

Makes you wonder what they are hiding.

[freshwest]

19. If there was any doubt about why the GOP with their war on women loves him, now we know.

What will the Party of Gawd say?

See how the socialist, godless, secular government ran this upstanding man and his family out of the country?

They had to flee the USA just to practice their First Amendment rights!

May Freedom and Liberty Prevail!

Vote GOP!

[SoCalDem]

22. That is true.

It may not be "nice" to say it, but it is true.

When pols dig back into their family history to paint a picture of who they are today, they have to tell the whole story, or someone else will.

Since Mormonism is a "young" religion and it was FOUNDED on polygamy, probably most Mormon families have Polygamy in their "recent" family backgrounds.

Way back when.. families of stature/connections/money who were not ready to give up the polygamy, fled to Mexico ... the poorer, less connected had to stay & give it up.

Romney cannot deny that his grandfather was a polygamist when polygamy was illegal in the US, and he ran off to Mexico so he could continue to have multiple wives.