Village? What Village? The Honor Roll Student Who Did It All On His Own

Today while on the campaign trail Mitt Romney made a statement that literally made me stop in my tracks and listen. He talked about a hypothetical honor roll student and how they accomplished that feat all by themselves. He finished the statement with, “You don’t thank the bus driver.”

record scratch

Are you fucking kidding me? Really Mittens? No one else had anything to do with an honor roll student getting on the honor roll. Because by all means yes, the honor roll student did that all by his damn self. Little Johnny’s accomplishment had nothing to do with the bus driver who drove the kid to school, never mind the mechanic in the bus garage who keeps the bus in working condition so the bus driver can drive the bus and pick up the kid who did this thing all by himself. A kid making it on the honor roll sure as hell had nothing to do with the teachers who spend at least four years at an accredited university being instructed in best teaching practices and content who develop the lesson plans that instructed little Johnny the student on the learning path to get on the honor roll, or the school administration who made sure the building operations run smoothly every day school is open so kids can learn their subjects without anyone else’s help.  It’s a waste of time to mention the custodian who keeps the school clean and the infrastructure intact, or the cafeteria staff that served the self subsisting honor roll student lunch so he can focus on his work in class.

In fact, forget the parents at home who woke the kid up, fed them breakfast and gave them lunch money before getting on that thankless bus. I'm sure they never bothered to help that kid with his homework either that reinforced the teacher’s lesson so he did well and earned the high marks needed to get put him on the honor roll.

In Mitt Romney’s world, every single person relied solely on himself or herself to accomplish everything they ever did in their entire lives.  No one ever needed community support to do anything.

Republicans actually believe this.