Au contraire

An anonymous commenter said, regarding yesterday's post about Governor Romney and airplane windows, "I guess telling you he was joking would not sway you."

Well, Anonymous, I stand corrected. (But President Obama still has my vote. And who are you, and where are you from?) The first hit on a Google search showed the reporter who wrote the story that went viral knew it was a joke from the start. Unfortunately, she didn't report it as such.

And, frankly, it seemed plausible that Governor Romney wouldn't understand the principles of aerodynamics, given that he studied law and business, not science.

The larger point, however, is that once again he was speaking off the cuff, unscripted, and came across as not quite in touch.

He needs to be more careful. Or not, my guy's ahead right now and if Governor Romney continues to speak artlessly, well, that's fine with me.

I'm not going to sway his supporters, either. My job is to get Democrats to the polls in an election year that is quite a bit less exciting than the one in 2008. Sarah was, if nothing else, entertaining.

"Keep your Mitts off Medicare" doesn't quite have the same oomph as "Sarah Palin doesn't speak for this woman" when you read it on a button.

What I think will happen in my state is that those Democrats who are disappointed in President Obama will either vote for him reluctantly or vote for the Green or Mountain Party candidates. Those Republicans who think Governor Romney would dismantle the social programs which work and help so many here in West Virginia AND those Democrats who just can't bring themselves to vote for a black man won't vote for President at all.

It takes much longer to go through a ballot candidate-by-candidate than it does to simply scratch the rooster, which is what we're encouraging Democrats to do. But when a convicted felon gets 40 percent of the Democratic vote in the primary, the Anyone But Obama party appears to be strong here in the Mountain State.

I suppose it's possible

Governor Romney must just love the taste of Italian leather. He's stuck his foot in his mouth so many times it's almost like he's doing it on purpose. Just can't get enough of that tasty stuff. Nom, nom. 

He has both an MBA and a law degree from Harvard. He's a world-traveler. He was governor of Massachusetts, director of the Olympics and is running for President of the United States.

And he thinks you should be able to open a window in a jet. While it's flying. 

It's possible that some folks, maybe even most folks, wouldn't know the science behind the closed-windows-on-jet-aircraft policy. Governor Romney clearly didn't know. Otherwise why, when his campaign is imploding on so many fronts, would he pose the question?

Romney's wife Ann's plane had to make an emergency landing Friday (Sept. 21) because of an electrical malfunction. Discussing the incident at a fundraiser the next day, he said: "When you have a fire in an aircraft, there's no place to go, exactly, there's no — and you can't find any oxygen from outside the aircraft to get in the aircraft, because the windows don't open. I don't know why they don't do that. It's a real problem. So it's very dangerous."

As some of you know, I have a private pilot's license. I've flown little puddle-jumpers with the windows open. The plane I learned to fly topped out at about 100 mph (it's very, um, windy at that speed) and I'm sure I never flew it any higher than five or six thousand feet (also very cold). Slow and low, that was my policy and preference.

The reason we never hit 10,000 feet in the Citabria is precisely why you shouldn't open jetliner windows: We couldn't pressurize the cabin. Lack of oxygen is not a good thing when you need your wits about you to, oh, I don't know, fly a plane. Also, what little oxygen is present would obviously feed a fire, should one be present in the cabin of the aircraft.

But I guess they don't teach that at Harvard.