A more thorough approach to the key elements of the case against Mitt Romney will have to wait until the early part of this week, when there will presumably be a larger weekday audience.

In the meantime, let’s contrast Kathryn Jean Lopez’s fawning, hopelessly naive defense of Mitt Romney’s flagrant and frequent flip-flopping, taken apart at this BizzyBlog post yesterday, with this cautionary column from Examiner.com’s Mary Katharine Ham.

We should be thankful that MKH seems to have suffered no permanent damage from the time she spent second-fiddle blogging a few years ago at chief Romniac Hugh Hewitt’s place. Despite clinging to many popular conceptions about Romney’s credentials, and probably not having a complete handle on why her observations and instincts are reliable, she nevertheless “gets it” when it comes to his non-contribution to a GOP national ticket. Given how far into the tank for Romney other right-wing talkers and commentators have gone, I’ll take it — for now (bolds are mine):

I Am Not Brimming With Enthusiasm

….. But Mitt Romney is an “in theory” candidate. In theory, he was the obvious conservative alternative to John McCain. In theory, he hit all the fiscal con and social con marks in a way no other Republican did. In theory, he looked the part and could walk and talk the walks and talks, respectively. In theory, he had the money, the know-how and the headstart to crush all comers.

In practice, he had every advantage– money, early support from a small group of incredibly influential conservatives (notably National Review), great buzz, a competent organization, a veritable arch-enemy of the base to run against– but it simply did not translate into a swell of support for him among rank-and-file Republicans. It didn’t translate into a swell of support for him among conservative leaders until they were faced with the suddenly real spectre of a McCain candidacy just weeks before Mitt Romney’s campaign finally came to an end in front of CPAC. ….. (talk radio pundits’) relative lack of enthusiasm was indicative of a larger lack of it within the base. The evidence is that late support of Romney among many conservatives was much more anti-McCain than it was pro-Romney. Romney ‘08 was a rampart, not a rallying cry.

….. The best argument I’ve heard for a VP slot for Mitt is that he might be able to turn Michigan red. What with Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s depolorable economic leadership, McCain’s historic strength in the state, and Mitt’s obvious economic creds and hometown appeal, the chance at 17 electoral votes might be worth any perceived downside of giving Mitt the job.

All that’s true, in theory. But never since the day we saw Mitt Romney enter the primary race have we seen him capitalize on an “in theory” calculation. Why does anyone believe he’ll deliver now?

Give me Mitt as a close adviser on economic issues. Give me Mitt as a competent surrogate. Give me Mitt as a vanguard of Republican organizing and fundraising. Give me someone else as VP.

If influential types within conservatism and the GOP were as far along as MKH, we wouldn’t be facing the code-red threat of Romney becoming McCain’s running mate.

Others need to be taken there, and for more powerful reasons than those Ham just articulated. She, and many others, including the presumptive nominee himself, need to be disabused of the notion that Romney should have any kind of meaningful role in a McCain administration. I’ll work on that in the next few days’ posts.

You might think that a tidal wave of denunciation would ensue if a cartoon depicting John McCain being tortured in a bamboo cage by Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and another person (who might be George W. Bush) were to appear in a supposedly respectable or trendy publication.

You might further think that giving McCain’s three torturers stereotypically exaggerated Asian features would only further fuel the outrage.

Sorry to disappoint you, but the cartoon involved appeared last month in Rolling Stone. As far as I can tell, what you are about to see has produced not a single ripple of protest (HT Taxman Blog via tip from Weapons of Mass Discussion):

(more…)

From Sydney, Australia:

July 05, 2008 12:00am

HER courage and extraordinary will to survive has won her the admiration of all Australians – now Sophie Delezio is set to be rewarded with an audience with Pope Benedict XVI.

And she will be joined by bashing victim Lauren Huxley, another young Catholic who has shown a strong will to live

The two will be among a group of young people to meet the Catholic leader when he arrives in Australia later this month.

While 21-year-old Lauren’s introduction will take place at the Sacred Heart Church in Darlinghurst, Sydney, on July 18, seven-year-old Sophie – who, along with her family, has been named as one of nine official World Youth Day ambassadors – will be part of a large group of festival volunteers to be thanked by him at The Domain on July 21.

Sophie, who had excitedly waited since she got home from school to meet Lauren yesterday, immediately welcomed her new friend into her life.

It was a joyful first meeting and both excitedly spoke of the the once-in-a-lifetime chance.

“It’s just an honour, an amazing opportunity I can’t believe it,” Lauren said yesterday.

Sophie said she was would be “praying for all the sick kids” when she was in the Pope’s presence.

When she was just two, Sophie suffered third-degree burns, lost both her legs and a hand when a vehicle ploughed into her childcare centre, trapping her beneath it.

Two years later, Lauren was the victim of a violent bashing by a stranger in her family’s western Sydney home and was given only a 5 per cent chance of survival.

As she watched her daughter pose for photographs yesterday, Sophie’s father Ron Delezio said World Youth Day was incredibly special for their whole family.

“To go through what we went through without having faith in something, well it would have been a very lonely place,” he said.

“It will be wonderful if we could get the Pope’s blessing on Sophie, it would be a real dream come true.” …..

Go here for the rest of the story.