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The Spectacle Blog
Apart from stating he was a “severely conservative” Governor, the most memorable line from Mitt Romney’s speech at CPAC today was a reference to baseball:
As conservatives, we are united by a set of core commitments. But not everyone has taken the same path to get here. There are college students at this conference who are reading Burke and Hayek. When I was your age, you could have told me they were infielders for the Detroit Tigers.
Well, I must say, when I think of Burke and Hayek, Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell do not immediately spring to mind. Now Romney would have been of college age when the Tigers won the World Series in 1968. But since Romney was in France at the time, I suppose he can be excused for not knowing a Tigers infield which consisted of Norm Cash, Dick McAuliffe, Don Wert and the light hitting Ray Oyler. And when I say light hitting, I mean light hitting. Oyler hit an anemic .135 in 1968. His hitting was so weak that Tigers manager Mayo Smith moved Mickey Stanley from center field and had him play shortstop in the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. Oyler made Mario Mendoza look like Ty Cobb.
Now I suppose it’s possible that Burke might have played cricket or perhaps even rounders as a child and maybe Hayek took in a Cubs or White Sox game while he taught at the University of Chicago. Although Burke and Hayek might look spiffy donning a Detroit Tigers cap with the classic Old English D, I can’t imagine either of them would have known what to do with a baseball glove. It would have like that old Monty Python skit in which Marx, Lenin, Mao and Che Guevara are asked questions about the FA Cup and the Eurovision Song Contest.
Yet I suppose if one were to draw up a Conservative/Libertarian All-Star Team, Burke and Hayek would be in the starting lineup and might very well be a great double play combo. Although I’m not sure who would play shortstop and who would play second base. Whoever had the stronger arm could play short. Ronald Reagan would be the starting pitcher by virtue of playing Hall of Famer Grover Cleveland Alexander in The Winning Team with Doris Day.
View all comments (21) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Aaron Goldstein
http://spectator.org/blog/2012/02/10/the-burke-hayek-double-play-co
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RJ| 2.10.12 @ 5:55PM
There are some memorable hitters who played shortstop during the Olyer era. How about Ed Brinkman, Hal Lanier (who spent most of his days at second), Bobby Wine and Ron Hansen? I remember Don Wert being in the "All-Star" game with a batting average of an even 200. I stopped watching when players were selected by vote of the fans. It was a much better game when the players voted.
Drek| 2.10.12 @ 6:11PM
Any party that considers a creature like Romney to be acceptable because his record has been, as he termed it, "severely conservative," is severely in trouble.
Bob K.| 2.10.12 @ 6:39PM
Good Grief!!!
Good thing he didn't use a Basket Ball analogy.
Kingsmill| 2.10.12 @ 6:57PM
If Willard is nominated look for a Billy Buckner disappointment in November.
teflon93| 2.10.12 @ 7:13PM
Romney doesn't know Ho Chi Minh or Vo Nguyen Giap either, having not served his country in fighting them.
W| 2.11.12 @ 11:54AM
Neither do Obama, Biden, Newt, Santorum, Ron Paul. The only nominees who knew them since the Vietnam war are McCain and John Kerry.
Bush 41 and Dole, two genuine war heroes, were beaten by Bubba the DraftDodger, and McCain, another war hero, was beaten by an anti-American. It seems the majority of voters do not care. Cheney had 5 deferments and the Right loves Cheney.
Floyd Looney| 2.10.12 @ 7:30PM
Romney wouldn't know conservative from a hole in the wall.
Drek| 2.10.12 @ 7:31PM
Not even from a "severe" hole in the wall!
Trinacria| 2.10.12 @ 7:48PM
Poor man's litmus test: Would any authentic conservative characterize his views as "SEVERELY CONSERVATIVE"?
There's simply no way to interpret that statement as anything other than a telling insight into his actual view of conservatism...
Warrior | 2.10.12 @ 11:01PM
He probably meant his conservative values had severability.
Roger| 2.10.12 @ 7:58PM
A lot of people will be wetting themselves around here when St.Rick isn't the nominee. BTW,St.Rick's speech stunk too.
albert constantine jr.| 2.10.12 @ 9:36PM
While the imaginary Burke-Hayek combination might have been insignificant to Mitt Romney in 1968, the Maxville-Javier middle infield to the Cardinals fans of that era will not be forgotten by the Cardinals fans of 67-68.
W| 2.11.12 @ 11:58AM
The Pirates traded Julian Javier to the Cards,with Dick Groat, for Don Cardwell. We had Mazeroski for second base. Cardwell was a dud. Then the Pirates got Maxville at the end of his career, but he was still a great fielder.
Vern Crisler | 2.10.12 @ 10:32PM
I've been criticizing Romney for the last few weeks by pointing out he probably thinks Ludwig Von Mises was a composer of symphonies, and with regard to Hayek, he'd say, "Who's Hayek?"
Maybe, just maybe, one of his speechwriters was reading AmSpec and thought he should get a mention of Hayek in there to prove Romney's conservative credentials.
Nevertheless, if Romney wants to prove he's a real conservative, he can't just name drop at this point. He has to QUOTE Hayek or Mises. He has to show he has at least read SOMEthing they've written, and can understand their views and explain them.
Hayek was at his easiest to understand when he wrote on political topics. He is not so easy to understand on economic topics, because he and Mises wrote their English in a Germanic style. (Hayek even apologizes to Keynes during their debate for one of his long Germanic paragraphs.)
So how about Romney team? Maybe if your candidate carried *Human Action* around with him, conservatives might take him more seriously. Heck, maybe Buckley's *God and Man at Yale* would suffice.
This would be better than referencing one's record as a family man, a boast that could be made by liberals and perhaps a few Marxists as well.
Clint| 2.11.12 @ 12:15AM
The RINO-CINO Big Government Statist Frontman, Mittens Romney Supported TARP & Romneycare.
Mittens Doesn't Practice Austrian School Economics, He Just Pretends He Does On TV.
sikiş | 2.11.12 @ 6:18AM
sikiş izle
former Republican| 2.11.12 @ 8:19AM
I figured Aaron would jump on Romney's "infield" joke, which was the only humanoid moment in a severely robotic speech.
Hector| 2.11.12 @ 11:40AM
Yikes. Romney can't do anything right to some. Decent speech. Not great. To quote Romney,"nothing to get upset about".
PattyMor| 2.11.12 @ 12:20PM
Well just what is their for real conservatives to like about Romney. His snarky, well I don't have to worry about the poor, because we have welfare for them? Or let's increase the minimum wage and put more lower paid people out of work? But the piece de resistance is Romneycare. Trying to spin that into anything conservative is real art.
Anyone who has to resort to calling himself "severely conservative" is faking it. Vote for the phony if you buy the "electability" argument, but don't delude yourself into thinking he's a conservative. He will cement Obamacare into place and forever make you a slave to the state.
RJ| 2.11.12 @ 2:41PM
You are right - Romney doesn't have a conservative program; all he can do is keep saying he is a conservative. I think the most telling point was when the candidates were asked in a debate what they have done for conservatism. Romney said he was married and raised 5 kids. He added something else, but it was a very weak, but honest answer - he really hasn't done anything. He doesn't need to repackage himself. We have seen enough. Words won't convince us now. It has been said that Sarah Palin's appeal and strength was/is that she is authentic. Romney isn't it comes to limited government conservatism.
Roger| 2.11.12 @ 2:59PM
Palin's star has faded. Nice job latching onto Newt btw Cuda.