A sober and persuasive Letter to the Editor from Thomas J. Curry of Swansea, MA, who as an aerospace engineer and then a Dean in the College of Engineering in in the UMass system, worked with Mitt Romney during his governorship. Below are the first four paragraphs of Mr. Curry’s letter. You may read it all on the website of the Providence Journal.


I am an independent with no party affiliation but from an ideological viewpoint, I am well to the right of center. Still, I cannot support Mitt Romney for president. While Barack Obama has not performed to expectations for a variety of reasons (some of which are his own failings), the dilemma in this election is that the alternative to Obama is Romney.

Having worked directly with Romney during his term as Massachusetts governor, I can tell you that there is nothing authentic or genuine about him. He’ll tell you what he thinks that you want to hear and pretend to be what he thinks you want him to be.

He’s an ideological chameleon who will say anything to get your support and then do whatever he wants to favor the rich and privileged; he’s a caricature of the stereotyped Republican Party.

He lies frequently and convincingly, and has elastic principles, if any at all. He’s fundamentally dishonest, while presenting an image of goodness and light.

Curry’s assertions jibe with what I’ve observed of Romney. The “elasticity of principles” is particularly significant, as it correlates with something Jon Krakauer described in his important book on Mormon fundamentalism, Under The Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith, where lying to serve wh a believer tells himself is a great purpose is encouraged and condoned, and not deemed immoral.

H/T Twitter pal @Chernynkya