Mitt Romney: Can He Play The Music?

     I once heard a story (I don't know if it's true) about a 10 year old boy who was an exceptionally gifted pianist. After one of his performances, an old master went to see the boy back stage. The boy ran to the master bursting with pride and said, "I was pretty great, don't you think?" The master looked the boy square in the eyes and said, "You have mastered the notes, maybe someday you'll be able to play the music." I was recently reminded of this tale as I listened to a radio interview with Mitt Romney. Candidate Romney said all the things that appeals to conservatives, but I got the feeling that he had mastered the notes but still couldn't play the music.
     I can forgive Mitt Romney for switching his position on abortion, after all Ronald Reagan signed a liberal abortion bill into law when he was Governor of California. But Mr. Romney has gone even further down the road of Liberalism with his position on health care. He says he will work to repeal Obamacare if elected, yet he still defends Romneycare. I find these two positions inconsistent with one another. John Grueber, who advised both Governor Romney and President Obama on their respective health care plans, recently stated that Obamacare is Romneycare with a few more zeros. I can't believe that any conservative can support government, at any level, involving itself so intimately in people's personal affairs. Not to mention controlling such a large chunk of the economy.  I believe that once elected president, Governor Romney will work to implement Obamacare  in what he thinks is a more competent and efficient manner.
     In one of the Republican debates (I can't remember which one) Governor Romney defended Romneycare yet again by using the fact that Massachusetts had 8 percent of its children uninsured. So, he surmised, that a big government approach was needed to solve a problem that affected a vulnerable segment of the population. This is the argument that Liberals use to limit choice and grow government. You won't get the support of the people to increase government involvement in their lives and limit their freedoms to solve a problem that affects middle-aged, white males. Governor Romney likes to point out that the individual mandate, which is the holy grail of both Romneycare and Obamacare, was first proposed by the Heritage Foundation and Newt Gingrich. Both have since rejected the idea of an individual mandate as unconstitutional, while Candidate Romney has continued to support it through his defense of Romneycare.
     Further evidence of Governor Romney's technocrat status is his position to involve the World Trade Organization to solve the problem of China's manipulation of their currency. Leap-frogging the United States congress to involve a world body is also not consistent with conservative principles. Not to mention that most countries in the industrialized world manipulate their currencies, including the United States.  A Conservative addresses problems within the framework of the constitution, they don't supplant the sovereignty of the U.S. in favor of a world body run by those who don't have the best interest of the United States at heart.
     During the current Republican nominating process, Mitt Romney has masterfully commanded the notes of the conservative symphony. I just wonder if someday he'll be able to play the music.