What Did Rafalca Ever Do To Mitt?

This isn't a political blog, other than my snarky rantings about the latest political sex scandal and other silliness from the clueless politician-du-jour.  At the moment, however, I admit that I may appear to be obsessed with the confluence of sports and politics represented by Ann Romney's horse Rafalca. Specifically I'm intrigued by Mitt's attempts to distance himself from the nice horsey. To recap, last Wednesday, in an interview in London with Brian Williams just before the start of the Olympics, Mittens said, in response to a question about Rafalca, "I'm not even sure when the sport goes on. She will get the chance to see it, I will not be watching the event. I hope her horse does well." 

"I'm not even sure when the sport goes on." Let's think about this. I'm not Mitt Romney's biggest fan, but I sincerely believe that he's a devoted and loving husband, which is why that statement strikes me as odd.  Mr. and Mrs. Romney were in London for the Olympics Opening Ceremony, as well as some meetings with British leaders. Then they flew to Israel, and then they're going to Poland.  They're flying on a private jet, accompanied by some or all of their sons, some campaign staff members, some reporters and the United States Secret Service.  At the completion of the visit to Poland, Mitt will return to the U.S. and Ann's going back to London to watch the equestrian events that start on Thursday. With all the planning that goes into a trip like this, are we really supposed to believe that Mitt has no idea why his wife isn't coming home with him? 

I'd be willing to bet that Mitt told a teensy-weensy fib because he doesn't want to be too closely associated with the fancy-dancy sport of dressage, or as Stephen Colbert put it, competitive horse prancing.  He probably doesn't want to discuss the $77,000 tax deduction they were able to take for Rafalca's care and feeding. When you're as rich as the Romneys, 77K is a rounding error, but for us regular folks it's a lot of money, more than many of us earn in a year, and our pets aren't tax deductible. Mrs. Romney likes to emphasize that Rafalca has been therapeutic in helping her cope with her M.S. and that's nice, but most Americans don't have the option of importing a $100,000 European horse when they get sick. 

So don't take it personally, Rafalca. Mittens likes you a lot more than he's willing to admit. Pretending he doesn't is just part of his efforts to convince voters that he's not really an elite one-percenter.

Will this be my last post about Rafalca?  Almost certainly not.