London, March. 7—The Times of London, which likes to think of itself as the mother-newspaper of the English-speaking world, and in fact is highly prestigious, is nowadays given to such howling editorialization in its news columns as makes Time Magazine by contrast read like the tablets of detachment. On their front page they carry the story, “Mr. Romney Quits/Presidency Race.” And then embedded in the story: “The man who had so often fallen flat on his face since aspiring to the highest office admitted defeat at a press conference here tonight.” And again: “His withdrawal two weeks before the New Hampshire primary came as a surprise, but perhaps no other man of his limited capacity would have announced himself in the first place.”
Quite apart from the extraordinary journalistic impudence of the Times’ evaluative journalism, the signal seems to be very clear nowadays. It is that Romney failed because he is an idiot. Because he is a man “of limited capacity,” to use the condescending words of the Times. The moment is at hand to make a few observations:
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