A note on Walter (Mitt)y Romney

A mini-brouhaha is rippling through the blogosphere over Republican presidential Mitt Romney's attempts to gain street-cred with the gun-totin' crowd on the right.

When asked on Tuesday about his stance on guns, Mr. Romney, as he has more than once, portrayed himself as a sportsman, a “hunter pretty much all my life,” who strongly supported a right to bear arms.

But when truth-squaded Mr. Romney's claim seems a bit, well, overstated.

But on Wednesday, The Associated Press reported that Mr. Romney had in fact been hunting only twice: once during that summer when he was 15 and spending time at a relative’s ranch in Idaho, and again on the occasion last year, a quail shoot at a fenced-in game preserve in Georgia with major donors to the Republican Governors Association.

Quibbles aside about whether shooting caged birds after being trucked to their pre-determined location can be properly referred to as "hunting", the incident gives a small insight into Romney's character.

That he'll say anything to kiss up to potential right-wing supporters, regardless of how he really feels?

No, we knew that already from his flip-flops on abortion and rights for gays.

What we now know about Mitt Romney is that, while he doesn't truly enjoy killing small animals, he's willing to do so if it will help get him the Republican nomination.