It is said that an unreliable ally is worse than a sworn enemy. This is because you expect the enemy to act against you. But when an ally either chooses to be a bystander when you are attacked or sides with your assailant to attack you, the treachery is both shocking and unforgivable.

One such consistently untrustworthy and unreliable ‘ally’ who has been a been a disappointment is Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah.

His latest betrayal came during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing on Tuesday.

Romney was the sole HELP Committee Republican to vote against lifting the mask and vaccine mandates in the federal Head Start program.

Head Start is a program run by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide childhood education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and families. 

Currently, the program requires “masking for all individuals two years of age and older” and COVID-19 vaccination proof for adults involved in the program.

GOP Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana introduced an amendment “to prevent HHS from implementing or enforcing their regulations regarding mask or vaccination protections in the Head Start program again.”

Braun said the following”

After being subjected to federal mask mandates for almost two years, President Biden announced in his State of the Union address under the CDC’s new mask guidelines, most Americans in most of the country can now be mask-free. I completely agree with him on that. It’s time to get our lives back especially based upon science and not the political science.

Next Romney voted against a resolution from Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky to repeal the federal travel mask mandates on public transportation. Eight Senate Democrats broke party lines to vote against the mandates.

Sen. Paul said the following about his amendment:

Public transportation and transportation hubs are places where people across communities congregate, often for extended periods and in close quarters. The determination of the timeline and circumstances under which masks should be required in these settings should be guided by science, not politics.

Last month, Romney was absent during the vote on amendments by Sens. Lee of Utah and Cruz of Texas to block the Democrat-led vaccine mandate.

Romney was also among the Republicans who crossed the aisle and voted to convict President Trump at the end of a five-day impeachment trial following the Jan. 6 protests, that went overboard.

It has to be remembered that during his contest against Obama, Romney was rather lackluster. Despite a strong performance during his first debate, he seemed to take it easy and let Obama win during the subsequent debates when he should have gone for the kill.

When Hurricane Sandy hit in October 2012, days prior to the election, Obama made sure he was seen on camera pretending to do something to help the victims. Romney on the other hand chose to stay away from the limelight, which is unforgivable in the age of TV.  He was meek and often responded to attacks with an awkward giggle that had an undercurrent of obsequiousness. 

During his campaign, Romney participated in a staged grocery shopping trip that was filmed. The goal of it was to show that he was the man of the people. He looked awkward and uncomfortable. One has to question the instincts of a man who agrees to be part of amateur stunts such as these.

All through his presidential campaign, he lacked the killer instinct to win.

However, he developed a killer instinct against fellow Republican candidate Trump during in 2016 primaries, despite not even running.

Romney called Trump ‘a phony and a fraud,’ adding that Trump’s ‘promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University. He's playing members of the American public for suckers: He gets a free ride to the White House, and all we get is a lousy hat.’

Where was this fire during his run against Obama?

After Trump won in 2016, Mitt Romney interviewed for the position of Trump’s secretary of state.

It was an amazing lack of self-worth on Romney's part. Why on earth would he humiliate himself by parading before the cameras as he was interviewed by Trump, the very man he called a fraud and a phony?  He was also photographed having dinner with Trump once again with an awkward smile. It was a relief to all of Trump’s supporters when Trump rejected Romney for a cabinet post.

Romney humiliated himself further, in an interview with The Atlantic magazine where he admitted he had a secret Twitter handle 'to follow the U.S. political conversation anonymously'. The name of the handle was  Pierre Delecto. This is the sort of tactic used by teens and preteens, certainly not a former presidential candidate and senator. It was an amateurish move and foolish of him to confess.

During his run for a U.S. Senate seat in Utah, Romney sought and accepted President Trump’s endorsement, despite retrospectively rejecting Trump's endorsement from the 2012 presidential election. The endorsement was a huge mistake by President Trump, who could have endorsed somebody who was neither a critic nor an opponent, and in fact, a blatant hater.

Politico recently reported that Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, who is backed by President Trump, is preparing for a 2024 Senate run that could pit him against Romney in a primary contest. Reyes, who has been elected statewide three times will reportedly make a final decision and likely announce his intentions in May. If Reyes were to replace Romney, it would certainly be welcomed.

Senators have a tenure of six years during which they can do a great deal of damage. They may be voted out later, but the laws they have made are difficult to be repealed. The likes of Romney make the case for having recall facilities for every sitting senator, irrespective of state, and if not a recall, certainly term limits.

For each and every subsequent Senate candidate, it is essential that the GOP leadership and especially President Trump be thoughtful and thoroughly vet an individual before lending out endorsements. That's because endorsements from someone such as the president play an important role in voters' voting decisions.

We have seen how every vote in the Senate matters and it could be the difference between mandates and freedom. Since the Democrats have weaponized impeachments, it could also be the difference between convictions and acquittal.

Electing a Republican such as Romney may be slightly better than electing a far-left Democrat but that slight difference won’t be enough. The Romney school of politicians will capitulate when you need them the most.

The midterms in 2022 and the elections in 2024 are important because they will decide the future of the country. The myriad catastrophes under Biden have made it clear how important it is to have the right people in power.

The Democrats must be stopped. Their ideas are not popular.  They have no constructive solutions, only symbolism and virtue signals. They are a party that only knows how to obstruct, reject, block, and impeach.

It is time for brave and ideologically committed warriors who faithfully and fearlessly represent their voters to take over.

The likes of Romney have to be rejected.

Image: Gage Skidmore, via Flickr // CC BY-SA 2.0