How awful is Mitt Romney? Is there anything he won’t do or say to improve his chances of being elected? Here’s a for instance:

… On Thursday morning, as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton conducted tense negotiations with the Chinese government over the fate of Chen Guangcheng, the blind dissident who had sought refuge in the U.S. embassy in Beijing, Romney seized on rumors of American capitulation to launch a political salvo: “If these reports are true, this is a dark day for freedom and it’s a day of shame for the Obama administration,” he said at a rally in Virginia. “We are a place of freedom here and around the world, and we should stand up and defend freedom wherever it is under attack…”

The crisis ended in what Joe Conason called a “face-saving solution” for the Chinese and the Obama administration. It turned out to be a bright day for Chen. I don’t agree with Conason too often, but I’m with him on this:

… Romney’s error was worse than a misguided political tactic. It showed a woeful ignorance of diplomacy and a callow opportunism that don’t befit the next occupant of the Oval Office. To endanger Chen’s safety and the prestige of the United States in those difficult hours was an act of weak character as well as stupidity…

Romney’s statements about Chen came shortly after another glaring example of his weak character — his decision to throw Richard Grenell under the bus. The openly gay staffer resigned after taking a lot of heat from anti-gay rights Republicans. Romney didn’t defend the man, and didn’t ask him to stay on. Conason again:

If Grenell was qualified to hold the sensitive post of foreign policy spokesman, why did Romney cave instantly to demands from radio hosts and other ignorant bigots to let him go?

Gee, I don’t know. Could it have anything to do with the fact that he’s simultaneously ruthless and cowardly, not to mention morally bankrupt? He also came out against same-sex marriage, of course, to counter Barack Obama’s position on the issue.

Footnote: I’ll take it all back if Romney turns out to be an android — a suspicion I expressed in a previous post — like those creatures in Blade Runner. Except that the Blade Runner androids had character.