nothing circular about this firing squad

c/o TPM. Two interesting things that Marshall has noted about Romney and the GOP primary that are well highlighted in this video:

1. Mitt Romney does not react well to jokes made at his expense, and it probably doesn't help his image in the debates.

2. This doesn't look like mere politics; it appears that the other GOP candidates genuinely despise Mitt Romney.

I'll be totally honest: I felt a little pity for ol' Mitty there on stage, especially after McCain's jab about being "the candidate of change" (though it doesn't change the fact that it was a good line). Even if I were a Republican, it probably wouldn't make me want to vote for him, and I would wonder why it is that the others seem to loathe him so much, but nevertheless, I saw him wince at some of the barbs and I felt pity.

That may also be because McCain has a look on his face as this mugging is going on that reminds me a little bit of the expression on an elementary school bully's face when s/he gets the whole class to laugh at the nerdy kid: cruelty and schadenfreude. It looked like he genuinely enjoyed humiliating Romney, even beyond the electoral benefits, because he thinks it's fun to tear weaker people down in public, which I guess makes sense coming from the guy who publicly made a teenage girl the butt of a malicious joke just because she had the temerity to be the daughter of a Democratic president.