Allan Powell: Balance of 'quiet room,' open debate enhances our political education

On a very cold day in January, presidential candidate Mitt Romney was asked in an interview what he thought about all of the chatter about the disparity of income between the upper ranks of the rich and the lower ranks of laborers. It seemed obvious that Romney was caught by surprise and was uncomfortable with the question. He replied, “It’s fine to talk about those things in a quiet room,” implying that such explosive and potentially emotive issues should not be aired in public. While we must concede that there is indeed an important place for the solitude of a “quiet room” to read, study, meditate and filter out reasonable conclusions about issues, he was on a public platform defending his fitness for the White House.

By ALLAN POWELL

January 27, 2012