Fascinating parallel drawn by Rob Delaney in his post: Thing I thought today. (Thanks again, Andrew Sullivan.)

Last week, at the other hastily called press conference with Mitt Romney, I posted (on facebook) that I sincerely pitied Romney. I wrote that “There’s just something about his apathy that makes me feel sorry for him. Like his inner dialogue must be so… silent. I can’t imagine it. It’s like he’s not even there.”

Reading Delaney’s take on Romney’s latest implosion, I feel differently.

Delaney ultimately recoiled at the exposure of his lies and his failures, and then felt relief at the freedom that comes from such exposure. I think that’s what they refer to as “rock bottom.”

Romney has not yet hit that floor. We’re watching him fall, and it’s a wretched, slow-motion, agonizing descent.

But when he hits, unlike Delaney or anybody with a sense of personal responsibility, he’s not going to feel relief. Nor will he be, as I once thought, apathetic. His internal dialogue will not be silent. He will be very present in his feelings.

He’s going to feel like a victim.

And I could not care less. There’s a relief in that too, I guess.