Only because I have not yet seen this elsewhere on the Atlantic's site (could have missed it -- sorry), I direct attention to this exchange early today between GOP nominee-presumptive Mitt Romney and Matt Lauer of NBC's Today. Judge for yourself:

Study hint: recall the reader comments yesterday that Romney, for all his polish as a debater, might not be at his best in less-scripted interviews or the ups and downs of retail politics. (Debates, even allowing for their regular surprises, have a kind of Kabuki foreseeability.) By the way, impressively polite but probing questions by Lauer, on the Costas model.

The "I like being able to fire people" comment was, as I pointed out the first time, taken out of context. The exchange above is fully in context. Watch and reflect.