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stuck in the mittle

Mitt Romney Doesn’t Get Why Airplane Windows Don’t Open [Updated]

IN FLIGHT, UNITED STATES - MAY 28:  Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney looks out the window of his campaign plane trying to locate his house after taking off from San Diego International Airport enroute to Colorado on May 28, 2012. Romney spoke at a Memorial Day tribute with U.S. Sen John McCain before heading to Colorado.  (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) "What I wouldn't do for a breath of fresh air."

Mitt Romney, a 65-year-old man with two advanced degrees, has no idea why they don't let you open airplane windows mid-flight, according to his own remarks at a fund-raiser in Beverly Hills on Saturday:

Romney’s wife, Ann, was in attendance, and the candidate spoke of the concern he had for her when her plane had to make an emergency landing Friday en route to Santa Monica because of an electrical  malfunction.

“I appreciate the fact that she is on the ground, safe and sound. And I don’t think she knows just how worried some of us were,” Romney said. “When you have a fire in an aircraft, there’s no place to go, exactly, there’s no — and you can’t find any oxygen from outside the aircraft to get in the aircraft, because the windows don’t open. I don’t know why they don’t do that. It’s a real problem."

To answer Romney: Airplane cabins are pressurized to allow people to, you know, breathe and stay conscious and such at high altitudes — things that are important for everyone who isn't an advanced robot covered in a highly convincing outer layer of humanesque skin and facial features.

Update: Romney was just joking.

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Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images