Open Warfare: Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney opened fire for the Republican establishment yesterday saying that as president Donald Trump would lead America into an abyss. “Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud,” Romney said to a cheering audience in Salt Lake City. “His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University. He’s playing members of the American public for suckers: He gets a free ride to the White House and all we get is a lousy hat.”

In what is an historical rift in the party, Romney said about Trump, “He’s not of the temperament of the kind of stable, thoughtful person we need as a leader. His imagination must not be married to real power.”

Romney was joined in condemning Trump by Sen. John McCain, and 95 Republican bigwigs who signed on open letter saying, “We are united in our opposition to a Donald Trump presidency.”

The letter goes on to say that Trump’s vision of American influence is “unmoored,” and that “he swings from isolationism to military adventurism within the space of one sentence.” The letter says, “His embrace of the expansive use of torture is inexcusable.”

Rarely has a political party gone to war with itself as the Republicans have. Romney went on about Trump, “His bankruptcies have crushed small businesses and the men and women who worked for them. He inherited his business, he didn’t create it. And what ever happened to Trump Airlines? How about Trump University? And then there’s Trump Magazine and Trump Vodka and Trump Steaks, and Trump Mortgage? A business genius he is not.”

Romney said, “Watch how he responds to my speech today. Will he talk about our policy differences or will he attack me with every imaginable low road insult? This may tell you what you need to know about his temperament, his stability, and his suitability to be president.”

Trump didn’t disappoint, calling Romney “irrelevant” and a “failed candidate” so desperate for Trump’s endorsement four years ago that, “I could have said, ‘Mitt, drop to your knees;’ he would have dropped.”

Debatable: Last night’s Republican debate in Detroit was more of same, with the personal insults ratcheting up. Trump called Marco Rubio “a little guy” and  Ted Cruz “lying Ted.” Responding to Rubio’s accusation in recent days that Trump has small hands, suggesting a shortfall in another part of his anatomy, Trump said, “I guarantee you, there’s no problem.”

These are candidates for President of the United States.

At Home: President Obama said yesterday that he and his family will remain in Washington after he leaves office at least until his younger daughter Sasha graduates high school in 2018. “Transferring someone in the middle of high school — tough,” Obama said to a woman he encountered in a restaurant.

The Obit Page: Delmer Berg, the last known living veteran of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, which unsuccessfully fought Fascism in the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s, has died in California at age 100. About 3,000 idealistic Americans volunteered for the brigade. Berg was a registered communist who fought in some of the biggest actions of the war and was wounded in an air attack.

Cuba Libre: The editorial staff of The Rooney Report leaves for Cuba today. We’ll make an attempt to file while we’re there, but we know going in that Internet connections will be difficult.

Growth Industry: NASA reports that after spending 340 weightless days in space astronaut Scott Kelly is now five centimeters taller than his identical twin brother Mark.