You know, it’s funny. A while back, when gas prices were really high, Mitt Romney was insisting that President Obama was responsible for that, even though pretty much everybody knows that there’s not actually much the president can do either way about gas prices. In fact, Romney likes to insist that Obama must take responsibility for everything bad that’s happened over the last three and a half years.
And yet, Romney is now insisting that for three years when he was CEO and sole shareholder of Bain Capital, he bears absolutely no responsibility for anything that happened at Bain.
I don’t buy it. And I don’t think anyone else does either. Romney is in real trouble over this.
UPDATE: In a hilarious bit of irony, here’s what Romney had to say to the networks tonight:
Mr. Romney called the accusation of criminal behavior, which came on Thursday from Mr. Obama’s deputy campaign manager, “disgusting” and “demeaning” and said it was destructive to the political process.
“It’s something that I think the president should take responsibility for and stop it,” Mr. Romney said.
Huh, interesting. So Romney’s position is that the head of an organization (namely, the Obama campaign) should “take responsibility for,” and “stop,” behavior that is inappropriate. It would seem to follow that the President and CEO of an organization (let’s say Bain Capital, just as an example) that was engaged in bad behavior – say, investing in companies that specialize in outsourcing American jobs, or bleeding target companies into bankruptcy – should “take responsibility for” and “stop” that behavior too.
Is there any real doubt that, even if Romney was not involved in the day-to-day management of Bain Capital while he was at the Olympics, he could at any moment have retaken control and redirected its activities? He was, after all, president, CEO, and sole shareholder. There was nobody who could have stopped him.
mike_cote says
Don’t we have a precident for perjury being a high crime and misdeomeaner subject to the impeachment process? Can we impeach and avoid the Christmas rush? Coorporations are people my friend.
methuenprogressive says
These are the people who think Obama was born in Kenya as part of a new world order Muslim socialist UN Marxist union Black Panther atheist abortionist plot to take away their guns.
danfromwaltham says
By Monday, this will all backfire and you will be talking about Seamus again.
After they apologize for the felony comment, can you folks tell me the grades Obama received at Columbia?
Christopher says
I led Bain when it created jobs, but had nothing to do with it when it outsourced jobs.
The mandate I enacted for health care was a penalty, but the same one from Obama is a tax.
Corporations are people when they are raking in profits, but there are no people to hold accountable.
This doesn’t even take into account all the for-it-before-he-was-against-it and vice versa between running just in MA and running nationwide.
danfromwaltham says
If that is the case, the guy is super human, a machine if you will. Pagliuca is a liar too, but Tierney is not. Talk about a pattern, you folks take the cake.
Chris, are you playing the role of John O’Neill, or is that David and you are the first mate? When Demintfan chimes in, we all will know Gilligan has arrived.
Welcome to BMG, 2012 Willy Horton campaign brought to you by Barak Obama. Mitt is a felon, should be impeached, and don’t forget, Moran too.
Mr. Lynne says
… really didn’t run much for Bain, but I’ll be he knew about what was going on. As such, the “I didn’t run anything” doesn’t wash the political stain. He still signed off on a role of leadership and signed up for the responsibility.
The title of the post is extremely appropriate even if you buy that he was an absentee CEO, President, and Sole Managing Director. If this is what he thinks leadership is, we’re all in trouble if he gets elected.
danfromwaltham says
Now I see, thanks for telling me what true leadership is all about. Now, can you show me where I can see Obama’s grades at Columbia? Nobody seems to know here. Thank you.
Mr. Lynne says
n/t
John Tehan says
How can we miss you if you don’t go away?
HR's Kevin says
You have no concept of what actually influences people in politics if you think it is worthwhile bringing up the voting “present” issue and Obama’s grades. You are just reaching for straws here.
You are just embarrassing yourself.
danfromwaltham says
reading comments from those who defend John Tierney and are so drunk on the Kool-Aid, would actually vote for him over Richard Tisea. I would have to disinfect my iPad if I ever typed words of support for one John Tierney.
hrs-kevin, please embarrass yourself and say you would vote for Tierney over Tisea, like many others here. Please, I beg of you…..
Mark L. Bail says
Chapter 7. You go, Dan!
danfromwaltham says
If not, hold a sign for Tierney. Go for it Mark!! Send him a few bucks while you’re at it.
Mark L. Bail says
not getting it. The thread is about Mitt Romney, not John Tierney. Here’s an idea: write that post you’ve been threatening to write. Then if anyone responds, you’ll be talking about the subject you want to talk about and actually experience intellectual integrity.
kbusch says
Matthew 7:6:
kbusch says
Not a disincentive.
dont-get-cute says
He’s planning on blasting off to Alpha Centauri to be President of the Romulon Federation in 2014, and leave us with his Vice President pick, his son Tagg.
whosmindingdemint says
have taken one car elevator ride too many.
Ryan says
You know, he was busy doing other things, leaving the ‘day to day’ work to other people, but retained the title and all the responsibilities of being in charge and thus should be held accountable for what happened in those time periods.
It’s nice to have jobs you can’t be fired from, but that doesn’t mean the public shouldn’t be able to judge you on what happened during your reign of leadership, absentee or otherwise. I guess Bain gets the benefit of not having been the butt of his jokes while he was busy doing other stuff and taking a salary anyway.
Jasiu says
Maybe this is all a set up to finally distance Mitt from Obamneycare. “I had nothing to do with that legislation. I’ve been running for president since 2004, for Pete’s sake! And that’s a full-time job!”
jconway says
This is a taste of the Republicans own medicine and I do not care how unfair this line of attack may be, it works and it goes to a fundamental truth that Romney plays by a different set of rules than the rest of America. The other big difference between this line of attack vs the swift boat ads is that they do point to a fundamental policy difference since Romney wants to reduce government to allow super capitalists like himself to save the day-but to do this allows those super capitalists to pay by different rules. He will not be a class traitor.
danfromwaltham says
Pay by different rules? Well, when Harvard Univ, starts paying 15% capital gains tax on their $32 billion endowment fund that earns 20% return, then we can go after those who already pull the cart and ask them to smooth out the ride for the 50% who contribute nothing.
Christopher says
You may be registered unenrolled, but you have clearly chosen a side. I believe Romney was focused on the Olympics, but his own testimony indicates that he was still in the mix with regard to Bain. If that is not the case then he and Bain misled the SEC. A former SEC commissioner said the expectation that goes with the titles he claimed is that he was accountable. If he did not want accountability he should have flat out resigned and refused to allow his name to be used. Of course he also has to decide whether actions he took before 1999 had an impact on companies acquired by Bain or not. If the businesses did well he takes credit for laying the ground work, but if they failed he had nothing to do with it. I don’t know that much about Pagliuca (except of course that HE was never listed as CEO, sole stockholder, Chairman, and President as far as I know), but he never impressed me anyway.
danfromwaltham says
Four Bain officials, three are Democrats, two active Obama supporters, say Mitt is telling the truth. Talk to me like as if I never run a lemonade stand. Is it possible Mitt resigned from Bain to run the Olympics in 99 and the business he discussed when he returned to Belmont was about unwinding his ownership? Did Bain have a business prospectus during that time which listed all the managers running the show? If so, was Mitt listed? Legally, could Mitt refused to sign the SEC form even though he was the owner/CEO of Bain? You said he could, I’m just making sure.
Starting Bain doesn’t impress you, co-owner of the Celtics doesn’t impress you, but Obama and Warren do?
I have chosen sides, against the smear merchants of the left. You and BMG should not lie with the pigs of politics, there are too many problems and this is just a distraction.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/07/13/john_king_discusses_obamas_bain_allegations.html
SomervilleTom says
Bain filed multiple SEC reports during the period, describing Mitt Romney as being the sole owner of the investment portion of Bain and the CEO and managing director of the operations portion. Regardless of party affiliation, Bain officials were either lying then or they are lying now.
Lots of things are “possible”. It’s possible that Mitt Romney had nothing to do with Bain after 1999. It’s possible that Richard Cheney had nothing to do with Halliburton while, as Vice President, Mr. Cheney was funneling billions of dollars of no-bid contracts their way a few short months after (on paper) stepping down as Halliburton CEO.
It’s possible avoiding taxes had nothing to do with why Mitt Romney put untold millions of dollars into his offshore bank accounts. It’s possible that all those offshore investment vehicles created by Bain were NOT intended to attract dirty money for laundering (from places like Panama). It’s possible that guilt, shame and fear about what tax returns from that period will show has nothing whatsoever to do with Mr. Romney’s steadfast refusal to share his tax forms.
The side you’ve chosen is clear enough, and I don’t think it surprises anyone who has read the material you’ve posted here.
danfromwaltham says
Dont get me started with Cheney sending contracts to Haliburton with Obama sending billions to his peeps in solar companies that go belly-up. Both parties are corrupt in that regard.
SomervilleTom says
I don’t recall seeing that Joe Biden was CEO of either Solyndra or Evergreen. The suggestion that the losses in the solar industry were remotely comparable to the fortune in taxpayer money directed to Richard Cheney’s companies is laughably false.
The Solyndra bankruptcy cost the US about $535M. The MA GOP says that the Evergreen failure cost MA about $10M. I’m not sure what other “solar companies that go belly-up” you’re referring to, but I think you’ll be hard-pressed to find “billions” being sent their way.
According to sources like this 2004 presentation, Halliburton collected a total of twenty one billion dollars in US military spending in 2004 (p15).
Just to simplify those numbers for comparison, Solyndra and Evergreen together represent a loss of about $545M, or $0.545B. Richard Cheney’s family business received $21B in US military contracts in 2004. That means taxpayers directed THIRTY EIGHT TIMES as much money on Richard Cheney’s family business in 2004 as the solar losses you mention.
I don’t doubt that you don’t want anybody to look closely at the ENORMOUS haul Richard Cheney directed, as Vice President of the United States, to his “former” business.
Either Bain was lying then, is lying now, or both. Mitt Romney was either lying then or is lying now. As I wrote earlier, the side you’ve chosen is not surprising.
danfromwaltham says
While Solyndra produced nothing, absolutely nothing, except campaign contributions to Democrates. So yeah, at least we got something in return, except for empty promises like we did at Solyndra.
Mitt is a liar, felon, tax dodger, what else? Mormon but we will outsource that criticism to Rev. al Sharpton who will let us all know who the real Christians are, right Tom?
SomervilleTom says
That was military spending.
We seem to agree that Mitt Romney is a liar, felon, and tax dodger. The religious criticisms are yours.
danfromwaltham says
The Morman remarks were made by Rev. Al Sharpton, one of your guys. Based on your last post, you have officially joined the USS BMG Swiftboat. Congrats.
FYI, Haliburton was responsible for fuel deliveries and getting Iraqi oil fields to start producing some energy.
Mark L. Bail says
What you’re saying Dan is that two wrongs make a right.
It’s such a pathetic, right-wing way to respond: well, if my guy did it, your guy did it too. Mitt lied? Well, Obama’s Democratic supporters lied. Mitt Romney is a sleazy candidate? What about John Tierney? Huh, huh. In debate, this is called a red herring.
johnd says
Mitt Romney’s investments were 99.5% invested in US companies and banks. So if you want to make a deal out of 0.5% of his money being in a Swiss Bank account (done under a blind trust just like most US Senators do including your loved ones) then go for it. But you are being disingenuous by making this sound like A) Mitt did it intentionally and B) This amounted to a sizable portion of his investments.
Maybe we should all check the portfolios of any Mutual Funds we may own since we too could be invested in companies which we loathe or are counter to our ideology… without us knowing about it.
HR's Kevin says
As long as he keeps the details secret there is no way to know. You can bet that if he is not revealing the details, it is because he knows that it will lose him the election.
johnd says
Is this the new standard we can ALL use in future campaigns? Ask any opponent to produce confidential information and when they don’t accuse them of hiding something? Where does it end?
How many years of Kerry’s tax returns did he produce? Where was your inquiring mind then?
SomervilleTom says
Barack Obama was not touting his birth certificate as his primary qualification for President. There was never any serious doubt that Mr. Obama met the constitutional qualifications for the presidency. We know that Mitt Romney has many secret accounts holding untold millions of dollars from unknown sources in multiple foreign nations. We have only his word that he has paid the necessary taxes. Most individuals who practice such secrecy do so in order avoid paying taxes. We have only Mr. Romney’s assurances that he isn’t doing the same. This issue has nothing to do with birth certificates or failed Democratic presidential campaigns — and it isn’t going to go away.
Meainwhile, Mitt Romney put Bain Capital on the table when he repeatedly cited his experience at Bain in his favor. Now he cherry-picks the portions of that Bain experience to talk about. He knows what he did between 1999 and 2002, it’s been an issue in each of his campaigns since then, and he knows how to take the issue off the table.
The fact that he chooses to stonewall says to me that, given his knowledge of what actually transpired, the truth is worse than this firestorm.
danfromwaltham says
Teresa Heinz Kerry provide tax returns in 2004? I think not.
Credit to Mitt for running both Olympics and Bain, guy is a cyborg of some sort.
johnd says
and we Republicans were arrested guys because things were obvious (no proof needed).
You “KNOW”! How do you KNOW? Guess he wasn’t very good at secrets. I have a safety deposit box, so obviously I’m hiding shit in there… right?
Wow, only his word. How about every other elected official, their words seems to be ok. Kerry’s “word” passed muster. You just don’t like Mitt Romney and everything he does gets under your skin. The stock market went up today and people made billions in profit, but Mitt was one of them you want him skewered AND you want records that he paid his appropriate taxes.
No be honest Tom, he releases his taxes and the IRS says “Mitt did everything according tot he law”. Do you go quiet? Or do you rip every line apart and criticize where he put his money, how he invested, what was his tax rate… You’re just looking for ammo .
SomervilleTom says
You wrote:
We know he has many offshore accounts because he disclosed their existence. We know each has “more than a million” in it, because he said so in those disclosures. We don’t know whether “more than a million” means $1,000,001 or $10,000,000 or $100,000,000.
You also wrote:
I’m not aware of any other candidates who said, under oath, “I had nothing to do with Bain Capital after 1999” while Bain Capital was filing SEC reports for three additional years saying Mr. Romney was running the operation. We have Mr. Romney himself telling Massachusetts officials that he continued to do work for Bain after 1999.
I think that Mr. Romney has demonstrated, in the decade he’s been in public life, that his word means essentially NOTHING. He is been on virtually every side of virtually every issue. No, I don’t take him at his word. I think he has demonstrated himself to be significantly less trustworthy than most elected officials.
Please note, again, that I’m not saying that he broke the law. I’m saying, instead, that he had the best team of lawyers and accountants that money can buy, and that he took advantage of EVERY ANGLE POSSIBLE.
I didn’t say it was illegal. I think it’s unsavory, and I think many Americans will join me. From a February NYTimes piece:
Senator Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, wanted to block the nomination of Jeffrey Goldstein (as under secretary of the Treasury for domestic finance), he said “The only real difference that I hear between investing in the Cayman Islands and investing in the United States, or the only way that the Cayman Islands investments are superior, is the possibility of avoiding U.S. tax”.
I think these accounts would make it hard or impossible for Mr. Romney to get through a Senate confirmation hearing — legal or not.
This issue won’t go away. He is a sleaze, and this behavior demonstrates it.
danfromwaltham says
Watch the Obama ad and it says Mitt shipped jobs to Mexico? Who allowed him to do this (if true) and what has Obama done to stop the sucking sound?
SomervilleTom says
On this thread, we’re talking about Bain Capital, Mitt Romney’s offshore accounts, and whether or not Mr. Romney committed felony perjury when he submitted a sworn federal disclosure saying that he had had “not been involved in the operations of any Bain Capital entity in any way”.
Here’s what item 9 of “Notes to OGE Form 278, Schedule A” from the above says (emphasis mine):
That emphasized assertion above conflicts with other representations made by both Mitt Romney and Bain Capital.
That’s what we’re discussing on this thread, Danny. Please try to keep up.
danfromwaltham says
Are you kidding me? Put that in a commercial, Tom. My eyes glossed over reading it, and this is what we have against MItt. Wow, what a felon.
SomervilleTom says
Yeah, I know Danny, you have a hard time with actual facts.
I know this is really hard to understand. You see, the words “not had any active role” conflict with reality. It is a felony to submit false statements in that disclosure.
Yes, Mitt Romney’s apparent perjury is one of the things at issue.
danfromwaltham says
know what I mean?
kbusch says
Troll language again
johnd says
That’s fine, it’s your opinion and I can’t blame you. But don’t try to make it sound like if ROmney did any of the things you wanted him to do that it would matter to you, it won’t. He could fix the economy, stop the wars and cure cancer and he wouldn’t get your vote.
As for his keeping information confidential being “proof” of him lying, please mention that to Obama and Attorney General Holder since they are keeping secrets from the US Congress… ergo.. they are lying…RIGHT? Oh let me guess, that is different. It’s always different with you guys. Out of state money good or bad, depends if it’s for one of our people or yours… polls showing Romney leading equals a bad poll, EW leading equals a great poll. STOP saying things are different when it doesn’t fit your narrative. Don’t like Romney because he flip-flops, how’s Obama doing on Gitmo? How’s he doing on his promise of no lobbyists in his staff/WH/Cabinets… no Wall St people in his staff/WH/Cabinets… will bring the country together… Oh, it’s different. I get it.
SomervilleTom says
Again you evade the facts: Mitt Romney apparently perjured himself.
I don’t know about “curing cancer”, but Barack Obama has stopped the two wars that the prior administration began and he has (largely) fixed the economy — it’s in much better shape than it was when he took office, and that’s in spite of the relentless efforts of the GOP to block and obstruct him every step of the way.
“Visceral hatred”? How about this:
Just in case you missed it, here’s the money quote (0:40-0:46)
I don’t “hate” Mitt Romney, I don’t know him at all. The record shows that he is a perjurer, an opportunist, a bully, and a predator. I think that disqualifies him for holding the office he seeks.
johnd says
Every Bain executive says Mitt is telling the truth. Obviously regular people have a hard time understanding how business deals like Mitt leaving Bain works. Detractors hear the money involved and their eyes gloss over.
Also…
Are you serious? Really? Our economy is on the brink of failure and you think it is fixed. We are one bad event away from another collapse IMO.
danfromwaltham says
You really believe that? Excuse me, he followed Bush’s plan in Iraq. Then he sent a surge of troops into Afghanistan. How many soldiers have been killed since the surge? And for what?
I thought McConnell called Obama a loser and the war was lost but I didn’t hear it. Am I thinking of a different leader and POTUS?
johnd says
Someone better tell Big Ben…
HR's Kevin says
Note that Kerry did not become President,and quite frankly I never liked Kerry all that much in any case – go back and check the archives. I don’t see how the bogus birther charges are in any way similar to a desire to understand more about candidates personal finances.
You know perfectly well that if Obama had the same level of secrecy for his own finances the Republicans would be all over it, and rightly so. Candidates for President need to be transparent about their finances so that we can see that their judgement won’t be tainted by selfish financial concerns. It also reflects their true values. Anyway, what do you expect when Romney’s own father produced 12 years of data?
Fair or not, Romney is going to be repeatedly hit with this and unless he opens up, it is going to hurt him badly because the *only* reason for him to keep this information private is because he knows it will make him look very bad. Either there is a real smoking gun there that would destroy the campaign or Romney is seriously underestimating the damage this will cause by refusing to disclose more.
danfromwaltham says
inmillions in foreign banks and investment vehicles. Debbie Blabbermouth Schultz has retirement funds invested overseas.
HR's Kevin says
I understand what you are trying to do, but you have to realize that repeatedly yelling “hey, look over there” every time someone asks an uncomfortable question about your candidate is a losing strategy. You can whine and moan all you like, but until Romney reveals more about his personal finances, he is going to be beat over the head with this over and over and over and over again. You know it is inevitable and you know that that is what the Republicans would be doing if Obama was as secretive as Romney has been. You can’t hand Obama a club and expect him not to hit you with it.
A much better strategy for you would be to simply shut up and let the thread die rather than giving us more excuses to talk about this.
SomervilleTom says
As hrs-kevin has already observed, we have no way of knowing how much Mr. Romney has secreted away. It was certainly enough that he thought it necessary to hide it, hide it carefully, and hide it in places where it is, um, “secure”. How on Earth do you think this could anything BUT intentional?
We know it’s at least multiple millions. Can you please name any other presidential candidate who has hidden similar fortunes in off-shore accounts?
whosmindingdemint says
needs to keep his left up.
Mark L. Bail says
If it’s a distraction, visit the Red Mass Duet. You’ll not be distracted there.
This isn’t an inside baseball of SEC filings. It’s a political meme. Obama supporters lying? Watch House. Everyone lies. It’s irrelevant. Obama’s supporters aren’t running for office. Romney is. You’re going all red herring again. The problem is that Romney was either lying then or lying now. He changes his stance the way I change my socks.
All along I had filed you under intellectual Chapter 11, but it’s looking a lot more like you’re in Chapter 7 after all.
whosmindingdemint says
That’s quite the scoop you got there, Rocky.
johnd says
However, if those three Bain executives disagreed with Mitt Romney, OH BOY would you take them at their word!!! Funny how that works.
Christopher says
You do realize that transcripts are confidential, don’t you? Why would any of us know where they are, and why do you once again assume there’s a problem just because someone started a rumor? He DID get in to Harvard after all, which presumably did see his Columbia transcript.
danfromwaltham says
It was Obama who said you need to be an open book, did he not? Just playing the DNC game.
bob-gardner says
I’m with you on Tierney, but when someone files papers with the SEC,that should mean something. Besides the Boston Herald reported that Mitt intended to stay involved with Bain. You can’t do much better, credibility-wise, than the Boston Herald.
Personally, I have my doubts about this whole Olympic thing. Sure his name is all over the paperwork, but that’s just a technically.
danfromwaltham says
I am surrounded by the wealthiest communities in the state, good restaurants, a city that Scott Brown carried over Coakley.
farnkoff says
His argument seems to be that he ran Bain the same way he ran Massachusetts for most of his term. Wonder how long it will take him to lose interest in the presidency, should he prevail in November?
dont-get-cute says
Why would any sane person want to be President? The public is so self-serving and demanding, and society is so completely unworthy of anyone lifting a finger to stop us from starving and dying in shrieking agony. Romney is fueling up the rocket ship and ditching us, like in that James Bond movie, fully expecting to become super human like Mormons prophesise about. There is something more important to him than being the President, a further step up the ladder.
michaelbate says
that Romney “saved” the Olympics with taxpayer’s money.
historian says
Very logical–must be annoying to have multiple documents directly contradict everything you say.
The Transcripter phenomenon is a fascinating variant of birtherism: what I want to see are Obama’s transcripts from his school in Kenya!
Also why was Romney to give the McCain campaign years of tax returns when he refuses to let the American people have the same information?
whosmindingdemint says
Romney forgot how many bank accounts he has.
His tax returns are just too complex for the little people to understand.
Bob Neer says
That is very simple. He said he left in 1999, but not it turns out that he filed government documents that said he was in charge until 2002.
Everyone knows it is a legal crime to provide false information to the government, and a political crime to say you had no responsibility for a company when you actually owned it and were the CEO.
So, that is a problem for Romney.
But arguably not as big a problem as Seamus. Does everyone know that he strapped his family dog to the top of his car and took off on a nine-hour drive from Boston to Toronto. The dog was so distressed he had diarrhea in his kennel, which dripped down all over the car. Romney could have cared less, apparently, but was forced to pull off the road by the protestations of his children. He hosed down the dog and kennel, put one of his children in the car carrier, and finished the ride with Seamus in the back seat. I think.
dont-get-cute says
and led the sing-alongs. Or won’t you be satisfied unless he did it all fully consensually, got to choose the snacks, and got union naps. But that’s just too much to ask, he’s just a dog! He can’t drive, let alone man the radio.
danfromwaltham says
If Mitt legally owned the company, should he have lied and say he didn’t? How long does it take to unwind ownership of a company like this?
You show sympathy for Seamus, but where is the love for Red Sox fans who are cramped sitting at Fenway Dump, treated like a second class citizen in a dilapidated facility.
Again, Clinton killed Buddy and Obama knows what dog tastes like. If you were a pooch, who would you want to be your master?
Ryan says
If he wasn’t going to manage it, he should have resigned.
Or how about this: He should have been honest from the start and said he always kept on at Bain and, as he told Massachusetts in order to prove his eligibility to run for Governor, had the intention of going back full time.
And… you know… owned the company’s record from 1999-2002, the good and the bad, like any guy with a spine would do. If he just said, “there were some decisions made back then that I wish I could have back,” instead of lying and saying he wasn’t a part of the company any more to avoid taking responsibility for once in his life, then maybe this problem would have gone away by now.
HR's Kevin says
It is pretty clear that you don’t understand the difference between a tragic accident (Clinton was not even present at the time – geez) and a deliberate and willful lack of care for a pet in obvious prolonged distress. It is also perfectly clear that Obama cares for his dog. So I don’t know why you are bothering with these childish counter attacks. They are never going to resonate with real dog lovers (which you are very clearly not).
danfromwaltham says
Unless Mitt is something like Michael Vick, I really don’t care about Seamus or Buddy or Obama enjoying dog meat at a BBQ. We have enormous financial issues and some keep bringing up Seamus, so I respond in kind, even though I should not stoop to their levels. Please note, Buddy clearly was not trained properly by Bill and yes, when a dog escapes from your yard and is killed, those who are responsible for the care and protection of the animal are at fault. Perhaps if Bill installed a fence, Buddy would be alive today.
HR's Kevin says
Which totally negates your points. Only people who care about animals are going to care about Clinton’s dog, but those people aren’t going to pay attention to someone who clearly could care less.
BTW, could you please stop lying about Obama “enjoying” dog meat. He said no such thing. You do realize that every time you utter a blatant lie, you give us license to question everything you say?
danfromwaltham says
How he ate dog meat, u know that to be a fact, Jack! From the audio I heard, he Failed to say how he looks back at eating dog and how disgusting a practice is is, nor did he condemn it. So he must have enjoyed it, right? Only logical conclusion.
Reason why my furniture is not made in Vietnam, or why I don’t drive a Hyundai or Honda. I stay away from Japanese products b/c they eat whale meat and I love Them Sea Shephard and Paul Watson is my hero. Obviously dogs are murdered in Korea and Vietnam and eaten by the population.
So glad Mitt will crack down on China, they eat dogs too. I am sure Obama thinks nothing of it when he is over there, he likely feels right at home.
HR's Kevin says
In his book he said that he ate dog meat as a child and found it to be “tough”. He never said that he enjoyed it nor that it was “savory”, both of those are just your lies.
It is kind of sad that you are willing to destroy your credibility by posting so many obvious falsehoods. Why should anyone pay any attention to anything that you say?
Perhaps you don’t really care if people here perceive how foolish you are. Perhaps the negative attention is just as useful to satisfying your narcissistic need.
kbusch says
If he didn’t make make these childish counterattacks, he’d have no hope of contributing the majority of comments on this thread.
Ryan says
While Mitt claimed to the paper that Seamus lived a long and happy life after the instance, the dog actually ran away after they reached their destination and was never seen from again.
whosmindingdemint says
…
jconway says
Gail Collins columns and BMG bloggers are really distracting from the important stories that are actually troubling regarding Romney and why he made his money. And it allows defenders like Danfromwaltham to scream ‘these attacks are just as petty as Seamus!’ whenever they are brought up. But actually it is really important to me that the potential number one law enforcement officer in the country has toed a pretty tight line on basic questions of personal financial integrity. It also shows that Romney is a member of the global elite, the elite that is far less concerned with how America as a nation of 300 million people does and more concerned with how its top 500 companies do and what the state can do to make those companies more profitable. I am concerned about all the fundraisers he has that are being closed to the press and what backdoor deals and promises he is making. I am concerned about a political lifetime now of almost 30 years of inconsistency and pandering to conflicting interest groups. I am deathly concerned about his inexperience in foreign policy and that his closest advisers are the same neoconservatives that took us to Iraq.
I am concerned that neither candidate is willing to challenge China as the currency manipulator it is to save American jobs and restore our trade balance, but more concerned that Romney has actually made money betting against the American dollar and has personally profited from leveraging American assets and companies to Chinese investors. Even staunch Republicans like Henry Ford put aside their personal interests for the good of the country during wartime, I am not sure if Romney is inclined to put America first when he has had a record of putting himself first every time. And this is far more important than what he did with a frackin’ dog.
Ryan says
Sure. But he pretty much killed the dog. (It ran away and was never found again.) That may not be very important to you, but it is very important to me. I could never vote for anyone that did anything like that to their family dog.
whosmindingdemint says
is now Seamus’ master.
jconway says
It reminds me of an anecdote told by Charlie Wilson that he first got politically involved when his city councilor neighbor killed his dog, he drive every person to the polls and said “I don’t mean this to influence your vote but that man killed my dog” and sure enough he lost.
danfromwaltham says
Which is worse, putting a dog on the roof of a car, protected by a homemade windshield, or cheating on your wife the way Clinton did with Jennifer Flowers and others?
Not for nothing, but this guy takes the cake. I love a good laugh before hitting the hay.
SomervilleTom says
One of my daughters, who was 10 at the time, said it best: “If his wife is ok with whatever he did, why do we care?” Our alleged Walthamite is apparently one of those people who can’t bring themselves to accept the decisions made by the women involved.
I do tend to agree with jconway that the Seamus meme is a distraction.
danfromwaltham says
Gee 10 yr old kid, why is it frowned upon if a hubby is cheating on his wife, even though neither care?
Gee, seemed like Hillary was pretty angry tat Monica, unless it was an act. Perhaps when one feels the need to let her hubby be with other women, she has a low self-esteem??????? Perhaps she put up with it b/c she had a young child at the time? Oh wait, she put up with it for,the greater good, because he is a Democrat and votes the right way on issues.
SomervilleTom says
I know there are two really difficult concepts to understand here: marital privacy and love. Husband and wife making decisions for themselves. Strikingly absent from your speculations is “perhaps she loves him, and he loves her”.
Some people get it (like my 10 year old). Some people don’t.
danfromwaltham says
like the Clinton’s have with each other. I hope neither you or your kids experience that type of relationship either.
HR's Kevin says
n/t
SomervilleTom says
I think it’s patently obvious that you “don’t get” the kind of love that Bill and Hillary Clinton have shared in the thirty six years they’ve been married (since October 11, 1975).
danfromwaltham says
But I understand Mitt and Ann’s marriage. Do you get that, sorry I don’t have their wedding date like you have the Clinton’s.
whosmindingdemint says
Cadillac Ann hasn’t released her tax returns! What is she hiding?
SomervilleTom says
I guess some of us are Google-challenged as well.
Again I don’t doubt that you “understand Mitt and Ann’s marriage”. They must have had a really tough time, being forced to live off the proceeds of the stock they inherited from George Romney.
Ryan says
What the hell kind of business is it of yours that you have to “get” anyone’s “love.”
Quite frankly, your Clinton rant right here is downright creepy.
Ryan says
It’s not even a contest.
Just reiterating SomervilleTom’s point.
danfromwaltham says
What a nice ballpark. No stiff neck and the seats were comfortable. What made me sad was the huge smokestacks that were dormant in the background and the lost jobs that moved south, or overseas.
You should go there some day to a game and see how the other side lives. You may never return to Fenway Dump again,