Shameless Lies

I already understood that Mitt Romney was a very bad man, at least according to the Obama Campaign. I didn't imagine that he was actually a carcinogen.

That is about as dirty and mendacious as one could imagine a political ad to be, in this day and time. It piles one bald faced lie on top on another. As I pointed out previously, the "vampire capitalism" storyline about Bain and GST is false. Bain did not acquire GST to shut it down; rather, it invested $100 million in modernizing the plant. Though GST ultimately failed, Bain kept it alive for eight years.

As CNN reports, Joe Soptic's wife did not lose her health insurance when Soptic lost his job. She did not become ill "a short time later" but five years after the GST plant closed. Ms. Soptic's death is tragic to be sure. It is a vicious fabrication to blame it on Mitt Romney.

Much the same is true of Harry Reid's now infamous statement that Mitt Romney paid no taxes for ten years. From the Washington Post's Fact Checker:

"The word's out that he [Romney] hasn't paid any taxes for 10 years."

— Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), on the floor of the U.S. Senate, Aug. 2, 2012

Reid has generated a lot of controversy with his claim that presumptive GOP nominee did not pay any taxes for 10 years. He originally told the Huffington Post that a person who had invested with Bain Capital had called his office and told him this. Then, he told reporters in Nevada that "I have had a number of people tell me that."

Reid refused to identify any of his "sources," and the claim is manifestly false.

Romney has refused to release more than two years of tax returns, citing a precedent that is not very credible; he earned three Pinocchios for that claim. Most presidential candidates in recent years have released more than two years of returns, so Romney may be paying a political price for failing to release more. But Romney's 2010 return and his estimated 2011 return do show that he paid substantial taxes in those years.

Fact Checker Kessler awards Reid four well-deserved Pinocchios. I would not go so far as George Will and call it "McCarthyism." Reid was not accusing Romney of treason. It is comparable. Like Joe McCarthy, Reid made a flamboyant accusation based on information he claimed to have but refused to show. For the leader of the Democratic majority in the Senate to make such a claim from the Senate floor makes him not just a liar but an utterly shameless liar. He doesn't care that he demeans himself, his office, or his chamber; he is willing to prostitute all those things to win an election.

I don't expect honesty in a political campaign. This is not the dirtiest Presidential campaign in American history, not by a long shot. It is almost certainly the dirtiest in decades. I make no claims here about the honesty of the Romney campaign. I do recall how Democrats persuaded themselves that they lost the White House in 2000 and 2004 only because the Republicans were willing to fight dirtier. If they lose this time, they won't be able to take refuge in such illusions. It doesn't get much dirtier or dishonest than what I have described above.

Comments

[stanchaz]

Awwwww. Poor poor republicans. they can give, but they can't take.
Listen guys- just take Two Trumps, and DON'T call me in the morning.

Reid is Right as Rain ...and Willard is all Wet.
‘Cause Americans have a RIGHT to see the tax returns
of anyone who wants to be their President --the highest office in the land.
NO if’s, ...No and’s, ...and NO big fat but’s about it!
Case Closed.

ESPECIALLY with someone like Mitt -whose past and present life is
full of flip-flops, questionable business practices, tax loopholes,
hidden assets and investments, ...and who knows what else.

Confession is good for the soul, Mitt. Even for someone as soul-less as you.
So just Relax, Repent, and Release your Returns, Mr. Romney
…OR… go back to Playing with your Pet Prancing Ponies.

Come out of your gold-plated 10-car closet Mitt, and STOP with this
“Don’t ask, Don’t tell” nonsense! No problem -we’ll understand.
Unless …perhaps ….just perhaps …you’re HIDING something, dear Willard?
Inquiring minds want to know.

And you want even MORE tax cuts and loopholes for you and your rich buddies, Mitt? 
WHAT GALL! These fat cats aren’t satisfied - they want it ALL ...EVERYTHING!
But tell me Mitt, just how MANY cars and houses can you hog?
And just how MANY silver spoons can you stuff into your smirking mouth?

Mitt baby, you can fool some of the people some of the time,but -please-  take my advice:
IF you just want to run for dog-catcher then KEEP your  precious tax returns,
and clean off your car roof. OTHERWISE, if you wanna be our President, THEN PUT UP,
or shut up and go away ….preferably BEFORE the convention.

The super-rich think that they have the God-given right to do anything they want in this
great country -while the REST of us get screwed! ENOUGH!!! The divine right of kings
ended a long long time ago Mitt. And so should your sorry excuse for a candidacy.

Nothing personal, guy. Really. Super-Rich, arrogant, power-hungry Republicans are people too!
It's just their "culture" that bothers me (as you're so fond of saying).
‘Cause making lots and lot of money can be SUCH a dirty business. Right, fella?

BOTTOM LINE: It’s Laundry Time, Mitt.
------SO COME CLEAN------.
I’m from the “Show Me” State....where it’s not enough to just SAY you’re “not a crook”
....AFTER you’re President ...like Tricky Dick Nixon.

S-H-O-W ME NOW!

[Donald Pay]

There are lies you tell about another person during a campaign, and then there are the lies you live. Much of the Mitt Romney is a living lie, a fabricated mess of contradictory positions held simultaneously, and that's a far bigger problem than this ad.

In all the Republican contretemps over the Soptic ad, they really do want to roll right on by the real issue---that our health care system, prior to Obamacare, left far too many people uncovered or undercovered, resulting in far too many premature deaths. The Romney campaign aide probably said it best (that if Soptic's wife had lived in Massachusetts, Romneycare would have assured her adequate health care). Since Obamacare is patterned after Romneycare, it seemed that telling this truth flies in the face of the lies Republicans have to make themselves live every day of their lives regarding their own health care solution, which they disparage as Obamacare. In fact Ann Colter wants Romney to fire the campaign aide for telling the truth. I guess in the modern Republican Party, telling the truth is something that is not allowable.

[Dave]

Geeze... The only ones calling this a murder accusation are Romneys media whores...

I mean, the same Romney media whores are calling Eric Holder a murderer for his roll in "fast and furious"...

[Stan Gibilisco]

The two recent negative ads by the Obama campaign have had no influence on the extent to which I trust Mitt Romney, and no influence on the extent to which I trust Barack Obama, insofar as my vote goes.

I would not have voted for either of them before the ad, and I would not vote for either of them today.

[Ken Blanchard]

Stan: one of them is going to be President for the next four years.

[Leo Kallis]

Dr.Blanchard,

You are right;one of them will be President. The electoral college, however, does give people in firmly red or firmly blue states a bit of freedom. In South Dakota a vote for Obama is as wasted as a vote for Gary Johnson or a write in for George Abraham Theodore Franklin Eisenhower.

I think Conor Friedersdorf has it right http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/07/how-to-protest-the-major-parties-without-throwing-away-your-vote/260273/