Look: I am eager to learn stuff I don't know--which requires actively courting and posting smart disagreement.

But as you will understand, I don't like to post things that mischaracterize and are aimed to mislead.

-- Brad Delong

Copyright Notice

Everything that appears on this blog is the copyrighted property of somebody. Often, but not always, that somebody is me. For things that are not mine, I either have obtained permission, or claim fair use. Feel free to quote me, but attribute, please. My photos and poetry are dear to my heart, and may not be used without permission. Ditto, my other intellectual property, such as charts and graphs. I'm probably willing to share. Let's talk. Violators will be damned for all eternity to the circle of hell populated by Rosanne Barr, Mrs Miller [look her up], and trombonists who are unable play in tune. You cannot possibly imagine the agony. If you have a question, email me: jazzbumpa@gmail.com. I'll answer when I feel like it. Cheers!

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

When Mitt Romney Came to Town

Here is the full 28 minute video that Newt's organization put together to tell the world about Mitt Romney.  Is it slanted?  Probably.  I won't suggest that Newt has anything resembling scruples, even in a vague way.  But is it swift-boating?  I have my doubts on that account.  If the record is real, then it is just painful truth.  Truth is, this story is told with a lot of pain.   And, really -- isn't this what vulture capitalists do?

The amazing thing is that it is coming from another Rethug - specifically, the guy who only days ago was whining about the attack ads on him.  As if he actually had a soul.  Wow - we are really screwed.




H/T to the LW

9 comments:

BadTux said...

I heard GinGrinch being interviewed on CNN Radio on my way home. The visceral disdain he has for Romney has to be heard to be believed, you got the impression that he wasn't in this to win votes, he didn't care about votes anymore, he's got a grudge and is wanting to press home exactly how dishonest and venal Mitt Romney really is. Talk about someone who holds a grudge! And the thing is, like you said, everything he is saying about Romney's fundamental dishonesty seems to check out when I look at Romney's actual record... not that the Grinch is exactly a boy scout himself, but even an evil small-minded pig can find a truffle in a shitpile sometimes.

- Badtux the Mildly Amused Penguin

(O)CT(O)PUS said...

Over a year ago, the New York Post, a Murdoch publication of ill repute, ran this story:

Romney's private equity firm, Bain Capital, bought companies and often increased short-term earnings so those businesses could then borrow enormous amounts of money. That borrowed money was used to pay Bain dividends. Then those businesses needed to maintain that high level of earnings to pay their debts.

(…)

• Bain in 1988 put $5 million down to buy Stage Stores, and in the mid-'90s took it public, collecting $100 million from stock offerings. Stage filed for bankruptcy in 2000.

• Bain in 1992 bought American Pad & Paper (AMPAD), investing $5 million, and collected $100 million from dividends. The business filed for bankruptcy in 2000.

• Bain in 1993 invested $60 million when buying GS Industries, and received $65 million from dividends. GS filed for bankruptcy in 2001.

• Bain in 1997 invested $46 million when buying Details, and made $93 million from stock offerings. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2003.

Romney's Bain invested 22 percent of the money it raised from 1987-95 in these five businesses, making a $578 million profit.

... there's little question he made a fortune from businesses he helped destroy.


Most ironic: Romney touted Bain to divert attention from his record as governor of Massachusetts. Curious how Bain has now turned into the bane of his campaign.

BadTux said...

Romney touted Bain to divert attention from his record as governor of Massachusetts. Curious how Bain has now turned into the bane of his campaign.

But see, that's the thing. Romney is a conscienceless lizard being from planet Sociopath, so he simply couldn't conceive of the things he did at Baen being repulsive to, like, actual feeling human beings. That's the one big flaw of lizard people when it comes to politics -- their lack of conscience means they're unable to identify those situations that people with a conscience would be repulsed. Otherwise their ability to lie with a straight face and do whatever evil is necessary to destroy their opposition is a big benefit to them -- just look at Richard Nixon in 1968 and 1972, or for that matter George W. Bush in 2004 when he successfully "Swiftboated" Kerry using an outrageous lie spread via proxies that probably had him doing a shit-eating grin behind closed doors.

Octupi are cold blooded too, of course, but as far as I know are uninterested in invading land and taking it over, with the notable exception of walking octopi who, however, are somewhat limited in their ambition by the fact that they can only survive for a few minutes on land before their skin dries out and they can no longer breathe.

- Badtux the Lizard-observin' Penguin

(O)CT(O)PUS said...

Badtux,
This gratuitous stereotyping of lizards is a mostly human construct borne of bad metaphors. Body temperature does not necessarily equate with moral conduct. Lizards predate to eat and eat to survive. Nothing more and nothing personal, it is the way of wild.

In contrast, human beings kill for sport (including their own kind), consume to excess, and waste natural resources. There is no known analogue for sociopathic behavior in the animal world; this disorder is unique to human beings.

BadTux said...

Octopus, cats kill for sport, dogs consume to excess, and goats are one of the principal mechanisms of desertification in North Africa. Man is just an animal in the end -- one extraordinarily capable of implementing those animal behaviors because of his ability to use tools, but the behaviors remain the same.

Regarding lizards, I was not of course talking about Earth lizards when I mentioned lizard people from planet Sociopath. I was talking about aliens who view humanity with much the same lack of empathy that humans in a slaughter house view cattle -- i.e., humans are their food, not something to care about individually. At best they are capable of thinking about the good of the herd as a guarantee of a future supply of shredded lives for their grisly slaughterhouse of human suffering, but really, how many slaughterhouse workers and burger flippers really care a bit about the living conditions and lives of the cattle that were slaughter to fulfill the desire of humanity for tasty steaks and burgers?

- Badtux the "To Serve Man" Penguin

Jazzbumpa said...

I have a slightly different take, as I put forth in our previous discussion.

http://jazzbumpa.blogspot.com/2011/12/republican-brain.html

Reptiles are home-grown, right here on earth - some on the earthy parts, and some in the water.

Their brains are primitive, and consist mainly of the function: "screw you, I got mine."

Hence their identification as Repugnicants.

Cheers!
JzB

(O)CT(O)PUS said...

"Man is just an animal in the end -- one extraordinarily capable of implementing those animal behaviors because of his ability to use tools ..."

BadTux,
All the more reason to consider trading down to a more energy efficient species; and there are numerous role models from which to choose - invertebrates, fish, reptiles, birds, and small mammals - the furthest away from human beings the better.

Perhaps the most sublime example is the unicellular amoeba, especially if you are one those tea bagging, no government types. Consider: No organ systems, no bureaucracy, no overhead, and no infrastructure. What can be simpler! They even reproduce via mitosis (making it harder to get their undivided attention). Unfortunately, amoebic economies tend to run on parasitism – just like Bain Capital.

Jazzbumpa said...

octo -

I was actually thinking about amoeba while still in your first paragraph - though admittedly, only in the sense of being furthest from human.

Last para; wow. Just, WOW!

JzB

Cirze said...

Yeppers, sweets,

I said the same thing when Dumbya's Chenegang was allowed to steal the 2000 election.

"Nothing good will happen after this. It won't be allowed."