Get the facts on Mitt Romney
September 5, 2007 4:57 AM Subscribe
Get to know the real Mitt Romney. "Every man has a natural, and, in our country, a constitutional right to be a false prophet, as well as a true prophet," said Joseph Smith, and Romney is hedging his bets. Today, the Massachusetts Democratic Party launched a site to help you get better perspective on Mitt.
Massachusetts Mitt sounds like an informed, sensible candidate. Is he running for President?
posted by Faint of Butt at 5:10 AM on September 5, 2007
posted by Faint of Butt at 5:10 AM on September 5, 2007
I was thinking the same thing, PeterMcDermott!!
On February 10, 2002, while overseeing 2002 Winter Olympics, ROMNEY became extremely angry upon encountering a traffic jam at a venue and proceeded to berate two persons authorized to direct traffic there, including with obscenity laced tirades, according to a police captain at the scene and a volunteer targeted by ROMNEY. The traffic volunteer Shaun Knopp stated that ROMNEY "asked me who the f___ I was and what the f___ I was doing. We got the Olympics going on we don't need this s___ down here."...ROMNEY denied part of the allegation, insisting he hadn't used the F-word since high school -- but admitted he used a word he described as "H-E-double hockey sticks." Disposition: The Utah Department of Safety advised it had decided against initiating a "profanity probe."
posted by billysumday at 5:10 AM on September 5, 2007
On February 10, 2002, while overseeing 2002 Winter Olympics, ROMNEY became extremely angry upon encountering a traffic jam at a venue and proceeded to berate two persons authorized to direct traffic there, including with obscenity laced tirades, according to a police captain at the scene and a volunteer targeted by ROMNEY. The traffic volunteer Shaun Knopp stated that ROMNEY "asked me who the f___ I was and what the f___ I was doing. We got the Olympics going on we don't need this s___ down here."...ROMNEY denied part of the allegation, insisting he hadn't used the F-word since high school -- but admitted he used a word he described as "H-E-double hockey sticks." Disposition: The Utah Department of Safety advised it had decided against initiating a "profanity probe."
posted by billysumday at 5:10 AM on September 5, 2007
I'm sure we'll hear more from Massachusetts Mitt if Redstate Romney is able to get past the Republican Primary.
Republican line: This time around we'll call it "nuanced reexamination," not "flipflopping!"
posted by bshort at 5:13 AM on September 5, 2007
Republican line: This time around we'll call it "nuanced reexamination," not "flipflopping!"
posted by bshort at 5:13 AM on September 5, 2007
I love it, though it's based on a fallacy. Flip-flopping is only not OK if you are a non-Republican.
posted by DU at 5:14 AM on September 5, 2007 [3 favorites]
posted by DU at 5:14 AM on September 5, 2007 [3 favorites]
The Utah Department of Safety advised it had decided against initiating a "profanity probe."
I don't even want to know.
posted by DU at 5:15 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
I don't even want to know.
posted by DU at 5:15 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
In June 1981, ROMNEY attempted to launch family motorboat at Cochituate State Park despite park ranger advising that he was prohibited from doing so because his boat did not display proper registration.If that's supposed to be a smear site, why does his arrest record make me want to vote for him?
My guess is that you like wealthy people with a sense of entitlement.
posted by Mayor Curley at 5:15 AM on September 5, 2007 [7 favorites]
Because he's Mormon, he's got to be extra-cretinous in the Republican primaries. "I'd open up two more Guantanamos!" In a way, I sort of feel sorry for the guy - as FoB said, Massachusetts Mitt sounds like someone I might've voted for.
posted by billysumday at 5:16 AM on September 5, 2007
posted by billysumday at 5:16 AM on September 5, 2007
My guess is that you like wealthy people with a sense of entitlement.
Actually, that whole boating episode reads way more like a scene from Vacation than "wealthy person with a sense of entitlement."
posted by billysumday at 5:18 AM on September 5, 2007
Actually, that whole boating episode reads way more like a scene from Vacation than "wealthy person with a sense of entitlement."
posted by billysumday at 5:18 AM on September 5, 2007
"H-E-double hockey sticks."
Who the hell is this guy, Ned Flanders?
posted by nola at 5:20 AM on September 5, 2007 [3 favorites]
Who the hell is this guy, Ned Flanders?
posted by nola at 5:20 AM on September 5, 2007 [3 favorites]
I have a profanity probe for you. I got it right here.
posted by psmealey at 5:21 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by psmealey at 5:21 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
My guess is that you like wealthy people with a sense of entitlement.
Perhaps motorboats are expensive in the USA, but here in the UK, pretty well anybody who wants one can afford one.
But I do find wealthy people with a sense of entitlement less aggravating than jobsworth bureaucrats who are determined to ruin other people's pleasure, simply because they can, it's true.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 5:23 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
Perhaps motorboats are expensive in the USA, but here in the UK, pretty well anybody who wants one can afford one.
But I do find wealthy people with a sense of entitlement less aggravating than jobsworth bureaucrats who are determined to ruin other people's pleasure, simply because they can, it's true.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 5:23 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
...here in the UK, pretty well anybody who wants one can afford one.
Anyone who is anyone, anyway.
posted by DU at 5:26 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
Anyone who is anyone, anyway.
posted by DU at 5:26 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
If that's supposed to be a smear site, why does his arrest record make me want to vote for him?
Careful--it's the same "oh, what the hell? I'd like to have a beer with him" attitude that got us stuck with Shrub McFucktard for the last 7 years.
posted by zardoz at 5:27 AM on September 5, 2007 [13 favorites]
Careful--it's the same "oh, what the hell? I'd like to have a beer with him" attitude that got us stuck with Shrub McFucktard for the last 7 years.
posted by zardoz at 5:27 AM on September 5, 2007 [13 favorites]
Perhaps motorboats are expensive in the USA, but here in the UK, pretty well anybody who wants one can afford one.
I didn't realise. Now I want one. How much?
posted by MrMustard at 5:28 AM on September 5, 2007
I didn't realise. Now I want one. How much?
posted by MrMustard at 5:28 AM on September 5, 2007
Perhaps motorboats are expensive in the USA, but here in the UK, pretty well anybody who wants one can afford one.
I didn't realise. Now I want one. How much?
Go to any lake in the Midwest in the summer. Preferably on a weekday, around 7 in the morning. Depending on the size of the lake, you'll see 10, 20 boats. Ask yourself how many of the people in those boats are wealthy. Or, to put it another way - wealthy people with senses of entitlement don't launch their boats at State Parks. They have houses with boats docked at piers. Launching your boat at Smoky Sycamore State Park and Campground is what the Great Unwashed tend to do, usually with a 12-pack of beer and a couple of fishing poles. If anything, Romney was embarrassed and frustrated. Yeah, ok, so the guy doesn't have much business running for President, but come on - that rap sheet is cleaner than my 4-year old nephew's.
posted by billysumday at 5:44 AM on September 5, 2007
I didn't realise. Now I want one. How much?
Go to any lake in the Midwest in the summer. Preferably on a weekday, around 7 in the morning. Depending on the size of the lake, you'll see 10, 20 boats. Ask yourself how many of the people in those boats are wealthy. Or, to put it another way - wealthy people with senses of entitlement don't launch their boats at State Parks. They have houses with boats docked at piers. Launching your boat at Smoky Sycamore State Park and Campground is what the Great Unwashed tend to do, usually with a 12-pack of beer and a couple of fishing poles. If anything, Romney was embarrassed and frustrated. Yeah, ok, so the guy doesn't have much business running for President, but come on - that rap sheet is cleaner than my 4-year old nephew's.
posted by billysumday at 5:44 AM on September 5, 2007
his boat did not display proper registration.
Obviously a smear job from the nefarious 527 group Motorboat Park Rangers for Truth.
posted by psmealey at 5:49 AM on September 5, 2007 [10 favorites]
Obviously a smear job from the nefarious 527 group Motorboat Park Rangers for Truth.
posted by psmealey at 5:49 AM on September 5, 2007 [10 favorites]
Depending on the size of the lake, you'll see 10, 20 boats. Ask yourself how many of the people in those boats are wealthy.
Yeah, I'll bet Mitt was launching a pontoon boat with a 15 hp motor, Confederate flag decal and a 30 pack of Busch Light in the cooler. And worried about getting overtime hours at Bain Capital to keep up with the payments.
posted by Mayor Curley at 5:52 AM on September 5, 2007
Yeah, I'll bet Mitt was launching a pontoon boat with a 15 hp motor, Confederate flag decal and a 30 pack of Busch Light in the cooler. And worried about getting overtime hours at Bain Capital to keep up with the payments.
posted by Mayor Curley at 5:52 AM on September 5, 2007
Wait until you find out how much he spends on HAIRCUTS.
posted by briank at 5:53 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by briank at 5:53 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
Yeah, I'll bet Mitt was launching a pontoon boat with a 15 hp motor, Confederate flag decal and a 30 pack of Busch Light in the cooler. And worried about getting overtime hours at Bain Capital to keep up with the payments.
No, it was worse than that. He had a bunch of fun-loving, ice-sledding Mormon kids in the backseat of his Econoline who were crying because their daddy forgot to get the boat registered, and now Mary and Jimmy and Bobby couldn't go tubing. Anyway, I'm having a really difficult time deciphering whether you're actually mad about this. I mean, you know. In the scheme of things.
posted by billysumday at 5:59 AM on September 5, 2007
No, it was worse than that. He had a bunch of fun-loving, ice-sledding Mormon kids in the backseat of his Econoline who were crying because their daddy forgot to get the boat registered, and now Mary and Jimmy and Bobby couldn't go tubing. Anyway, I'm having a really difficult time deciphering whether you're actually mad about this. I mean, you know. In the scheme of things.
posted by billysumday at 5:59 AM on September 5, 2007
He once put his mitts on my romney. Or maybe that was just a crazy dream....
posted by Floydd at 6:13 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by Floydd at 6:13 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
Wow, what an amazingly lame hit piece.
BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MICH. (c. 1965) -- ARREST- CHARGE NOT KNOWN.
ROMNEY was arrested along with future wife Ann Davies for actions in connection with practical joke at Cranbrook Academy. Reportedly ROMNEY and several friends "bought huge blocks of ice from the local gas station, laid towels over them, and went sliding down the slopes of a nearby golf course."
Clearly, they're having some ammunition issues...
posted by SweetJesus at 6:25 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MICH. (c. 1965) -- ARREST- CHARGE NOT KNOWN.
ROMNEY was arrested along with future wife Ann Davies for actions in connection with practical joke at Cranbrook Academy. Reportedly ROMNEY and several friends "bought huge blocks of ice from the local gas station, laid towels over them, and went sliding down the slopes of a nearby golf course."
Clearly, they're having some ammunition issues...
posted by SweetJesus at 6:25 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
What if Redstate Mitt is the real one and Massachusetts Mitt was a SPY.
Hide your Guantanamos.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:30 AM on September 5, 2007
Hide your Guantanamos.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:30 AM on September 5, 2007
Careful--it's the same "oh, what the hell? I'd like to have a beer with him" attitude that got us stuck with Shrub McFucktard for the last 7 years.
No it isn't. It's simply saying 'you know these things you think are smears? well they actually aren't. find better ones.'
posted by PeterMcDermott at 6:31 AM on September 5, 2007 [2 favorites]
No it isn't. It's simply saying 'you know these things you think are smears? well they actually aren't. find better ones.'
posted by PeterMcDermott at 6:31 AM on September 5, 2007 [2 favorites]
Whenever I see Romney I'm reminded of this Dilbert cartoon, of which online I can only find a transcript:
Pointy-Haired Boss: Dilbert, I'd like you to meet Ben, our new fast-track manager.
Dilbert: Hi.
Pointy-Haired Boss: Ben has no real experience but he's very tall, so we know he'll go far.
Ben: I also have executive-style hair.
Pointy-Haired Boss: We think it will turn silver.
posted by Flashman at 6:34 AM on September 5, 2007
Pointy-Haired Boss: Dilbert, I'd like you to meet Ben, our new fast-track manager.
Dilbert: Hi.
Pointy-Haired Boss: Ben has no real experience but he's very tall, so we know he'll go far.
Ben: I also have executive-style hair.
Pointy-Haired Boss: We think it will turn silver.
posted by Flashman at 6:34 AM on September 5, 2007
MrMustard writes "I didn't realise. Now I want one. How much?"
Boats for under £10,000.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 6:37 AM on September 5, 2007
Boats for under £10,000.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 6:37 AM on September 5, 2007
Okay, the main thrust of the site seems okay, that red vs blue animation is pretty well done...
But the rap sheet is like some offended suburban mother's list of things that "the Jones boy down the street!!1" did or something. It's hilariously overdone. It may as well say: "ROMNEY is a mean man. He once did a mean thing. It made me sad."
posted by blacklite at 6:38 AM on September 5, 2007
But the rap sheet is like some offended suburban mother's list of things that "the Jones boy down the street!!1" did or something. It's hilariously overdone. It may as well say: "ROMNEY is a mean man. He once did a mean thing. It made me sad."
posted by blacklite at 6:38 AM on September 5, 2007
In an alternate universe where President Gore is getting ready to step down after 8 years of a decently run but legislatively ineffective administration, I might be tempted to vote for Romney. I thought he was a legitimately centrist Governor and effective bi-partisan leader.
However, in the world in which we find ourselves? No fucking way.
posted by psmealey at 6:40 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
However, in the world in which we find ourselves? No fucking way.
posted by psmealey at 6:40 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
DU writes "Anyone who is anyone, anyway."
No, just anybody who cares enough to want one. Most people won't struggle to find the less than two grand that this boat would cost. What's that? About the cost of a decent guitar or something? A Macbook Pro, perhaps?
Mind you, I've no idea how much it costs to learn how to sail one/join a club/get it in the water/whatever. However, I do know that I'm always seeing them advertised in the local paper for a few hundred quid. But the obstacle isn't the cost of the boat.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 6:50 AM on September 5, 2007
No, just anybody who cares enough to want one. Most people won't struggle to find the less than two grand that this boat would cost. What's that? About the cost of a decent guitar or something? A Macbook Pro, perhaps?
Mind you, I've no idea how much it costs to learn how to sail one/join a club/get it in the water/whatever. However, I do know that I'm always seeing them advertised in the local paper for a few hundred quid. But the obstacle isn't the cost of the boat.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 6:50 AM on September 5, 2007
Nearly everyone in Massachusetts hates Romney. However, since the rest of the country hates Massachusetts (even those goddamn hippies in California), nobody cares what people in MA think.
What exactly the MA Democrats think they're accomplishing here is beyond me. They should take a page from the Republicans and set up a fake grassroots organization (e.g. "Christian Olympic Athletes For Truth" or something) to claim that Romney keeps defaced Hummel figurines in his special Mormon underwear as part of a Satanic ritual. That will have far more currency with the American public than his complete failure as a governor.
posted by xthlc at 6:53 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
What exactly the MA Democrats think they're accomplishing here is beyond me. They should take a page from the Republicans and set up a fake grassroots organization (e.g. "Christian Olympic Athletes For Truth" or something) to claim that Romney keeps defaced Hummel figurines in his special Mormon underwear as part of a Satanic ritual. That will have far more currency with the American public than his complete failure as a governor.
posted by xthlc at 6:53 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
Because every Average Joe has an extra ten grand clogging up their wallets.
Most Average Joes around here seem to be driving cars that cost them at least £5,000. You wanna sail? Buy a £3,000 car instead, and a boat with the extra £2,000.
We don't do it because we don't want to, not because we can't afford to.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 6:53 AM on September 5, 2007
Most Average Joes around here seem to be driving cars that cost them at least £5,000. You wanna sail? Buy a £3,000 car instead, and a boat with the extra £2,000.
We don't do it because we don't want to, not because we can't afford to.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 6:53 AM on September 5, 2007
I just looked at Peter's list and it made me realise I could actually buy a nice little boat if I wanted to, there's one in my town I could afford, its kind of tempting, but then there's mooring to take care of.
If you can't afford that then there's always a little boat with a phut phut engine to go fishing.
It's interesting to note that the licence that Romney hadn't got is a financial barrier that will impact more on the poorer boat owner, perhaps that was just his effort to stick it to the man and stand up for the little guy?
posted by biffa at 6:57 AM on September 5, 2007
If you can't afford that then there's always a little boat with a phut phut engine to go fishing.
It's interesting to note that the licence that Romney hadn't got is a financial barrier that will impact more on the poorer boat owner, perhaps that was just his effort to stick it to the man and stand up for the little guy?
posted by biffa at 6:57 AM on September 5, 2007
People, people, listen up! His name is "Mitt" godammit. How much more smearing can anyone do to a man named "Mitt?"
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 6:58 AM on September 5, 2007
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 6:58 AM on September 5, 2007
About the cost of a decent guitar or something? A Macbook Pro, perhaps?
You seem to be hilariously underinformed on just how poor people in the US (and presumably the UK) can be. This may shock you, but there are people who don't just pick up a Macbook Pro or motorboat on a whim.
posted by DU at 6:59 AM on September 5, 2007
You seem to be hilariously underinformed on just how poor people in the US (and presumably the UK) can be. This may shock you, but there are people who don't just pick up a Macbook Pro or motorboat on a whim.
posted by DU at 6:59 AM on September 5, 2007
Of course Mitt isn't an Average Joe, and it's silly to pretend that he is. The man has about $200m in the bank. But why do his defenders feel the need to apologise for it? He earned it by being phenomenally successful at his job. Would you prefer someone who was no more successful than average? Of course not. Amongst the current crop of candidates, he stands out as seeming moderately competent (successful at Bain, rescuing Salt Lake City games etc). The Democrats should focus on criticising his repulsive policies rather than resorting to a combination of childish populist envy of his wealth and comical personal attacks (he once launched a boat without registration? omg).
posted by Aloysius Bear at 7:07 AM on September 5, 2007
posted by Aloysius Bear at 7:07 AM on September 5, 2007
You seem to be hilariously underinformed on just how poor people in the US (and presumably the UK) can be. This may shock you, but there are people who don't just pick up a Macbook Pro or motorboat on a whim.
As opposed to just semi-literate, you mean, because I don't see anywhere where I suggest that people would be picking this stuff up on a whim, or where I'm suggesting that it's something that the very poorest people might be doing.
However, if a two grand boat lasts you for five years before needing any serious work doing on it, that amortizes out at around £400 a year. What's that -- eight quid a week?
Most of the poorest people that I know spend much more than that on entertainment -- but hey, perhaps the one's that you know are all self-flagellating ascetics? Who knows?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 7:15 AM on September 5, 2007
As opposed to just semi-literate, you mean, because I don't see anywhere where I suggest that people would be picking this stuff up on a whim, or where I'm suggesting that it's something that the very poorest people might be doing.
However, if a two grand boat lasts you for five years before needing any serious work doing on it, that amortizes out at around £400 a year. What's that -- eight quid a week?
Most of the poorest people that I know spend much more than that on entertainment -- but hey, perhaps the one's that you know are all self-flagellating ascetics? Who knows?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 7:15 AM on September 5, 2007
ick. perhaps those that you know.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 7:17 AM on September 5, 2007
posted by PeterMcDermott at 7:17 AM on September 5, 2007
$800 a year would have been about $70/month for me when I was just starting out. Given that my food, apartment, insurance and student loan payments (my entertainment came from the library) all came to just $5 short of my monthly paycheck, I don't think I could have pulled this off.
But you go ahead and keep providing evidence that the rich have no clue how badly off the rest of society is--it's pretty funny.
posted by DU at 7:18 AM on September 5, 2007
But you go ahead and keep providing evidence that the rich have no clue how badly off the rest of society is--it's pretty funny.
posted by DU at 7:18 AM on September 5, 2007
Funny that a post to a website detailing the faults and transgressions of Romney as a presidential candidate has turned into a discussion of whether or not Romney's former ownership of a boat and failure to register it properly means that he is a wealthy prick or not.
posted by billysumday at 7:23 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by billysumday at 7:23 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
You call that a smear site?
God, can't the Democrats do anything right?
posted by rokusan at 7:26 AM on September 5, 2007 [2 favorites]
God, can't the Democrats do anything right?
posted by rokusan at 7:26 AM on September 5, 2007 [2 favorites]
Funny that a post to a website detailing the faults and transgressions of Romney as a presidential candidate has turned into a discussion of whether or not Romney's former ownership of a boat and failure to register it properly means that he is a wealthy prick or not.
I know. The man's a disingenuous asshole, this website illustrates it beautifully, and by responding to PeterMcDermott I turned into a thread about boat ownership.
Oh well. Romney's still an ass in funny underpants whether he has a boat or not.
posted by Mayor Curley at 7:35 AM on September 5, 2007
I know. The man's a disingenuous asshole, this website illustrates it beautifully, and by responding to PeterMcDermott I turned into a thread about boat ownership.
Oh well. Romney's still an ass in funny underpants whether he has a boat or not.
posted by Mayor Curley at 7:35 AM on September 5, 2007
If he had to change his stance on that many issues when he decided to run for President... why does he want to be President? Don't people want that position to further the causes they care about?
posted by aburd at 7:36 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by aburd at 7:36 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
Well golly, it seems like just a few years ago stuff like this was a big deal to the American public. What has changed?
posted by SteveInMaine at 7:38 AM on September 5, 2007
posted by SteveInMaine at 7:38 AM on September 5, 2007
Here are two truths:
Mitt Romney is a billionaire. My ex-mother in law owns a motor boat, yet is dirt poor.
Can we now get back to talking about Mitt Romney's utter lack of principle and character?
posted by Gervais Brooke-Hamster at 7:41 AM on September 5, 2007
Can we now get back to talking about Mitt Romney's utter lack of principle and character?
posted by Gervais Brooke-Hamster at 7:41 AM on September 5, 2007
Don't people want that position to further the causes they care about?
You are joking, right?
posted by enn at 7:46 AM on September 5, 2007
You are joking, right?
posted by enn at 7:46 AM on September 5, 2007
PeterMcDermott writes:
Boats for under £10,000.
Well, next time I've got a spare 10 grand lying around, I'll be sure to go and pick one up.
It also might help if I lived anywhere near a large expanse of water, but I can't afford that either.
On preview: Sorry G B-H, obviously not.
posted by MrMustard at 7:47 AM on September 5, 2007
Boats for under £10,000.
Well, next time I've got a spare 10 grand lying around, I'll be sure to go and pick one up.
It also might help if I lived anywhere near a large expanse of water, but I can't afford that either.
On preview: Sorry G B-H, obviously not.
posted by MrMustard at 7:47 AM on September 5, 2007
I know. The man's a disingenuous asshole, this website illustrates it beautifully, and by responding to PeterMcDermott I turned into a thread about boat ownership.
No, I think the point is that website is really misjudging its aims and effects - regardless of your undeliberate help. Yes, he's disingenuous and will say anything to get elected. That should be enough, and on that point, the website is effective. But by putting the rap sheet up and saying, "look at this miscreant!" they make it seem like a joke. Sledding down a hill on a golf course on blocks of ice and getting arrested? That's only going to endear him to people. Making a big deal out of a dad not getting his boat registered and getting handcuffed in front of his kids? That's also going to endear him to people - average people get stifled by bureaucrats all the time. He may be rich, evil, heartless, and arrogant, but that's not what comes across by listing his run-ins with the law. In fact, he sounds supremely honest and moral compared to what you'd expect on most politicians rapsheets. Plus, on the page that includes the arrests, it says: "Physique: Described as one of America's 50 Most Beautiful." Ooooh noes!!
posted by billysumday at 7:53 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
No, I think the point is that website is really misjudging its aims and effects - regardless of your undeliberate help. Yes, he's disingenuous and will say anything to get elected. That should be enough, and on that point, the website is effective. But by putting the rap sheet up and saying, "look at this miscreant!" they make it seem like a joke. Sledding down a hill on a golf course on blocks of ice and getting arrested? That's only going to endear him to people. Making a big deal out of a dad not getting his boat registered and getting handcuffed in front of his kids? That's also going to endear him to people - average people get stifled by bureaucrats all the time. He may be rich, evil, heartless, and arrogant, but that's not what comes across by listing his run-ins with the law. In fact, he sounds supremely honest and moral compared to what you'd expect on most politicians rapsheets. Plus, on the page that includes the arrests, it says: "Physique: Described as one of America's 50 Most Beautiful." Ooooh noes!!
posted by billysumday at 7:53 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
oh for pete's sake ... here's a motorboat for $650 ... that would have been 200 bucks or something in 1981 money, not a real impressive sum of money ... and if he took it to a state park, that's probably all it was, a lousy boat with a motor in it
(hint - how do you think he got it there with a family car? - it had to have been pretty small)
wealthy people with senses of entitlement don't launch their boats at State Parks. They have houses with boats docked at piers.
you mean docks - and actually, you don't have to be wealthy to have a house on a lake - middle class or even working class people pull it off all the time around here
the whole thing about the incident is that no matter where the boat is, you're supposed to have it registered, even if it's a lousy rowboat - and the other thing is many people who launch them from their own property don't bother
so, no sense of wealth based entitlement required
posted by pyramid termite at 7:54 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
(hint - how do you think he got it there with a family car? - it had to have been pretty small)
wealthy people with senses of entitlement don't launch their boats at State Parks. They have houses with boats docked at piers.
you mean docks - and actually, you don't have to be wealthy to have a house on a lake - middle class or even working class people pull it off all the time around here
the whole thing about the incident is that no matter where the boat is, you're supposed to have it registered, even if it's a lousy rowboat - and the other thing is many people who launch them from their own property don't bother
so, no sense of wealth based entitlement required
posted by pyramid termite at 7:54 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
If the Republican party grassroots finds out that Mass Mitt enthusiastically supported a woman's right to choose then he's done.
The best part will be when they start running ads against him showing splitscreen footage of Mass Mitt and Redstate Romney duking it out.
That, and the Mormon thing, will depress the Conservative Christian / Republican vote like you've never seen.
posted by bshort at 7:54 AM on September 5, 2007
The best part will be when they start running ads against him showing splitscreen footage of Mass Mitt and Redstate Romney duking it out.
That, and the Mormon thing, will depress the Conservative Christian / Republican vote like you've never seen.
posted by bshort at 7:54 AM on September 5, 2007
ENOUGH OF THE MOTORBOATS!
The point is, Mitt is a rich, rich man, who apparently thinks the rules don't apply to him.
posted by bshort at 7:55 AM on September 5, 2007
The point is, Mitt is a rich, rich man, who apparently thinks the rules don't apply to him.
posted by bshort at 7:55 AM on September 5, 2007
The point is, Mitt is a rich, rich man, who apparently thinks the rules don't apply to him.
Oh, is that what I was supposed to take away from all this? Thanks for summing up - simple sentences that repeat bad words are very useful for dunderheaded cretins like myself.
posted by billysumday at 8:00 AM on September 5, 2007
Oh, is that what I was supposed to take away from all this? Thanks for summing up - simple sentences that repeat bad words are very useful for dunderheaded cretins like myself.
posted by billysumday at 8:00 AM on September 5, 2007
Subject ROMNEY maintains that while a high school student at Cranbrook School in Michigan he encountered an intruder in his dorm: ROMNEY, who says, "I figured I was dead for sure," states he escaped the unknown intruder by jumping out a ground-floor window and running for help.
(evil right-wing snark)
the democrats took away his guns - what the hell else was he supposed to do?
(/evil right-wing snark)
The point is, Mitt is a rich, rich man, who apparently thinks the rules don't apply to him.
the point is there's a lot of middling, middling people with MOTORBOATS! who don't think so either
this "rap sheet" is puerile, stupid and counter-productive ... and i think the guy's a sleeze
posted by pyramid termite at 8:03 AM on September 5, 2007 [2 favorites]
(evil right-wing snark)
the democrats took away his guns - what the hell else was he supposed to do?
(/evil right-wing snark)
The point is, Mitt is a rich, rich man, who apparently thinks the rules don't apply to him.
the point is there's a lot of middling, middling people with MOTORBOATS! who don't think so either
this "rap sheet" is puerile, stupid and counter-productive ... and i think the guy's a sleeze
posted by pyramid termite at 8:03 AM on September 5, 2007 [2 favorites]
Say "hi" to Flip Romney aka "Slick Dancing Mitt"
The Real Romney? [YouTube]
posted by ericb at 8:09 AM on September 5, 2007
The Real Romney? [YouTube]
posted by ericb at 8:09 AM on September 5, 2007
The Mitt Romney Deception
(by Brian Camenker -- conservative, homophobic activist):
(by Brian Camenker -- conservative, homophobic activist):
"Despite recent statements across the country by Governor Mitt Romney claiming he's pro-life, pro-family and a committed conservative, a broad investigation of his actual statements, actions, and public positions over the years indicates that he has spent his entire career speaking and governing as a liberal - and that his new found conversion to conservatism very likely coincides with his candidacy for the presidency.posted by ericb at 8:11 AM on September 5, 2007
The information in this report is gleaned from public records, press accounts, internet web sites and research (as well as personal observation) by my organization, MassResistance, a grass-roots pro-family group that has observed Governor Romney for over a decade. We have analyzed his legislation, met with his staff, lobbied for and against his agenda (depending what it is) and otherwise compiled considerable research on his administration.
We believe this report is necessary due to a calculated effort by the Romney campaign to revise his history and portray the Governor as far more conservative than the record indicates. Already, the Governor's staff is making appointments with the nation's leading conservative leaders to convince them that he should be the standard bearer for the conservative movement in the upcoming presidential elections."
This thread is a litmus test on your feelings about boat ownership.
posted by drezdn at 8:12 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by drezdn at 8:12 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
Flip Romney in 1994 in a letter to the Log Cabin Club of Massachusetts saying that he would be a stronger advocate for gay rights than Senator Edward M. Kennedy:
posted by ericb at 8:13 AM on September 5, 2007
“We must make equality for gays and lesbians a mainstream concern.”I was for the gays before I was against them!
posted by ericb at 8:13 AM on September 5, 2007
It's interesting to note that the licence that Romney hadn't got is a financial barrier that will impact more on the poorer boat owner, perhaps that was just his effort to stick it to the man and stand up for the little guy?
It's more interesting to note that when he became governor, Mitt raised fees for all kinds of things so he'd be able to claim he had not raised taxes (even though he did that, too). One of those fees he raised was the license fee for motorboats - you know, the one he didn't have to pay because he's arich prick wealthy person with a sense of entitlement?
posted by Kirth Gerson at 8:14 AM on September 5, 2007 [2 favorites]
It's more interesting to note that when he became governor, Mitt raised fees for all kinds of things so he'd be able to claim he had not raised taxes (even though he did that, too). One of those fees he raised was the license fee for motorboats - you know, the one he didn't have to pay because he's a
posted by Kirth Gerson at 8:14 AM on September 5, 2007 [2 favorites]
Slick Willard
posted by psmealey at 8:14 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by psmealey at 8:14 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
So, Mitt, what do you really stand for? Ah, yes, opportunism!
I was for abortion before I was against it.posted by ericb at 8:19 AM on September 5, 2007
I was for gay rights before I was against them.
I was for stem cell research before I was against it.
I was for gun control before I was against it.
I was for Ann Coulter before I was against her.
One of those fees he raised was the license fee for motorboats - you know, the one he didn't have to pay because he's a rich prick wealthy person with a sense of entitlement?
$40 for 2 years for 14 ft and under
oh, the humanity!
it could cost a little less or a lot more in my state, depending on the size of the boat
posted by pyramid termite at 8:26 AM on September 5, 2007
$40 for 2 years for 14 ft and under
oh, the humanity!
it could cost a little less or a lot more in my state, depending on the size of the boat
posted by pyramid termite at 8:26 AM on September 5, 2007
And since it's so cheap, the reason he didn't pay it is ...?
posted by Kirth Gerson at 8:27 AM on September 5, 2007
posted by Kirth Gerson at 8:27 AM on September 5, 2007
Oddly-named politician dissembling panderer.
Apparently, gas stations sell huge blocks of ice.
Lefties can't even smear shit properly.
Boat ownership contentious issue.
I sort of rolled my eyes before I clicked, but goddamn if this FPP isn't really, really fun.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:29 AM on September 5, 2007
Apparently, gas stations sell huge blocks of ice.
Lefties can't even smear shit properly.
Boat ownership contentious issue.
I sort of rolled my eyes before I clicked, but goddamn if this FPP isn't really, really fun.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:29 AM on September 5, 2007
You have to pay for a motor boat nowadays? I thought that was up to the discretion your lady partner.
posted by djgh at 8:38 AM on September 5, 2007
posted by djgh at 8:38 AM on September 5, 2007
And since it's so cheap, the reason he didn't pay it is ...?
... because a lot of people don't and get away with it - and some don't actually know they have to
is that so hard to understand?
does the democratic establishment really want to sound so desperate that they're reduced to talking about a candidate not paying for a BOAT LICENSE?
is that the best you can do?
faced with 4 more years of one republican dickhead or another, the best you can do is rattle on about a lousy 40 buck for 2 years fee?
is this the best argument you have against the man?
some of us would possibly be inclined to call him a pandering opportunistic power hungry liar who'll say he believes anything to get elected, but you may have a point - a lousy 40 buck fee for a paint-peeling boat with a motor that probably has to be started 3 times to start at all is a MUCH more important issue than being a greedy, narcisstistic, sociopathic fuckweed
i'm glad you've straightened me out on that
posted by pyramid termite at 8:38 AM on September 5, 2007 [4 favorites]
... because a lot of people don't and get away with it - and some don't actually know they have to
is that so hard to understand?
does the democratic establishment really want to sound so desperate that they're reduced to talking about a candidate not paying for a BOAT LICENSE?
is that the best you can do?
faced with 4 more years of one republican dickhead or another, the best you can do is rattle on about a lousy 40 buck for 2 years fee?
is this the best argument you have against the man?
some of us would possibly be inclined to call him a pandering opportunistic power hungry liar who'll say he believes anything to get elected, but you may have a point - a lousy 40 buck fee for a paint-peeling boat with a motor that probably has to be started 3 times to start at all is a MUCH more important issue than being a greedy, narcisstistic, sociopathic fuckweed
i'm glad you've straightened me out on that
posted by pyramid termite at 8:38 AM on September 5, 2007 [4 favorites]
And since it's so cheap, the reason he didn't pay it is ...?
Options:
- He didn't know he needed it.
- He forgot to do it.
- It expired.
- He lost it.
- HE IS A KAZILLIONAIRE JERKFACE.
posted by billysumday at 8:39 AM on September 5, 2007
Options:
- He didn't know he needed it.
- He forgot to do it.
- It expired.
- He lost it.
- HE IS A KAZILLIONAIRE JERKFACE.
posted by billysumday at 8:39 AM on September 5, 2007
One of those fees he raised was the license fee for motorboats - you know, the one he didn't have to pay because he's a rich prick wealthy person with a sense of entitlement.
It's not owning a motor boat that makes him a wealthy prick with a sense of entitlement, it's the attitude that laws don't apply to him because he's so "successful."
posted by three blind mice at 8:40 AM on September 5, 2007
It's not owning a motor boat that makes him a wealthy prick with a sense of entitlement, it's the attitude that laws don't apply to him because he's so "successful."
posted by three blind mice at 8:40 AM on September 5, 2007
i say we tie up all the rich people to stakes, pile all their money around them, douse them with oil and BURN BURN BURN THEM!
then we knock holes in their motorboats
posted by pyramid termite at 8:45 AM on September 5, 2007
then we knock holes in their motorboats
posted by pyramid termite at 8:45 AM on September 5, 2007
That's the most shortsighted program I have ever heard described. Ruin perfectly good boats? And burn the money we could use to pay licensing fees? What are you thinking?
posted by Kirth Gerson at 8:50 AM on September 5, 2007
posted by Kirth Gerson at 8:50 AM on September 5, 2007
tbm, that was, in fact, my point. All the other "he didn't know/forgot/lost it" ignore the fact that not having the license is not by itself enough to get you arrested and dragged to the police station in your Speedo. He had to have got into the cop's face, just like he did in Utah. That's what shows his sense of entitlement - not only does he not have to comply with the same laws as everyone else, he gets to berate cops about it, too. It's almost as though he were a thousand bicyclists ...
posted by Kirth Gerson at 8:57 AM on September 5, 2007
posted by Kirth Gerson at 8:57 AM on September 5, 2007
pyramid termite is a filthy communist who wants to bring us all down to his level of non-baot ownership. Get back to mother russia you pinko swine (weather permitting the ice bridge).
posted by biffa at 8:57 AM on September 5, 2007
posted by biffa at 8:57 AM on September 5, 2007
Meh, if some small-minded bureaucratic idiot told me I couldn't enjoy a day on a publicly-owned lake with my family just because I hadn't filled in some trivial form, I'd probably be pretty rude to them as well.
posted by Aloysius Bear at 9:04 AM on September 5, 2007
posted by Aloysius Bear at 9:04 AM on September 5, 2007
Subject ROMNEY approached the counter of the diner where there was a large mason jar of jelly beans. The jar was part of a contest requiring participants to guess the number of jelly beans in the jar, where the reward for coming closest to the actual quantity of jelly beans was ownership of the entire jar itself. Despite the two signs on the counter explaining the rules of the contest, ROMNEY opened the mason jar, took a handful of jelly beans, and ate the jelly beans. He did not guess the amount of jelly beans, and his consumption of the jelly beans in violation of the contest rules corrupted the integrity of the entire contest.
posted by Slap Factory at 9:10 AM on September 5, 2007 [5 favorites]
posted by Slap Factory at 9:10 AM on September 5, 2007 [5 favorites]
pyramind termite: faced with 4 more years of one republican dickhead or another, the best you can do is rattle on about a lousy 40 buck for 2 years fee?
It's clear that English is not your primary language, but I appreciate your urge to participate in the discussion anyway. Welcome!
The key point you missed is not that he failed to get a boat license, but that he ignored an officer of the law's directives when he was informed that he had to change his plans.
Thank you again for your participation in our forum!
posted by Tacos Are Pretty Great at 9:12 AM on September 5, 2007
It's clear that English is not your primary language, but I appreciate your urge to participate in the discussion anyway. Welcome!
The key point you missed is not that he failed to get a boat license, but that he ignored an officer of the law's directives when he was informed that he had to change his plans.
Thank you again for your participation in our forum!
posted by Tacos Are Pretty Great at 9:12 AM on September 5, 2007
pyramind termite: faced with 4 more years of one republican dickhead or another, the best you can do is rattle on about a lousy 40 buck for 2 years fee?
It's clear that English is not your primary language, but I appreciate your urge to participate in the discussion anyway. Welcome!
The key point you missed is not that he failed to get a boat license, but that he ignored an officer of the law's directives when he was informed that he had to change his plans.
Thank you again for your participation in our forum!
posted by Tacos Are Pretty Great at 9:12 AM on September 5, 2007
It's clear that English is not your primary language, but I appreciate your urge to participate in the discussion anyway. Welcome!
The key point you missed is not that he failed to get a boat license, but that he ignored an officer of the law's directives when he was informed that he had to change his plans.
Thank you again for your participation in our forum!
posted by Tacos Are Pretty Great at 9:12 AM on September 5, 2007
This is indeed a clunky smear site. I'm no Romney fan, and I would like to see him hoisted on his own petard, but if escaping an unknown intruder as a high school student by jumping out a dorm room window is a crime against humanity, then I hesitate to think what graft, corruption, and sleaze are.
posted by blucevalo at 9:16 AM on September 5, 2007
posted by blucevalo at 9:16 AM on September 5, 2007
It's clear that English is not your primary language
it's clear to me that someone's refried your beans one too many times
posted by pyramid termite at 9:21 AM on September 5, 2007
it's clear to me that someone's refried your beans one too many times
posted by pyramid termite at 9:21 AM on September 5, 2007
I heard that he rebroadcasts Major League Baseball with implied verbal consent BUT without express written consent and drives in the breakdown lane after 6pm, it goes without saying that after he launches his Whaler and gets into the canal that sign that says NO WAKE is read as PLEASE LEAVE A BIG FUCKIN' WAKE MITT. You don't even want to know the extent of his horseplay at the public pool, the average human mind cannot comprehend.
posted by Divine_Wino at 9:24 AM on September 5, 2007 [3 favorites]
posted by Divine_Wino at 9:24 AM on September 5, 2007 [3 favorites]
i knew someone who went into his bedroom once - a scandal ensued - he saw romney knowingly and willingly RIP THE TAGS FROM THE MATTRESS!!
posted by pyramid termite at 9:26 AM on September 5, 2007
posted by pyramid termite at 9:26 AM on September 5, 2007
No one's accused him of claiming he invented the internet, right? OK, then.
posted by trondant at 9:32 AM on September 5, 2007
posted by trondant at 9:32 AM on September 5, 2007
Not only did Mitt Romney once return a VHS copy of "Singin' In The Rain" to the rental place TWO DAYS late, paying the late fee in pennies and dimes, further investigation revealed that it was only partially rewound.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:43 AM on September 5, 2007
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:43 AM on September 5, 2007
Meh, if some small-minded bureaucratic idiot told me I couldn't enjoy a day on a publicly-owned lake with my family just because I hadn't filled in some trivial form, I'd probably be pretty rude to them as well.
If some rich asshole felt he was above the law with something as trivial as a fucking boat registration, I'd probably be very concerned about him becoming President of the United States.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:44 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
If some rich asshole felt he was above the law with something as trivial as a fucking boat registration, I'd probably be very concerned about him becoming President of the United States.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:44 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
i have video of mitt romney spitting on the sidewalk but you people will have to PAY to see it
posted by pyramid termite at 9:52 AM on September 5, 2007
posted by pyramid termite at 9:52 AM on September 5, 2007
Those are some pretty strong words considering who the likely Democratic candidate for President will be.
Do your own HillaryFacts.com site, then.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:55 AM on September 5, 2007
Do your own HillaryFacts.com site, then.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:55 AM on September 5, 2007
Why would I do that?
Did you type this comment without remembering it?
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:00 AM on September 5, 2007
Did you type this comment without remembering it?
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:00 AM on September 5, 2007
And it's awesome that you assumed I was talking about Hillary.
Why are you acting so coy?
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:01 AM on September 5, 2007
Why are you acting so coy?
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:01 AM on September 5, 2007
It's damningly appropriate that the Democrats attack Mitt Romney for not being Republican enough. sigh.
posted by mek at 10:06 AM on September 5, 2007
posted by mek at 10:06 AM on September 5, 2007
Is anyone else having trouble with that link for the $650 motorboat? I am unable to get the picture to load.
posted by humannaire at 10:10 AM on September 5, 2007
posted by humannaire at 10:10 AM on September 5, 2007
How to get a free yacht.
Bling,high rent "escorts", and lobbyists moola require elite birth and attendance at Yale (or other lesser ivy league circle jerk).
posted by Jeremy at 10:11 AM on September 5, 2007
Bling,high rent "escorts", and lobbyists moola require elite birth and attendance at Yale (or other lesser ivy league circle jerk).
posted by Jeremy at 10:11 AM on September 5, 2007
Those are some pretty strong words considering who the likely Democratic candidate for President will be.
I assume you're going for the whole Obama/coke thing? I'd love to have a decent media in this country calling him on that. "Do you think you should have had your life ruined in jail, do you think we should decriminalize drugs, or do you think you're a typical political hypocrite?"
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 10:24 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
I assume you're going for the whole Obama/coke thing? I'd love to have a decent media in this country calling him on that. "Do you think you should have had your life ruined in jail, do you think we should decriminalize drugs, or do you think you're a typical political hypocrite?"
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 10:24 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
BTW, I have four sailboats, all are their registration is up to date, I may or may not be rich, but I paid 0$-to-$1000 cash for each one, and made up the rest in "sweat equity."
Of course, living in Key West helps. In any case, rich or poor, meh! If you want a boat, get one.
And while I have been unable to "score" a MacBook Pro, seeing as I seem to the go to computer guy on the island, I get more free computers - many less than a year old - then I know what to do with. Am I wealthy? Who knows. In any case, I have plenty of friends who are either poor or rich, and being against "rich people" is like being against any people.
That said, I have no friends who are billionaires, and I am against the overly-wealthy. These are my contradictions. And I might vote for a person who was running for US president who was a boater. Then again, I might not.
Now, I must go sailing.
posted by humannaire at 10:28 AM on September 5, 2007
Of course, living in Key West helps. In any case, rich or poor, meh! If you want a boat, get one.
And while I have been unable to "score" a MacBook Pro, seeing as I seem to the go to computer guy on the island, I get more free computers - many less than a year old - then I know what to do with. Am I wealthy? Who knows. In any case, I have plenty of friends who are either poor or rich, and being against "rich people" is like being against any people.
That said, I have no friends who are billionaires, and I am against the overly-wealthy. These are my contradictions. And I might vote for a person who was running for US president who was a boater. Then again, I might not.
Now, I must go sailing.
posted by humannaire at 10:28 AM on September 5, 2007
You know what would be a radically honest statement about Mitt?
“ Mitt Romney believes in a religion founded by Joseph Smith, a man who fabricated, lied, and deceived both to make money and in order to make a religion with himself as its prophet. The nature of this deception - including claims of being able to find buried treasure and writing in "ancient Egyptian" (which he could not read) are well known, recorded and verifiable, less than 200 years old, and available to everyone
None of this means that Mitt Romney is a bad man, but it does suggest that He is a gullible authoritarian with limited critical abilities.”
posted by Bora Horza Gobuchul at 10:30 AM on September 5, 2007
“ Mitt Romney believes in a religion founded by Joseph Smith, a man who fabricated, lied, and deceived both to make money and in order to make a religion with himself as its prophet. The nature of this deception - including claims of being able to find buried treasure and writing in "ancient Egyptian" (which he could not read) are well known, recorded and verifiable, less than 200 years old, and available to everyone
None of this means that Mitt Romney is a bad man, but it does suggest that He is a gullible authoritarian with limited critical abilities.”
posted by Bora Horza Gobuchul at 10:30 AM on September 5, 2007
And since it's so cheap, the reason he didn't pay it is ...?
Of course, it doesn't say he didn't pay for it. It just says he was arrested because he failed to display it, and the charges were dropped when he filed a wrongful arrest suit.
Now I've got no love for Mitt Romney whatsoever, but please don't piss down my leg and try and tell me that its raining.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 10:37 AM on September 5, 2007
Of course, it doesn't say he didn't pay for it. It just says he was arrested because he failed to display it, and the charges were dropped when he filed a wrongful arrest suit.
Now I've got no love for Mitt Romney whatsoever, but please don't piss down my leg and try and tell me that its raining.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 10:37 AM on September 5, 2007
What part of that comment suggests to you that a) I have a dog in this fight or b) I would be interested in smearing Hillary?
For those following politics, I can only assume you were referring to Hillary Clinton. From polling she is all but assured to be the Democratic candidate, at this point. Unless you're talking about someone else who is leading in a poll the public doesn't know of.
But I suppose in order not to be indicted on Metafilter I have to support whatever the Democratic party does as if it were well-advised.
I don't really care what you do. I was responding to a comment about the behavior of the subject matter in this post (Mitt Romney), and you're responding with vague non sequitors that either attack some or all (?) Democratic candidates, as well as condemn the ultra-left Metafilter community strawman for not sharing your views.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:45 AM on September 5, 2007
For those following politics, I can only assume you were referring to Hillary Clinton. From polling she is all but assured to be the Democratic candidate, at this point. Unless you're talking about someone else who is leading in a poll the public doesn't know of.
But I suppose in order not to be indicted on Metafilter I have to support whatever the Democratic party does as if it were well-advised.
I don't really care what you do. I was responding to a comment about the behavior of the subject matter in this post (Mitt Romney), and you're responding with vague non sequitors that either attack some or all (?) Democratic candidates, as well as condemn the ultra-left Metafilter community strawman for not sharing your views.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:45 AM on September 5, 2007
I don't know much about Taxachussetts Mitt "Mormon" Rom-richboy-ney, but I know a little about boats, boatery, and boat registration.
Usually the way it works is like this: the boat police pull you over and ask to see some kind of registration. If you don't have it, then they say "you're going to have to pay for this" and then you say, "is there some way we can settle this right here right now" and then they say "I think I know something that might get you off" and then the funky bassline music kicks in...
posted by jefbla at 10:48 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
Usually the way it works is like this: the boat police pull you over and ask to see some kind of registration. If you don't have it, then they say "you're going to have to pay for this" and then you say, "is there some way we can settle this right here right now" and then they say "I think I know something that might get you off" and then the funky bassline music kicks in...
posted by jefbla at 10:48 AM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
You know what would be a radically honest statement about Mitt?
If I had money, I would totally put up a smear commercial about how Mitt Romney wears magical underpants.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 10:48 AM on September 5, 2007
If I had money, I would totally put up a smear commercial about how Mitt Romney wears magical underpants.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 10:48 AM on September 5, 2007
Mitt Romney's so rich he hired Chuck Norris to pay his boat registration fee.
Chuck Norris is so tough he told Mitt Romney to go fuck himself.
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 10:57 AM on September 5, 2007
Chuck Norris is so tough he told Mitt Romney to go fuck himself.
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 10:57 AM on September 5, 2007
It's not owning a motor boat that makes him a wealthy prick with a sense of entitlement, it's the attitude that laws don't apply to him because he's so "successful."
But if that's gonna fly, then let it be about a law that somebody actually gives a shit about. Let it be about polluting some river, or poisoning the air with filth, or overlooking your buddies when they bend various financial regulations or whatever. Because complaining that someone was arrested for standing up to petty bureaucrats who are trying to ruin your family holiday, and sliding down the road on blocks of ice might actually be the first attempted smear I've heard that's even more pathetic than worrying about who did or didn't get their cock sucked by an intern.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 10:57 AM on September 5, 2007
But if that's gonna fly, then let it be about a law that somebody actually gives a shit about. Let it be about polluting some river, or poisoning the air with filth, or overlooking your buddies when they bend various financial regulations or whatever. Because complaining that someone was arrested for standing up to petty bureaucrats who are trying to ruin your family holiday, and sliding down the road on blocks of ice might actually be the first attempted smear I've heard that's even more pathetic than worrying about who did or didn't get their cock sucked by an intern.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 10:57 AM on September 5, 2007
i just got a photograph of mitt romney's wife wearing white after labor day!
do we want a first lady who does this?
posted by pyramid termite at 10:58 AM on September 5, 2007
I liked Romney a lot for his hair, because it's at least since Reagan's Brylcreem'd pompadour that the USA lacks a President with a ridiculous hairstyle, but then I read the story about his dog shitting himself because he had caged it on top of his car for a long family trip and then I was, nah, don't like him anymore.
even if the hair still makes me laugh quite a bit.
now, if only Giuliani reverted to that amazing combover, we'd be getting somewhere.
posted by matteo at 11:10 AM on September 5, 2007 [2 favorites]
even if the hair still makes me laugh quite a bit.
now, if only Giuliani reverted to that amazing combover, we'd be getting somewhere.
posted by matteo at 11:10 AM on September 5, 2007 [2 favorites]
Here's the real Romney scandal: he immediately dumps the guy who tries to have consensual sex in a bathroom, but retains two top fundraisers who have run hideously abusive troubled-teen programs.
One of these fundraisers (his Utah co-chair for finance) still employs a guy who has said under oath that he doesn't think it's always abuse if employees have sex with the teens sent to the program.
More here and here [please excuse self links].
posted by Maias at 11:10 AM on September 5, 2007
One of these fundraisers (his Utah co-chair for finance) still employs a guy who has said under oath that he doesn't think it's always abuse if employees have sex with the teens sent to the program.
More here and here [please excuse self links].
posted by Maias at 11:10 AM on September 5, 2007
For those following politics, I can only assume you were referring to Hillary Clinton.
You know what they say about assumptions...
Anyway, no one cares that he maybe didn't pay a boating registration fee 20+ years ago. It smacks of desperation and pettiness. It's like the kid in 4th grade telling the teacher you're chewing gum. You gotta go back 26 years to get him for a misdemeanor? Are you kidding me? The guy had his aids pretend to be State Troopers, fake badges and everything, and you're brining up that piddling shit?
There is plenty of ammunition to lob against Mitt, but this is not it. It makes me sympathetic to him, and I've never liked him.
posted by SweetJesus at 11:11 AM on September 5, 2007
You know what they say about assumptions...
Anyway, no one cares that he maybe didn't pay a boating registration fee 20+ years ago. It smacks of desperation and pettiness. It's like the kid in 4th grade telling the teacher you're chewing gum. You gotta go back 26 years to get him for a misdemeanor? Are you kidding me? The guy had his aids pretend to be State Troopers, fake badges and everything, and you're brining up that piddling shit?
There is plenty of ammunition to lob against Mitt, but this is not it. It makes me sympathetic to him, and I've never liked him.
posted by SweetJesus at 11:11 AM on September 5, 2007
I just want to know what Mitt did with his dog on the boat? Drag it under the hull?
posted by NorthernLite at 11:20 AM on September 5, 2007
posted by NorthernLite at 11:20 AM on September 5, 2007
no, he duct taped it on the front as a figurehead - the guy's a VIKING!!
posted by pyramid termite at 11:21 AM on September 5, 2007
posted by pyramid termite at 11:21 AM on September 5, 2007
If I had money, I would totally put up a smear commercial about how Mitt Romney wears magical underpants.
The Massachusetts Democrats should hire Joyce McKinney. She'd have him out of those and tied to the bed in the blink of a seerstone.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 11:22 AM on September 5, 2007
The Massachusetts Democrats should hire Joyce McKinney. She'd have him out of those and tied to the bed in the blink of a seerstone.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 11:22 AM on September 5, 2007
S-Jesus, the fake State Police bit is in the weak smear site, too.
It's not Mitt being rich that sets people off. It's Mitt acting like he's special that does it. I know that's not such a big deal over on The Queen's Islands, but in America, pols are supposed to pretend they're Just Like Us. Also, cops in Massachusetts resent being called petty bureaucrats, and if you do it to their face, they will express that resentment in ways you won't enjoy. If you're Mitt, you can then get your law firm to frighten the cops' bosses. If you're more like the rest of us, you'll have a lot of aggravation to occupy your time for a while.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 11:47 AM on September 5, 2007
It's not Mitt being rich that sets people off. It's Mitt acting like he's special that does it. I know that's not such a big deal over on The Queen's Islands, but in America, pols are supposed to pretend they're Just Like Us. Also, cops in Massachusetts resent being called petty bureaucrats, and if you do it to their face, they will express that resentment in ways you won't enjoy. If you're Mitt, you can then get your law firm to frighten the cops' bosses. If you're more like the rest of us, you'll have a lot of aggravation to occupy your time for a while.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 11:47 AM on September 5, 2007
S-Jesus, the fake State Police bit is in the weak smear site, too.
Well, I couldn't find it. Do I have to wait for it to roll in on the big board of Mitt's Shit on the front page?
So not only is it a weak smear site, it's a poorly designed weak smear site.
posted by SweetJesus at 11:53 AM on September 5, 2007
Well, I couldn't find it. Do I have to wait for it to roll in on the big board of Mitt's Shit on the front page?
So not only is it a weak smear site, it's a poorly designed weak smear site.
posted by SweetJesus at 11:53 AM on September 5, 2007
no, he duct taped it on the front as a figurehead - the guy's a VIKING!!
A figurative or literal Viking?
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:55 AM on September 5, 2007
A figurative or literal Viking?
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:55 AM on September 5, 2007
Worst. Hatchetjob. Ever.
Did these people just miss the fact that the American population recently re-elected a coke-using, draft-dodging fratboy? And they think people are going to care about him failing to register a boat?
I think Romney is an ass, but he's the Ned-fucking-Flanders of politics, at least in his personal life. This just reinforces his image, there's no scandal here. If you want to get a guy like that, you need to find real dirt -- pedophilia, cruelty to animals, something offensive. This isn't it. Alternately, the more effective attack would be to play up his Flanderian creepiness.
The Democrats seem poised to steal defeat from the jaws of victory yet again, if they keep this crap up.
posted by Kadin2048 at 12:00 PM on September 5, 2007
Did these people just miss the fact that the American population recently re-elected a coke-using, draft-dodging fratboy? And they think people are going to care about him failing to register a boat?
I think Romney is an ass, but he's the Ned-fucking-Flanders of politics, at least in his personal life. This just reinforces his image, there's no scandal here. If you want to get a guy like that, you need to find real dirt -- pedophilia, cruelty to animals, something offensive. This isn't it. Alternately, the more effective attack would be to play up his Flanderian creepiness.
The Democrats seem poised to steal defeat from the jaws of victory yet again, if they keep this crap up.
posted by Kadin2048 at 12:00 PM on September 5, 2007
S-Jesus, look in #2. Romney's Rap Sheet: > Known Associates > Garrity, Jay.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 12:05 PM on September 5, 2007
posted by Kirth Gerson at 12:05 PM on September 5, 2007
S-Jesus, look in #2. Romney's Rap Sheet: > Known Associates > Garrity, Jay.
I mean, I'm aware of it, but why do I have to search so hard to find it? I found about his reported golf course antics right away? Why lead with that? If I know nothing about him, how does that site help one way or another? If anything, it makes me more sympathetic towards him.
It's just ineptly implemented all around.
posted by SweetJesus at 12:17 PM on September 5, 2007
I mean, I'm aware of it, but why do I have to search so hard to find it? I found about his reported golf course antics right away? Why lead with that? If I know nothing about him, how does that site help one way or another? If anything, it makes me more sympathetic towards him.
It's just ineptly implemented all around.
posted by SweetJesus at 12:17 PM on September 5, 2007
Oh, sorry. I thought that when you wrote, "Well, I couldn't find it," you meant that you couldn't find it. It is a truly bad website, true.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 12:31 PM on September 5, 2007
posted by Kirth Gerson at 12:31 PM on September 5, 2007
Romney's boat . . . it is swift?
posted by brain_drain at 12:37 PM on September 5, 2007
posted by brain_drain at 12:37 PM on September 5, 2007
pyramid termite writes "it could cost a little less or a lot more in my state, depending on the size of the boat"
According to Romneyfacts.org
"In June 1981, ROMNEY attempted to launch family motorboat at Cochituate State Park despite park ranger advising that he was prohibited from doing so because his boat did not display proper registration."
According to the website that pyramid termite links to above:
"Boats are numbered according to state and federal regulations. These regulations help protect people from careless boat operators and improperly equipped boats. A Certificate of Number is issued to tell enforcement officers that a boat is properly registered. The numbers must be displayed properly on the boat.
The law requires:
1. The figures are to be read from left to right.
2. They must be displayed on the forward half of each side of the bow of the boat.
3. Numbers must be bold, block letters of good proportion.
4. Numbers must not be less than three inches high.
5. They must be of contrasting color to the boat hull or background.
6. They must be as high above the waterline as practical.
7. No number other than the number assigned can be displayed on the forward half of the vessel.
8. Letters must be separated from numbers by spaces or hyphens.
9. Validation decals must be three inches to the right of the last letter displayed.
10. Boat Certificate of Registration must be carried on vessel when being operated. "
So it sounds like this arrest was because the guy tried to launch his boat with registration numbers that failed to meet the specified standards.
Now, here in the UK, only certain offences count as arrestable offences. The size and colour of the registration number painted on your motor boat wouldn't fall into that category. Which actually wouldn't count as an arrestable offence.
Suing the bastards who go around wrongfully arresting you over how big the letters on your boat are isn't the act of someone with an overly inflated sense of privilege in my book. On the contrary, it's one of the ways that we keep those motherfuckers in check.
The people who run this website really could do with having a little rethink about their aims and objectives.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 12:37 PM on September 5, 2007
According to Romneyfacts.org
"In June 1981, ROMNEY attempted to launch family motorboat at Cochituate State Park despite park ranger advising that he was prohibited from doing so because his boat did not display proper registration."
According to the website that pyramid termite links to above:
"Boats are numbered according to state and federal regulations. These regulations help protect people from careless boat operators and improperly equipped boats. A Certificate of Number is issued to tell enforcement officers that a boat is properly registered. The numbers must be displayed properly on the boat.
The law requires:
1. The figures are to be read from left to right.
2. They must be displayed on the forward half of each side of the bow of the boat.
3. Numbers must be bold, block letters of good proportion.
4. Numbers must not be less than three inches high.
5. They must be of contrasting color to the boat hull or background.
6. They must be as high above the waterline as practical.
7. No number other than the number assigned can be displayed on the forward half of the vessel.
8. Letters must be separated from numbers by spaces or hyphens.
9. Validation decals must be three inches to the right of the last letter displayed.
10. Boat Certificate of Registration must be carried on vessel when being operated. "
So it sounds like this arrest was because the guy tried to launch his boat with registration numbers that failed to meet the specified standards.
Now, here in the UK, only certain offences count as arrestable offences. The size and colour of the registration number painted on your motor boat wouldn't fall into that category. Which actually wouldn't count as an arrestable offence.
Suing the bastards who go around wrongfully arresting you over how big the letters on your boat are isn't the act of someone with an overly inflated sense of privilege in my book. On the contrary, it's one of the ways that we keep those motherfuckers in check.
The people who run this website really could do with having a little rethink about their aims and objectives.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 12:37 PM on September 5, 2007
This is a website created by the Massachusetts Democratic Party (not the national party) and is intended to be a repository of opposition research -- stuff they dig up, as well as stuff people can't submit for consideration for posting.
Those who are focusing on minor past incidents, such as boat registration and Cranbrook School pranks, belies the greater purpose of this "library" of information (original documents, personal financial disclosure statements, campaign ads, debate videos, recordings of past interviews, etc.) which the Massachusetts Democratic Party wants to make available (as they point out in the Globe article) to the public by providing "...access to raw material for bloggers, journalists, and voters to do their own research."
Whether or not you think the website is implemented well, or not, it is intended to be a "one-stop" shop for those seeking to learn about Mitt Romney, his past and present position on issues and his participation in American political life.
posted by ericb at 12:40 PM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
Those who are focusing on minor past incidents, such as boat registration and Cranbrook School pranks, belies the greater purpose of this "library" of information (original documents, personal financial disclosure statements, campaign ads, debate videos, recordings of past interviews, etc.) which the Massachusetts Democratic Party wants to make available (as they point out in the Globe article) to the public by providing "...access to raw material for bloggers, journalists, and voters to do their own research."
Whether or not you think the website is implemented well, or not, it is intended to be a "one-stop" shop for those seeking to learn about Mitt Romney, his past and present position on issues and his participation in American political life.
posted by ericb at 12:40 PM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
"...there are only three ways to look at Romney: Either he deceived Massachusetts voters when he ran for governor in 2002, he's deceiving Republican voters today as he seeks their 2008 nomination for president ... or both."*
posted by ericb at 12:45 PM on September 5, 2007
posted by ericb at 12:45 PM on September 5, 2007
“The best thing about the site is that it makes primary sources available to bloggers who typically rely on the mainstream media’s reporting. While none of the documents are revolutionary, it’s nice to finally see the infamous Planned Parenthood questionnaire from Mitt’s 2002 gubernatorial bid in which he says he supports Roe v. Wade, state-funded abortions for low-income women, and sex education that teaches contraception. Ironically, the question about sex-ed includes the phrase ‘age-appropriate’ that Mitt was horrified by when Barack Obama used it in July.
It’s also fun to watch some of the horrible PowerPoint presentations Mitt’s staff put together during his governorship, including this confusing Pennet Square that predicts what would happen if Mitt Romney and Beacon Hill, uh, mated. Good hair? Recessive liberal bias? We don’t quite understand it without the doubtlessly thrilling narration that went with the ‘Big Dig and Beyond’ slideshow.” *
posted by ericb at 12:50 PM on September 5, 2007
It’s also fun to watch some of the horrible PowerPoint presentations Mitt’s staff put together during his governorship, including this confusing Pennet Square that predicts what would happen if Mitt Romney and Beacon Hill, uh, mated. Good hair? Recessive liberal bias? We don’t quite understand it without the doubtlessly thrilling narration that went with the ‘Big Dig and Beyond’ slideshow.” *
posted by ericb at 12:50 PM on September 5, 2007
PeterMcDermott, you quoted the reason he was arrested. Why do you then go off on a tangent about lettering? Here:
ROMNEY attempted to launch family motorboat at Cochituate State Park despite park ranger advising that he was prohibited from doing so...
The cop told him he couldn't legally do it. He tried to do it anyway. The cop arrested him. I admire your zeal in looking up the standards for boat numbering, but it's irrelevant. Trying to do something in front of a cop who's just told you it's illegal is not likely to have a pleasant outcome.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 12:54 PM on September 5, 2007
ROMNEY attempted to launch family motorboat at Cochituate State Park despite park ranger advising that he was prohibited from doing so...
The cop told him he couldn't legally do it. He tried to do it anyway. The cop arrested him. I admire your zeal in looking up the standards for boat numbering, but it's irrelevant. Trying to do something in front of a cop who's just told you it's illegal is not likely to have a pleasant outcome.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 12:54 PM on September 5, 2007
Or he takes positions based on the opinions of the people who are voting for him, which is how democracy is supposed to work, right?
Riiiiight ... and once he's in office his decisions, vetos and Presidential duties will be determined by the highest K-Street bidder. Oh, wait ...
posted by ericb at 12:55 PM on September 5, 2007
Riiiiight ... and once he's in office his decisions, vetos and Presidential duties will be determined by the highest K-Street bidder. Oh, wait ...
posted by ericb at 12:55 PM on September 5, 2007
Romney's boat . . . it is swift?
The metaphor you're looking for is more like rats leaving a sinking ship.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:55 PM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
The metaphor you're looking for is more like rats leaving a sinking ship.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:55 PM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
Trying to do something in front of a cop who's just told you it's illegal is not likely to have a pleasant outcome.
Just ask Larry "Wide Stance" Craig!
posted by ericb at 12:56 PM on September 5, 2007
Just ask Larry "Wide Stance" Craig!
posted by ericb at 12:56 PM on September 5, 2007
Or he takes positions based on the opinions of the people who are voting for him, which is how democracy is supposed to work, right?
Christ, no.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 12:56 PM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
Christ, no.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 12:56 PM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
People should get to vote for a candidate based on what he believes. What you described is a candidate claiming to believe whatever will get him elected. That is, in fact what Romney does. It offers no assurance that he'll actually act according to his purported beliefs. To some extent, it is the normal politician modus operandum, but he takes it to a new, extreme level.
After a candidate gets elected, he or she should act out the wishes of his or her constituents. The candidate who lies about his beliefs is the least-likely one to do that.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 1:41 PM on September 5, 2007
After a candidate gets elected, he or she should act out the wishes of his or her constituents. The candidate who lies about his beliefs is the least-likely one to do that.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 1:41 PM on September 5, 2007
In our democracy most Americans expect that those for whom they vote have reliable positions on various topics: e.g. domestic and foreign policy, reproductive rights, civil rights, etc. People tend to vote for those whom they believe represent and will continue to represent their best interests and/or that of their party and their view of society. Politicians who waver on policy and positions, who seem to take stances as a result of polling results appear to many to be unprinicpled and opportunists. Granted, one can expect that a politician may and will evolve his/her thinking on certain topics over time, but wholesale change on an array of topics to suit an electorate (in Romney's case moderate/liberal positions for state offices in the '90s and then 180-degree turn to far-right/conservative position in the 2000s) -- such is branded a "unprincipled chameleon" and what the Republicans themselves used as a derogatory term against Kerry, "Flip-Flopper."
posted by ericb at 1:47 PM on September 5, 2007
posted by ericb at 1:47 PM on September 5, 2007
If some rich asshole felt he was above the law with something as trivial as a fucking boat registration, I'd probably be very concerned about him becoming President of the United States.
Oh, so failing to register your boat is like perjury, right?
posted by Snyder at 2:25 PM on September 5, 2007
Oh, so failing to register your boat is like perjury, right?
posted by Snyder at 2:25 PM on September 5, 2007
Only if you're getting a blowjob while you're not registering your boat, and lying about it under oath later.
posted by Gervais Brooke-Hamster at 2:33 PM on September 5, 2007
posted by Gervais Brooke-Hamster at 2:33 PM on September 5, 2007
Oh, so failing to register your boat is like perjury, right?
If I'm using your scale, more like lying about Iraq and WMDs, or Iraq being the cause of 9/11, causing thousands (possibly millions) of unnecessary deaths.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:01 PM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
If I'm using your scale, more like lying about Iraq and WMDs, or Iraq being the cause of 9/11, causing thousands (possibly millions) of unnecessary deaths.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:01 PM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
The Salt Lake Winter Olympics were running smoothly until a bribery scandal unseated the organizers and forced them to resign. Romney didn't save anything but his resume.
posted by Brian B. at 3:23 PM on September 5, 2007
posted by Brian B. at 3:23 PM on September 5, 2007
So worse than perjury, then?
Dunno, ask the Swift Boat folks.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:59 PM on September 5, 2007
Dunno, ask the Swift Boat folks.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:59 PM on September 5, 2007
Some say that's bullshit.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:00 PM on September 5, 2007
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:00 PM on September 5, 2007
What World Famous said, that is.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:00 PM on September 5, 2007
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:00 PM on September 5, 2007
Or he takes positions based on the opinions of the people who are voting for him, which is how democracy is supposed to work, right?
To get elected the candidate certainly stakes out positions to attract wide support, but he is also on trial for his sincerity, or else his promises are empty, because he faces party loyalties and personal favors at every turn. So, if a candidate shows a lack of sincerity, then he's basically indicating that he will do whatever he wants anyway, and this last sentiment is the most defeating to a voter, because they could've voted for someone more reliable if they but only tracked the sincerity of their candidate. A voter does well when they are able to vote for someone they can trust to represent their views--and whether they win or not, people take notice.
posted by Brian B. at 4:12 PM on September 5, 2007
To get elected the candidate certainly stakes out positions to attract wide support, but he is also on trial for his sincerity, or else his promises are empty, because he faces party loyalties and personal favors at every turn. So, if a candidate shows a lack of sincerity, then he's basically indicating that he will do whatever he wants anyway, and this last sentiment is the most defeating to a voter, because they could've voted for someone more reliable if they but only tracked the sincerity of their candidate. A voter does well when they are able to vote for someone they can trust to represent their views--and whether they win or not, people take notice.
posted by Brian B. at 4:12 PM on September 5, 2007
Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that Romney took the initiative in ensuring the success of the Olympics?
The bribery scandal brought the olympics to Salt Lake City. They got caught and the effort was shamed--heads needed to roll to save face. There was never any crisis unless you call getting what you paid for a crisis.
posted by Brian B. at 4:15 PM on September 5, 2007
The bribery scandal brought the olympics to Salt Lake City. They got caught and the effort was shamed--heads needed to roll to save face. There was never any crisis unless you call getting what you paid for a crisis.
posted by Brian B. at 4:15 PM on September 5, 2007
So nobody needed to come in and do a good job in order to make sure the Olympics weren't a disaster?
That is correct. It was a ceremonial selection. Some would even argue that it was pre-arranged to give a plum to someone special. Who wants to spend half their life trying to land the olympics and get crapped on time again with heaps of Mormon scorn for failing? It was probably a living hell of thankless job. Nobody in Romney's circles would do it. But they would love to run the games if it was handed to them at the last minute. Anyone could have done it at that point, and predictably it ended up to be a political appointment.
posted by Brian B. at 4:52 PM on September 5, 2007
That is correct. It was a ceremonial selection. Some would even argue that it was pre-arranged to give a plum to someone special. Who wants to spend half their life trying to land the olympics and get crapped on time again with heaps of Mormon scorn for failing? It was probably a living hell of thankless job. Nobody in Romney's circles would do it. But they would love to run the games if it was handed to them at the last minute. Anyone could have done it at that point, and predictably it ended up to be a political appointment.
posted by Brian B. at 4:52 PM on September 5, 2007
I don't know. He seems to still be getting heaps of thanks for it.
Really? The people who landed the olympics are getting thanked where? I think you misunderstood what I wrote. You assumed that the two people who landed the olympics and organized them had somehow placed them in crisis, and then implied that he was getting thanked too--perhaps meaning Romney instead.
posted by Brian B. at 5:13 PM on September 5, 2007
Really? The people who landed the olympics are getting thanked where? I think you misunderstood what I wrote. You assumed that the two people who landed the olympics and organized them had somehow placed them in crisis, and then implied that he was getting thanked too--perhaps meaning Romney instead.
posted by Brian B. at 5:13 PM on September 5, 2007
I still don't get how you figure that the scandal wasn't a crisis for the Olympics.
Then they willingly made their own crisis, which doesn't fit the description. It generated a lot of free publicity for one thing, and got rid of somebody they didn't need any longer, and nobody saved it from that.
posted by Brian B. at 5:23 PM on September 5, 2007
Then they willingly made their own crisis, which doesn't fit the description. It generated a lot of free publicity for one thing, and got rid of somebody they didn't need any longer, and nobody saved it from that.
posted by Brian B. at 5:23 PM on September 5, 2007
humannaire: This explains the whole boat thing
Quite an interesting read.
The Christian Right + Mitt Romney + [Hotel] Pornography + Fred Thompson
posted by ericb at 6:45 PM on September 5, 2007
Quite an interesting read.
The Christian Right + Mitt Romney + [Hotel] Pornography + Fred Thompson
"Romney suddenly finds himself under fire from some of the Christian right's most influential activists. Romney's evangelical critics claim the former Massachusetts governor and devout Mormon was complicit in the Marriott hotel chain's sale of pay-per-view porn on its in-room television sets when he served on the corporation's board of directors from 1992 to 2001. Two Christian-right operatives involved in orchestrating the charges have enlisted as Internet organizers for former Senator Fred Thompson, who is preparing to enter the race formally. The tactics of these religious-right players, targeted below the radar against Romney, are calculated to alter decisively the outcome of the Republican primary contest....This carefully sequenced attack on Romney over hotel porn is just the opening volley in what appears to be a concerted effort to doom his candidacy....The hostility of segments of the Christian right to Romney coincides with its mounting interest in Fred Thompson....Perhaps the most salient explanation for the Christian right's sudden swell of support for Thompson may be that he is the lesser of several evils."Methinks the Democratic Party of Massachusetts and that on the national level may do best by 'sitting back in their lawn chairs,' munching on Diacetyl-free popcorn and watching the 'pissing contest' between Republican candidates devolve into a 'values-based' fist fight.
posted by ericb at 6:45 PM on September 5, 2007
The Olympic Turnaround -- "Did Romney claim too much credit in turning around the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City?"
In Games, a Showcase For Future Races -- "Mitt Romney is credited with turning the scandal-ridden 2002 Winter Olympics into a success. But, according to former associates, he also had another agenda: buffing up his own image for a political career."
Romney's Olympic Ties Helped Him Reap Campaign Funds
-----
"Romney...said his experience in Utah taught him waste can be found and rooted out. 'We took things out that were waste, that were unnecessary, the folderol that wasn't essential to carrying out the mission of a great Olympics,' Romney said. 'The same thing, I believe, can happen in government.'
Democrats running for [Massachusetts] governor noted that Romney's Olympics relied heavily on government subsidy, pulling as much as $1.5 billion from [American] taxpayers." [Boston Herald | March 22, 2002]
posted by ericb at 7:06 PM on September 5, 2007
In Games, a Showcase For Future Races -- "Mitt Romney is credited with turning the scandal-ridden 2002 Winter Olympics into a success. But, according to former associates, he also had another agenda: buffing up his own image for a political career."
Romney's Olympic Ties Helped Him Reap Campaign Funds
"The day Mitt Romney took over the scandal-tainted Salt Lake City Olympics in 1999, he pledged not to exploit the role for political gain and announced that he would not accept any severance pay when he finished the job. Public records indicate he did otherwise.All from The Boston Globe -- The Making of Mitt Romney [video documentary].
Romney not only accepted a $476,000 severance package from the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, according to federal tax records, but he helped to lobby the committee for similarly large pacts for his 25 senior managers, 17 of whom contributed to his 2002 Massachusetts gubernatorial campaign or the state Republican Party soon after the Winter Games.
...In addition to tapping senior managers, Romney also solicited donations from the organizing committee's 53-member board of trustees, 14 of whom contributed to his campaign or political action committees during his governorship. Romney also received political funds from individuals associated with companies such as Nu Skin, Questar, and NBC that sponsored or did business with the organizing committee.
More recently, branches of Romney's Commonwealth Political Action Committee accepted $10,000 from a businessman and family friend who pleaded guilty to a tax fraud charge and was one of the two individuals held culpable for wrongdoing in the Olympic scandal.
All told, Romney reaped more than $1.5 million in campaign funds during his governorship from individuals and families with ties to the Olympics.
Many of his Olympic-related donors have since joined a massive fund-raising movement for Romney's presidential campaign."
-----
"Romney...said his experience in Utah taught him waste can be found and rooted out. 'We took things out that were waste, that were unnecessary, the folderol that wasn't essential to carrying out the mission of a great Olympics,' Romney said. 'The same thing, I believe, can happen in government.'
Democrats running for [Massachusetts] governor noted that Romney's Olympics relied heavily on government subsidy, pulling as much as $1.5 billion from [American] taxpayers." [Boston Herald | March 22, 2002]
posted by ericb at 7:06 PM on September 5, 2007
The Christian Right + Mitt Romney + ...Fred Thompson
Thompson Announces ’08 Bid, Hollywood-style -- "Actor makes long-awaited declaration on taped ‘Tonight Show’ appearance."
Romney Takes Swipe at Thompson
Fred Thompson Scores “Direct Hit on Romney”
posted by ericb at 7:49 PM on September 5, 2007
Thompson Announces ’08 Bid, Hollywood-style -- "Actor makes long-awaited declaration on taped ‘Tonight Show’ appearance."
Romney Takes Swipe at Thompson
Fred Thompson Scores “Direct Hit on Romney”
posted by ericb at 7:49 PM on September 5, 2007
Get to know the real Mitt Romney
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Mitt R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn! Ia! Ia! Romney fhtagn!
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:06 PM on September 5, 2007
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Mitt R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn! Ia! Ia! Romney fhtagn!
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:06 PM on September 5, 2007
The day Mitt Romney took over the scandal-tainted Salt Lake City Olympics in 1999, he pledged not to exploit the role for political gain and announced that he would not accept any severance pay when he finished the job. Public records indicate he did otherwise.
Romney not only accepted a $476,000 severance package from the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, according to federal tax records, but he helped to lobby the committee for similarly large pacts for his 25 senior managers, 17 of whom contributed to his 2002 Massachusetts gubernatorial campaign or the state Republican Party soon after the Winter Games.
Romney "says" one thing; he "does" the other.
As a member of the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America, I'd say he fails some of the prime tenets of Scout Law:
Romney not only accepted a $476,000 severance package from the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, according to federal tax records, but he helped to lobby the committee for similarly large pacts for his 25 senior managers, 17 of whom contributed to his 2002 Massachusetts gubernatorial campaign or the state Republican Party soon after the Winter Games.
Romney "says" one thing; he "does" the other.
As a member of the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America, I'd say he fails some of the prime tenets of Scout Law:
A Scout is:posted by ericb at 8:12 PM on September 5, 2007Trustworthy
Loyal
Helpful
Friendly
Courteous
Kind
Obedient
Cheerful
Thrifty
Brave
Clean
Reverent
Sorry, about 150 or so comments in, it all started to run together incomprehensibly.
But anyone think about how the Republicans started criticizing Kerry to get the base to rally to a guy they thought they could beat?
Maybe the Dems have learned something.
posted by klangklangston at 9:24 PM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
But anyone think about how the Republicans started criticizing Kerry to get the base to rally to a guy they thought they could beat?
Maybe the Dems have learned something.
posted by klangklangston at 9:24 PM on September 5, 2007 [1 favorite]
DRFTA. Do they mention anything about him belonging to a cult?
posted by neuron at 10:07 PM on September 5, 2007
posted by neuron at 10:07 PM on September 5, 2007
i'm getting tired of this red/blue symbolism, and this website is clearly aimed at the lowest common denominator, but i guess taking the high road failed twice already.
posted by maus at 2:24 AM on September 6, 2007
posted by maus at 2:24 AM on September 6, 2007
Whatever rising tide floats all your boats, man.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 8:29 AM on September 6, 2007
posted by Kirth Gerson at 8:29 AM on September 6, 2007
this website is clearly aimed at the lowest common denominator
Maybe, but the trolls who threw around Clinton non sequitors weren't helping.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 8:56 AM on September 6, 2007
Maybe, but the trolls who threw around Clinton non sequitors weren't helping.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 8:56 AM on September 6, 2007
If I'm using your scale, more like lying about Iraq and WMDs, or Iraq being the cause of 9/11, causing thousands (possibly millions) of unnecessary deaths.
This is doesn't make sense, unless I parse it (like The World Famous does,) to mean that failing to register (or display the registration, or whatever,) a boat is worse than perjury, in which case, call me a troll all you like, because you're the purest kind of idiot.
Do you need the concept spelled out for you? That if some police brouhaha about boat registration is somehow a serious referendum on the candidates fitness to be president, than so is perjury, if you have a sense of ethics that hasn't been distorted to the point that I'll bleat about anything possible to make a Republican, no matter how pathetic or contradictory of my own previous statements. Personally, I don't care about either offense, but feel free to slur me as a Bush and war supporter because I dared disagree with the great Blazecock.
posted by Snyder at 12:17 PM on September 6, 2007
This is doesn't make sense, unless I parse it (like The World Famous does,) to mean that failing to register (or display the registration, or whatever,) a boat is worse than perjury, in which case, call me a troll all you like, because you're the purest kind of idiot.
Do you need the concept spelled out for you? That if some police brouhaha about boat registration is somehow a serious referendum on the candidates fitness to be president, than so is perjury, if you have a sense of ethics that hasn't been distorted to the point that I'll bleat about anything possible to make a Republican, no matter how pathetic or contradictory of my own previous statements. Personally, I don't care about either offense, but feel free to slur me as a Bush and war supporter because I dared disagree with the great Blazecock.
posted by Snyder at 12:17 PM on September 6, 2007
OK, for the what is it, the fourth time? - Romney did not get arrested because his boat was unregistered. He got arrested because he did something illegal in front of a cop who had just told him it was illegal. That may be all arrogant, or it may be a mixture of arrogant and stupid, but it demonstrates qualities that are undesirable in a President. If he had some kind of a principled objection to boat-licensing fees, he would have abolished them when he became governor. That wasn't the case, obviously. What he objected to was being told he had to meet the same requirements as everybody else.
We already have a President who's convinced he's above the law. It strikes me as monumentally boneheaded to propose picking another such person to succeed him.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 1:31 PM on September 6, 2007
We already have a President who's convinced he's above the law. It strikes me as monumentally boneheaded to propose picking another such person to succeed him.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 1:31 PM on September 6, 2007
Kirth, modus operandi. Genitive.
Also I agree with PeterMcDermott on the whole boating issue. And I know DU stopped posting like 12 hours ago, but the desperately poor are not the"average Joe" any more than the filthy rich are; nor is the person "just starting out" so I don't see how you supported your argument at all.
posted by Hal Mumkin at 4:25 PM on September 6, 2007
Also I agree with PeterMcDermott on the whole boating issue. And I know DU stopped posting like 12 hours ago, but the desperately poor are not the"average Joe" any more than the filthy rich are; nor is the person "just starting out" so I don't see how you supported your argument at all.
posted by Hal Mumkin at 4:25 PM on September 6, 2007
What if a candidate had been arrested at an anti-Iraq-war protest for failure to remain in a free-speech zone after a cop told him it was illegal to protest outside the free-speech zone?
Wow.
Equating a conscientious objector with a rich twerp who is arguing with the police about a fucking $40 boat tag reaches new heights of ridiculous.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 4:38 PM on September 6, 2007
Wow.
Equating a conscientious objector with a rich twerp who is arguing with the police about a fucking $40 boat tag reaches new heights of ridiculous.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 4:38 PM on September 6, 2007
i guess taking the high road failed twice already
Taking the high road only succeeds when there's a limit to the depths to which your opponent will sink.
posted by psmealey at 5:09 PM on September 6, 2007
Taking the high road only succeeds when there's a limit to the depths to which your opponent will sink.
posted by psmealey at 5:09 PM on September 6, 2007
Only a shameless apologist or someone suffering massive brain damage would equate telling off the police over a boat tag with an act of civil disobedience. Not much more to be said, really.
Stick it to the man, Romney!
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 5:17 PM on September 6, 2007
Stick it to the man, Romney!
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 5:17 PM on September 6, 2007
Only a shameless apologist or someone suffering massive brain damage would equate telling off the police over a boat tag with an act of civil disobedience. Not much more to be said, really.
Whatever, troll.
posted by Snyder at 5:26 PM on September 6, 2007
Whatever, troll.
posted by Snyder at 5:26 PM on September 6, 2007
i guess taking the high road failed twice already
No, wait a second... fuck that. What the hell does any of this pissant boat-registration stuff have to do with his fucking policy positions? This "opposition research" stuff is completely fucking irrelevant, in exactly the same way that Bush and Obama using drugs, Bill Clinton getting a blow job, or John Kerry fucking windsurfing were irrelevant in their day. If the democrats can't take the high road now, when they have basically no chance of losing in 2008, when can we fucking ever expect them to?
/rant
/sweary moment
posted by whir at 12:40 AM on September 7, 2007
No, wait a second... fuck that. What the hell does any of this pissant boat-registration stuff have to do with his fucking policy positions? This "opposition research" stuff is completely fucking irrelevant, in exactly the same way that Bush and Obama using drugs, Bill Clinton getting a blow job, or John Kerry fucking windsurfing were irrelevant in their day. If the democrats can't take the high road now, when they have basically no chance of losing in 2008, when can we fucking ever expect them to?
/rant
/sweary moment
posted by whir at 12:40 AM on September 7, 2007
Hal Mumkin, making people squint does not give your argument any more force. And it's not a "boating issue."
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:02 AM on September 7, 2007
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:02 AM on September 7, 2007
Only a shameless apologist or someone suffering massive brain damage would equate telling off the police over a boat tag with
... anything remotely important - the guy wasn't even convicted of anything
all this does is make his detractors seem petty and stupid
posted by pyramid termite at 6:22 AM on September 7, 2007
... anything remotely important - the guy wasn't even convicted of anything
all this does is make his detractors seem petty and stupid
posted by pyramid termite at 6:22 AM on September 7, 2007
... anything remotely important - the guy wasn't even convicted of anything
This would all be a lot more compelling if you hadn't spent the Clinton years banging on about Monica.
You right-wing fascists are *amazing* with your double standards. It'd be fascinating, if you didn't all seem to enjoy the random slaughter of faraway peoples so much.
posted by Tacos Are Pretty Great at 11:11 PM on September 20, 2007
This would all be a lot more compelling if you hadn't spent the Clinton years banging on about Monica.
You right-wing fascists are *amazing* with your double standards. It'd be fascinating, if you didn't all seem to enjoy the random slaughter of faraway peoples so much.
posted by Tacos Are Pretty Great at 11:11 PM on September 20, 2007
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posted by PeterMcDermott at 5:08 AM on September 5, 2007