Here’s alleged “fact checker” Glenn Kessler, ignoring the facts about what is actually in the SEC filings, and instead focusing on smearing the source:
The story seems to hinge on a quote from a former Securities and Exchange Commission member, which would have more credibility if the Globe had disclosed she was a regular contributor to Democrats.
Here’s the Romney Campaign:
The Romney campaign’s Saul suggests that the paper’s story “hinges on a (Jimmy) Carter-appointed lifelong Democrat’s assertions, cast as unbiased.”
What a coincidence. Since Kessler is too stupid to figure this out on his own, here are the actual facts:
Government documents filed by Mitt Romney and Bain Capital say Romney remained chief executive and chairman of the firm three years beyond the date he said he ceded control, even creating five new investment partnerships during that time.
Romney has said he left Bain in 1999 to lead the winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, ending his role in the company. But public Securities and Exchange Commission documents filed later by Bain Capital state he remained the firm’s “sole stockholder, chairman of the board, chief executive officer, and president.”
Also, a Massachusetts financial disclosure form Romney filed in 2003 states that he still owned 100 percent of Bain Capital in 2002. And Romney’s state financial disclosure forms indicate he earned at least $100,000 as a Bain “executive” in 2001 and 2002, separate from investment earnings.
Those are facts. They are verifiable and there is concrete evidence supporting them. It doesn’t matter who makes the allegation.
Unabogie
These people make me sick. At some point, it’s just hackery. Kessler is disgracing himself here.
Cassidy
It only matters if you’re a Democrat or have darker skin.
Yutsano
But she was appointed by worst. President. Evar. Therefore your argument is invalid. Malaise, also, too.
cathyx
He’s guilty of a felony, lying about an SEC filing. Book him, Danno.
Roger Moore
But Obama is a poopyhead, so there.
Nemesis
Ouch! Bain attacks are bainful. Quick, attack the messenger. Attack anything! Change the subject stat!
cmorenc
How does a story “hinge on a quote” from a (democratic) former SEC member, when the facts purportedly come from an SEC filing made by Bain and Romney themselves which are a matter of public record? As such, this is something Kessler could easily have checked himself, or dispatched an intern or other staffer to quickly verify. But that would require the actual sound journalism of doing at least a minimal amount of relatively easy legwork, instead of spouting off the cuff.
How long will it take Kessler to publish a correction on this? I’m not holding my breath.
the Conster
Well, Kessler is a nobody and he’s already being talked around. So now we all know what a clown he is and all that’s left to do is point and laugh at him because even Kessler knows this story’s got legs. Everyone who knows anything about corporate law and how business works knows Romney’s deep in the rising shit now, and Obama’s got both the exits locked from the outside.
Litlebritdifrnt
According to Sully Kessler is doubling down.
http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/
Can’t seem to find where he is quoting from though.
Culture of Truth
Facts have a well-known liberal bias
Valdivia
I want to see how long he and FactCheck keep tripling down on this as more info comes out. Will they actually deny it even if they have video of the man in a Bain meeting? It’s like they now say no data will change our position just because. Cognitive dissonance how does it fucking work?
Rhoda
This doesn’t matter.
There will be more stories and more denials by the Romney campaign and then more stories and slowly the stories will pile up and burn into the conscious of the voters who will smell the smoke and feel the heat of it all; and Romney’s presidential hopes will burn out.
Robert Gibbs had a throw away line the other day; that Mitt Romney gave 23 years worth of tax returns to John McCain and John McCain picked Sarah Palin over him. That’s a quote that’s going to come back and mean something to voters. So, the fact checkers can continue to destroy their credibility. They don’t matter. Today’s Boston Globe story proved it.
Scott S.
Is Kessler being paid by the Romney campaign? Or by another Republican-friendly source, such as the Kochs, ALEC, or Rupert Murdoch?
Kessler should be asked to let investigators scrutinize his financial records.
Comrade Mary
@the Conster:
You mean something like this? Or this?
Hunter Gathers
Kessler’s just auditioning for a gig Fox News at this point. I guess facts spelled out on paper are worthless when a non-conservative is quoted in a story that is damaging to a candidate that you are doing your damnedest to prop up in order to keep your page hits at a high level. Somebody should ask Kessler what Romney’s dick tastes like and how many Pinocchios should he receive when he claims that he has no idea.
Tonal Crow
[Deleted to fix FYWP errors]
Culture of Truth
October 15, Presidential Debate:
Obama: “With all due respect, Mitt, you were Chair, President, and CEO of Bain when it offshored thousands of American jobs”
Romney: “I was listed as CEO, but in fact, with all due respect, Mr. Obama, I had no involvement in those decisions becaus I handed off all my responsibilities at Bain to someone else.”
Obama: “So your outsourced you own job?”
[ laughter ]
Obama: “I should try that. Let Joe take over for the weekend while I hang out with Michelle and the girls.”
Villago Delenda Est
What little credibility Kessler ever had has been annihilated by this latest failure to acknowledge objective, empirical reality.
Kessler is a Rmoney stooge. This is fucking fact. If he does not like this, he can kiss my shiny metal ass.
dmsilev
I like Kessler’s update:
Romney wasn’t a fund manager at Bain. He was the CEO. Those documents are irrelevant. Still, the stench of panic emanating from the right and their media enablers is wonderful to behold.
lacp
Willard is a staunch Reaganite: he believes that facts are stupid things.
D0n Camillo
@cathyx:
He can always ask President Obama for a pardon after he is re-elected in November.
Gin & Tonic
@Culture of Truth: I wish.
Unfortunately October 15 will be three weeks after Netanyahu kicks off the Yom Kippur war of 2012 by launching a pre-emptive strike against Iran. Nobody will even remember Bain Capital.
freelancer
Both sides do it.I do it to both sides! See, my post that Obama’s four Pinnochios are just like a GOP website no one reads.Maude
Does anyone know if Romney has legal problems because of this?
I don’t think I’d want to tangle with AG Holder right now.
Culture of Truth
I don’t want to hear him admit he was in charge. I want to hear in him deny it.
jl
I figure, probable fate of these fact check joints is that their decisions will eventually become random.
That way, they will all become demonstrably ‘balanced’ and ‘fair’. If they can issue even one or two decisions a week, then very small chance that anyone will stand out from the crowd if you use a reasonably short but arguably representative window for calculating outcomes, say, six months.
The difficult and risky problem of finding fact is replaced by the much easier problem of finding a set of arguments to support a random decision that is not, on its face, asinine. Economists can whip off that kind of work to order, and I like the idea, since will mean more job openings. These fact checker rackets should be run by economists. That’s the ticket.
The only problem is that the mook running any particular fact check joint has to be able to pass off the random results as sensible. But if the goofus manager who runs the thing cannot even do that, replacements are easy to find.
So, just trying to help out Kessler here. Some one needs to defend the poor guy, throw him a bone… something.
Everyone here is beating up on the poor guy, just for trying to do his job, pumping out a reliable (and random IS very reliable its own cute funky little way) news product using a viable business model in today’s very competitive corporate marketplace.
For shame BJ, for shame.
scav
@Culture of Truth: Give him two seconds. He’ll manage it. (ETA: meaning both, hence the 2 sec.)
General Stuck
Romney is toast as a prez candidate. He may even end up in 6 by 8 digs with a concrete bunk. I don’t think this has started sinking in yet to the right wing side of the isle, and I include Kessler in that boat. The reason he lied was that to tell the truth would have confirmed his bizzen career just how Obama was defining it. And that was the very experience Romney was total running on. There is no way out that doesn’t involvement indictments, or a shit sandwich so big, Obama will have it delivered by train. I give Mitt 4 days. Maybe a week to throw in the towel, or the wingnut braintrust doing it for him.
jim filyaw
i’ve voted democrat since 1968. so, whenever i say kessler is a lying sack of shit, that makes it suspect?
Joel
Shout it from the mountaintops. We need to completely discredit these guys.
EdTheRed
@dmsilev: Seriously, apparently Kessler is unable to comprehend the difference between being a manager and being CEO. “Yeah, sure, I was CEO, but I delegated ALL OF MY RESPONSIBILITIES to a bunch of other guys. Sure, I know we didn’t bother explaining this in the forms we filed with the SEC that said that I was the CEO, but, you know, uh, that’s, uh, business.”
FlipYrWhig
@dmsilev: What was Romney’s “operational input” before 1999? It’s the whole raison d’être for his candidacy. I want to know what changed when he supposedly went from active CEO to passive CEO-emeritus.
freelancer
This dude is primed for a DougJ “Burkean centrist Brodertastic” troll question.
Brian R.
@freelancer:
Jesus Christ. The Broder Virus has reached a critical point.
Tonal Crow
[Once again, FYWP. Are you working for Romney’s campaign, too?]
ETA: John, you’ve got to make it possible to post long hrefs, like those from the SEC site. WP *totally* mangles them.
Villago Delenda Est
The problem with corporate media “fact checking” is that the actual facts make the corporate media and its preferred politicians look like shit.
So, they’ll continue to lie, push the idiotic “both sides do it meme”, and continue to jockey up the list of those to be put on tumbrels so they get an early blade time at the Place de la Concorde.
I hope SPaT has her knitting needles ready for her supervisory duties to come.
Chukwu
I have a question to any corporate lawyers:
Would the relevant SEC documents require you to list an acting CEO? Because it’s conceivable to me that Mitt held the titles while someone else did all the work. But in that case, would the acting exec’s name need to be disclosed?
Turgidson
@Valdivia:
At this point Kessler and Factcheck would probably respond to a video of Romney directing a 2002 Bain board meeting as saying “we’re still right because there’s no proof here that this video hasn’t been doctored by the Obama campaign.”
All they had to say was “oops, we didn’t have all the facts when we made our initial evaluation, but after considering the new information, we come to a different conclusion” and they’d be embarrassed for a couple hours and people would get over it. Instead they’re insisting upon irreparably damaging their credibility for…well maybe forever, it seems to me, to avoid saying “oops my bad.”
I mean, their stubborn ignorance, or ignorant stubbornness, is just….surreal.
MikeJ
@Maude:
He does not. Any prosecution of Romeny would be made to look like Obama prosecuting his political enemies.
EdTheRed
@Maude: His legal problems would either be with the Massachusetts AG (if he lied on his state financial disclosure forms), or they’d be with the SEC (if there are issues with Bain’s filings). DOJ would only step in if the SEC referred the matter to them as a potential criminal matter (versus dealing with it on their own as a civil matter, usually resulting in a fine).
redshirt
Reagan showed us facts don’t matter anymore. We’re an Empire now, gosh! And we create our own facts.
Villago Delenda Est
@Roger Moore:
Oh, it’s much, much worse than that.
He’s near.
He’s in the process of nailing Rmoney to the wall. Nothing can stop that now. Either Rmoney was in charge and exported jobs, or Rmoney filed felony grade false statements with the SEC. He’s got a choice here. Hobson’s choice.
He’s too fucking stupid to realize his crusts are on fire right now.
RP
We joke about Kessler being a shill for Romney, but the fact that he used the same phrasing makes me wonder if he really is getting talking points directly from the campaign. And not in a “oh he’s lazy and just repeating what he’s told” kind of way.
lacp
This is all good news for John McCain.
General Stuck
@Maude:
Like I said in an earlier thread. In any other election cycle, it would be damaging to any candidate to have a revelation like this, but not a certain death knell to a campaign. As evidenced why Romney lied in the first place to blunt dem attacks of his Wall Street shady dealings, that in that world probly look normal as in everyone does it. But in this election, not only is the economy the main issue, the very workings of our capitalist institutions are under a microscope after a Wall Street collapse that nearly took us all down with it. I don’t think Romney will survive the week as the GOP candidate, but in this crazy country right now, who know?. But he will most likely be the first major party candidate to also be a person of interest. At least in a preliminary investigation by the feds to sort things out.
schrodinger's cat
@redshirt: Empires that think they are immune to facts, eventually fall.
FlipYrWhig
@Brian R.: I’m picturing an _Alien_ style xenomorph bursting out of Kessler’s chest, shaped like a Broder homunculus, then scooting away into the air ducts.
Turgidson
@Villago Delenda Est:
It would be perhaps Obama’s greatest gift to the nation as president if he/his campaign is able to humiliate the media so badly, with repeated “actually no, you’re wrong, dumbass” episodes like this, that they clean up their act a bit going forward.
It won’t happen, I know. But it’d be nice.
Mudge
A Sully commenter says,
“Actually, in SEC filings, one must not merely disclose record ownership of a company, one must disclose the” beneficial ownership” (including all control arrangement) as well. Consequently, if the filings showed Romney as the sole owner and the CEO, etc. when other persons in fact had actual control of the company, that would also be problem. As a former securities attorney, and current professor of securities law, I can assure you that these are not technicalities.”
So, if others had control, they needed to be listed. There is no indication they were. This seems to blunt the “others were actually in charge” argument. Also consider that Romney probably made millions at the totally improper 15% tax rate. Taking a mere $100,000 at his marginal rate (the 30% rate) would have been just for show.
Valdivia
@Turgidson:
Exactly this–fact-checkers can never be failed, because they are always right even when proven wrong. This is like some parallel universe where facts are discounted.
freelancer
@General Stuck:
Stuck, that is a very, um, charitable prognostication. A week for him to resign his candidacy? From your lips to FSM’s noodly appendages, but that’s not going to happen.
Roger Moore
@redshirt:
Yeah, but the wingnuts have forgotten that the Empire is now in the hands of the Kenyan in Chief, so he’s the one who’s creating his own facts these days. And now he’s created the fact that Mitt (R-Money) has perjured himself to one government agency or another. By the time the wingnuts deal with that fact, Obama will have created some new facts about what a scum Mittens is. Payback is a bitch.
Heliopause
John, if I may offer a mild defense of Kessler, he conceives of the job of journalism to be to get a quote from each side and print them. For example, if you want to know the latest climate science you get a quote from Senator Inhofe and a quote from a Dem politician and then you print them, job done. Kessler’s limitations are likely congenital.
redshirt
@schrodinger’s cat: True. And here we are in America, 2012, with an inveterate liar with a chance for the Iron Throne.
Which way will we go?
MattR
@freelancer: Given that Kessler provided no documentary evidence for his claim, I give it Four Pinocchios.
patroclus
I think “Romney Fluffer” is the more appropriate appellation.
Upper West
How hard can it be to find people who have information as to whether Romney actually did anything at Bain from 1999-2002?
Scott
A few weeks ago, the “VIP”s were saying that the Obama campaign was wrong to keep pounding on Bain. This drip-drip makes me wonder whether that campaign has a lot of oppo research waiting in the wings for Romney to tell another lie and hang himself again.
the Conster
@Roger Moore:
It’s beautiful, innit? Present a set of facts that are so clear, that Mitt will have to admit to one of two terrible things. Obama’s people will not allow him to squirm out of it either, and now that the accusations are part of the campaign, they can’t be entirely ignored by the FAIL media.
jl
What keeps coming to my mind, is that all Romney has to do to defuse a lot of the Bain control flap is tell us, please tell us more about what Bain did.
I mean, if three are dozens of inspiring Staples stories for every sad and sheisty GSK and Amapad story, then no one would care much of Romney maybe cut a few corners, legalwise.
So, let us see, from what I have heard so far, the inspiring stories from Romney about Bain are Staples, Staples, and Staples. And then, I forgot, Staples.
Mind you, I am biased and my whole argument is invalid because (true fact!) I do not like staples very much and do not support the use of staples or staplers whenever it can be avoided, on either paper or roofing material. And I am very glad that I read the WaPo, so I can understand the logic of that reasoning.
Turgidson
@lacp:
At the rate Romney’s going, there might be a furious campaign to draft old man McCain to be the nominee before the convention.
General Stuck
@freelancer:
Well then, if it doesn’t, then it will be wall to wall coverage that will rival the Clinton bughunt by hungry reporters hoping to make a name for themselves. Except this one will be during an election campaign of an upstart trying to unseat an incumbent, who just today had polls showing him 8 points ahead of Romney. There is scandal blood in the water, and a whole wide world to search for Mitt;s greed merchant skeletons. I hope he stays, but doubt it for very long.
lacp
@Turgidson: I’m a Fred Thompson man, myself.
MattR
@Turgidson: I think Dan Quayle would have a pretty good shot at outperforming Romney at this point.
Culture of Truth
Mitt is like a shark. If he stops lying, he dies.
scav
@Turgidson: Or maybe it’s all a cunning plan by deep-cover libertarian moles in business leaking things to papers before the
conferenceconvention . . . .Villago Delenda Est
@Upper West:
Way too hard for the lazy, bought and paid for vermin of the Village.
On edit: also, what Roger says in the next comment.
Roger Moore
@Upper West:
You’re going to have to bust through a combined Wall Street and Mormon omerta that makes the Sicilian kind look paltry and weak in comparison. Don’t count on getting anything but the Romney party line from anyone who was ever at Bain.
Gin & Tonic
Could those of you who are talking as if Willard will not be the Republican candidate this fall please let me know where I can buy what you are smoking? He will be the candidate, 60 million people will vote for him, and he stands a non-trivial chance of winning. In a week, two at tops, nobody outside a pretty limited subset of left blogistan will give two shits about this story.
the Conster
Now according to Sully there’s confirmation that Romney didn’t manage funds on the prospectuses that went out in that time – BUT THAT’S NOT WHAT HE CLAIMED TO BE! Jeebus, dumbfucks, he was listed as the owner and CEO and CHairman of the company that paid the managers to manage the funds – how hard is this to understand? I work for a large company that owns investment firms, and the CEO doesn’t have anything to do with managing funds! But he sure as shit knows what they’re doing and how they’re doing it, and making sure their SEC filings are all in compliance BECAUSE HE’S ULTIMATELY RESPONSIBLE! They’re trying to fit 20 pounds of Romney stupid into a 5 lb bag.
redshirt
@MattR: Palin-Quayle 2012!
JPL
SARAH! SARAH! SARAH!
now get off my lawn.
General Stuck
@Gin & Tonic:
Time will tell
Turgidson
@jl:
That’s what is so fucking hilarious about Romney’s shitshow fail parade on Bain generally. He could have so easily dealt with much of the abuse he’s taking now by just saying some candid stuff about Bain, the good and the bad, early on. In the more than half-decade he’s been running for president, he never thought to do this, or thought since he’s a Galtian genius, he wouldn’t have to. I mean, why even give Obama this opening? Was saying he left in 1999 and not 2002 really THAT important to his campaign? Does he really think he can lie about EVERYTHING with no negative consequences? Just so clumsy/arrogant/stupid/etc.
Hoisted on his own fucking petard and rightfully so. I just hope this sinks him as much as it ought to. The fact that Bush won in 04 despite the mountains of evidence that he was a lying fraud and failure…makes me pause before breaking out the bubbly, however.
Villago Delenda Est
@Gin & Tonic:
WRONG.
This is the oppo research that will fuel the ad campaigns that the Village says “are not working” that are causing panic in the green rooms and the salons of Georgetown.
The horse race narrative is in dire danger. Bain attack ads are working in all the battleground states. Only hope for Rmoney is voter suppression.
Rmoney may be the candidate come fall, but he’s being mortally wounded right now.
pseudonymous in nc
@Chukwu:
IANAL, but I was looking at the Apple SEC filings that covered Steve Jobs’s medical leaves of absence. He still signed the Q-10s, but Apple filed an 8-K announcing the leave and Tim Cook’s role in charge of day-to-day operations.
Ksmiami
@FlipYrWhig: Knowing a bit of how this works let me Add that if Romney had truly shifted out of CEO mode, why didn’t he follow the well worn path of just being chairman? That would at least give him some credibility now, but as it stands in the corp world CEOs are by definition active managers. It’s just insulting to anyone with a brain
Cris (without an H)
@Culture of Truth: I expect Mitt to treat this subject with condescension. “If you had ever worked in the private sector, mister President, you would know that a good CEO is a good delegator. My job was to trust my subordinates to handle their responsibilities, not to micromanage and babysit every decision…” blah blah blah
NonyNony
@General Stuck:
Doubtful that Mitt throws in the towel – he’s this close to the brass ring and he just gives up? Not a chance.
Republican convention is at the end of August. The Republicans could choose to oust him there and put someone else in his slot I suppose. It would be unprecedented, and the person running would be at a SEVERE disadvantage on the fundraising side by that late in the summer.
I dunno. It would have to be pretty bad to reach that far. For now Romney can keep saying that the SEC documents are wrong – he can hold that line until someone actually opens an investigation (or hell even until someone brings charges and he’s forced to testify). I don’t see an actual investigation coming forward – he might claim that he lied on his SEC forms, but who’s going to press that investigation in an election year? After the election if he loses nobody will care (he can recant and say he was just saying whatever to get elected – that’s not a criminal offense yet) and if he wins, well, he can expect to face no consequences.
As far as media narrative goes this is bad, but as far as actual fraud charges ever being filed against Prince Mitt, don’t hold your breath.
Maude
@General Stuck:
The timing is bad for Romney. Dimon had a conference call with investors today, I’ll listen to Bloomberg in the morning to see how it went.
Bob Diamond is taking home a lot of pay.
The Obama ads about Bain have struck a chord.
Holder isn’t Edwin Meese.
The SEC is seriously underfunded and still they are doing a good job.
I’d rather be Romney’s dog than Romney.
Edit: spell boo boo.
Tonal Crow
Since so many “journalists” have joined Romney’s campaign staff, let’s commit some journalism ourselves.
Search sec.gov for strings like
and examine the documents that pop up. Categorize them as I’ve done in the following partial lists, and repost your list here.
==============================================================================
Here’s a partial list of SEC docs that Romney *signed* as
“Chief Executive Officer” of Bain entities
(such a “Bain Capital, Inc”, “Bain Capital Investors V, Inc.”, etc.)
since he claimed to leave Bain in 2/1999:
Filed Dated Covering Period Ending Document
—– —– ——–
2/14/2001 2/12/2001 12/31/2000 Disclosure of stake in ‘Therma Wave’ (CIK 0000828119) by ‘Bain Capital V’
2/14/2001 2/14/2001 12/31/2000 Disclosure of stake in ‘ChipPAC, Inc.’ (CIK 0001093779) by various Bain entities
2/22/2001 2/14/2001 12/31/2000 Disclosure of stake in ‘ChipPAC, Inc.’ (CIK 0001093779) by various Bain entities
==============================================================================
Here’s a partial list of SEC docs that *mention* Romney as CEO of Bain entities (
including “Bain Capital Inc.”) but are not signed by him in that capacity,
since he claimed to leave Bain in 2/1999:
4/19/1999 4/19/1999 n/a Proxy statement of ‘STAPLES, INC.’ (CIK 0000791519)
5/24/2000 5/25/2000 n/a Proxy statement of ‘STAPLES, INC.’ (CIK 0000791519)
7/14/2000 7/13/2000 5/2/2000 Disclosure of stake in ‘Odwalla, Inc.’ (CIK 0000892058)
5/3/2001 4/4/2001 n/a Proxy statement of ‘US LEC CORP.’ (CIK 0001054290)
==============================================================================
Here’s a partial list of SEC docs that *mention* Romney as having management
capacity (though not CEO-ship) for Bain entities since he claimed to leave Bain
in 2/1999:
4/30/2001 4/30/2001 n/a Proxy statement of ‘DDi Corp.’ (CIK 0001104252)
==============================================================================
Here’s a partial list of SEC docs that mention Romney as “wholly own[ing]”
or as the “sole shareholder” of
“Bain Capital, Inc.”.
5/1/2000 4/28/2000 n/a Proxy statement of ‘STERICYCLE INC’ (CIK 0000861878)
3/28/2001 3/28/2001 12/31/2000 Annual report of ‘DOMINO’S, INC.’ (CIK 0001079458)
4/30/2001 4/30/2001 n/a Proxy statement of ‘ChipPAC, Inc.’ (CIK 0001093779)
Gin & Tonic
@Villago Delenda Est: I’d be happy to eat crow, but I’m not spending any time looking up recipes.
Indeed, as the General said, time will tell.
Valdivia
While I think this will be hard for Romney to lie his way out of I don’t think he will throw in the towel. The ugly will begin to fly very soon.
slag
I don’t think Kessler is a willful Romney surrogate. I just don’t think he is fully cognizant of his own biases and, with his own credibility is at stake, he’s grasping. Sometimes, a well-timed “my bad” can provide a well-intentioned and sincere person a lifeline. But the presence of “pinocchio”s certainly complicates matters in this regard. It’s hard to keep faith with people when you’re trying to be both earnest and glib in the very same breath.
brent
The thing about this that is so ridiculous is that even if I accept, despite the absurdity of it, that Kessler could conceivably be correct that Romney was not involved in Bain after 1999, his initial claims don’t hold water. Remember, the issue here is that Kessler is saying that the Obama campaign is telling an egregious and deliberate lie. They are making a claim that could not reasonably be considered true and that claims rests on the crazy assumption that the CEO, President and sole shareholder of a company is responsible for what happens at that company.
That’s what it boils down to when thinking about Kessler’s role in this. Holding the CEO, President and sole shareholder of a company responsible for what that company does is deliberately dishonest in his estimation. Why? Because the CEO, President and sole shareholder of that company says so. That’s why. Thats his entire case. How can anyone take this person seriously ever again?
JPL
“Gosh, although I signed my resignation papers in 2002 I post-dated them to 1999, I’m running for President after all”
Paterno was a better liar btw.
Tony J
I don’t want to tempt fate or show any naive trust in the professionalism of the American Media, but this looks an awful lot like the shot that killed a Presidential campaign.
Reading through the comments on Kessler’s WaPo whitewash (oddly enough, this doesn’t seem to be a featured story on their online site) the klutzwaffen are in major panic mode without a convincing talking-point between them. It’s all “Shut Up! That’s Why!” and “Kessler is a Liberal so he – must – be telling the truth!” They really do – not – want to talk about it, and are trying to bitch-tag every genuine comment and dead-end the thread. You can smell the cheeto sweat coming out of every pore – they just weren’t trained for this.
Remember that really unpleasant period just after it came out that Breitbart had got something right for a change because Weiner was a lying prick?
That’s where the Romney campaign is right now.
General Stuck
@NonyNony:
Nixon said he wasn’t leaving either, until Howard Baker and some other deacon wingers paid him a visit with an offer he couldn’t refuse. I would say if Mitt right now stopped with the denial bullshit, and come clean that he was really running the company, and the paper work didn’t present a legal problem in itself. Then he could survive. But he would be mortally wounded as a candidate. Now the hate for Obama would likely, in such a case, still get the GOP base out to vote for the sole purpose of ridding themselves of Obama as president. But I seriously doubt anyone else would, that wasn’t that base. And remember, the base can’t stand the guy to begin with, and neither can more than 40 percent of voters in polls prior to this BS. And it is his entire career at Bain that is just all wrong for this election, with all the tax havens, secret accounts, and he would have to admit he was running Bain during the periods Obama was charging. But he is doubling down with Obama is a liar. That just won’t work for a prez candidate, even in these fucked up times. But I could be way wrong, we shall see.
freelancer
@Turgidson:
Mitt thinks you win elections by racking up news cycle victories. It’s why he’s flailing and reverses his positions constantly. He is not patient. I’m willing to bet that the Boston Globe report today was not an accident. The day that Romney was unleashing the “L” word, calling the President a liar to make the wingnut base SQUEE, it gets widely reported that Romney has no problem lying and it’s on paper, and it’s about the reason he says he’s qualified for office. The Obama Campaign is playing the long game and the ground game.
@Cris (without an H):
“Governor Romney surrounds himself with an All-Star team of former Bush Administration officials. As President, what would you delegate and trust to those under you? A war with Iran? Making sure that banks don’t get us into trouble like they did in 2008 and that we’re still recovering from? Harry Truman had a plaque on his desk that said “The Buck Stops Here.” Now that may not be true for CEOs of investment firms, but it is true of the President of the United States”.
Boom. Roasted.
Culture of Truth
@Cris (without an H):
Obama: “well, Mr. Romney, if your subordinates are going to offshore jobs if you’re in the White House, I think we should know that now.”
PS – I do agree with you about the condescension
Roger Moore
@NonyNony:
The last thing he’s going to do is say he lied on his SEC forms. As it is now, the SEC can avoid investigating him because they have no obvious evidence that he was lying to them rather than on his election paperwork. If he comes out in public and says he falsified his SEC paperwork, they really have no choice but to hang him out to dry; they can’t let somebody publicly get away with lying to them and talking about it that openly. Instead, Romney is going to do his best dodge and weave, trying to redirect the issue to something, anything else.
Patricia Kayden
The Dems need to run an ad showing the SEC filing and the FEC filing, and ask on which filing did Romneybot 2.0 lie.
Romneybot 2.0 has been etch-a-sketching for quite some time now.
scav
Doubt that it’s over, but the Economy and Business practices in general are looking to be a wild wild card in all directions for all parties in the mud-pit that’s looming. Bob Diamond might be showing up in front of Congress in fall, and I saw some speculation that as the situation also reflects badly on regulators, it might actually happen. SEC does seem to have stuff rolling out at this time.
danimal
Kessler is ruining his reputation, but I really don’t care. Keep the focus on Rmoney. if Kessler is living in denial, let him. Other reporters can report the facts.
Rmoney is still the nominee, but this will hurt awhile.
Jamey
Forget it John, it’s Kaplantown.
Culture of Truth
@brent: That’s a good point. I agree it is possible that Romney was not much involved after in 1999, but that does not make Obama a liar. And it’s apparent that the basis of Kessler’s inquiry is to assume all claims made by Romney are true.
Redshift
So let me get this straight: According to Kessler, official SEC filings are suspect if they’re provided by someone who has donated to Democrats, but Republican campaign operatives can just be taken at their word.
Might be interesting to look up whether Kessler has any history of campaign donations, because by his own logic if he’s donated to Republicans, his statements cannot be trusted, no matter what documentation he provides.
kay
I think it’s so great, and typical, that they vetted the Democratic SEC person, down to looking at donations, but they are JUST NOW glancing at Romney’s various filings to see if they’re consistent with what he says.
We must be vigilant in the fight against partisanship, but we’ll accept anything the candidate says as true.
NonyNony
@General Stuck:
Oh no, I agree with you that he’s not holding a winning hand here. That in fact he’s in a poker game and the hand he’s holding has turned out to be the 3 of diamonds, two Pikachus, the old maid, and a coaster that kinda looked like a playing card.
He’s a terrible, awful candidate. And he’s backed himself into a corner here. But that doesn’t mean that he’s going to willingly stop running. His ego will not allow that. And he’s not going to get talked into it either – again ego.
So it would take the GOP deciding at the convention to push him out and give the nomination to someone else based on the fact that it turns out that he wasn’t honest with them about the fact that he was a vulture capitalist. I just don’t see today’s GOP doing that.
My guess is that he’s the nominee – they’re stuck with him now. He’ll continue to deteriorate as a viable candidate well into November. Barring a global catastrophe (which could happen – especially given Europe) by election day he’s down to his floor of support – 45% of the voting population.
My only question is that I wonder if the Obama team has been holding back on anything until after the convention. I’m an asshole, and if I had a lot of ugly stuff about Romney that wasn’t widely known but could be verified by reporters fairly easily, I wouldn’t want to dump it all at once into their laps. I’d release a piece at a time. And I’d save a very special piece – probably the worst or second worst thing I had – for the day after the Republican Convention. When Romney is supposed to be basking in the glow of his post-Convention bounce in popularity. That’s when revealing his secret involvement in dumping toxic waste into Chesapeake Bay (or whatever ) would do the most damage.
So I wonder – if we’ve already found this much crap about Romney at this point, and more seems to come out every week, how much worse stuff is there that the Obama camp is waiting for just the right moment to reveal?
pseudonymous in nc
@Ksmiami:
Honestly, from a glance at the SEC database, I think it’s because “Bain Capital Inc.” was a shell company, and the Bainsters ran their actual business out of dozens of separate corporate vehicles — do a search, and you’ll see forty-odd “Bain Capital” companies operating in parallel.
Culture of Truth
What Kessler said: “blah blah blah blah blah
What America hears: “Mitt Romeny the sole owner, board chairman, chief executive officer and president but had nothing to do with it!”
Turgidson
@Patricia Kayden:
If they do something like this effectively, it could really tighten the noose on this issue. And Obama’s admakers are pretty good, so they might just do it.
kay
@NonyNony:
The Washington Post did an entire piece on Obama’s home mortgage in ’08.
We know more about Obama’s (boring and unremarkable) mortgage than probably he does.
Yet Mitt Romney believed no one would look into Bain, which is the centerpiece of his campaign.
Worse, there are scads of people saying “stop looking at it! Too mean!”
Turgidson
@NonyNony:
I hope your thesis is correct. And man, it would be Christmas in September/October if so.
Watching this soulless contemptible piece of shit squirm, sweat and ultimately get humiliated on election night would be very entertaining to me. I try not to engage in too much schadenfreude, but I’ll make an exception for Mittens. He deserves it.
We’ll see. The Obama team is good. I do think they have more bombs to throw at Mitt – we’ll see how lethal they are soon.
General Stuck
@NonyNony:
My guess is the Obama was holding these cards hoping to spring them after the convention, for maximal effect and too late for the GOP to pick another candidate, or time to spin their way free. Or try to. The GOP proper has ways of convincing a mortally wounded politician, and conservatives already don’t like or trust the guy. It’s a mammoth problem for them as a party, that should have been already vetted. And it is not only the SEC filings, it’s all the other private equity sharking that is piling up, as well. Whatever they decide to do, every day Mitt is their candidate will likely be another day that folks like Michael Isikoff will be on Hardball delivering the days drip drip drip on Romney and his bizness dealings. Which I am fine with, but for the GOP it is hemlock to their brand, that wasn’t in the best of shape to begin with.
I do think that Romney is going to have to eat his words, and soon, about not running Bain when he was. If not, it would likely trigger a preliminary investigation by the feds of some stripe to sort it out. And that would be very bad for the wingers and Romney.
scav
@NonyNony: In general, I’d say from observation their sense of timing is pretty solid and pretty patient.
bemused
@lacp:
Yes! He’s got that moral, strong, safe grandfatherly vibe, it just makes me want to go out and reverse my mortgage.
Upper West
@Roger Moore: I thought about the Omerta, but I cannot believe there aren’t third parties or even documents available who are not part of the in-group and won’t be threatened by them, or actually have a motivation to harm Romney’s chances.
Ksmiami
@pseudonymous in nc: Because every good capitalist knows that strong economies are built on off shore tax shelters…
Redshift
@NonyNony: The Obama campaign are pros. They wouldn’t be putting out oppo in the middle of the summer if they didn’t have more to put out in the fall when more people are paying attention. The stuff coming out now is “define Romney before he gets a chance to define himself” material and stuff that will benefit from time-consuming digging by the press (which, for all of our complaints, still does happen in some quarters, as we’re seeing.)
The stuff that will come out in the fall will be easier-to-digest material that guarantees there’s something “new” for each news cycle, which is what the media require to keep a story alive. For example, the only concerted push for Romney to release tax returns came from other Republicans during the primaries. Obama campaign operatives mention it frequently, but they haven’t pushed the press to demand them from Romney yet. I suspect they won’t until September.
catpal
This looks to be correct. Multiple News reports have Romney Announcing his Official Retirement from Bain in August 2001. It probably went well into 2002 to finalize his “retirement deal” and to transfer his ownership shares, etc.
Kessler is an idiot cuase this info is so easy to find and verify. Romney was still the Owner and CEO into 2002, he knew what was going on, he was still collecting profits. Romney is ALL about the $$$$ so we know he was keeping track of his investments.
scott
@Villago Delenda Est: I would like to hope so but I’m with Gin and Tonic on this.
jp7505a
Folks, it’s time to get real. The rules for the Dem’s are different than for the GOP. Obama’s 2008 campaign was almost ended by a few incendiary remarks by his preacher and the fact that he lived in the same neighborhood as Bill Ayers. The only thing that might derail a Republican is getting caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy. And given today’s GOP, that might be viewed as being tolerant of diversity
feebog
@NonyNony:
First, you win the thread with that comment, no one else need apply. However, I once saw a guy holding a 3/7 of diamonds beat a pair of jackes in an all-in hand. Two sevens came on the flop, and that was all she wrote. The guy holding the jacks said to my friend Steve, “I can’t believe you went all in with a 3/7.” To which Steve replied, “But they were suited.”
Bottom line, even a shit hand can catch a couple cards on the flop. rMoney is not pulling out of this race, but he may be looking at some long odds come November.
Tonal Crow
@jp7505a: Folks, it’s time to harp on this lie again and again and again and again and again and ten billion more times until we defeat Romney.
That’s how you win.
Despairing at the horrid state of our media and the double standards for Republicans is how to lose.
NCSteve
So, I emailed Kessler the Globe story this morning and he very thoughtfully emailed me back the content of his “nothing to see here, move along you DFH’s and get off your betters’ cases” post this morning.
I know he won’t read it, but I lit his ass up anyway in my response:
Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God
@Tonal Crow:
This.
I’ve had to listen to imaginary bullshit about “death panels” and “Kenyan! Muslim!” and whatever else they had to make up about Obama since at least 2007.
So I’m not shutting up about Bain, period. Nor should anyone. I’d tattoo the fucking word *BAIN!* on my forehead if I thought it would help. (Somewhat career-limiting, however).
By standards that the MSM itself was instrumental in creating over the past few decades, lying on an SEC or FEC form was enough to disqualify him from running as Governor of MA, much less for POTUS.
MSM won’t be permitted to ignore this. They can’t, without dissolving the last few pretenses of objectivity that remain. This is, after all, exactly their game that’s being played.
Jim Newell
John. Stop reading the “fact checkers.” I thought everyone had resolved to stop buying into their gimmick, in times when you agree with them and times when you don’t. You do not have to care about the pinocchio man.
daverave
@Gin & Tonic:
This, sorry, this x 1000
tomvox1
Glenn Kessler, Romney Surrogate? Yes, yes he is:
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/12/romney-ad-hits-obama-on-truth-issue/?ref=politics
daverave
A couple of things…
It surprises me looking at postings all over the web how conservatives are attributing this current Bain news cycle to the Obama camp. Do they think that the O Campaign is leaking this information to the Globe, TPM, and MJ?
If so, that would lead me to believe that the O Campaign has a lot more arrows in their quiver to release in the next 4 months. Why would they waste such a powerful arrow so early? They must have some really good stuff to release later because I feel like this story can not have legs until election day. Americans and their media very rarely sustain interest in any one story (unless it involves institutional child molestation) for that long.
jp7505a
@Tonal Crow: Oh I think we should harp on it, it’s just that I’m a realist (cynic) enough to know that the left doesn’t have an echo chqamber like the right,so these issues tend to get lost in the cluter. And the Very Serious People will nod and with great wisdom say both sides do it
the Conster
@daverave:
I love that they think Obama’s masterminding this, and this time, I think he is. Obama’s people want the narrative to settle in, and settle hard by November – that Mitt’s so secretive because he’s a sneaky cheating .01%er who will champion all of the people like him and policies that will benefit him, and that he’s the problem with the economy of this country because of all of the arbitraging and rent-seeking nonsense these people avail themselves of to award themselves millions for doing basically nothing while denying the middle class anything. That’s the groundwork they’re laying, brick by brick.
SFAW
@Culture of Truth:
CoT –
By the way, have you considered adding a “WaPo Ombuds” edition to your Bobblespeak Translations? It certainly wouldn’t be as long as your MTP translation, etc., but it could still be an invaluable service.
On the other hand, it might rob Cole et al. of the pleasure of piling on the clueless Mr. Kessler.
Just something for you to consider – and you wouldn’t even have to listen to him, just read!
SFAW
By the way, Kos has something (by “Avenging Angel”, I think?) speculating about WHY Rmoney has done the two-step on the 1999/2002 thing. Basically, it has to do with claiming Mass as his “home” so that he could run for Gov in 2002. If he had officially retired, severed links, etc, and had moved to back to his “primary” home in Utah, he’d have been ineligible to shove Jane Swift aside, due to MA residency req’ts.
So now there are three inherently contradictory stories which Mittens would need to ‘splain to a non-compliant/non-complicit press.
And I’m all out of popcorn!
amk
@the Conster: Great visage