Mitt Romney recalls 'humorous' story about his father closing a factory

[xBiffx]

I actually LIKE Romeny for a Republican, more or less, so don't give me that "liberal shill" nonsense.

His job makes it likely he understands the FINANCIAL aspect of closing a factory, nothing requires a businessman to understand those sorts of actions on a personal level. Romeny may certainly be sensitive to that sort of thing as well, I couldn't say, but saying stuff like this makes it SOUND like he's not, which is silly of him.

Come on, politics aside, you REALLY think that comment didn't hurt Romney's effort to connect with the average American?

Glad you like him for a Republican. Too bad he isn't one, or at least he's just a RINO. Ironic how you would like a liberal "republican" isn't it?

I am sure that comment hurt him but not because of what he said but rather what the media is doing with it. Sheep that watch the news these days will believe anything they see/here. I highly doubt this comment is going to make a huge difference in the end though. Doubtful this is going to sway many voters who haven't decided by now.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Glad you like him for a Republican. Too bad he isn't one, or at least he's just a RINO. Ironic how you would like a liberal "republican" isn't it?

Cry me a river. It's not the Democrats' fault that your party is so broken that it can't unify behind anyone you find more palatable. Since you are so anti-Romney it should comfort you that he will likely lose, and not darken the national political stage by running again. Better luck in 2016!

 

[xBiffx]

This is sheer deflection. Nobody in this thread is saying there is anything wrong with restructuring and closing a plant. What we are saying is that it isn't a smart thing to joke about if you're running for public office, since it's likely to anger people, whether or not they are "business savvy."

Your posts in this thread are just transparently disingenuous. The irony is that I don't think anyone here is particularly anti-Romney - you are the one making this into a partisan issue by calling people "partisan shills."

So far the only people I see getting their panties in a wad are liberals and I'm not talking just in here. They are getting but hurt over him supposedly joking about his father closing a factory which isn't what he as joking about.

I am being disingenuous? How about people pretending this isn't just making a mountain out of a molehill for political gain. The media is always about sensationalizing something to make a quick buck which is all that this boils down to. Sorry you sipped the Kool-Aid.

 

[xBiffx]

Cry me a river. It's not the Democrats' fault that your party is so broken that it can't unify behind anyone you find more palatable. Since you are so anti-Romney it should comfort you that he will likely lose, and not darken the national political stage by running again. Better luck in 2016!

My party? Cracks me up every time. And you were the one just now accusing me of making this a partisan issue. Anti-Romney, perhaps. Anything but Obama, absofuckinglutely.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

My party? Cracks me up every time. And you were the one just now accusing me of making this a partisan issue. Anti-Romney, perhaps. Anything but Obama, absofuckinglutely.

It obviously is your party or you wouldn't be so upset with Romney being a "RINO." You also started the "partisan" comments in this thread by calling Rainsford a "partisan shill."

And yes, this joke most obviously was about people being upset about his father closing a plant. I understand what you're saying about that but it's an absurdly thin and disingenuous defense, since the closure creates the entire context for his MI audiences being upset by "On Wisconsin."

Your claims that the "media" is "making a mountain out of a molehill" are similarly misplaced, since as far as I have seen there has been no media coverage of this "joke," other than the linked article. Ironically the people making the most hay about Romney's stupid comments are Santorum and Gingrich, not the dreaded media.

Who is your preferred candidate at this point, if not Romney?

 

[WhipperSnapper]

The present iteration of the GOP is so fractured it's remarkable. I think they will most likely lose this election, and if they do, it will be one of the biggest missed opportunities in the history of Presidential politics.

I'm just hoping that if Obama wins in a landslide, all of the Tea Party 'tards' and Republicans' heads explode from the anger and frustration that will build up inside of them. Short of religious lunatics being "raptured", it would probably be the best thing that could happen for our country.

 

[Generator]

Its just baffling how incompetent this man is. Its like how black people have to be pretty exceptional in positions/jobs where there is little diversity to just get by. Well...Cheesy Grits here is on the other end of that spectrum. A imbecile who dares to fail and is awarded for it time and again.

 

[sportage]

Leave it to a troll to completely miss the funny part of his story. He wasn't making a joke about the closing of the factory but the fact that the band only knew the Wisconsin fight song. Sure I don't think its that funny either (maybe ironic) but I fail to see how this shows him more out of touch than any president in the last, say, 50 years.

Oh, and he didn't close the factory, he moved it. But hey, I am preaching to the choir because big business is just a bunch of assholes no mater what they do, even if that move may have saved the company. Wait I take that back, this was a US auto company, they are immune and can even have free cookies. What was I thinking.

Don't try to explain. We all get where Mitt is coming from. Just waiting for Mitt to figure it out as well...

 

[Ausm]

Don't worry once the Rombot programmers figure out how to get him to mimic sympathy and empathy in a convincing manner then he'll be a better candidate....

like this

+1

 

[Ausm]

My party? Cracks me up every time. And you were the one just now accusing me of making this a partisan issue. Anti-Romney, perhaps. Anything but Obama, absofuckinglutely.

Dude your're the quintessential Republitroll,please wear the badge with honor!


No insults or personal attacks.

Administrator Idontcare

 

[yllus]

Poor guy is probably sleep deprived and under pressure like nothing any of us have ever experienced... and he isn't even at the general election part of the process yet.

On the bright side of things, in 2012 America has two intelligent, capable family men running for the highest office in the land. If you consider some of the possibilities like Palin, Cain, Santorum and Gingrich you should consider yourselves relatively lucky...

 

[nageov3t]

Mitt Romney recalls 'humorous' story about his father creating jobs in Wisconsin

fixed that for the OP

 

[xBiffx]

Dude your're the quintessential Republitroll,please wear the badge with honor!

Coming from you that's about as meaningful as a Nobel Peace Prize. Try bringing something on topic next time instead of personal attacks as usual.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Coming from you that's about as meaningful as a Nobel Peace Prize. Try bringing something on topic next time instead of personal attacks as usual.

You mean personal attacks like "partisan shill"? Just checking.

 

[xBiffx]

You mean personal attacks like "partisan shill"? Just checking.

If the shoe fits. I also didn't call him anything. I said a liberal shill would see it that way. If he thinks that description fits then so be it. But lets see, I was called a troll. Seems to me the definition of that has changed somehow. Now if you disagree with the OP or anyone else you are a troll. Used to be a troll was someone who deliberately posts off topic messages, usually inflammatory ones, that are designed to invoke a reaction. I have been on topic. Ausm, on the other hand, has yet to hit the topic. There was more to my post that just calling someone out. I backed it up, within the context of the topic at hand. It more than just a personal attack when you label someone something but also preface that with an explanation. Just calling someone a name and leaving at that is nothing but a childish personal attack right off the school yard playground.

 

[xBiffx]

Don't try to explain. We all get where Mitt is coming from. Just waiting for Mitt to figure it out as well...

I have no doubts that you understand this but there are others here who aren't as astute as yourself.

 

[rudder]

Do you think when automakers "move production," they literally move the physical plant and give the employees plane tickets and moving expenses? I can guarantee you that every worker in that plant, with the possible exception of management, was laid off when the factory was shuttered.

Actually, many workers in the Michigan plant were offered jobs in Wisconsin. 25% of the workforce remained employed doing defense contracts. This move was the result of a merger and the plant in Michigan was chosen to have it's Hudson line shut down and have those shifts moved to the Wisconsin plants.

Definitely another foot-in-mouth moment for Romney for sure... a very dumb idea to use the word humorous when telling a story that involved a decision to close a plant.

But anyway what is up with all the faux-outrage? No one was this loud when 2,000 Chrysler and GM dealerships were closed. Or over the 11 auto plants shuttered while obama has been president. Where was the outrage when obama threw the employees of the GM suppliers under the bus?

 

[yllus]

But anyway what is up with all the faux-outrage? No one was this loud when 2,000 Chrysler and GM dealerships were closed. Or over the 11 auto plants shuttered while obama has been president. Where was the outrage when obama threw the employees of the GM suppliers under the bus?

There is a rather large difference between A) being the CEO of the company and personally making the decision to close/move a plant and B) being in political office at the time major plant closings/moves occur.

 

[Ninjahedge]

The idiocy of america demands that our leader be an attractive Everyman just slightly smarter than average.

Obama was a fluke, but since he is a minority it is OK that he is smarter than Average. (sarcasm)

But this is he case, Romney needs to talk about grits with cheese when most just eat them plain or w/gravy. He needs to wear jeans to a rally when he looks like a doofus, and we need a president that takes a "vacation" on the "ranch" to clear brush.

BS-squared.

Again, the sad part is that it works.

 

[xBiffx]

There is a rather large difference between A) being the CEO of the company and personally making the decision to close/move a plant and B) being in political office at the time major plant closings/moves occur.

Mitt Romney doesn't fit either description so what is your point?

 

[werepossum]

That would be a lot more compelling of a position if it didn't involve conservatives claiming their views alone define America. Instead of making it sound like they're standing up for the common man, conservatives saying stuff like that come across like pretentious jackwagons who can't understand the idea that plenty of Americans hold different views on a whole range of issues.

Romney sounding out of touch because of his wealth makes more sense, IMO, because most people AREN'T rich. But a lot of people aren't Republicans.

Until the last few decades, what is now considered Republican dogma was common to both parties and independents. No less than JFK said "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country". Fifty years later we have a President complaining that our Constitution spells out what government may not do to you, when it should say what government must do for you. And probably most Democrats agree with him.

You can argue that such demands now define America because so many people embrace them, or that they should define America because we need to be more like Europe. But you certainly can't argue that this is the outlook that defined America, or makes it unique, since by his own words it's diametrically opposed to our very Constitution. Personally, I would argue that respecting other people's property rights, even if those people are wealthy, is more American than demanding that I get part of others' wealth simply because I exist. This is a very important and defining point because government cannot give you anything it does not first take from someone else.

 

[yllus]

Mitt Romney doesn't fit either description so what is your point?

The point is it's a false equivalency. President Obama had no hand in those layoffs. Mr. Romney did not either, but he did choose to tell a "joke" on behalf of his father, who was actually that CEO.

Linking his father and himself in the minds of voters seems to me to not be the smartest decision to make, but from what I've read he really idolized his father and probably has some difficulty suppressing his enthusiasm to share stories about him.

 

[momeNt]

This is the way the world works.

I tried yelling at someone in the grocery store the other day when they bought produce that was on sale. I believe they bought plums instead of nectarines. I laid into them, saying you do realize that nectarine farmers have to make a living to? They can't afford to sell their produce as cheap as the plum farmers, so are you just going to let them starve? Do you not care that nectarine farmers can't pay their mortgages? They can't send their kids to school? All because you save a few pennies a piece of fruit?

People try and save money anyway they can. When you're the president of American Motors, your decision closes a plant and forces workers to look for jobs. When you're just a regular American, you make up the participation of the entire market, causing companies to become unprofitable and force presidents to close factories. See how it all works now?

 

[Thump553]

Biff's performance in this thread is about as clueless as Romney's performance a couple nights ago on the Tonight Show, where Jay Leno absolutely devastated Romney's (current) stand on health care in an absolutely nonconfrontational, factual way.

 

[PingSpike]

Its funny we always complain about politicians lying all the time but all of sudden we get one who's bad at it and we go crazy!