#MittsMissingReturns (Part Eight) -- Another Lesson in Mitt's Lying Laugh

David Muir of ABC News had a chance to ask Mitt Romney about his tax returns in Jerusalem, and he phrased his question in a way that left Mitt Romney unable to answer with one of his stock phrases. Mitt's first response to the question --"Was there ever any year when you paid lower than the 13.9% [paid in 2010]" -- is what I've taken to calling "Mitt's Lying Smile" at the 0'27" mark before he lies about not knowing if he ever paid lower than that rate (or nothing).


Look at the lying smirk and chuckle again at the 0'46" mark when he explains that he wouldn't be qualified to be President if he weren't doing everything he could to take advantage of every loophole available only to the ultra-rich.
Again at 1'49" we see a more subtle version of Mitt's Lying Smile when he tells David Muir that he hasn't looked at his tax rates in previous years.
Finally, look at the commentary at the 3'40" mark.  I'm not the only person who would convict Mitt Romney if he were on a witness stand and I were in the jury box.
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The Press needs to learn from this example that an original question can reveal the real Willard 'Mitt' Romney.
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Viewers can learn how to spot Romney's lies (beyond the simple "his lips are moving") as we move into the season of debates and more non-Fox interviews.
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His debate coaches will need to find a way to cut down on his natural dishonest smiling 'tell', maybe by asking him to imagine Seamus flying off the roof of his car whenever he's tempted to laugh.
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Those of us who have been flogging the #MittsMissingReturns hashtag on Twitter over the past month need to continue pushing hard, and pushing every day.

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Catch up with previous installments in the #MittsMissingReturns saga by clicking below:

• #MittsMissingReturns [part one], July 3 
• #MittsMissingReturns (Part Two), July 6 
• #MittsMissingReturns (Part Three),  July 10
• #MittsMissingReturns (Part Four) -- In a Nutshell, July 14 
• #MittsMissingReturns (Part Five) -- In Which Mitt Romney Gives a Typically Squirrelly Response, July 16
• #MittsMissingReturns (Part Six) -- Herman Cain Weighs In, July 25
• #MittsMissingReturns (Part Seven) -- Romney Finds One Issue on Which He's 100% Consistent, July 26

#MittsMissingReturns (Part Seven) -- Romney finds one issue on which he's 100% consistent

He may flip flop on gun control and a woman's right to choose and support for Saint Ronald Reagan and global warming and his support for the US auto industry and ... and ... but there is one area where Mitt Romney is as solid as Gibraltar, his refusal to release his tax returns for any years before 2010.

Here he is being asked about them once more by Brian Williams on NBC Nightly News last night. Note especially the little facial contortion and chortle that I like to refer to as "Mitt's Lying Smile" at the 25 second mark when he says "hundreds of pages of returns". Look for it every time he is pressed on his tax and business secrecy.

I'm following the same precedent that was put in place by John McCain. Two years, and by the way, hundreds [smile] of pages [chortle] of returns for the Democrat [sic] operatives to go through and twist and distort and to turn in different directions and try and make a big deal out of. But, you know, the American people are not real concerned about tax returns. --Mitt Romney

It's not your job to tell us what we, the American people, may or may not be "real concerned about".  That may work in the CEO world where you can tell your employees what to think, but not in the political world where mere plebeians are allowed to question you.

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Catch up with previous installments in the #MittsMissingReturns saga by clicking below:

• #MittsMissingReturns [part one], July 3 
• #MittsMissingReturns (Part Two), July 6 
• #MittsMissingReturns (Part Three),  July 10
• #MittsMissingReturns (Part Four) -- In a Nutshell, July 14 
• #MittsMissingReturns (Part Five) -- In Which Mitt Romney Gives a Typically Squirrelly Response, July 16
• #MittsMissingReturns (Part Six) -- Herman Cain Weighs In, July 25

#MittsMissingReturns (Part Six) -- Herman Cain Weighs In!

God, I miss the Clown Circus of last November with Herman Cain, Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Rick Santorum and the rest (i.e., the two boring Mormons). Well, here's Mr. 9-9-9 giving his emphatic opinion about #MittsMissingReturns while seated in front of the Koch Brothers' "Americans for Prosperity" banner.

“Let me say this as emphatically as I can: Who cares about Mitt Romney’s tax returns? Secondly, I love the fact that the guy is rich. You got people who are trying to make it seem like being rich is bad.” -- Herman Cain

But Herman, how do you know if he's really rich if you haven't seen his returns?

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Catch up with earlier episodes in the #MittsMissingReturns saga by clicking below:

• #MittsMissingReturns [part one], July 3 
• #MittsMissingReturns (Part Two), July 6 
• #MittsMissingReturns (Part Three),  July 10
• #MittsMissingReturns (Part Four) -- In a Nutshell, July 14 
• #MittsMissingReturns (Part Five) -- In Which Mitt Romney Gives a Typically Squirrelly Response, July 16

"...like Icarus ascending on beautiful foolish arms..." Happy 115th Birthday to Amelia Earhart

I should try to avoid petty political remarks about the fact that we'll probably find Ms Earhart before we're treated to a view of #MittsMissingReturns.
When I saw Amelia Earhart's picture in today's Google Doodle, I immediately got this brilliant Joni Mitchell song stuck in my head. It will be there for days.

"A ghost of aviation    /      

She was swallowed by the sky    /         

Or by the sea, like me she had a dream to fly    /          

Like Icarus ascending     /     

On beautiful foolish arms    /     

Amelia, it was just a false alarm"              

The Romney Running-Mate Anagram of the Day

Some of these anagrams -- like "Romney and Christie" equaling "Riches and Enormity" -- come so easily that they're like found objects, but  the combination of Jindal with Romney produced no such immediate unmediated gems, at least in my mind.  However, the name of the current Governor of Louisiana is mentioned so often, along with the terrifically soporific names of Portman and Pawlenty, that I needed to come up with something for this recurring anagram feature on TrueBlueLiberal.org.

So here it is. Reflecting the fact that Bobby Jindal might provide a small and temporary boost and distraction for Mitt Romney's embattled campaign, this is all I've got:

"Mitt Romney and Bobby Jindal" = "A Tiny Blind Joy Bombardment"

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Check out the earlier installments in the Romney Running-Mate Anagram series by clicking on any of these names:
Santorum, Ayotte, Pawlenty, Christie, Cheney, Portman, Ryan. 

Language Matters: Contributions Toward the Comprehensive Romney Dictionary

It's time to acknowledge that Willard M. Romney is adding phrases to the 2012 campaign at a record pace. He's already added far more depth and absurdity to the English language than John McCain, the most recent Republican nominee.  

Here are the first obvious contributions to the dictionary: 

Corporations Are People: If only one phrase can follow Mitt Romney into future history books, it will probably be this one, a heartfelt sentiment he voiced to hecklers on the Iowa State Fairgrounds in August 2011. It summed up his personal philosophy as well as the political mood in this year when the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision has given corporate money free rein to steal our electoral process.

Retroactively Retired: Who knew that the ultra-rich had the power to so easily time travel and erase responsibility for four years of actions by the company of which you were CEO and sole owner? We didn't know until Romney senior advisor Ed Gillespie explained it to us on Meet the Press last Sunday. Next, Mitt Romney is going to retroactively retire from the Massachusetts Governorship on the day before he signed Romneycare into law.

"Romney" as a verb: To defecate in terror. Self explanatory for anyone who knows the story of poor Seamus the Irish Setter riding on the roof of the family station wagon.

Running for Office, for Pete's Sake: Used to indicate that of course you would take the expedient, slightly-illegal, normal course of action (e.g., having undocumented Mexican gardeners sprucing up the grounds of your six homes) if you did not have that pesky press and inquisitive voters second guessing you. Phrase introduced to America in October 2011 during a debate with Rick Perry about "illegals". 

Self-Deportation: This ideal solution for the problem of undocumented immigrants (or "illegal aliens" in the official GOP Styleguide) was suggested by Mitt Romney in a January 2012 debate, but he was unwittingly lifting the idea from the satirical stance of "Daniel D. Portado" in 1994. It is also a description of what the Romney family may need to do when the IRS finally audits his unreleased tax returns and they self-deport to join their money in Switzerland or Bermuda or the Cayman Islands.

Ten Thousand Bucks: This is equal to $9.28 if you are an average 65-year-old American. It's equal to $0.06 cents if you're an average American between 21-25. In other words, he was putting no serious money where his mouth was when he offered to bet $10,000 with Rick Perry during a debate on December 10, 2011.

Do you have others that need to be added in the next installment? 

Remember January 20, 2009

There's an obvious tendency in this blog to spend all my time in horror and amazement that the 2012 election might be bought by those with great wealth whose main purpose is preserving their wealth at the expense of the rest of the nation. But enough about Republicans.
Sometimes we need to cleanse our souls.
Sometimes we need to remember the real reason we need to be committed in this 2012 election.
Sometimes it helps to take the time to remember how proud we all felt on January 20, 2009.

'That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet. 

'These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights. 

'Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. 

'They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met. On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.' 

--Barack Obama, From the First Inaugural Address

The "Ultimate" Romney Running-Mate Anagram

Don't be scared by the title into thinking that the anagram well is running dry. As long as potential running mates keep turning down Mitt Romney in the 2012 GOP Veepstakes, I'll try to come up with these anagrams that get to the heart of the candidate seeking to follow Mitt into the loser's circle on the night of November 6th.

Today's victim is Paul Ryan, noted Ayn Rand devotee who, in true mittromneyan manner, claims to have flip flopped in his love for the brutal apostle of selfishness. The unassailable beauty of the anagram shows that his love for Ms Rand is never-ending:

Therefore, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan = My Ultimate Ayn Rand Porn

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Previous running-mate anagrams can be found by clicking on these names: Santorum, Ayotte, Pawlenty, Christie, Cheney, and Portman. 

#MittsMissingReturns (Part Five) - In Which Mitt Romney Gives a Typically Squirrelly Response

In the relatively safe space of the GOP Network's "Fox and Friends" this morning, Mitt Romney had this to say about releasing more years of tax returns:

ROMNEY: The Obama people keep on wanting more and more and more. More things to pick through, more things for their opposition research to try make a mountain out of and to distort and to be dishonest about. We’re going to put out two years of tax returns.

If he doesn't release a dozen years of returns, are we then free to assume the worst? Years in which he paid zero taxes? Investments in Iranian nuclear power plants? Writing off Seamus's roof ride as a test of canine aerodynamics for a Chinese aerospace company? Large charitable donations to Planned Parenthood and pro-life groups in alternating years? Six- or seven-figure horse ballet deductions?  More overseas bank accounts in Albania, Kazakhstan, and Syria? I don't know why we should assume anything other than the worst if he continues to stonewall the press and American voters.

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And in case you missed the previous installments of mine on this topic, here are links to:

• #MittsMissingReturns [part one], July 3 
• #MittsMissingReturns (Part Two), July 6 
• #MittsMissingReturns (Part Three),  July 10
• #MittsMissingReturns (Part Four) -- In a Nutshell, July 14 

Retroactive Retirements, Etch-a-Sketches, and Neuralyzers -- so many ways for Romney to dodge responsibility

In case you missed it on Meet the Press this morning, here's the video of Mitt Romney Senior Advisor Ed Gillespie saying that Romney "actually retired retroactively" from Bain Capital in 2002, thereby trying to avoid responsibility for anything that happened while Mitt was CEO there between 1999 and 2002.

#Retroactively quickly became a trending hashtag on Twitter earlier today, with tweets about everything from Seamus Romney retroactively riding inside the car to Mitt Romney retroactively retiring from the Massachusetts Governorship immediately before the signing of Romneycare (one of mine).
 It took on the viral character of that earlier famous Etch-a-Sketch moment started by this remark from another Romney Senior Advisor, Eric Fehrnstrom, on CNN back in March:

Mitt Romney personally offered yet one more metaphor for this desire to induce amnesia in American voters who might notice his flipping and flopping -- the Neuralyzer used by Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in Men in Black:
 

The real issue here is why Mitt Romney is running from his whole history.

• Why is he running from his Bain experience when his experience as a businessman is his one (specious) argument for why he would be a better President than Barack Obama?
• Why is he running from his major accomplishment as Governor of Massachusetts, the health care act that helped insure many uninsured people and served as one of the models for the program he now refers to dismissively as "Obamacare"?
• Why is he running from Mormon experience as missionary and bishop in the Mormon church? Is he afraid of being connected with the White Horse Prophecy?

And to get back to the specifics of today's claim, if the Romney people on all the Sunday talk shows were saying that he was inactive in his role of CEO at Bain Capital between 1999-2002 because he was too busy working on the Salt Lake City Olympics, doesn't that work against him too?  Shouldn't any high-powered executive applying for the job of President be able to run a Utah Ice Show and a Boston Vulture Capitalism firm at the same time? Doesn't Barack Obama seem like he'd be able to add an Olympics to his portfolio with no problem?