Posted on 01/26/2008 10:25:06 AM PST by Ol' Sparky
Reporters don't like to call politicians liars, even when they lie. We tend to use euphemisms — "at odds with the facts" being a favorite. But Mitt Romney is a liar — a flagrant repeat offender. Everyone knows it, and the press doesn't quite know what to do about it.
Yesterday, Associated Press reporter Glen Johnson couldn't take it anymore, interrupting Romney when he said, "I don't have lobbyists running my campaign. I don't have lobbyists that are tied to my —"
"That's not true," Johnson interjected. "Ron Kaufman's a lobbyist." Kaufman, a longtime Massachusetts politico and a lobbyist, has been heavily involved in Romney's campaign.
If you watch the video, you'll see that Romney tries to hang his argument on a technicality, saying that Kaufman isn't "running" his campaign. But it is simply a matter of objective fact that Kaufman is "tied" to Romney's campaign (as Romney started to say), and at a very high level.
I know Johnson a bit. He's a professional. Perhaps he shouldn't have leaped in quite as aggressively as he did yesterday, but how much of this garbage can he be expected to listen to? And do watch the video all the way to the end. You don't want to miss Romney and his spokesman, Eric Ferhnstrom, trying to intimidate Johnson for doing his job.
Just two prominent other examples of Romney's lies that you probably already know about:
* At a televised debate in New Hampshire, John McCain complained that Romney had described his illegal-immigration proposal as "amnesty" in a television commercial. Romney's response: "I don't describe your plan as amnesty in my ad. I don't call it amnesty." Well, yes he did.
* As David Bernstein recently revealed in the Boston Phoenix, Romney's oft-repeated claim that his father, George Romney, had marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is not true. Some Romney defenders, including Jay Severin of WTKK (96.9 FM), continue to insist that Romney only meant it metaphorically. But the Romney campaign knew better, producing two eyewitnesses who claimed — falsely — that they had seen the elder Romney and King walking side by side in Grosse Pointe, Mich., in 1963. And this 1978 quote from the Mittster would seem to be beyond parsing: "My father and I marched with Martin Luther King Jr. through the streets of Detroit."
Of course, the entire reason that Romney has suddenly reassumed his former persona as a skilled business executive is that Republicans found his late embrace of right-wing social issues to be utterly unbelievable, as the Globe's Scot Lehigh notes today.
Even as a liberal media critic, I don't like calling Romney a liar. But Romney is proving to be something of an ethical test for journalists. When a candidate lies repeatedly, as Romney has, should a journalist maintain objectivity and refrain from saying the obvious? Or does he or she have an ethical obligation to point out that the liar is lying again? I'd argue the latter.
I’m voting for Mitt.
He got sound Republican principles. Unlike the other lying socialists running ... .
If you want to nit pick him - go ahead.
Firm in my vote for MITT!
Romney’s not so special. I don’t think we should be jumping onto his bandwagon just yet.
Sniff...sniff....Do I smell....desperation?
“He got sound Republican principles.”
I don’t like the “sound” of these principles:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_w9pquznG4
LOL! Spot on.
this Glen Johnson, AP stuff was chewed over at least a week ago here on FR, so the reporter is lying when he says it happened yesterday.
Also Mitt is funding ALL his efforts to be President. He doens’t need “lobbyists”.
This is such a petty attempt to call Mitt a liar that’s it’s actually humorous!
**************
Mayhaps they refrain from saying the obvious....
Lest someone similarly begins "saying the obvious" about the media and its reporters/editors... owners/managers... etc. etc. etc.
The old "glass house" bromide...
JMHO....
Check the date on the article, it’s the 19th...this is old news.
Why do we insist on posting this self-hating BS?
I’ve changed my position on abortion around the same time ... maybe sooner. You look to a 2002 video?
I guess Mitt and I should be crucified too we both I changed our stance on abortion - YEARS AGO.
Old and discredited news. How did the date of that story get changed from 1/19/08 to 1/26/08?
Interesting.
TRUE STORY. MITT IS A LIBERAL LIAR.
Well, yes, Romney does tell lies. And so does Huckabee. And so does McCain. And so does Giuliani.
But none of them can begin to compare with a congenital/professional liar like hillary clinton. Or her would-be co-president, bill clinton.
(They aren’t in the same league with bill as rapists or murderers, either. And probably the only one among them who could even begin to compete with him as a traitor is McCain.)
Also, Osama Obama is a liar. And Edwards is a liar.
Have I left anyone out? Only because I’m limiting this to the likely candidates.
I saw it on video. Who am I to believe, you or my lying eyes?
The writer of this trash describes himself as a “liberal media critic”.
Why post this trash.
Good one!
What are you talking about? Mitt's self-funding is only 28 percent of his campaign finances.
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I’m no Romney fan, but this is, indeed, nitpicking. I don’t mind liars being called liars, but not over a difference of interpretation of a few words.
....but, but...
He doesn’t smoke and he doesn’t drink. And, and he’s only been married to one woman. He’s such a “moral” man.
What difference does it make if he tells lies. It is only for the greater good. You know....he wants to serve his country by being President. If he must lie, pander and flip-flop to do so, the it is for the benefit of all the little people who aren’t as good, and qualified to make a decision based upon truth!
He is the “best man left” (and I mean LEFT) doncha know.
,-)
old sparky this is old old old news, i saw the freaking thing on tv 20 times.
He should have told him what i heard him tell the press a couple of years ago..... Your job is to report the news not make it.
I CAN’T WAIT... I MAY GO VOTE EARLY TOMORROW! AND I AM GOING TO GO LOOK AT MITT AND THOSE NASTY REPORTS IN JAX ON MONDAY!!!!!!!
That is the Mitt he wants you to think he is.. behind the scenes he is a different Mitt and the temper he showed that reporter is closer to the real Romney.... the man who is ruthless and willing to spend any amount to attain the power he craves. This is the man who ran for the Senate to the left of Ted Kennedy and in real life has not changed one iota...
Bears repeating:
TRUE STORY. MITT IS A LIBERAL LIAR.
Romney uses words just like Bill Clinton did. Virtually all of his positions and everything he says is based on technicalities and parsing words.
That cartoon has nothing to do with the topic of this thread. Too bad about your candidate.
Which "self" are you talking about? You got a little midget in your pocket?
How come you’re not touting McCain’s NY Times endorsement? Because you are a recent arrival, you may not be aware of it but around here a NY Times endorsement can really influence people to vote for your candidate.
Romney is the best of what remains in the race for either party.
McCain is a no-go. Huck makes a great governor, Giuliani would make a great cabinet secretary, maybe State, but not president. Romney is, for me, the only choice remaining. If you like one of the others better, fine, they are all of them a mixed bag, and you’ll have to overlook some of their baggage. For me, in terms of overall competence, overall political vision, and overall baggage, since my preferred candidates have left the field, its Romney.
Mitt is the only choice now that the 3 conservatives dropped out. Anybody but Huckster, Paul, and McLame.
Guess that narrows it down.
Ol’ Sparky caught lying about the date on the article
Why are we pounding on each other’s candidates like this? We have two moderates and two liberals, all pretending to be conservatives for the next 3 months.
Pick your poison or opt out, but Romney’s certainly no worse than the others.
The RATS can destroy Romney with his own words and record and it will be 100% TRUE!
When the RATS got done with flipper I doubt he could carry Utah!
So where's the hit piece on the lying-ass Clintons? Has the media lost all objectivity and "lost their voice" from stating the obvious, or has the media avoided their obligation, out of fear of the purple-rage-crooked-finger, to point out that the lying Clintons have a pathological pattern of perfected lying? I'd argue the latter.
Stop recycling this crap. This is at least 10 days old.
Romney is a rich liberal from Kennedy’s and Kerry’s land.
I saw a video of this Johnson character badgering Romney about this, and Johnson came off like a stupid jerk. This article is less than credible.
I was actually challenged by a Romney supporter to a "Who has the most grand children contest". She picked on the wrong person with that challenge. I have more.
She should have come up with a "who is the tallest contest, me or Romney". I'd probably lose that one as I am 6' tall and I believe he's taller than that.
He may be a liar. But Huckabee’s a hypocrite and a religious socialist. McCain is an egomaniacal RINO. Rudy’s a RINO. Paul isn’t worthy of comment. So, where does that leave us?
Don't the Mormon, Catholic and Baptist religions teach 'Thou shall not bear false witness?'
I don't trust any of 'em!
Yea, so let's not talk about it any more.
Check the link for the date of the article to verify that the reporter is lying.
It's telling as to how hard the MSM is going after him.
Earth to Nitpickers....All the GOOD candidates have dropped out! Who the heck are we to vote for then?????
I was for Fred now I am suporting Mitt, cut us all a break!...the pickins are slim!
I cannot disagree with a single thing you said. Where does it leave us? Up the proverbial creek without a paddle.
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