January 12, 2012, - 2:31 pm
President Don Draper?: Romney & Bain Capital
Out of all the GOP candidates left (not counting Ron Paul, who isn’t really a Republican and for whom I’d never vote), I used to say I distrusted Mitt Romney the most. Mitt Happens. But Newt Gingrich has given us a lot of flip-flops, too.
Separated @ Birth?: Mitt Romney @ Bain Capital, 1990; Jon Hamm/Don Draper on “Mad Men” Today
But Newt will not be the nominee. Romney likely will be. And he has his problems, many of which I’ve pointed out on this site. It’s not just his repeated flip-flops on pretty much every issue and his pioneering of publicly-mandated healthcare. It’s the other stuff I’ve pointed out on this site over the years: that, while running the Salt Lake Olympic Games, Romney attacked Americans (in the British newspaper, “The Guardian”) for cheering American athletes . . . just months after the 9/11 attacks; that he attacked Gingrich for telling the truth about the invented “Palestinians;” that Romney said he admired Hezbollah; that Romney refuses to denounce his church’s $20 million annual donations to HAMAS/Muslim Brotherhood jihadist “charity” Islamic Relief and calls anyone who asks him to, “a bigot,” as he did to a McCain staffer in 2008 who asked him about my article on the charity; that Romney has as his Middle East advisers Hezbollah-enabler Dan Senor (who helped his anti-Israel then-boss Spencer Abraham send nearly $100 million in your money to Hezbollah and block computer tracking of Muslim aliens in 2000) and cowardly Walid Phares, who helped the feds in their disgraceful, failed attempt to prosecute former U.S. Attorney Richard Convertino for actually getting a conviction against the Detroit Terror Cell.
But one thing with Romney that isn’t a problem was his leadership of Bain Capital. So, it’s sad to hear “conservatives” like Newt Gingrich take swipes at him for that in Obama-esque Occupy Wall Street-style class warfare (especially since I recall something about revolving credit of a million bucks at Tiffany’s, “class warrior” Newt!).
As conservatives, as Americans, we believe in capitalism . . . or should. There is nothing wrong with buying companies that are going to fail and saving them or selling them off piece by piece. That’s what happens in business. And it’s not a crime. I feel for the American workers who’ve lost jobs in downsizing, etc. But that’s not Bain Capital’s fault. It’s the fault of intractable unions and prevailing wage laws and the fact that America has, sadly, become a consumer society. Bain didn’t cause that. Even though his 1990 Bain photo looks a lot like Jon Hamm raper on AMC’s “Mad Men,” Romney’s no Don Draper. There really isn’t any sign that he behaved unethically in his investment path at Bain.
If anything, the only thing that gives me pause about Romney’s tenure at Bain was his weird, “Twilight Zone”-esque idea to invest in Lifelike Co., which made dolls to resemble their girl owners under the name “My Twinn.” It’s a creepy, bizarre idea for a toy and seems like something you’d see on “The Outer Limits” or something with Rod Serling. Romney even personally invested his own money in the company, making a personal loan to it. While the company’s annual revenue peaked at $36 million, Romney sold his interest in it for a mere $15,000. Ultimately, the company liquidated. But before that, Romney got Lifelike to hire his brother-in-law, Rodney Davies, as VP for $100,000 a year. Nice.
Again, Mitt Romney’s tenure at Bain isn’t a problem, even with the twin doll fiasco. And it’s sad that the real conservative candidates are using it as Obama would–and will–as somehow a crime to do business and be successful at it.
Since Romney will now apparently (and sadly) be the nominee, I only wish he could become the My Twinn of an actual conservative. Say, Ronald Reagan.
For now, he’s to the left of George H.W. Bush and Gerald Ford (despite the BS Ann Coulter is spewing about him), if you look at his past and likely future. And that’s where the real problems lie, not at Bain Capital.
Tags: AMC, Bain Capital, bizarre doll, doll, Don Draper, GOP, Hezbollah, Jon Hamm, Lifelike Co., Mad Men, Mitt Romney, My Twinn, Rodney Davies, The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone, twin doll
Sorry to be so cynical, but in view of what is happening in the U.S. on a number of issues, i.e. Keystone XL, Illegal Immigration, Czars, ignoring Constitutional restrictions, U.S. Debt, Rep Candidates, etc.; it is depressing and not just my opinion. Please explore:
http://mises.org/daily/5829/Twin-Deficits
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BR0KnWnves
Does anyone out there have a favorable experience from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, or Switzerland to counter what’s happening here?
Dennis on January 12, 2012 at 3:15 pm