I’m sorry, sir—only one carrion per passenger…

There’s little consensus on how effective the attacks on Romney’s record as a “vulture capitalist” will be with the GOP base or the American public in general. Steve M thinks the attacks won’t work since Americans are programmed to uncritically worship capitalism and speculates that any attempt to inject nuance into the debate will turn into the usual old “capitalism vs. socialism” false dilemma. He could be right.

However, I find myself in extraordinarily odd company—Bill Kristol!—in thinking perhaps the attacks could resonate. Now, finding oneself in agreement with Bill Kristol is usually an excellent reason to abandon whatever point of view matches up with his.

But this time, I think Kristol might be on to something when he says the effort to squelch criticism of Romney by wrapping Bain Capital in the Sacred Shield of Capitalism is ill-advised. Of course, GOP propagandists like Limbaugh and Hannity will continue to huff and puff and pretend that any suggestion that capitalism—all capitalism—doesn’t have magical properties on par with unicorn poop is straight out of the Communist Manifesto.

But while black-and-white thinking is a powerful tool in swaying public opinion, imagery is perhaps even more so. Luckily for us, the person upon whom these competing narratives will be applied, Willard M. Romney, is a blood-sucking management consultant straight out of central casting. And who doesn’t hate those motherfuckers?

Romney’s entire campaign is predicated on his claim to be a “job creator.” But creating jobs wasn’t his mission at Bain Capital; generating enormous returns for high net-worth investors was. Sometimes the roles weren’t in conflict, but when they were, you can bet your ass enriching the shareholders was Job One, and the consequences to American workers be damned. That’s what’s coming out in Gingrich’s ads now, and it’s pure fucking gold for November.

It’s all about the image. If Romney were the same exact Richie Rich equity hack except equipped with a homespun manner, I’d be worried. But he’s Willard M. Romney. So I like our chances.

Posted by Betty Cracker on 01/12/12 at 03:20 PM • Permalink

Categories: Politics • Election '12 • Mittens • Bedwetters • Nutters • Teabaggery • Our Stupid Media •

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And here I thought “generating enormous returns for high net-worth supporters” was the GOP platform.

As for all those anti-Romney ads, past, present, and future, I think what’s going to bring Romney down—or hurt him—is not the Bain stuff but his flip-flopping on issues conservative Republicans deem important (e.g., healthcare).

Comment by J. on 01/12/12 at 04:17 PM

Great points, J. I suspect conservatives will just have to fall in line behind Romney even though he is a flip-flopper because he will almost certainly be their nominee. They hate Obama enough that they might turn out for Romney in large numbers even if they don’t like him. But both the flip-flopping and Bain stuff could hurt him among independents. At least, I hope so…

Comment by Betty Cracker on 01/12/12 at 04:33 PM

Occupy Romney!

Comment by Bob Stanley on 01/12/12 at 04:45 PM

My guess is that six months from now Chuck Todd will declare that this issue has been dealt with and is old news and shutupshutupshutup!

Which is why they’re bringing it out now.

Comment by MikeJ on 01/12/12 at 04:45 PM

Photoshop win!

Great news from the Left Coast Overlord Kewhl Kids Klub, the number of California income millionaires jumped 27% and their combined incomes jumped 30%, between 2009 and 2010. You know, during what for the rest of us was a severe recession.

Could explain how our local Masarati dealership remains in bidnez.

http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2012/01/c alifornians-with-million-dollar-incomes-up-sharply.html

Comment by trollhattan on 01/12/12 at 05:36 PM

Not content to extol the joys of being able to fire people who provide services to him, Mittens claims that anyone who complains about income inequality in this country is just jealous:

According to Mitt Romney, the nation’s growing focus on income inequality is all about envy.

“You know, I think it’s about envy. I think it’s about class warfare,” the leading Republican presidential candidate said Wednesday on The Today Show.

When asked if there are any fair questions about wealth distribution, Romney replied, “It’s fine to talk about those things in quiet rooms and discussions about tax policy and the like.”

[snip]

“I believe in a merit nation, an opportunity nation where people by virtue of their education, their hard work and risk taking and their dreams—may be a little luck—could achieve great things,” he said Thursday at a campaign rally in Florida.

Yeh, luck like being born with a platinum spoon in one’s mouth, maybe.

Comment by Janicket on 01/12/12 at 07:04 PM

You know I think it would behoove someone (not me, don’t have the time) to research how many small business (the Gods of the RWNJs) office supply companies went out of business and laid off workers when Staples was created. I personally know of two here in my area, both of whom had been in business for years and simply could no longer compete. One of them took to visiting local businesses and asking “do you need any supplies?” I would always make an effort to order something from him every time he visited, eventually his visits stopped.

Comment by Litlebritdifrnt on 01/12/12 at 09:36 PM

by virtue of their education

I thought the GOP didn’t like education and wanted to get rid of it?

Comment by Rebecca on 01/12/12 at 11:24 PM

Can we all stop here for a moment and acknowledge that at least some of the investments that Bain and similar companies have made are not “capitalism” in any sense of the word. They bought companies with cash flow problems that still had equity value, borrowed against the equity, short changed the pension plans that they were obligated to fund, pocketed the ill gotten gains, paid themselves big fees and then walked away from the carnage. This is simply breaking contracts and defrauding lenders. It’s that simple.

Comment by mike on 01/12/12 at 11:32 PM

trollhat…

dotcom bubble v2.0?

Comment by Nellcote on 01/13/12 at 12:13 AM

borrowed against the equity, short changed the pension plans that they were obligated to fund, pocketed the ill gotten gains, paid themselves big fees and then walked away from the carnage. This is simply breaking contracts and defrauding lenders. It’s that simple.

In Good Fellas it was called a “bust out”.

Comment by MikeJ on 01/13/12 at 12:29 AM

Can we all stop here for a moment and acknowledge that at least some of the investments that Bain and similar companies have made are not “capitalism” in any sense of the word.

Can you pass that on to Mitt and his defenders? As Litlebrit said, it’s not just about the immediate companies, what about all the small ones that got stiffed? Mitt is just Walmart with less letters.

Okay, I’ve wiki’ed (I KNOW) Walmart and it says the following for 2011: Revenue, up. Operating income, up. Net income, up. Total assets, up. Total equity, down. I’d love to know what wiped out all their assets and net income.