Cameron Conaway believes investigative journalist Greg Palast just sunk Mitt Romney
In May 2008, under an onslaught of media, public and political scrutiny, Barack Obama withdrew his membership from the Trinity United Church of Christ. Obama not only formally distanced himself from Reverend Jeremiah Wright and Minister Louis Farrakhan – figures who certainly shaped him but who, as it pertained to the upcoming election, also held what many considered to be radical and even anti-semitic beliefs – he did so with time and the abysmal presidency of George W. Bush on his side. The ensuing five months allowed the air to clear and then to fill again with, you betcha!, the absurdities of Sarah Palin. Such is the media. We remember but can’t stop new events from brushing against and eventually blurring the old.
And so here we are. Here is Mitt Romney, a day away from the 2012 presidential election and when most polls suggest he needs a buzzer beater, having the ball stripped from him. Five years of astute research from Greg Balast, an independent bipartisan journalist often referred to as “The most important investigative reporter of our time,” is released showing Mitt Romney’s clear affiliation with a financial activity called “vulture attacks,” which took place in the Congo and is now a practice banned throughout much of the world, and with profiteering off the auto bailout, the very same auto bailout that has served as one of the cornerstones of his campaign against Obama. In addition, based on Greg Balast’s research, the United Auto Workers (UAW) and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) have filed a formal complaint with the US Office of Government Ethics, stating that Romney hid, at minimum, $15.3 million and upwards of $115 million in a “blind” trust under Ann Romney’s name.
Bob King, President of UAW, said in Palast’s piece for Nation of Change:
While Romney was opposing the rescue of one of the nation’s most important manufacturing sectors, he was building his fortunes with his Delphi investor group, making his fortunes off the misfortunes of others.
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These actions certainly could be the reason Romney has not released his entire tax returns. On the surface it may seem that all of is this is grotesquely immoral but not necessarily illegal. That is, until ethics law expert Dan Curry, the man who drafted the complaint, steps in. His words suggest that Mitt Romney could in fact be charged with felony extortion and profiteering. Imagine that. Days after a president is sworn into office he is charged with the very crimes about which the American people have started global movements. In essence, when Mitt Romney takes the microphone and alludes to how he’s a self-made man (and you can too!) or waxes poetic about his “business experience,” he is really speaking about the skeletons in his closet, the ones wearing imported three-piece suits.
In the aftermath of superstorm Sandy, when even New Jersey republican governor Chris Christie praised Obama’s leadership, this news will end Mitt Romney’s chances at becoming president of the United States. Those writing this off as some well-orchestrated liberal agenda or pushing it all to the side and still voting for Romney are not actually voting for Romney but are instead voting against Obama. As we learned in 2008, for the “vote against” strategy to truly take root there needs to be time and there needs to be a collapse. Regarding time, Romney barely has enough to flounder. And the only thing collapsing is himself.
Photo—donkeyhotey/Flickr
Bush’s ancient DUI didn’t work, either.
I recall CBS and NYT colluded on a fake story about the al Kaka ammo dump. CBS let it out too early and the admin had enough time to explain it was BS.
At least this story got the timing right.
So no major news sources (let me guess, MSNBC is in Romney’s back pocket?) have picked up on this even though this smoking gun was published weeks ago?
Do you understand what a “vulture investor” is? Sure sounds scary! And right in time for Halloween! Buying high risk debt at current value and then collecting on it isnt immoral, unethical or illegal. All it means- the investor is betting that they can value the risk more appropriately than the market.
This sounds about as credible as Trump’s crowing about Obama’s birth certificate.