Ed Gillespie

Mitt Romney Goes Back To The Future: Retired #Retroactively

Posted by on July 15, 2012 at 4:24 pm. 4 Comments :

While grasping for justifications to explain his mysterious absence from Bain Capital, Mitt Romney has proven once again that reality surpasses satire.

Mitt Romney - Retired Retroactively

Romney spent Friday afternoon in a peculiar sort of speed-dating ritual with the media, giving five short interviews to five networks all asking the same question: Were you, or were you not, running the company that you said you were running? It apparently was insufficient to quell the controversy because today Romney sent his surrogates around to the Sunday news programs to tell the same story. And what a story it was.

Top campaign adviser Ed Gillespie took the lead. But during his segment with David Gregory of Meet the Press, Gillespie may have helped to erase the memory of the Etch-a-Sketch debacle launched by another Romney adviser a few weeks ago:

GREGORY: He was still financially linked to Bain. And of course, a lot his fortune is due to his time with Bain. Even when he was on leave, does he stand by the business decisions that were made by the firm he created?

That’s actually a good question. While much of the press has been focused on whether or not Romney maintained an active role at Bain from 1999 to 2002, the years when many controversial activities resulted in shuttered factories and jobs exported overseas, no one has yet asked whether Romney approved of the decisions that were made by the people he says he left behind to run his business. But Gillespie dodged the question and instead dropped this nugget that will very likely make him famous:

GILLESPIE: He actually retired retroactively at that point. He ended up not going back to the firm after his time in Salt Lake City. So he was actually retired from Bain.

Retired retroactively? You can do that? Needless to say, that tortured phraseology quickly became a trending topic on Twitter. A couple of my own contributions:

And lest anyone think that Gillespie misspoke, he repeated almost verbatim the same excuse when he appeared on CNN’s State of the Nation with Candy Crowley:

GILLESPIE: He took a leave of absence and in fact, Candy, ended up not going back at all and retired retroactively to February 1999 as a result.

So there you have it. Despite all of the evidence that Romney was still in charge of Bain while he was supposedly working at the Olympics, he was actually retired. It’s just that neither he, nor anyone else, knew it at the time.

We still haven’t got an answer as to whether he approved of the direction Bain had taken in his “absence,” but he is sure running away from it as though there were something about it for which he would be sorely ashamed. We also don’t know whether he retroactively reimbursed Bain for the hundreds of thousands of dollars he collected in salary during the time he was retroactively retired.

I sure wish I could not show up for work for three years, collect a hefty paycheck the whole time, then tell them I decided not to come back. But I guess that’s the difference between people like Romney and the rest of us. The privileged classes get to make up their own rules, and when those don’t suffice, they just make up new ones. Sweet!

Republicans Look To Bush Losers For Advice On Winning

Posted by on May 4, 2009 at 12:58 pm. NO Comments :

Republicans are already struggling to maintain some measure of relevance since the American people have banished them to the minority in both the House and the Senate, and evicted them from the White House. It is certainly understandable that, in their desperation, they would cast about plaintively, with arms outstretched, to grasp onto whomever might offer them aide in these dire days (weeks? years?). But in a move that can only compound their troubles, they are calling upon fellow castaways to lead them off of the island of the politically damned.

Politico is reporting that former Bush media staffers have been drafted to show House Republicans the way back into the hearts of American voters. The team consists of Bush press office alums, Dana Perino, Tony Fratto, and past RNC chief and Bush counselor, Ed Gillespie. Presumably they were deemed up to the task by virtue of how masterfully they molded Bush into the beloved figure he is today.

The Politico column reveals that House Republicans, on the advice of Conference Chair Mike Pence, are beefing up their media staffs. The stated goal of this strategy is to place more emphasis on press relations than on legislation. GOP flack Matt Lloyd is in full agreement with Pence, and hails this new initiative by saying that:

“The press secretary workshop is one more tool in our belt that we are using to ensure press secretaries continue to get their members the most coverage possible, which in turn drives the Republican message across the country.”

I couldn’t agree with him more. From the perspective of someone who is anxious to see the Republican minority shrink even further, nothing could more effectively produce that end than to “drive the Republican message across the country.” If the House PR machine wants to help “get their members the most coverage possible,” I would heartily encourage them. And they should start with getting more coverage for Michele Bachmann. Minority Leader John Boehner could use a little more exposure of his dynamic personality and spray-on tan, as well. And since we’re resurrecting Republicans of yore, throw in Newt Gingrich and Tom DeLay.

You have to hand it to the GOP – they sure know how to cling to the anchors that have hastened their descent to the depths of political triviality.

Bill O’Reilly Controls The Stock Market

Posted by on June 30, 2008 at 7:37 pm. 6 Comments :

Jed Babbin, the editor of Human Events, has written what may be the stupidest article of the year. In it he wastes 1200+ words arguing that GE/NBC is terribly upset with the prodigious success of its cable news network MSNBC. Obviously – anyone would be disturbed with a business enterprise that doubles its audience year after year. As evidence of the concern, Babbin introduces two “exhibits” to affirm his hypothesis.

Exhibit A is a letter sent by presidential counselor Ed Gillespie complaining about an interview of President Bush conducted by Richard Engle. Babbin doesn’t actually explain why whining by a White House crony demonstrates any discomfit in the halls of NBC’s executive suites. The fact of the matter is that it’s just another politician working the refs to try to get more positive coverage.

Exhibit B is the contention that Keith Olbermann has a relationship with his bosses. Why Babbin thinks that there is something extraordinary about the host of a network’s number one program receiving accolades from the network honchos is also not explained.

But the truly idiotic part of the column is Babbin’s assertion that Bill O’Reilly is responsible for the poor performance of GE stock:

“O’Reilly’s high-temperature criticism of GE and Immelt — calling him a “despicable human being” responsible for the deaths of American troops in Iraq — may even have contributed to GE’s stock slide. From a high of $42.15 on October 2, 2007, GE’s shares have lost 36% of shareholder value, closing last Friday at $26.83.”

That’s a lot of power that Babbin has placed in the hands of a lowly TV blowhard. However, GE’s stock is not alone in suffering severe losses. Maybe Babbin hasn’t heard that the economy is near (or in) a recession. Perhaps he has also not heard that the stock of News Corp., the parent of Fox News is itself down 38% – even worse than GE. Is that also the work of Market Magician O’Reilly? Or has Olbermann been casting counter-spells of his own?

Indeed, O’Reilly has been tough on GE, NBC, MSNBC, and Jeff Immelt (although O’Reilly will never utter the name Olbermann). Just last week O’Reilly wondered how Immelt kept his job. Does he also wonder how Fox News chief Roger Ailes keeps his? At least MSNBC has been increasing their viewership, while the Fox News audience has been cratering. But the extremity of O’Reilly’s pique goes even further with overt threats aimed at GE’s CEO:

“That Immelt man answers to me…That’s why I’m in this business right now, to get guys like that.”

And lest you dismiss O’Reilly’s intent, he has made it clear that he is serious:

“[T]here is a huge problem in this country and I’m going to attack that problem. I’m going to attack it. These people aren’t getting away with this. I’m going to go right where they live. Every corrupt media person in this country is on notice, right now. I’m coming after you…I’m going to hunt you down […] if I could strangle these people and not go to hell and get executed…I would.”

[For more on O’Reilly’s sociopathic paranoia, see The O’Reilly Fear Factor: Collected Verses]

Babbin concludes his article by attempting to foment an insurgency within the ranks of NBC News. He advises NBC journalists to issue ultimatums directed at the NBC brass and, if they do not get satisfaction, to resign forthwith. I’m not sure why anyone would take advice from the likes of Babbin. He has proven with this article to be intellectually deficient, and a poor editor to boot. But one person has already taken advice proffered in this column. John McCain has initiated a “Truth Squad,” and staffed it with well known liars. I guess that’s something Babbin can take comfort in.