When Calls for ‘Transparency’ Go Too Far
Transparency in politics, while widely regarded in the public eye as a panacea for all societal ills, winds up being a recalcitrant beast once it’s actually sprung from its cage. As all too often happens, this sort of “sunshine” is a tool viewed in very different fashions by the public and the candidates for high office who seek to represent them. For the voter, it’s a critical method of peering under the hood and hiring the best person for the job, but for the politicians it’s more of a weapon. The general theme would appear to be, transparency for thee, but not for me.
The use of the term “sunshine” is particularly apt as the 2012 Republican primary race moves forward into the hotly contested Sunshine State of Florida. Fresh off his somewhat sensational victory in South Carolina, upstart Newt Gingrich seeks to carry that momentum forward into the January 31st contest. This has forced the hand of the formerly inevitable Mitt Romney, leading him to reach into the political tool chest and remove an old friend: disclosure!
Governor Romney is still stinging from his campaign’s ham-handed, politically tone deaf fumbling on the issue of his tax returns. The relentless badgering from both the media and his opponents resulted in a humbling display when he allowed that he would, in fact, be generous enough to share one year’s worth of his filings. (An event, we should note yet again, made all the more ironic by the fact that his own father was the person to originally institute the practice of releasing tax returns.) But what’s good for the goose — in this case at least — is great for the grandiose by Mitt’s way of thinking.
Romney moved quickly, launching a new line of attack on the former speaker over his claims that he had never been a lobbyist for Freddie Mac. In a matter of hours his team had crafted a new television spot, targeting Floridians struggling in the depressed housing market. In it, he claimed that Gingrich had “cashed in” at the mortgage giant while their housing values plummeted, going so far as to call on Newt to give back the millions of dollars he had earned in their employ.
This prompted one wag — no doubt an enthusiastic Gingrich supporter — to ask if Mitt planned on releasing his “confidential, client related files from Bain.” And before the 24 hour political news media could wake up from the sugar induced coma brought on by the delicious, internecine warfare, Mitt was back on the stump wondering about documentation surrounding Newt’s resignation as speaker so many years ago. It takes neither a brain scientist nor a rocket surgeon to see where this path is leading, and the debate set me to wondering if there might not be a point where the healthy medicine of transparency might not eventually reach a level which triggers an overdose.
Obama and his cronies had better not get too gleeful over this line of attack. Talk about fertile “Show us” your past Obama records bonanza that awaits the eventual Republican nominee. Romney is desperate and it is beginning to show. Instead of going after Obama forcefully he is going after Newt forcefully. That is why he is slipping in the polls. The public wants to see a fighter who will not only go after Obama but will also slam the msm when they deserve it. Romney has done neither and looks like he won’t no matter what happens to his campaign. I truly believe that Romney is DNA challenged when it comes to testosterone. He is almost priest like in that he knows what is required but cannot make himself do it.
Oh McRomneyu had plenty of testosterone when he was squeezing 80% profits for Bain while thousands of Americans were being laid off fluff the bottom line.
oops, I shouldn’t have said that.
people will call me and anti-capitalist
Romney is weak which is what the GOP elites want in a candidate – someone pliable enough so they can continue to milk our tax dollars out of DC and into their own coffers. Same with the Democrat elite which is why Obama is POTUS at present – he too is weak.
But the game is changing Mr. Elite – at least for the GOP elite – and I suspect the same might happen on the left – if they have any brains left. A doubtful assumption. I’m tired of those fools handpicking my candidates. Savaging them as Rove did with Christine O’Donnell when they don’t get their way is such a blatant move and people are noticing these things more than ever. Getting us engaged in the decision making process is not what the GOP elite want – all they’ve ever wanted was our votes. Too bad for them we are paying attention to their every move. Rove is the spear-tip of the elite – smooth promoter when he has to be – and hatchet man when the elite call for it. Its what he gets paid to do. Rove has been tiptoeing around Newt though. Can you guess why?
The elites seem to forget that the US Constitution is OK with more than two parties and the elites don’t own the franchise on either. We don’t need to gather round one or the other – especially when that group espouses ideas that we do not agree with. That is where a large part of Republicans today are at. The leaders are leaders only if/when others allows themselves to be led.
It must be a very frightening feeling for the GOP elite to look behind them and nobody is following.
Mitt is already trailing Newt at all the polls in FLA.
In other news, you know Newt has really made an impression in the public when the Gregory bros songify his debate brightest point.
Flip Romney is sounding more and more like Peloser everyday.
Well then, maybe he can redeem himself by doing a commercial sitting on the couch with her. Worked for Newt. Maybe Romney needs to start having affairs and doing some lobbying, too. And attacking modest reductions as “right wing social engineering”.
Because you know, the Romney is just too right wing! We need a grandiose progressive visionary like Newt with BIG ideas!
Yeah, Newt has sat on a couch with Peloser. And even said some things in the last few years that are not very Conservative in my book. But everything Newt has actually done when in a position to do so has been all Conservative.. at times even greatly so.
And Flip Romney… not so much.
But hey we can thank Flip for one thing. He shows us just how far the progressives have penetrated the Republican party. Looks like about 25%. I actually feel pretty good about that as I thought it was more.. far more.
Flip would have been very conservative in Massachusetts if the mean old legislature had let him. Somebody should have told him it was a Democratic state before he bought the governship.
Why republicans are trying to embrace the OWC crowd by attacking Romney for being rich and successful is beyond me.
Stupid argument. One could just as reasonably replace “Romney” with “Soros” or “Corzine” in that sentence.
Try again.
Yeah, that’s it. It’s just envy rather than the fact that Romney is just another big money man from Wall Street rather than a real businessman. Warren Buffet, like all broken clocks, got it right once recently when he said this about himself and Romney:
You want a rich man that actually had some real credential as a businessman? That was Herman Cain.
Ah, I didn’t realize that we were looking for someone with toilet-cleaning skills to be president…
… I think I will leave the rest of that unspoken.
Watch Herman Cain deliver the Tea Party State of the Union at http://www.TeaPartyExpress.org ! The live stream starts on Tuesday, January 24th at 10:30 EST/7:30 PST.
I want every single member of congress, their staffs, the White House staff, aides and cabinet members to release their IRS returns for the past five years. Also, they should disclose their worth when they began employment (or election) to date so we can if their “assets” have grown and why!!!