Romney Plays Rope-a-'Bam

At least, I hope that’s what he’s doing. But by refusing to release his tax returns, he’s causing every blog on the starboard side of the Blogosphere to point out the hypocrisy of a very secretive White House.

Here’s what Mitt’s tax returns say: He’s loaded. Count de Monet-style, as Mel Brooks would say.

What don’t we know about Obama? Let us count the ways, Doug Ross writes:

Meanwhile, seven years after Barack Obama burst onto the national political scene, we still await the disclosure of his background records.

1. Occidental College records and transcripts — Not released
2. Columbia University records and transcripts — Not released
3. Columbia Thesis paper — ‘not available’
4. Harvard University records and transcripts — Not released
5. Medical records — Not released
6. Illinois State Senate schedule — ‘not available’
7. Illinois State Senate records — ‘not available’
8. Law practice client list — Not released
9. Certified Copy of Original Birth certificate — Not released
10. Harvard Law Review articles published — None
11. University of Chicago scholarly articles — None
12. Record of Baptism — Not released or ‘not available’

Of course, there are different standards for legacy media’s preferred candidates. Remember how the media unearthed Rick Perry’s college transcripts within 48 hours of the announcement of his candidacy?

And Moe Lane adds:

None of which means that I am totally fine with Romney not releasing his tax returns. But I see no reason why we should pretend that Mitt Romney’s not playing by the same rules that Barack Obama laid down in the first place, either. Fair’s fair. And transparency begins at the White House.

So when does Romney play the “we’ll release X if President Obama releases Y” card?