Pat Oliphant for January 11, 2012
Transcript:
George Romney: Why, Mitt. Welcome to the real world! Mitt Romney: Gee, thanks, George... er... Dad. George: Son, you're here to learn the ways of big business. What would you like to try first? Mitt: Well, Dad, I've always wanted to fire people. Could I try that? George: Sure, son. Here comes some poor sod who's given us 45 years of devoted service. Start on him. But I want you to do it with sincerity and charm. Mitt: Sure, Dad. Hey, you - you're fired!! Now get out!! Wow, Dad, that was fun! Oh, the feeling of power! I feel like Donald Trump! George: Good lad. Now let's try some corporate raiding. Donald what? Punk: That's REAL fun!
I’m as liberal as they come and think that the GOPpers are a pathetic bunch, but I really object to this sort of misrepresentation by the media. It comes close to lying.It’s like the lie they told about Al Gore, when his genuine claims about his support for the Internet (he was its biggest advocate in Congress) were twisted to ridicule him.I think that Romney is bad enough without putting words into his mouth.
Here’s a transcript of what he really said:“I want individuals to have their own insurance. That means the insurance company will have an incentive to keep you healthy. It also means that if you don’t like what they do, you can fire them. I like being able to fire people who provide services to me. You know if someone doesn’t give me the good service I need, I want to say, you know, I’m going to go get someone else to provide that service to me.”
No way is that saying that he enjoys firing people. Especially not for fun!