Baiting Mitt
by digby
As much as I’d like to say that I’m shocked that some self-righteous so-called liberals are joining the right in their condemnation of Harry Reid for baiting Romney but I’m not. It’s just how they roll. The wingnuts are kicking up a lot of dust in the hope that this might shut down the tax issue. If they can get Reid to apologize for “crossing the line” I suppose it might even be possible. And yes, they will be able to find even more timorous Villagers and others who vaguely position themselves on the left side of the dial to wring their hands and clutch their pearls over Harry Reid’s alleged ethical downfall.
But I don’t know that it will work this time. Romney is out there saying “put up or shut up” and it makes people laugh when they hear it. After all, it’s Romney who refuses to put up his tax returns to make Reid eat crow, which is the first thing people think when they hear this. Reid is baiting him to release the returns and the best Romney can do is demand that Reid … release Romney’s tax returns. It just doesn’t scan.
And Reid may not be making this up. Who knows? Reid is a Mormon and Bain had some very big Mormons in high places. And Reid is a very important guy who could have contacts in Bain just because. In any case, it’s very easy to prove Reid wrong. Harry said that someone told him Mitt didn’t pay any taxes for ten years. All Mitt has to do is release his taxes to prove otherwise and I think most people instinctively get that.
But who knows? The Democrats could easily do the big el-foldo. It’s one of their specialties.
*I’m not going to talk about Jon Stewart. It isn’t the first time that his self-righteous definition of “civility” has taken him down the wrong path. Nobody’s perfect, although I have to say that I’ve never seen Colbert fail to see the forest for the trees.
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