I started writing this blog and came up with the following.
Title:
“Jon Stewart Right-Sen Reid: No Need For Hear-Say Tax Info on Romney–His Anti-Middle Class Actions Suffice”.
Blog: I will be honest; as soon as I got the tweet stating that Senator Harry Reid said that Mitt Romney paid no taxes for 10 years my brain waves went abuzz. This was the smoking gun many bloggers were waiting for. Before I blogged about it I had to do my research. After-all I do not want to provide my readers with bad information that I then have to redact.
When I read the Huffington Post article all I could say was “Darn, I can’t write that”. I try to keep gossip on my blog to a minimum and facts to the max. This morning in going through my news feed Jon Stewart in his ever funny but accurately interpretive form expressed most of my sentiment. Watch the video below.
We have spent three and a half years with the Right Wing misinforming Americans. They have spent millions if not billions convincing Americans to vote against their own interest or convince them to oppose middle class centric policies like healthcare reform, banking reform, Wall Street reform, and much more. Having the majority leader of the Senate put this message in the public domain will give the Right Wing carte blanche to accuse us of misinformation.
Before I could complete the blog my phone rang. It was Dr. John Theis, one of my good friends, professor of government, and political activist. He said in his normal raspy voice, “Egberto, did you read the article a few days ago about Harry Reid saying a Bain Capital guy told him Romney had not paid taxes in 10 years?” This guy must have ESP. I told him I did but was disappointed with Harry for the reasons I stated up in the original blog. While I stand by the above statement in a pure world I had to listen to Dr. Theis’ point of view because his was the only way that would likely move the issue forward.
We have little information on Mitt Romney’s business dealings and their tax implications. As I stated in this blog post, if he wants to be president America has a right to know about these issues. He found some method to get between $21 million and $102 million in a IRA, an impossibility for most Americans following the letter and spirit of the law.
Does the end justify the means? For a potential president the answer is a categorical yes. The president is the head of the largest economy in the world and his views and implementation of capitalism is relevant. If Romney shows that he paid no taxes, or shows an inordinate amount of sheltered monies overseas, or betted against America during the financial collapse, or took amnesty to bring his monies back into the US it makes him unfit to serve. At that point he would have failed the most important test of being a good patriotic American.
And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.
My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.
Jon Stewart, while the video is amusing and funny and right in a pure world, you are absolutely wrong in the political world.