Turns out Romney isn't an a@@hole after all! I read it in an email.

[Drum_God]

I got this little story in an email from a friend yesterday:

Yep, character does matter, and what we have been hearing in the media recently has been quite shocking. I thought you might like to see another side of one of the candidates. It appears there is more to the Bain Capital story than is being told, so I hope this story below is informative.
Romney’s character… This facet of Romney’s personality isn’t so subtle.
In July 1996, the 14-year-old daughter of Robert Gay, a partner at Bain Capital, had disappeared. She had attended a rave party in New York Cityand gotten high on ecstasy. Three days later, her distraught father had no idea where she was.
Romney took immediate action. He closed down the entire firm and asked all 30 partners and employees to fly to New Yorkto help find Gay’s daughter. Romney set up a command center at the LaGuardia Marriott and hired a private detective firm to assist with the search. He established a toll-free number for tips, coordinating the effort with the NYPD, and went through his Rolodex and called everyone Bain did business with in New York, and asked them to help find his friend’s missing daughter.
Romney’s accountants at Price Waterhouse Cooper put up posters on street poles, while cashiers at a pharmacy owned by Bain put fliers in the bag of every shopper. Romney and the other Bain employees scoured every part of New York and talked with everyone they could - prostitutes, drug addicts - anyone.
That day, their hunt made the evening news, which featured photos of the girl and the Bain employees searching for her. As a result, a teenage boy phoned in, asked if there was a reward, and then hung up abruptly. The NYPD traced the call to a house in New Jersey, where they found the girl in the basement, shivering and experiencing withdrawal symptoms from a massive ecstasy dose. Doctors later said the girl might not have survived another day.
Romney’s former partner credits Mitt Romney with saving his daughter’s life, saying, "It was the most amazing thing, and I’ll never forget this to the day I die."
So, here’s my epiphany: Mitt Romney simply can’t help himself. He sees a problem, and his mind immediately sets to work solving it, sometimes consciously, and sometimes not-so-consciously. He doesn’t do it for self-aggrandizement, or for personal gain. He does it because that’s just how he’s wired.
Many people are unaware of the fact that when Romney was asked by his old employer, Bill Bain, to come back to Bain & Company as CEO to rescue the firm from bankruptcy, Romney left Bain Capital to work at Bain & Company for an annual salary of one dollar.
When Romney went to the rescue of the 2002 SaltLakeOlympics, he accepted no salary for three years, and would not use an expense account. He also accepted no salary as Governor of Massachusetts.
Character counts!! (and yes…that’s worth reading again!)
It’s nice to hear something positive about one of the candidates for a change

So, I’m supposed to be impressed because Romney helped out a friend who is just like him. I mean, suppose that it was the janitor’s kid who turned up missing. Would Mittens have shut down the company and mobilized all his resources to help find her? Maybe. But, maybe not. I think most people would drop everything and help find their friend’s missing kid, if they could. Romney’s resources are just a bit greater than most people’s. However, I don’t see how he did anything extraordinary here.
I have taken some heat on Facebook for a rather lengthy criticism of Romney’s bullying a kid in high school and his rather tepid recent “apology”. I suppose this email was supposed to show me that Romney is not really a jerk and is quite willing to help a fellow rich guy in need. Good for him. I’m also supposed to be impressed that he didn’t accept any salary while working as Governor of Massachusetts nor while working with the Olympics. Heck, he didn’t even accept a salary at Bain. What a great guy! He is so in touch with the working man that he doesn’t even have to earn a living.

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[Revtim]

Wow, and I thought he was a Satan-worshiping kitten-shaving wookiee-molester before I read that! Thank you email!

[Svejk_1]

That story sounds so much like bullshit I have trouble believing it. Snopes says it’s true, though, although it does not talk about the last few sentences that mention how Romney works for free.

[BrainGlutton]

@Revtim

Wow, and I thought he was a Satan-worshiping kitten-shaving wookiee-molester before I read that! Thank you email!

:mad: Speaking on behalf of the Wookie-molesting community, I resent even an implicit association with Republicans.

[John_Mace]

This should help with the Gay vote.

[Procrustus]

It’s nice to hear something positive about one of the candidates for a change

I hear nice things about President Obama all the time, just not from certain folks.

[Happy_Lendervedder]

I think I saw a paid advertisement that featured this guy talking about this story. I thought then what I think now: Big fucking deal. So Romney helped out one person whose daughter disappeared. What does this have to do with how he’ll run the country?

[Finagle]

Well, Romney’s actions were laudable, although you could argue that the way he accomplished them were, at the very least, high-handed and autocratic.

From the letter: “He closed down the entire firm and asked all 30 partners and employees to fly to New Yorkto help find Gay’s daughter.” “Romney and the other Bain employees scoured every part of New York and talked with everyone they could - prostitutes, drug addicts - anyone.”

So, in other words, Romney basically ordered 30 people to fly to New York on a moment’s notice and take on a task in which they had no vested interest and which was intrinsically dangerous. I’m pretty sure that sending rich venture capitalists and middle-class employees wandering around the seamier sides of a strange city like fish out of water is not the most effective or safest approach to finding someone.

Hey, it could be that all these employees were glad to volunteer to get out of the office and go on a field trip, but the mail message doesn’t indicate that.

I’m glad they found the girl, but not much about the story makes me more eager to have Romney as my chief executive.

[conway]

I thought for sure it was going to turn out that Romney had her all along.

[Happy_Lendervedder]

Was this the girl Glenn Beck kidnapped?

[Little_Nemo]

Seriously, it was a good thing and Romney deserves credit for it.

But imagine what would happen if he tried this as President. Somebody’s daughter doesn’t come home from three days and Romney shuts down the federal government and sends everyone out to go looking for her.

[Robot_Arm]

@Finagle

So, in other words, Romney basically ordered 30 people to fly to New York on a moment’s notice and take on a task in which they had no vested interest and which was intrinsically dangerous.

Could come in handy with the military. “Off you go now; Iran, and don’t come back without an atomic bomb or two.”

[fumster]

It really is possible to say something nice, or to listen without snark when someone else says something nice, while still disagreeing with someone’s political philosophy and not wanting them as President.

[Esox_Lucius]

@conway

I thought for sure it was going to turn out that Romney had her all along.

On the roof of his car…

@Drum_God

I mean, suppose that it was the janitor’s kid…

Or a business partner who wasn’t Mormon (which Robert Gay is).

Obviously, it was a good thing to do for a friend, business partner and fellow Mormon, but I don’t think it’s out of the ordinary. Most people would sacrifice what they could to help a friend/neighbour/co-worker in the same circumstance.

And according to this website that quotes the Boston Herald, the final part about the girl being in danger is false:

The hunt went on until a family in Montville, N.J., heard of it and called police later to say Missy was with them and fine." (Eric Convey, “Bain Staff Swung Into Action For Child Search,” The Boston Herald, 7/13/96)

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

Is anyone stupid enough to think the girl experienced “withdrawal symptoms from a massive ecstasy dose”?

[BrainGlutton]

@Esox_Lucius

Obviously, it was a good thing to do for a friend, business partner and fellow Mormon, but I don’t think it’s out of the ordinary. Most people would sacrifice what they could to help a friend/neighbour/co-worker in the same circumstance.

All right for a coporate CEO. But, remember, an elected official is not supposed to use the resources he controls to do any special favors for a friend.

[Maastricht]

This has " contra spin by Romneys pr people" written all over it. What is the source of the email?

[kaylasdad99]

I’m confused. Was being an asshole ever being put forward as a reason to not allow him to be president?

Send me an email when it turns out he’s not actually a Republican.

[Reno_Nevada]

@BrainGlutton

All right for a coporate CEO. But, remember, an elected official is not supposed to use the resources he controls to do any special favors for a friend.

Actually, a CEO is not really supposed to do that either. He has a fiduciary duty to the stockholders, which does not necessarily include spending their money to find his friend’s kid.

Also, that story is all kinds of crazy. Having the staff of a hedge fund wander around New York City talking to prostitutes to find a lost girl? And ALSO hiring a private detective, who actually has the skills and resources to find a lost girl? Keep the hedge fund at work and hire TWO private detectives.

And, of course, all the business about shutting the office and flying to NYC did bupkis towards finding the girl–publicity plus police work seemed to be sufficient.

[BrainGlutton]

@conway

I thought for sure it was going to turn out that Romney had her all along.

[insert your own Mormon-child-bride joke here]