Hypocrisy and 'The Man' | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: Jim Bispo's weekly column appears in the Beaufort Observer.

    The Prez is reported to have taken his wife and kids to church last Sunday (8/19) at a church near the WH. (I would guess it had to be a "Christian" church.) That would make the second or third (or maybe even fourth) time he has gone to church since he was anointed. Do you suppose there was anything "political" about his sudden religious resurgence (or is it simply a display) of faith?? Hmmm...

    To have gone to that extreme would certainly imply how badly he wants to win the election. (Let us hope the ploy doesn't work.)

    "The American people have assumed that if you want to be president of the United States that your life is an open book ahhhh... when it comes to things like finances.. This isn't sort of overly personal guys, it's just pretty standard stuff and I don't think we are being mean..." So saith the Anointed One on 8/20. Interesting that only your finances are part of that open book. You have to admit, adding the "financial" qualifier was a quick recovery.

    So we have a Prez who has suddenly seen the light and has not only been "Born Again", but suddenly believes in personal financial transparency. Wow!!

    It's a good thing he added the "financial" qualifier to his pronouncement. Otherwise we would have the license to ask if his Social Security card really does carry the first three digits of a card issued in Connecticut (range from 040 to 049) instead of the 575 we see on cards issued in Hawaii. And if so, how that came to be.

    We would also be free to ask about all his college and graduate school transcripts and why they have been kept sealed. (Reportedly he has spent a bundle to keep it that way, but I do not know that for sure.)

    But with his "financial" qualifier, we can only feel free to ask about where the money come from for all the (unaccompanied) travel he did as a young man. And, of course tied in with that, we should be able to see his Passports so as to determine the name and nationality claimed at the time as shown on the passport. Perhaps even the applications are still available somewhere. After all, the Govt. doesn't ever throw anything away, do they?? Well, not unless it could be damaging...

    We would also be free to ask from whence cometh the money to pay for the big dollar Ivy League higher education.. And of course tied in with that, if it was in the form of grants or scholarships, we should feel free to review the applications.

    Financial questions, one and all...

    Or do you suppose life is an open book on things financial that only apply to others?? Hmmm..

    It's difficult to understand just why the Anointed One's "front man", Harry Reid is so anxious to see Mitt Romney's tax returns. I remember when Hillary Clinton released three years of her and Bill's returns when she was running to become the Dem nominee for Prez. Despite what looked to be some questionable deductions (from an ethical point of view), there was virtually no one in the fourth estate who really studied the returns. If they had (instead of simply quoting from the 1 page summary provided by the Clintons) they would have found some interesting things.

    For example, they would have found that the first two years their CPA had to file amended returns due to what sounded to be "clerical" errors contained in the original returns. Actually, they didn't seem to amount to much. The third year they switched from a DC (or was it MD) CPA to a NY CPA who seemed a lot less prone to clerical errors. (No amended return required.) What he did do, that the previous CPA had not done was to quantify each of the Clinton's contributions and identify the recipient. The previous CPA had simply "lumped" them all together into a single figure. Of course the job wasn't very difficult for the NY CPA, because as it turned out that even though the contribution was fairly significant (I can't recall the number but it was fairly large as I remember) the entire amount went to a single recipient. If you guessed the Clinton Foundation, go to the head of the class. So the Clintons contributed to themselves. Isn't that nice?? We can only wonder if Mr. Romney would get that same gentle treatment if several more years of his returns were made public. Put me down for a "No" vote. Of course, it's like they say. Charity begins at home... But I digress....

    And yet here is Harry Reid using his own Joe McCarthy style tactics as he pushes to see the Romney tax returns. In the meantime, Reid refuses to release his own returns. (Hmmm...) What do you suppose he is hiding?? And what do you suppose he expects to find out from Romney's returns other than Mr. Romney is very rich. I don't suppose it has occurred to many of the Dems that since Mr. Romney is so rich that if he is elected, he does not have to compromise his principles in search of wealth as so often happens. He already has as much as anyone could possibly want.

    D'ya think??