Although factcheck.org just issued a debunking email today:

Summary

A 28-minute political documentary released this week by a pro-Newt Gingrich super PAC presents a one-sided, often distorted and misleading view of Mitt Romney's years leading the venture capital firm Bain Capital.

Interspersed with appropriately eerie music, the video focuses on four Bain-financed companies and features heart-wrenching interviews with people who portray Romney and Bain as ruthless, quick-buck corporate raiders who reaped huge financial rewards at the expense of faithful employees.

But a closer look at the companies highlighted in the video reveals a murkier picture. The video often overstates, or outright distorts, Romney's culpability for job losses or bankruptcies.

*The film talks about layoffs at DDi Corp. and discusses questionable manipulation of stock prices after the circuit board company went public. But Romney had left Bain Capital a year before any layoffs and a public stock offering that ultimately netted Bain and Romney a big payday. The company's subsequent bankruptcy filing came two years after Bain had largely divested from the company, and was the result of the dot-com bust. Moreover, the company emerged from bankruptcy, and its current CEO credits those early Bain investments for setting the foundation for the company's current success.

*The film claims Romney was involved in the acquisition, management and demise of the now-defunct KB Toys. He wasn't. Bain bought the toy company nearly two years after Romney left Bain.

*Likewise, the closing of UniMac's plant in Marianna, Fla., occurred seven years after Romney left Bain and nearly two years after Bain sold UniMac's parent company to another private equity house.

More broadly, the video presents a myopic view of Bain Capital, cherry-picking some of the worst Bain outcomes to portray Bain in the worst possible light. Romney's record at Bain Capital also includes some success stories (see Staples and Sports Authority, to name a few) at companies that added new jobs.

iirc, that 'what a wonderful world' clip is from one of michael moore's films

there's some 'truth' in there, but also a lot of untruth...

for example, the mossadegh and shah segments, and the whole bin laden / cia angles

there IS blowback, and rp is correct in stating that obl referenced some previous us actions as the basis for aq's attacks

but as a whole--and in virtually everything--if you overstate your argument, well, you're already on your way to losing it

>> ^rich_magnet:

Not to overstate the obvious, I see no evidence that they were smugglers, nor indeed that the protagonists were police. Is there a backstory? Maybe we just witnessed a hijacking or a kidnapping.


Indiana Jones: "No Ticket."

Not to overstate the obvious, I see no evidence that they were smugglers, nor indeed that the protagonists were police. Is there a backstory? Maybe we just witnessed a hijacking or a kidnapping.

I'm afraid that "knowing about this stuff" rather overstates my position! Half remembers stuff from a lifetime ago and can kinda confirm with google is more like me.
In reply to this comment by dapper:
Thanks for the clarification. i love that people on here know about this stuff....
>> ^oritteropo:

Spider respiration isn't like ours, it's based on diffusion rather than forcing the air through like we do.... or, in other words, no.
I felt quite sorry for the poor little fellow.
>> ^dapper:
Is it possible that the movement is a consequence of it breathing rather than the heart beat?

Yeah, that was what I was expecting when I opened this video.>> ^xxovercastxx:

They've overstated the connection a bit. There was a small movement at the time pushing the idea that spicy, sweet or otherwise flavorful foods had an equivalent effect on the personality of the consumer. If you wanted to control your urges, sexual or otherwise, you should eat a bland vegetarian diet. Corn flakes were created by accident during preparations of grain for normal use in bland, tasteless food.

They've overstated the connection a bit. There was a small movement at the time pushing the idea that spicy, sweet or otherwise flavorful foods had an equivalent effect on the personality of the consumer. If you wanted to control your urges, sexual or otherwise, you should eat a bland vegetarian diet. Corn flakes were created by accident during preparations of grain for normal use in bland, tasteless food.

So, let's get this straight... CBS is part of the liberal media, and can't be trusted. But then QM sites a CBS article, so THAT should be trusted, only because it makes his case.

Please. CBS, just like the rest of the media, is tilted towards sensationalism. Overstate the fraud estimate, and it's more sensationalist.

I see nothing in that article that proves medicare fraud is $60 billion a year.

About the statistics for the poor, that was written by the Heritage Foundation. Not exactly objective information there. But oh wonder of wonders, even by their own words, the majority of people considered to be poor don't own their own homes! Thanks QM for proving yourself wrong, just like I said you were.

There certainly have been rallies in America that at least in part were to 'celebrate' Muslim deaths. I agree, it's not as pervasive as in Muslim countries, and not accepted by the majority of our population as it seems to be in Muslim countries, but it certainly IS something that happens here (at most Faux supported and teabagger rallies for example).

I think we are largely agreed then, as that was my main point. I think you overstate the teabagger rallies and/or understate the jihadist ones though.

I'm not familiar with any western rallies(aside from the westboro nuts I already mentioned) where they specifically celebrated the deaths of muslims because the deaths of muslims was deemed a good end. On the flip side, there are repeatedly rallies of emboldened jihadists dancing in the streets and cheering the deaths on 9/11 and from other attacks and violence since then.

The difference is important to keep in perspective and not to be underestimated. It is where we are headed if we don't confront the extremists in our midst now while we have them outnumbered. It is also important as our like minded moderate allies in those foreign nations need our support and help against a much more determined and violent enemy than we do ourselves.

Good video but they spent about half of it overstating that stealing jokes was wrong. I got the point about 30 seconds in. Now that EVERYONE ON THE PLANET is a video editor we should all review the concepts of "filler" and "cutting-room floor".

>> ^juliovega914:

Rider falls, breaks back, ends career in baseball, loses athletic scholarship, has to drop out of college, insurance doesn't cover injury cause it occurred at a university athletic event, athletic insurance doesn't cover injury because it occurred whilst goofing off. Out of college, 40k in debt to student loans, 120k in debt to medical bills, 160k total in debt with no career prospects.


I think you're a bit overstating it, but what you're saying is the exact reason you will NEVER see this kind of Awesome in the big leagues.

>> ^Hybrid:

Passenger sitting in big A380: "Did we just hit a little bump?"


That's overstating it. I saw this on the news yesterday, and they said the passengers thought the plane hit a rough spot on the tarmac and then wondered why they were stopping.

>> ^bamdrew:

this is a bit simplified, to the point of being a bit silly, but I like the experimentation.
I once read about modeling traffic being similar to modeling the movement of compressed gases, and tend to think of it like that.
He is right that it is fun thing to think about from a psychology perspective... everyone is in a vehicle capable of high speeds and on a highway designed to support those speeds, so the expectation is that you'll be traveling at or near the speed limit. The only hold-up then are your 'competitors' out there, also trying to move at an optimal velocity.


Traffic waves are a real phenomena though, usually caused by people following to closely. There is a video here on the sift of such a thing. It is just a bunch of cars all driving around in a circle. Eventually, due to inconsistent speeds, a wave of breaking keeps pulsing backwards. If one driver "ate" the wave, it would dissipate, but it never happened. So, while it is simplified, and perhaps overstated, I imagine some effect of it can be observed, after all, the effects of sudden breaking can causes a wave that will ripple for miles back, I don't see why someone smoothing out that ripple wouldn't have a similar effect.

I freely admit to having thought Obama was the real deal, and that it's obvious he wasn't. I think my disappointments with him aside, he was still the right person to support, given that it was only ever going to be him, Hillary, or McCain who became President. I think you're vastly overstating it when you say that Obama is "leading the charge" in Libya, but that's just how you are.

I don't really see it as "chickens coming home to roost". Obama has failed to rise to the occasion on several issues, but he hasn't gone and done anything all his own that creates new problems to be undone. Maybe this no-fly zone in Libya will become that, but this doesn't strike me as some sort of imperialist impulse from Obama, so much as him going along with the world community.

If you told me that in 2008, after Bush put together an Iraq withdrawal plan, I would've said that I pretty much expect him to follow the Bush withdrawal plan to the letter...which he has, with no sign of extending our stay there. On Afghanistan, I would've said that Obama openly campaigned on escalating the conflict in Afhganistan, and I didn't like it much, but that that did seem to be the one place in the world we had any reason to be involved in. On Libya I would've said "why Libya?" If you said "to defend pro-democratic rebels who wanted to overthrow Gaddafi", I would've said "hmm, if the UN supports that action, and the mission remains limited in scope, I would oppose it, but I would understand it".

As for Gitmo and PATRIOT, if you told me that he'd be stopped from doing either by a bipartisan coalition in Congress, I would've found that completely believable. That he's passively let the topic fade from the public stage is probably my biggest disappointment with him.

On taxes, which taxes went up? Income tax rates below $250K (and above!) are the same as they've been, and payroll taxes just got cut a bit. My federal taxes definitely went down, while my state & local have increased slightly, but Obama has nothing to do with those. The only tax increases I know of are on cigarettes, and maybe the expiration of tax cuts that began with the stimulus.

As for the democratic process, all it proved is that it takes more work than voting for President once every 4 years. I was too carried away in 2008 about how much one election would do, but it did seem like a sea change at the time.

Part of what's wrong is that people here are too complacent. Tunisia, Egypt, etc. all just managed to topple dictatorships with peaceful protests. I think if we did the same here, we could topple our oligarchy. But first we need to stop letting fear of loss make us keep our heads down...

In reply to this comment by blankfist:
Oh, you're such a victim, aren't you? *raises hand* "Oh, teacher, blankfist is picking on me!"

Stop deflecting. You and DFT claimed Obama was the real deal; that he'd enact some real change. He hasn't. He received a Nobel Peace prize, yet has extended the war effort. It makes no sense to people like me, and now that he's leading the charge in Libya, your chickens have come home to roost, and you don't like it.

I know you don't regret a second campaigning or voting for a warmonger and a liar. It's all too common for people to defend their vote, and the dissonance is alarming. My father used to defend his vote for Bush saying he's better than Clinton or something irrelevant like that.

If I could go back to 2008 and make wild claims that Obama would not end the war in Iraq, he would instead extend the war into Afghanistan, and before 2012 he'd go into Libya, I wonder what you'd say. Or that he'd never close Guantanamo or repeal the Patriot Act, I wonder what you'd say. You'd probably disagree and beat the "Democrats. Party of peace." drum.

I bet you still have an Obama/Biden 2008 bumper sticker on the back of your Prius, don't you? How typical if you do.

And by the way, I made less this year because of the economy, yet my taxes went up (as did the cost of living). I thought those of us who made less than $250,000 would not have our taxes raised. Looks like that too was a lie. I'm glad we still have idiots out there who think we can change the system with the democratic process, because singlehandedly Obama has proven that to be false in his first four years.

Seeing you, I think I now understand why the entire nation of Germany gave into Nazism and thought it was a good thing.

In reply to this comment by NetRunner:
So what you're saying is...what? That harassing me is somehow going to reverse a UN resolution against Libya?

I do think that if you don't like something, you should get involved and change it. In this case, part of that would be trying to get like minded people to join you in some sort of petition or protest. You don't seem to have any interest in doing that.

Do you have a bumper sticker with "Don't blame me, I voted for <insert losing candidate here>!" on your car? I mean if you don't, you really should get one. It might be too on the nose though, because it's not just some humorous witticism to you; instead it's a statement of your entire political philosophy, such as it is.

Oh, and by the way, I don't regret for a second having voted for and campaigned for Obama.

In reply to this comment by blankfist:
Wait, I thought you said if you didn't like something, then you should get involved and change it. Wasn't voting for Obama that change? How's that working out for you?

And I'm a liberal. The original liberal.

Part of the scientific method is not overstating the implications of your results, and simply stating what your results find. Through out the video he talks about alot more than just NatGeo doing shitty experiments, which is the ONLY thing his results indicate. Sloppy science.

That may be so, but here are fourteen hundred engineers/architects who believe the official story does an insufficient job scientifically proving it's "facts".

I'm not sure that all of those engineers believed that the WTC were brought down with explosives. They signed a petition demanding a more thorough investigation. How do you know that many of them aren't backing this petition because they believe a more thorough investigation could reveal improper building standards, faults in construction or over looked safety concerns with respect to building skyscrapers that the original investigation overlooked. This is common with any type of disaster involving a man made structure, ie plane crashes, train wrecks, building/bridge collapses, sunken boats....

Even if every single one of the 1400 or so engineers who signed the petition believed it was definitely explosives, thats still means very little. More than 200 000 people graduated with engineer degrees in the US during 2005 ALONE. When you consider how many graduate in India, China, Europe, and the rest of the world, 1400 is an abysmally small faction, easily less than 1 in 1000. If 999 biologist told me life on earth has evolved from a single ancestor for every one biologist that told me it was magic, I know which theory I would lend more credence to.