Never underestimate the ingenuity of the New York Times when it comes to creating – not finding, creating – misfeasance by Mitt Romney. In a front-page, above-the-fold story on Wednesday, under the headline, “Romney’s Trade Message and Bain’s China Ties,” Sharon LaFraniere and Mike McIntire ran into a problem. After reciting how a company owned by Bain Capital since 2010 had closed down U.S. plants and shipped the work and jobs to China, the Times reporters (columnists?) say that Romney’s “private equity dealings, both while he headed Bain and since, complicate” his message that we must crack down on Chinese trade cheating.
Since Romney left Bain long before the deal in question, the “and since” presented a difficulty. A small, soluble matter for a newspaper unwilling to let facts get in the way of its drive to help reelect Barack Obama. Journalistic standards demanded that the reporters mention that Romney’s investments are in a blind trust over which he has no control. So first call that fact into question while at the same time reporting it. “Mr. Romney’s campaign insists he has no control over his investments since they are held in a blind trust.” Note the “Mr. Romney’s campaign insists…” a bit of sly innuendo suggesting that, well, it might not be true because all we know is that the Romney campaign says it’s so, but we have no proof that Romney has any say over his investments.
