THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

But in all my years I have never seen any two candidates run on their flaws and expecting you to accept them as virtues.

One characteristic of being a human is making mistakes whether they are from bad judgment, forgetfulness, or misunderstanding, and only the Christian bible’s Jesus Christ was a perfect man if one subscribes to that ideology. Most Americans would not hold it against a politician if they made mistakes or bad decisions, but when a pattern develops over time, voters should be suspicious. A candidate for the nation’s highest office should be above suspicion if they expect to win the trust and confidence of the people, but as Americans are learning more about Willard Romney and his running mate Paul Ryan, it appears there is a pattern of malfeasance and possible illegal activities that should be a warning that both men are not trustworthy and certainly not suited for the highest offices in the land.

It was less than a week ago that Romney named Paul Ryan as his running mate, and already there are questions about insider trading and omitting information on financial disclosures. Now, Ryan might be excused for inadvertently omitting assets on one year’s disclosure, but apparently he failed to list “between $15,001 and $50,000 in 2010, and between $100,001 and $1 million last year.” Ryan used Romney’s “retroactive” excuse and only included the trust he and his wife inherited from her mother while being vetted by the Romney campaign, and it leaves a suspicious person wondering; if he was not chosen as a running mate, would he have ever listed such a large amount of money of his disclosures?...

It is a stretch to believe anything coming out of the Romney campaign because Willard has lied about his alleged departure date from Bain Capital, and based on SEC filings, he did not leave until well after February 1999. When the SEC filings were exposed, Romney conveniently came up with the “retroactive retirement” story to cover his lies and filings that clearly show he was still in charge at Bain Capital till at least August 2001 and possibly longer.

There were questions this week about whether or not the Romney campaign received donations from foreign sources during his campaign tour adding fuel to questions of his adherence to the law. It is against campaign finance law to accept donations from foreign sources, but without disclosure laws for contributions to super-pacs, it is a difficult crime to prove. In January 2012, the Supreme Court issued an order upholding prohibitions against foreigners making contributions to influence American elections. However, hundreds of foreign corporations already play an integral and legal role by donating to super-pacs and influencing American elections through their subsidiaries. If Romney were not prone to lying, he may not come under suspicion and scrutiny, but like a common criminal, secrecy and deceit are Willard’s modus operandi.

And, of course, there are the hidden tax returns. If you can still believe anything coming from the Vulture/Voucher ticket, you would probably buy snow to use as fill.