Romney: Business is Business
How can Mitt Romney, who is religious and a devout family man, justify saying things that are in conflict with other statements made in his recent past?
I had a business client that Mitt Romney gives me cause to remember. He was a real estate investor and a shrewd negotiator who would look for an opportunity to renege on an agreement, whether verbal or in writing, in order to pay a little less or make a little more on a transaction. I saw him do this on a number of transactions and in fact he tried to do it with me by attempting to have me accept a lower fee than what was agreed too. I did get paid as agreed, but it was a struggle.
At the same time he was very religious and a devout family man. Every time we drove up to a property near Flint, Michigan, to make an inspection, we would go past a large picture of Jesus and he would start praying and kissing the crucifix on the rosary that he had
hanging from his mirror. As he did, I would be silent and wait for him to end his prayer.
On one of these trips he started preaching and scolding me for being separated from my wife. As we came upon the billboard of Jesus, he stopped preaching and started praying and kissing his rosary. As usual I sat quietly until he was done. I then asked him to explain how is it that he is such a devout family man and outwardly religious while on the same day be comfortable cheating someone out of a fee or changing an agreed to price to his advantage. He said, "business is business, the same rules do not apply when you are doing business."
At that moment, I became enlightened. There are many people in the world who compartmentalize their religious or spiritual world from other parts of their life. This is perhaps why Mr. Romney finds it so easy to say different things to different audiences and at the same time be such a good Mormon and family man. He may find it acceptable; however, it would bother me if I thought our President had the same philosophy of having a different set of principles for different segments of his life, including that of being President.
I had a business client that Mitt Romney gives me cause to remember. He was a real estate investor and a shrewd negotiator who would look for an opportunity to renege on an agreement, whether verbal or in writing, in order to pay a little less or make a little more on a transaction. I saw him do this on a number of transactions and in fact he tried to do it with me by attempting to have me accept a lower fee than what was agreed too. I did get paid as agreed, but it was a struggle.
At the same time he was very religious and a devout family man. Every time we drove up to a property near Flint, Michigan, to make an inspection, we would go past a large picture of Jesus and he would start praying and kissing the crucifix on the rosary that he had
hanging from his mirror. As he did, I would be silent and wait for him to end his prayer.
On one of these trips he started preaching and scolding me for being separated from my wife. As we came upon the billboard of Jesus, he stopped preaching and started praying and kissing his rosary. As usual I sat quietly until he was done. I then asked him to explain how is it that he is such a devout family man and outwardly religious while on the same day be comfortable cheating someone out of a fee or changing an agreed to price to his advantage. He said, "business is business, the same rules do not apply when you are doing business."
At that moment, I became enlightened. There are many people in the world who compartmentalize their religious or spiritual world from other parts of their life. This is perhaps why Mr. Romney finds it so easy to say different things to different audiences and at the same time be such a good Mormon and family man. He may find it acceptable; however, it would bother me if I thought our President had the same philosophy of having a different set of principles for different segments of his life, including that of being President.
I suppose it is only challenging to separate your core beliefs from that of your political role as President only if you are Barack Obama; recall his mentor and pastor Jeremiah Wright saying blacks should not sing "God Bless America" but "God damn America?" Maybe JFK and Clinton found it challenging to separate their lack of fidelity from their honesty in the White House. When you are running a business, the bottom line matters or else why be in business? It doesn't mean you have to do something immoral to achieve that end. That goes equally for billionaires and card store owners. I would rather have a president who is results-oriented with a moral compass than one who attempts to deny their inherent beliefs or associations.
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ReplyDeleteCalling Jeremiah Wright his mentor may be a stretch, but I see your point. Romney was in the business of buying and selling a business. This is different than operating a business.
The question is what result should we be looking for from a President of a country. Romney seems to flip and flop each day.The result Romney seems to be striving towards is becoming President, which can be different from doing what is best for the country.