The "Romney Murdered My Wife" Ad is Just Normal Fare for the Politicized LeftAugust 07, 2012
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RUSH: Mike, have that "Romney Murdered My Wife" ad standing by. We're gonna get to that here again. That is the subject today: Mitt Romney murdering a guy's wife. That's the latest Obama ad, tested among Democrat focus groups to work like a charm. Mitt Romney, Republican presidential nominee, wants guys' wives to die. Let's listen to the ad again. It just hit the airwaves today and yesterday. It's relatively recent.
It's a guy, Joe Soptic is his name. I hope that I'm pronouncing it right. It's S-o-p-t-i-c. It might be Soap-tic; I don't know. I've not heard it pronounced. But it's from Obama's super PAC, which is called Priorities USA, and it's run... Who runs this thing? Bill Burton? Yep! Bill Burton, who left the Obama White House to go run the super PAC. Here's the ad again...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj70XqOxptU&feature=player_embeddedJOE SOPTIC: (dramatic music) When Mitt Romney and Bain closed the plant I lost my health care (dramatic chime), and my family lost their health care (dramatic chime), and, uh, uh, a short time after that my wife became ill. (dramatic chime) I don't know how long she was sick. Uhhh, and I think maybe she didn't say anything because she knew that we -- we couldn't afford the insurance. And -- and then one day she -- she, uh, became ill (dramatic chime) and I took her up to the Jackson County hospital and -- and -- and admitted her for pneumonia. And that's when they found the cancer. And by then we were stage 4. There was -- there was nothing they could do for her. (dramatic chime) And she passed away in 22 days. (dramatic chime) I do not think Mitt Romney realizes what he's done to anyone. (dramatic chime) And I... Furthermore, I do not think Mitt Romney is concerned.
RUSH: There you have it.
Mitt Romney killed the guy's wife and didn't care about it. Now, stick with me on this for just a second, because here at The Politico, Alexander Burns has done a sort of a fact check on the ad. Would you like to hear this? Alexander Burns: "The pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA Action lobbed a heavy-duty attack at Mitt Romney this morning, airing an ad that links the closure of a GST Steel plant in Kansas City to the loss of a family’s health insurance -- and the death of a woman some time later.
"The man speaking in the ad, Joe Soptic, says, 'Mitt Romney and Bain closed the plant, I lost my health care and my family lost their health care. And a short time after that my wife became ill.' Soptic explains he’s not exactly sure when his wife became sick, but that when he took her to the hospital she had undetected, advanced cancer and died 22 days later. The Romney campaign has pushed back on other GST Steel-related attacks by arguing that the plant in Kansas City closed after he stepped away from his management job at Bain.
"(Democrats counter that Romney was still listed as a top executive at Bain through 2002, and that he built up the private equity firm during the time it invested in GST Steel.)" So even he wasn't there, he was there. We don't care when Romney left. He was still there. Now, "In the case of this particularly jarring super PAC ad..." Yes, in "this particularly jarring super PAC ad, it may also be relevant," writes The Politico, "that Soptic’s wife died in 2006, years after the GST factory closed down," not days, as it's made to sound here.
"A 2006 story in the Kansas City Star reported the death of Ranae Soptic, a former champion roller skater: 'Soptic went to the hospital for pneumonia, but doctors found signs of very advanced cancer, and she died two weeks later on June 22.'" So Burns here in the Politico says, "I asked Priorities USA strategist Bill Burton to explain the connection between Romney, Bain and a cancer fatality that happened near the end of Romney’s tenure as governor of Massachusetts."
He was long gone. He was gone by four years when this happened. "The lapse in time between the plant closing and Soptic’s death doesn’t mean the ad is invalid," says Politico, "but it raises questions about the cause-and-effect relationship here." Oh, really? That's all? "The lapse in time between the plant closing and Soptic’s death doesn’t mean the ad is invalid," says Politico, "but it raises questions about the cause-and-effect relationship here." Oh, really? That's all? It "doesn't mean the ad's invalid," it just "raises questions about cause-and-effect relationship"?
Burton said, "We’re illustrating how long it took for communities and individuals to recover from the closing of these businesses" that Romney shut down. "Families and individuals had to find new jobs, new sources of health insurance and a way to make up for the pensions they lost. Mitt Romney has had an enduring impact on the lives of thousands of men and women and for many of them, that impact has been devastating," as in death!
Romney didn't kill just this woman.
Many others have died because of Romney and Bain!
That's what Burton is implying here. Then this guy writing at Politico says, "Like most of the outside-group ads in the 2012 race, the fairness of this one is open to interpretation." Really? An ad accusing Romney murder in the second degree is "open to interpretation"? "But both the Priorities attack and the new welfare-themed hit on Obama from the Romney campaign are provoking more intense outrage -- both publicly and privately -- than most of the other spots we’ve seen this summer."
Well, let's play that ad. Here is the Romney ad. It's audio sound bite number three. This is the Romney ad on the fact that Obama has just taken the work requirements out of welfare reform. Obama has just killed welfare reform! If we're gonna talk about death here, Obama unilaterally took the work requirements out of welfare reform. And since the press hasn't reported it, Romney put an ad together. Now, you just heard the Obama ad accusing Romney of murder four or five years after he leaves Bain Capital.
Oh, and, by the way, folks, let me ask you a very, very quick question. How would Obama have helped this unemployed guy, Mr. Soptic, who didn't have insurance? He would have been fined! Under Obamacare, Mr. Soptic here would be fined for not having health insurance. That's the law of the land according to Obamacare. I wonder if anybody's told Mr. Soptic. "You know, if Obama is president, and Bain closes down your steel plant, and you don't have health insurance, guess what? You get fined.
"You either pay a fine, pay a penalty, or you go get health insurance on your own. Somehow, some way." That's what Obama would have done for the guy. What are we to assume, that Obama would have saved his wife? Does Obama cure stage 4 cancer? Does Obama prevent stage 4 cancer? Is that what the issue is? Obamacare prevents stage 4 cancer, but if it slips past Obamacare, then Obamacare cures it?
Is that what we're supposed to believe from this stupid, insulting ad? The truth of the matter is that Mr. Soptic loses his health care in these exact circumstances under Obamacare, and the IRS is gonna track him down and levy upon him a fine. Here is Romney's ad. Keep in mind we just heard this ad saying Romney kills people. Now we got the Romney ad on Obama and welfare reform, and these two ads have been placed in about the same disgusting sphere by Politico.
ANNOUNCER: In 1996, President Clinton and a bipartisan Congress helped end welfare as we know it by requiring work for welfare. But on July 12th, President Obama quietly announced a plan to gut welfare reform by dropping work requirements. Under Obama's plan, you wouldn't have to work and wouldn't have to train for a job. They just send you your welfare check. And Welfare to Work goes back to being plain old welfare. Mitt Romney will restore the worm requirement because it works.
RUSH: Politico says both the Soptic ad and the ad you just heard "are provoking more intense outrage -- both publicly and privately -- than most of the other spots we’ve seen this summer." What in the world's outrageous about this ad you just heard. What's offensive about it? What allegation of it is below the belt? Where's the dirt? Where's the filth in that ad? Where are the implied accusations that anybody died because somebody didn't care? The whole point of the Soptic ad is that the poor guy's wife died 'cause Mitt Romney didn't care.
He even says it in the ad!
"I do not think Mitt Romney realizes what he's done to anyone. And I... Furthermore, I do not think Mitt Romney is concerned."
Romney doesn't care who he kills.
That's the theme of that ad.
Now Romney's ad telling the truth about Obama gutting welfare reform is somehow lumped in the same sphere and the same category?
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RUSH: So this woman, Mrs. Soptic, died seven years after Mitt Romney left Bain Capital and yet Obama's super PAC is running an ad that Romney essentially killed her because they took over the steel plant. And, of course, Romney's company, all they wanted to do was destroy companies, take the money out of them, loot the company and shut the company down, that's how Romney got rich, shutting down everything. Romney was a destroyer. That's what he did. He went out there, took over all these companies, shut 'em down and gave nobody any health care when he closed the businesses, and everybody's spouses died. And Romney didn't care about it.
This woman dies seven years after Romney left Bain, Romney left Bain in 1999, the woman died in 2006. Okay? Even the Washington Post -- Warshington for those of you in Rio Linda -- said in an article on the Obama ad today that it's a lie. The Politico couldn't bring themselves to say it was a lie, but the Post does. They point out that the Republican candidate -- that would be Romney -- left Bain before the steel plant went bankrupt. Obama's team has argued the story's fair because Romney was at Bain when the initial investment was made. What the hell kind of a connection is that? So Romney was there when they bought the steel company, he leaves in 1999, six years later the woman dies, doesn't matter, he was there. Why'd they buy it? He tried to save that steel plant.
Bain Capital tried to save that steel plant. So Romney is to blame because Bain tried to save GST Steel. And now let's put the final nail in the coffin here. That GST Steel company was shut down when an Obama bundler was running that part of the Bain Capital. An Obama bundler, a current Obama bundler ran Bain Capital at the time Mr. Soptic was put out of work. And now we have an ad from Obama's super PAC that Romney essentially killed this woman and doesn't care about it. You know, it's really tough in politics, Mr. Limbaugh, but it's a fair ad. It's a stretch, but we can see the connection here at The Politico. We can definitely see the connection.
Jonathan Lavine, managing director at Bain who has bundled between a hundred grand and 200 grand in donations for Obama 2012, was one of the guys running Bain when this steel company went belly up. Now, let's ask something else that needs to be said here. This guy in the ad took her to Jackson County hospital, admitted her for pneumonia, and that's when they found the cancer, stage 4. But earlier he said: my health care was lost, my family lost their health care, and a short time later my wife became ill.
She got health care. The guy in the ad admits he took her to the hospital. She got health care. She was not denied health care. He might not have had insurance, and she might not have, but she went to the hospital and she got health care. Whether she had insurance or not, she got health care. Health care was not denied. Her death was not due to lack of health care. I know. I know. I know. I know. I've gotta back out. Folks, this is where I get in trouble, way too honest here. This is way too insensitive, and I can't do this. It's gonna be Fluke all over again if I go any further with this. If I go any further with this the whole thing is gonna turn around to be about me now. "The man's wife died, Limbaugh's out there..." Yep.
I'm dying to go forward and close the loop on all this, but my staff on the other side of the glass is begging me to shut up. "Don't say any more. You're already hip deep. My God, do you want to drown today?" And all I'm doing is telling you the truth. That's all I am doing, is telling you the truth about this ad. I'm just gonna tell you, she got health care. She got her health care. Well, read the transcript. "When Mitt Romney and Bain closed the plant, I lost my health care, and my family lost their health care," okay? Lost health care. Realville here. They don't have health care anymore. That's what that means, right? "A short time later after that my wife became ill. I don't know how long she was sick, but I think maybe she didn't say anything because she knew we couldn't afford insurance. One day she became ill and I took her to the hospital and admitted her for pneumonia. That's when they found the cancer."
Folks, they lost the insurance. They went to the hospital and they found what they thought was pneumonia and it was cancer. They got health care. "I don't know how long she was sick..."
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RUSH: A couple of questions here, ladies and gentlemen. Any of the people who had General Motors and Chrysler dealerships when Obama shut them down, have we heard any stories of any of them coming down with cancer and dying? How many people that owned General Motors and Chrysler dealerships and were shut down by Obama when he bought General Motors for the unions, how many of those people got sick, maybe? How many of them lost their health insurance because Obama shut down dealerships, closed 'em down, and how many of 'em got cancer? How about all the General Motors and Chrysler workers who were not UAW, who lost their health care and pensions, did any of them ever get cancer and die after Obama took over General Motors and Chrysler?
Did any of the workers at NASA when Obama shut down the space shuttle program, anybody in the manned space flight division in NASA, any of them get cancer since the division was shut down? Have any of them been unable to get health care? Have any of them died? Any of the Department of Defense workers who have been fired under Obama, any of them ever gotten cancer? You know what they're saying about Romney's ad on welfare reform and how Obama took the work requirements out of it? Obama's Truth Team -- and they actually have a Truth Team -- they have just tweeted the following: "Romney's welfare message: 'False, contradictory and fraught with racial undertones.'" So Romney's ad on Obama taking the work requirements out of welfare reform is racist.
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RUSH: Okay. Grab audio sound bite number 23. At the White House press briefing the spokeskid, Jay Carney, was asked about the latest Obama ad in which Romney is accused of killing a guy's wife. The question comes from CNN White House correspondent Brianna Keilar. (impression) "The priority super PAC has an ad out today, Jay, that features a man who used to work in a steel plant and it closed in 2001. This was after it was acquired by Bain Capital. The implication is that Mitt Romney bears responsibility for the death of this man's wife because he lost his insurance when the plant closed, and then in 2001, and then in 2006 -- five years later, Jay -- his wife, who was uninsured at the time, died of cancer. I'm wondering if the president believes that Mitt Romney shares responsibility in her death."
CARNEY: You know, I have not seen the ad, and I would refer you to the campaign or to the organization.
KEILER: But --
CARNEY: I can't.
KEILER: I mean --
CARNEY: I can't comment on an ad I haven't seen.
KEILER: But -- but you just took a very back --
CARNEY: I'm simply saying that I have not seen this, so, uhh, how could I probably, uh, assess it without...?
KEILER: But you can...? Will you assess it later?
CARNEY: If you (pause) ask me tomorrow, sure.
RUSH: But I just told you what's in it!
Well, I can't assess it 'til I've seen it.
Well, okay! Jay, will you assess it tomorrow then after you take a look it and you assess it? Will you answer my question tomorrow, Jay?
Yep, yep. If you ask me tomorrow, sure. If I call on you tomorrow, after I'm told what to say about it tomorrow. If we get some life out of this thing and it's still alive tomorrow, yeah. I'll be glad to tell you how Romney killed the guy's wife tomorrow. (sigh) Carney is also going through back flips to keep from saying anything negative about the smears that Harry Reid's engaging in here.
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RUSH: So yesterday, folks, I warned you on this NFL stuff and the coming ban, that they will politicize anything (concussions). And people were pooh-poohing me. They just politicized a heretofore anonymous woman's death for their own advantage and put it in an ad for Obama. They have politicized a woman's death. You tell me they don't?
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