Patterico's Pontifications

12/2/2011

Sockpuppet Friday—the “Bruce Wayne Must Die!” Edition

Filed under: General — Aaron Worthing @ 5:07 am



[Guest post by Aaron Worthing; if you have tips, please send them here.  Or by Twitter @AaronWorthing.]

As usual, you are positively encouraged to engaged in sockpuppetry on this thread. The usual rules apply.

Please be sure to switch back to your regular handle when commenting on other threads. I have made that mistake myself.

And remember, the worst sin you can commit on this thread is not being funny.

——————————-

And for this week’s Friday frivolity, there has been some interest and perhaps even apprehension in the upcoming movie The Dark Knight Rises.  The interest comes from the fact that the last movie was very good (a little overhyped, but still good), the apprehension coming from the fact that Nolan might lose all his sh-t and screw up his self-proclaimed trilogy right at the finish line.  I still curse the fact that they screwed up Spider-Man 3 so badly.  Only time will tell whether this will be a triumph or a travesty.

This movie will feature Tom Hardy as the chief villain, Bane.  This is what he looks like in released photos:

Anne Hathaway will also be featured as the Catwoman.

(It’s called rule 5, ya’ll.)

It’s interesting because like The Dark Knight, it will therefore feature one character the previous movies did a pretty good job with, and one that they went wrong with.  I mean Nicolson’s Joker was pretty good, right?  And so was Michelle Pfiefer’s catwoman:

Though I do admit I kind of like the costume in Arkham City best of all…

But Rule 5 shenanigans aside, both were good portrayals that I think fans of the comics were largely satisfied with and so it was a little daring of Nolan to take on these characters again.  By comparison, when Nolan took on Two-Face in The Dark Knight it was a redemption of the character after he was wasted in Batman Forever.

(This is the opposite of a Rule 5 photo.)

I mean I like Tommy Lee Jones as an actor and I am sure if you gave him a good script he could have made this character incredible, but he didn’t have that script just yet.  Anyone moderately familiar with the character of Two Face was downright relieved to see Nolan give us a portrayal that finally captured the pathos of the character.  And likewise, Bane was wasted, too.

What?  You don’t remember Bane being in a Batman movie before?  It’s okay, people are known to block out traumatic memories.  There are still people who instinctively curl up into a fetal position when I mention…  Batman and Robin.

(Behold…  bat nipples!)

And here is their version of Bane:

The basic idea of Bane, in the comics, is that he uses a chemical to give him artificial super-strength.  But the key is that Bane is also an intelligent and calculating villain, so much so that he eventually wore Batman down and in an iconic image, broke his back.

Now so far Nolan has tended to reduce the fantastic elements of the Batman universe.  For instance, in the comics Ra’s al Ghul was literally immortal; in Batman begins, he was quite human.  So it remains to be seen if Bane will also use his super steroids.  But even if not, this promises to be a physically brutal battle, against an intelligent foe.  At the very least we can expect a redemption of the Bane character.

Of course I was hoping for a redemption of Mr. Freeze as well, a character so well developed when he debuted in Batman the Animated Series that they won a frickin’ Emmy for the episode.  But it sounds like that ain’t in the cards and to be fair the character isn’t as pivotal to Batman’s character development as a Bane, Joker or Catwoman.  Mr. Freeze is just a villain with pathos, that is all.

You can get some idea of how good the character can be, by watching this tribute to that very Emmy-winning episode, here.  The thing that drives you crazy is that in a weird way Schwarzenegger could have been perfect for the role, if instead of trying to chew the scenery he made his performance flat, much like his portrayal of the Terminator, and I have faith that Nolan would have figured out how to do it right—indeed maybe even a little better—but that doesn’t look like it will happen.  Still we can hope for that redemption in the new Akham City game.

But back to The Dark Knight Rises, one guy over at Cracked has one major theory about what will happen in the movie: Bruce Wayne will die.  And while nothing is set in stone, he makes an oddly compelling argument that this trilogy will follow the template for a proper magic trick explained in Nolan’s movie The Prestige:

After making Batman Begins (part 1 in The Dark Knight Trilogy), Nolan made The Prestige, a film about magicians and David Bowie. In it, Nolan gave us the three steps to performing an illusion: The Pledge, The Turn and The Prestige. The Pledge is the setup. It presents to you something ordinary that is most likely not ordinary at all. The Turn takes that ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Something unexpected. And then there’s The Prestige, which basically just blows your f—ing mind. It takes the unexpected something from The Turn and turns it on its head, making you believe in magic.

So in his mind, Batman Begins is the Setup, The Dark Knight is the Turn, and now here comes the Prestige.  And the upshot he works around to is that Bruce Wayne is going to die…  but not necessarily Batman.

I’ll leave it to you to decide whether to read the whole thing, but it is interesting and actually fairly plausible..  Or it might later be amended to Cracked’s list of Six Insane Fan Theories That Actually Make Great Movies Even Better.  Only time will tell.

[Posted and authored by Aaron Worthing.]

72 Responses to “Sockpuppet Friday—the “Bruce Wayne Must Die!” Edition”

  1. And I’ll play the joker.

    CharlesJohnson (ef98f0)

  2. And I’ll play a fat, pony tailed Joker.

    Correcting Charles Johnson (e7d72e)

  3. You people are all lazy. And a little soft. And don’t know enough foreign languages. And you eat too many French fries. And some of you earn wayyyyy too much money. And most of you turn up your heat too high and don’t keep your tires properly inflated.

    Vote for me 2012!!

    President Barack H. Obama, Healer of Planets and Suppressor of Tides, back from yet another well deserved Hawaii vacation (3e92e3)

  4. To be sans sock, for a minute, I don’t think so, Batman Begins, was ‘Year One’, the Dark Knight
    was the ‘Killing Joke’ crossed with the ‘Dark Knight Returns’, both were Miller projects,
    ‘Knightfall’ was not, I do agree with you about
    the Animated Series, being first rate.

    narciso (87e966)

  5. Seeing joker as a 340 pound pony tailed manboob is a but much.

    Dohbiden (ef98f0)

  6. Doh

    wasn’t me

    My daughter the Firstie opened her branch letter last night and she got her first choice – Aviation

    Whew!!!!

    EricPWJohnson (2a58f7)

  7. Rich getting Rich is free market baby.

    Dohbiden (ef98f0)

  8. narc

    well, you could be right, who knows.

    But it is hard to imagine that nolan would bring bane in and NOT have him do something close to breaking the bat.

    and you know, i almost dismissed your point about the killing joke, until i recognized what you meant by that: the fall of harvey dent.

    although one quibble. i don’t believe miller was involved in the killing joke.

    Speculation is fun, but there is no right or wrong, until you actually see the movie.

    Aaron Worthing (e7d72e)

  9. The last pic w/Hathaway looks like they stole the ride from SNL’s Ambiguously Gay Duo

    Colonel Haiku (d838e0)

  10. You’re right, that was an Alan Moore project, he shows in Watchmen, he doesn’t get the point,

    narciso (87e966)

  11. C’mon, let the non comic book geeks in on the secret. What’s rule 5?

    I am ashamed to have to ask.

    pepster (420d6e)

  12. pepster

    And the funny thing is that i didn’t even remember that he specifically named anne hathaway as an example. in my mind it was just reduced to “show pictures of hot girls.”

    Aaron Worthing (e7d72e)

  13. I play two-face’s fat pony-tailed older brother CJ Dent.

    Charles Johnson (ef98f0)

  14. None of these beetches got anything on my Catwoman.

    Eartha Kitt (bf33e9)

  15. Sorry, little humor and no need to sockpuppet here, I condemn myself.

    Somewhere between childhood and 50 (I’ll stick with chronological age rather than the more intangible phrase “growing up”), I retained an enjoyment of Bugs Bunny, Roadrunner, and other cartoon silliness, but superheroes were dumped along the way…though I do enjoy the story of Bruce Lee’s reaction to reading a script where his character, Kato (of “Green Hornet” fame) was supposed to lose in a fight with Robin…Needless to say, it was not in Bruce Lee to even act like he was going to lose in a made up story…he was heard to give some sort of “attack yell” in the distance and Burt Ward feared for his life.

    And as a father of an 11 year old girl, I wish Anne Hathaway stayed as prim and proper as “Miss Hathaway” did and stick with “Princess Diaries”.

    MD in Philly (83d172)

  16. I’m sorry Obama has said so many gaffes and you leftys have the audacity to try and say they are honest mistakes.

    Charles Johnson (ef98f0)

  17. Oooops satire.

    Anyway Obama says those gaffes because he made an honest mistake Palin on the other hand is mentally deficit.

    Charles Johnson (ef98f0)

  18. Can we have a fun thread with Batman? Such a comic nerd am I.

    🙂

    Gary (b23e8a)

  19. Before I leave, let me say that Newt Gingrinch is evil for having a male prostitution ring run out of his apartment, had a lover in Fannie Mae while touting the GSE’s solvency, and I’m not an outdoorsman, so I can’t distinguish a pot plant from any other plant…oh wait!
    And kfap is my favorite commenter!

    Bawney Fwank (721840)

  20. Gary you are allowed to sock puppet but not required to. 🙂 so feel free to shoot your mouth off about batman.

    Aaron Worthing (e7d72e)

  21. Hehe…

    My wife won the costume contest at our local comicon last year for dressing up as Harley Quinn from Batman Arkham Asylum. I like that game’s look over how she appears in Arkham City.

    EC (dda60e)

  22. Mitt Romney announced today that he had been endorsed by Alaska senator Lisa Murkowski, who defeated Republican candidate Joe Miller in the general election after losing to him in the GOP primary

    mitt romney (87e966)

  23. So in this movie the main villain Bane is a republican who wants to starve poor minorities by denying them their food stamps.

    Dohbiden (ef98f0)

  24. One day in Manhattan I saw the movie “Batman & Robin” and then the Broadway play , “Love, Valour, Compassion,” which is about a summer house ful of gay guys. (Tony Awards: Best Play, Best Actor). The movie was way more homoerotic than the play.

    koam @wittier (3156c4)

  25. “Bruce Wayne Must Die!”

    Bruce Wayne die? What an absurd assertion. Let me just say, in fact, Bruce Wayne doesn’t have to die at all, especially when he employs so many around him to keep him alive. Like Callista and I, Wayne’s a job creator, with Bruce employing man servant Alfred and green-carded landscapers at his many mansions while I advocate employing poor children as janitors to mop up the lobby and clean the toilets, then run home to dine on the ketchup soup Ronald Reagan and I invented. Did I mention Ronald Reagan? There, I just did– again. And speaking of cleaning up lobbys, did I mention I make $60,000 speaking which is lobbying while peddling access? That’s my robbin’, Bruce. Wayne is fiction as well, like much of the legacy I spin about my work with Ronald Reagan. Did I mention I worked with Ronald Reagan? There, I just did again. Did I mention I won the Cold War? There, I just did and some of you younger suckers, educated in American public schools will believe it. Yes, Reagan helped some, just like Jack Kemp helped me invent supply side economics. Did I mention supply side has been a failure but Reagan was a film star and Kemp a NFL quarterback which makes them celebrities just like me? No matter. And speaking of has beens, lets talk more about me. But first, the bigger failure is the communist Kenyan, the Muslim, food stamper president, left-handed Stalinist, Obama. Does that make any sense? Of course not, but it sounds like I know what I’m talking about in there some place because I speak in an assertive, matter-of-fact tone of voice and you weary sheep, struggling to find greener pastures, believe me. Of course, we sheared the sheep too closely this time and they’re beginning to gather in public parks to rally in protest and keep warm when all they really need is a bath, a bar of soap and a job. Which the fictional Bruce Wayne will gladly provide as the oil in the Batmobile needs changing and all his hedges need clipping. Did I mention Ronald Reagan yet? There, I just did. Did I mention Callista’s favorite song is ‘Diamonds Are Are A Girl’s Best Friend?’ Which reminds me, Tiffany’s is having a holiday sale, if you’ve got the half million dollar credit line to shop there. Marilyn Monroe sang that diamond song, and, of course, had many affairs, just like me because Marilyn and I are celebrities. Did I mention I’m a celebrity yet? No matter. Still, with my passion for attention, I’m stunned at the failure of the media to report accurately and often on me, my inaccuracies and then more about me, just like the entire elitist news media, which I worked for as a commentator and was well paid by not long ago in what was obviously a fair and balanced fashion, especially when I talked about me. Did I mention I haven’t held an elected office in years and that by actual vote count, many more people cast ballots for governors Mitt, Rick and Jon than the folks in my little ol’Congressional district? No matter. I will be the nominee. Why? Because I’m a celebrity and I say so. After all, I’m having dinner with Trump soon. Did I mention Ronald Reagan yet? There, I just did. Again. Because what really matters is saving America from our socialist president, the communist Kenyan, Obama. I said that already but you need reminded. I’m amazed at how my fellow conservatives are suckered in by my long winded bluster as I bluff my way through basic questions avoiding concise, crisp, direct answers by using run on sentences laced with half-truths delivered in an “authoritive” tone because I write historical novels now which makes me appear to sound like I know what I’m talking about with a level of expertise when, in fact, I really don’t but make you think I do. Never fails. I use lots of five dollar words, most of you with twenty-five cent intellects and ten cent attention spans vaguely understand or outright don’t know, strung together to make me sound smarter than you when I’m really not. This works for me because I know how short your attention span truly is because we’ve been dumbing you down for decades– with comic books and comic book movies and comic book TV shows and cartoon news networks with animal names, as Bruce well knows. I love animals. did I mewntion I wanted to run a zoo? All the more reason for me to be the nominee. Forget about my own weak ethics, transgressions and flip flops. Ignore that you purged me from the speakership and the party and my failure to manage my own personal finances, my cheating on my wives, the last while talking about family values as I chided and guided impeachment against a sitting president caught in a scandal of his own. That was twenty years ago. Ever hear of the New Nixon? Well, I’m the New Newt. Time to mention Ronald Reagan. There. I just did. I worked for Ronald Reagan. See. I mentioned him again. =inhale= Bruce Wayne die? What an absurd assertion…

    Newt Gingrich (9d1bb3)

  26. Hulk smash puny DC heroes… and Newt Gingrich.

    Incredible Hulk (255b30)

  27. Apologies for not being funny, Aaron & Co., but I just gotta share this. Would love to know what loyal PPers think.

    As for me, I’ve previously been on friendly terms with the author but I’m not sure if that’s so anymore.

    Gustavo (Arellano) on PBS: Why Mexicans Will Never Vote Republican

    qdpsteve (f1c59f)

  28. Hulk smash puny DC heroes… and Newt Gingrich.

    The assertion is absurd. Chiefly because, and let me be very blunt here, the Hulk is a bulk. And for good reason. I am a jelly donut, void of any value, powder white on top, round and soft with gooey red stuff in the middle and two holes, one at each end. So the Hulk can eat me. DC has had no heroes since I worked with Ronald Reagan. Did I mention Reagan yet? There, I just did. We are celebrities. He was the nominee. I will be the nominee. =inhale= The assertion is absurd…

    Newt Gingrich (9d1bb3)

  29. Damn it -who is doing Gingrich?

    And I don’t mean-Callista?

    Mitt Romney's Mother (89a442)

  30. Hey guys, I just got our hacks in the MSM, to make me look, like a tax cutter, even though I’m going to up the rates on 75% of the taxpayers.

    Obamaman at politcal briefing (a1fcca)

  31. Batman is gay. After all, how many grown men do you know that run around in tights with a young boy also wearing tights?

    Barney (playswith) Franks and so does Batman (ee1de0)

  32. That is so wrong Barney, I don’t play with franks. Young Robin plays with my frank!

    Batman (ee1de0)

  33. And also with Peter, Dick, and Johnson too!

    Batman (ee1de0)

  34. I thought Rick Perry would make a wonderful “Batman” but it just wasn’t in the cards.

    Damn.

    Just Dustin (d838e0)

  35. that galdurn Bane must be snortin’ them new bath salts or somethin’.

    Donnie Baker (d838e0)

  36. ‘Occupy Wall Street’ you’re doing great’

    ras al ghul (87e966)

  37. Batman is gay. After all, how many grown men do you know that run around in tights with a young boy also wearing tights?

    More than you might think, apparently.

    http://www.glieberman.com/

    qdpsteve (f1c59f)

  38. Meh the OWS are a bunch of underfed idiots only if I
    could have joined soon.

    CarmineFalcone (ef98f0)

  39. True, they are pikers compared to us.

    the mutants (87e966)

  40. Hey Aaron,
    With running these themes, I have lost the urge to sockpuppet all of the idiot BS I have seen the last week. So I’ll go curl up next to the fireplace and if anyone bugs me I’ll go for their jugular like a cat from a Stephen King novel.

    Cheshirecat ^..^(____)~~~ (a1fcca)

  41. Face it everyone, I’m the Batwoman! The Hubby is is the boy wonder.

    FLOTUS (a1fcca)

  42. @27. I took a nap with probably 90% of the readers here after line 3 of your post.
    I’m tossing the flag: Penalty, personal foul, too much BS in the post!

    Sockpuppet umpire (a1fcca)

  43. If Bruce Wayne dies, how will Batman appear in a live-action Justice League movie?

    Michael Ejercito (64388b)

  44. You know I’m available to do Dr, Freeze, birthday
    parties, things of that nature, help

    Arnold Schwartzenegger (87e966)

  45. Face it everyone, I’m the Batwomanman! The Hubby is is the boy wonder.

    FIFY

    Kevin M (563f77)

  46. Hey all you little people, you figure it out, I’m off to Hawaii!

    Obamaman, POTUS (a1fcca)

  47. Yo, Kevin, don’t go givin’ me any of your BS or I’ll smack you upside the head and then have Eric Holder’s crew on yoru sorry butt.

    FLOTUS (a1fcca)

  48. I think this was George Cloony’s best role. Except maybe his role in “The Harvest”

    Guy H. Lillian III (563f77)

  49. Say Arnold, how much does a Dr. Freeze deal cost me? I need some help at the next media event.

    The Cainman (a1fcca)

  50. Batman was getting on my nerves. He ridiculed me and called me a bum.

    I wupped Batman’s ass.

    the ghost of Wesley Willis (e55ba0)

  51. I hate Batman so I raped him.

    Oh and universal healthcare baby.

    CharlesJohnson (ef98f0)

  52. Top Five Scandals Cain Supporters Should be “Ready For” if He Decides to Stay in the Race

    5. “I don’t care what that Oscar Mayer rep told you. Besides, I was a busy man. I couldn’t possibly have told that many ‘bratwurst weenie’ jokes to the girls in the office.”

    4. “Okay, sure, I admit it, offering Magic Mushrooms as an optional topping at Godfathers’ back in the 70s’ might not have been the best idea.”

    3. “Well, why should I have used my knuckles when I was so much better and quicker at kneading the pizza dough ‘down there’?”

    2. “It was a long time ago and I was just trying to ‘find myself.’ I don’t know what else I should need to tell you about those four and a half years I lived and worked as a Hooters waitress.”

    1. “Sure, I sleep at night with a goat in the bed sometimes. So what??”

    The eeeeeevil MSM (f1c59f)

  53. First of all, there have been awesome Catwomen and there have been some really bad ones. Julie Newmar/Michelle Pfeiffer good; Halle Berry, bad. From what I have seen of the Anne Hathaway Catwoman, it looks wrong. She’s got a generic black bodysuit and goggles- she could be a very shapely HAZMAT technician gone bad, for all we know.

    “Catwoman” is supposed to be a sexy, dangerous, mysterious, mystical master thief; f you get in bed with her, does she make love to you or cut your throat? The Anne Hathaway Catwoman just looks like the writers are phoning it in. The character deserves better.

    Jones (7e5261)

  54. Let me just say, Cain is insane. Suspending your campaign a month before the Iowa caucuses is simply absurd. Disappointing your supporters, your contributors and late night comedians, who are celebrities like me, before a single ballot is cast stains our family values image like a black cocktail dress and compromises the core of the conservative brand. And as we all know, conservatives do not compromise. Let me be quite candid about this because the real question is, what this will do for me. Callista and I both feel for Herman and the pain this is causing his wife and children. Of course, the fact he brought this on himself is a separate issue. It’s a messy affair but then, a more experienced candidate knows how to get a few of these under his belt, as it were, take the ladies in stride– or the front seat of a Buick while his children walk by– ride out the humps and bumps and overcome them completely. Herman has quit. Tim has quit. Sarah never started. No matter. This is why I will be the nominee. Just like Ronald Reagan. Did I mention Ronald Reagan? There. I just did. Again. Did I mention Ronald Reagan, Jack Kemp and I are all celebrities? There. I just did. And I mentioned Reagan again, too. =inhale= Let me just say…

    Newt Gingrich (9d1bb3)

  55. ^ Romney fans are not as funny as they think they are, nor as clever.

    It’s expected now that any not-Romney in the lead will get the Daniels treatment.

    The Romney faction is all that is wrong with the GOP and this country.

    It’s not enough that they are beaten. They must be repudiated. Those who endorse Romney must have primary challenges. Romneycare and Obamacare are socialism.

    I don't need a windsock to know which way the wind is blowing. (cb3719)

  56. As I speak at gatherings, clubs and confederate reenactments in the small towns across the great American South, I ask for your support and the vote of each and every loyal citizen in the important primaries to come. Because as Donald Trump has said, he knows how to get good ratings and will be moderating one of our debates as this is the most important election in a hundred years. The Donald said that. And he’s a celebrity, just like me. Upholding the values of our Founding Fathers and our Constitution is what it means to be a conservative, a Republican and an American today. That’s why we fought a Civil War. To preserve those values. Values betrayed by the left-handed Kenyan and communist, Obama. And let me add, speaking as one of the highest paid historians in human history, that without question, the Stalinist Obama is betraying American values just as surely as Robert E. Lee did when he yook up arms against the United States, its Constitution and became a traitor to America. This is simply a matter of fact. A matter of history. And I am a historian. A highly paid one. Which in no way should deter you from supporting me. Because it’s clear that Lee was a celebrity, just like me. And Ronald Reagan. Did I mention Ronald Reagan? There, I just did. Again. =inhale= As I speak…

    Newt Gingrich (9d1bb3)

  57. I love forcing rich people to pay for the health insurance of poor people, especially if Ted Kennedy is helping! From each according to his ability! To each according to his need!

    Also, I love grabbing guns! I mean, you can’t be a freedom screwing commie if the citizens can just buy whatever “assault!!!!” weapon they want!

    Now that Newt is beating the CRAP out of me, I think my campaign will bash intellectualism.

    It’s so funny, and makes so much sense.

    Romney (cb3719)

  58. I spent my life in the private sector.

    No. Really. That’s supposed to be a joke.

    Mitt Romney (9d1bb3)

  59. In the movie the villain Bane is a rich right winger who doesn’t want to pay for someone elses healthcare.

    MSM (ef98f0)

  60. Help me Anderson! Anderson! Anderson Cooper! Newt is kicking my ass in the polls and I’ve been running for president for six long years to his nine months! Unfair! I’ve spent 400 million to his 20 million and he’s got more than double my supporters! I’ve got more endorsements from establishment Republicans who seek my fundraising connections. I’m prettier than Newt!

    Help me Anderson Cooper! You liberals need me in DC! Huff Po says I’m everything the rest of the GOP is not! I even told abortionists that they need me in DC just before my flip flop on abortion that no one believes, because hey, would a politician like me care about the life of the unborn who can’t even take a poll?

    Come on! Unfair Unfair Unfair!!!!!!!!

    Brave Sir Romney Turned his Tail and Flipped (cb3719)

  61. @62. Brave Sir Romeny I’m throwing the penalty flag at you for “Late Posting.” This is sockpuppet Friday, not sockpuppet Sunday. Your post is not a response to a previous post. You should have waited until next Friday just like everyone else.
    And while I am at it, Newt, you get a second flag for being long winded @58. OK we get it, the former Speaker tends to run the mouth a bit.

    Sockpuppet umpire (a1fcca)

  62. Sockpuppet umpire – Tell Mitt to shut up. Everybody’s heard enough out of that tax and spend liberal Mormon freak.

    Rick Perry (bf33e9)

  63. Rick @ 64. I already tossed the flag at a Mitt sockpuppet, now get your rear end back on the sideline before I call a technical foul on you.

    Sockpuppet umpire (a1fcca)

  64. [ ] Newt Gingrich [X] Fig Newton

    Cookie Monster (9d1bb3)

  65. [ ] Rick Perry [X] Perry Mason

    Raymond Burr (9d1bb3)

  66. [ ] Mitt Romney [X] Scarecrow of Romney Marsh

    Patrick McGoohan (9d1bb3)

  67. irritated colon
    in colonel
    haiku
    gesundheit

    Kaopectate (9d1bb3)

  68. and I love how the islamofascists consider Jihad a vilation of Islamic principle and the dhimmis fall for their lies.

    Dohbiden (ef98f0)

  69. Reuter’s seems to think Mitt has a problem:

    Romney’s spokesmen emphasize that he followed the law and precedent in deleting the emails, installing new computers in the governor’s office and buying up hard drives.

    However, Theresa Dolan, former director of administration for the governor’s office, told Reuters that Romney’s efforts to control or wipe out records from his governorship were unprecedented.

    Dolan said that in her 23 years as an aide to successive governors “no one had ever inquired about, or expressed the desire” to purchase their computer hard drives before Romney’s tenure.

    The cleanup of records by Romney’s staff before his term ended included spending $205,000 for a three-year lease on new computers for the governor’s office, according to official documents and state officials.

    In signing the lease, Romney aides broke an earlier three-year lease that provided the same number of computers for about half the cost – $108,000. Lease documents obtained by Reuters under the state’s freedom of information law indicate that the broken lease still had 18 months to run.

    As a result of the change in leases, the cost to the state for computers in the governor’s office was an additional $97,000.

    The ‘shredding’ was not just electronic:

    State officials and a longtime Romney adviser have acknowledged that before leaving office, Romney asked state archives officials for permission to destroy certain paper records. It is unclear whether his office notified anyone from the state before destroying electronic records.

    gary gulrud (d88477)


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