Mitt Nears 900 Lies

Lies may be in the eyes of the beholder. During the week from Oct. 20-26, Steve Benen of MaddowBlog.com counted 36 lies told by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, including 21 lies told during his third and final debate with President Barack Obama on Oct. 22. Igor Volsky of ThinkProgress.org tallied 24 "myths" told by Romney during the debate. 

We view Benen to be the official scorer of Mitt's Mendacity, as he has recorded the misstatements of facts by the former Massachusetts governor and former CEO of the Bain Capital vulture capitalist fund since the Republican presidential campaign heated up in January. Since then, Benen has counted 893 instances of Mitt's Mendacity, as of the 40th installment posted on Oct. 26. 

This is a remarkable achievement by a man totally unhinged from personal integrity. Romney lies effortlessly, with no other ideal than to win the presidency by whatever prevarication is necessary. For example, Benen noted, at an event in Defiance, Ohio, on Oct. 25, Romney told voters, "I saw a story today, that one of the great manufacturers in this state, Jeep, now owned by the Italians, is thinking of moving all production to China."

Benen noted, "Even by Romney standards, this was a rather brazen falsehood. As Chrysler itself explained, the company intends to build Jeeps in China to be sold in China, but isn't moving American jobs abroad.

Greg Sargent of WashingtonPost.com explained why this matters: "Romney may very well be the next president. That's a position of some responsibility. Yet he and his campaign rushed to tell voters a story designed to stoke their fears for their livelihoods without bothering to vet it for basic accuracy. This is not a small thing. It reveals the depth of Romney's blithe lack of concern for the truth -- and the subservience of it to his own political ambitions."

Benen noted that Romney also specifically urged business leaders to give their employees voting instructions -- many bosses took Romney's suggestion seriously -- and as a consequence, workers in a growing number of businesses are being told their jobs may be dependent on the outcome of the election.

"Romney's comments in Defiance are part of the same kind of fear-based argument: vote the right way or you'll be unemployed. Your livelihood is at stake, so support the candidate who opposed President Obama's successful rescue of the auto industry and got rich laying off American workers.

"For additional context, it's worth noting that the Detroit News reports today that Chrysler is adding an additional 1,100 new jobs. Why? To build more Jeeps right here in the United States."

With 893 lies in the official count as of Friday, Romney is virtually certain to break past 900 lies next week. When it comes to lies told by an active political candidate, he is in a class by himself. Yet, if the polls are to be believed, nearly half of the electorate is willing to hand over the executive power of the presidency to him.  (Maybe they're lying to the pollsters. We can only hope.)