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We have all the best words.

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I personally stopped the public option…

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Han shot first.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

This blog goes to 11…

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

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There will be lawyers.

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What fresh hell is this?

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The revolution will be supervised.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Because of wow. / At Bain, Romney Shopped For a Factory in China Where Young Women Worked Behind Barbed Wire for a Pittance (video)

At Bain, Romney Shopped For a Factory in China Where Young Women Worked Behind Barbed Wire for a Pittance (video)

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This post is in: ,

UPDATE: I am trying to track down more information about the source and legitimacy of this video. Until I figure it out, I am deleting it.

UPDATE 2: I cannot verify the source, but I’ll post it anyway with a less inflammatory title. It certainly sounds like him. It was uploaded to a fake YouTube account. The uploader claims to be Rachel Maddow. Rachel Maddow tweeted that she didn’t upload it.

UPDATE 3: Ok, you all are right. Deleted with apologies to Maddow.

Reader Interactions

114Comments

  3. 3.

    danah gaz (fka gaz)

    You said it’s unbelievable. It very well may be. Considering the source is a phony, I’d consider the entire thing suspect until you get more information. It’s probably best to retract this post, ABL.

  4. 4.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Well, now we’ve got an authenticity issue. The problem is, this is like Poe’s law. It’s easy to believe Rmoney would say something like this.

    I wonder what the response will be from his campaign. Outright or non-denial denial? Claim it’s a hoax?

    And who is the source? Someone who thought they needed Maddow’s name to make a splash?

  7. 7.

    JWL

    I won’t be at all surprised if this is a bona fide recording.

    The GOP unleashes wars for kicks.

    But slave labor, lining up so as to fill a rice bowel?

    It’s the icing on their cake.

  8. 8.

    jwb

    @ABL: Just happened to be following a conversation about the video on twitter. Somebody retweeted Rachel about 5 minutes before your post went up. I actually missed her original tweet myself.

  10. 10.

    JustAnotherBob

    If you are not convinced that this is 100% authentic then take it down.

    If you verify later then put it back up.

    Please.

    And, yet, the slavery claim sounds very bogus.

  12. 12.

    Violet

    Makes you wonder if some of those folks like those who were “serving refreshments” to Mitt and his buddies have been convinced it might be financially beneficial to them to record some of the commentary that happens when those rich guys think they’re alone. They’re not alone, of course, but the servers are invisible to them.

  13. 13.

    ? Martin

    Well, that’s Romneys voice, at least. Won’t discount the ratfucking, but that’s also a Mormon worldview, in my experience.

    And I agree that the slavery charge isn’t backed up by the video. Theres a pretty broad spectrum of labor abuses in China, though, and the description presented isn’t unheard of.

  14. 14.

    jwb

    @JWL: If the tape is real, what better way to discredit it than to release it in circumstances that make it appear as a counterfeit. Then if the real tape ever comes out, it will be hard to get anyone to believe in its authenticity.

  15. 15.

    Violet

    @? Martin: If it’s not Romney’s voice, it’s a very good imitation. But impersonators exist, so you can’t tell without better video.

  16. 16.

    ant

    damn.

    sounded just like rMoney to me.

    so um, what happen? this get posted under a maddow sock puppet or something?

  20. 20.

    karen

    Is it me or is it just strange that the following things happened in the past two days:

    1. Dump of Romney’s tax records that Gawker gets and posts.
    2. Romney’s Birther jokes.
    3. This last unable to be verified video

    I respect you ABL but I’m beginning to think that that all this is being thrown at us by the Romney/RNC to bait us into doing something stupid.

    It’s all too coincidental. It sure distracts from Ryakin and abortion doesn’t it?

  21. 21.

    ant

    In addition, I don’t find the dialog to be all that shocking, or damaging.

    Where do people think all that crap at walmart comes from anyway?

  22. 22.

    wonkie

    It isn’t slavery. It does show how desparate people are for jobs in China. The description of the job situatio is not news to me. I’ve read similar descriptions about male factory workers. Actually there are worse emloyemnt situations in China: the people who work dismantling computer parts and so on work and live in really dire circumstances. Shows the importance of unions! Anyway for what its worth, I think the description of a work place is accruate, I don’t know if its Rmoney’s voice or not, and I do’tthink it is accurate to call it slavery. It’s like America in the 1890’s.

  23. 23.

    Aym Grand

    You are doing more damage to your own credibility than you are doing to Mitt Romney’s character.

  25. 25.

    joeyess

    with Maddow saying she isn’t the source and the YouTuber being at best, shadowy, I would still take this down. Not that I have any problem with punching rightwingers in the teeth, I just have reservations about making them victims.

  26. 26.

    ? Martin

    @ant: Jesus makes it.

    People don’t think about where it comes from. But if valid, it would indeed be damaging. Yeah, it’s nothing new in the world, but we don’t want our leaders to be so at ease with it.

    But what’s really damaging is the 95% statement. I think more than 5% of America would disagree with it, and it makes his ‘oh noes, these oppressive taxes are destroying us’ look like an utter lie.

    But the real risk with a video like this is the next 5 minutes of video not submitted that sets the context for the statements and makes any rush to judgement look like a reckless attack.

  27. 27.

    owlbear1

    “The Bain Partner I was with turned to me and said, you know, 95% of life is settled if you are born in America.”

    At least one Bain Partner understands precisely what President Obama was talking about.

    And what Mitt Romney has taken advantage of for his entire life!

    What’s your tax rate again, Mitt?

  30. 30.

    blingee

    Its real. That is definitely him talking and it’s not something that sounds at all scripted.

  31. 31.

    SteveinSC

    Careful here. Remember what happened to Dan Rather and stories about W’s days in the National Guard. Not to go all conspiratorial here, but discretion is way called for on things like this.

  35. 35.

    Ann Rynd

    Cuidado! This could be an early October surprise. Too ludicris to believe without great scepticism.
    Yes, there are lots of people who have been waiting to poke a hole in Romney’s taint and this is the logical time to do it but…let’s let this one just find its own truth.

  37. 37.

    moops

    I don’t approve of this posting. This is a huge allegation and the evidence is very weak. It is irresponsible to throw stuff up there and just say “it’s out there”

    I know the post is qualified, but it will be re-linked without similar warnings elsewhere.

    This smells like a Rove operation.

  38. 38.

    beltane

    There are more than enough real things to attack Romney with. Why bother with something like this.

  39. 39.

    Narcissus

    @SteveinSC: Yeah this is what I think. Rathergate is basically a blueprint for disarming a legitimate issue by making perpetrators into victims. I imagine it would be icing on the cake for the ratfuckers of Maddow got caught up in it.

  40. 40.

    TG Chicago

    I can’t believe there is any question about this. Of COURSE you pull it when you find out the user is fake. Why wouldn’t you? This is embarassing.

  41. 41.

    moops

    I sincerely hope that there are many cameras and microphones on at the secret convention meetings in Florida. With the big donors and celebrity types attending. we’ll get a blackface show and birther jokes and worse. It will be poison.

  42. 42.

    jwb

    @TooManyJens: As I mentioned upthread, if the tape was real and you wanted to discredit it, this would be an excellent way of doing so. I’m not saying that this is at all what’s going on—I very much doubt that it is because I see no reason to go through this elaborate hoax to do so—I’m just saying that if you wanted to delegitimize an authentic tape this technique would work.

  43. 43.

    Ann Rynd

    And Romney did buy the factory and tore down the barbed wire, got all the girls new single beds, gave everyone huge raises, bought brides dresses for girls who left to get married, paid for the weddings and STILL made a profit for which he paid taxes here in America.
    Again, cuidado.

  44. 44.

    Corner Stone

    I cannot verify the source, but I’ll post it anyway with a less inflammatory title. It certainly sounds like him. It was uploaded to a fake YouTube account. The uploader claims to be Rachel Maddow.

    Hmmm. Yeah. Ok.

  45. 45.

    SteveinSC

    @Ann Rynd:

    let’s let this one just find its own truth.

    Good advice, plus, it’s going to be interesting to find out what this thing is and where it came from. If it’s true well great. If it is a red herring and we find out the source, well that’s good too.

  47. 47.

    Corner Stone

    Fucking Jay Cutler. Could anyone in the history of the NFL have a better live arm and a worse fucking “McKayla Maroney is not impressed face” ?

  48. 48.

    Anya

    It’s irresponsible to post something this suspect. ABL, why risk your credibility with something this thinly sourced (or not sourced at all)?

  49. 49.

    Suffern Ace

    @TooManyJens: Ok if maddow didn’t post this, and it makes that claim, then pull it down. If maddow did post this and decided to pull it, then pull it. I fell like Anthony Weiners dick is making the rounds again.

  51. 51.

    Corner Stone

    @Anya:

    ABL, why risk your credibility with something this thinly sourced (or not sourced at all)?

    Hey, if you don’t like what ABL posts then just scroll on by. Why is it I see you and people like you in every one of her threads with nothing to say but bashing? Why don’t I ever see you calling for DougJ or TimF. to retract a post? Hmmm? HMMMMM?!
    I wonder what it could be…

  54. 54.

    karen

    Why is this post still up?

    What’s kept Rachel Maddow and people like her respected and LISTENED to is that she checks her sources and doesn’t automatically go for the low hanging fruit.

    This is low hanging fruit. PLEASE TAKE IT DOWN!

  55. 55.

    CTvoter

    I’m not hearing anything out of the ordinary for a business guy. This is pretty much the boilerplate defense of using Chinese labor you hear these days. Guys at Apple could be giving the same speech. “this is a better job than they’d get in a rural village…people line up to get these jobs…people in America don’t know how good they’ve got it…blah..blah…blah”

  56. 56.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    It’s gotta be real because Romney’s position now is putting the screws to China. He always finds a way to be on both sides of every issue and this is consistent with that inconsistency.

  57. 57.

    karen

    @Corner Stone:

    Hold on Corner Stone. I wouldn’t care who did this, I’d give the same warning. The only difference is that it’s John Cole’s house and he can tell me to go fuck myself and ban me.

  58. 58.

    wonkie

    If this is real someone will recognize place and the event and that someone might be able to identify the person who recorded it.

    It was pretty dumb to put it on YOUTUBE under Maddow’s name since she obviously would disavow it.

    It might be a ratfucking effort but it isn’t as smart of effective as the one Rove pulled on Dan Rather. It’s more like somethiing the leftovers of Brietbart or that OKeefe guy would try to do.

    But I agree that it is not wise to be spreadingthis around until more is known about who shot it.

  59. 59.

    dr. bloor

    ….and today is the day that Balloon Juice goes Full Frontal Drudge. Well done indeed.

  62. 62.

    NotMax

    Caveats be damned. Posting this anywhere as it currently stands (heavy on innuendo and meager on authority and provenance) demeans the soundness of both the poster and the site.

    Posting it on a blog not your own doubly so.

  63. 63.

    Comrade Mary

    Given this source tried to fuck with/trade on Maddow’s name and reputation, I say dump the whole thing.

    Please dump it just out of respect for Maddow, if nothing else.

  64. 64.

    beltane

    @wonkie: O’Keefe was the first person who popped into my mind as well. Or maybe it was uploaded by an O’Keefelette trying to damage Rachel Maddow. I want no part of it.

  65. 65.

    Corner Stone

    @karen: Oh come on! There’s one and only one reason why people like you and Anya keep demanding ABL take down this courageous shiv into the heart of the Romney campaign! This isn’t a frackin mystery to us here.
    When are liberals going to understand these are the kinds of posts we need to defeat the Republicans?

  66. 66.

    jwb

    @efgoldman: This would be a dumb way of trying to bring down Maddow. All she has to do is what she did: deny that she posted it. I mean if she’s going to post it under her name, she’s going to post it on her regular account. There is no conceivable reason for her to post this on a new account. Personally, I think it’s a rogue action by someone with audio editing skills but few media skills who hoped either to sucker the left or to defame Mittwit. But it feels to me like an amateur operation on the political side.

  67. 67.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @karen:

    But doesn’t the fact that someone is posting as Rachel Maddow (and she says she didn’t) just give you a bit of uneasy deja-vu?

    No.

  68. 68.

    Carl Nyberg

    This is how the elites want the whole world to work. Regular people will beg for shitty jobs at facilities where they have no rights.

    I’m pretty sure none of these young women can just leave whenever they’ve earned enough money.

    But Mitt Romney could provide the name of the facility and enterprising journalists could go interview women who actually worked there.

  71. 71.

    JustAnotherBob

    How about this title –

    I found this video floating around on the web and have no idea if it is accurate or a piece of faked up junk

    Even better –

    Send back to the green room until confirmed. If not confirmed, then leave it there.

  72. 72.

    different-church-lady

    Y’all are overthinking this: the fake Maddow name was someone’s way of trying to being cute. No black belt rat-fuck-foo here.

    Now I ain’t gonna say it’s for real, but as a sound professional I’m going to say that if it isn’t, then someone when through a lot of effort to add a bunch of coordinated sound effects and mix them in a way that sounds completely natural. I’ve done foley, and hard part ain’t getting the timing right, it’s getting it to sound like it’s in the same space.

  74. 74.

    Ann Rynd

    I think it’s OK to be posted here and ABL has done all the proper cautioning. Just don’t think anyone should be getting all tits up happy that Romney is going down because of it. It could be a reverse dirty trick to discredit whomever. A day or two will not kill anyone to wait for the truth or it will not kill anyone to wait a day or two for the truth. Something like that…

  76. 76.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    I guess I’m missing the controversy here. A video purports to be Romney telling a stupid story that basically translates to “chinee work hard, gods bless America.” If it’s real, it’s a total non-issue. If it’s not real, it was a ridiculous waste of time and a huge missed opportunity to have some real fun.

  78. 78.

    Steve

    It honestly wasn’t a very incriminating video. It’s just the way of the world. Maybe people should find out about it.

  79. 79.

    maya

    Ahem! Being late to the party and having watched this video I really don’t see a major attack issue here against Romney. The video looks and sounds authentic, probably is, but the content is not damning:
    Bain execs, including Romney toured a company factory in China and Mitt is telling the audience about it. He himself sounds scandalized by the layout of the factory and is told that the fence is to keep people out, not in. As the other Bain exec said,” 95% of life is settled if you are born in America.”

    That is the moral of his story. Period.

    Nothing to see here, folks, but a glimpse into how capitalism works in China. You gonna attack that? You can, but you’re going way off message and target.

  81. 81.

    RosiesDad

    I don’t think it’s Romney. It’s a damned good impersonation but I’d bet it isn’t him. And the picture is just good enough to suggest him without being able to be sure.

    I vote to take it down as well because this has all the makings of a bite you in the ass moment.

  83. 83.

    Ann Rynd

    Video does reveal Romney as his most sanctimonious as he’s shopping around the third world in order to out-source good American jobs. Not really a good look for him this week end.

  84. 84.

    karen

    @Corner Stone:

    Maybe I’m just taking all this too seriously but I don’t get the joke. Or the derailing thing. And I clicked on the link and the bandwidth was exceeded.

  85. 85.

    Corner Stone

    @karen:

    Or the derailing thing. And I clicked on the link and the bandwidth was exceeded.

    Probably because all you sorry fuckers keep trying to derail ABL’s courageous threads!
    Now why don’t you and Anya take your no account PUMA asses back to FDL and give Janie a big sloppy kiss for us here.

  86. 86.

    Steve

    I’m actually not sure whether to be amused or disturbed by the level of paranoia. Thinking it’s fake, well okay, cause for all I know it is fake. Thinking it’s some kind of master plan by Karl Rove to create a distraction, come on. And thinking that there’s actually a real video out there but this is the fake one that they’ve cleverly released so no one will believe the real one when it comes out… wow.

  87. 87.

    salacious crumb

    ABL, if Dear Leader Obama loses, you can count yourself and and your thinly sourced innuendoes and lies as part of the reason for his loss.

    Did you get your law degree from from a diploma mill or Falwell’s Liberty University??

  89. 89.

    sylvan

    @Corner Stone:

    Now why don’t you and Anya take your no account PUMA asses back to FDL and give Janie a big sloppy kiss for us here.

    That’s only funny because John Edwards cheated on his cancer-ridden waifu.

  90. 90.

    different-church-lady

    @Steve:

    I’m actually not sure whether to be amused or disturbed by the level of paranoia.

    Try alternating each every 30 seconds.

  91. 91.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @Steve:

    I’m actually not sure whether to be amused or disturbed by the level of paranoia.

    You can go straight to hell with your common sense, firebagger.

  97. 97.

    Corner Stone

    @Steve:

    I’m not a firebagger.

    “Anyone who denies, is a firebagger! Anyone who doesn’t, is a well disciplined firebagger!”

  98. 98.

    sylvan

    @Dave:

    Yeah, she’s such an embarrassment that your blog host is taking her cross-country to help the cause.

    You, on the other hand, will stay home and jerk off to comic books.

  99. 99.

    different-church-lady

    @sylvan:

    You, on the other hand, will stay home and jerk off to comic books.

    Hey, what’s wrong with comic books?

  102. 102.

    Corner Stone

    @ABL: Inorite!? I just get so tired of having to constantly beat back these fools who are single minded in their pursuit of you. Who just don’t get what you’re all about.
    I mean, who gives a shit what the sourcing or authenticity of this video is? It tells the message you want told. That’s all that fucking matters!
    Just keep bringing the truth girl. We see you, and we got your back!

  104. 104.

    BruinKid

    I’m just a bit stunned that the account “Rachel Maddow” hadn’t been taken already by her or her show on YouTube a long time ago.

  106. 106.

    FormerSwingVoter

    Am I the only one who thinks this place has been turning into GOS-lite lately? As in, something I enjoy reading, but know that I always need to verify?

  108. 108.

    TG Chicago

    Glad this got taken down. ABL does great work when it comes to women’s rights. She should stick to that, because on most other issues, she’s pretty bad.

    But seriously: the women’s rights stuff is very good.

  111. 111.

    ABL

    @salacious crumb: Missed you in my posts, friend! It’s just not the same without your special brand of inanity. I suppose I can make do with Corner Stone’s, although his heart just isn’t in it anymore.

  112. 112.

    machine

    Another example of why ABL is not to be taken seriously outside of women’s issues. Thank Jobu there are other writers at BJ.

  113. 113.

    ohmmade

    The original uploaders account said “I am not the real Rachel, Maddow, just a big fan of hers”. It was not claiming to be the actual Rachel Maddow.

    Once Rachel Maddow knew about this account, MSNBC and YouTube pulled it.

    My feeling is that this is real, the uploader made a stupid mistake, but was trying to cover his/her tracks because of the sensitive nature of the video. Maybe the person was one of the staff serving food/drinks that night. Maybe it was an insanely rich person who was invited, but is unbeknownst to Romney to be liberl/non-batshit.

    And really, there is nothing said in this video that people like Romney believe is bad. They think it’s completely normal to “spread our wealth” by massive layoffs in the USA but a burgeoning slave-labor factory movement in China.

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