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Ethicalego (Kenneth Brooks) discusses current events from a critical thinking perspective rarely expressed elsewhere

Mitt Romney's time as CEO of Bain Capital may be the bane of his goals for president.

By Kenneth Brooks

7/17/12

President Barrack Obama is making Mitt Romney's time as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and president of Bain Capital, Inc. the bane of his goals to become U.S. president. Romney set the tone of the campaign by persistently criticizing the 8.2 percent unemployment rate under the Obama administration. He touted his success creating jobs at Bane Capital. Obama's team countered with reports that Bain Capital outsourced American jobs to foreign nations. Romney responded he left Bain Capital in 1999 before it started to send jobs out of the United States in 2001 and 2002.

I would expect that someone trying to seize power from any national leader would do so mindful the leader's past victories over opponents. Nevertheless, Romney ignored the need for defense as he moved on offense to paint Obama as a poor leader of the economy. People that concentrate on offense and ignore the need for defense often suffer defeat by knockout in real life conditions.

Romney appealed to voters' sense of fairness that Obama was not playing by the rules of civility, or playing by Romney rules. Next, he called for an apology for campaign advertisements suggesting that he committed a felony by signing the SEC papers. Recently Romney said in a nationally broadcast interview, "What does it say about a president whose record is so poor that all he can do in this campaign is attack me?'' Those remarks showed Romney's unwillingness to have voters decide accountability based on facts.

Some Republicans and members in the news media tried to explain away this gaffe by showing Romney took no active part running the corporation after 1999. This excuse damaged Romney's image as a responsible leaders more than accepting accountability for Bain Capital outsourcing of jobs would have done. The title CEO and president indicates the person named is responsible for running the corporation. Romney is accountable even if he did not take part in the decisions to outsource jobs. He selected the people that managed the organization in his name.

People with sound leadership ability always accept accountability even if not all their decisions bring ideal results. President Franklin D. Roosevelt displayed leadership traits by his response to the December 7, 1941 Japanese attack on the American fleet and naval base at Pearl Harbor. President Harry S. Truman displayed leadership traits when he issued an executive order that ended racial segregation in the U.S. Defense Department and in the Armed Forces. President George W. Bush showed leadership traits by fashioning a response to Al Qaida's 9/11 attacks on the homeland. President Barack H. Obama displayed the traits of leadership May 1, 2011. He successfully ended the hunt for al Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden by sending U.S. Special Forces teams to a possible Bin Laden hiding place although the information was inconclusive that he was there.

Each president while handling crisis continued his duties in other areas as head of the Executive Branch of the federal government. In contrast, Romney while still listed as CEO of Bain Capital after 1999 denies accountability for its outsourcing of jobs, because he needed to concentrate all his efforts on saving the near bankrupt 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

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