2 political items from the interstate marauder camp--
This article excerpt cracks me up: ''... being chairman of the board's audit committee, [romney] also said he was unaware of how much revenue pornography may have generated for the hotel chain.''
Auditors don't use words like ''may have''. It's either positive or negative numbers with that group. Oh wait, we're talking about corporate Arthur Andersen-type auditors here.. Alternate reality, indeed.
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http://www.tpmcafe. com/blog/electioncentral/2007/jul/05/happy_hour_roundup
*Conservatives* Link Romney To Marriott Hotels' Porn Sales
The Associated Press has picked up the story of conservatives upset about the apparent lack of leadership by Mitt Romney, who has spoken out against pornography, for not doing more to stop distribution of hardcore movies by Marriott Hotels while on its board. "Marriott is a major pornographer," said Phil Burress, president of Citizens for Community Values, an anti-pornography group based on Ohio. "And even though he may have fought it, everyone on that board is a hypocrite for presenting themselves as family values when their hotels offer 70 different types of hardcore pornography."
Jul 5, 2007 -- 06:07 PM
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http://abcnews. go.com/Politics/WireStory?id=3348953
Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney, who rails against the "cesspool" of pornography, is being criticized by social conservatives who argue that he should have tried to halt hardcore hotel movie offerings during his near-decade on the Marriott board.
Two anti-pornography crusaders, as well as two conservative activists of the type Romney is courting, say the distribution of such graphic adult movies runs counter to the family image cultivated by Romney, the Marriotts and their shared Mormon faith.
"Marriott is a major pornographer. And even though he may have fought it, everyone on that board is a hypocrite for presenting themselves as family values when their hotels offer 70 different types of hardcore pornography," said Phil Burress, president of Citizens for Community Values, an anti-pornography group based on Ohio.
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, a leading conservative group in Washington, said: "They have to assume some responsibility. It's their hotels, it's their television sets."
During a recent Associated Press interview, Romney said he did not recall pornography coming up for discussion while he was on the Marriott board from 1992 to 2001. Despite being chairman of the board's audit committee, he also said he was unaware of how much revenue pornography may have generated for the hotel chain.
Romney said his current concern is not about pornography per se, but children unwittingly stumbling upon it on the Internet or television.
"I am not pursuing an effort to try and stop adults from being able to acquire or see things that I find objectionable; that's their right. But I do vehemently oppose practices or business procedures that will allow kids to be exposed to obscenity," the former Massachusetts governor said.
Pornography is a lucrative business for various hotel chains. Estimates vary widely, up to $500 million annually industrywide by one opponent, John Harmer, who served as California's lieutenant governor under Ronald Reagan.