Willard's filthy mitts

As Slick Mitt slithers his way down the presidential path, one constant marks his trail of lies and deceit -- his abject refusal to release his tax returns.

Turns out, the candidate himself calls such obfuscation a dirty proposition.

In 2002, the would-be Bay State governor sicced his attack dogs on opponent Shannon O'Brien, screeching, "Her hands aren't clean!" because she disclosed her personal tax returns but not those of her husband. The stunning sanctimony of the proclamation was reported at the time, as it came one day after Romney refused to release his own taxes.

His 2002 campaign manager Eric "Etch-a-sketch" Fehrnstrom whined, "Her hands aren't clean. She can't claim to be disclosing anything until she discloses the returns of her husband, the Enron lobbyist. Under Shannon O'Brien, the state Pension Board lost millions by buying Enron stock when it was collapsing -- what is she hiding?"

Great question, considering this nugget from the same campaign:

Romney, who has pumped nearly $ 5 million of his own money into the campaign, has refused repeated requests by O’Brien’s campaign to follow her lead and make his income tax returns public. [Salt Lake Tribune, 11/4/02]

So we fast-forward a decade and where do we find ourselves?

With a candidate who in his own campaign's words is "hiding," has hands that "aren't clean" and is "covering up."

And in some other people's words?

Financial disclosure is an important part of ensuring that elected officials don’t abuse their power to favor their own pocketbooks over the interests of taxpayers. Members of Congress have to disclose their financial holdings for this purpose, along with estimates of personal wealth, all of which are made public.  Presidents do the same, although it has been the practice of most White House occupants to move their assets into blind trusts instead, allowing others to manage their wealth until after they leave the presidency.   

Barack Obama is a curious exception to this tradition. Obama eschewed the blind trust and opted to manage his own affairs, rationalizing that because he has avoided investing in the stock market, his political decisions will not be construed as conflicts of interest or abuses of power. So far, he has been proven correct. - The Fiscal Times

Effectively, what Mitt Romney is saying by not releasing his returns is that he should be entitled to some special privilege that no other Presidents and Presidential candidates have enjoyed--just because he's made a lot of money.

In the meantime, we'll just have to assume that he is hiding something. - Business Insider

Even the National Review editorial board found their own candidate's evasions a "caricature of a slippery, well-heeled frontrunner trying to coast" to victory.

Quoting governor Perry, it stressed "since Republicans 'cannot fire our nominee in September,' it is critical that Romney release his tax records now, that voters might 'take a look and decide if we’ve got a flawed candidate.' ”

As Newt would say, Willard Mitt Romney's romp to the White House excretes a "breathtaking scale of dishonesty." The guy makes Nixon look like a Boy Scout.