is Mitt hiding something in his closet?

Question

Romney criticized for hotel pornography By GLEN JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer
Thu Jul 5, 5:01 PM ET



BOSTON - 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.

ADVERTISEMENT

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.

Marriott and other major hoteliers say they offer pay-per-view pornography because their customers demand it and entertainment service contracts require it to underwrite first-run movies and free television.

"It certainly would have been wrong to impose his own personal beliefs if they were contrary to the financial interests of the company," Marriott spokesman Roger Conner said of Romney.

Marriott had a contract with On Command Corp. for its television and movie services during Romney's board tenure. Conner said the contract was signed in 1991 — the year before Romney joined the board. He served until 2001 and was paid $25,000 annually, plus stock.

When Romney left to take over the 2002 Winter Olympics, a Marriott statement described him as an "active, hands-on director."

Marriott refused to say if its contract with On Command was ever discussed or voted upon by the board, saying the directors' votes and meeting minutes are proprietary.

Marriott now contracts with LodgeNet Entertainment Corp., which bought On Command last year.

Gary Glenn, president of American Family Association of Michigan, a conservative group, said: "The Marriott Corporation may be tap dancing around this subject, but a candidate for president should not be able to."

Marriott International has more than 500,000 hotel rooms and annual revenues exceeding $10 billion. While the Marriott name is on more than 2,800 buildings, the corporation owns only about a dozen hotels. The rest are owned by franchises, lessening corporate control over their activities.

Romney, 60, has close links to the corporation, which opened its first hotel in 1957. Not only did he serve on its board of directors, but his given first name — "Willard" — is in honor of the hotel chain's founder, J. Willard Marriott. Marriott and Romney's father, former Michigan Gov. George Romney, were friends and rose through industry together.

In June 2000, J.W. "Bill" Marriott Jr., the son of Marriott's founder, defended the distribution of pornographic movies, saying they were inseparable from the rest of the chain's TV offerings.

"The in-room entertainment operators who provide our systems rely upon a certain volume of movie types in order to be economically viable," Bill Marriott wrote to Bill Johnson, executive director of the Michigan-based American Decency Association. "If we were to eliminate the 'R' and non-rated offerings, the systems would not be economic."

No all hotel chains have the same policy. Omni Hotels announced in late 1999 it would no longer offer pay-per-view movies in its rooms. Ritz-Carlton, the hotel name synonymous with luxury, also does not offer in-room pornography — even though it is owned by Marriott International.

Daniel Weiss, media analyst for James Dobson's "Focus on the Family," said this week in a radio broadcast to Focus members: "If (Romney) made money off pornography in the past, is he going to turn a blind eye to it if he's president? Because as chief executive of the nation, it's his responsibility to make sure our nation's obscenity laws are efficiently and vigorously enforced."

Romney linked the prevalence of pornography to the Virginia Tech shooting spree that left 33 dead.

"Pornography and violence poison our music and movies and TV and video games," Romney said May 5 during a commencement address at Regent University, the evangelical Christian school run by Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson.

"The Virginia Tech shooter, like the Columbine shooters before him, had drunk from this cesspool."

Answer 1

Romney likes to get his freak on.

Answer 2

He is so out of the closet....the guy is a bit of a dork, but oh so much better than Obama the Socialist. WHO passes a law like Obamacare during a recession----a law that imposes huge new financial burdens on any business seeking to hire more employees---forcing them to provide a new more comprehensive insurance policy for every employee they hire!?! The Democrats had a 60-Seat Majority in the Senate and he WASTED any chance to fix the economy and help the jobless by spending way too much time on a polarizingly partisan healthcare law?..... ...A law that he himself had argued was Unconstitutional during the campaign against Hillary? ...A law that imposed higher costs on employers and businesses when hiring more employees? How does giving federal funds to junk-bond green energy companies like Solyndra, Abound, or Evergreen Solar help the economy? It seems like just a shady means for Obama's Fat Cat friends to pad their wallets while laundering money back to the Obama Re-Election Campaign!

Answer 3

The Mormons believe we all lived in Heaven with Heavenly Father, several Heavenly Mothers, and 20 Billion Heavenly Siblings before we were born here on Earth. Then there was a war. The good guys won and were born White. The bad guys lost and became demons. Those who were neutral or did not fight bravely were born with non-white skin. The bravest of the brave were born to Mormon families.

We all know that Romney must have been a "Valliant Warrior" in the "War in Heaven" during the "Pre-Existence". How else could he have been born "White and Delightsome" to an LDS family here on Earth? Heck, he was probably one of the Commanding Generals . Now , America needs a President with valuable military experience like that to get us through our war in Iraq. Could you please ask "The One and Only True Prophet", Gordon Hinkley, to please release those valuable records to the public? We need to know what battles he fought in. How many medals he won. How many of the "Less Valliant Soldiers" he recommended being born with black skin when they got their chance to be born on Earth. Was Al Sharpton one of THEM ? How about Jesse Jackson? Mormons, this is your chance to show the world the light of the everlasting gospel. Dont miss out. We have General Romney running for president of the USA and we need you badly right now!

Answer 4

What kind of witch hunt is this? Oh, boy.

ADDED: I would have to bet these men are being taken out of context. Probably asked about their opinions on pornography and the article writer put it together in this manner. This is ridiculous.

Answer 5

Unfortunately, you can't legislate morality. And if it comes down to offering pornography, or no TV at all, I doubt many hotels are going to do that.

People have their free agency. They can choose NOT to watch porn.

Answer 6

Come on...it's in the business of making profits. Merely renting rooms just doesn't cut it.

Answer 7

If he tried to get it out of Marriott, you'd condemn him for "forcing his religion on you", he doesn't, and you try to condemn him for it.

You hate Mitt Romney, we get it.

Answer 8

couple more wives