Posted on 07/02/2007 4:17:47 PM PDT by AFA-Michigan
Some anti-pornography groups are demanding answers as to how much presidential candidate Mitt Romney knew about the Marriott hotel chain's profits of pornography sales during his nearly ten years on the Board of Directors in the 1990's.
The hotel chain is one of many that offer pay per view sex videos for sale through in-room entertainment.
Though Marriott doesn't release their revenues when it comes to X-rated videos, industry analysts estimate it is in the tens of millions of dollars.
During his run for President, Romney has campaigned on a platform of "family values" recently telling a graduation class, "Pornography and violence poison our music and movies and television and video games."
Some of these conservative grassroots activists want to know whether he spoke up or tried to put a stop to Marriott's business dealings back then.
Phil Burress, founder of Citizens for Community Values, has been fighting hotel chains for decades on this issue. He tells The Brody File that every month a group of roughly 15 anti-pornography leaders meet in Washington to discuss the latest happenings.
Mitt Romney's Marriott connection has come up repeatedly. "Ever since he announced for president, it's been a topic of discussion."
Mitt Romney's campaign told CBN the following: "Governor Romney's role as board member was in an advisory capacity on financial matters related to the company and, obviously, he did not have a role in the day-to-day operations or decisions of individual franchise holders."
John Harmer, president of the anti-pornography group The Lighted Candle Society and the former Lieutenant Governor of California under Ronald Reagan isn't buying it. He wants to hear more.
"My attitude toward board members is that they are fully responsible. They knew exactly what they were receiving. I don't think any board member under any rationale could claim ignorance. You're either a board member or not. I can't imagine a board member going a full year and not receiving a revenue report from the company."
Previous news accounts researched by The Brody File show that Romney was paid more than $100,000 per year while on the board of Marriott.
When he left in 2002, J.W. Marriott, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Marriott International, called him, "an active, hands-on Director… From his first days on our Board nine years ago, Mitt has been an extraordinarily effective director and visionary leader."
Mitt Romney has a very close relationship with the Marriott family.
Romney's father, George Romney was best friends with Marriott's original founder J. Willard Marriott. Mitt Romney's first name is Willard, in honor of the Marriott founder. The Marriott family gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to Mitt Romney's campaign when he ran for the U.S. Senate in 1994.
So far during Romney's presidential run, they have given close to $80,000.
When asked about Romney's time on the board of directors, Marriott Spokesman Roger Conner told CBN, "We don't comment on board level matters."
Conner wouldn't speculate whether Romney had any knowledge about the fight to get rid of pornography in room entertainment or whether he did anything about it. He would only say, "This area would not have been a board area…"
Conner is quick to point out that voting on in room entertainment packages would not have been something the board would have voted on. Rather, he says, this is an operations matter.
Moreover, he says that many of Marriott hotels are either owned by others or franchised.
"We have to respect the business decisions and needs of owners. The guest has a choice to opt out of the adult entertainment options."
The Brody File made repeated calls to LodgeNet, one of the main providers for hotel in-room entertainment. We asked whether hotels have the option to opt out of the X-rated films if they would like.
They did not return our phone calls. On their website, it does say that they work "closely with its hotel partners to determine the best mix of titles to maximize viewing levels. Unlike most systems, On Command Video has the ability to tailor the programming at individual hotels to match the demographic profile of that particular property's guests.
Conservative pro-family groups have been putting pressure on hotel chains for years to change their ways.
In a letter to Bill Johnson of the American Decency Association, Marriott's Chairman of the Board wrote in June of 2000, "The in-room entertainment operators who provide our systems rely upon a certain volume of movie types in order to be economically viable. If we were to eliminate the R and non rated offerings, the systems would not be economic."
Industry analysts estimate that roughly 60% of hotel chains provide in room entertainment with the X-rated pornography movie option. Yet, some have decided to drop the adult videos.
In 1999, Omni Hotels announced that it would remove adult pay-per-view movies from its guest room televisions. It took a financial hit but Peter Strebel, Omni Hotels vice president of marketing, said in a press release at the time, "
"Money is not the issue in this matter. Not all business decisions should be fiscally driven. We believe that this is the right thing to do; the right thing for Omni Hotels, our associates and our customers."
Gary Glenn, a well known pro-family activist in Michigan recently sent an email to Justin Hart, one of Mitt Romney's Faith and Values Steering Committee members. Hart also works for the The Lighted Candle Society.
Glenn writes, "It is a matter of record that during the time Romney served as a 'hands on' member of its board of directors, the Marriott Corporation sold tens of millions of dollars worth of hardcore pornographic videos… as a candidate for president, Gov. Romney has a bully pulpit from which he could greatly assist your organization and others in applying sufficient public pressure to Marriott and other white-collar porn peddlers to 'dry up some of that funding'…we encourage you to urge the Romney campaign to initiate public discussion of the above concerns and questions in a proactive fashion, for which he may receive some credit for initiative and leadership on an issue that speaks both to his personal and political integrity and to his trustworthiness should he be elected as the chief law enforcement officer of the United States."
The Brody File contacted Justin Hart who said "In this important fight against pornography there are those people who are determined to make enemies and effect zero change and there are those who propose to use their influence to create serious lasting change - Romney is in this latter camp…pure societal turnaround can only happen when people of influence find the right moment in time to lead change…In my opinion, Romney's record shows that he could very well effect that change to happen. The fact that he included a serious anti-pornography group on his Faith and Values committee suggests this as well."
That's not satisfying to Phil Buress. He wants answers from Romney. "This man is very knowledgeable about the issues, but for him to not know anything about what Marriott is selling, I found that very interesting."
The Romney campaign won't go beyond their initial statement.
Instead they point out that Governor Romney is actively talking about pornography issues and today's culture wars.
In a speech Romney gave nearly three months ago, he said, "I have great faith in the American people. I have faith in our children, and in our grandchildren. But at the same time, I am deeply troubled by the culture that surrounds them today.I'd like to keep pornography from coming up on kid's computers. I'd like to keep drugs off the streets. I'd like to see less violence and sex on TV and in movies and in video games…I believe that the most important work being done to strengthen America's future is the work that is being done within the 4 walls of the American home."
This is the most ridiculous stretch yet that I have seen in an attempt to smear Romney. Geez, how much lower will someone stoop to sink further into gutter politics? I’m sure someone will find a way.
Us Liberaltarians, or the more preferred term Losertarians, would tell consumers not to order porn in hotels if they don't want to.
Have you ever worked a remote control before? They got buttons on them. They don't depress automatically by some sinister Ron Jeremy look-alike in the hotel employee room.
i was about to do the same thing— defend romney against what are spurious charges. but seeing a meanspirited snotty remark by a romney supporter against my candidate of choice? well no, i guess i will refrain from defending romney. jceccles, if you don’t see the illwill you are spreading for your candidate, you have perception problems.
Mind your own business, you damnable Bible thumping busybodies. Motes, beams, eyes, etc.
-ccm
Ah, but Romney is. Romney should have donned his cape and flew into every hotel room and turned off the TVs < /S >
Now excuse me, there's a .44 revolver pointing at my dome forcing me to view an XXX website.
The problem is, populism, to a large extent, has entered the conservative movement.
At one time in this country, the Democrats were the conservative party, and the Republicans were identified with a degree of liberalism, and big government. The Great Depression changed this. And history proceeded on it’s logical course of events, and the parties now occupy opposite positions of where they were in 1912.
When Huey Long, who was a social radical, was at the height of his power, he used to always rail against New Orleans. Not because it was Catholic, in fact, he was the first Louisiana politician to build a bi-religious coalition in the 20th century. What Long succeeded in doing was casting New Orleans as sin city, as a city of vice in corruption that he, the humble reformer looking out for the “common man” was going to clean up. Huey Long used religious right rhetoric. By the same token, liberal KKK politicians in Alabama usually made my city the whipping boy. We were the “Sodom and Gommorah” of the state. Also didn’t help that at that time, a majority of whites in this area were Catholic, so they always played that card against us.
But by in large, the voters who supported these moralist movements were uneducated, lower class, typically evangelical (and in those days, all those elements typically went hand in hand, as higher class people tended to belong to higher church religions). The same people who were prohibitionists in the 20’s blindly followed the New Deal in the 30’s. In those days, conservatives in Southern politics tended to be anti-prohibition, they were not into race-baiting, they were strongly anti-union, in other words, it always came down to conservative Bourbons vs moralist Populists.
Today, the Bourbons are almost exclusively Republicans, and these are people who, like my father, called themselves Republican from 1964 onward. On the flipside, the Populists are in both parties. In the Republican Party, they are the people who believe big government has the right to regulate how you live your life in certain moral matters, and in the Democratic Party, they are the labor union voters, the national health care socialists, etc.
If people want an understanding of what a true conservative is all about, do some research on the man who Hugo Black replaced in the U.S. Senate.
say it isn’t so!.....this afterall, is the perfect, the moral, the long married, family loving, temple going man we’ve all grown to love and repect....
You should go out and thump these Marriott perverts with your Bible until they are forced to follow your demands. Yes, we need more big government telling us what we can and can not watch in the privacy of our hotel rooms. BTW, the Women in Uniform Special made me salute.
Well, at least Giuliani was elected NYC Mayor. Keyes? He's a poor man's William Jennings Bryan.
He dared make fun of St.Fred??? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! The outrage.
"Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure...are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments." - Charles Carroll, signer of the Declaration of Independence
“God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. I also believe that, without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel.” –Benjamin Franklin, Constitutional Convention of 1787
“In circumstances as dark as these, it becomes us, as Men and Christians, to reflect that whilst every prudent measure should be taken to ward off the impending judgments, …at the same time all confidence must be withheld from the means we use; and reposed only on that God rules in the armies of Heaven, and without His whole blessing, the best human counsels are but foolishness… Resolved; …Thursday the 11th of May…to humble themselves before God under the heavy judgments felt and feared, to confess the sins that have deserved them, to implore the Forgiveness of all our transgressions, and a spirit of repentance and reformation …and a Blessing on the … Union of the American Colonies in Defense of their Rights [for which hitherto we desire to thank Almighty God]…That the people of Great Britain and their rulers may have their eyes opened to discern the things that shall make for the peace of the nation…for the redress of America’s many grievances, the restoration of all her invaded liberties, and their security to the latest generations. "A Day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer, with a total abstinence from labor and recreation. Proclamation on April 15, 1775" - John Hancock
“God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that His justice cannot sleep forever.” - Thomas Jefferson
I was going to defend Mitt, but I see his supporters are in here acting like childish assholes, so the hell with them.
If people don't take responsibility for their own lives & choose the righteous path on their own, what makes you think government will.
“Marriott also sells alcohol, coffee and tea! These are also proscribed by Mormons”
Yeah funny isnt it.. but dont dare light a ciggarette in your hotel room.. lol of they will fine you.. lol
http://www.marriott.com/marriott.mi?page=smokefree
The difference between you and me is that you think that is a good thing.
Tell me why is someone who is a Mormon, is subject to the rules and regulations of the Roman Catholic Church. Isn’t there something about a seperation of the church from the State. There are plenty of examples of ways that the Church can be hypocritical. So that stone is already being thrown at a glass house.
Your supposed to give him the benefit of the doubt, then forgive the man as a Christian should. I honestly don’t think he even thought about the alcohol and pornography in the rooms. Why would he, he wasn’t interested in porn or booze. If he is then I don’t want to know about it.
Everyone has faults, even the earth spins on an angle.
However if he does know then maybe I won’t have to worry about an irritating federal government trying to take my Video Games or Anime away from me. Unlike with Hillary or Joe Lieberman.
My comment as to what is ridiculous is the idea Mitt Romney is a pornographer or benefiting from such. Mitt doesn’t own Marriott. If he did you might have a point, but he is one of several board members who don’t sit around and choose the movie offerings at their meetings. I’m 100% sure the subject never came up and if it did, why would his opinion be more valuable than anyone else’s?
Lose the preaching on Catholic doctrine. I don’t need it or want it. It’s garbage like this that gives Christian conservatives a bad name. There’s a little something called free will. People can choose to sin or not to sin and other people, especially the government, have a limited say in the matter unless it injures another person. America is a secular country based on a Judeo-Christian framework. It is not a theocracy but if you want one we’ll give it to you and I guarantee you won’t like it.
Would you prefer we break down people’s doors, monitor their lifestyles and jail them for anything contrary to your personal interpretation of religion? That mindset is shared by people of a different sort; the Taliban and communists like Hillary. It goes both ways.
A hotel chain will go out of business if it doesn’t sell porn? ROFL
oh grow up. if you can’t see how mean-spirited BS against other candidates, on a thread that has NOTHING to do with them, does nothing but create ill-will towards the candidate those posters support then i’d say you have a poor chance of persuading people to hop on board your candidate’s campaign.
Uh, yes. The hotel industry is a very competitive business. A hotel chain that was a few percent behind on gross margins would find their position over time eroding, and would wind up being taken over by a competitor
Perhaps.. that is. I have no idea how much they make off of the pay per view porn.
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