Letter of the Day: Going retro

Going retro

EDITOR: Mitt Romney's campaign says he "retired retroactively" from Bain Capital. He says he was just the CEO and major shareholder in Securities and Exchange Commission filings for a couple years and had nothing to do with the management of the company. He was just "awaiting" transition of the company to new owners.

Geez, wouldn't it be great if we could all use those excuses?

The absentee landlord whose property becomes a crack house could say, "I wasn't actively involved in managing the property, just awaiting its transition. I was just the owner, so I am not a slumlord."

The elderly Mafia don collecting his dividends could claim, "I was retroactively retired. Those crimes had nothing to do with me."

And to anyone I may have insulted or otherwise cheated, let me say, "I retroactively retire from those offenses."

MARK SWEDLUND

Sebastopol