BREAKING NEWS: Bain Capital Really, Really, REALLY Did Not Want to Lend GM and Chrysler Money For Their Managed Bankruptcies!”*

Beverly Mann | February 16, 2012 12:29 pm

Law
Oookaaaayyy.  Normally when I receive an email message that I want to forward or mention elsewhere, I first ask permission of the emailer.  Not this time, though.

The following email was sent to Angry Bear last evening, and forwarded to me by Ken late last night:

On Wed, Feb 15, 2012 at 6:27 PM, Charlyn Lusk <CLusk@stantonprm.com> wrote:

You currently have a blog posting regarding Bain Capital, GM and Chrysler, which is incorrect.  Refer to the CNBC retraction below.  Please update your story accordingly.

Best,

Charlyn Lusk

Charlyn Lusk

Stanton Public Relations & Marketing

880 Third Avenue

New York, NY 10022

            212-366-5300       (main)

            646-502-3549       (direct)

Allow me, please, to not just refer the CNBC retraction Ms. Lusk links to be to republish it here in its entirety:

WITHDRAWN: CNBC Report that Bain Advised Obama Administration on Auto Company Bailout Has Been Refuted

By Andrew C. McCarthy

January 13, 2012 8:56 A.M.

UPDATE: CNBC HAS WITHDRAWN ITS EARLIER REPORT THAT MITT ROMNEY’S FORMER FIRM, BAIN CAPITAL, ADVISED THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION ON THE AUTO BAILOUT. CNBC says the “Bain Consulting” in the report turns out not to be related to Romney’s Bain firm.

I am deleting my earlier post about it, though I will save it in the event there needs to be some record of it — I haven’t thought that through, but in fairness to the Romney campaign, I want to delete the earlier post now.

Ah. Who knew?  Okay, well, who who doesn’t read the National Review or watch CNBC knew?

Anyway … late last night, Ken emailed Ms. Lusk back:

Sent: Wednesday, February 15, 2012 11:43 PM
Subject: Re: Your story on Bain Capital, GM and Chrysler

Updated to make the distinction clear.  I leave it to Beverly if she wants to change her title and/or any of the other text.

Ken

He cc’d it to Dan, Bruce Webb and me.  I responded, clicking the “All” response button:

Yikes.  The title of that post was intended as facetious.  Given the content of the post—which did not say that Bain actually wanted to lend GM and Chrysler money for their managed bailouts, but instead made the point than no private equity money or other private-source funding was forthcoming or likely to be forthcoming—I assumed that it the facetious intent of the title of the post would be obvious.

Silly me.  But then, I actually had no idea that there had been a report last month saying that Bain had … whatever … much less that the report was withdrawn.

Geeeeez.

I will write up a separate post now explaining this. The title of the post?  How about: “BREAKING NEWS: Bain Capital Really, Really, REALLY Did Not Want to Lend GM and Chrysler Money For Their Managed Bankruptcies!”

Beverly

By then, Dan had emailed me saying simply, “Can you follow up on the correction?

And so I have. 

Lessons learned:

1.      Never, ever write facetiously for public consumption without specifying that what you’re writing is intended as sarcasm, satire, whatever;

2.      Subscribe to the National Review, because you never know when it might have to retract a statement about a corporation, at the request of the corporation’s PR firm;

3.      That Bain Capital is an entity entirely distinct from Bain Consulting; and

4.      That I really need to retain a PR firm.  Or a lawyer.

What I didn’t learn, but really want to now, is what, exactly, Bain Consulting advised the Obama administration about the auto bailouts.  I can guess, though.  That it should allow the two auto companies to file for unsupported bankruptcy, so that vulture capitalists—er, venture capitalists can acquire what they want of the companies’ remnants on whatever terms they dictate, maybe?

Beverly

—–
*I just corrected the formatting of the post so that the font and font size are consistent throughout.  The weird font changes in the original were the result of cut-and-paste things (as well as my utter cluelessness about how to avoid such things). I did not intend that parts of the post make it look like I was shouting. Not that I wouldn’t mind shouting.  Or screaming.  But ….
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