What Was Romney Doing in the #missing2min?

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David Corn,
Washington, DC, bureau chief

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Twice a week I email Our Land to a roster of special subscribers who pay $5/month to receive the story behind the headlines. But I’m offering you a 30-day free trial—with no strings attached—because I’m hoping that after you start reading Our Land you’ll be hooked.

When our source secretly recorded Mitt Romney’s comments at a private fundraiser, the recorder accidentally stopped, according to the source; a minute or two passed before it was restarted. The source provided all the recorded material to Mother Jones, and we published all of it. Unsurprisingly, right-wing pundits have stoked conspiracy talk about the estimated two-minute break in the recording. (Never mind that Romney didn’t refute anything from his long talk, instead admitting that his remarks were “not elegantly stated,” and doubling down on them.) So the internet did what it does in these cases: It started a meme, #missing2min. What shocking revelations existed therein? Here are some suggestions from the hive mind: