General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMitt’s insults, mistakes, and blunders abroad aren’t gaffes.
Mitts insults, mistakes, and blunders abroad arent gaffes. They actually represent his true worldview.
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How Romney should have behaved in London may have been obvious to Charles Krauthammer, who studies politics; it would have been obvious to politically ambitious businessmen from more traditional lines of work or from an earlier era. But as we have been graced to see this week, it is not necessarily obvious to Romney himself.
Already, Romneys surrogates back home are spinning with frantic intensity. In the face of merrily savage media coverage of the candidates remarks and British officials rejoinders, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said, with as much nonchalance as he could muster, The reality is, were not worried about overseas headlines
I think the focus needs to continue to be on whats happening here at home. Thats whats important to voters.
This may be, but why then did Romney go abroad in the first place? It wasnt to watch his wifes horse trot and dance in the Olympics dressage competition (as he scoffed in another head-shaking remark, certain to anger a large number of wives who feel their husbands dont take their interests seriously). The intent, obviously, was to demonstrate his comfort and capabilities on the world scenea demonstration that, at least so far, has gone about as well as North Koreas last few missile tests. And London, his first stop, was supposed to be the easy part of the trip, the place where the white, patrician candidate could forge bonds through, as one of his spokesmen put it, their common Anglo-Saxon heritage.
Not only did Romney fail at that no-brainer, he also put a foot through stateside customs. Before leaving on his overseas tour, he said that he would not criticize the current president on foreign soil, a long-standing, universally respected tradition in American politics. But then he spoke at an exclusive, closed-door fundraising dinner (tickets went for $50,000 to $70,000 apiece) sponsored by Barclays bank, which is currently in the middle of a whopping financial crisis. Eleven members of Parliament wrote a letter to the banks board members, demanding that they stop swelling Romneys war chest and instead focus on repairing their own problems. Will Americans express outrage at this whiff of foreign influence? Obama catches hell when he raises money from Hollywood movie stars. What would happen if he flew to London or Paris and raised money from European movie stars (who dont have as much influence as, say, European bankers).
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http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/war_stories/2012/07/mitt_romney_s_insults_and_mistakes_while_at_the_london_olympics_aren_t_gaffes_as_much_as_a_fair_representation_of_his_worldview_.html?google_editors_picks=true
tclambert
(11,087 posts)One of the tests is "kicking the beggar." I think Romney would do particularly on that one.
geckosfeet
(9,644 posts)Fuddnik
(8,846 posts)siligut
(12,272 posts)http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/war_stories/2012/07/mitt_romney_s_insults_and_mistakes_while_at_the_london_olympics_aren_t_gaffes_as_much_as_a_fair_representation_of_his_worldview_.html?google_editors_picks=true
So his lack of a conscience and ability to memorize and execute a formula makes this twit think he is qualified to be POTUS.
The Doctor.
(17,266 posts)Thanks!
MADem
(135,425 posts)No wonder the Brits are going at him hammer and tongs, though--this quote from his stupid little "I Love Me" book surely didn't go unnoticed by them. This is an enormous insult:
England is just a small island. Its roads and houses are small. With few exceptions, it doesnt make things that people in the rest of the world want to buy. And if it hadnt been separated from the continent by water, it almost certainly would have been lost to Hitlers ambitions.
I would venture to say the people from that "small island" handed the pompous, spray-tanned, pomaded bullshitter his own hairy ass!
cyclezealot
(4,802 posts)Mittens is being consistent.. Its all the same.. American exceptionalism rears its ugly head. Whether its calling for American First Strike capacity against weak opponents or whether it be the inferiority of British planning for their Olympics.
Ruby the Liberal
(26,219 posts)siligut
(12,272 posts)Is truly every bit the twit the UK news says he is. The truth comes out now that he has to face the real world.
Mitt kind of reminds me of the small town prom queen who travels to Hollywood, confident that she is going to be a star.
Ruby the Liberal
(26,219 posts)siligut
(12,272 posts)Yes, I think the article does sum Romney up quite well. I think this comment from MG-535381 also explains Mitt and reminds me of why I needn't feel sorry for him.
(Insight from one who lives in Utah.)
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)Great article - Thanks for the link! He is such a disaster. I honestly can't understand how he is still a candidate for the highest office in the land.
pacalo
(24,721 posts)He only knows the cut-&-dried "let's buy it, shut it down, get rich, & offshore the profits" -- lifelong employees be damned. No diplomacy, courtesy, or sensitivity required for that in-&-out way of doing business.
Ruby the Liberal
(26,219 posts)pacalo
(24,721 posts)Jeff In Milwaukee
(13,992 posts)It's been said that a "gaffe" is when a politician inadvertently tells the truth. And I suppose there something to be said that Romney was not making "misstatements" as much as he's displaying his ignorance and crude world view.
I'm good with that.