Team America world police...

[Gob]

US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has said his country has a "moral imperative" to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Mr Romney, speaking during a visit to Jerusalem, said Iran was the most destabilising country in the world.

He said the US recognised Israel's right to defend itself and that it was right for the US to stand with Israel.

Mr Romney also referred to Jerusalem as Israel's "capital" - senior Palestinian officials said this was "unacceptable".

In his speech in front of Jerusalem's Old City, Mr Romney said Iran's leading ayatollahs were "testing our moral defences".

"They want to know who will object and who will look the other way. We will not look away nor will our country ever look away from our passion and commitment to Israel."

He said Iran was "the most destabilising nation in the world" and that the US had "a solemn duty and a moral imperative to deny Iran's leaders the means to follow through on their malevolent intentions".

[Scooter]

He also gave a completely blank cheque to Israel to conduct military strikes against Iran, a position which will come back to bite him on the ass should the American people engage in the collective stupidity of electing him president.

[Gob]

Iran attacking Israel = bad thing.

Israel attacking Iran = good thing.

Obvious really, isn't it? Isn't it?

[rubato]

We do have a moral imperative to <<try>> to stop Iran from getting Nuclear weapons. This is why Obama has taken the toughest line against Iran of any US president in history; he has imposed tougher sanctions and got the rest of NATO and a lot of the UN to go along. Whether we can prevent them from getting nukes at an acceptable cost is unknown at this point.

Every US president has recognized Israel's right to <<defend>> itself against agression but only a goddamn fool would entail the future of OUR country to the actions of a government of Israel who has promoted treason against us when it suited them to (Pollard, and the fact that they sold Pollard's secrets to the USSR).

Calling Jerusalem the capital of Israel is mark of stupidity.

Mitt does not have the self-control to be president.

yrs,
rubato

[Econoline]

I *LOVED* David Cameron's comeback to Romney's comments in London. ("Of course it's easier if you hold an Olympic Games in the middle of nowhere.")

Especially since Romney is running away from his record as CEO of Bain, running away from his record as governor of Massachusetts, has no foreign policy record to run on or away from, and seems to be basing his claims of competence mainly on his role as CEO of the 2002 Salt Lake City (a.k.a. Middle of Nowhere) Winter Olympics Committee.

[rubato]

I *LOVED* David Cameron's comeback to Romney's comments in London. ("Of course it's easier if you hold an Olympic Games in the middle of nowhere.")

Especially since Romney is running away from his record as CEO of Bain, running away from his record as governor of Massachusetts, has no foreign policy record to run on or away from, and seems to be basing his claims of competence mainly on his role as CEO of the 2002 Salt Lake City (a.k.a. Middle of Nowhere) Winter Olympics Committee.

That was the $1.3 to $2.7 Billion Federal Bailout Winter Olympics.

http://www.democrats.org/news/blog/mitt ... ic_bailout
"... The Salt Lake games got more taxpayer dollars than all of the previous U.S.-hosted Olympics combined: a whopping $1.3 billion. For comparison, the 1984 games in L.A. received $75 million and the 1996 games in Atlanta received $609 million. It's clear that the real hero of the 2002 games was the American taxpayer.

Romney's campaign is already pushing back by saying that the extra money was necessary for security. But our money went to much more than security, including $30 million for parking lots, $2 million for sewer systems, and $33,000 for an Olympic horse adoption program.

To folks like John McCain—one of Romney's 2012 endorsers—this "ripoff of the taxpayers" for "an incredible pork-barrel project for Salt Lake City" was "outrageous" and "a national disgrace." Romney, however, bragged about the amount of funding he got from Uncle Sam.
... "

http://www.politicolnews.com/romneys-2- ... hn-mccain/
"...
Romney’s 2.7 Billion Olympic Bailout by John McCain
Posted on July 28, 2012 by politicol

In 2002 the Winter Games held in Salt Lake City, Utah, home of the Mormon Church, Mitt Romney canvassed the White House for a bailout of the Olympic Games.

The Final Bill was: 2.7 Billion Dollars given to Romney by George Bush, the then, President to complete the Games which was grossly over-budget from the initial costs.

The taxpayer saved the Olympic Games from what was corruption, greed and misappropriations of funds.

Mitt Romney failed to gather support from corporation sponsors to swing the costs to private businesses, which is one of the qualities he boasts about in his run for the 2012 Presidential Election. Had that been true, the taxpayer would not have been footing the bill for the entire project.

Romney has no problem asking for a government bail out and no problem admitting he could not accomplish the task of funding the Winter Games.

In this clip, Senator John McCain blows up on Romney’s pork barrel project and the failure to remain within budget.

In this same clip Mitt Romney calls it” Modest help when he asked Senator Bennett, a member of the Appropriations Committee for money”. Sen. Bill Bennett was the Republican Senator for the State of Utah, whom he worked with to get the massive bailout money during the Bush Administration.

Apparently, Mitt Romney lobbied Hard for Money from Congress to bail him out, to fund the Olympics and to add to the National Debt, and in the end he credits himself for “Saving the Olympics” as he puts it. ..."


yrs,
rubato

[Econoline]

Oh dear...something else to run away from? And you gotta run really fast if you're trying to run from the Olympics!

[Gob]

Mitt Romney has been accused of racism for suggesting to Jewish donors that "culture" could explain Palestinians' income inferiority to Israel.

A senior Palestinian aide said the Republican presidential candidate had failed to note economic restrictions placed by the Israeli occupation.

But the Romney campaign said his remarks in Israel were misinterpreted.

The former Massachusetts governor is now in Poland, for the third and final leg of a week-long foreign tour.

Speaking at a breakfast of about 40 donors in Jerusalem on Monday, Mr Romney said he had thought about how Israel had achieved greater prosperity than its neighbours.

"As you come here and you see the GDP [Gross Domestic Product] per capita, for instance, in Israel which is about $21,000 dollars, and compare that with the GDP per capita just across the areas managed by the Palestinian Authority, which is more like $10,000 per capita, you notice such a dramatically stark difference in economic vitality," Mr Romney is reported to have said.

He referred to a book called The Wealth And Poverty Of Nations, by David Landes, which examines how some societies became more prosperous than those of their neighbours.

Mr Romney said he had concluded from the book that "if you could learn anything from the economic history of the world it's this: culture makes all the difference.

He added: "And as I come here and I look out over this city and consider the accomplishments of the people of this nation, I recognise the power of at least culture and a few other things."

Mr Romney also said he recognised "hand of providence in selecting this place [Israel]".

The economic disparity between Israel and the Palestinian Authority is even wider than Mr Romney's remarks suggest.

According to a World Bank report, in 2011 Israel's GDP was $31,000 per head, compared with just over $1,500 in the West Bank and Gaza.

Saeb Erekat, an aide to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, responded quickly to the comments.

"It is a racist statement and this man doesn't realise that the Palestinian economy cannot reach its potential because there is an Israeli occupation," Mr Erekat said.

"It seems to me this man lacks information, knowledge, vision and understanding of this region and its people.

"He also lacks knowledge about the Israelis themselves. I have not heard any Israeli official speak about cultural superiority," he added.

Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul said his remarks had been "grossly mischaracterised".

His campaign added that the candidate's comments had been more general and had included examples of income disparities between the US and Mexico, and Chile and Ecuador.

Meanwhile, a White House spokesman said Mr Romney's comments had left some people "scratching their heads a little bit".

At the breakfast, Mr Romney sat next to casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson, who has given millions of dollars to Republican presidential campaigns.

The owner of the American football team New York Jets, Woody Johnson, and hedge fund manager Paul Singer were also guests at the breakfast, which is thought to have raised about $1m.

Deputy Israeli Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon came to Mr Romney's defence.

"It is unfortunate that the Palestinians find every reason and opportunity to discomfit or to criticise or to attack Israel or anyone who pays respect to Israel and Jewish culture," he said, reports the Associated Press.

On Sunday, Mr Romney caused controversy when he described Jerusalem as the country's capital.

He said in an interview with CNN that he would favour moving the US embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, where it is currently located.
.

Ok, I'm betting on him making remarks about tanks and German borders in Poland...

[Scooter]

Sarah Palin is starting to look like a foreign policy guru in comparison.

[Big RR]

Scooter--I never thought I'd see the day such a statement could be written and be valid; pretty amazing.

[Scooter]

[Gob]

Mitt Romney’s diplomatic foot-shooting spree in London last week provoked the trenchantly conservative Fox News contributor Charles Krauthammer to lament, "It's unbelievable, it's beyond human understanding, it's incomprehensible. I'm out of adjectives."

Fox viewers will be relieved to learn Krauthammer has recovered since then and secured some more adjectives. In a column since he has described Romney’s critique of Britain’s handling of the Olympics as “inexplicably dumb and gratuitous.”

You know a Republican has really stuffed up when he is getting slapped around on Fox.



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/blogs/alt ... z229ZPqkLU

[rubato]

Sarah Palin is starting to look like a foreign policy guru in comparison.

McCain was right!

Palin was the better choice for VP.

yrs,
rubato

[dgs49]

For obvious reasons, anyone who voted for OBP is precluded from even mentioning the experience or credential of any other candidate for office, forever. Having supported and continuing to support someone who had no experience at anything...

Just STFU.

[Scooter]

Wow, not even Dave can bring himself to attempt to defend the river of idiocy that spewed forth from Romney's mouth over the past week.

[Grim Reaper]

And he props up another false equivalence by saying that our side is bad, so we can't comment on the even worse side that the Republicans seem to be clinging to.

[Gob]

US presidential candidate Mitt Romney wrapped up his overseas tour in Poland, as frustrations between his campaign and journalists boiled over.

In a foreign policy speech in Warsaw, the former Massachusetts governor praised Poland's economy as a model of small government and free enterprise.

But it was a Romney spokesman who captured headlines by lashing out at US reporters asking questions.

The Republican is set to challenge President Obama in November's polls.

On Tuesday, Mr Romney's travelling press secretary, Rick Gorka, lost his cool with reporters who tried to question the candidate after he visited Warsaw's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.


At a public plaza near the memorial, journalists from CNN, the New York Times and Washington Post asked Mr Romney about "mishaps" and "gaffes" on his trip.

Mr Romney won't answer any questions and even his press team finds it difficult to respond to the most basic inquiries about what their candidate has said”

Mark Mardell North America editor

Mr Gorka said: "Kiss my ass. This is a holy site for the Polish people."

He then told a reporter from Politico to "shove it". The press secretary apologised soon afterwards to correspondents.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19052292

[Scooter]

Hey, here's a great strategy - let's respond to questions about gaffes on the trip by committing a further gaffe. That's sure to make the story go away.

[Scooter]

Oops!:

In Gdansk on Monday, Mr. Romney had won praise from Nobel peace laureate Lech Walesa, whose Solidarity trade union led the struggle against communist rule in the 1980s.

But Solidarity distanced itself from Mr. Romney’s visit, saying it was “in no way involved” in inviting him to Poland.

“Regrettably we learned from our American friends at AFL-CIO headquarters who represent over 12 million workers about Mitt Romney’s backing of attacks on trade unions and worker’s rights,” it said.