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Thursday, August 2, 2012

The ABCs of Mitt's terrible, no good, very bad trip abroad

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The ABCs of Mitt's terrible, no good, very bad trip abroad

By Jo Piazza / current.com / @jopiazza
Mitt Romney wrapped up his overseas trip Tuesday with a final speech in Warsaw, Poland, where he championed that nation's fiscal austerity as a model for the rest of the world.

But before Romney was able to end his trip on a high note, a campaign spokesman told reporters, in plain language, to "kiss his ass."

There was no other way things could have ended.

The goal of the presumptive Republican nominee's sojourn to London, Israel and Poland was to make the candidate seem worldly and well informed on foreign policy. In reality, the trip has been one gaffe after another that has done little more than provide fodder for late-night comedians.

In case you missed it, here are the ABCs of Mitt's foreign faux pas:

A – "Are we ready?"  This was how Boris Johnson, London’s mayor, dismissed Romney’s unwarranted abuse of the London Olympic Games during a concert to mark the end of the torch relay. "There's a guy called Mitt Romney who wants to know if we are ready," Mr. Johnson cried to the 60,000-strong crowd. "Are we ready? Are we ready? Yes, we are!"

B – Backside  Mitt explained how he had a look outside the "backside" of Number 10 Downing Street during his visit there with British officials. Lovely description save for the fact that in delicate Brit-speak "backside" means the nether regions of the human anatomy.

C – Carr  Romney misunderstood and then misstated that Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr said America was in a state of decline that could only be remedied by Romney.

D – Disconcerting  That's the adjective Mitt used to describe the preparations for the London Olympics, ahead of his visit to the London Olympics.

E – Ed Miliband  Romney accidentally called the leader of the British Labour Party "Mr. Leader."

F – Flames of cold war righteousness  This is what Romney seemed to hope to rekindle with his visit to Poland, which featured strong attacks on Russia.

G – "Guns, Germs and Steal"  Romney cited this best-selling book as his justification for why Palestine isn’t thriving in relation to Israel.

Watch Cenk explain why Romney's faulting Palestine for its lower GDP is like blaming African American slaves for making less money than whites.
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H – Harry  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said that Mitt embarrassed the United States and himself by insulting the British in advance of the Olympics. "It's not good for us as a country &mdash it's not good for him — but as a country, [it's not good for us] to have somebody that's nominated by one of the principal parties to go over and insult everybody," Reid said.

I – Iran  Romney has promised his Israeli donors a war with Iran. The candidate's adviser, Dan Senor, told reporters that "if Israel has to take action on its own, in order to stop Iran from developing [nuclear] capability, the governor would respect that decision." Romney was forced to backtrack, saying in an interview with CBS News that "if all those [diplomatic] options fail, then we do have other options, and we don’t take those other options off the table. But that’s as far as I’m willing to go in terms of discussing this matter while on foreign soil."

Watch Stephanie Miller and Hal Sparks list the "psycho hawks" Romney has waiting in the wings to go to war with Iran.





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J – Jerusalem  Mitt declared the holy city to be the capital of Israel, even though the United States maintains its embassy in Tel Aviv.

K – King David Hotel  This is the site where Romney praised Israel for their socialized health care system. Don't call it Obamacare.

L – Lech Walesa  The former Polish president gave Mitt his endorsement, but the Solidarnosc (Solidarity) trade union, which Walesa and others founded in 1980, issued a press release saying it is "in no way involved" in the Romney meeting with Walesa and had no "initiative" to invite the American candidate to Poland.

M – MI6  Romney confirmed outside 10 Downing that he met the head of MI6. This was a problem because the existence of MI6, the international arm of the British secret service, was not officially acknowledged until 1994, and the organization is still shrouded in secrecy.

N – Netanyahu  Mitt wrote the wrong date in the Israeli leader's guest book when penning his John Hancock.

O – Offensive  This is the word the London Telegraph used to describe Romney's overall demeanor in their country: "Romney is perhaps the only politician who could start a trip that was supposed to be a charm offensive by being utterly devoid of charm and mildly offensive."

Watch Bill Press talk about why Mitt's political mudslinging continued across the pond.

P – Paul  Supporters of the former Republican candidate Ron Paul trailed Mitt to Poland.

Q – Question  Watch Mitt question the readiness of London’s Olympics.

R – Racist  That’s what the Palestinians are calling Mitt following his remarks on the difference between Israeli and Palestinian economics. Romney said that the Jewish culture helps make Israel more successful than its Palestinian neighbors.

S – Shambles  Social media began chronicling Mitt’s gaffes with the hash tag #RomneyShambles.

T – Tax returns  Mitt can’t get away from calls to release his returns, even while visiting the Wailing Wall.

U – Unfitting  That's the word German newspaper Die Welt used to describe Romney’s remarks about the London Olympics.

V – Voters  Most voters, the undecided ones at least, aren’t all that interested in what Mitt has to say about foreign policy, which made this trip a lose-lose situation for him.

Watch Guardian reporter and blogger Adam Gabbatt talk to "Viewpoint" about Mitt's misadventures in London.
 


W – Wales  Romney emphasized his English ancestry, declaring himself to be "a guy from Great Britain" who is "married to a girl from Wales."

X – Xenophobes  This is who Romney was accused of pandering to with his many missteps in Israel.

Y – "You didn’t build that"  Romney takes his mixed messaging global.

Z – Zionists  Romney’s Jerusalem fundraiser was held in the King David Hotel, which was famously targeted by the Zionist terrorist organization Irgun in 1946. The terrorists hit the hotel because there were British security offices there. A previous commemoration of the bombing caused the British Foreign Office to offer a sharp note of protest. "I guess Romney is not finished with insulting London," wrote Middle Eastern expert Juan Cole.

(Photo from Getty Images)
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