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Mitt Romney in Poland

By Rick Diguette
I love stories like this.  One of Romney's aides got a little testy yesterday when reporters wouldn't stop asking Mitt to answer a few questions.  As reported by Jordan Zakarin, "after the candidate made a visit to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Pilsudski Square in Warsaw, reporters shouted questions at Romney, and accused him of not being open to the press during the trip. In response, his aide Rick Gorka said, "Kiss my ass, this is a holy site for the Polish people. Show some respect.'”  

If I didn't know this actually happened, I would have bet money this was the work of the good folks at The Onion.

Comments

  1. avrdsAugust 1, 2012 at 5:47 AM

    Sometimes it really is hard to tell the difference between current politics and the Onion.

    The one thing that gets me is how deferential everyone seems to be to Romney because he is rich. "He's obviously very smart" seems to be the common belief in the media, as they then proceed to outline all his gaffs.

    And yet Romney doesn't seem to have anything resembling intelligence or street smarts. He just knows how to squeeze companies for every last penny he can get out of them.

    He may have made a lot of money, but he started with a lot of money, and was a hard worker, dedicated to making more. But "he's obviously very smart" just doesn't ring true to me.

    ReplyDelete
  2. avrdsAugust 1, 2012 at 6:47 AM

    The comment I liked even better was Romney's praising the Israeli (socialized) healthcare system. Onion are you listening?

    ReplyDelete
  3. James FergusonAugust 1, 2012 at 10:28 AM

    "The one thing that gets me is how deferential everyone seems to be to Romney..."

    It surprises me given how the media loves to tear apart political candidates, but it seems the media desperately wants to keep this election a horse race, and so is laying off Romney.

    This little junket was a failure at every level, except collecting money for his campaign. I read somewhere that the purpose of Poland was to appeal to Polish-American voters after the gaffe Obama made regarding "Polish prison camps." Apparently, Barry got 52% of the Polish-American vote last time around, helping him out in Midwest states. Picking up Lech's "endorsement" was apparently very important to him.

    The sad part is that Romney is completely out of touch with events, but then I guess this reflects the Republican mindset in general.

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  4. James FergusonAugust 1, 2012 at 2:13 PM

    Maybe Romney should hire Walesa as a campaign consultant,

    Charisma is something Romney 'doesn't really yet have," Walesa said. "But he's very observant. He gets it fast and draws conclusions, which means he has all the traits of a good leader. But he still needs to do some rallying."

    http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/lech-walesa-praises-romney-says-lacks-charisma-085747478.html

    ReplyDelete
  5. avrdsAugust 1, 2012 at 3:29 PM

    Lacks charisma. True and then some.

    I heard Poland was about the Catholic vote, but it does seem a little off the beaten foreign policy beat. I think he should go to Afghanistan and see what he really will have to deal with.

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  6. James FergusonAugust 1, 2012 at 3:54 PM

    Kahl summed up this campaign trip best,

    "A lot of this is Romney describing our current policy and masquerading it as criticism of the president."

    http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-aide-romney-struck-playing-t-ball-foreign-214304798.html

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  7. avrdsAugust 1, 2012 at 3:58 PM

    I heard him actually describe his foreign policy as taking Obama's foreign policy and doing the opposite. Very odd when you think he could be the next president.

    I'm missing Gore Vidal already.

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  8. James FergusonAugust 1, 2012 at 4:26 PM

    If so, why has he taken virtually the same positions? American FP hasn't differed significantly from one president to the next in modern times. Just some are better at it than others.

    ReplyDelete
  9. avrdsAugust 1, 2012 at 4:29 PM

    Because he doesn't know any better. I really think the press gives him the benefit of the doubt on the smarts issue because of his money-making abilities, not his policies.

    ReplyDelete
  10. avrdsAugust 1, 2012 at 4:30 PM

    Plus it sounds good. I'm the opposite of Obama on all issues. That's a talking point they probably gave him early on.

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  11. James FergusonAugust 1, 2012 at 4:48 PM

    He does appear to have rather low intelligence. He certainly isn't very sharp on his feet, which I guess is why he assiduously avoided the press on this field trip, leaving it up to his handlers to issue angry retorts.

    It's going to take a lot of coaching to get him ready for the debates, especially when it comes to foreign policy after the numerous gaffes he made on this trip.

    ReplyDelete
  12. James FergusonAugust 1, 2012 at 6:19 PM

    Friedman nails it,

    "Israel today is an amazing beehive of innovation — thanks, in part, to an influx of Russian brainpower, massive U.S. aid and smart policies. It’s something Jews should be proud of. But had Romney gone to Ramallah he would have seen a Palestinian beehive of entrepreneurship, too, albeit small, but not bad for a people living under occupation. Palestinian business talent also built the Persian Gulf states. In short, Romney didn’t know what he was talking about."

    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/01/opinion/friedman-why-not-in-vegas.html?ref=politics

    ReplyDelete

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