How badly is Mitt Romney's trip to the UK going? After this morning's difficulties, which were bad enough, the Republican presidential hopeful caused more trouble by acknowledging a discussion he had about Syria with MI6 -- which he really wasn't supposed to talk about.
Actually, let me ask that initial question again: how badly is Mitt Romney's trip to the UK going? This tweet comes by way of James Chapman, the political editor of the UK's Daily Mail:
Chapman soon after quoted another British source that said, after meeting Romney, that he's "devoid of charm, warmth, humour or sincerity."
How badly is Mitt Romney's trip to the UK going? London Mayor Boris Johnson, a conservative, openly mocked Romney today at a rally in Hyde Park in front of 60,000 people. (Update: here's the video.) The same paper ran a report calling the start of Romney's trip "humiliating."
Romney hoped this trip would make him look like a leader ready for the global stage. So far, it's making him look like he's nowhere near ready to sit at the big kids' table.
The next question, though, is whether any of this matters, at least in a domestic/electoral context.
There's a reasonable case to be made that this apparent debacle won't move a single American vote. Indeed, for many on the right, this might very well be a badge of honor -- if Romney is being mocked in the UK, they assume, he's probably doing something right.
But there's just one angle to this that's nagging me: I've long perceived Romney as a hapless minor leaguer who pretends to be ready for the big show, and a successful international trip is supposed to be one of the ways in which he can prove someone like me wrong. Ostensibly, Romney can travel abroad -- taking advantage of his Anglo Saxon roots? -- and prove to Americans that he commands respect. He can be an effective leader of the free world, the argument goes, because international audiences will take him seriously.
How's that argument working out?
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So basically if we think Rawmoney's economic policies are George W. part deux, his "international leadership" is just more embarrassing crap on steroids! Be afraid Americans, remember how badly the world hated US, thought we were stupid, nincompoops, barbarians, after the 2004 elections - they will do so again! Only this time they'll be more open about it!
VOTE OUT THE GOTP IN NOVEMBER 2012!
This is just the beginning of the Mitt Romney American apology tour. Many more apologies to come.
And remember that this is someone from the Daily Mail--a Tory paper--saying these things about Romney.
best reaction from fleet st. on the 'charm offensive'
"... devoid of charm and mildly offensive ..."
and this is all before he spoke to the press about his classified briefing on syria with the head of mi6 (mittwit's idea of preventing leaks -- do it yourself!!!)
Give him a break here, will ya?
O'rielly called it M-16, like the rifle.
Really. Billo did not know it stood for Ministry of Intelligence - six.
He called it M - sixteen.
Too funny, Gordona... Enough to make Sir Harry Pearce face-palm.
Sorry to be so nit-picking, but will the Obama campaign now have to list Mitt Romney as a campaign contributor? How much would it have cost in attack ads to get this result? Mitt's foreign policy is a banana peel that he's about to step on. Zora's right; be very afraid.
On the other hand, Mitt may be building a defense to charges that he fraudulently edits the President's words in his ads. The defense? Chronic ineptitude. (Remember back in the primaries, when his own supporters made donuts for him?)
I think international audiences give us a glimpse at the US outside of our own media bubble. That Romney is not ready for prime time is obvious to everyone, but in our isolation bubble, our priorities are much more dominated by conservative conventional wisdom. Not that Europe doesn't have blinders of its own (austerity).
The narrative of Mitt Romney as a clueless and out of touch elitist businessman with no skills at handling the most important topics that would face a president is no stereotype; it is reality. Romney has already destroyed his only major foreign trip as presidential candidate, deeply and cruelly insulting our closest allies in the entire world with a thoughtless and baseless remark. An election of Romney to the White House could very well lead us into another conflict with England, because why would he tone down his arrogant rhetoric when he truly doesn't think he's said anything wrong? Romney is a bumbling and dangerous neophyte on the world stage. http://www.sunstateactivist.org
As a business owner and executive, he's used to giving orders. It's different when you're President. Members of Congress don't take orders. Other world leaders are peers, not subordinates.
We can see how uncomfortable Romney is when talking to the press, a group that (except for Faux News) has at least a modestly confrontational role in our society. He quickly becomes defensive and sarcastic when asked about the smallest conflicts in his positions, or when having to explain things he has done.
One wonders how he will do when working with foreign leaders who disapprove of something he does or says.
Collectively, all these gaffes WILL matter in the end. He's a complete dolt!
It would appear that- unlike our media- the British Press do not have access to Kool-Aid. . .
Now we know the real reason those colonists dumped the tea!
thats for sure
So what is the Romney position on security leaks regarding the Middle East?
Same as it is on every other issue -- if Obama officials do it, it's treasonous, if Romney does it, it's no big deal. In other words, nonstop lies. What do you expect from a guy who puts out a press release decrying leaks that quotes an advisor who was involved in the Valerie Plame scandal?
i wish somebody would explain to me how anybody so bonedumb can make a gazillion bucks.
Lie, cheat, bankrupt companies, and sucking on the government teet doesn't hurt...
Making money doesn't require intellect.
He started on third base with daddy's inheritance, then invested with a playing field rigged in his favor. He doesn't pay "income" tax, he pays a much smaller percentage in capital gains tax because his money generates his "income," not work. Classic example of having money to make money. No real effort required...except to off-shore shelter your profits.
Be born with ready access to the million bucks - like Willard was.
Or, you could just inherit a lot of money, too.
I've known plenty of bonedumb people who've made huge amounts of money. Average intelligence wedded to ruthlessness and single-minded industriousness seem to be enough. Brains are optional and can even be a hindrance, especially if they lead you get get all introspective about the harm you're doing others in the process.
Sociopathy is a great enabler of wealth. As shown in his recent quote-distortion campaign, Rmoney will do or say anything to advance himself. Pity the world if that man ends up in charge of an armed force.
I would not underestimate this as a potential vote-mover if it is played correctly. Ironically, Team Obama be can pretty Rovian about this, and turn one of the central arguments McCain made against Obama into a central argument against Romney: he isn't ready to be Commander in Chief. And Team Obama doesn't really have to say much at all -- just have an ad that shows clip after clip of the news coverage and twitter reports from London, saying how awful Romney is (and, especially, about the MI6 leak and the "worse than Sarah Palin" line). The specifics of why they don't like him or even that other countries don't like him wouldn't matter, but at some point the voters want to have faith that there is at least some minimum competency for all of the major parts of the job. Some of the quotes from Britain are completely damning in that regard, and better still many reinforce concerns American voters already have. I think Obama should run an ad on it as soon as the Olympics are over.
As me mum would say, "what an arse."
Not even elected yet, and he's already mimicking Bush's foreign policy leadership by saying stupid things and getting heads of state to mock him.
I'm guessing he'll piss off both Germany and Israel next with a comment to the effect of "Hitler had the right idea (white supremacy); he just didn't know how to execute his strategy."
Yes, he does appear to be that stupid. But hey, it'll appeal to many good ol' boys here in the States.
It is hard to pick a favorite part of the Kos article on the MI6 screw-up, but from a purely domestic standpoint I'm rather partial to Romney's uncomfortable discomfort with the failure of privatization of Olympic security. Talk about your awkward mismatches with Republican dogma!
"Chapman soon after quoted another British source that said, after meeting Romney, that he's "devoid of charm, warmth, humour or sincerity."
What we got here everybody is a Republican 50's TV robot in expensive clothes yet again embarrassing the country in front of the entire world. If we could only just cover our eyes and make it go away...
i think it's a performance art piece to advertize "mad men"
All cultures have tell-tale facial and body expressions that signify things to other members of that culture and can be lost on those on the outside. But Mitt Romney's persona, that constipated smile, his stiff and anal posture, his mannerisms, etc., seems to be a universal and hilarious dog whistle of dickish phoniness that nearly everybody in the world instantly interprets.
Anybody have any misgivings how the rest of the Republican pantheon -- McConnell, Boehner, Ryan, Cantor, Inhofe, ..., -- and their over-the-top jackassery would go over overseas?
No, or how stupid they think we are for electing these dimwits. The physical thing that bothers me most about Romney is how he walks. I don't know much about magical underwear but he walks like (as my mom would say) he has a cobb stuck . . . Or, he seems to walk in dainty little steps. I like Obama and have always been proud of the way he is. I am far from perfect and I don't like criticizing anyone for the way they look or act, but this man is running for POTUS and he seems more like a caricature of a Ken doll or more likely just another puppet of the GOP. It isn't that he's rich either, it is how he got that way - by fleecing us the people.
Possibly he is a cyborg planted here by an alien civilization as vanguard to taking us over.
Or, as we say in the original Anglo-Saxon, Romney really showed his ass.
so ... governor vaginal probe and his little buddy from lousiana made it all better in conference call telling the listeners that americans don't care about what they think of mittwit over there --
in other words -- we're all are as arrogant and xenophobic as this moron
That reminds me of the scene in the movie Patch Adams, where they design a doorway to look like a woman's spread legs, with a welcome sign to I think a group of OB-GYNs.
Now that McDonnell is touring for the campaign, someone SO needs to do that to him! "Welcome, Governor Vaginal-Probe!"
"devoid of charm, warmth, humour or sincerity." Well that is just brutal. Why would Mitt expose himself to such ridicule. Does he genuinely believe he has something to offer or is it just his vanity that drives him ? So far he has offered no compelling vision, no policy position, no semblance of competence (and no tax returns to speak of) therefore I must conclude that it is his vanity and for America and the rest of us that is so very troubling.
Amateur is the word that comes to my mind.
Not to me. "Amateur" implies someone who works for love. Not someone who is unfamiliar with either.
It has always been interesting to me, when traveling outside the USA, how differently the press reports news of the USA. It is good to have objective reporting. The reports from this trip are extremely beneficial in that we see Robme for exactly who he is. He is just an empty suit. The British recognize it as does everyone in the world who is now reading the press and BBC reports. Like Rachel says often, you just can't make this stuff up! Idiocy !
Also, when traveling to other countries, and I would assume with his wealth, he has done so extensively, wouldn't you expect someone to at least understand the basic niceties of being a guest in another country? That is something that is common sense. However, in some of his remarks , I sense arrogance.
Wait! There's more!
In his 2009 campaign book, No Apology, Gov. Romney wrote, "[I]f [England] hadn't been separated from the continent by water, it almost certainly would have been lost to Hitler's ambitions."
The Romney campaign says it wants to return Winston Churchill's bust to the Oval Office. But Romney's message to Churchill is, "You didn't do that!"
the paragraph the above quote is from also says that England has small roads and houses
i think i'm starting to see a pattern .....
And quite possibly trees that are not of adequate height.
I would want the Brits on my side as an ally. What a dolt!!! Maybe Mittens should look up the history of the Battle of Dunkirk and how many lives were saved when the Brits evacuated from France in the face of the German War Machine.
Interesting quote - if England had not been separated from the continent by water - wouldn't it have been France? If Russian had been the size of Finland ... If Romney's father had been a Methodist plumber ...
I would not trust Mr. Romney with a fork and a toaster. He just has no common sense.
I certainly wouldn't trust him with the White House.
Common sense isn't.
That's what you people are for.
If he had a fork and a toaster he'd electrocute the butler.
Hey, he took "personal responsibility" to make his own leaks - that's gotta be a first for a Republican.
My guess is that this only endears Romney to his fans in the U.S. After all, who wants the admiration of "old Europe"?
It should matter to domestic/electoral context.
The world today is a global village(Gone are those days when America used to be the super engine of the world's Economy).Almost everything that affects us individually,is dependent upon the conditions outside our borders.From Labor to the Economy to the Markets to Geopolitics to immigration to Eduaction, etc.
Honestly,if you ain't concerned,you better be.Am really concern about this Romney's sheer "ignorance" on things like diplomacy,Economy.This reminds me a lot of the Pre-Bush era.The guy was completely ignorant of basic facts about the world,Economy.Pushed by the movement conservative's bigotry and their money money machine,he got elected and we know how the story continues till this day.
Romney's lack of Intellectual Charisma is DEEPLY TROUBLING.
It only matters if he bows...
(Snark.)
Let's not forget #43, Geo. W. Bush and what nincompoop he was/is.
a Drunk too
Quite disappointing to see that Ms. Maddow apparently accepts the notion that the Presidency of the United States includes the title of "Leader of the Free World".
Don't Americans realize how insulting this is to other sovereign nations - not to mention illogical?
Countries that are part of an entity called "the free world" should, by definition, take part in the election of its leaders. If they have leaders imposed upon them from outside, no matter how benign the intentions of the individual involved may be, then those countries cannot, by definition, be considered free.
As a citizen of a free nation outside the United States (we are more free than Americans, in fact) I do not recognize the United States as even a member of the free world, let alone it's leader.
So long as the United States has a so called "right" to bear arms and not a universal right to health care, the United States fails as even being among the advanced nations of the world, let alone be any kind of leader.
In the United States millionaires and big corporations, not voters, determine who the President of the United States and representatives will be. The United States is not a free nation in many, many ways.
Someone needs their eyes checked or has serious problems with details.
RM does not write these posts [most of the time]. This post and most of the GOOD ones are written by Steve Benen. See his name at the top? Look up his past work - Political Animal on Washington Monthly website and before the great website Carpetbagger Report.
Well, that's what Romney is asking people to select. However inapt the job description, if you claim it you should be prepared to defend your ability to do the job.
I wonder if he genuinely forgot that we can all now access world media. Just because he slags off the nation that's hosting him at that time to a US news outlet DOESN'T MEAN WE CAN'T HEAR HIM! LOOOOOOLLLLL!