Mitt Romney caused quite a stir this week, appearing at an Israeli fundraiser where he argued Palestinians have a weaker economy because of its "culture." The comments have drawn sharp rebukes on both sides of the Atlantic and made an already-disastrous foreign trip even worse.
What's more, as Kevin Drum explained this morning, it wasn't a gaffe. "This was a deliberate pander to the conservative base in the U.S., which pretty strongly believes that the Palestinian culture is indeed corrupt, indolent, and sullen," Kevin noted. "Romney knows this perfectly well. He was demonstrating once again, in a very concrete way, that he's no RINO."
Today, however, Romney insisted with Fox News that he didn't say what he actually said.
"I'm not speaking about it, did not speak about the Palestinian culture or the decisions made in their economy," Romney told Carl Cameron. "That's an interesting topic that deserves scholarly analysis, but I actually didn't address that. Certainly don't intend to address that in my campaign. Instead, I will point out are that the choices that a society makes has a profound impact on the economy and the vitality of that society."
As far as the Republican is concerned, the media is simply engaged in a coordinated effort to "divert from the fact that these last four years have been tough for our country."
Apparently, Romney's foreign screw-ups are the result of a pro-Obama media conspiracy.
As you might have noticed, there are a few problems with this.
First, when Romney told Fox he "did not speak about the Palestinian culture," he's simply not telling the truth. NBC's Mark Murray and Garrett Haake, relying on the transcript released by the Romney campaign itself, published a report that removes all doubt. The presidential hopeful was talking about the relative size of national economies, and he made the direct connection to competing cultures.
It's not even a close call. The relevant portion of the speech is a little long, but since Romney is denying the facts, it's worth setting the record straight:
"I was thinking this morning as I prepared to come into this room of a discussion I had across the country in the United States about my perceptions about differences between countries. And as you come here and you see the GDP per capita for instance in Israel, which is about 21,000 dollars, and you compare that with the GDP per capita just across the areas managed by the Palestinian Authority which is more like 10,000 dollars per capita, you notice a dramatic, stark difference in economic vitality. And that is also between other countries that are near or next to each other. Chile and Ecuador, Mexico and the United States. [...]
"I noted that part of my interest when I used to be in the world of business is I would travel to different countries was to understand why there were such enormous disparities in the economic success of various countries. I read a number of books on the topic. One, that is widely acclaimed, is by someone named Jared Diamond called 'Guns, Germs and Steel,' which basically says the physical characteristics of the land account for the differences in the success of the people that live there. There is iron ore on the land and so forth. And you look at Israel and you say you have a hard time suggesting that all of the natural resources on the land could account for all the accomplishment of the people here. And likewise, other nations that are next door to each other have very similar, in some cases, geographic elements. [...]
"But then there was a book written by a former Harvard professor named 'The Wealth and Poverty of Nations.' And in this book Dr. Landes describes differences that have existed -- particularly among the great civilizations that grew and why they grew and why they became great and those that declined and why they declined. And after about 500 pages of this lifelong analysis -- this had been his study for his entire life -- and he's in his early 70s at this point, he says this, he says, if you could learn anything from the economic history of the world it's this: Culture makes all the difference. Culture makes all the difference. And as I come here and I look out over this city and consider the accomplishments of the people of this nation, I recognize the power of at least culture and a few other things."
Romney "did not speak about the Palestinian culture"? Please.
For that matter, it's kind of amusing to hear the former governor suggest news reports had taken him out of context, given that his entire campaign message is based on rhetoric that's been taken out of context.
As for Romney's suspicion of a media conspiracy, it wasn't news organizations' fault when he insulted the British; it wasn't news organizations' fault when he misquoted the Australian finance minister; it wasn't news organizations' fault when his campaign kinda sorta gave the green light on a unilateral strike on Iran; it wasn't news organizations' fault when he used borderline-racist language at his Israeli fundraiser; it wasn't news organizations' fault when he praised a socialized health care system he claims to abhor; and it wasn't news organizations' fault when his press secretary said, "Kiss my ass. This is a Holy site."
Take some responsibility, Mitt. Blaming the media is lazy and wrong.
Leave a Comment:
More "retroactivity" no doubt.
He was right...Golda Maier said the same thing..."We will have no peace until the Arabs love their children more than they hate us," or words to that effect. The Palestinians are the same....they spend all their energy hating Israel instead of building a real country and real opportunity for their citizens. Moreover, they really need to go back to their homeland...Jordan.
Morons, er, I mean Mormons, have this belief - stolen from the Protestant Ethic by their confessed-and-convicted con artist "founder" - that God gives material success in this world to those who are "superior" people in their love of God and obedience to the rules. Romney's just spouting what he was taught at a young age. Of course, the fact that it's racist in addition to being smug, is only the least of its problems.
Militant Reactionary Christians and quasi-Christians do tend to be quite bigoted and insufferably smug in their bigotry.
Actually...he does....Just like our American culture used to do....You know...respect your parents, stay in school, work hard....end up pretty good.
Maybe Romney was under the assumption that what he said abroad wouldn't be reported here in the States. I thought he was just going over there to get money not to engage in politics. Maybe now that he is coming back here, he will explain to us his plans conscerning foreign policies or not..he seems to be back in the denial mode. I wonder how much dough he was able to rake in from those other Countries, and what promises he made to them? Sure, makes a lot of promises, doesn't he? What promises has he made to the poor and the Middle class of this Country? Perhaps he could share some of that wealth he is going to receive from other countries.
No no no no no...He wasn't dissing the Palestinians - They're just dumb A-rabs who don't know any better. All he was saying was that the Israelies, like all Jews, are really good with money, like that Shylock guy. I mean, everybody knows THAT!
Look for the next Romney video featuring Obama singing, with the subtext "He can sing and dance, but can he lead?"
Comments that are made tending to eviscerate my charming , charmed , life with its quarter billion in proof of my vital integrity , are no longer operative .
Or more simply, "That was not intended to be a factual statement."
"I don't remember what I said but whatever it was, I stand by it."
That is, unless it was wrong and offensive to some, and then I didn't say it.
What a dolt.
I hate to come to Romney's defense here, it seriously pains me to do so, but there is a huge cultural difference between the two territories. The Palestinians don't allow women into the work force, haven't been viligant on ensuring Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) don't fall into the hands of criminals and they haven't created an educational system that would allow the next generation of Palestinians to compete in the global market. The fact that Romney backed off his comments is alarming, perhaps he doesn't realize this was a point he could've won.
Also to state that the comments were racist is a bit of an over reach. It's really just a cultural and policy observation. Facts are facts, if you don't open the work force, don't fight organized criminal organizations along with the corruption it breeds and don't create a globally competitive educational system you won't have a strong economy.
Sent from my Phone, disregard all spelling and grammatical mistakes.
Magic Man - without an acknowledgement that Israel has occupied Palestine for decades, and that that may have just adversely affected the Palestinian economy, any defense given on Romney's behalf rings hollow and dishonest. Palestinian officials themselves feel that Romney's comments were racist - it's not a matter of now parsing whether it was or not - add to it, even some Israelis think his remarks could be construed as actually anti-Semitic. The point is that Romney unnecessarily caused deep offense in a region of the world that doesn't need much goading to see tensions escalate. Romney disgraced himself in Israel and poorly represented the U.S.. No wonder he didn't want to let reporters in to cover it.
I take issue with your comment and your distorted understanding of the Israel--Palestinian problem and their respective histories.
The Palestinians are the REAL descendants of Israelites not the current occupants of Israel.You can read from Shlomo Sand book THE INVENTION OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE.
So why are the Palestinians lagging behind in terms of development?
Well,first their land was stolen from them,by the Powerful nations,then they were oppressed, then excluded.When they complain and fight for the land of their forefathers,they are labeled as terrorists,mind you not far ago,Nelson Mandela was labeled terrorist too by the west.
Palestine isn't even recognized in the international scene as sovereign.
On the other hand [Israel] receives aide from the Powerful(USA gives 3.2 billions each year),plus transfer of technology and military know how.
So tell me how you can compare those two with a straight face?
<i> " The Palestinians don't allow women into the work force..." </i>
That is absolutely untrue.
Unemployment in the occupied territories ranges from the high teens to the 40's - Women not being able to work is not the problem. Work is the problem.
The "government" such as it is, is a sham, hobbled and evicerated by heavy handed oversight from Israel. Of course corruption runs wild. Not that the Israeli Government is any model open and honest government.
A decent education system would be great. So would enough food. And water. And housing. And building materials. And all other items now restricted or blocked from entry to the territories. So mere survival, not education, might be a higher priority at this time.
I don't believe your statement that Palestinians do not allow women in the work force.
From the UN... "The proportion of Palestinian women who are fully employed is among the lowest in the world."
http://www.unwomen.org/2012/02/palestinian-women-bread-makers-bread-winners/
That said it's absolutely true that culture determines economic success. It's why Greeks are poor and Germans aren't. The real bottom line for Palestinians is that as long as they prefer killing Jews to peace, they are going to be what they are. Poor.
And June, the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine is now part of history. Don't like it? Too bad. Write the UN. If you really feel strongly about returning property to "original" owners, find a native American and give them your house. Otherwise, stifle.
Shooter - I expected better from you. (Well, not really). First, you're having a conversation with yourself - nowehere in my remarks do I veer off into what you're talking about.
Secondly, bringing up the UN has nothing to do with having an honest discussion of how decades of occupation and disenfranchisement have come to bear on the Palestinian economy. There is no authentic comparison of the Palestinian economy to the Israeli economy without acknowledging those circumstances. But to launch into a real discussion on the topic would take a certain amount of depth, something Romney has shown us time and again he is sorely lacking.
I think they are battling over The Holy Land, I'm not exactly sure why, God has the power to make any spot on this Earth holy. Maybe he has a new parcel of land that he has in mind to make The Holiest of them All. Then what, should we all race there and wait. I should like to think that it is all Holy. Literally, though we really don't need anymore holes in the Earth.
June Day - The idea of that Israel is occupying Palestine is a matter of perception, according to your logic the US is still occupying native american land in Oklahoma. See in 1948 when the state of Israel was established all of their neighbors (Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon along with volunteers from Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Pakistan) attacked them. Israel won the war to reafirm their right to exist (in fact they won the war without any help from Western Nations who were A) War weary and B) didn't want to pick a side). The lands won in 48 didn't include the Gaza Strip or the West Bank. Everyone was fine with Israel keeping those lands.
In 1950 Jordan annexed the West Bank, thus destroying the original English plan to divide their old territory of Palestine into 2 independent nations, one for Jews and one for Arabs. In 67 the Egyptians ordered UN peace keeping forces out of the Sinai Desert and signed a mutual defense treaty with Jordan. Then about a month later Israel attacked Egypt due to Egypt mounting a large force where UN Peace Keepers previously were stationed. Jordan protected its ally and shelled Jerusalem. Syria also entered the fray. The war ended with Egypt losing the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip, Syria losing the Golan Heights and Jordan losing the West Bank.
Now I don't know about you, but where I come from when you enter a war with someone and lose you are subject to lose territory. For example Spain losing Cuba to the US in the Spanish American War, The United States of America winning its independence and territory from the British in the American Revolution, Germany losing territorial rights to Poland after WW I and Japan losing its right to islands in the Central Pacific Ocean, such as the Mariana Islands, the Marshall Islands, the Caroline Islands, and the Palau Islands as well as the right to have an armed force.
After the 6 day war Israel offered the citizens of the Golan Heights, Gaza Strip and West Bank full Israeli citizenship. Many of these Arabs declined citing the fact that they would never recognize Israeli sovereignty. Israel decided to make them permanent residents and gave them the right to vote. Giving people the right to vote is not an occupation. In fact Israel went ahead and made things even better for the Arabs in these newly conquered lands, offering schooling, making Arabic an official language and a genuine offer to join the government.
Seven years later Egypt attacked again with Syria, Jordan decided it had had enough and say the Yom Kippur war out. Israel won again and in the aftermath of the war decided to give back the Sinai Peninsula, but kept the Gaza Strip.
Now I want you to pay very close attention to the next part, after the Yom Kippur war all of the citizens from Gaza and the West Bank were given free pass from Israel to go back to their countries of origin. Jordan shut its doors on the people of the West Bank and didn't allow them to immigrate back to their country. Egypt had a similar policy and wouldn't take back the people from Gaza. These are people forsaken by their previous countries, they were not and are not wanted by Jordan or Egypt. If anything they are occupying land that was conquered by Israel. Israel said fine, broke off talks with the countries these people were originally from and decided to negotiate with this new group which call themselves Palestinians.
The Palestinians in Gaza elected a group called Hamas to represent them. Hamas' charter states among other things "The time will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews [and kill them]; until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: Oh Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him!" Now imagine someone wanted to kill you, and that this mission of killing you and your family was an official goal of theirs. Would you not want to build a wall and keep those people away from you and your loved ones? Would you not make sure that everything that comes into your land wasn't checked for explosives? Its not an occupation, and Israel has stated numerous times that it is willing to negotiate with Fattah (PLO) and that once the Palestinians reject the rule of Hamas it can start to make concessions. If the people of Palestine really wanted to climb out of the terrible situation that they are in they would change their cultural beliefs from a way of war and criminal enterprise to way of peace and understanding. You don't see Israelis going into Gaza and blowing themselves up, because that's not their culture.
June Day if you would like to continue this discussion I would be more than happy to, just not in this public forum. You can reach me at Celebjunk@yahoo.com and I will reach out to you from my actual email address. I don't want to put my real information out here in this public forum, too many trolls.
(sarcasm alert!)
How dare those Palestinians try to avoid the fate that the ancient Israelites visited on the Canaanites!
How many Romneyites does it take to make and stand by a factual statement? Apparently it is still being tabulated like his 2011 taxes.
Probably much larger than the number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin. ;-)
Here is my question: If Romney only answered 3 questions from reporters on his trip, why are the reporters even there? Would not the money spent on those reporters be better used to do some actual, you know, reporting?
I would think that the reporters would like not to be mere stenographers, and should stop following Romney around. If there are complaints about lack of coverage, it would seem to be simple to note that Romney would then need to answer questions, and provide the follow up that he promises.
Just as a Republican's claims don't have to be true, they just have to be MADE and they thus become Truth, a Republican's comments cease to exist if the Republican in question insists they were never made. This is a Fact.
Why aren't we talking about Obama's birth certificate? Clearly there's still more discussion to be had there. His birth in Hawaii has never been proven, or else Republicans would stop talking about it.
I'm dumber than a sack of wet hammers...and I VOTE.
I did not think it was possible for Republicans to nominate someone more incompetent than George Bush. I was wrong.
(sarcasm alert!)
Hey buddy, we don't need no compatunce, we need us a WHITE MAN in our WHITE HOUSE!
I wonder how far the Romney campaign can go with accusing the media of lying about him before they start doing a Daily Show schtick and put his accusations of lying up against his own words.
You sir, are a liar. Liar liar, your pants are on firrreeee!!!!
Who is reporting on the reporters not reporting, other than MaddowBlog? What we are seeing here is a complete exposure of the incompetence or worse, corruption of, the MSM. Clearly, the editors and publishers of the various media organs are not demanding that their "reporters" actually report and do some investigative research. Romney is not the problem; the reporting of his campaign is the problem. CNN, AOL, and the rest of the media, are covering up the lies and deceit of the Romney campaign and the rest of the Republicans. One wonders what purpose this serves, other than lining the coffers of the corporate media. Truth certainly is not the goal.
Two Words : Big Six
You have no choice . They feed us everything we see, hear, read .
They are in business to sell pharmaceuticals and Cheerios and make money for their shareholders.
News ...not so much.
http://www.fastcodesign.com/1665600/infographic-of-the-day-the-mega-companies-behind-90-of-media
All of the MSM has a stake in keeping the race close. Ad money from the PACs, Super PACs, DNC, RNC, and whoever else can plunk down millions. They'll pay much more for a single spot these next 3 months than even the auto or pharma industries. Certainly there are reporters out there who set out long ago to be honest, do the research, and report only truthful, confirmed facts. Of course, when it comes down to deciding between that and keeping a job they would lose by doing so, they choose the job. So, as is the case with most everything else, journalistic integrity falls a distant second to money.
Mitt is astonishing. Either that or he has some early-onset form of dementia. Not only did he actually say what he said he didn't say about cultures -- he put it in his freakin' book, almost word for word. And the book was published in 2010!
Rule #1 of American politics: It's OKay If You're A Republican.
Rule #2: When in doubt, refer to rule #1.
Mitt is astonishing. Either that or he has some early-onset form of dementia. Not only did he say what he said he didn't say about Palestinian culture -- he wrote it in his freakin' book! And the book was published in 2010!]
he still doesn't understand - youtube and the internet are NOT his friends.
Someone needs to tell Mitt he can Etch-A-Sketch his positions on issues, but not the recordings of his words. Alas, nobdy on his staff seems to know that either.
Ten bucks says Romney never read more than a Cliff's Notes version of Guns, Germs, and Steel, since all he seems to have gotten out of it is a vague generalization that he chooses to think supports what he wants to believe.
I haven't read The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, but I would be surprised if any scholar would be happy with having their life's work described as pablum like "Culture makes all the difference."
However, it makes perfect sense if you think of it in terms of an executive "reading" a book to get as much out of it as from the latest management fad book, and using it to impress his covey of yes-men.
This is too bizarre and post-modern to even be funny. Reporters reporting, what reporters?
Keep yapping Mitt.
Mitt the Mutt?
Isn't it a bit strange that Mitt is claiming that Israel's culture helped them to get to where they are economically, while, just a few weeks ago, was condemning Obama's statement (which was taken completely out of context and wrongly used) that "if you own a small business, you didn't build it yourself"? If an entreprenureal atmosphere, access to capital, water, roads, building materials, infrastructure, opportunity, education (teachers) and the like are the culture of the United States, then why is Mitt talking it up as a great thing in Israel while railing against it in the U.S.? Doesn't the U.S. "culture" help businesses along?
greg sargent notes that rmoney said the same thing in his 2010 book
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/in-2010-book-romney-ascribed-israeli-palestinian-economic-disparities-to-culture/2012/07/31/gJQA3ifyMX_blog.html
Yes it was. Changing Senor's words from "respect" a decision, to "back" a decision, is rank fabrication.
Yes it is. Even this blog took Romney's words out of context, and then declared an obvious difference between nations racism.
True.
True, but they deserved that anyway.
Not always. the media are Obama partisans through and through. MSNBC is exhibit "A". Newsweek asks if Romney is a wimp, ignores that Obama is whipped. Tsk.
Mr. Mitty is incorrect, again:
- The "Liberal Media" Continue To Hammer Obama
- Romney, Obama, and Media Bias
- Media Bias Exposed: Romney Gets 3 Times More Positive Coverage than Obama
- "Liberal Media" Hasn't Given Obama A Week Of Positive Press Coverage In Nearly One Year
- Media Bias Exposed: Romney Gets 3 Times More Positive Coverage than Obama
- Though Experts Agree Spending Cuts Hurt The Economy, Media Amplify GOP Attacks On Obama's Policies
- The "Liberal Media" Continue To Hammer Obama
- All The President's Watergates
It's not so much "mistaken" as it is "mendacious". Steve Benen could do a series on "The Balderdash of The Blank".
And how many debates did we pre-discuss, have for viewing, post-discuss for days on end for the last ten months? How many times have Republicans been guests for the majority of Sunday news programs? How many times a day is Romney mentioned on every network - in every newspaper - online - vs. the number of stories covering this President, his Cabinet, the laws he's proposed, the laws Congress has passed that he has signed, the number of appointees he's had approved or not even allowed to come up for a vote, ...do I need to keep going?
When you look at the article posted from Fast Company w/ the media ownership explained, how can Shooter or any other conservative even whisper that the media is controlled by liberal interests? Look at the donations to candidates by these same corporations - the ones that are made public, and the majority by like 3:1 are donations to Republican candidates over Democrats by these wealthy and powerful business interests. MSNBC gives more time and coverage to conservative, moderate positions than the MSM gives to "liberal" speakers, writers, politicians, or voters. Please, Romney has had and continues to have a media that will report every word he says or any Republican who speaks for him, and not unfavorably. I wish MSNBC reporters/hosts would report how many conservative guests they have, the minutes they speak, vs. the moderate Democrats, etc. I think you would see far less partisanship than you think is true. Mr. Romney is being taken out of context, nor being unfavorably cast when his words are being reported far less than you or his proponents believe.
Please, ignore s242. It is a sociopathetic troll whose every word is either a lie or R talking point, but I repeat myself. How it continues to show up on this site indicates a lack of self-esteem in that it is attracting much negativity to itself that it cannot possibly counter with rational conversations. Starve the troll and it will not survive for long.
No, don't ignore the aggressively malicious. If the people who run this site refuse to do their jobs and ban the trolls, then the trolls need to be smacked down hard whever they show themselves.
re Shooter...
One would think that with the high profile that Rachel Maddow has within the contempt circles of the repuknican party that they would get a higher quality paid troll than Shooter242.
Per the Willard Scale, Germany had a much higher 'culture' than (now) Israel in the 1930's and still does now. Why does Willard want to insult our allies?
Dont forget Canada and USA