Ask Mitt Romney why he disagrees with President Obama's foreign policy, and he'll give you a quick answer: Iran. On "Meet the Press," for example, Romney said, "I can certainly look at his record and I think one can say that he's had some successes and he's had some failures. And perhaps the biggest failure is as it relates to the greatest threat that America faces and the world faces, which is the nuclear Iran."
But this requires a little more depth. George Stephanopoulos asked Romney a good question: "What is your red line with Iran?" The candidate replied, "Well, my red line is Iran may not have a nuclear weapon. It is inappropriate for them to have the capacity to terrorize the world."
It led to an interesting exchange.
STEPHANOPOULOS: President Obama said exactly the same thing. He said it's unacceptable for Iran to have a nuclear weapon. So your red line is the same as his.
ROMNEY: Yeah, and I laid out what I would do to keep Iran from reaching that red line. [...]
STEPHANOPOULOS: But your red line going forward is the same?
MITT ROMNEY: Yes.
What's wrong with this? Nothing in particular, except two of Romney's most senior foreign policy advisers, Eliot Cohen and Richard Williamson, said Romney and Obama don't have the same red line with regards to Iran.
Mr. Romney, said Mr. Cohen, "would not be content with an Iran one screwdriver's turn away from a nuclear weapon." Though he did not say exactly where, in the development of nuclear capacity, Mr. Romney would draw his own red line, Mr. Cohen said that it would be far before Mr. Obama's own line -- at the point of actual weaponization -- and that it could be in a different place that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel draws it.
There are 53 days left before the election, and Romney and Romney's advisors are not yet able to say the same thing on one of their key foreign-policy complaints about Obama. One of these days, amateur hour is going to have to end.
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Hey Rachel, I understand there are many resaons why it's not about the film but how do they square this senseless barbaric activity with a loving God of Islam? This should pull the curtain back once and for all!!!
Hey Moron, Rachel DOES NOT WRITE THIS! This blog is written by the very smart Steve Benen. Get a clue!
I guess the "kiss-kiss, hug-hug" foreign policies of this President and Administration are in jeopardy. Hope they stop sending Billions of taxpayer dollars to countries that are "not our allies or our enemies" too.
Maybe if President Obama had sat in on more than half of the National Security briefings he would have had a little more foresight on this situation.
@FromDownHereKissingMitt'sAss...
What the f*ck do you want, a repeat of the Little George's 'bluster & bully' foreign policies?
Are you Pooper242 relabeled? Still looking for a better class of paid troll and you ain't it.
@FromDownHere
Ah, you mean like Bush. You know, the guy that lied us into a war that cost the lives of thousands of Americans. Yep, good thing he was attending all those National Security briefings.
Also, last I heard it was that "kiss-kiss, hug-hug" policy that brought Bin Laden to justice.
"FromDownHere"
Quite appropriate for someone who speaks out their A**.
melopsittacus - 2 very good points!
and you were able to express yourself without calling anyone a name or cussing. Good Job! (not like some others)
If only Mr. Romney and Mr. Ryan could express themselves without lying.
Wow, Koolaid for Everyone!
"One of these days, amateur hour is going to have to end."
As long as "the base" laps it up - it doesn't matter if the rest of US do. Can someone get that hook that's used during "amateur hour" to pull this guy off the stage right?
And how do you say "the base" in Arabic? Oh, yeah...
Womp-womp! Womp-womp!
:D
Vulture/Voucher 2012
Proving Two Rights DO Make a Wrong!
;-)
MikeinMichigan Wins the day!!!
Same red line, but "Now with MORE BLUSTER!"
The Republicans, like all bullies, have to talk big. Teddy Roosevelt was the exception, who said "Speak softly and carry a big stick."
Mitt is more like, "Talk big and carry a soft stick."
The word Neocons hate more than any other is "linkage". I would say that most if not all the hate that is directed at the US is a result of our slavish devotion to that Apartheid Zionist state that denies Palestinians any rights and steals all their land.
One idea is that Romney is running two strategies at once. A more moderate one for the Sunday shows that the more interested swing voters follow, promptly followed by the walkback red meat for the suddenly alarmed base, who, after all tend to be dittoheads who believe the last thing they are told. What other choice do they have, they're already holding their noses?
/snark
It makes it more interesting now that Mc Cain is urging him to make a major foreign policy speech. Trying to please both in one speech? Can't wait to hear that & the questions that would follow!
Some people in the MSM are not letting Romney and Ryan get away with the lies. This is just the beginning of the media challenging Romney and Ryan. Now that Stephanopoulos has done it, other commentators feel free in doing the same. The Sunday morning talk shows need to keep the heat on Romney and Ryan by confronting them with their statements followed by a later retraction. Independent voters will get to see the Romney strategy in action. By the time we reach the debates, the voters will have heard enough about the lies and retractions. Then Obama and Biden can bring the hammer down. Once Romney and Ryan make a statement in the debates, it is going to be disastrous if they try to retract at a later time.
I absolutely agree that this idea couldn't survive the debates in prime time. I am just trying to figure out what all the walkbacks are about. I guess maybe dragging along the base until it's too late for a third party escape route for the true believers? Perhaps we'll have to wait for the books in a year's time.
The only reason that Romney believes that Iran is a threat, is because him and his play Army buddies say so. All he is doing is instigating another war. Iran has been on the path of Democracy for about 10 years now. He gave up on trying to make us believe that Russia was our foe and now he's going to try Iran. What's next the small Country of tacki-tacki-stan, Like Herman Cain would say.
Isn't Grenada due for another reminder of who's boss?
Does anyone know what role paul ryan had in romneys decision to criticize the POTUS?
I have not heard if he was consulted, what he thought, what he suggested? Anyone know? Because I would like to know what his thoughts were. I find it funny that nobody is questioning what paul ryan thoughts were.
Eddie Munster is still working on his plan to blow up the World.
The fact that Ryan has resumed his reelection campaign for Congress should give you some insight into his thoughts.
It certainly is easy to draw lines on an etch a sketch, Unfortunately it is not very useful for content.
Romney needs to get up to speed on this key issue. Netanyahu's red line is : no enrichment, no centrifuges spinning, and no further development on midrange ballistic missiles. Obama's redline is no posession of a real bomb.
Iran is complying with all IAEA requirements. Israel has never allowed anyone to inspect Dimona. Israel seems to be confused what a Superpower-Client state relaitionship is. Netanyahu thinks he is the boss, and he wants us to fight his new wars for him against Syria, Lebanon, and Iran.
Does this red line have anything to do with the red light district?
@ Angel...
No. That was two weeks ago in Tampa.
Given that Mitt thinks the USSR is still a threat, I wonder what his position is on the Maginot Line.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's pimp Adeleson is attempting to buy and American President for Israel, so the US will attack Iran FOR Israel and the Prime Minister can keep his citizens safe, and watch our men and women fight his battle.
Have they not learned anything about fascism and Hitler? It can also work both ways,where is Hitler now?
Facism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power. Benito Mussolini
We are getting there ourselves...
Netanyahu's claim that America is putting up some red light on his attack on Iran is laughable. Martin Dempsey made that clear-- The US will not be complicit. If he wants to attack he should attack and not keep talking about like Tuco told that cowboy who ran his mouth in The Good The Bad and The Ugly when he was taking a bath.
It is like a little guy telling his bodyguards to hold him back in a bar, or a Pekingese dog tugging furiously at it's leash to get at a passerby.
to SadOldVeteran:
"Corporations are people, my friend."
Just typing Willard's quote makes my skin crawl. Think I'll go scrub my hands with Comet or something even more abrasive!!
I think the full Romney quote was "Corporations are people and my friends. Some of my best friends are defense industry corporations."
Mittens RMoney's Middle East Foreign Policy will be whatever Benny NutAndYahoo and The Likud Party and AIPAC says it will be. War, more war, war forever! Ain't no fun being a Client State of The Likud Party, but Mittens will do it!
This is silly -- we all know where Romney's red line is regarding Iran:
When his (or his Party, or its sponsors) control of domestic affairs loses enough margin to put key domestic-policy outcomes in doubt, Iran is going to get some very noisy attention.
I suspect Romney is more familiar with the "Red Lines" drawn by mortgage lenders in "Neighborhoods of Color."
Or the Red lines drawn through the names of employees at all of the companies he has destroyed.
I'm still trying to wrap my brain around this notion that Iran possessing one or even a few nuclear weapons is a threat to the United States.
We have THOUSANDS of nuclear warheads, and have the capability to launch them on a moment's notice to any point on the globe. How in the hell is Iran a threat to us?
Romney is acting like one of those cartoon elephants who jumps up on a chair in shear terror after seeing a mouse.
Steve, you made the Raw Story papers: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/09/14/romney-obama-tends-to-say-things-that-arent-true/
Gotta love it.
And you thought the Gong Show was dead? (hmmm...new debate tactic? Give the audience a few gongs so they can signify their disapproval of the stupid answers to the lame questions?)
....."One of these days, amateur hour is going to have to end."
It ends definitively on Nov. 7th!
Until then we'll work tirelessly to make sure Mitt gets to retire to his boat in N.H. and Paul gets to drag his tail back to the house and bury his head in the sand.
In what way would a "nuclear Iran" be a greater threat to world peace than the present "nuclear Pakistan"? It seems to me that the greatest threat to world peace these days is "nuclear Israel". Just like American neocons, the Likudniks are never happy unless they've got a war going on or the threat of a war in the works.
The only reason the USA has to make a BFD about Iran is because the Israelis say so. The Israeli tail always wags the American dog. But it's for the same old reason: money. The US gives American taxpayer dollars to Israel, Israel gives some of that to AIPAC, and AIPAC uses that money to bribe US Congresspeople. No surprise that those Congresspeople insist that we keep giving those billions every year to Israel, because they're fond of the kickbacks. But the recipients have to do whatever Israel says to stay on the payroll, so when Israel says "attack Iran", the US Congress replies, "Whatever you say, Boss!"
Amateur hour (Rmoney foreign policy style) ended at the beginning of the week. What's going on now is just embarrassing! Somebody get the hook!
we took out our #1 enemy, which was there #1 hero. Obama had no plan for the repercussin
Mitt worked with Netanyahu, they are friends. Etch A Sketch will attach Iran because of his friend. The people of Iran are educated and love America but they have some jerks controlling the goverment. If you attack Iran you are killing people that love America. We do not collect enough taxes to pay for our wars, we take out a loan. How many wars can we put on credit before we destroy our economy?
A vote for Mitt is a vote for a war with Iran.