Romney’s excellent trip

[Conservative]

Spot on opinion piece by Krauthammer, fresh off his reception of an apology from the White House a few days ago.

You go Charles! WOO WOO WOO!!!!!

Charles Krauthammer: Romney’s excellent trip - The Washington Post

The Warsaw leg was a triumph. Romney’s speech warmly embraced Poland’s post-communist experiment as a stirring example of a nation committed to limited government at home and a close alliance with America abroad, even unto such godforsaken war zones as Afghanistan and Iraq, at great cost to itself and with little thanks.

Without any overt criticism of the current president, Romney set out a foreign policy of radically greater appreciation of and fidelity to American allies.

Regarding the 'shove it' comment...

On the eve of the 2004 Democratic Convention, Teresa Heinz Kerry offered precisely that anatomically risky suggestion to an insistent Pittsburgh journalist. Not only did she later express no regret, but Hillary Clinton reacted with: “Good for you, you go girl.”

And at his previous stop, Jerusalem, Romney’s speech was a masterpiece of nuance and restraint. Without directly criticizing Obama, Romney drew pointed distinctions deftly expressed in the code words and curlicued diction of Middle East diplomacy.

He declared flatly that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital. The official Obama position is that Israel’s capital is to be determined in negotiations with the Palestinians. On Iran, Romney asserted that Israel has the right to defend itself. Obama says this as boilerplate. Romney made clear he means it — that if Israel has to attack, the United States won’t flash the red light before nor punish Israel afterward.

What about the alleged gaffe that dominated reporting from Israel? Romney averred that Israeli and Palestinian economic development might be related to culture. A Palestinian Authority spokesman obligingly jumped forth to accuse Romney of racism, among other thought crimes.

The American media bought it whole, despite the fact that Romney’s assertion was a direct echo of the United Nations’ Arab Human Development Report, written by Arab intellectuals and commissioned by the U.N. It unambiguously asserted that “culture and values are the soul of development.” And went on to report how existing cultural norms — “including traditional Arab culture and values” — are among the major impediments to Arab economic progress.

Look at how Romney was received. In Israel, its popular prime minister lavished on him a welcome so warm as to be a near-endorsement. In Poland, Romney received an actual endorsement from Lech Walesa, former dissident, former president, Cold War giant, Polish hero.

Two staunch U.S. allies salute a man they would like to see lead the free world. Yet the headlines were “shove it” and “culture.”

 

[Dutch]

I'd be kissing his ass too if the majority of my national defense depended on the United States. Obama would have gotten the same welcome. They know where their bread is buttered.

 

[nitroz]

Excellent trip!?

With how he globally embarrassed us and how he was compared and determined to be WORSE THAN SARAH PALIN BY EURO NATIONS!?

 

[Listening]

Excellent trip!?

With how he globally embarrassed us and how he was compared and determined to be WORSE THAN SARAH PALIN BY EURO NATIONS!?

Sure.

I'd call that a success.

Maybe he got them to pull the corks out of their noses and the bottles out of their asses long enough to realize they are totally screwed and need to start moving in another direction.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

What a difference to have a guy who's not apologizing for the USA!

 

[Listening]

What a difference to have a guy who's not apologizing for the USA!

And who tells the truth !

 

[nitroz]

What a difference to have a guy who's not apologizing for the USA!

Can I come to your house for dinner?
I hope you don't mine me taking a shit on your carpet, hitting on your wife, insulting you infront of your family, etc, and demanding respect from you because I can't take responsibility for my actions and lack manners.

 

[Listening]

What a difference to have a guy who's not apologizing for the USA!

Can I come to your house for dinner?
I hope you don't mine me taking a shit on your carpet, hitting on your wife, insulting you infront of your family, etc, and demanding respect from you because I can't take responsibility for my actions and lack manners.

Why don't you go to the local prison for dinner and apologize to them for what we've done to them by putting them in jail.

Then pull down you pants and let each one have a shot at you.

 

[nitroz]

What a difference to have a guy who's not apologizing for the USA!

Can I come to your house for dinner?
I hope you don't mine me taking a shit on your carpet, hitting on your wife, insulting you infront of your family, etc, and demanding respect from you because I can't take responsibility for my actions and lack manners.

Why don't you go to the local prison for dinner and apologize to them for what we've done to them by putting them in jail.

Then pull down you pants and let each one have a shot at you.

Nah. This is Diplomacy, not the UN.

 

[Lakhota]

Krauthammer? Holy shit, that's funny...

 

[ladyliberal]

I usually skip Krauthammer pieces, but I have to admit I was intrigued as to how he would argue that Romney's trip was "excellent". I am unimpressed with his reasoning.

- Krauthammer praises Romney's Israel policy as more nuanced than Obama's, before going on to describe multiple ways in which it is less nuanced. This created the impression in my mind that Krauthammer was using words with positive connotations to describe Romney's trip without regard to whether they were self-consistent, much less accurate.

- In praising the substance of Romney's trip Krauthammer felt the need to compare the remark by Romney's aide to a similar one by the wife of an unsuccessful candidate made almost a decade ago (and for which she was fairly criticized).

- I haven't read the report to which Krauthammer refers, but I would be shocked if he had characterized it correctly.

- Krauthammer claims, somewhat implausibly, that it is clear that Romney means what he says. For whom can Krauthammer speak in this regard?

- Krauthammer claims that Romney rolled out much great policy, but
1) He largely fails to justify why he likes Romney's policies.
2) He fails to identify a single area in which Romney announced a new policy rather than reiterating what had already been announced before the trip and
3) He fails to demonstrate that Romney's words were heard, a successful prerequisite to their having an impact. How many people, much less swing voters, will be able to recall one thing Romney said in his speech to Poland today, much less when they are voting in November?

 

[francoHFW]

Krauthammer never stops with the Pubcrappe, a totally bought off hypocrite...good money in it! for dupes only.Poland was great-only pissed off half the people...

 

[CrusaderFrank]

What a difference to have a guy who's not apologizing for the USA!

Can I come to your house for dinner?
I hope you don't mine me taking a shit on your carpet, hitting on your wife, insulting you infront of your family, etc, and demanding respect from you because I can't take responsibility for my actions and lack manners.

Are you part of the Liberal Intellectual Elite?

 

[nitroz]

What a difference to have a guy who's not apologizing for the USA!

Can I come to your house for dinner?
I hope you don't mine me taking a shit on your carpet, hitting on your wife, insulting you infront of your family, etc, and demanding respect from you because I can't take responsibility for my actions and lack manners.

Are you part of the Liberal Intellectual Elite?

If I say yes, can I still come over?

 

[Katzndogz]

If Romney said he had pancakes for breakfast, there would be headlines on how Romney insulted waffles.

No matter what he did or said, it would have ended the same way with democrats. Romney was brilliant, insightful and definitely not at all wishy washy. He has shown himself a man of conviction. One of the reasons democrats don't like him is because he does have convictions.

It is not suprising that he did the best in Israel. After all Bibi Netanyahu and Romney have been close friends since college days. obama has no close friends since college days. Indeed, he was so unremarkable no one can remember much of him during college years. Of course obama would have been as warmly received, had he ever bothered to go to Israel. The Isralies are a warm and gracious people who would not insult a guest in their home the way they were insulted and dismissed in the obama white house.

If we learned nothing from this trip but one thing, it's that Romney is a gentleman and obama is a street rat.

 

[nitroz]

If Romney said he had pancakes for breakfast, there would be headlines on how Romney insulted waffles.

But it didn't happen like that. Romney insulted others from the words out of his mouth in context.

There is a difference than that and inherent insults, but with it being breakfast, it could just simple preference. Everybody is different.

 

[IGetItAlready]

Meanwhile, Obama's back in America sporting a shiny new endorsement from Hugo Chavez.

 

[francoHFW]

Nobody apologized for the USA, it was for the BOOOSH my way or the highway "humble", lying, jingoist foreign policy, and the SECOND Pub world depression. A total NEOCON catastrophe, and Romney and the pander to rich, lying, cheating, brainwashing Pubs want to do it AGAIN. Change the channel, haterdupes