The francophone branch of France 24 has taken to some rather 2002-esque looking criticism of America, now that Mitt Romney is in French journalism’s myopic view. Below is a translation of a “débat” (as they refer to them in the original Klingon) that Erik reported on this past Friday. It involve the usual amplification of whatever leftist vulgarity the newsroom chortles about. It is essencially a masturbatory rant:
The World According to Mitt RomneyMake a note, people, because this is the first and only time a French scribbler has citied in a positive light anything from any part of the British press outside of The Guardian. You are unlikely to ever see it again.
By Anne-Diandra Louarn on 31/07/2012 - 16:48
On the occasion of a six day European tour, Mitt Romney hoped to prove his international stature. On balance, the Republican candidate's gaffes seem to have made a lasting impression.
In London, "Mitt, the idiot"
On the eve of his arrival in Britain, the first leg of his European tour, Mitt Romney was critical of the organization and security of the London Games. "Disconcerting" and "bleak" are the adjectives that the Republican candidate for president of the United States used, referring to the failures of the security company G4S and the threat of strike by British customs. Romney, who was the organizer of the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002, was seen immediately lambasted by the English press. "Mitt the twit", headlined "The Sun", July 27. Stung by the Republican, the reaction of Prime Minister David Cameron has also not made to wait: "We hold the Olympics in one of the most popular, active and lively in the world. Of course it is easier if you organize them in the middle of nowhere."
Other gaffes are highly esteemed as well. The former Massachusetts governor announced he would meet the head of British intelligence, an interview that should not have been revealed. He also clumsily called the Labor leader Ed Miliband "Mr. Leader,"[ED.: as if he would be expected to address them with any of this trash] he had obviously forgotten his name.
Controversial remarks in Jerusalem
.Continuing his tour of Israel, Romney has raised more than a million dollars from American Jewish donors. His speech, welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, caused outrage on the Palestinian side.
Commending Israel for its booming economy, Romney explained that the difference between the Israeli GDP and that displayed by the Palestinian Authority was "cultural". Deemed "racist", these statements were immediately criticized by Saeb Erekat, a close associate of President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas.
Referring to earlier in his speech, "Jerusalem, the capital of Israel," Romney had already angered Palestinians.
In Gdansk, Romney saves face
The third and final stop, Poland, seems to have gone better for Mitt Romney. The Republican candidate has received the indirect support of Lech Walesa, former Polish President and 1983 Nobel Peace prize winner. If he felt it would be "moved" to display an official position, however, he confessed he was "very excited" after his interview with Romney. The Republican candidate has not made any statement to the press but took time to pose alongside Walesa, icon of the anti-communists.
Although no misstep has been noted during this last stop, across the Atlantic, the Romney’s six days trip is far from convincing. The American business press points out that the Republican candidate has carefully avoided European countries at the heart of the debt crisis, while the U.S. are also feeling the impact. "This trip is more like a vacation!" crowed the FT. The decision to oust the euro area from his journey echoed fairly strict bound by Romney last June during a broadcast on CBS: "We will not send checks to Europe. We “will not bail out European banks. We will stay here to support our economy, " he said.The point of this paragraph being WHAT exactly? That the world’s business is European interests, and nothing else? That Israel is now part of Europe?
Is there no awareness of cause and effect when in the face of their eternal, never-ending, spitefulness and hopelessly inept management of the financial crisis, that they expect America to bail them out at the expense of Americans?
We then move on to the soothing. The notion that they will get what they wish from the rest of the world, and that Obama will win re-election, and will do an about-face and lend them money to dispense as welfare or some other childish fantasy.
The fact is that Romney’s outreach to Poland undoes some of Obama’s disastrous management of relations with Poland, who is arguably our closest ally in the EU.
Obama, imbattable sur la scène internationaleObama, unbeatable on the international sceneThat reputation being demonstrated as we speak.
Accused of being Manichean and considered too superficial in its vision of international relations is definitely not unique to the Republicans. And the many gaffes committed in recent days in Europe confirm the weakness of the former governor of Massachusetts. "Mitt Romney has offered Barack Obama a gift that is priceless for the presidency," according to "The Guardian". It must be said that the current U.S. President, a 2009 Nobel Peace winner, is particularly popular on the old continent. Warmly received during his European tour, candidate Obama's speech in Berlin landmark and had raised hopes.
Increased popularity, once elected, over his Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, the world record holder of diplomatic travels, it was said "If Obama was competing for the presidency of Europe, he would receive 90% of the vote! His foreign policy is prudent, realistic and very popular outside of our borders," said EJ Dionne of the "Washington Post" in a radio interview on American radio network NPR.
Yet the American president had, too, made some diplomatic missteps in his campaign. One of the most publicized had just taken place in Poland where he had referred to a "Polish death camps" instead of Nazi extermination camps during an official ceremony in honor of a resistant Polish.
Finally, many political commentators relativize the impact of the provision of European Romney. "The U.S. presidential election is about the economy, not on gaffes or big speeches abroad", concludes the German conservative daily "Die Welt".
In a recent survey for the New York Times and CBS released July 19, Romney was - for the first time since the beginning of the campaign - expected to win the presidential election with 47% of likely voters supporting him, and 46% for Obama. The weakening of the president’s electability is due to a decline in Americans' confidence in its management of the economy, a subject traditionally reputed to be a Republican strength.
And sorry, EJ, Americans care about THEIR vote, not some servile state of channeling the wishes of those you and an eleite believe to be our moral superiors abroad on the basis of nothing.
