Today Mittens met with Benjamin Netanyahu. He also had a meeting scheduled with the Leader of Israel’s Labor party. Turns out that Netanyahu didn’t think Mitt should meet with his political opposition. Guess what happened:
Much has been written about the warm personal relationship between the two friends, ex-governor Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate for the presidency of the United States, and Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel. Today it has become clear that the two are more than just friends. Romney apparently accepts instructions from Netanyahu who succeeded in getting him to cancel a scheduled and meticulously planned meeting with MK Shelly Yacimovich, the leader of the Labor party. [snip]
The meeting was due to take place today, at 1:30 P.M., at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. [snip]
And then Romney went into a meeting with Netanyahu at the Prime Minister’s Bureau in Jerusalem. During the course of the meeting the candidate’s staff contacted Herzog to inform him that the meeting had regrettably been cancelled, “for reasons of protocol.” Herzog and Yacimovich have no doubts: Netanyahu, or his people, didn’t approve of the Yacimovich meeting and pressured Romney to cancel it – and succeeded.
Romney promised to serve Netanyahu during one of the Republican debates. There was a discussion back and forth between Mitt and Newt about the ME and Iran. Mittens made clear that the policy goals of the Netanyahu government would trump any other policy concern and that he would get Bibi’s approval before he made any statement or took any action:
I’d get on the phone to my friend Bibi Netanyahu and say, ‘Would it help if I said this? What would you like me to do?’
It seems that Mitt thinks that POTUS a just a sub-Cabinet position in Netanyahu’s government. So it really was not a surprise that Romney rolled over when Bibi told him to cancel a meeting with opposition Party Leaders. Romney is a coward who is easily intimidated. He will say and do whatever his handlers tell him to do.
I can’t wait for his speech in Poland about the dangers of the Soviet Union and the Iron Curtain…
Cheers
UPDATE: It turns out that Romney isn’t done with his “how high” routine. Mitt was told to jump and so he did. In a speech today he proclaimed Jerusalem the capital of Israel and he offered to move the US Embassy there whenever Bibi gives him the order to do so:
“My understanding is the policy of our nation has been a desire to move our embassy ultimately to the capital (Jerusalem),” he said, adding, “I would only want to do so and to select the timing in accordance with the government of Israel.”
There is not an universe where such a move would be in the interests of US foreign policy. In the interest of Bibi and wingnuts–sure, but the security of America. Nope. And yet, Mitt will sell out the Nation for a pat on the head and a few shekels.
Weak. Mitt is weak. It rhymes with sneak.
Valdivia
I posted in the previous thread but here is an excellent summary of how the Israeli press is reporting in hebrew, translated into English.
http://972mag.com/romney-uses-adelsons-free-newspaper-to-criticize-obama/52026/
Local press has been kept out of the speech and they are no amused.
Phil Perspective
I don’t know why Willard would even bother meeting with the opposition in Israel. They are ineffectual and weak. Now that I think about it ….
beltane
This will make for an interesting GOP convention. Romney’s visit to Israel is practically baiting the Paulites and other paleocons. Fun times ahead.
amk
projected leader of the free world. yay.
Valdivia
@Phil Perspective:
If you read the article in Haaretz it is more than that, it’s a window into how beholden he is to Bibi and how inept his team is.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
And this even after Bibi dissed the Mittbot the US press:
~Mitt Romney, April 2012 in the New York Times.
~Bibi Netanyahu, July 2012 in Vanity Fair Interview, (middle of Page 4)
I read that at the Great Orange Satan.
scav
@Phil Perspective: Well, his visit with Milliband seemed to go the least bad of his swing though the UK govt. Even merited a Politics makes Odd Bedfellows comment if I remember correctly.
Dennis G.
@Valdivia:True that.
Mitt will never be an Alpha dog. Almost anybody from Limbaugh to Bibi to Palin to that crazy guy at the rally in the tri-corner hat can get Mitt to roll over and show his belly. He is a man without a backbone.
Mino
Mr. Adelson will be pleased.
LanceThruster
Sing along with Mitch Willard.
Anya
Worst part about this the Obama campaign cannot use this for fear of being accused of anti-Semitism or being anti-Israel. I really hate our dysfunctional relationship with our possessively abusive girlfriend.
Valdivia
@Dennis G.:
Yep. And this is the guy who will determine our policies, because he bought both Bibi and him.
Hal
Mitt is not doing all of this to appease Netanyahu, he is beholden to Sheldon Adelson. That’s whose opinion he is concerned with.
Also, can Israel go to war with Iran on there own and not involve the US directly? I can’t imagine anywhere near a majority of the US public being all in for another war, especially if nuclear weapons are at all involved.
Citizen_X
@amk:
Fixted.
Waynski
IOKIYAR. If he was a Democrat, our flacid dick press corps would be throwing fucking tomotoes at him.
yopd1
I think he needs to learn a little bit about Jewish holidays first.
Anya
@Dennis G.: At least some in the MSM are noticing: Romney the Wimp Factor: Is he Just Too Insecure to be President?
Haydnseek
With each passing day, it becomes apparent how inept his staff is. Should he manage to steal the election, rest assured that there are plenty of hard core neocons, still livid that Blackie McMuslim still walks among us, just waiting to dispose of these staff weenies and turn Mittens into The Rubber Stamp From Hell. It will make the previous Bush administration look like a MoveOn.org wet dream.
SiubhanDuinne
@scav:
And he still made a mini faux pas there by addressing Miliband as “Mr. Leader.”
SiubhanDuinne
@scav:
And he still made a mini faux pas there by addressing Miliband as “Mr. Leader.”
Valdivia
@yopd1:
Glad to see him call it out. Rubin was fighting it out with him on twitter this am saying he was there to honor the holiday. yeah, right.
scav
@SiubhanDuinne: yes (least bad), but the evil evil sozialist had the manners to smooth it over instead of bringing it up in a call and response on International TV.
pluege
romney is THE most non-existent breathing human being on the face of the planet – there is no such thing as mitt romney – there is only a carcass called mitt romney that mouths what it is told to mouth.
Spaghetti Lee
Why is Mitt Romney apologizing for America?
Upper West
@yopd1: Should be an interesting Brooks/Goldberg/Gregory Torah Study Groups this week.
yopd1
@Valdivia: Rubin basic stance is #IOKIYAR, religion is secondary to party.
JoyfulA
@Valdivia: And the buyer needs warm relations with China above all else, lest he be kicked out of Macao and thus bankrupt.
Evolving Deep Southerner
@Anya: I saw that headline, too, though I haven’t read (and may not read) the piece. When Newsweek is hitting you – and when you see those kinds of headlines at Yahoo and AOL and so forth – the meme and others along those same lines are starting to take hold. When Romney tries to fight it by “getting tough,” oh, HELL that’s going to be fun to watch. Obama’s going to end up beating this guy like people used to beat their children. Not only will he not win, he will be completely discredited by the time it’s all over.
lamh35
Netanyahu puts all his chips on the Romney (translated)
Evolving Deep Southerner
@SiubhanDuinne: I haven’t really understood why anyone really noticed “Mr. Leader.” Could be that he forgot the dude’s name for a moment. Could be that he did it intentionally, as people in this country say “Mr. President.” Is “Mr. Leader” really a faux pas, mini or otherwise?
Ash Can
So Mitt is taking orders from a foreign government whose policies toward its own citizens are so heinous that two of those citizens so far have protested by immolating themselves.
As the kids say nowadays, I just can’t.
rikyrah
I just think it’s ridiculous….but let’s see how the MSM treats this
Jewish Steel
@Dennis G.:
I’m not convinced that this is the dynamic that’s going on here. Quien es mas macho isn’t a consideration. Bereft of charm and negotiating skills, Mitt thinks that “politics” is giving favored constituencies whatever it is they are asking for with the consequences kicked down the road.
geg6
@Evolving Deep Southerner:
I could be wrong, but I would guess it is pretty bad diplomatic form to forget the name of the guy who is hosting the meeting which you requested. Perhaps not, but diplomats and Brits are pretty big on that whole “form” thing, I think.
Ken
My prediction for Poland: while in Gdansk, he refers to the city as “Danzig”.
Frankensteinbeck
@lamh35:
Thank you very, very much.
Ash Can
Via Charles Johnson at LGF: Apparently it’s finally been pounded through Romney’s thick skull that pissing off the press at every opportunity isn’t likely to produce beneficial results — the press will be allowed into his Israel fundraiser after all. (Yeah, it’s a link to Politico, so sue me.)
I’m also sure his minions had enough time to figure out how to sweep a lot of stuff under the rug and jam it into closets out of sight.
rikyrah
zero for two for Willard on his foreign trip
muddy
I am waiting for him to discuss European economies while in Poland, and give the example of the efficiency of the Germans. I have money riding on this one.
MonkeyBoy
@Dennis G.:
But Mitt would like to a decisive non wimp. As a “boss” he really doesn’t like people telling what to directly do. It must frustrate his campaign staff enormously. I feel a lot of his gaffs are the result of his staff wanting to make him rehearse what to say and what not to say – which he regards as too controlling. So basically the staff is left to highlight people and positions he should react to and Mitt demands their trust that he will react appropriately.
Evolving Deep Southerner
@geg6: Is “Mr. Leader” never used there as “Mr. President” is here? If not, then I’ll concede the point.
Mr Stagger Lee
@Anya: Yeah but by Labor Mittens will be hailed as savior of America.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@yopd1:
Fixt.
scav
@geg6: Its also just common politeness and a sign of competent briefing to know the names of the people you’re talking with. It was a very minor hiccup, made slightly more silly because of the whole “Dear Leader” NK sub-text and it was correctly smoothed over by Milliband’s staff noting that such address by job-title was common in the US. Only reason anyone noticed at all was the string of more real missteps that surrounded it.
aimai
Can I say that Mr. “Country Fucking First” McCain and some other Elder Statesmen really ought to call Romney privately and tell him to stop fucking around with our middle east policy and get his ass back home to run on domestic policy but they…won’t because they hate Obama more than they respect the dangers of an actual diplomatic incident. This has gone way past funny gaffe land and straight into massive interference with the foreign policy of the US. Time was that we had only one President at a time. I know that Nixon fucked with our foreign policy as did Reagan but at least they had the respect to do it more or less secretely. I’m kind of agog at the barefaced insolence of the drapes measuring going on here.
aimai
texascowgirl
@Anya: I think that’s what’s so off putting about Rmoney. Sure he’s a snob and he thinks he’s better than most people, but he isn’t an Alpha. He’s a rich, tall and good looking man. He should be confident, charming, persuasive, and have swagger for days, but he has absolutely none of any of those things. On paper he looks like he should be something that he totally isn’t and I’m confused as to just how exactly that happens. Clinton is an Alpha, Obama is an Alpha, hell even GWB had Alpha qualities. Romney’s pops was an Alpha so what the hell happened to him? Why is he so damn weak and insecure? How can any man be successful (by materialistic standards) and handsome (by tall, dark and handsome white man standards) and be so lame?
Frankensteinbeck
@aimai:
It’s almost like they’re spitting on Obama, as if the first black man to enter a new field were being treated to constant insults and abuse in the hopes he and all others of his kind will learn their place. But there would be no precedent for that.
ericblair
@Hal:
Apparently from the New Yorker article a few weeks ago, Adelson is at the mercy of the Chinese government due to his Macao operations. One stroke of the pen in Beijing and the internal visas for Chinese to go to Macao are cut off and Adelson goes bankrupt. They almost did it to him once. So we’ve got a presidential candidate at the mercy of a guy who’s both a dyed-in-the-wool Likudnik and himself at the mercy of the Chinese government. Good times.
I think he does act like an Alpha, it’s that he doesn’t give a shit about anything except his own people’s tax rates, keeping his own people’s privileges, and his own glory. So who cares about Israel’s policy in the Mideast: if it’s better for him personally in the short term to cozy up to Bibi then he will.
Frankensteinbeck
@texascowgirl:
Because he’s never had to fight for anything. Ever. His wealth was handed to him on a platter, with a luxurious financial parachute ready in case he screwed up a job as easy as ‘Borrow huge amount of money. Buy company. Make that company assume the entire debt. Make that company pay me handsomely. Sell company for extra profit.’ Until now he’s only piddled around with politics, hardly bothering. He’s never had to risk, so he doesn’t have the demeanor of someone who faces risk and wins.
Nicole
@texascowgirl: I think it’s that a person is born with charisma or he is not and if you ain’t got it, you can’t buy it. No matter how many jobs you send overseas.
gbear
@Ash Can:
Politico can be OK as long as you don’t venture into the comments sections.
I hope that the pool reporter covering the Romney fundraiser is informed enough to be able to identify the attendees. It’s important to know what kind of ultra-conservatives Mitt is pandering to at that meeting.
lamh35
John McCain Is Chomping At the Bit
texascowgirl
@ericblair: I don’t equate being an Alpha with being a total asshole. Anybody can be an asshole and anybody can be selfish. I mean the way he carries himself and interacts with people. One of the qualities of an Alpha is the ability to convince people that you do care about them even as you pursue your own goals. Another quality would be giving the appearance that anything you do is exactly what you want to do anyway. Mitt doesn’t give the impression of either.
scav
I think there are a lot of alphadoms to be be confused.
There’s exactlyy the charasmitic alphadom that is innate and can be found in taxidrivers and world leaders and guys leading people over cliffs. People with that can wear clothes no one else could possibly wear and get away with it. Jolie-Laids.
There’s a leadership / alphadom style that can more or less be learned (meaning some people can learn it better than others) Confidence after learning skills fits in here.
There’s a lazy assumption of alphadom based on always finding people there o do tings for you and assuming they’ll be there in the future to do the same. It’s surprising how often this work. (NB, this sort can also be found in all class levels, addly enough, although it usually gets away with it more in the upper classes. See Austen’s Mansfield Park).
There are probably more alpha styles, but I find these are some critically different ones.
robertdsc-PowerBook
In a political poll group I am a part of, one of the foreign policy questions the group asks is “Who is the USA’s greatest enemy?”
I always put Israel.
Ash Can
And the hits just keep on coming (again, via LGF, in the comments): Romney declares Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel. I’m sure the Arab nations are delighted to hear him say that. And for all you Canuckistanis here, didn’t that work out just swimmingly for Joe Clark?
Yutsano
@lamh35: Old man still yells at cloud. Grandpa Walnuts is being ignored by Willard because Willard has no use for him. It’s as simple as that.
texascowgirl
@Frankensteinbeck: Yeah I guess. Some people no matter how successful they are never forget that they have to fight for what they want and keep what they have.
catclub
@Hal: “especially if nuclear weapons are at all involved.”
Well, the Israelis could probably oblige and involve some of _their_ nuclear weapons.
catclub
@lamh35: Remember how John Kerry contributed his awesomeness to the Obama campaign in 2008?
me neither.
catclub
@Frankensteinbeck: ‘Never gamble against Barack Obama’ might go in the same list of advice as that on land wars in Asia.
catclub
@ericblair: “One stroke of the pen in Beijing and the internal visas for Chinese to go to Macao are cut off and Adelson goes bankrupt. They almost did it to him once. So we’ve got a presidential candidate at the mercy of a guy who’s both a dyed-in-the-wool Likudnik and himself at the mercy of the Chinese government. Good times.”
It is an indication of how toothless our campaign finance laws are.
In other situations MANY questions about exactly which (and whose) Chinese money Sheldon Adelson is funneling into US political campaigns would be raised by ‘serious journalists’. Instead it is barely a whisper among the DFH’s like me and you.
Valdivia
@catclub:
actually he did. He was one of the hardest workers in the primary and gave his foreign policy voice during the campaign.
texascowgirl
@catclub: Actually John Kerry was one Obama’s strongest defenders and best surrogates during the 2008 campaign. So much so that their was talk of him being Sec. of State.
Tonal Crow
Whoa. An adult — let alone a Presidential candidate — does not back out of her obligations without good reason.
Along with his an-8-year-old wouldn’t-do-it rudeness in London, his assault-and-battery on his classmate in high school, his mean “practical jokes”, his incessant lying and bullshitting, and his repeated sidestepping of responsibility, this act suggests that Romney was not properly socialized as a child.
And giving an unsocialized person the Presidency means big — big — trouble, as in wrong-step-during-Cuban-Missile-Crisis trouble.
—
Tag: Romney’s worse than Sarah Palin.
Comrade Nimrod Humperdink
Appeasement! Appeasement! How dare an American Presidential nominee show such craven deference to ANY foreign leader?? What will he do in his first encounter with Ahmasuicidebombedtheembassyin’79ejad? Yellabellied TRAITOR! *Reads again* Oh, it was Bibi? Nothing to see here, move along, move along. Prophecy unthreatened, move along.
catclub
@Valdivia: Hangs head in shame.
I guess I responded too quickly to McCain letting the world know that he is available.
Tonal Crow
@pluege:
The Mouth of Sauron gets elocution lessons, sees a good stylist, dons a crisp new suit, and runs for President.
Good times, America.
—
Tag: Romney’s worse than Sarah Palin.
Mike G
Romney the Wimp Factor: Is he Just Too Insecure to be President?
Oh, great. Get set for several months of chest-puffery, Bush-style “resolve” fetishism, empty posturing get-tough foreign policy rhetoric, and driving-large-motor-vehicle photo ops as American Borat struggles to fill the idiot-Republican John Wayne stereotype of “strength”.
muddy
@texascowgirl: My son has a phrase for people who are handed everything and thus are helpless, “The problem with that kid is that he’s sheltered.”
I think Mitt was the baby of the family, Daddy was off doing wev alpha stuff, baby was home with Mommy. He knows he’s not the man his father was, and he’s terrified, so he stiffarms people he can’t control, and holds up a front. This engages most of his cognitive processing, so there is not much left over for self awareness.
But sheltered, so sheltered. He is as sheltered as his taxes.
rumpole
this is exactly the kind of story that scares me to death about him.
mai naem
All this talk about Alpha or not. The real problem is that he’s got major daddy problems I also think he’s got a bit of Sarah Palin in him in that he doesn’t care to go into the weeds. James Fallows had a great article during the 2008 election when he’s talking about how Bush and Palin just lazy and didn’t care about policy issues and how you could’t afford to have that. Also too, I don’t think Mitt’s that smart. I don’t think he stupid by any means but intelligencewise he is not in Obama or Clinton’s neighborhood brainwise.
muddy
@mai naemI think he has a non-creative kind of intelligence. Can memorize facts and spit them out, but can’t connect between one situation or another. It’s like he has this little piece of cardboard they give in board games, and expects all the pieces to follow these rules. He is gripping his cardboard really hard and wrinkling it all up, but can’t take any action if it is not laid out there for him.
Evolving Deep Southerner
@Mike G: I think you’re right, but you seem to be unhappy about it for some reason. I think it’s going to be all kinds of awesome to watch. By the end of the campaign, he’ll be Michael Dukakis’ bitch in the public’s mind.
gVOR08
Oh, he’s selling out for way more than “a few” shekels.
Hal
@ericblair:
Rachel Maddow covered this a couple of weeks ago. Adelson is under investigation regarding bribery at the Macau casino and would certainly benefit from a new administration and a new Justice department head. Maybe Obama should just promise him to drop the investigation and launch an attack on Iran, and Adelson will donate all of his money to the Obama campaign instead.
WaterGirl
@muddy: What you’re saying really resonates with me. You are basically describing me, but only when it comes to having a sense of direction, i.e. how to get from one place to another.
Even in locations I am familiar with, I know how to get to place A. And I know how to get to place B. But it’s like there’s not a grid in my head that lays it all out in a nice little map like there is for most people. In this example, A and B just don’t exist on the same map in my head.
So if I get to somewhere where I don’t know where I am, I kind of panic because I am not good at figuring out how to get back to someplace where I know where I”m going. I’ll just bet that when that happens to me, I look just like Mitt does in that photo. Mitt is doing the equivalent of gripping the steering wheel, not knowing how to get back to safe ground.
I know that most people who get lost just figure, oh, well I’ll just go east for a bit and then I’ll circle back around, or whatever. Not me. Though, happily, I am pretty smart in every other way, so I guess it could be worse! But it keeps me humble, and it helps me relate to other people. Sadly, I’m not sure Mitt can say that.
Brachiator
@Evolving Deep Southerner:
Nope. It was not the biggest gaffe ever, but it further undermined Mitt’s pretensions to be some kind of Rico Suave Anglo Saxon Master of All Things Britannic.
This is insane. I can’t see how this pleases anyone but the wingiest of wingnuts. That there don’t seem to be any moderate Republicans willing to challenge Romney on this, we have more confirmation of the degree to which the Tea Party controls the GOP.
The sadder thing is that this will go over many voters’ heads, most of whom have no idea where Israel’s capital is located.
Saddest of all are some coworkers who are absolutely convinced that a president Romney will govern as a pro business moderate no matter what he says or how much he strives to placate the right wing.
Donut
@Spaghetti Lee:
I kinda think the Obama people have to be cooking up some attacks or potential attacks along those lines. I don’t thinkto use in TV ads, but m aybe to use during the debate focused on foreign affairs. Romney has been soundly put in his place by nearly every dignitary/official he has met with. The players on his nearly non-existent foreign policy team are all Bush 43 holdovers and certainly that would mean many of them are not that well loved in diplomatic and political circles.
I like our chances here and so far the Obama team seems to be doing this about as well as can be done. No time to let off the pressure, but let’s realize, here we are in late July and the Obama messaging people havent even begun to talk about Romney’s four years as governor of MA. Lots of domestic-issue attacks still developing, and now foreign policy seems to be a non-starter, too.
Donut
@Frankensteinbeck:
Better yet, he doesn’t really know what it’s like to be someone who’s taken risks and lost. Just as important to understanding the guy, IMO.
WaterGirl
I think the Obama team will hit Mitt on a lot of this stuff, but they are waiting until Mitt returns home so as not to become fodder for the inter nation press or become part of the drama of Mitt’s Disastrous Trip.
myiq2xu
And if Romney had met with Yacimovich after Netanyahu had asked him not to you would criticize Romney for his diplomatic faux pas.
Yutsano
@myiq2xu: Your concern has been duly noted.
karen
OFA or any of his SuperPacs should have an ad where Grover Nordquist is saying that thing about not needing a President to think, just use a signature pen. Because that’s what Romney is promising to be. A puppet.
But what happens when all of his masters want different things? Neocons may not want the same things as Tea Party/Evangelicals. Who does he obey then?
bob h
An Open Letter to Mitt in Haaretz:
“I hate to burst your bubble, but if you believe that American Jews are going to vote for you in large numbers because they perceive you as more committed to Israel and more respectful of its current prime minister, you’re dead wrong.”
Dov Waxman
Israel seems to have been as big a bust as London. He also told his donors that their culture allowed them to be “more successful financially” than the Palestinians.