Mother Jones has put up another clip from Mitt’s chat with his entitled elites. In this one, Mittens weighs in on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. If you have followed the details of this conflict over the years, you’ll find Mitt’s comments exceptionally dumb and dangerous.
In Mitt’s view peace is impossible and a two state solution is a dangerous fantasy. He blames the Palestinians completely for any and all problems.
“I’m torn by two perspectives in this regard. One is the one which I’ve had for some time, which is that the Palestinians have no interest whatsoever in establishing peace, and that the pathway to peace is almost unthinkable to accomplish.” [snip]
“And I look at the Palestinians not wanting to see peace anyway, for political purposes, committed to the destruction and elimination of Israel, and these thorny issues, and I say, There’s just no way.”
Mitt goes on to opine that the Palestinians only act as agents of an Iranian government that didn’t even exists when the Palestinians began their struggle for an independent state more than a century ago.
Romney goes on to firmly reject the very idea of peace negotiations and any effort to push both sides towards a resolution:
“The idea of pushing on the Israelis to give something up to get the Palestinians to act is the worst idea in the world.”
In Mitt’s view allowing conflicts to simmer for decades is preferable to expending the energy to solve them:
“All right, we have a potentially volatile situation but we sort of live with it, and we kick the ball down the field and hope that ultimately, somehow, something will happen and resolve it. “
It seems that his foreign policy, like all his policies, requires magic fairy dust to function on any level.
Sure, giving up on the the Middle East Peace Process is not as big of a story as giving up on half the population of the USA, but it will increase the likelihood of endless conflict, blowback and harm to America.
Foreign policy is important and a President Romney would have the world longing for the “quiet” of the George W. Bush years.
Cheers
Valdivia
it’s Mother Jones no? Instead of The Nation? Just FYI.
jibeaux
Foreign policy is a shiny object. Can we get back to talking about keeping God on the penny, please?
Xecky Gilchrist
Speaking of Bush, I’m guessing we’re soon due for the sort of thing we heard during his campaign: “Sure he’s a dumbass, but he won’t really be running anything. Trust his shadowy advisors to know best.”
Patricia Kayden
Not sure if I’d want him running around in the Middle East anyways, given how thoroughly he insulted the British during his foray over there. Perhaps it would be good for a President Romney to focus all of his attention on domestic issues.
Dennis G.
@Valdivia: Fixed. D’oh.
Valdivia
@Dennis G.:
No prob! I get them confused myself :)
Ash Can
No wonder Bibi loves him.
Nina
I was never really scared by the idea that Mitt might win his way into the Oval Office until now.
Scheduling a roadtrip to campaign in a swing state… something I should have done a month ago but I’ve been putting off.
Mitt Romney must not be allowed any closer to the keys of power.
comrade scott's agenda of rage
The real payoff, hopefully, in all of this will be dampened wingnut turnout which could lead to a seat or two pickup in the Senate and most importantly, flipping the House.
Rmoney is toast even by my lifetime-Democratic-doom-and-gloom perspective. But the deeper he digs that hole, the closer we get to him pulling a “Dole” (getting just 40.7% of the popular vote) which will hopefully suck down a few House wingnuts in the process.
peach flavored shampoo
Not from his perspective. The chance he was talking to at least one Jewish person in the room was probably close to 100%. The chance he invited a Palestinian to the meeting is below 0%. Pandering is what he does. Pandering is who he is.
beltane
@Ash Can: It’s more like no wonder Sheldon Adelson loves Bibi and Romney.
The Ancient Randonneur
Maybe they finally get it? Some new video of Romney campaign advisor.
The Red Pen
I’m not sure that these comments will be a big deal politically. Most people have only a vague idea of the import of these comments. They are simpleminded tough-talk and that tends to go over well to a broad swath of the American public.
Just sayin’.
Skippy-san
Mittens might want to read Peter Beinart. Beinart has blown big holes in neocon Israel viewpoints all through his book.
The Crisis of Zionism.
I assume Mitt liked South Africa swell too-because that is what Israel will have to impose to keep the place a Jewish State.
Alex S.
It’s like Sarah Palin and the different bits of her Katic Couric-interview.
Njorl
What makes an ignoramus want to be president? He doesn’t care about what’s going on enough to learn a damn thing, but he wants to run the most powerful country in the world.
He really is George W. Bush, with more business acumen and worse people skills and, frighteningly, less empathy.
Dennis G.
@comrade scott’s agenda of rage: I think the hope is that Mitt will suck so bad that the wingers will give up on him. We can already see this in the way that Rove’s PAC is moving money away from Romney to the Senate races and now the House.
Perhaps Mitt will suck so bad that Ron Paul and the TeaBaggers will feel free to embrace Gary Johnson–just to teach the GOP brain trust that force Romney on them a lesson. If Mitt has a few more weeks like the last two, Ron should be able to do this with no harm falling on Rand’s GOP ambitions.
terraformer
So, if we’re at some point asked “When exactly did it become clear, even to the most jaded observer, that the R-Money campaign failed?”, then we’d say, Sept. 17, 2012.
some other guy
So Mitt’s bold foreign policy strategy is… to do nothing and hope the problems solve themselves? Talk about “leading from behind.”
thalarctos
@some other guy: Seems to me that Mitt’s bold mid-east policy is to imagine a boot, stepping on a Palestinian face, forever.
Shrillhouse
So Mitt’s policy on the Middle East peace process is basically “no comment”? Oh well, maybe foreign policy won’t come up at the debates…
beltane
@Skippy-san: I would be quite shocked if Mitt did not absolutely adore apartheid South Africa. Remember, this was back in the days when his own religion proudly espoused white supremacism as one of its central tenets.
Felinious Wench
@thalarctos:
It seems to me that much of Mitt’s policy follows this theme.
japa21
I believe many Americans, perhaps a majority, perhaps a large majority, want peace in the ME and see a two-state solution as the main way to go. Romney is saying not only that he doesn’t think it is possible but also that he won’t even put any effort into making any progress.
This may go over with the RWNJ Evangelical base, but not with the moderate swing voter.
And the moderate, swing voter will also not like the way Romney spoke about the 47%. The very people he has been trying to court are going to turn away.
The main question is how many of them will also turn away from the polls entirely.
ericblair
@Njorl:
Everybody calls you “Mr. President” and you get a big shiny plane for your very own. Pointing out that there is a rather urgent job that comes with it just makes you a big wet blanket.
lacp
So the one area of government that a president actually does have a lot of control over – foreign policy – is one that he’s even more clueless on than everything else? Vote Cyborg 2012 – Faith, Freedom, and FAIL!
comrade scott's agenda of rage
@japa21:
The Dominionist crazies would love this: anything to accelerate The End Times. Of course the Dominionists think Rmoney the Mormon is the Right Hand Man of the Antichrist so whether or not they will support him in his efforts to bring their man Jesus back to earth is anybody’s guess.
My head, it hurts.
Violet
Heard on the news this morning that Romney had his first security briefing yesterday. I wonder if they gave him the kindergarten briefing first, just to see if he can trace lines and recognize shapes.
RaflW
The moar I hear about Mittens, the more I think he’s just an east-coast Sarah Palin who had the privilege of a far better set of finishing schools.
catclub
I think these videos suddenly give a lot more weight to the old one where Mitt was talking about factories in China with nearly slave labor conditions. Did he buy that factory or not?
Felinious Wench
Husband last night looked at me and said “What’s scary to me is I’d prefer George W. Bush to this guy.”
CarolDuhart2
There’s a reason why Romney didn’t run for a second term in Massachusetts. I used to wonder about that, because a second term is proof of electability. Now I don’t wonder anymore. He would have lost in a massive landslide.
About surviving low-income: a lot of it is networking. The person in the Escalade is often the retired autoworker who has the kid on food stamps living with him because the job doesn’t pay enough for rent. It means buying things that are good but secondhand.
And that brings up another point: thanks to outsourcing bastards like Mitt, a lot of the factory jobs that served as a starting point for employment are now in China instead of the South Side of Chicago. This means that the jobs available either mean racking up huge college dept to qualify for or working service jobs with no benefits and little chance of a raise. So instead of full-time jobs that pay enough to not need a safety net, the available jobs are hustles: waiting tables, contract work, work under the table, seasonal jobs. None of these are permanent, so folks qualify for food stamps and other assistance. Mitt, where are the jobs?
joes527
… and yet 47% of the popular vote seems to be his floor.
Fortunately, in the end the election is a pass/fail kind of thing. But the fact that 47% of my fellow citizens think that he is the right choice makes me wonder if it is too early to start drinking.
IowaOldLady
Are we really sure Romney isn’t an Obama operative?
Shawn in ShowMe
@comrade scott’s agenda of rage:
In the absence of a Perot siphoning off 8% of the vote, I’d suggest 44% is the floor for the Republican party. That’s why the horse race meme will persist. But in reality, Mitt’s campaign is polling only slightly better than baseline.
jheartney
This foreign policy clip won’t have the wider resonance that the one dissing 47% of the population did, but what it will do is alienate the portion of elite opinion that follows this stuff and understands the subject matter. I really don’t think the crap about “Well, he’s ignorant, but he’ll have advisors that will guide him through it” will fly this time.
Guy does have a talent for pissing off everybody he needs to support him, I’ll give him that.
daveNYC
It’s like he watched the South Park Underpants Gnome episode and didn’t get the joke. How the hell can someone be so stupid that their plans for both the Middle East and the economy are based on doing nothing and the problems solving themselves.
Not only is he stupid enough to think that, he’s stupid enough to say so out loud.
Paul
@Felinious Wench:
As bad as Bush was (and he was just terrible), he at least wasn’t as ignorant as Romney and at least publicly advocated for a two-state solution.
Villago Delenda Est
@Xecky Gilchrist:
His shadow advisers want to be at war with Iran last week.
Villago Delenda Est
@CarolDuhart2:
The “Romney Boom” that will fall from the heavens right around noon, EST, on 20 January 2013 will provide all the jobs you could ever want.
AWJ
Back in the Cold War days, the neocon party line was that the Palestinian movement was a catspaw of the Soviet Union. They’ve simply revised the theory to a newer enemy du jour.
Petorado
So this is the worldview one develops when a “moochers and looters” mentality is expanded to a global scale: you’ve got your buddies … and the rest of the planet that is beneath your contempt.
Tractarian
Mitt: If I were Iran, I’d dirty bomb Chicago.
anibundel
This is going to go on alllllllll week.
DE-LICIOUS.
StringOnAStick
Mitt’s plan is to not only let the ME sort its self out without US intervention, but the same for ALL social safety net programs in this country, like unemployment insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, etc.
Once you end unemployment insurance and let the economy to worsen thanks to Ryan’s fantasies, Mitt’s fanatasy of having US citizens fighting to get into US factories to work for $0.50/hour can come true. Galtian paradise for him and his kind, with all us moochers forced to slave away in Factory City #43.
cmorenc
@Nina:
Have you not been paying any attention until now? Romney’s approach during the GOP primaries stretching way back to last winter has been to out-pander and out-throw red meat to the very worst instincts of the hardest-right ideologues and tea party elements of the GOP, and finishing off his knife-fight wounded rivals by burying them alive underneath mountains of money. There is no “moderate” position he supposedly held or supported back while Governor of Massachusetts which he has not vigorously repudiated in favor of a hard-right position, to the point of purportedly denying he ever held or supported any but hard-core right-wing positions. Then there’s his choice of hard-right true-believer Ayn Rand ideologue Paul Ryan as his VP pick. Then there’s his cut-throat sociopathic vulture capitalism at Bain, and even farther back, the involuntary haircut he gave a fellow student as he was ringleader of a group of Lord of Flies thuggish fellow students holding the victim down…
And you weren’t worried about what a Romney presidency might be like until NOW?
Michael Scott
I believe, over the next few weeks, Mother Jones is going to show those buffoonish Breitbart dead-enders just how this is done . . .
lacp
Given the level of ignorance he displays here, I’m surprised that Willard hasn’t already announced that Herman Cain will be his SoS.
catclub
@StringOnAStick: “Mitt’s plan is to not only let the ME sort its self out without US intervention”
Does the $3-4B/yr we sent to Israel count? I suspect if he cut THAT government teat the Bibi might cry.
Joel
These comments should hurt, but won’t, because many (if not most) Americans have subbasement regard for Palestinians. It’s depressing, and I say this as someone who is considerably more sympathetic to Israel than most around here.
catclub
@Paul: Not just that, George W Bush told Dick Cheney to fuck himself, rather than let him bomb Iran. I will always give him credit for that. Romney apparently wants to void THAT decision.
Dennis G.
@Michael Scott: Word!
bcinaz
Wow. Who knew that Bibi Netenyahu is a ventriloquist
Cuppa Cabana
Almost all policymakers — and most policy-deciders, such as the current commander-in-chief — examine doing nothing as an option. I’m not saying ‘doing nothing’ is the right thing to do in the Israel-Palestine clusterfuck, but it could be. More important, I do want the pezzonovantes who have their fingers on powerful bang-bang buttons to ALWAYS consider doing nothing and try to weigh the consequences. (P.S. I don’t think Willard Powell the III would do nothing, but if he and his neo-con retreads were in charge, I’d pray for it.)
Anna in PDX
Israel itself is not monolithic (neither are the Palestinians who live in the occupied territories) – Bibi’s in a coalition government and his own defense minister is repudiating everything he says – and a large number of Israelis who are not settler maniacs (sort of like our RWNJs) would love a two state solution and not to be constantly on guard against the surrounding nations.
Sept. 17 is the day the Camp David Accords were signed, interesting it’s the same day those remarks were released that state that there basically is no Palestine.
It is very true that the Bush cabal knew at least basic info about what the US policy has historically been regarding the Arab Israeli conflict and their public statements matched our treaty obligations. Romney seems to have no concept of how foreign policy works.
valency
The something in Romney’s “hope that something will happen” is that somehow global geopolitics change sufficiently that Israel feels safe to conduct that ethnic cleansing operation that the Israeli right has been advocating. Insofar as Israel has a coherent strategy, it’s delay any “two state solution” until it has expropriated the maximum amount of land and displaced the maximum number of Palestinians off it.
valency
The something in Romney’s “hope that something will happen” is that somehow global geopolitics change sufficiently that Israel feels safe to conduct that ethnic cleansing operation that the Israeli right has been advocating. Insofar as Israel has a coherent strategy, it’s delay any “two state solution” until it has expropriated the maximum amount of land and displaced the maximum number of Palestinians off it.
WereBear
It is, after all, Citizenship Day.