Not much one can add to this, which Huffington Post is billing an "exclusive":
Mitt Romney embarrassed the United States, and himself, by going to London and insulting the British in advance of the Olympics, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Thursday evening.
"It's not good for us as a country -- it's not good for him -- but as a country to have somebody that's nominated by one of the principal parties to go over and insult everybody," Reid said.
Mitt Romney Olympics Gaffe 'Insulted Everybody,' Harry Reid Says (EXCLUSIVE)
Okay, I will add that earlier today
The Guardian had a live blog going which they have since closed, with this summary of the day:
We're going to wrap up today's live blog politics coverage. Here's a summary of where things stand:
• Mitt Romney made all kinds of news for saying and doing the wrong things in the first full day of his trip to London. The trip was meant to make him look presidential. In the apt summation of John Podhoretz, it made him look like Mr. Bean. The Romney show continues tomorrow, when he attends the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games. Should be fun!
• British politicians David Cameron and Boris Johnson took umbrage at Romney's remarks and ridiculed Romney in front of tens of thousands of people, respectively. We can't believe we just typed that sentence.
• The Romney camp hit President Obama with a new video trouncing the president's claim that his economic policies "worked."
• President Obama called for a new consensus to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally unstable.
Mitt Romney rebuked by David Cameron in London – the day in politics
It's very much worth your time to go and read the events of the day as they unfolded in the U.K.
Update: I was just responding to grytpype's comment:
This disqualifies Romney.
I don't see how he survives this.
He truly not up to the job.
I started to point out that not all Americans are paying attention to what's going, on and will vote against their own best interests, and then an image flashed in my mind. Since this diary is essentially about the reaction of British people to Romney's visit to their country, it's valid to remember this
Daily Mirror cover, reacting to our 2004 election.
Also, if you missed it in the comments, the British people have also started a hashtag at Twitter called #Romneyshambles, and ceebs was kind enough to explain the story behind the hashtag:
It comes out of the Thick of It
A UK political comedy (which you may or may not know) originally where something is described as an Omnishambles. It's leaked into the political conciousness here after it was used by Ed Milliband in a Prime Ministers Questions session to attack Cameron. so it's something in use by people over here.
But it is a Word just crying out for the Additional R
by ceebs on Thu Jul 26, 2012 at 08:52:35 PM EDT
I did some additional digging and found this article at
The New Yorker dated April 22, 2012. One can see why "#Omnishambles" so easily became #Romneyshambles ... they rhyme!
During a particularly bitchy session of Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, David Cameron and the Labour leader Ed Miliband volleyed slurs on each other’s character and record in front of a packed, jeering chamber. Miliband, Cameron said, was “incompetent.” Cameron, Miliband replied, was “desperate.” It was fairly feeble stuff—“Yo Momma” for posh wonks—until Miliband, even before he said it, betrayed that he had the best line coming with a smirk of anticipatory relish. “So, Mr. Speaker,” he said, “we’re all keen to hear the Prime Minister’s view as to why he thinks, four weeks on from the budget, even people within Downing Street are calling it an ‘omnishambles’ budget.”
And You, Sir, Are an Omnishambles
So, this is a truly British hashtag, and now you know the rest of the story and can appreciate this tweet letting right-wingers know it:
Alan Shore @FlamingoAlan
For the love of...listen up right wingers. It was the Brits (of all political colours) who started #Romneyshambles not American liberals
Another new hashtag that's being used is
#mitthitsthefan ... but you already know where that one comes from.
It seems that the question is now (see poll below fleur-de-orange):