Mitt Romney's alternative version of reality gets even stranger, tonight, as Sam Stein reports Romney: White House Agrees With Me On My Critique Of The President. In an interview with ABC News Thursday evening, which is tonight, after three days to prepare and consult with his staff, Mitt Romney is trying the new approach of suggesting that "the Obama administration concluded that his criticism of their handling of yesterday's embassy attacks was, indeed, valid."
“What I said was exactly the same conclusion the White House reached, which was that the statement was inappropriate. That’s why they backed away from it as well,” Romney told George Stephanopoulos.
This is fairly impressive verbal gymnastics. Yes, the White House distanced itself from the initial statement put out by the U.S. Embassy in Cairo that apologized for a crass anti-Muslim film that had been making the rounds on the Internet. And yes, Romney also criticized the issuance of that statement.
But Romney also accused the president of sympathizing with the rioters because of that initial statement, despite the fact that the embassy released it hours before the attacks took place. And while Romney may want to focus attention elsewhere, it was that specific attack on Obama that had Democrats, foreign policy experts, and a good chunk of Republicans criticizing his conduct. His statement didn't comport with the actual timeline of events.
Romney did show some modicum of restraint when he declined to agree when Stephanopoulos asked if he felt that President Obama sympathized with the rioters.
But, this is mind boggling. I'm surprised Stephanopoulos did not ask Romney if he takes the White House remarks as an endorsement of his candidacy. (More below the squiggle.)
Mitt Romney's confusion seems to go well beyond "verbal clumsiness," in my opinion. He is now raising questions about whether he has sufficient intelligence to grasp the subtleties of the more complex world is now operating in.
Yesterday, Gail Collins' column caught my eye when she focused our attention on Romney's bizzaire explanation, on Wednesday, for his remarks on Tuesaday in Mitt’s Major Meltdown. Please remember as you read his confused, bumbling, and jumbled word salad of an explanation, this is after Romney has had a whole night, and early morning to prepare this response.
It didn’t seem to be a lot to ask, but when the crisis in the Middle East flared up, Romney turned out to have no restraining inner core. All the uneasy feelings you got when he went to London and dissed the Olympic organizers can now come into full bloom. Feel free to worry about anything. That he’d declare war on Malta. Lock himself in a nuclear missile silo and refuse to come out until there’s a tax cut. Hand the country over to space aliens.
Here is the Republican candidate for president of the United States on Wednesday, explaining why he broke into a moment of rising international tension and denounced the White House as “disgraceful” for a mild statement made by the American Embassy in Cairo about the importance of respecting other people’s religions:
“They clearly — they clearly sent mixed messages to the world. And — and the statement came from the administration — and the embassy is the administration — the statement that came from the administration was a — was a statement which is akin to apology and I think was a — a — a severe miscalculation.”
Feel free to reread this when you’re staring at the ceiling at 4 a.m.
Speaking of 4 a.m. isn't it time for our President to start running the "Who do you want answering the phone at 3 a.m. in a crisis" ads?
Goodness gracious folks! We can not let this man, Mitt Romney, anywhere near the Red Phone or nuclear football. He is so vastly in over his head, that I am now feeling guilty for criticizing him so severely. It now seems tantamount to bullying. Please let me apologize to everyone, including Mitt Romney, if this seems cruel, but he is running for the most powerful office in the world. If he would just resign and apologize, I will be the first to apologize for any unkind undertones that may be in my remarks.
As, President Obama says, as President "you must make sure the statements you make are backed up by the facts." You can't shoot first, and aim and ask questions later.
I'm dumfounded with astonishment that the Republican Party believed this is their best candidate! He does not even seem to be aware of the same reality the rest of us are operating in. As my mom likes to say, I mean this in the nicest possible way, bless his heart, no matter how cold and miserable it may seem. But, that's a topic for a different post.
5:38 PM PT: Thanks to middleagedhousewife for bringing us the exact quote from the embassy, which everyone can see is not only not an apology, but also seems to me to be a perfectly wise diplomatic statement that I would be happy to add my name to even now.
Just as a reminder of the actual content of the (9+ / 0-)
supposed "akin to an apology" statement:
"The Embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims - as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions," the embassy said at 6:18 a.m. EDT, shortly after noon Cairo time.
I really wish someone in the media would ask Smirkney to identify the apology in the above statement.
"On their backs were vermiculate patterns that were maps of the world in its becoming. Maps...of a thing which could not be put back. Not be made right again."
by middleagedhousewife on Thu Sep 13, 2012 at 05:26:25 PM PDT
7:11 PM PT: