John Nolte
Breitbart.com
Big Journalism
30 Jul 2012
First we saw it with Romney’s comments about the Olympics, now we’re seeing it with Romney’s comments comparing the state of Israel’s economy with that of the Palestinian-controlled territories: Speaking the truth is now politically incorrect and undiplomatic.
Romney’s quote via the Associated Press:
As you come here and you see the GDP per capita, for instance, in Israel which is about $21,000 dollars, and compare that with the GDP per capita just across the areas managed by the Palestinian Authority, which is more like $10,000 per capita, you notice such a dramatically stark difference in economic vitality[.]
And yet, this is the AP’s headline: Romney outrages Palestinians by saying Jewish culture helps make Israel more successful
As if on cue and standing by, the Palestinians screamed RACISM:
The reaction of Palestinian leaders to Romney’s comments was swift and pointed.
“What is this man doing here?” said Saeb Erekat, a top Palestinian official. “Yesterday, he destroyed negotiations by saying Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, and today he is saying Israeli culture is more advanced than Palestinian culture. Isn’t this racism?”
Let’s all pause now and thank Obama and his media minions for turning facts into racism…
…Obama’s in trouble, Romney’s trip to Israel was wildly successful, and this means the media must find something — anything! — with which to tear Romney down…
Read the complete article at Big Journalism.
At Althouse, “It is a racist statement and this man doesn’t realize that the Palestinian economy cannot reach its potential because there is an Israeli occupation.”
“This man” = Mitt Romney.
ADDED: Word is that Romney wasn’t just comparing Israel to the areas managed by the Palestinian Authority. He also compared the U.S. to Mexico and Chile to Ecuador — other examples of countries that are geographically close and have “wide income disparities.” Romney was using ideas in the books “Guns, Germs and Steel” by Jared Diamond and “The Wealth and Poverty of Nations” by David Landes. Fine. Let’s have the transcript!
We urge readers to go to Althouse where Ann’s readers are fully informed of the history between Israel and the surrounding Arab states. They’ve left comments like this one:
Ken said…
this man doesn’t realize that the Palestinian economy cannot reach its potential because there is an Israeli occupationThis is a crock of shit. The reason Palestinians cannot reach their economic potential is because they are entitled brats. After the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the West Bank, the Israelis left behind all sorts of goodies so that the Palestinians could jump start their economy.
The result? The Palestinians destroyed them because they were made by Israel. Not too surprisingly Palestine, a group of people defined by destruction instead of creation, cannot pull their heads out of their ass. What do you expect from a group of people that consistently voted Yasser Arafat as their leader.
Life is hard. It’s even harder when you’re stupid.
And
Tim said…
Joe said…
“When one side sees fertile land, they work it and produce food. When the other side is given fertile land and the buildings, ready to be used, they burn them.”
Who does not recall the self-defeating looting and destruction of the Gaza Strip once the Israelis pulled out?
It is reminiscent of supermarkets that were looted and torched during the Watts Riots – and then the residents of Watts complained when there were no more supermarkets they could shop at.
As if the job of the supermarkets is to invest in communities that, at the slightest provocation, will loot and torch their investments.
Palestinians want economic development?
Let them build a civil society that isn’t predicated on the absolute abolishment of Israel and its perpetual state of war against Israel – and maybe, just maybe – they’ll be able to build an economy.
But not until then.
All are worth reading.
Related: Mitt Romney Captures Jerusalem
Speaking to an often-cheering group of about 400 people in Jerusalem, Governor Mitt Romney gave a speech less notable for what he said that for the fact that the audience believed he was sincere in saying it.
At a beautiful outdoor setting with the Old City in the background, Romney declared his strong support for Israel, using phrases often heard from American presidents. He also proclaimed his view that Jerusalem is Israel’s eternal capital. The difference, of course, is that those listening were less inclined to think that when President Barack Obama said similar things to AIPAC meetings he was describing his own views and policies.
Clearly, Romney was restrained by the American principle that partisan politics stops at the water’s edge, that no politician should criticize a president or U.S. government while abroad. Thus, Obama’s name—or even his specific policies—was never explicitly mentioned.
What Romney did do, however, was to scatter among the assertions of U.S. support for Israel’s security and a strong belief in a U.S.-Israel alliance some subtle references that many viewers and much of the mass media are likely to miss…
Read the complete analysis here. Full text and video here.
Daniel Pipes on Romney in Jerusalem
Daniel Pipes’s judgment about the Middle East is as good as anyone’s, so I was interested to see what he thought about Mitt Romney’s Jerusalem speech. In a word, he was impressed…
Romney: You bet Jerusalem is the capital
Without specifically criticizing President Obama in his speech in Jerusalem, Mitt Romney delivered a blow to the Obama campaign’s frantic efforts to defend the president’s hostile stance toward the Jewish state simply by saying: “It is a deeply moving experience to be in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel.” The Obama administration can’t even say that much, a sign of how reflectively protective of the Palestinians’ sensibilities is this president. Of course, Jerusalem is the capital. It was declared so in 1948…
Netanyahu contradicts Obama’s claim that sanctions are helping to thwart Iran also at PowerLine
…I think we should take the word of Netanyahu, who has real skin in the game, not the word of the perenially duplicitous American president, whose only skin is political. The sanctions have not set back the Iranian program by one iota. Nor, Netanyahu could have added, was Obama ever serious about setting that program back.
Readers may wish to review this video of President Obama’s speech to the Muslim world from Cairo University. Uploaded to YouTube by CSPAN.
Update: Laura Rosen Cohen on the Jewish drift from Left to Right, in Canada — and the US
Also, A step in the right direction — Romney offends Palestinian leaders
Update 2: NPR’s Cokie Roberts: Romney Poland Trip Racially Motivated
Romneys Receive Heroes’ Welcome in Poland
Update 3: Romney’s foreign travels/travails: telling the truth
…“You know, I was referring to press reports before I even got to London that suggested that the organizing committee was having some challenges,” said Romney.
“I was there for two days,” he added. “The games were carried out without a hitch. So, as far as I’m able to tell, despite the challenges as any organizing committee faces, they were able to organize games that have been so far so good, picture perfect.”
“I tend to tell people what I actually believe,” said Romney when asked if he would want to change his words if he could go back and answer the questions again…
…And have you noticed how “culture” has now become synonymous with “race,” so that speaking negatively of a culture—even if what is said is true (or perhaps especially if what is said is true)—becomes defined as racist, as though whatever a culture might be is embedded in the genes of its people?
Now I understand that diplomacy requires that a leader not always say what he/she really thinks, or even close to it. But at this point, diplomacy has been an utter failure with the Palestinians, who tend to look on any concessions as evidence of a weakness that can be exploited…
Read the whole thing.
