The liberal media was was off to the races after Romney’s alleged Olympic gaffe. It would be all the more interesting if this was actually a story. Romney was still called Mitt the Twit by The Sun. Why? Because the presumptive Republican nominee said “there were a few things that were disconcerting- stories about the private security firm not having enough people, the supposed strike of the immigration and customs officials. That is not something which is encouraging.” CBS This Morning’s Jan Crawford gave this sensationalized report on July 26:
JAN CRAWFORD: That [statement] caused a storm in the tea cup and started a transatlantic war of words after Prime Minister David Cameron said this.
DAVID CAMERON: We’re holding an Olympic games in one of the busiest, most active, bustling cities anywhere in the world. Of course, it’s easier, if you hold an Olympic Games in the middle of nowhere.
CRAWFORD: Cameron was responding to a question about subway delays, not Romney and his aides later said he was not referring to Salt Lake City. But the mayor of salt lake thought otherwise. Seeing the coverage, he took offense, releasing a statement inviting Prime Minister Cameron to “stop by any time. We’d love to have him and happy to send a map so he doesn’t run into trouble locating the middle of nowhere.” And The Daily Telegraph opined that Mitt Romney is perhaps the only politician who can start a trip that was suppose to be a charm offense by being utterly devoid of charm and mildly offensive. After a meeting with Cameron, Romney walked back his critique.
CRAWFORD: Now Prime Minister Cameron said after his meeting with Romney, he knew Romney had run a successful Olympics and he appreciated that vote of confidence. But Gayle and Charlie, I’ve got to tell you, all of this here has really overshadowed one of the main reasons Romney was coming to London, which of course was to remind Americans of his role in saving those troubled Salt Lake City Olympics ten years ago.
What gaffe is the liberal media talking about? Romney only reiterated what many in the UK were already saying about Olympic security. As indicated by RBpundit, the British press, the same blokes blasting Romney, were in a frenzy over Olympic security a week before the event.
- Liberal Media Fail
The security concerns were triggered last week when it emerged that private security contractor G4S [a UK security firm], which was supposed to have provided 10,400 guards for the Olympics and Paralympics, would not be able to deliver.
Its failure to recruit, train and vet enough staff in time led the government to announce last week that it was deploying an extra 3,500 troops to cover the shortfall.
G4S said it has only about 4,000 guards trained and ready, although it hopes to have 7,000 fully accredited by the time the Games begin on July 27.
Even members of parliament were uneasy with the “making it up as you go along” approach, which forced the government to deploy more troops to provide adequate protection. There was even a whistleblower in G4S who claimed that x-rays failed to detect a phony nail bomb, which should be a cause for alarm.
This is not a “controversy” or a “gaffe.” It’s the Democrat Media Complex on the war path. The Washington Examiner did some digging into Obama’s British gaffes and here are a few of them that were published on July 27.
March 2009: Obama “too tired,” to properly host Prime Minister Gordon Brown
Prime Minister Gordon Brown came to visit the President at the White House, but the British press reported there was no “full-blown press conference” or “formal dinner,” as has been customary. The British Press reported that the President was “too tired” to properly host the Prime Minister because he was dealing with the economic crisis.
Even worse was this reported quote from an anonymous State Department official: “There’s nothing special about Britain. You’re just the same as the other 190 countries in the world. You shouldn’t expect special treatment.”
March 2009: Obama gives Prime Minister Gordon Brown a box of DVD’s
While visiting the United States, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown gave the president a pen fashioned out of the same wood as the Resolute Desk. What did Obama give him in return?
“Barack Obama, the leader of the world’s richest country, gave the Prime Minister a box set of 25 classic American films – a gift about as exciting as a pair of socks,” reported the Telegraph.
What’s worse, the set of DVD’s was coded for the United States and unreadable by UK DVD players.
April 2009: Obama gives Queen Elizabeth an iPod
White visiting the Queen, the Obama family gave her an iPod,prompting raised eyebrows from the British Press. The MP3 player came pre-loaded with photos from President Obama’s inauguration and audio files of the president’s speech as a senator to the 2004 Democratic National Convention and his 2009 inauguration address.
The queen reportedly already had an iPod.
April 2009: First Lady Michelle Obama breaks protocol by touching the Queen’s back
Via the Telegraph, “Some observers winced at the sight of that hand pressed firmly across the royal back. They thought it an appalling solecism and an offence against the Queen’s dignity.”
January 2011: Obama calls France America’s ‘strongest ally’
While President Obama was visiting France, the British Press was particularly vexed when he told French President Nicolas Sarkozy that France was America’s strongest ally.
“The UK has lost nearly 350 troops in the war against the Taliban – seven times as many as France.” noted the Daily Mail.
May 2011: After toasting the Queen, Obama continues speaking as the band starts playing ‘God Save the Queen.’
This awkward moment had both countries wincing, as the President presumed to keep speaking even though the band started playing.
The BBC notes: According to protocol, however, he (Obama) should have stopped after the toast.
May 2011: Barack Obama snubs British scientists by refusing to receive Royal Society medal
The Telegraph reports: “Sources close to the state visit said members of the Royal Society were ‘deeply offended’ by the snub and had accused Mr Obama of being obsessed with his ‘street cred.’”
December 2011: President Obama refers to the British Embassy as the “English Embassy”
From the Daily Mail: In an interview yesterday, Mr Obama said: ‘All of us are deeply disturbed by the, err, crashing of, err, the English Embassy, err, the embassy of the United Kingdom.’
June 2012: President Obama refers to the Falkland Islands as ‘the Maldives’
This was a mistake on top of a gaffe, as the Maldives are actually in the Indian Ocean. Obama was trying to say “Malvinas” — the name given to the Falkland Islands by the Argentine government, a British possession which Argentina invaded in 1982. This was the British equivalent of suggesting that the U.S. hand Pearl Harbor over to the Japanese. As The Telegraph’s Nile Gardiner writes: “This is a position that Britain views as completely unacceptable, and with good reason.”
(H/T Sooper Mexican)
All of this and Bob Gibbs, in his insufferable wrongness, had the temerity to say:
Mitt Romney wondered aloud whether London was ready for the Olympics, and I think it’s clear that voters in this country wonder aloud whether Mitt Romney is ready for the world…I think the world is not yet ready for Mitt Romney, he [Gibbs] added. To go overseas, stand in the country of our strongest ally, in an Olympics they’ve been preparing for years for, and question whether or not they’re ready does make you wonder whether or not he’s ready to be commander-in-chief.
Hey Bob, first of all,you can go shove it. Second, France is our strongest ally.
