And let's not get started about
Mitt's press stooge who blew Romney's chance to at least dash out of Poland
unscathed by insisting that questions from reporters were, as they say in
Poland, zakazany because at the time
Mitt was on "sacred grounds." Apparently
being on sacred grounds was ground enough for said stooge to admonish those who
ignored him to "kiss
my ass!"
"Culture"
Shock
There are many allegories and
old sayings that offer thought-provoking insights into everyday life: "It is
easier to believe than to go and ask," for example. Or, "you
can't get blood from a stone." Mitt's performance as a candidate may result
in yet another -- "You can't transform the mindset of a businessman into that of a politician."
Nevertheless, if businessman
Mitt wants to play politician, he needs to come as one. Mitt has traveled the world on many occasions
appropriately wearing expensive, well-tailored business attire. For his Euro-Middle East tour, he may as well
have worn a clown suit. What that trip
proved is that Mitt needs to fundamentally change how he thinks in a way that
actually moves him away from what is perceived as his greatest strength -- his
business background.
This means divesting himself of
his businessman's persona and investing in that of an actual politician.
Mitt embarked on his tour probably
taking enough financial acumen and standard business-related accoutrements to
fill his oversized Rimowa
luggage. But, whatever political smarts
he's accrued during all the years he's been running for president were obviously
left behind; perhaps unable to be squeezed into that luggage. And regrettably for Mitt, diplomatic and political
aptitudes aren't items that can be strapped to the roof of an airplane.
The hidebound ignorance revealed by his overseas blunders -- most famously, the shibboleth Mitt pitched in Israel regarding Jewish and Palestinian cultures -- provides, as Romney would put it, a "marvelous" example:
"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."
Ignore the fact that, like his mis-prognosis
of the fate of a bailed-out U.S. auto industry, the businessman was also completely
wrong on the GDP per capita numbers; but do take note of the terms employed
by Mitt here: GDP, per capita, economic history and economic vitality. That's Mitt the businessman speaking; but it
might as well have been Joe the Plumber.
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