Re: Mitt Romney’s article Bowing to the Kremlin, published in Foreign Affairs on March 27, 2012.
I must confess, I am not too happy with President Obama’s foreign and domestic policies over the course of the last three years. But I understand that there is little that any President of the United States could do these days, even if he wanted to. The real decision-making power apparently belongs to people behind the scenes not the least among whom are the financial donors and the political deal-makers.
Yet, in more than an equal measure I confess that I am sorely troubled by what the leaders of the Republican Party have been saying and writing over the course of the last decade, and currently. It is not so much that I "disagree" with, say, Senator McCain, or with Governor Romney (not to mention some lesser figures, like the former Speaker Gingrich, who has not withdrawn from the race for the Republican nomination only because a certain multi-millionaire keeps signing large checks that keep his campaign going no matter what), as I am dismayed by the abominable level of incompetence shown by these Republicans, who are presumably there to pose a challenge to Mr. Obama, in the fight for the White House. It seems as though the only thing these challengers are capable of is throwing cheap propaganda dirt at their Presidential target, which only splatters all over the American image around the world, bringing neither glory nor political gain to the dirt-throwers. In other words, it is only the genuine American interest that suffers as a result.
The most recent article by the current Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney in Foreign Affairs yesterday is a sad example of such incompetence in the very sensitive field of foreign policy. Provocatively titled Bowing to the Kremlin, it never rises to the level of its own “provocation,” combining a salvo of already predictable cheap shots against the Democrat incumbent with smatterings of rhetorical bravado, factual distortions, and misrepresentations. I have no intention of dignifying this sorry piece of crude agitation and propaganda with a commentary, like I would not dignify someone shouting obscenities at another with a scholarly analysis of every dirty word being used. There is really nothing to analyze there, and this is the saddest part. So that my readers might not suspect me of an exaggeration, I suggest that they study Mr. Romney’s article on their own and see it for what it is. They might also take notice of the famous cold warrior, Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski’s, reaction to the Republican rhetoric across the board:
“I must say, I’m literally… I literally feel embarrassed as an American, when I see those people orate.” (The source here is Dr. Brzezinski’s appearance on Fareed Zakaria’s GPS, on CNN, on Sunday, March 25, 2012.) I normally disagree with Dr. Brzezinski’s view more than 50% of the time, but in this case our feelings are identical.
But I will go farther than he does, with regard to the embarrassment. Who is really at fault here is the fabled American Press, the presumable Socratic gadfly on the body of the American cow, whose job it is to expose such national embarrassments and disgraces. Alas, for quite some time now, the gadfly has been missing its sting, gone timid, conveniently selective and non-confrontational against some of the worst excesses of the American political establishment.
Ironically, the Russians are having a field day with this. Considering the fallout from Mr. Romney’s obvious, but woefully predictable blunder, he has done far more damage to America’s image and prestige around the world than Mr. Obama’s open mike, in that famous incident. Apparently, there are more ways than one of “bowing to the Kremlin.”
I must confess, I am not too happy with President Obama’s foreign and domestic policies over the course of the last three years. But I understand that there is little that any President of the United States could do these days, even if he wanted to. The real decision-making power apparently belongs to people behind the scenes not the least among whom are the financial donors and the political deal-makers.
Yet, in more than an equal measure I confess that I am sorely troubled by what the leaders of the Republican Party have been saying and writing over the course of the last decade, and currently. It is not so much that I "disagree" with, say, Senator McCain, or with Governor Romney (not to mention some lesser figures, like the former Speaker Gingrich, who has not withdrawn from the race for the Republican nomination only because a certain multi-millionaire keeps signing large checks that keep his campaign going no matter what), as I am dismayed by the abominable level of incompetence shown by these Republicans, who are presumably there to pose a challenge to Mr. Obama, in the fight for the White House. It seems as though the only thing these challengers are capable of is throwing cheap propaganda dirt at their Presidential target, which only splatters all over the American image around the world, bringing neither glory nor political gain to the dirt-throwers. In other words, it is only the genuine American interest that suffers as a result.
The most recent article by the current Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney in Foreign Affairs yesterday is a sad example of such incompetence in the very sensitive field of foreign policy. Provocatively titled Bowing to the Kremlin, it never rises to the level of its own “provocation,” combining a salvo of already predictable cheap shots against the Democrat incumbent with smatterings of rhetorical bravado, factual distortions, and misrepresentations. I have no intention of dignifying this sorry piece of crude agitation and propaganda with a commentary, like I would not dignify someone shouting obscenities at another with a scholarly analysis of every dirty word being used. There is really nothing to analyze there, and this is the saddest part. So that my readers might not suspect me of an exaggeration, I suggest that they study Mr. Romney’s article on their own and see it for what it is. They might also take notice of the famous cold warrior, Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski’s, reaction to the Republican rhetoric across the board:
“I must say, I’m literally… I literally feel embarrassed as an American, when I see those people orate.” (The source here is Dr. Brzezinski’s appearance on Fareed Zakaria’s GPS, on CNN, on Sunday, March 25, 2012.) I normally disagree with Dr. Brzezinski’s view more than 50% of the time, but in this case our feelings are identical.
But I will go farther than he does, with regard to the embarrassment. Who is really at fault here is the fabled American Press, the presumable Socratic gadfly on the body of the American cow, whose job it is to expose such national embarrassments and disgraces. Alas, for quite some time now, the gadfly has been missing its sting, gone timid, conveniently selective and non-confrontational against some of the worst excesses of the American political establishment.
Ironically, the Russians are having a field day with this. Considering the fallout from Mr. Romney’s obvious, but woefully predictable blunder, he has done far more damage to America’s image and prestige around the world than Mr. Obama’s open mike, in that famous incident. Apparently, there are more ways than one of “bowing to the Kremlin.”
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