No, really…he did. Last weekend Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney held a town hall meeting in Ottumwa, Iowa. One of the members of the audience asked him if he would commit the money necessary to continue President Bush’s AIDS program in Africa as a way to restore good will toward America. His answer, while not picked up on by the members of the audience, absolutely floored me. He started out by agreeing with the premise of the question, touting America’s health care system — then he dropped this little nugget:
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Download | Play (thanks to Scarce for the video)
Romney: …”Did you notice in Lebanon, what Hezbollah did? Lebanon became a democracy some time ago and while their government was getting underway, Hezbollah went into southern Lebanon and provided health clinics to some of the people there, and schools. And they built their support there by having done so. That kind of diplomacy is something that would help America become stronger around the world and help people understand that our interest is an interest towards modernity and goodness and freedom for all people in the world. And so, I want to see America carry out that kind of health diplomacy…”
Somebody needs to get his talking points in order before they let him speak in public. What Hezbollah did was essentially provide UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE for the people of southern Lebanon, something Romney has vigorously opposed for you and I here in America. I hate to tell you this Mitt, but I don’t think the rest of your party agrees with your glowing review of Hezbollah.
Filed Under: Campaigns/Elections, Election 08, Health/Science, Middle East
3 Trackbacks To “Mitt Romney Sez Hezbollah Style Diplomacy Would Be Good For America“
:lol:
man he dumb
Worst…Analogy….Ever.
Mitt … unfiltered, unshackled, unbound …
Seriously, who are the numb nuts that actually supports this twit?
Freakin Himbo..
Ann Coulter. ‘Nuff said.
Well Mitt did come up with affordable state sponsored health care in Massachusetts when he was governor…
…but yeah, what a stupid fucking example. Why didn’t he just tout what he did as governor instead? Dumbass just put the nail in the coffin of his campaign.
agreed all around that he’s bloody idiot, and that the analogy sucks, but i can’t help but agree that some “health diplomacy” would be a welcome foreign policy shift from where we are now.
Geez, first Obama wants to bomb Pakistan, and now this.
And Hilary wants to nuke Iran, and Edwards is making money hand-over-fist off of hedge funds while simultaneously talking about the “two Americas”. And Giuliani? Where to start?
Makes you even more excited about the 2008 election, don’t it?
This guy makes me sick to watch and listen to. He’s just another in an endless string of empty, wealthy bullshitters, and when he speaks, you better listen to him carefully.
A caller to PBS asked him what his national healthcare plan would be. He said that he absolutely supports a national healthcare insurance plan for everybody, one they can take from job to job.
In other words, Romney wants insurance for all. Big f* deal. This keeps the army of insurance workers in their jobs, and keeps on screwing the rest of us. This keeps the army of insurance people who handle the phones dictating what doctors can do with their patients.
He’s just another talking SICKO.
Not that I agree witht the example but he is speaking the truth at least, that is one of the many ways Hezbolla gain the support of the local population and why they were voted in. They provided medical, food, schooling and other basic social needs to people in need.
So basically Mitt is only willing to give health care for free only if it benefits America– but he won’t provide free health care for Americans.
Who’d a believed George W Bush would have become President.
Beat Gore no less?
Imagine if America was cool to the people inside is borders and not just the corporations.
oh wait, I forgot, the supreme court said corporations are people too..
In other news, Chistopher Shays has dismissed Abu Ghraib once again, saying that we should never have aired-out our ‘dirty laundry’ while the war in Iraq raged on. This was in the pat Tillman hearing in the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform today.
I don’t get it. What’s wrong with building health clinics? Does he want them to be mormon-conversion-kiosks or something?
“I’m Mitt Romney and I support terrorist provided Universal Health Care”.
L.A. Confidential @ 14:
“Beat”?
dubyah 50,460,110
Mr. Gore 51,003,926
I have never been to Iowa. Is it predominately white, fat, and old?
Dr. Matt @ 19:
Winning is everything right?
Mitt has learned that treating people abroad with humanity is a great way to win friends and influence people. What a revelation. Ironically, it only took a radical Islamic group to show him the way.
My my, what a freaking plastic tool.
What was he thinking???
I mean, does he really think that giving humanitarian aid to people who are suffering is a GOOD THING?!?!
For the Love of God, Hezbollah did something similar,
It logically follows that Mitt is validating, nay, ENDORSING, Hezbollah!!!
Bad example, but correct in principle. This is what we should have done in the “war on terror.” Instead of invading Iraq, we should have invested a tiny fraction of that TRILLION dollars into helping Afghanistan to become the jewel of Central Asia. That, more than further invasions, would have put democracy on the move.
Universal Health Care for the Fatwa
Could he be as dumb as Booosh?
obama just another fuckling war monger! screw romney too!
Pretty funny, especially for dog lovers…
http://www.youtube.com/…
Is this good Karl Rove’s lovechild, or Mitt Romney’s stalker?
http://www.youtube.com/…
Turning Romney’s words against him
http://www.youtube.com/…
This poster, ‘entreprenosis’, is a real psycho, defender of Romney’s
http://www.youtube.com/…
Visit these sites, get a laugh at Mittsy’s expense and annoy the shit out of his supporters!
Well, to be fair, he failed to mention that Hezbollah kicked Israel’s ass.
Calhouba @ 9:
I have no problem helping those less fortunate…but let’s start with the less fortunate in THIS country! You can’t seriously expect to take people’s tax dollars to give universal healthcare for other countries and then tell your 47 million uninsured back home to go fuck themselves when they need healthcare!!!
WTF @ 12:
Funny really, this is the exact reason why Hamas is so strong in the palestinian areas, Gaza and the West bank. They supply free hospitals.
So with Mitt’s sytem, Americans in need of health care who don’t have their own health insurance coverage will have to travel to a country the US is trying to “democratize” & get some of the free health care the US will be giving them.
The FRAUD strikes again.
He’s almost as good as bush for his verbal vomit.
In this case, charity begins at home. Why build health clinics and schools abroad, and suck the life out of the schools and hospitals here? You mean there’s *gasp* a role for big government programs…in Lebanon? Oh, never mind. No doubt private companies would be building those hospitals and schools over there, too, and then we can screw over brand new populations with greedy corporations doing our humanitarian work, just like Halliburton. THAT sure worked out well, didn’t it? Blackwater and Halliburton were faaan-tastic emissaries of goodwill.
boozemop @ 30:
To be fair, if Israel hadn’t been fighting a politically correct war, rather than the force they used in 1967 and 1973, Lebanon would look like Japan in 1945 and what was left of Hezbollah would be hiding in Paraguay.
After Mitt and the candidates establish the “good will” plan,
they should establish the “peace and liberty” plan for the United States of America.
Maybe a good place to start is to talk to some advisors in Norway or New Zealand…
http://visionofhumanity.com/rankings/
Just please stay away from those inter-connected war profiteering US web of
think tanks that got us into this mess in the first place.. ( under the guise of … )
The Common Link –> DICK CHENEY
http://thinkprogress.org/the-a.....-they-now/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P.....an_Century
http://glenngreenwald.blogspot.....-moms.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspen_Strategy_Group
http://www.sourcewatch.org/ind.....tegy_Group
All in the family… Condalezza and Philip Zelikow….
http://hnn.us/articles/5280.html
I’m surprised by the knee-jerk reaction to this. Romney actually makes a valid point. How do you impress yourself upon people; how do you make them side with you; feel indebted to you? Is it by bombing them? no (though I’m sure Romney’s happy to do that). Is it by torturing them? no (though Romney’s in support of that too).
Hezbollah is just one of many organizations that are deemed “terrorist” that make strong roots in their communities by providing the health care, the food, the clothes, the base necessities of existence that others, too busy bombing them and enacting economic sanctions that hit the neediest hardest, don’t provide.
If we want our public standing to go up in Africa, in the Middle East, and right here in America, we can do that by showing that human compassion. Even if it is used as a blatant political tool, it still carries incredible weight.
Romney is right on this. Whether he realizes it or not is another issue, but we, as political progressives, as humans should recognize the validity of his statement.
If the Nazi’s come out against cancer, do we have to be for it?
tyree @ 28:
lolz, looks like Obama heard all of our calls for “Where is Bin Laden?” Heh, Obama 2008 all the way!
well of course the Book of Mormon will be available in the waiting rooms as will be the missionaries to answer any questions…think of the profit potential - oh you’ve been diagnosed and don’t have much time to live - we’re here to help and accept a donation to the cult I mean church.
tyree @ 28:
I see his handlers now, telling him “Hillary made you look weak and naive when you told the world you would talk to all world leaders, whether they are our “enemies” or not…better go into attack dog mode for a few days to counteract!”
It’s all just so predictable.
senoritchy @ 40:
Don’t take any of Romney’s claims seriously, the guy just wants to come into office and lower taxes for the rich and funnel taxpayers money into the religous group of his choice, just like what Bu$h did.
Ozymandias @ 25:
You have got that right. As the old saying goes, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. If we had been generous on positive things the insurgents wouldn’t hate us so much but if they continued, their own people would turn on them.
But…but…but…they hate us for our freedom. According to the neocons Might Makes Right and Kill Them Before They Kill Us.
The thing is that this war is such a scam.
Too bad Mitt boy couldn’t show any cleavage.
That might have distracted our journalist away from
his inarticulate analogy.
That kind of diplomacy is something that would help America become stronger around the world and help people understand that our interest
What Mitt is leaving out: This will be his springboard to one big giant world wide proslytizing Mormon Mission paid for by the American taxpayers. Give me a break.
Don’t worry everyone, hannity will be all over this story on fox tonight.
Headline: Romney offering aid and comfort to the terrorists? Notice the “cavuto?” at the end.
What a dumbfuck Romney is. The mere fact he took his dog on the roof of his car for a 12 hour journey should be enough to see him out of this race.
Seele^ @ 39:
obama just another war monger kucinich 08
Our government is corrupted beyond hope for we citizens.
I think this next election I am going to put my vote up for sale to the Highest Corporate bidder.
anonymous @ 41: