All-purpose news and politics thread

[king mob]

Out of touch millionaire slagging off another out of touch millionaire shocka!

Senior advisers to Mitt Romney have bitterly criticised David Cameron's recent White House "love-in" with Barack Obama before Romney's first visit to London for the opening of the Olympic Games.

Referring to Cameron's highly flattering toast to Obama during a banquet given in the prime minister's honour when he visited Washington in March, a senior aide said: "You don't take sides in an election year".

The aide, who requested anonymity, said Romney and his wife, Ann, would attend the "first day of activities" of the 2012 Games, which open in July. Romney would do "one or two other things" while in London. A meeting with Cameron was not ruled out, but that was "up in the air", the aide said.

Doubts about a possible Downing Street meeting appear to stem in part from surprise and dismay felt in the Romney camp about what it saw as Cameron's obsequious behaviour at the banquet on 14 March.

Cameron's performance smacked of a "lack of experience" and was seen as "not very skilful", the aide said.

Romney advisers responsible for European policy were said to have been so alarmed that their initial reaction was to complain Cameron had "infringed" the special relationship between the US and Britain.

"It's curious. What Cameron did is ironic, seeing that a few days later Obama said he was neutral on the Falklands. Cameron was taken for a ride by Obama," the aide said.

He said he had been telephoned the following day by an embarrassed British contact who told him: "'I don't want to talk about it [Cameron's toast]. I'm just sorry it happened.'"

Criticism from Romney's camp is unusual. It prides itself on being extremely disciplined, careful in its dealings with the press, and averse to controvery.

US campaign teams tend to be extremely sensitive about any interventions by foreign leaders in domestic politics. In the run-up to the 2008 election , John McCain's campaign complained to the British embassy about an article by Gordon Brown praising Obama.

The same year, the Obama campaign took issue over a leaked memo from the British embassy in Washington mildly critical of Obama: lingering resentment carried over from election headquarters in Chicago to the White House.

In his speech Cameron thanked the US president for his "strong and beautiful words" about Anglo-American ties, and said Obama "has pressed the reset button on the moral authority of the entire free world".

Apparently acknowledging their differing political outlook, Cameron went on: "You don't get to choose the leaders that you have to work with. But all I can say is that it is a pleasure to work with someone with moral strength, with clear reason and with fundamental decency in this task of renewing our great national alliance for today and for the generations to follow."

Cameron was heavily criticised in British papers such as the Telegraph and Daily Mail for this perceived extravagant praise of Obama.

Romney's London visit is likely to be his first trip abroad after securing the Republican party's presidential nominee. He will be formally selected at the party's national convention in Tampa, Florida in late August, thereby teeing up what is expected to be a tough, tight fight to unseat Obama.

Romney has scant experience of foreign affairs or foreign policy, so in theory a visit to London should be a relatively safe first step. But Cameron's outspoken support for Obama may have tainted the relationship before it has begun.

Obama, too, had little foreign policy experience before becoming president, and visited Europe mainly to obtain pictures of himself abroad, visiting foreign leaders, important in an election campaign. He drew a massive crowd in Berlin, but Romney does not have that kind of pulling power.

Romney's presence at the Olympics stems from his presidency of the 2002 Winter Olympics organising committee in Salt Lake City, when he helped rescue the event from financial problems and a corruption scandal. "Ever since the games in Salt Lake City in 2002, the Olympics has been a big part of my life," he told a radio station in Columbus, Ohio last month.

In a statement Romney said: "The greatness of achievement is measured in the fire and passion of dreamers. The 2002 Olympic Games taught us that our aspirations can become reality."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012...m-obama-london

[Michael P]

"How dare that head of government toast another head of government at a banquet held inside the seat of said government!"

[Vibranium]

plus the international community likes Obama....he actually seems the be the first president since Clinton that has a favorable opinion amongs the international community

[chico25]

plus the international community likes Obama....he actually seems the be the first president since Clinton that has a favorable opinion amongs the international community

So you're saying he's more liked than Bush. I think that's a given.

[Iangould]

At least 11 people are dead in Egypt after unidentified men attacked a protest against military rule.

The Egyptian military (or factions within the military anyway) are playing hardball ahead of Presdiential elections.

On the one hand, they've ensured that the election will likely turn into a run-off between the secular, liberal Amr Musa and the Islamist liberal Fatouh by excluding other candidates.

That outcome might seem preferable to the alternative of the Muslim Brotherhood candidate facing off against an even more hardline Islamist in the run-off but its still an abuse of democratic processes.

On the other hand, they appear to be using simple old-fashioned thuggery to intimidate their critics.

[Iangould]

Cheng Guangcheng was sheltering in the US embassy. Then he left after a deal was worked out with the Chinese government that would supposedly protect him and his family. Then after speaking with his family, he changed his mind and is now seeking to leave the country.

link

Blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng told journalists he feared for his life and wanted to leave China on Wednesday, throwing into chaos an agreement between the United States and China under which he would have remained in the country.

Guangcheng earlier left the U.S. Embassy in Beijing after a six-day stay after securing guarantees that, according to U.S. officials, would have allowed him to relocate within the country in safety with his family and pursue his studies.

Accepting that outcome, which was excruciatingly negotiated between the United States and China, entailed some risk that the Chinese authorities might not live up to the guarantees, and the dissident appeared to have a change of heart about his chances.

Within hours of his release to a Beijing hospital and being reunited with his family, Chen gave interviews saying he feared for his life after he learned of the way his wife had been treated.

"He wants to leave and he wants to leave as soon as possible," a CNN reporter said on air, saying he spoke to Chen for 15 to 20 minutes by telephone and the activist, who opposed forced abortions in China, felt "let down" by the United States.

The CNN reporter said Chen told him that while he was at the U.S. Embassy he was not given the full story. He had since spoken to his wife who told him she was mistreated by Chinese authorities and they now feared for their safety.

"He wants to leave China. If he stays here he says he will not live," the reporter said of Chen, a self-schooled legal advocate who campaigned against forced abortions under China's 'one child' policy." He escaped 19 months of house arrest, during which he and his family faced beatings and threats, in rural Shandong province on April 22.

[Serik]

The power of a well-made chart (via Junkjurks).




USA! USA! USA!

[Iangould]

Never mind, misread the axes on the chart.

[Spike-X]

Referring to Cameron's highly flattering toast to Obama during a banquet given in the prime minister's honour when he visited Washington in March, a senior aide said: "You don't take sides in an election year".

I guess nobody told that to our former Prime Minister John Howard, who while in office went on the record as saying that electing Barack Obama as President would be "a boost for the terrorists."

I think that's what he said, anyway. It was hard to make out anything that man said when he was constantly speaking around a mouthful of GW Bush's cock.

If I was running al-Qaeda in Iraq, I would put a circle around March 2008, and pray, as many times as possible, for a victory not only for Obama, but also for the Democrats.

So how'd that work out for them, Johnny?

[Vibranium]

http://www.journalgazette.net/articl...886/1002/local

seriously...cross the Girl Scouts and this is what happens

[dupersuper]

http://www.journalgazette.net/articl...886/1002/local

seriously...cross the Girl Scouts and this is what happens

It won't open on my work computer. Does any one want to give me the jist?

[Paradox]

"Republican state Rep. Bob Morris of Fort Wayne received just one contribution after his outburst against the Girl Scouts earlier this year.

His latest campaign finance report filed this month shows he raised $5,000 between Jan. 1 and April 13 – all of which came from one donation from the Northeast Indiana PAC for Better Government.

The donation came April 10 – well past the February airing of Morris' comments calling the Girl Scouts a "radicalized" organization that supports abortion and lesbianism.

The political action committee is financed by several prominent business executives, including Richard Freeland and Don McArdle. The group has been a major player in local Republican politics for years, giving thousands of dollars to different campaigns. Morris now has about $19,000 on hand. He is facing Democrat Lee Jordan in the fall. The state's online campaign finance database had not yet posted Jordan's latest report.

Update: A Republican precinct captain and "proud father of a Girl Scout" announced Tuesday that he is considering a run against Morris as an independent."

[Spike-X]

"Republican state Rep. Bob Morris of Fort Wayne received just one contribution after his outburst against the Girl Scouts earlier this year.

His latest campaign finance report filed this month shows he raised $5,000 between Jan. 1 and April 13 – all of which came from one donation from the Northeast Indiana PAC for Better Government.

The donation came April 10 – well past the February airing of Morris' comments calling the Girl Scouts a "radicalized" organization that supports abortion and lesbianism.

The political action committee is financed by several prominent business executives, including Richard Freeland and Don McArdle. The group has been a major player in local Republican politics for years, giving thousands of dollars to different campaigns. Morris now has about $19,000 on hand. He is facing Democrat Lee Jordan in the fall. The state's online campaign finance database had not yet posted Jordan's latest report.

Update: A Republican precinct captain and "proud father of a Girl Scout" announced Tuesday that he is considering a run against Morris as an independent."

Hahahahahahaha! That's awesome.

[Paradox]

Even Republicans have their limits. "Mess with the n***ers and the qu**rs all ya want, but Jesus, man, that's the Girl Scouts!"

[Spike-X]

Lest we think the War On Women is purely an American right-wing issue, the Irish parliament have just voted 109-20 against a bill that would permit “termination of pregnancy where a real and substantial risk to the life of the pregnant woman exists.”

Apparently being pro-life is just fine and dandy unless you're trying to save the life of a woman who's actually been born and has been living for a while. Then she's just an expendable incubator with no goddamn rights of her own.