Open Salon | July 31 2012 | Thanks, Thomas
As Thomas says “Open mouth. Insert foot.” ~G
Mitt Romney recently said in Israel that Palestinians don’t have as high a GDP per capita as Israelis do because their culture is not as good as Jewish culture. That is both deeply racist and deeply stupid.
According to that logic, Jewish culture must not be as good as Arab culture because the GDP per capita of Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Kuwait crush Israel’s.
Mitt Romney also talked about divine hand of providence as a possible explanation of why Israelis are richer than Palestinians. Did God, or should I say Allah, change his mind and decide that he likes Arabs in the Gulf States more than even the Jews?
Here’s another explanation for the Palestinians plight: They have been under occupation for over 60 years now. They don’t even control their own borders or trade. There have been crushing embargoes on their territories. It’s a little hard to get trade going when you’re literally not allowed to trade.
Our military has aided and abetted this occupation and, in many ways, we have paid for it. Now we have a candidate for president of one of our major political parties go there and rub their face in it. It wasn’t our military that did this to you; it was your own inferior culture. That’s literally adding insult to injury.
Despite all of this, the most relevant part of this exchange might be the perspective it gives us into Mitt Romney’s world view. Rich makes right. If Israel is richer, by definition, it must be superior. If Mitt Romney is richer than everyone else, he must be superior to everyone else. Elect me for president, I’m richer than the other guy.
What he leaves unsaid is what is obvious in his mind, “The richer guy is obviously the better guy.”
The fact that Mitt might have had some advantages being the son of multi-millionaire governor and Israel might have had some advantages in getting $3 billion a year from the US and having a sovereign country is irrelevant to Romney. Richer equals better. Period. Who cares what the circumstances are? Mitt’s always about the bottom line.
Romney’s deeply offensive comments about the Palestinians probably won’t hurt him in the election at all. There is no group in America you can insult with more impunity than Palestinians and Arabs. That doesn’t hurt your electoral chances, it might even help. But what does hurt is the overwhelming sense you get from Romney that he is looking down his nose at you. This son of a bitch actually thinks he’s better than the rest of us because he was born to a mega-rich dad, figured out how to cheat the system at Bain and hid away so much of his money abroad (tax avoidance was an enormous contributor to his fortune – do you have any idea how much more you save up if you pay 10% in taxes a year rather than 35%). Now, that doesn’t sit so well.
Who wants to have a beer with a guy who thinks he’d rather be having a Chardonnay with one of his equals? To Mitt, we’re all Palestinians.
Related articles
- In Israel speech, Romney outrages Arabs by crediting Jewish ‘culture,’ ‘providence’ for economy (miamiherald.typepad.com)
- John McCain refuses to believe that Mitt Romney actually said what he said (dailykos.com)
- Mitt Romney Insults Whole New International Populace (nymag.com)
This post and the first comment say more about the authors than they do about Mr. Romney. Both seem to have a rather bitter point of view as to the workings of the political animal and also the free will choice to experience life in the way that best suits the growth of those choosing to be in that particular reality. Cultural differences exist a multitude of perspectives that enable us to experience and heal issues that are blocking our full absorption of in-LIGHT-enment. The middle east has been providing intense healing opportunities for
many eons and is a great place to see how deep the separation of all that is one has gone, and how far those participating there have yet to go. So intense is the hatred I might say, that their has been the potential to destroy the entire region to make the
point that one side of duality is better than the other
side of the duality.
Will I am
Actually, Will, it is a recognition that in 1948 the British government, supported by the American government, invaded Palestine and simply TOOK territory from the Arabs in that region and handed it over to a group of people whose claim to the land is based on a book written by THEM.
The saddest part of this entire drama is that PRIOR TO THE INVASION OF PALESTINE to create PRECISELY the hatred and tension that now exists, the Jews who lived in Palestine for centuries co-existed very peacefully with the Palestinians.
The Zionist Israeli agenda holds America and her politicians hostage. The sooner America lets go of its need to support this Rothschild Zionist creation militarily (and otherwise) the greater the likelihood of individuals living in that region finding common ground and co-creative beneficial relationships with each other. Blessings, ~G
G- I thought the point of the original post was foot-i-mouth
disease! I don’t think Romney is responsible for the history you bring forth.
The middle east ,as I earlier stated, has provided much opportunity for growth. The bottom line from my observation(and I might add past life participation) is that you have this basic duality and perhaps the hardest one on the planet to resolve: there are two sides, each believing THEY are the “chosen one”. To resolve that dichotomy one side or the other (or BOTH) must relinquish the core belief they hold as to who they are. To give in to the other side completely blows the illusion that you have had as the reason for the suffering you hold on to and are ready to die for to make your delusional point to the other delusional point of view. So you are free to continue to make the “points” for whatever your side of the issue your current incarnation
has chosen, but, in my opinion
nothing here will be resolved until all points of view are relinquished and the reality of
“all are created by the SAME Creator” is realized.
Will I am
Hi Will! Agreed. Blessings, ~G
Hi William
Personal comments aside, I was drawn to this one comment in your post:
“So intense is the hatred I might say, that their has been the potential to destroy the entire region to make the point that one side of duality is better than the other side of the duality.”
This is exactly why Americans need to demand that our neo-con occupational government cease and desist all actions that support this ongoing conflict (funding and supporting one party to the detriment of the other). Our tax dollars (to the tune of about $3 billion a year I’ve read) go to support this zionist regime, which was created by outside foreign influences for nefarious reasons as Gillian stated. Until this outside foreign support and military aid are stopped, there can be no opportunity for those directly concerned, Israelis and Palestinians, to come together to resolve the conflicts and duality for the benefit of everyone.
Mitt Romney’s comments exacerbate the duality and resulting hatred, anger, injustic, and resentment, because he is part of the cabal responsible for the ongoing conflict. Don’t get my wrong. I am not bashing Romney to praise Obama. Both are part of the same cabal that continue to oppress our planet.
Lightworker,
I would only add this “comment”,
What we see going on in any aspect of the current world picture is a projection of what we, as actors,creators and participants have created. WE are the responsible ones, WE have created and allowed the world WE ALL live in. This is the mirror, this is taking personal responsibility for the way it IS. Until enough of us take the macro picture into own microcosm and make the
personal changes in what we are contributing to the movie, there will be plenty of distractions to keep changing the scripts that keep the drama going. Will I am
Mitt Romney is a neo-con elitist puppet so of course his comments are going to reflect his attitudes of “Israel uber alles” and “dealing with the unwashed 99% masses”. No matter how much he tries to connect with the 99%, his 1% condescension always manages to slip out at the most inopportune moments for all to see. He and his wife, Ann, remind me of a 21st century mormon version of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. “We aren’t really rich, we just have $250 million”.