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'There are a few things that were disconcerting: the stories about the private security firm not having enough people, supposed strike of the immigration and customs officials, that obviously is not something which is encouraging.'Mr Romney went on to say of the British public: 'Do they come together and celebrate the Olympic moment?
'That's something which we only find out once the Games actually begin.' MITT ROMNEY in LONDON 26/07/2012.

Errrrrrr.....Who is this Clown? Seriously I thought we were allies, why did America let this guy leave the country and come to Britain? He is an embarrassment, I suppose they assumed as a Mormon he was coming here to preach at us door to door. I know we are pretty forgiving in the UK, we accept just about everyone, but given how Atlanta screwed the pooch with athletes missing events stuck in snarled up traffic it's pretty rich Criticism.

The worst bit is that I love Boston MA, how the f*&^ was ever voted in as their Governor Governor I will never know. Massachusetts has given us some amazing Politicians like the Kennedy Clan, and is associated strongly with the Founding Fathers and the Revolution (John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and other Delegates for Massachusetts). Obama came here months ago and managed to dazzle everyone with his poise, his authority, his intellect and his character. Mitt Romney has been here 5mins and the Prime Minister is giving a statement to countermand the insults that this "Chimp" is saying.

Seriously, is this even a contest in America? Mr "Superstar" Obama vs Mr "Chimp" Romney

Our president also gave your royals some DVDs. Not exactly dazzling poise, that.

Mitt Romney is an American of Mexican descent who is running in a historic election to become our first Mexican-American president. He is famed for having a lot of money which we tend to assume automatically comes with great management skills, and for being the first governor to implement a comprehensive health reform law. He also is a Mormon, which I believe would make him the first Mormon president if he won. Mormonism is a religion which many [weasel words] consider to be unusual, so some people are fascinated with that as well. He enjoys holding money, and riding totally sweet water jet-skis, while also looking unfathomably sad for reasons no one but Mitt Romney can ever, ever know.


Pictured: Mitt Romney



So far as your last question, as to whether or not it's a contest, yes, it is. Both Mr. Romney and Mr. Obama are virtually tied at this moment, which has as of late had them alternating between going up and down a few points over the other depending on what happened. It's too close to really call who will win despite many people making arguments for why it's a clear victory for... whoever.

Ouze wrote:while also looking unfathomably sad for reasons no one but Mitt Romney can ever, ever know.


Pictured: Mitt Romney

He is sad that he can not walk on water like Obama.

That, or he wishes he were driving.

Obama's 2009 gift, an iPod loaded with photographs of the queen's 2007 visit to the United States, was panned by critics, as was a gift of DVDs he had given then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

On this more formal state visit, Obama also gave Prince Philip a custom-made set of Fell Pony bits and shanks, as well as original horseshoes worn by recently retired champion carriage horse Jamaica.

For Prince Charles, the president offered a special selection of plants, seedlings and seeds from the gardens of Mount Vernon, home of George Washington; Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson; and the South Lawn of the White House, as well as jars of honey from the White House beehive.

The queen gave the Obamas a collection of correspondence between various presidents and Queen Victoria, including one in response to the death of Abraham Lincoln. The first lady was also given an antique broach.

A spokesman for the queen said she has been intimately involved in planning the details of the state visit, and spoke of a sincere fondness between the two heads of state.

"Very warm words have been spoken between the royal family and the Obamas," the spokesman said. "There is a genuine, genuine -- and I really mean this -- a genuine warmth between the two families."

Manchu wrote:Our president also gave your royals some DVDs. Not exactly dazzling poise, that.

Depends what the DVD's are.... However I have to say the first visit did smack of Airport Giftshop panic present buying. To be fair he did learn his lesson at the second visit!

I doubt our Older Royals have a DVD player, they've probably tried to play it in a CD-Player and then threw it in the Bin when it didn't work.

@Ouze I just don't get it, he has no Charisma at all. He could be Commander in Chief in November? It simply astounds me that in a partisan system, people are so dead set against Obama or against the "Democrats" that they simple vote for "The Other Guy" rather than actually consider what they are doing? It drives me mad in Britain, when people say "We are a Labour Household, my Father and Grandfather always voted Labour so Will I" these people are bloody mad, do they not understand Democracy means it doesn't have to be Hereditary, you have your own voice.

Easy E wrote:

Ouze wrote:while also looking unfathomably sad for reasons no one but Mitt Romney can ever, ever know.


Pictured: Mitt Romney

He is sad that he can not walk on water like Obama.

That, or he wishes he were driving.

He's thinking "God, I look short and so not in charge here. Is this my Dukakis "tank" moment? That thought is sooooo depressing."

I thought "Matt Santos" was going to be the first Mexican/American president?

EDIT - Nice to see Mitt Romney has sucked back his comments outside 10 Downing Street, looked a bit silly trying to weasel his way out of his stupid comments. The man may have the codes to the Nuclear Arsenal soon.........and I thought that George W Bush would be the one off, bad President during my lifetime, I may yet be proved wrong.

Although no Romney supporter myself, I think we're past the point where Republicans will vote for anyone other than Obama. There are, in their eyes, real issues at stake.

Actually Mitt is tryng to ignore the fact his wife just said "Hey Hun Check out what I can do" or "Check this out Hun" which has a tendency to be something...slightly insane

He is worried they are about to jump a shark.

Agree with OP. Don't preface a visit to our country with insults. Only we're allowed to make fun of our London 2012 cock ups

Joking aside, it looks like it's going to be a great sporting event for people who like this kind of thing (which I do), so Romney can sod off back to Salt Lake City (or wherever he's from).

Kilkrazy wrote:He is worried they are about to jump a shark.

/thread

Not been a good day for him really..

Mitt Romney’s London visit is not going well. After insulting the Olympics (a grave crime apparently) and forgetting Miliband’s name, Guido learns that tonight’s fundraiser is struggling to get the numbers.

The Republican candidate has been forced to cut prices from $25,000:


“From: XXXX
Subject: romney dinner…..reduced price for last minute guests has been negotiated

Good news: The Romney dinner in London on Thursday, July 26th is reaching an all time record for a one event fundraiser. In order to get us over the top, we have been allowed to invite a few last minute guests at 10,000 per ticket vs 25,000 per ticket.”

Lovely spinning there…

http://order-order.com/

goes on to say that the current ticket price is a "mere" $1k a ticket now.

... Despite Diamond Bob walking the plank it doesn't look like this LIBOR thing is going to go away any time soon, he's gotta tread carefully here one would suggest.

mwnciboo wrote:@Ouze I just don't get it, he has no Charisma at all. He could be Commander in Chief in November? It simply astounds me that in a partisan system, people are so dead set against Obama or against the "Democrats" that they simple vote for "The Other Guy" rather than actually consider what they are doing?

While "anyone but Obama" is certainly a very real segment of the voting population, there are still many slices of the populace that are less-then-enthused for other reasons as well.

At this point in our electoral process, it's no longer possible just to excite your hardcore enthusiasts and win an election. We have a very large population of independent voters who go either way. The election is going to turn on being able not only to get your base voters to come out and vote, but to convert over a majority of these independent voters.

I don't know what international coverage of Obama is like, so I don't know how you guys see him. From your tone, I'm going to assume it's mostly positive, and that you either don't know or are discounting some of the very real issues with Obama's re-election. Here are some issues that I, as an independent voter who votes both democrats and republicans in, depending, see as non-partisan legitimate concerns:

Major expansion of the federal government via healthcare. Don't get me wrong, I'd like to see an even bigger one; I'd like an NHS. But nonetheless many people do not and are concerned with this. Conversely, he buckled and gave away the public option. This will hurt him with his base.

A perception of a large spending increase under his watch. Whether this or true or not depends on who you believe as far as numbers, but perception is reality.

He's not left-wing enough: Despite the fact he is a Democrat, he hasn't pushed as far to the left as his base would like. Significant issues here include his waffling on marriage equality until it became politically expedient to do so, his continuing of grey-area-legal-stuff like targetted assassinations of US citizens in some situations, the fact he hasn't yet ended the was in Afghanistan, and so on.

The most utterly important factor, however, is almost surely the unemployment rate. Early on in his administration, he pushed for a stimulus that was considered too large and not large enough, depending on who you ask. Unemployent still remains fairly high. I don't know the exact number but it's around 8.5% right now, give or take. This is a very, very high number going into an election. The ones who say it was too big say it was a waste and didn't fix the problem, the ones who think it was too small.. well, you know. This is probably the biggest barrier to his re-election.

In my opinion, I think Obama, all things being considered, will be re-elected despite these factors because I think Mitt Romney is a very weak candidate. Because Mr. Romney pushed for healthcare in his own state, he can't use that angle. Because he has a religion many Americans consider "weird", he can't use the "Obama is black and hence somehow foreign" angle (which, might i add, didn't work in 2008). He can't use foreign policy experience because he has none. He can't use national security policy for the same reason. The Republican Party die-hards are not very enthusiastic about Mr. Romney since he's perceived as being flip-floppy on his stances. While "anyone but Obama" is a factor, it's still going to be difficult to get the base out there to vote at all. Of course, Mr. Obama has the same problem. Unfortunately for the Republican party, the reality is that it's very difficult to nominate what independents would consider a "reasonable" person such as, say, Jon Huntsman. The hardcore won't go for it. They want someone extreme like, say, Newt Gingrich. The powers that be in the GOP know someone like Newt can't win a general election. The result of this is a process that generates someone like Mr. Romney, who is willing to take both sides of any issue depending when you ask him. This is what it takes to get nominated, but it's probably not going to win an election against a well-organized opponent unless he steps in it somehow.


There is still a long time to go - 3 months. That's a lifetime. Employment could get a lot better. It could get worse. Then there are the "unknown unknowns" - the Hurricane Katrina type events that either make the President look awful... or great. It simply cannot be called yet, not by anyone reasonable. That's my 2 cents.

So, we have a great and special relationship that Obama just doesn't get and that Mittens does, deeply understand.

Then he insults 'the strongest ally of the United States' whilst visiting it during it's moment of supposed glory.

Mitt Romney's Olympics blunder stuns No 10 and hands gift to Obama
US presidential hopeful backtracks on warning of 'disconcerting' signs for Games after light-hearted rebuke by David Cameron

Romney handed Barack Obama a priceless gift for the US presidential election campaign when the presumptive Republican nominee blundered on his first diplomatic outing by questioning whether London was capable of staging a successful Olympic Games.

In a move that astonished Downing Street, hours before it laid on a special reception for Romney at No 10 he told NBC there were "disconcerting" signs about the preparations for the Games.

One senior Whitehall source said: "What a total shocker. We are speechless."

David Cameron wasted no time in slapping down Romney hours after his remarks were broadcast. On a visit to the Olympic Park, the prime minister said: "We are holding an Olympic Games in one of the busiest, most active, bustling cities anywhere in the world. Of course it's easier if you hold an Olympic Games in the middle of nowhere."

Cameron's remarks were intended to be a light-hearted rebuke to Romney, who used his famous management skills honed at Bain Capital to rescue the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002.

Romney frantically rowed back later after a 45-minute meeting in Downing Street where the prime minister expressed his unease about his remarks. "I am very delighted with the prospects of a highly successful Olympic Games. What I have seen shows imagination and forethought and a lot of organisation and [I] expect the Games to be highly successful," he said.

When asked about the preparations for the Olympics earlier in the day by the NBC anchor Brian Williams, Romney said: "You know, it's hard to know just how well it will turn out. There are a few things that were disconcerting, the stories about the private security firm not having enough people, supposed strike of the immigration and customs officials, that obviously is not something which is encouraging. Because there are three parts that makes Games successful.

"Number one, of course, are the athletes. That's what overwhelmingly the Games are about. Number two are the volunteers. And they'll have great volunteers here. But number three are the people of the country. Do they come together and celebrate the Olympic moment? And that's something which we only find out once the Games actually begin."

Boris Johnson also waded in to reject Romney's claim. "London is as ready as any city has ever been in the history of the Olympic Games," the London mayor said.

Romney's remarks are likely to be used by the Obama campaign to highlight his lack of sensitivity and his inexperience on the world stage. There was irritation in No 10 because Cameron had gone out of his way to make Romney as welcome as possible without breaching strict protocol rules.

Romney was given an important photo opportunity by being allowed to walk through the famous No 10 front door, though he had to do this on his own because he is not a head of government or state. Once inside the prime minister laid out the diplomatic red carpet. There was a warm handshake for the cameras before they held talks for 45 minutes about the Olympics, Syria, Iran, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Earlier, Romney appeared to forget Ed Miliband's name when they met at Westminster. "Like you, Mr Leader, I look forward to our conversations this morning," Romney said to Miliband as they shook hands.

Labour sources were relaxed about the "Mr Leader" reference, which revived memories of Neil Kinnock's notorious visit to the White House when Ronald Reagan referred to Denis Healey as Mr Ambassador. A Miliband aide said US politicians always referred to fellow politicians by their job title.

On his first official diplomatic trip since he became the presumptive Republican candidate, Romney held a series of "grip and grin" meetings with political leaders. He started the day meeting Tony Blair – the most recognisable political figure in the US – to brief him before Romney's visit to Israel.

He also met Nick Clegg, William Hague and George Osborne. One meeting was held way from the cameras when Romney was briefed by Sir John Sawers, the chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, MI6. This prompted Romney's third blunder of the day when Romney announced in Downing Street that he had met Sawers. Visiting dignitaries tend not to announce when they meet the head of MI6.

Soooo... revealing classified intelligence and security information when told not to... excellent presidential material...

Do love abit of Guido, it's the idea of unfettered accountability that scares many of the upper echelons. The sheer number of times he has been on the cutting edge of sensitive information, he was well ahead on Phone hacking etc. I do not want to see him silenced.

Yeah Mitt Romney's not welcome this side of the pond, you can keep him....

EDIT - @OUZE

One of the things we like about Obama, is that he is very European in his outlook (which is kind of strange because he's not really a Euro-phile or Anglo-Phile) It just seems to many of us Libertarian (not to say Left wing) Democracies he fits our political models and ideas. I mean NHS or Government Healthcare is very popular in Europe, Gun laws and controls are tight, liberalism (Homosexuality, Abortion, etc) are not major issues to us but I know in American these things ignite major problems.

In a move that astonished Downing Street, hours before it laid on a special reception for Romney at No 10 he told NBC there were "disconcerting" signs about the preparations for the Games.

What did he say? Either I'm not seeing that article on CNN and Fox or it just haven't hit the US news service yet

Is he referring to the Anti Air units atop of apartments? The helicopter carrier in the Thames River (somewhere close by not sure on that)? Actually how many military units are in London?

There was 2K active duty troops that volunteered drawn from all branches at the Atlanta Olympics to assist in security without personnel weapons but no serious hardware. (no I have not forgotten the bomb there either and the crucifying of Jewels by the news service)

Jihadin wrote:

In a move that astonished Downing Street, hours before it laid on a special reception for Romney at No 10 he told NBC there were "disconcerting" signs about the preparations for the Games.

What did he say? Either I'm not seeing that article on CNN and Fox or it just haven't hit the US news service yet

No, it's hit the wires. It would seem you have to be careful with the word disconcerting, which I think was a fair assessment considering the news coming out of the UK about the situation. I imagine it will all be ready in time for the games, but I wouldn't call it a smooth process. Being so upset about it makes me think it just touched a nerve more than being false.

Manchu wrote:Our president also gave your royals some DVDs. Not exactly dazzling poise, that.

He also replaced the queen's iPod. But that was on request.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Manchu wrote:Although no Romney supporter myself, I think we're past the point where Republicans will vote for anyone other than Obama. There are, in their eyes, real issues at stake.

Right, for example, they think that Obama will not support Israel enough to bring forth the apocalypse and therefor the Rapture.

Ahtman wrote:

Jihadin wrote:

In a move that astonished Downing Street, hours before it laid on a special reception for Romney at No 10 he told NBC there were "disconcerting" signs about the preparations for the Games.

What did he say? Either I'm not seeing that article on CNN and Fox or it just haven't hit the US news service yet

No, it's hit the wires. It would seem you have to be careful with the word disconcerting, which I think was a fair assessment considering the news coming out of the UK about the situation. I imagine it will all be ready in time for the games, but I wouldn't call it a smooth process. Being so upset about it makes me think it just touched a nerve more than being false.

No, it's damn bad manners to go to someones homeland and the first thing you do is insult them on public Television, there is such a thing as being gracious (also called diplomacy). The threatened strike was just Opportunism from the Unions, the G4S screw up was exactly that. Luckily we have a good military.

I would never go to the US and say "Hey this is the home of the Gun totting, Rude, Fat people" , you never, ever insult a country you are visiting. It's bad form and bad diplomacy, and a good way to sour relations, luckily we are resilient enough to shrug it off, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't tell him we think he's an idiot. He's a Presidential Candidate with no manners, etiquette and a bit of a fast mouth backed up by a poor sized brain not a great combination for the leader of the free world. If this is how he performs on the World stage, maybe you should confiscate his passport.

Anyway Boris nails him with a side swipe. Watch the Video 0:40 onwards.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18982374

Quote of the week goes to Boris " Team GB are gonna win more Gold, Silver and Bronze than needed to bail out Greece and Spain!" Go Boris!

Boris is such a legend...
A total maniac but a legend...

mwnciboo wrote:No, it's damn bad manners to go to someones homeland and the first thing you do is insult them on public Television

1) It wasn't the first thing he did.

2) It wasn't an unsolicited quote that he just decided to throw out there. He was asked about the situation. If you've been paying attention to the news you would see a lot of negative stories surrounding the run up to the start of the games.

3) Using the word 'disconcerting' is being diplomatic. If he was being rude he would have said that it was a mess and that it didn't seem like you had your gak together.

You know, if he HAD said that, it probably would have went over well with the conservatives over here.

Ahtman wrote: It would seem you have to be careful with the word disconcerting, which I think was a fair assessment considering the news coming out of the UK about the situation.

That is a good point. Remember the tone in Parliament just last week?

See 0:26

Mitt romney? He's some liar I heard.

Oh no. This news is going to sour the whole Olympics for me.

"The current White House doesn't understand or appreciate America's special Anglo-Saxon relationship with the UK! Oh, BTW, way to feth up the Olympics, you limeys! Oh, also BTW, I'm hosting a big fundraiser here. Give me money!"

Does that about sum it up?


Waitaminit, he's holding a fundraiser in London? Does this mean wealthy Europeans and European corporations will be contributing to his election fund? LOLwut

Does anyone think the previous governments understood the 'special relationship' between the UK and America?

Ahtman wrote:

Jihadin wrote:

In a move that astonished Downing Street, hours before it laid on a special reception for Romney at No 10 he told NBC there were "disconcerting" signs about the preparations for the Games.

What did he say? Either I'm not seeing that article on CNN and Fox or it just haven't hit the US news service yet

No, it's hit the wires. It would seem you have to be careful with the word disconcerting, which I think was a fair assessment considering the news coming out of the UK about the situation. I imagine it will all be ready in time for the games, but I wouldn't call it a smooth process. Being so upset about it makes me think it just touched a nerve more than being false.

Basically, this. I see nothing wrong with what he said. Was it naive and a little bit stupid, particularly when he's been going all-out to emphasise his commitment to the (ugh) 'Special Relationship? Undoubtedly. Was it a grave insult? No, absolutely not, don't be so silly. I think the OP is displaying a disconcerting lack of stiff upper lip.

Romney had a point, to be fair to him. It is absolutely disgusting that union gangsters would choose an occasion when the eyes of the world are on our nation, and our services likely to be stretched, to agitate for better pay and conditions. Just goes to show that they don't give a gak about the country, only themselves. The heads of these unions earn a fortune for basically holding the country to ransom - Bob Crow earns more than the PM, and I'd be surprised if Mark Serwotka was far behind.

And yes, the G4S thing was a fiasco. Happily, we probably have better stewards now than we would have had otherwise. I have it on good info that at least 200 Royal Marines have been put on Olympic duty. Yep, just think about that for a sec. 200 Matty's. If you're a terrorist in London, you'd probably wanna take a few weeks off, go on a nice holiday somewhere far from the UK...

And he's right to question our interest in the games. I personally couldn't give a gak about them. The same is true of most people I know.

mwnciboo wrote:'

Errrrrrr.....Who is this Clown?

may of us IN the U.S. are asking the same question.


We are hoping that perhaps he will get run over by a double decker bus...