The War Mongering That Was the Final Presidential Debate

Monday’s presidential debate exemplified everything that is wrong with U.S. foreign policy. Moreover, it has become apparent since the very first presidential debate that the substance of the debate is irrelevant when one of its participants just lies. I mean really, how do you debate with a liar? With a dishonest crook?

Mitt Romney has been exposed as an empty suit with dubious foreign policy credentials trying hard to look presidential by agreeing (or pretending to agree) with the President. In fact, he has been lying so much, he contradicts himself in the same speech with such ease it is as if he practices incompetence.  During the debate he first said that  ”we can’t kill our way out of this.” Two minutes later he said that his strategy was “to go after the bad guys and kill them.”

Romney’s lies and contradictions (which ultimately have their roots in lies) have become so commonplace that people almost don’t notice it anymore it seems.  Or they do but they don’t point it out because then they would never get to do anything else.  

I have nothing but contempt for Mitt Romney and his policies. He is an opportunistic liar with truly disturbing and contemptible policy objectives disguised in lofty speeches about love for one’s motherland, hard work and the American Dream, undoubtedly to appeal to the uninformed, simple minded voter.  Don’t for one second be fooled with his grandiose talks about helping the middle class – a term he and his supporters didn’t even know existed up until six months ago when they were briefed that using such a term would be politically expedient.

Romney doesn’t care about the middle class and he most certainly does not care about the poor, the elderly, and the less fortunate. In fact, he doesn’t even care about the 95% of the people he addresses and lies to in those rallies and who support his plutocratic agenda.  He is someone who made it his life’s work destroying the American Dream for countless people by decimating companies, sucking up their money, laying off their employees, stealing their retirements and taking away their health insurance while offering absolutely nothing to anyone but tons of money to line his own pockets.

The real Romney we saw, which may have been the only time we saw the real Romney, was during the infamous 47% speech, when he didn’t know the cameras were rolling as he was addressing his own kind – the out of touch millionaires and hedgefund holders – cracking jokes about the plight of most Americans and dismissing them by stating that 47% of them are nothing  but parasitic mooches who don’t work hard or know responsibility. After the video leaked he didn’t even try to deny it but instead stated that his comment was not “elegantly stated“. Yeah, cause that is the issue, that it wasn’t elegantly stated.

Mitt Romney’s dishonesty is only superseded by his callous indifference for not only 47% of Americans he and his plutocratic wife spit on, but also pretty much toward everyone who isn’t a wealthy white man.

War Mongering as a Foreign Policy Objective

The debate Wednesday was especially hard to watch because these men stood there dividing the world between them, talking about how they will essentially selectively meddle in other countries’s internal affairs when there is a vested, corporate interest, including the projection of military power. They were talking about the world as if it was theirs for the taking, making casual statements about what countries to militarily occupy and attack.  As if these weren’t people being killed in those wars but just push pins on the map to move around for our own political gain.

It must have been a chilling sight for foreign countries listening to both Obama’s and Romney’s warmongering and how they plan on taking down countries whose leaders and policies they do not approve of and thus impose more death to people around the world. And then their talk about nation building and how we must create civil society in those countries. It was paternalistic and condescending.

We live in a world in which a lot of suffering is taking place; unnecessary preventable suffering: from human rights violations to environmental destruction that is always a hindrance to economic development and human health, gender inequalities with life and death consequences and famines and food shortages resulting in tens of thousands of children dying each day. Yet all these two dido heads could talk about on the foreign policy front was war: when to start it and how much. The idea of not being engaged in any war at all did neither cross their or that of the “focus group’s” minds. It wasn’t even a question of whether to go to war or not, it was a question of when and for how long and to what extent.

Their fear and warmongering was further exemplified in their foolish attempts at outdoing each other in how loud they can shout out the words “sanctions against Iran“. As if what they proposed was an admirable thing and the only solution; as if at the other end of those sanctions there weren’t human beings suffering.

Mitt Romney made absolutely no distinction between the Iranian government and the Iranian people. President Obama, on the other hand,  tried to make a distinction, using  non-othering language to talk about how there are many Iranian people who have the same dreams people in the US do. Yet somehow all that went under in Romney’s feverish demands for more and more crippling sanctions. “Crippling sanctions do work! It’s the right thing to do to have crippling sanctions.” Romney’s disregard for anyone else but his own self interest is appalling. And this man calls himself a Christian.

It was also sickening to watch Romney advocate cutting programs that help people in this country access food, healthcare, and education in order to spend even more money on the military and with it war and destruction  It became apparent to me last night that Mitt Romney is not just offensive to America, he is offensive to humanity.

During the debate Romney bulled and disrespected the president and unloaded ridiculous, hyperbolic and unfounded lies onto the American people.  I definitely think Romney practices being condescending every day

Obama did not do much better either. While both were engaged in a bloodthirsty shouting match about tougher and harder sanctions on Iran, they added fuel to the warmongering by reaffirming America’s undying allegiance to Israel - which undoubtedly means military involvement from the U.S.  Obama prefaced his decision to “stand by Israel no matter what” by citing his visit to a Holocaust museum in Israel. As if him visiting a Holocaust museum had anything to do with US support of Israel or even was a perfectly sound justification for formulating U.S. foreign policy, obligating American tax payer dollars and lives.

To add insult to injury and as if the $ 70 million we do not have and which we had to borrow from China at high interest rate just a few months ago wasn’t enough, now we are also swearing allegiance to Israel by promising to charge to their rescue and wage another devastating war for the apartheid Zionist regime. In fact, Israel’s security was debated more than American security in the form of jobs or health care or mortgage foreclosures or fair elections.

Both candidates made it very clear that they will rub Israel’s back whenever it requests it while  everyone else gets crippling sanctions.

Memo to both candidates: going to war with everyone is not a foreign policy objective.

How Romney is to pay for any of this remains as elusive as his ten years worth of tax returns. The “man” wants a tax cut for everyone, including and most importantly the rich, he wants the DoD to remain severely overfunded building more Navy ships we do not need;  he is championing all sorts of wars – from Libya to Syria to Iran  - as well as our undying support of Israel – all without explaining how he is planning to pay for any of  that. Maybe he thinks he can poof it into existence much like Joseph Smith poofed the tablets from god into existence calling himself the second coming.

The truth, of course, is that Romney plans on paying for all those things by going after the poor and unfortunate or just the regular middle class wage earners. That has always been the plan of this corporate raider without a conscience. Everything else is just stiff he tells people to get their vote.

Going After Vulnerable Populations to Pay for Deficit

Corporate and individual greed in an unregulated economy and banking system created by the same kind of policies that Romney and Ryan are pushing have caused the recession, yet those issues cannot be touched when it comes to trying to find ways to reduce our debt. That is true for both Republicans and Democrats – even though Democrats are more inclined to go after private enterprise to protect workers and consumers.

What is up for discussion, however, are seniors and food stamp recipients and vulnerable populations -  such as hard working middle class wage earners, welfare recipients, seniors and college students.

During the debate Romney stated that the number of food stamp recipients has risen under Obama, demonizing and scapegoating those people as if they created the recession or were even part of the problem. Romney actually managed to turn something so basic as feeding people into a bad thing; a liability.

These entities have somehow become the fall guys, the target when it comes to our domestic policy objectives in terms of reducing the deficit. God forbid we make millionaires pay their fair share in taxes; as everyone knows it has been food stamp recipients and college students responsbile for the demise of our economy.

I’m waiting for the day that a politician stands up and says that even if food-stamps were just for people without jobs, that it is okay because letting people starve to death is not okay.

Syria and Iran Do Not Share Borders, Mr. Harvard Alum 

I am also shocked that not more people are pointing out the fact that Romney is unaware that Syria is not Iran’s sea port and that there is a whole country between them.  This means that Romney doesn’t even know where these countries are on a map.  How could he possibly be placed in charge of foreign policy as our commander in chief? He stood up there talking about what he wants to do with each and every single one of them, snugly deciding fates and he doesn’t even know anything about their geography. And he wants to lead this nation. Shit that’s scary guys  (to be fair, I doubt most Americans are aware where those two countries are located on a map either).

That Mitt and his policies are contemptible is obvious. But the fact that nearly half of Americans who are going to cast a ballot this election actually buy that garbage is even more troubling. I understand why that greedy bastard Romney is trying to get his filthy and plutocraticpaws into the White House but why do all these poor schmucks who would definitely not benefit from even one piece of legislation proposed by Romney? Remember this is going to be a close race.

The US as the “Hope of the Earth”

After spending the last hour talking about the various ways with which he plans on dividing and conquering the world and killing people, Romney actually had the audacity to conclude his closing statement by stating that the United States is “the hope of the earth” and a “torch for the world to see.“

The truth is that our problems as humanity are not going to be solved through wars and military confrontation  but through diplomacy and cooperation. War mongering and paternalizing our neighbors, exploiting and threatening them, arming warring entities and adding fuel to century’s old rivalries resulting in military confrontation are not what render a nation the “hope of the Earth“, they render it its nightmare and demise. The person holding the highest position of leadership  in this country has to truly understand this. Mitt Romney is not that person.

(Oh and memo to Romney: you are running as this country’s president, not prophet, so tone it down with the light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel and shelter-from-the-storm bullshit. )

Tax Evasion is Unpatriotic, Mr. and Mrs. Romney

Republicans, but Americans in general, are big on patriotism. The platform that Romney is running on for president is steeped in classic Americana  of the “Leave it to Beaver” kind: mom and apple pie, the flag, guns, Christian values, and a lot of other things that evoke pride in and ask for devotion to the United States of America.

But devotion to one’s country also requires personal sacrifice for the larger good, including paying your taxes. For Romney to preach the Republican gospel from the top of a mountain while privately amassing a fortune by evading taxes is deeply hypocritical and unpatriotic.

Based on his track record, the only use Mitt Romney has ever seen in the government apparently is the extent to which it can be manipulated and molded to cater to the needs of corporations and the wealthy, at the expense of everyone else. Outsourcing jobs, which effectively means paying very little for labor overseas while at the same time depriving Americans of the opportunity to earn a living, is completely in line with the aforementioned credo.

Mitt Romeny’s past with respect to Bain Capital are at the forefront of the debate in this upcoming presidential election and campaign, seriously questioning his fitness to be the President, not CEO as he seems to think, of the United States. Swiss bank accounts and offshore accounts in the Cayman Islands and Bermuda for the purposes of tax evasion as well as his refusal to release his financial statements and tax documents seriously bring into question Mitt Romney’s integrity and most importantly fitness for the office of the presidency. They also seriously bring into question Romney’s alleged patriotism.

Furthermore, questions about Romney’s tenure at Bain Capital and the fortune he earned there have dogged the former Massachusetts governor as Obama and his allies have said the Boston-based firm shipped jobs overseas. Romney insists he left the company in February 1999 to take over the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, but documents suggest he was still in charge as late as 2001.

“He actually retired retroactively at that point,” Romney adviser Ed Gillespie said. “He ended up not going back to the firm after his time in Salt Lake City. So he was actually retired from Bain.”

Yet there are documents that show his signature past the date he allegedly left Bain. A second adviser, Kevin Madden, said Romney had no choice but to have his name listed on Security and Exchange Commission documents as he sought to transfer the company’s leadership to partners.

“The reason that there is a document that had … his signature is because, during that transition from 1999 to 2002 … there was a duty to sign those documents,” Madden said.

The exact role Romney played at the firm between 1999 and 2001 is important not only because critics have raised questions about his truthfulness, but also because Bain was sending jobs overseas during that period. For someone who is running as President of this country and who has been accusing Obama of outsourcing, the question as to his role in Bain capital, especially pertaining to sending jobs overseas while he was in charge, are completely and totally relevant just as questions about his personal fiances that show a man who has been working hard to doge paying taxes in the country that houses and supports him and his activities, are relevant.

No one is questioning Romney’s right to create wealth through private equity or by putting his money into offshore bank accounts. What is in question here are his personal beliefs and judgment and thus ultimately his goals. If Romney is going to stand on a platform of patriotism and love of country, siphoning off his wealth from American shores to save on taxes which the United States desperately needs is no way to do that.

It is disturbing to think that a potential president of the United States would consider it acceptable to direct money into offshore bank accounts in order to shield that money from taxes. Taxation, unpleasant as it might be, is the primary funding mechanism for our nation; without it we would be reduced to a wasteland of crumbling infrastructure, non-existent public services, and anarchy. Taxes fund most of our crucial public functions from road repair and public transport, food inspection,  to the police force, welfare, and even trash collection. Why then would a highly educated, politically conscious, and ostensibly patriotic Romney go out of his way to minimize his own share of taxes?

At best it shows a greedy mentality, and at worst demonstrates a disregard for the welfare of his country. According to a 2011 report from the California Public Interest Research Group, offshore tax havens cost the US government roughly $100 billion every year.

Romney’s general unwillingness to take responsibility for his actions and much less own them further creates a chasm bringing into question his already-withered-down-to-a-toothpick ethics and sincerity. Gillespie said Romney may have been listed as “part-time” in Bain after 1999, but that he had no role in the firm’s day-to-day affairs, a point the campaign has attempted to make repeatedly in order to separate him from Bain’s activity related to outsourcing during that period. Romney has said he left the company completely in 1999 when he started working to plan the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Romney: Dishonest and Unpatriotic

A couple of months ago I reported on the groundbreaking levels of dishonesty Mitt Romney had crossed. That was right after he took credit for the automobile industry bail out, even though he had been caught on record asking for Detroit to go bankrupt already:

“If General Motors, Ford and Chryslesr get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye,” Romney wrote. “In a managed bankruptcy, the federal government would propel newly competitive and viable automakers, rather than seal their fate with a bailout check.”

I didn’t think it was possible for Romney to be any more dishonest than he already is, but what do you know: there is always room for more lies, shameless accusations that have no basis in reality and the kind of insincerity that makes politicians who have the ethics a notch underneath that of child molester, seem like a fountain of integrity.

So you understand that it is beyond hypocritical of Romney to be calling Obama out on alleged dishonesty when campaigning, accusing him of saying anything to win a second term and demanding he apologize for attacks on the Republican’s successful career at a private equity firm.

“No, we will not apologize,” the president responded, adding that if Romney wants credit for his business leadership, he also needs to take responsibility – a word which apparently is not in Romney’s vocabulary.

Furthermore, if Romney has really nothing to hide and is in fact the person he portrays to everyone, then why not release his taxes? Why not disclose those financial documents?

The truth is that Romney has, in fact, a lot to hide. And he knows it. He knows that those tax records, unlike him, don’t lie and show a side of him he has been working hard to gaslight everyone into believing is not true.

Finally,  Romney should be the last person to accuse anyone of dishonesty when not only his entire campaign but in fact his entire life is based on deception and dishonest practices to accumulate riches. He is a liar and dishonest man who got wealthy taking over companies, loading them up with debt, driving them into bankruptcy and laying people off.  He changes his “mind” depending on who he is talking to and what he thinks they want to hear and he took undue credit for the car bailout – that turned out to be a success – even though he is seen on record opposing it. He is not a successful businessman, unless you call stealing from and bankrupting others while taking jobs overseas being a successful businessman.

That he has the audacity to accuse Obama of dishonesty or foul play is just another testament to this man’s not only minuscule mind but just sheer insincerity and greedy disposition.

No one is saying that you cannot be successful and wealthy in the US. What people are angry about is Romney’s complete lack of forth-right behavior and air of superiority. It is as though no one can question him. He  is running for President of this country – that runs on taxes – yet he evaded paying taxes for decades.  And every time someone shows evidence of a problem that seriously questions his fitness to be president, he says it is not true and that people should should just believe him. In fact, “take my word for it” has become Romney’s response to a lot of this nation’s problems.

He was the CEO, chairman and president of Bain yet he insists that he was not responsbile for what Bain did. And everytime anyone asks these relevant questions, he goes on the defense accusing the other side of begrudging him his business success.

It is apparent that Mitt Romney will will say and do anything to get the highest office in the land – even if it means demeaning the highest office in the land. And to add insult to injury, he and his useless mere figure-head of a wife pretend to relate to people who have to work for a living, trying to spin how the garbage policies they propose and which are aimed at redistributing wealth upwards, are in any way going to make their lives better.

Stealing and Bankrupting Others, Tax Evasion Are Not Hallmarks of Success

Mitt Romney is proud of Bain Capital’s “success” and feels that he and Americans in general should not be ashamed of  said success. However, if “success” means putting people out of jobs and outsourcing and forcing companies into bankruptcy for personal gain, as well as evading paying taxes, then yes, we all should be ashamed of that kind of “success.”  Amassing wealth through theft (of the white collar kind) and dishonest practices is not success or anything anyone in this country should emulate. The fact that a lot of Romney’s supporters, especially the middle and working class ones, think it is, is the truly disconcerting part.

Since Mitt Romney claims to be such a pious man of god who holds himself and everyone else to the highest moral standards,  I conclude this post by citing a verse from his very own holy book – which he apparently failed to take into account when making those “successful” decisions at Bain and then later as Governor of Massachusetts:

“To him whom much is given, much is expected.” - Luke 12:48