Romney Is Not Prepared

On April 25, 2012 Romney took the primaries in 5 states and Marco Rubio (a Florida Senator and possible Vice Presidential pick) receives police protection after receiving threats. On May 2 we heard Romney’s foreign policy spokesman quit after social conservative complaints about his sexual orientation. Because of the Romney wins on May 2 Gingrich quit the race with a $4 million debt and didn’t endorse Romney (Santorum also refused to endorse Romney until May 8-I’m sure it was because of political pressure). On May 7 it was reported that Ron Paul won the majority of the GOP delegates in Maine. On April 27 the Republicans put out ads trying to make the President out as a cool celebrity and not a good decision maker; the Democrats came back with a cool head under pressure during the Bin Laden mission; back in 2007 Romney said “it’s not worth moving heaven and earth and spending billions of dollars to track done one man (Bin Laden)”, “I don’t want to buy in to the Democratic pitch that this is about one person because after we get him there’s going to be another and another”; implying that under Romney Bin Laden would still be alive (Romney in 2011 said he thought any president would have done the same thing). It was said that the economy is slowing and the Democrats want to show that it’s not all about that (the economy); the government said the core of Al Qaeda is gone but the associated terrorist groups continue to be a threat. After the ad came out Romney said, “It was sad to see the Obama campaign seek to use something that once unified us as a country to once again divide us.” Romney’s campaign started this foolishness and as far as I’m concerned it just shows another flip flop in his decisions. 

On May 1, the anniversary of Bin Laden’s death, the President made a stealth trip to Afghanistan to sign an agreement; he was the first president to address the nation from a battlefield (on March 25 Obama visited the troops along the Korean De-militarized Zone also). He said Afghanistan will be responsible for the security of their country – he called it a sovereign partnership between 2 states – one in which war ends and a new chapter begins. He said we will shift into a support role when needed and that 23,000 troops will be coming home by the end of September (leaves about 68,000 still there); the President committed the US to training Afghans security forces for 10 years following our departure in 2014 (this was first heard on April 23 when the US and Afghanistan reached an agreement on US aid through 2024); we will provide support to combat terrorism and strengthen democratic institutions to protect human rights for all Afghans (men, women, boys, and girls). Obama pointed out that in the last 3 years the US has taken out over 20 of the Al Qaeda’s top 30 leaders; he said the US has been in talks with the Taliban, letting them know that they can be a part of Afghanistan’s future if they break from Al Qaeda and abide by Afghan laws. The ABC correspondent reminded us that after the defeat of the Soviets in Afghanistan the US abandoned the Afghans which resulted in the creation of the Taliban and Al Qaeda; she said the President was correct in saying that the safe havens in Pakistan must be eliminated so we need to mend that relationship. The President made it clear that it’s time to renew our country. Soon after the President’s speech the Taliban responded with an attack in Kabul, Afghanistan killing 7; 2 American soldiers were also killed in eastern Afghanistan. On May 7 we heard that an Afghan soldier fired on NATO troops killing a US Marine.

On May 3 we were told that 10,000 letters from Bin Laden compound were released and they called for the President to be killed (first heard on March 16 when a Washington Post columnist saw documents and said they showed that Bin Laden wanted to kill President Obama by striking Air Force One so Vice President Biden would take over – Bin Laden said “he [Biden] is totally unprepared for that post which would lead the US into a crisis”). This should tell us something – Obama is considered a threat (on February 11 an Uzbek man pled guilty to plotting to kill Obama).

On May 6 we heard the French voted in a new leader; he doesn’t want budget cuts but does want to raise taxes on the rich and boost spending and the Greeks voted against the bailout thus jeopardizing the world’s economy. Americans need to take note of this – the Europeans voted for what we already have in office. Although Romney may be ready to lead us economically as a standalone country I do not believe he is prepared to lead us in the world – economically or through foreign policy. We should remember that on March 14 the AFL-CIO endorsed Obama; on April 2 Obama accepted the resignation of the Chief of the General Services Administration after an audit found excessive spending at a 2010 Las Vegas, Nevada training conference costing $822,751 (spending included $3,200 for a mind reader, $6,300 for a commemorative coin set and $75,000 on a training exercise to build a bicycle) and 4 regional commissioners were put on leave; on April 5 the President signed legislation to fast track money for small businesses raising capital and going public; on April 25 the Democrats initiated a bill so that the interest on student loans wouldn’t double in July; on April 28 the president signed an order protecting veterans and military families from so-called diploma mills. Romney does not have the backing of labor unions or of all Republicans; he continues to think of the rich. I’ll talk about the Republicans twisted view of the Keystone Pipeline, an article in the April 30 New York Magazine and give you an update on the student loan bills later.