The World from Berlin: 'Who Wants an Amateur in the White House?'

[sysop]

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney appears to have seriously damaged his changes of election with his comments about the "47 percent" of voters who are "dependent" on the state. German commentators are baffled by how a career politician could have made such an embarrassing gaffe.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/...856751,00.html

[longknife]

You may call him an amateur, but he's a whole lot more qualified as an executive than the organizer who never created a job or met a payroll.

Gov Romney's remarks were accurate and right on. As usual, you and the rest of the Lame Street media skew the words or use sound bites that fit your Looney Left bias.

The USA simply cannot afford four more years of Obama.

[weggieboy@gmail.com]

Romney's greatest asset is his links to big money, and he is doing everything he can do to buy an election so he can add "President of the United States" to his cv.

Unfortunately, his supporters tend to be either very rich or under-educated, or ultra-conservative Christian people who spend more time watching Fox News than they do sampling as many news sources as possible to have the best possible understanding of the issues. It isn't called "Faux News" by Obama supporters for no reason!

One group of people Romney included in his remarks, if inadvertently, are retirees who tend to vote Republican no matter what that party puts up. They have the greatest potential to lose if he wins because entitlements are next to military expenditures in size, i.e. they are Nrs. 1 and 2 at over $700,000,000 each a year.

We already know the Ryan plan (presumably the Romney plan, too, though he is very vague on all points) calls for increasing (!) the military budget even though the Pentagon, in rare form, says "we don't need more money than already budgeted"!

Bush had no problem sending hundreds of thousands into Iraq and Afghanistan to die or be mentally or physically wounded in service to their country. These are among the 47% included in Romney's ill-advised remarks. Cutting medical services to those whose lives have been changed permanently in service to their country is criminal, especuially if this hap[penes under the leadership of a man who spent his draft-age years in France on a deferment from the draft.

NB: He was photographed and quoted in an article about a pro-Vietnam war he and others held in counter to the anti-Vietnam War protests so common on American campuses and streets during the 1960s. He was a hypocrite to support a war he himself would not take part in. Membership in the LDS church doesn't preclude military service unless you are a special fellow, son of a Governor of a state, a Congressman, Senator, President, captain of industry, or wealthy person. He matched several of those, and got out of service. He isn't fit to be commander in chief of the US military, and most military careerists would feel the same way as I do on that point.

[bonanza66p@aol.com]

Describing Romney as an amateur is absurd, but speaking of amateurs, surely Barack Obama defines the word "amateur"-he has no commercial experience, never had a real paying job before election, never hired or fired anyone, was a one term congressman, etc etc. And yet liberals the world over embraced him as their saviour.

His abject failure in all aspects of the presidency has come as no real surprise to most of us, even though we were ready to give him the benefit of the doubt. History will show him to have been our worst president, at the worst possible time for the US.

With his help, the US has moved too far away from a "makers" economy towards a "takers" state. Perhaps Europeans are so accustomed to state control of their lives that it may be hard to imagine why Americans wish to resist it. But resist it we will- Obama has been a step in the wrong direction for us but gratefully he has taken us to the edge of the abyss where we can clearly see where another four years of his policies and ineptitude will take our severely damaged economy.

What they can't understand in the White House is that a president's principal job is to build and maintain confidence. This is not accomplished by subsidy or by gambling taxes on notional new industries. It's done by evoking the spirit of success and by standing aside and allowing individuals to grow and flourish- this is how we grew as a nation,building wealth beyond imagination. A person like Obama, with his limited life experience couldn't possibly understand this. That's why he has encouraged state intervention in everything, believing instead that only government can lead, only government is smart enough to build an economy. The last four years have proven the total failure of his so called leadership style.

The November presidential election is a crucial turning point for the US- and if we go in the wrong direction the effect on the rest of the world will be catastrophic too.

After being forced to intercede in two world wars, the world has enjoyed half a century without a world war because US taxpayers have carried the burden of defending the globe. Most European countries especially have reduced their military to the level of a gendarmerie and are now barely capable of monitoring their borders.

Re-assigning US taxes to a growing list of socialist "entitlements" as Obama has done and intends to continue doing, means everyone around the globe will need to defend themselves. It's no good pretending that because this is the 21st Century we are so interdependent and civilized that we are safe from war- hatred, greed and political ambition can go from spark to raging fire in weeks, engulfing even the innocent. More and more countries have exploding populations, sophisticated weaponry, trained armies and a hatred for all things west. The United Nations is ineffectual- are you ready to defend yourself after we pull out?

Hopefully we are about to turn away from disaster. Please encourage us and get real about Obama.

[jkrissyontherun]

I understand that Romney's comments were not strategically filtered as required by politicians but his comments were fairly accurate. The US has become a country that rewards individuals for not working. I work at least 60 hours per week, fulltime as well as a part-time job ( I have a fabulous shoe addiction that I can't quite kick) but on any given day, I can go to the grocery store and see a woman with 4 children from 3 baby daddys, buying steaks and organic produce, while talking on the cellphone (provided free of charge of course) and paying with her state issued debit card ( no food stamps, we wouldn't want to embarrass her for not working). It seems a bit unfair - You can get your housing paid for, food, utilities provided at a huge discount, cellphone, medical coverage and spending money. All you have to do is not work. I am perplexed by the entire system. This is not short term, in between jobs assistance, this is lifetime, have as many kids as you want even though you can't support them, don't worry about a thing assistance. My only comfort is that I am fairly certain that I have better shoes than someone on the government dole. (Kicking some fabulous suede boots today). So while Romney's statements are veiwed as harsh and condescending actually, the truth is harsh sometimes. And that is what we have here! : )

[eks2040@aol.com]

It may well be fun to speculate on the outcome, and the polls don't help too much either. The main media organizations are quite democratic in orientation and don't mind working for the reelection of the President. Obviously, that leaves no room or inclination for a fair reporting. Thus, I can only recommend to be patient and await the final outcome of the elections. There will be surprises regardless who the winner will be. Karl