Romney's Gold Medal Gaffe

Mitt Romney has turned out to be as good at diplomacy as he is at singing.  Romney went to London to attend the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Olympics and ended up making sixty million new enemies when he suggested that the British people may not be ready or even enthusiastic about the Games.  This brought a sharp rebuke from British Prime Minister David Cameron, the very man Romney would have to deal with as President.  Romney based his remarks on British news reports about the haphazard preparations for the Olympics, but that doesn't excuse his comments on the issue.  He's a guest in the United Kingdom, for Pete's sake, and he goes ahead and insults his hosts?  An American visitor criticizing preparations for the London Olympics is like Mrs. Smith complaining how long it's taking to remodel her living room and then Mrs. Williams questioning the Smiths' choice of a contractor at the Smiths' own outdoor barbecue.

President Obama might have expected the possibility of dealing with an "ugly American" incident at the opening ceremonies, where the American team would certainly be likely to refuse to dip the flag before the Queen, but nothing like this.  And Romney's comments of Obama's failed understanding of the common "Anglo-Saxon" heritage of the U.S. and the U.K. not only insulted the White House, but likely offended any American not of Anglo-Saxon origin (i.e., a lot of us).  About the only things Yanks and Brits have in common are our language, and even that differentiates between the two countries  - as any British exchange student can tell you after having asked an American classmate for a "rubber" when he meant a pencil eraser.    

Romney would likely prefer to rub out his comments, and he backtracked on them faster than Usain Bolt in the 100-meter dash, but the damage is done.  Short of insulting the Royal Family, he couldn't have done anything worse to repel and detract the Brits.  This has actually helped him in some parts of the U.S., where people have a deep disrespect and hatred for foreign countries they've never been to and are happy to see our leaders diss the rest of the world, but among intelligent conservatives (yes, there are some), there's a lot of shock and disbelief.  Charles Krauthammer spoke of running out of adjectives to describe how stupid Romney was.

Romney may yet make more mistakes in England.  He loves cars; hopefully he won't test-drive a Jaguar and drive on the right side of the road and cause a huge accident.  He's already insulted Labour Party leader Ed Miliband - not by questioning British commitment to the Olympics but by forgetting his name.  

The big winner in all of this so far may be the current occupant of . . . No. 10 Downing Street.  (You thought I was going to say the White House, didn't you?) Cameron handled the fracas with great subtlety and wit, explaining how he's pleased with how a large, bustling city like London has been able to prepare the Games despite all the difficulties and how it would obviously be easier to hold the Olympics "in the middle of nowhere."  Though the words "salt," "lake" and "city" did not pass his lips, it was understood that he was belittling Romney's role in organizing the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.  London, of course, is one of the world's great cities, while Salt Lake City is a truck stop on I-80.  New York, which bid for the 2012 Games - now that's a real city!  But Romney's gracelessness and American arrogance in general ought to ensure the we don't see the Games return to These States for a long, long time.