FACT-CHECKING ROMNEY'S DEBATE LINE (about Obama)

[Omaha Steve]

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/08/06/305378.aspx

From NBC's Mark Murray


Mitt Romney delivered perhaps the biggest line of Sunday's GOP debate when he singled out Barack Obama's recent statements on foreign policy. "I mean, in one week he went from saying he's going to sit down you know, for tea, with our enemies, but then he's going to bomb our allies," Romney said. "He's gone from Jane Fonda to Dr. Strangelove in one week."
The problem is, though, that Obama really didn't say that. At the CNN/YouTube debate last month, in a question on whether he was willing to meet with the leaders of Syria, Cuba, Venezuela, etc. without precondition, Obama said, "I would. And the reason is this, that the notion that somehow not talking to countries is punishment to them -- which has been the guiding diplomatic principle of this administration -- is ridiculous." A couple of days later, Obama added, "The general principle that I was laying out is that we should not be afraid as America to meet with anybody… The notion that I was somehow going to be inviting them over for tea next week without having initial envoys meet is ridiculous."

And in a speech last Wednesday, Obama didn't say he'd bomb our ally (Pakistan). He said this: "If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won't act, we will."

A good follow-up question to Romney at the debate would have been: So you wouldn't pursue Al Qaeda in Pakistan if the government there isn't cooperating?

*** Update *** When I wrote the hypothetical follow-up question above, I meant it as an immediate follow-up when Romney first delivered his line. However, Romney did answer a similar question later on in the debate. Here was his response: "It's wrong for a person running for the president of the United States to get on TV and say, 'We're going to go into your country unilaterally.' Of course, America always maintains our option to do whatever we think is in the best interests of America."

[Beaverhausen]

1. Romney is an asshole. eom

[LordJFT]

2. I love how Romney tried to make Obama sound like a flip-flopper

republican hypocrisy at its best

[19jet54]

3. Since when do facts affect political spin?

The spin is to get the press to play & re-play the spin over and over again until everyone believes it, true or not?

Are not all great lies based in partial truth?

[SoxFan]

4. Money Quote

"It's wrong for a person running for the president of the United States to get on TV and say, 'We're going to go into your country unilaterally'"

:banghead:

[Mass]

5. A media person doing fact checking - I did not know it existed.

Thanks for posting that.

As for Romney, our ex-governor is a first class idiot!

[Ethelk2044]

6. Romney is irrelevant.