Mitt And The Brits - An Open Letter To The UK

Dear Cousins,
I hope you don't mind if I take issue with your behavior towards a guest, the visiting Mitt Romney.

Well, to be quite honest, I really don't care whether you mind or not.

Your British press is enjoying itself immensely over a few minor gaffes Governor Romney is supposed to have committed, a number of your politicians have fed the fire and of course the dinosaur media here is absolutely ecstatic, particularly the Soros contingent.

It seems that even your politicians now realize that they went a bit overboard and are trying to walk things back. In reality, they owe Governor Romney a heart felt apology.

Well and good, but it's something perhaps some of you should have thought about more before you piled in so thoroughly.

Let's look at Mitt Romney's 'terrible mistakes' shall we?

The man who successfully ran the Salt Lake City Olympics took a look around at a city a number of people have referred to as Londonistan because of its population of resident jihadis and in answer to a question by NBC's Brian Williams, merely said that it was hard to know how things might turn out, and expressed some concern about the security arrangements, citing stories that the private security firm had said they were shorthanded. At no time did he say London 'wasn't ready', but that particular soundbite was manufactured by your press and your politicians and jammed down Romney's throat. Did he really deserve to be ridiculed in your press, snidely lectured by your Prime Minister or booed by a mob egged on by one of your local politicos? Simply for telling the truth?

Considering London's history of terrorist attacks and the fact that a wanna be jihadi got through the police cordon easily and almost succeeded in wresting the Olympic torch away from the woman holding it while screaming 'Allahu Akbar' , perhaps his concerns were not all that misplaced. The man could just as easily have been carrying a bomb.

Of course, had Governor Romney gone with the easy answer and said that everything looked fine and there was an incident afterwards, he would then have been attacked in the UK and here at home by the media for 'knowing nothing about security' and 'not being ready to lead'! Nice how that works out.

What else was there...oh yes, he referred to someone whom to us is a minor British politician as 'Mr. Leader' instead of Ed Milliband, he mentioned he had a meeting with the head of MI6 and horror of horrors, he referred to our common Anglo Saxon heritage. How dare he!

The sort of overt disrespect shown Governor Romney ( and some of our other leaders) in Britain has never happened to one of your leaders here in America, and believe me, there have been a number of occasions where that would have been far more warranted than anything Governor Romney did or said. But it didn't happen, simply because we Americans are, generally speaking, a notoriously polite people who understand courtesy and how to treat guests. You see, like most Americans, I was raised to understand that when you have a guest in your home who commits a gaffe of etiquette, you do your very best to cover for them rather than ridicule them. I seem to recall you doing that for President Obama quite recently. Apparently, the rules in Britain change according to the political agenda. And of course, who's involved.

The kabuki outrage over Governor Romney invoking our countries' common Anglo-Saxon heritage is particularly revealing.

I fully realize that in today's Britain, multiculturalism - or, let's be honest, attempting to accommodate and placate a restive Muslim population - is all the agenda, to the point where sharia has an equal status with British common law, honor killings occur with distressing regularity, the Royal Navy is essentially a thing of the past, Britain's soldiers are unable to parade in their own country without being mocked and insulted, and a number of Britons seem to no longer have any pride in their country's heritage. Fine by me, but was it really so sensible to make a point of mocking and disillusioning someone who still appears to honor that heritage and seeks to find common ground with you?

Our current president Barack Obama has already let it be known on a number of occasions that he has little regard for the special relationship between America and Britain.Perhaps some of you agree with him.

But here's a point worth considering. In the event Britain needed a strong friend and ally in a dire situation, who would be more likely to lend a helping hand - President Obama or a President Romney?

I think you know the answer, in your heart of hearts.

Apparently the emotional investment you had in 2008 in Barack Obama as rock star and antidote to President Bush didn't quite work out as you planned, but that isn't stopping some of you from doubling down, as we say on this side of the Pond.But it just might be that you've picked the wrong horse in this race. It's a fools bet after all, since even if you manage to win and President Obama's re-elected you end up losing.

And at any rate, since Mitt Romney at this point has at least a 50% chance of becoming our next president, the wisdom of alienating him with boorish behavior to score a few short term political points would seem non-existent no matter how you answer that question.

It may very well be that the special relationship between Britain and America is a thing of the past, especially if you appear to be willing to treat a visiting American leader to your country in this fashion. Fine by me, if that's what it is.After all, you don't pal around with people whom insult you.

But as my mother told me, you need to be careful before you burn your bridges.

Think about it.

And if what I've written here upsets some of you, you're quite welcome.

Regards,
Rob Miller