Joe Conason: What the China Crisis (and His Gay Crisis) Revealed About Mitt

from truthdig:



What the China Crisis (and His Gay Crisis) Revealed About Mitt

Posted on May 10, 2012
By Joe Conason


Just as aspiring judges ought to possess the quality known as “judicial temperament,” a would-be president should have certain obvious attributes of mind and character. Two incidents tested Mitt Romney this week—and both times, his ambition overwhelmed his judgment.

On Thursday morning, as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton conducted tense negotiations with the Chinese government over the fate of Chen Guangcheng, the blind dissident who had sought refuge in the U.S. embassy in Beijing, Romney seized on rumors of American capitulation to launch a political salvo: “If these reports are true, this is a dark day for freedom and it’s a day of shame for the Obama administration,” he said at a rally in Virginia. “We are a place of freedom here and around the world, and we should stand up and defend freedom wherever it is under attack.”

Clearly, Romney had no knowledge or experience with which to judge the situation unfolding in Beijing, which concluded much differently than his harsh remarks suggested. In fact, both the Chinese and the Americans were seeking a face-saving solution that was achieved when New York University (whose president John Sexton happens to be a close friend of Secretary Clinton and is well-connected in Beijing, as well) offered a fellowship to Chen, which the government had agreed he could accept.

The result, of course, was that Romney looked either “foolish” or “very foolish,” depending on whether the assessment came from Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol or from Abby Huntsman Livingston, the daughter of former Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman, who lived in the Beijing embassy when her father served as U.S. ambassador to the People’s Republic. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/what_the_china_crisis_and_his_gay_crisis_revealed_about_mitt_20120510/?ln