I was elated after the debate last night because our President displayed the intelligence, wisdom, and strength of character, that has steadied our nation both at home and in the world over the past four years. I was also put-off (and elated) by Mitt Romney's apparent weakness as he slithered up to President Obama and suggested to the American people that many of their policies were in alignment. But then I read a debate analysis titled, Presidential Debate: Obama, Romney Agree on Foreign Policy,at the Huffington Post. And that is where I read this:
There may be a presidential election around the corner, but voters won't have two competing foreign policies to choose from at the ballot box, at least among the major parties.
What?!!!! Please follow below the orange sqiggle.
And now I realize that Romney's whole purpose in last night's debate was to present the Lie of Foreign Policy Moderate Mitt to the American people. The Republicans had to do that because they cannot run on their policies that are old, and bad, and failed.
WE know that Romney will reprise the Bush/Cheney foreign policy. We know that 17 of 24 Mitt Romney advisers were the same ones who lied the US into wars and promote perpetual war. We know, but the millions of American viewers watching the debate do not know that. Their whole purpose was to present a false image to the American people and that explains the following quote from the same Huffington Post article:
Romney policy adviser Lanhee Chen said the Republican's main goal was to remain above the fray and stay calm and positive, rather than engaging in a nasty dogfight. That, he believed, was all that was required to keep the momentum that Romney gained from the first debate on Oct. 3 and which appears to have slowed but not stopped since, driving Romney ahead in national numbers and to a dead heat in key swing states like Ohio.
The evidence of the spreading lie can also be seen in this headline at the NPR website:
Debate Takeaway: Little Daylight Between Obama, Romney
Romney's tough rhetoric on Iran and Syria, his calls for staying in Afghanistan beyond 2014, his bullying posture towards the world, were all replaced with moderation. So now the lie is spreading through the media that there is no daylight between Obama and Romney.
I actually felt a little sorry for a Wisconsin GOP stalwart that I read about in another Huffington Post story who was moved by Romney's calls for a peaceful world. Romney and the Republicans behind him are lying to her too. She does not know that Romney's advisers are neocons who will promote the Romney/Cheney Doctrine.
Donna Armstrong from Pewaukee, in Waukesha County, said she believed Romney when he asserted that he wants military force to be the very last option for the United States to solve its problems.
"I think he really gave a good plan for wanting peace," Armstrong said. "I don't think they've really talked about peace this entire campaign. And I think he really brought out what we all want in the United States. We don't want a lot of turmoil, we don't want a lot of wars; we want peace."
The American people want peace, and that is why the Republicans have to hide behind behind the LIE of Foreign Policy Moderate Mitt.
But the truth is easily revealed when people know who Romney's advisers are when they are reminded of his previous policy statements. We have to spread that truth when we phonebank and when we canvass. Anyone able to communicate with the campaign might ask them to draw those conncections to the Neocon advisers. Spread the word any way we can.