Joined: Nov 2005 Gender: Female Posts: 15,971 Location: Idaho
Romney seeks Walesa meeting in Poland « Thread Started on Jul 20, 2012, 12:27pm »
the problem is that Walesa is pro-union guy.... what about Romney?
Mitt Romney’s campaign is seeking to schedule a meeting between the GOP nominee and former Polish president Lech Walesa when Romney is overseas later this month, Romney insiders and foreign sources tell POLITICO.
The sit-down between Romney and the Nobel Prize-winning icon of the Solidarity movement would represent an unmistakable jab at President Obama. When Obama visited Poland in 2011, he invited Walesa to a meeting with a group of other Polish officials, but Walesa, perhaps wanting a one-on-one, snubbed him. And earlier this year, it was widely reported in the Polish press that Walesa wanted to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom on behalf of the late World War II Polish freedom fighter Jan Karski, but was not invited to the White House for the ceremony.
The Romney-Walesa tete-a-tete will likely take place in Gdansk, the Baltic port city that Walesa made famous as a shipyard unionist. While in the region, Romney also may pay a visit to the Westerplatte peninsula, where the first shots of World War II were fired when the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939.
Jaga PolishSite Nothing is black and white. One country's terrorist is another country freedom fighter. Spy is either a hero or a traitor - depending where.
Jaga PolishSite Nothing is black and white. One country's terrorist is another country freedom fighter. Spy is either a hero or a traitor - depending where.
Joined: Nov 2005 Gender: Female Posts: 15,971 Location: Idaho
Re: Romney seeks Walesa meeting in Poland « Reply #2 on Jul 24, 2012, 11:44pm »
Romney and Poland
Jonathan Martin has some interesting details on Romney’s trip to Poland, but he gets some things wrong towards the end:
Romney’s decision to go to Poland, where he’s also expected to deliver a speech, is in it of itself implicit swipe at Obama. After having a warm relationship with President George W. Bush, who highlighted the Polish commitment in Iraq and Afghanistan, a series of snafus have chilled the relationship between Washington and Warsaw. More broadly, Romney’s tough talk about Russia is closer to the prevailing view in Poland on how to handle Putin [bold mine-DL].
There’s no doubt that Romney intends his trip to Poland to be viewed as a swipe against Obama, but as I’ve said before the decision doesn’t make much sense. Romney’s “tough talk about Russia” goes against the improvement in relations between Poland and Russia in recent years. Poland’s relationship with the U.S. has changed in the last decade mostly because of the bad experience under the previous Kaczynski government in which Poland provided steadfast support for harmful Bush-era policies and received nothing in exchange (except the offer of a missile defense installation that most Poles opposed). The shift away from the U.S. started five years ago:
Poland’s attitude changed dramatically with the election of Tusk and his centrist Civic Platform Party in 2007. Tusk’s policies were motivated by fresh confidence, rather than old fears. He also tapped into the growing Polish discomfort with the close — and to many Poles, one-sided — Polish-American relationship. The Iraq invasion was an obvious disaster, and the commercial contracts that Polish companies were promised never materialized. Allowing CIA flights to Poland opened the country to international investigations and allegations of permitting torture on its territory.
On the most prominent security issues involving Poland and Russia, Romney is out of step with Poland. Romney has opposed an arms reduction treaty that the Polish government wanted ratified, and he has condemned the 2009 missile defense decision that less than one-third of Poles opposed. Meeting with Walesa will make for a good photo-op that will please conservatives back home, but he is going to a country where approval of U.S. leadership has slightly increased since 2007 and where approval of Obama’s handling of international affairs recently stood at 65%. Most Poles aren’t interested in what Romney has to offer, and most Americans aren’t interested in Romney’s old complaints about missile defense.
Jaga PolishSite Nothing is black and white. One country's terrorist is another country freedom fighter. Spy is either a hero or a traitor - depending where.
Joined: Nov 2005 Gender: Male Posts: 2,119 Location: Daytona Beach, FL, USA
Re: Romney seeks Walesa meeting in Poland « Reply #3 on Jul 25, 2012, 12:16am »
That's a very good article and shows just how out of touch Republicans are with reality. They would be happier to create their own and force others to believe it.
Re: Romney seeks Walesa meeting in Poland « Reply #4 on Jul 25, 2012, 6:21pm »
A German perspective on the Romney European tour from Der Spiegel
Likely Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will visit the United Kingdom and Poland at a time when the GOP's policy toward Europe seems to be trapped in the days of the Cold War. It will be a chance for him to update his outdated views. Info
Mitt Romney's first foreign tour as the Republican Party's likely presidential candidate includes visits to two European states. While designed to send a message to potential voters at home, particularly blue-collar Reagan Democrats in the Midwest, the trip will be about photo opportunities. Romney's visit to London is meant to echo his own successful management of the 2002 winter games in Salt Lake City and play into a campaign narrative built on executive experience and sober business acumen.
His visit to Gdansk and Warsaw will highlight the triangle that broke the back of communism: the Polish people's courage, their Catholic faith and Western resolve. Not coincidentally, Polish-American immigrants dot the landscape in important battleground states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Romney's visit will inevitably draw parallels to that of candidate Barack Obama, who on a visit to Germany in July 2008, resolutely declared on the steps of Berlin's Victory Column that he is a "citizen of the world." Now the Republican candidate has an opportunity to articulate his vision for US relations with Europe, which has so far remained underdeveloped and reliant on dated platitudes.
Cold-War Rhetoric
At the moment, Romney's European policy hints at a worldview more reminiscent of 1982 than 2012. In a March interview, Romney described Russia as the US's "number-one geopolitical foe." More recently, one of his top defense surrogates warned of the creeping Soviet threat in the Arctic. Another stated that the Obama administration's decision to opt for a phased adaptive approach to missile defense was abandoning "Czechoslovakia."
Individually these unfortunate statements are meaningless, but taken together they represent a worldview that is tinged with Cold War-era tropes. The Romney camp seems to overlook that Russia's accordance of access to the International Security Assistance Force's northern distribution network has been essential to the continuation of the mission in Afghanistan. His campaign also fails to remember that recent arms reductions in the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty make the US military more effective and the world safer, and that Russia's entry this month into the World Trade Organization forces Moscow to accept higher standards for the rule of law.
That is not to say that US-Russia relations are unproblematic. Russia's obstinacy in the face of the Syrian civil war runs counter to the humanitarian responsibility incumbent upon the United Nations Security Council's permanent members. The Kremlin's new, restrictive laws on non-governmental organizations and internet freedom also call into question even the most basic commitment to civil society. And the country's endemic corruption is worrisome. Indeed, Russia's relationships with the US and Europe are complex and wrought with difficulty. They cannot be boiled down into simplistic, anachronistic sound bites.
Lack of Vision
In Poland, Romney is expected to criticize the Obama administration's reset policy with Russia. In fact, US and Polish approaches to Moscow have hewed closely together. Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski has stated that his country started its own reset with Russia in 2007 and paved the way for the US to follow a similar path. Even in conservative Poland, Obama's approval rating stands at 50 percent, up from George W. Bush's 41 percent during his last year in office, according to the Pew Global Attitudes Survey.
Apart from criticizing Obama's Russia policy, the most remarkable feature of Romney's vision is his lack of approach. His 48-page document outlining his foreign-policy strategy does not once mention the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or the European Union. That will certainly be a source of concern for his European hosts, two of the largest members of both organizations and countries with two of the largest troop contingents to the NATO mission in Afghanistan.
The one bright spot in Romney's trans-Atlantic vision has been his public call for a trans-Atlantic free trade agreement, a major positive agenda item that is sure to find support from Europe's most important leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
But Romney has yet to address what role his administration would play in tackling the euro-zone crisis, now the most serious foreign-policy challenge for the US. Instead, Romney campaign rhetoric has used Europe as a foil in domestic-policy debates over debt and public spending: "We are increasingly becoming like Europe," he has said. "Europe is not working in Europe. It will never work here." He has stated that he would not allow America's national balance sheet to be exposed to the euro-zone crisis, but the US is already exposed indirectly through trade, banking ties and returns on foreign direct investment. Romney will inevitably have to articulate a policy that recognizes America's continued role as a European power.
Once upon a time, the Republican foreign policy brain trust was replete with some of the greatest minds on US relations with Europe. It was the creative tension in America's center-right foreign-policy establishment from realists such as Henry Kissinger and Brett Scowcroft, to strident Cold Warriors such as Jeanne Kirkpatrick, to brash pragmatists such as James Baker that drove successful American foreign policy in the latter half of the Cold War, eventually leading to an unequivocal geopolitical triumph for the West. Today, however, the Republican candidate's relations with Europe have been relegated to vague pronouncements. Romney's trip to Europe gives him a chance to change that.
Annette Heuser is executive director, and Tyson Barker is director of trans-Atlantic relations at the Washington, DC-based Bertelsmann Foundation.
Joined: Nov 2005 Gender: Female Posts: 15,971 Location: Idaho
Re: Romney seeks Walesa meeting in Poland « Reply #5 on Jul 26, 2012, 1:28am »
Ron,
I agree that Romney may still think about Poland stuck in cold war. Hopefully, he will learn better..... the new generation knows nothing about communism, they did not even have to study Russian at school.
+++creeping Soviet threat in the Arctic++++ I would not ignore that!
Jaga PolishSite Nothing is black and white. One country's terrorist is another country freedom fighter. Spy is either a hero or a traitor - depending where.
Re: Romney seeks Walesa meeting in Poland « Reply #6 on Jul 26, 2012, 7:27am »
Kai
Thank you for bringing this to light...For my self was of little courage to stir the waters into a sea of storm with this. It appears you have much the more courage....
If perhaps I have become some what confused,,,is this man for real? I wonder if this man {Romney} understands he represents to the world, the credibility of The United States as a visiting states man.
In this stead though, the man is a loose cannon confusing stupidity for virtue. It is rather confusing of a man of his standing to not understand the cold war has been over for some many years. In this manner, there is some question if this man has a license to walk about amongst people, let alone be allowed out side the US.
And this man is to be the next president of The United States?? NASA, we have a problem........
Joined: Nov 2005 Gender: Female Posts: 15,971 Location: Idaho
Re: Romney seeks Walesa meeting in Poland « Reply #7 on Jul 28, 2012, 4:55am »
I just looked through Polish main newspaper. There is a big article about Romney visit in Poland which would start soon with the phrase: "Romney needs Poland more than Poland needs Romney" http://www.wprost.pl/ar/336275/Saper-Romney/?pg=1
Jaga PolishSite Nothing is black and white. One country's terrorist is another country freedom fighter. Spy is either a hero or a traitor - depending where.
Joined: Sept 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 3,102 Location: Stany Zjednoczone
Re: Romney seeks Walesa meeting in Poland « Reply #8 on Jul 29, 2012, 6:26am »
It will be interesting to see and hear just what kind of Polish GAFFE Mitt Romney commits during his stay there. Most U.S. politicians usually make one while visiting or commenting about Poland.
Joined: Nov 2005 Gender: Female Posts: 15,971 Location: Idaho
Re: Romney seeks Walesa meeting in Poland « Reply #9 on Jul 29, 2012, 1:50pm »
I don't think that Romney really is up to date what is going on in Poland. In his book he commented that English people live in small houses, in this aspect.... this is the same in Poland, especially compared to Romney hige houses with multiple story garage.
Jaga PolishSite Nothing is black and white. One country's terrorist is another country freedom fighter. Spy is either a hero or a traitor - depending where.
Jaga PolishSite Nothing is black and white. One country's terrorist is another country freedom fighter. Spy is either a hero or a traitor - depending where.
WARSAW, Poland -- -- Mitt Romney will wrap himself in the symbolism of the Cold War Monday, starting a visit to Poland studded with reminders of that era—a visit with Lech Walesa, memories of Ronald Reagan and a vow to get tough and stay tough with Russia. Romney will use the faces and symbols to advertise himself as no nonsense conservative, a better friend to allies and a tougher voice against foes or rivals than President Barack Obama. Building on the theme, he arrives in Poland from Israel, where he pledged to stand with Israel in the face of threats from Iran. “The security of Israel is in the vital national security interest of the United States,” Romney said Sunday in Jerusalem. The Republican presidential candidate arrives Monday in Gdansk, a name closely identified with the struggle against oppression. He’ll visit Solidarity Square at the edge of the Gdansk shipyards where Walesa and the pro-freedom Solidarity movement first took hold, a movement that ultimately contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. Later, he’ll meet with Walesa, who eventually became the president of a free Poland. Throughout, the shadow of Reagan will loom large as another voice against Soviet oppression. A bronze statue of Reagan was unveiled this month in Gdansk’s Ronald Reagan Park. Romney also will meet with Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Tuesday, Romney will be in Warsaw, where he’ll deliver a speech discussing “The U.S.-Poland Relationship and the Values of Liberty.” The trip is designed to remind everyone of "U.S. support of Poland as a captive nation during the Cold War," as well as Reagan’s support of the Solidarity movement, according to Romney foreign policy adviser Ian Brzezinski. Romney also hopes to remind U.S. voters of Walesa’s frosty relationship with Obama. Walesa rejected an invitation to meet with Obama when the president visited Poland last year. Reports said Walesa was annoyed he could not a have a one on one meeting. Romney will stress he’s coming to Poland at Walesa’s invitation. Conservatives have sharply criticized Obama for his treatment of Poland, particularly the 2009 decision to reverse the Bush administration decision to develop a missile defense shield system based partly in Poland. The country’s leaders were concerned that Obama was going too far in his "reset" of relations with the Russians. The president also stumbled in May, when he referred to a World War II "Polish death camp." Obama made the remark during a Medal of Freedom ceremony for Jan Karski, a resistance fighter against the Nazi occupation of Poland. The president noted “Before one trip across enemy lines, resistance fighters told him that Jews were being murdered on a massive scale and smuggled him into the Warsaw Ghetto and a Polish death camp to see for himself.” Polish officials were outraged at the awkward phrasing that suggested the death camps were Polish, when they were run by the Nazis who held Poland captive. The White House quickly said it was referring to “Nazi death camps in Poland” and Obama expressed regret over the comment in a letter to Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski. Still, Obama remains popular in Poland. And talking like a Cold Warrior could seem out of place in the modern world.
"We live in a much more shades-of-gray world than what they yearn for," said John Hulsman, a Germany-based international political consultant. Half the Polish people have some or a lot of confidence in the president, compared to 41 percent feeling that way toward George W. Bush Bush four years ago, according to the Pew Global Attitudes Project.
Jaga PolishSite Nothing is black and white. One country's terrorist is another country freedom fighter. Spy is either a hero or a traitor - depending where.
Jaga PolishSite Nothing is black and white. One country's terrorist is another country freedom fighter. Spy is either a hero or a traitor - depending where.
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