RUSH: I want to go to this Romney business. Romney went to the UK. He’s over there for the obligatory foreign trip for presidential candidates. And here is supposedly Romney’s big gaffe. This was Wednesday night on the NBC Nightly News with the anchor Brian Williams who said, “In the short time you’ve been here in London, do they look ready for the Olympics to your experienced eye?”
ROMNEY: You know, it’s hard to know just how well it will turn out. There are a few things that were disconcerting, the stories about the private security firm not having enough people, the supposed strike of the immigration and customs officials. That obviously is not something which is encouraging.
RUSH: Wait a minute. Apparently that kind of honesty is a, no, no. See, political correctness means you can’t tell the truth. You get the question, “Are they ready here, Mitt?” and you’re supposed to say, “Oh, yeah! I have never seen a more ready to go group of people, and I’ve got experience. I have run the Olympics, and let me tell you something, Brian, not only are you a boring white guy, this bunch of people is probably better than anybody else to run an Olympics I’ve ever seen.”
That’s the politically correct answer.
Romney said, “You know, it’s hard to know just how well it will turn out. There are a few things that were disconcerting, the stories about the private security firm not having enough people, the supposed strike of the immigration and customs officials. That obviously is not something which is encouraging.” I understand. It’s widespread. Now, Romney coulda played dumb. He coulda played it safe. He coulda said everything is peachy and moved on. But he didn’t. So here’s David Cameron, who is the UK prime minister, and his response to what Romney said…
CAMERON: We are holding an Olympic games in one of the busiest, most active, bustling cities anywhere in the world. I mean, of course it’s easier if you hold an Olympic games in the middle of nowhere. (snickering)
RUSH: (impression) (chortling) “Like Salt Lake City! Ha-ha-ha! By Jove, you hold an Olympics in the middle of nowhere amongst a bunch of boring people, well of course! Ha-ha-ha.” Now, here’s Boris Johnson, mayor of London.
JOHNSON: There’s some people who are coming from around the world who don’t know about all the preparations we’ve done to get London ready in the last seven years. I hear there’s a guy… There’s a guy called Mitt Romney who wants to know whether we’re ready. He wants to know whether we’re ready. Are we ready?
CROWD: (roaring)
JOHNSON: Are we ready?
CROWD: (roaring)
JOHNSON: Yes, we are!
RUSH: Okay. So that’s Cameron and that’s Johnson. Then yesterday, CNN’s Newsroom. Anchor Brooke Baldwin spoke to Piers Morgan. Piers Morgan is now the new Larry King, and he’s from the UK. She said, “I gotta ask you first. We played the Romney sound bite. I believe the word he used describing the Olympics and the preparation or lack thereof in terms security is ‘disconcerted.’ I’m just curious. How are the Brits feeling today over Romney’s comments?”
MORGAN: I thought he was absolutely right, wasn’t he? I mean, it’s no secret over here that for the last three weeks the security around the Olympics has been a shambles. I thought he was perfectly entitled to be critical. Clearly (chuckling) he had to slightly change his rhetoric after the Brits pointed out, “Hang on a second, old boy. You know, you gotta talk us up a bit.” But I thought it was a bit of a fuss about nothing. They have had some issues here, especially about security, and he was just speaking the truth, which sometimes can be rather unpalatable.
BALDWIN: Mmmm.
RUSH: I’ll tell you, the most politically incorrect thing going today is the truth. You just don’t get anywhere near it. Mitt’s supposed to have said, “Hey, I’ve never seen anybody better. Yep.” Now, the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, is already walked his comments back. If Romney had sugarcoated everything and then something terrible had happened, who would have been attacked? Romney. “Ah, he comes over here, he looks around, and he thinks everything is cool. This guy, he’s no good for security!” It’s amazing. Truth is a hard thing to lose, folks. It just bothers me that truth is becoming a casualty of political correctness.
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