In a key foreign policy speech Monday morning, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney claimed President Barack Obama “has not signed one new free trade agreement in the past four years,” and promised to “reverse that failure.”
However, Congress passed and Obama signed three major trade deals in 2011, giving American companies access to new markets in South Korea, Panama and Colombia. The Associated Press said the arrangements “could be worth billions to American exporters and create tens of thousands of jobs.” Even Fox News reported on it.
The treaties passed with Republican support, but two-thirds of House Democrats voted against them, saying they were deigned to favor corporations over workers and facilitate outsourcing.
Was this just Mittens fumbling a few words or straying from his prepared text and making an honest mistake? No. Mit was lying. According to the report, “The statement on Obama’s trade deals… was decidedly not off-the-cuff: the candidate’s own prepared remarks include that same line word for word.”
Romney’s taking the straw man argument to a whole new level, creating an alternate reality with an entirely different history from our own. If it’s easier to run against an Obama who’s never passed any trade deals, then Obama’s never passed any trade deals — facts be damned. He can just make up any position he wants and apply that to Barack Obama. If that means lying about everything, then Mitt’s prepared to lie about everything.
It’s tempting to turn the tables on Romney and say it’s a proven fact that he’s a meth-cooking devil-worshipper. It’s not true at all, but who the fuck cares anymore? It’s not like truth has any place in politics.
I will, however, refrain from making the charge. Even meth-cooking devil-worshippers deserve better than to be compared to the shameless liar Mitt Romney.
