# Mitt Romney would 'respect' Israel strike on Iran, aide says **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 29, 2012, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-would-respect-israel-strike-on-iran-aide-says/629793 "2012-07-29T20:45:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-would-respect-israel-strike-on-iran-aide-says/629793/21 "2012-07-30T08:15:21Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > (I’m sorry, but as an actual Israeli, I have little patience for American “ultra-Zionists” who can’t be bothered to live here, but are still willing to fight to the last drop of Israeli blood). Self-hating Jew, eh? Yes, I’m joking. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-would-respect-israel-strike-on-iran-aide-says/629793/22 "2012-07-30T15:47:04Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Sounds good, as usual from you. What specifically do you suggest people be curious about? I meant curiosity as a mental characteristic, not as a specific set of things. Few of us have the sort of rigor that leads us to challenge our own opinions, though sometimes we will go looking for facts to support them, and question them when we come up short. But the itch from the bite of the curiosity flea may lead us to wander down a mental path we hadn’t considered before. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-would-respect-israel-strike-on-iran-aide-says/629793/23 "2012-07-30T15:56:18Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > None of those three people are Israelis. > > (I’m sorry, but as an actual Israeli, I have little patience for American “ultra-Zionists” who can’t be bothered to live here, but are still willing to fight to the last drop of Israeli blood). I don’t think Romney (or any other presidential candidate / president) is much closer to the population that serves in the US military than he is to Israelis. The same goes for the wealthy [del]profiteers[/del] warhawks. The fact they’re American might insulate them from reality more than if they were Israeli, but otherwise they would (and do) risk American blood just the same if it suited their interests. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-would-respect-israel-strike-on-iran-aide-says/629793/24 "2012-07-30T16:50:41Z")
By way of your good friends at _Talking Points Memo_, without which no citizen can hope to be fully informed… [http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/07/romney-israel-palestine-gdp-culture.php?ref=fpa](http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/07/romney-israel-palestine-gdp-culture.php?ref=fpa) > [@](#): > > …“Culture makes all the difference,” Romney said. “And as I come here and I look out over this city and consider the accomplishments of the people of this nation, I recognize the power of at least culture and a few other things.” Among them, he cited “the hand of providence.”… A coy reference to God, as most of you will instantly recognize. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-would-respect-israel-strike-on-iran-aide-says/629793/25 "2012-07-30T17:46:20Z")
> [@Try2B Comprehensive](#): > > What specifically do you suggest people be curious about? While elucidator has answered, I’d have presumed objective reality. > [@elucidator](#): > > A coy reference to God, as most of you will instantly recognize. Nah, it’s the _invisible hand_. As can be evidenced by the generous grants from the US government and their system of public health. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-would-respect-israel-strike-on-iran-aide-says/629793/26 "2012-07-30T19:13:57Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > (I’m sorry, but as an actual Israeli, I have little patience for American “ultra-Zionists” who can’t be bothered to live here, but are still willing to fight to the last drop of Israeli blood). IT’s the least you can do after they’ve spent all that money. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-would-respect-israel-strike-on-iran-aide-says/629793/27 "2012-07-31T00:22:17Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > By way of your good friends at _Talking Points Memo_, without which no citizen can hope to be fully informed… > > [http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/07/romney-israel-palestine-gdp-culture.php?ref=fpa](http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/07/romney-israel-palestine-gdp-culture.php?ref=fpa) > > A coy reference to God, as most of you will instantly recognize. He is such an idiot. You can compliment someone “Your culture is so awesome!” without putting down someone else–“Your culture is so much more awesomer than _their_ culture.” This is Basics Social Skills 101. I totally agree with the Palestinians on this one. It’s a politically dumbass thing to say, and it ignores the obvious: namely, one group is currently being occupied by another and has so for a long time now. I can’t even imagine the moderate, regular Israeli on the street appreciating this kind of talk. This sounds like something deliberately said to give Ma and Pa Bible Belt back at home something to praise Jaysus about. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-would-respect-israel-strike-on-iran-aide-says/629793/28 "2012-07-31T00:35:41Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I can’t even imagine the moderate, regular Israeli on the street appreciating this kind of talk. This sounds like something deliberately said to give Ma and Pa Bible Belt back at home something to praise Jaysus about. Agreed. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-would-respect-israel-strike-on-iran-aide-says/629793/29 "2012-07-31T04:39:16Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > I meant curiosity as a mental characteristic, not as a specific set of things. Few of us have the sort of rigor that leads us to challenge our own opinions, though sometimes we will go looking for facts to support them, and question them when we come up short. But the itch from the bite of the curiosity flea may lead us to wander down a mental path we hadn’t considered before. I think spending a few hundred million would leave one feeling rather uncurious. What’s left to buy? > [@gamerunknown](#): > > While elucidator has answered, I’d have presumed objective reality. I know. Did you get a look at this line? > [@](#): > > “As you come here and you see the GDP per capita, for instance, in Israel which is about $21,000, and compare that with the GDP per capita just across the areas managed by the Palestinian Authority, which is more like $10,000 per capita, you notice such a dramatically stark difference in economic vitality,” the Republican presidential candidate told about 40 wealthy donors who ate breakfast at the luxurious King David Hotel. > > Romney said some economic histories have theorized that “culture makes all the difference.” from [here](http://start.toshiba.com/news/read.php?rip_id=%3CDA0B79KG3%40news.ap.org%3E&ps=1011&page=1). He seems to be taking a visit to Israel as seriously as a trip to a college stadium, just going along with all the local idiosyncrasies. A good instinct in a politician I suppose, but it feels a little off. Obama won a Nobel Peace Prize. He’s better at this. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-would-respect-israel-strike-on-iran-aide-says/629793/30 "2012-07-31T21:58:40Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Obama won a Nobel Peace Prize. He’s better at this. I still haven’t figured out what for, though. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-would-respect-israel-strike-on-iran-aide-says/629793/31 "2012-07-31T22:25:04Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I still haven’t figured out what for, though. 🙂 For not being W. It was really a prize to the American people, for having rejected the Pubs. And Obama actually **deserved** it just for that, and so did we. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-would-respect-israel-strike-on-iran-aide-says/629793/32 "2012-07-31T22:28:23Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > By way of your good friends at _Talking Points Memo_, without which no citizen can hope to be fully informed… > > [http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/07/romney-israel-palestine-gdp-culture.php?ref=fpa](http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/07/romney-israel-palestine-gdp-culture.php?ref=fpa) > > > [@](#): > > > > …“Culture makes all the difference,” Romney said. “And as I come here and I look out over this city and consider the accomplishments of the people of this nation, I recognize the power of at least culture and a few other things.” Among them, he cited “the hand of providence.”… > > A coy reference to God, as most of you will instantly recognize. No, actually that was a reference to “Handjob Hannah,” the hardest-working working-girl in Rhode Island. It’s easy to get them confused. Especially if you’ve met her. She did a sort of . . . outreach project in Israel once. Hands across the sea. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-would-respect-israel-strike-on-iran-aide-says/629793/33 "2012-07-31T22:34:02Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > A war would be worse than Iran getting the bomb. I hope everyone here agrees with that obvious fact? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-would-respect-israel-strike-on-iran-aide-says/629793/34 "2012-07-31T22:36:32Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > For not being W. It was really a prize to the American people, for having rejected the Pubs. And Obama actually **deserved** it just for that, and so did we. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-would-respect-israel-strike-on-iran-aide-says/629793/35 "2012-07-31T22:39:25Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > No, actually that was a reference to “Handjob Hannah,” the hardest-working working-girl in Rhode Island. Is she shitska? ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-would-respect-israel-strike-on-iran-aide-says/629793/36 "2012-07-31T22:41:14Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Maybe not to you, but it does to me. Good. Stop asking us for charity everytime someone lobbies a grenade in your elementary school. 🙂 I think half of solicitations I get are Israel-related, but that’s only if I don’t count the ones from the shul and my son’s school. They have Israeli programming, of course, but smaller amounts of charity go to Israel (unless it’s to the JNF). While a lot goes to local programming, there’s a considerable amount of money that goes into the PR war. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2012, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-would-respect-israel-strike-on-iran-aide-says/629793/37 "2012-08-01T00:09:18Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > For not being W. It was really a prize to the American people, for having rejected the Pubs. And Obama actually **deserved** it just for that, and so did we. Well if we elect Romney this year, I guess we will get the boobie prize. And we will deserve it. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2012, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-would-respect-israel-strike-on-iran-aide-says/629793/38 "2012-08-01T01:51:59Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I hope everyone here agrees with that obvious fact? I’m not 100% confident myself. If Iran is committed to doing something crazy once they get nukes it will have been a big mistake allowing them to do so. But it is reallly hard to believe they are that crazy. Does everyone agree another war would be worse than a nuclear Iran? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2012, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-would-respect-israel-strike-on-iran-aide-says/629793/39 "2012-08-01T03:22:47Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Does everyone agree another war would be worse than a nuclear Iran? These guys have a real testosterone problem. They may be happy having nuclear weapons to just wave around, or they may take their Prime Minister’s advice and wipe Israel off the map. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2012, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-would-respect-israel-strike-on-iran-aide-says/629793/40 "2012-08-01T03:42:00Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > These guys have a real testosterone problem. > They may be happy having nuclear weapons to just wave around, or they may take their Prime Minister’s advice and wipe Israel off the map. I do not think it would be Israel that is wiped off the map in the event of an Iran-Israeli nuclear conflict. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-would-respect-israel-strike-on-iran-aide-says/629793.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mitt-romney-would-respect-israel-strike-on-iran-aide-says/629793.md?page=3)