The Daily Show: Ears EditionGaffe Watch 2012: Romney Challenges Obama’s Re-Election | TDS Time Machine
Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign struggles with all kinds of gaffes including his remarks that struggling countries like Palestine, Mexico and Ecuador have only their own cultures to blame for their hardship. Plus economist, Dambisa Moyo, explains how China is future-proofing its economy by engaging with emerging markets across the world unlike the United States.
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This is The Daily Show with John Stewart.
Welcome to the Fairly So.
My name is John Stewart. Our guest tonight dan Bi Samoyo. She is an economist promoting a new book Winner, Take All. It's about how China will be our overlords, but benevolently so. Last night, by the way, we discussed a certain Republican nominees gaffield trip to London, or as they call gaffs in London, flocky queafers. It's true, it's true. It's what they call gaffes in England. Well, you can imagine how excited the Romney campaign must be to escape from our.
Greatest ally and.
Had to Poland to reset Romney's foreign policy bona fides.
Now another hiccup from at Romney's campaign. This morning, the traveling press secretary for Romney, Rick Gorka, lost his cool and cursed at reporters near the tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw.
So how did the press secretary end up cursing at reporters near.
The tomb?
What set them off?
Governor Rodney do you have a statement for the Palestinians?
What about your gas?
About your gafts, sir, they're called floggy queafers. Do you have any new gaffs in the works or nip slips or upskirts? Why did Chris didn't steal a cheat on our pets?
Answer?
What?
Wow?
So apparently the frustrated reporters were somewhat testing the line between questions and heckels.
Release the gorka, show some respect.
We have another chance to ask some questions.
This is a sight for the Polish people.
Show some respect, have a little decorum, you sucking piece of.
This is sacred mother Brown.
Now, why don't you and your friends go eating.
Gorka?
I ain't mine got this guy's cursing like a Filipino diplomat. I mean, I'm sorry. I think you a diplomat to the philip not a Filipino diplomat.
My gaff so.
Trouble in England for answering questions, trouble in Poland for ignoring questions. I believe it was the third country Romney visited in between the two. Hopefully that will be a place where people aren't so overly sensitive or prone to complaining or heckling. Let's see where was it?
Mitt Romney visited Israel this weekend.
It could be wise.
I'm excited to see how Romney screws the poocha on this one. What did he opened a speech with greeting's future Mormons or maybe just kept asking everyone in Israel where the rest of their baseball cap was? Or Isa's achievements are a wonder of the modern world. These achievements are a tribute to the resilience of the Israeli people. Huh, I wasn't ga, no insult to anybody there, no indelegent behavior, and your sacred grounds. Romney's pulling it off. Your innovators and entrepreneurs have made the desert bloom and have made for a better world. Okay, now you're just kissing ass. And how delicious is to Boulli? I mean, I can't believe you figured out how to make an edible salad that's mostly parsley in vulgar weak. I'm particularly impressed with Israel's cutting edge technologies and thriving economy and your language so beautiful it sounds like an angel with throat cancer. Ah, he did it, Romney screwed up in England, he's screwed up in Poland. But the guy managed to head to Israel without saying or doing anything particularly offensive or horrible. Whudo.
Speaking in a fundraiser in Jerusalem Monday, Romney commented on the economic disparity between Israel and the surrounding Palestinian areas, saying, quote, you notice such a dramatically stark difference in economic vitality, culture makes all the difference.
Missed it by that much.
So close.
So Romney appears to be saying that the Palestinians are purely the architects of their own poverty, or if you prefer to look at the converse, that Jews are just culturally some money making money. Either way, mister Romney doubled down this morning.
He suggested Israel was more prosperous.
Because it had the hand of providence.
Again, Rodney appears to be saying that while Palestinian despair has its roots in their culture, odd is also holding them down, or if you prefer to look at the converse, Israel's economic progress is evidence the hand of providence. Going to assume that all the horrible that happened to the Jews prior to that was the hand of Providence's middle finger. In case you believe Romney is singling out Israel and the Palestinians, he is not.
You notice a dramatic, stark difference in economic vitality, he said, And that is also between other countries that are near or next to each other Chilean, Ecuador, Mexico, and the United States. Culture makes all the difference, you know.
Like Mississippi and New York.
Romney twenty twelve.
For more, return to senior international culture analyst Al Madrigal. He is in the West Bank. Al, thank you for joining us. Red Nordky, what is your take on Governor Romney's comments about these cultural differences.
He's absolutely right, John, I mean, it's gotta be the culture. Look at the way these Palestinians live. I mean, the house behind me looks like it was hit by a bulldozer.
Rubble everywhere.
I mean, straighten up people.
You know, I'm not sure they're actually crazy about the rubble situation either.
I don't right, but a superior culture like America or Israel would see this rubble.
And make rubble aid, I mean, start out some type of rubble related businesses. Surplus rubble outlet Store's produced some rubble related TV shows. This Old Rubble Flip, this Rubble Rubble hundred is international.
Sure, these guys are leaving shekels on the table. Look, I'd do it myself, but I'm Mexican. So, as Governor Romney said, I just don't have the culture to pull it off.
Have you had any chance while you've been over in the West Bank, have you noticed any other factors other than culture that might have been contributing to less than healthy economic development there? It starts with an.
Open oh yeah, yeah. The roads, it's like.
They don't even understand what they're for. A roads are supposed to help you get to places, and Palestinians just are walls up. I mean it's like living in a maze. No wonder traffic's backed up from months.
Yeah.
Look, those are checkpoints.
Well whatever they're called.
The advanced cultures have a little something called easy pass.
Yeah, I don't.
I don't think that's.
I don't remember stopping every twenty feet on the Jersey Turnpike and having a guy with a gun probing me.
Do dads?
All right?
These people better get better culture pronto.
No check checkpoints are not a cultural preference of the Palestinians. The books that they have to go through on a day.
Hey, John, kiss my ass. This is holy site, all right, chose some respect, No, there's chose some respect to show You're not on a holy site.
This is a holy side everything, the Holy Center over there, John. All I'm saying is this culture is the only explanation for why the Palestinians are less prosperous. I mean, how long have the Palestinians lived around here, I.
Don't know, thousands of years, right, and they still don't even have their own country, all.
Right, Israel.
Israel's been around for sixty years in County, Florida.
They got two patula all batular everybody. We'll go right by.
You guys.
Uh, you're remember Dick Jenny. He's kind of an older guy. He's about he's about this high, about this pleasant. He's been out of the spotlight for a little while. But uh, you got himself a little fresh ticker about a few months ago there, and he decided to take that ticker out for a spin.
On national television, ABC's Jonathan Carl has an exclusive interview with former Vice President Dick Cheney. What he says Mitt Romney should look for in a vice presidential candidate.
Uh, let me just uh, why are you asking him? I mean he was in charge of finding a vice president for George W. Bush and picked himself.
Who does that?
But all right, what does Dick Cheney look for and a vice president when he doesn't have a Dick Cheney type on his short list?
The test to get on that small list has to be is this person capable of being President of the United States?
Sure?
No, that's a good point. You picked the wrong BP.
You don't know what they're gonna do, Whether it be their thoughts on an upcoming invasion.
My belief is we will in fact be greeted as liberators.
I'm sure it was, or perhaps their thoughts on the strength of the post invasion non greeting.
I think they're in the in the last throws, if you will, to the insurgency.
Yeah, they weren't, Or maybe their VP would engage in some light hearted near manslaughter.
Vice President Dick Cheney has accidentally shot.
And injured a man during a hunting trip in Texas.
Remember that, Remember that time, you guys, Remember there was at one time you thought your friend was a bird shot him in the face.
The face FA.
But go on any examples of vice presidential search has gonnawry in your recent memory.
I think that that was one of the problems McCain had.
I like.
Governor Palin, I don't think she.
Passed that test being ready to take over, and I think that was a mistake.
Oh no, you did not. Did you just call out John McCain. Well, you just woke up a cranky giant, my friend. And it's on because, folks, right now, we got ourselves a classic old man fight.
Let's get ready to man, old man fight.
Old Man Fights, brought to you by old Man Smell, a heady mix of discontinued colognes from the nineteen sixties and belligerents Old man smell. It's not cheese. Tonight's main event, the Wyoming Whirlwind against the Animal from Arizona. Time for round one.
Get off my lawn.
You're gonna take that, McCain.
I'm always glad to get comments four years later.
That is the scariest laugh I've ever heard in my life.
That is not a laugh.
That is the last sound you hear before you realize that John McCain has just ripped out your heart and it is holding it in front of your face, missing something, old friends. But obviously you can't defeat Cheney by ripping his heart out. He does that himself every night and puts into a glass by his bed.
Come on, Cheney, CounterPunch.
I like.
Governor Palin, but based on her background, she'd only been governor for two years.
Ooh, point Cheney. He is right about that, only two years, and even then she couldn't get out of there soon enough. All right, fellas, let's keep it clean out there and round two.
This Frisbee's mind. Now.
I respect the Vice president. T and I had strong disagreements as to whether we should torture people or not.
I don't think we should have.
Oh oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
Did I pick the wrong vice president?
You torture mother.
McCain not only played the torture card, he licked the back of that card and stuck it on Cheney's forehead so that you could see him playing that.
That is a knockout.
Wow, what an old man fight. Before we go, though, I just want to thank the good people at old Man Smell, stay smelly, my friends.
He'll be right back.
Why did not I got night an international economists. She's also a best selling author who new book is called Winner Take All, China's race for resources what it means for the world. Please welcome to the program, Danbi Samoyo.
Nice to see you.
Good to see you, Thank you.
Thank you for joining us. The book is called Winner Takes All. It's fascinating you have catalog that China has been tenaciously gathering commodities for the coming apocalypse. That is that their plan.
No, it's not their plan. I mean, obviously they have a big agenda in front of them. They've got one point three billion people, three hundred million people that sort of live like us and sort of Western standards of living, and a billion people who are living in dire poverty. So their most important priority is to make sure that they can deliver economic growth and improve livelihoods for the population.
And so the way they've decided to do it is in the old days, the way we would do it is we would conquer a nation and we would say, what do you have in that mountain to take it? China has chosen a slightly different approach what's been there.
First, So their approach is much more friendly. They really are focused on symbiosis, so in that sense, they are offering places like South America, Africa, and also developed economies like Canada and Australia exactly what these places need. In the emerging markets where ninety percent of the world's population lives, people are incredibly poor, but they're trying to improve their livelihoods. They need trade, they need investment. Sixty to seventy percent of the population in these places on the age of twenty four, so they need job creation, something I'm sure Americans are very familiar with, and the Chinese job.
Creation we're not actually familiar with that type of situation, so that the image that I have of China is of you know, slave labor practices and rapacious, terrible environmentalism.
But you're suggesting that these other countries, including some that are allies, almost prefer dealing with the Chinese.
Of course, there are issues, There are always skirmishes and issues as two partners come together trying to you know, trying to engage in economic trade or foreign direct investment. But I think that China is getting a really bad rap if you go across the emerging world. I've been fortunate enough to go to over fifty countries, and if you ask people in these places, what do you think about the Chinese? By and large, the sentiment is very positive. People want jobs, people want to improve their lives, and the Chinese are willing to engage with them. It's not to say that they're perfect, but I think it needs to be put in that context.
I'm obviously I'm not economists. I don't want to pull rank at You've been to fifty countries. I've been to Epcot Center, and I can tell you that the reputation of the Chinese, they're not as positive. So how do you counter that?
Well, it's a hard one to counter, I'll tell you, John, But what can we do?
So they are The idea is we have this enormous burgeoning population. They're going to need electricity, They're going to need water, They're going to need all these things. We are going to start setting the market for those things. Why aren't we doing that? Why aren't we going to Africa instead of Obviously we give a lot of aid around the world, but are we also making these commodities contracts?
Well, I wish you were. I wish America would take a much more positive lead around engagement with the emerging markets. Take the case of aid in particular, there's no country in the history of the world that has achieved economic growth and reduce poverty in a meaningful way by relying on a to the extent that African countries rely on aid today. So you look around the western and particular the United States approach to economic development, and I think it has been left wanting and people are very antsy. It's been fifty years for many of these countries. I mean, look what's happening in India. Now You've got three hundred people that have no access to electricity over the last several days. They need electricity. We want America to be engaged in a positive way to deliver resources and to deliver changes to people's livelihoods. But I think there's a different discourse going.
Does that have to come from central go? I mean, China does have the advantage of not having to take a vote just go. You know, aren't are multinationals engaging in these markets? Isn't Exon and all these other companies. Aren't they selling them coal and electricity and these types of things?
So well, the tone comes from the top, and if you listen to some of the retric that comes out of policymakers in the United States, it's still very negative.
We'll take the.
Example of Africa for example. Right there's very rarely a discussion around Africa being an investment destination and a place for trade. Africa's got a billion people, but it's less than two percent of world trade. And as I said, these countries need investment, they need trade. We would hope that American policy makers would take the lead and say we want American companies to engage in Africa instead of taking the approach that Africa's a basket case and as a place for charity. And it's that discourse that I think is missing right now in the American politic.
Do you think that the American politicians are also afraid of the corruption that goes on there? And how does China face up with that?
Oh?
Right?
So, I mean I think that there's this sense, in quite an unfortunate sense, that somehow China's more corrupt than some of the pract this is that we see coming from other countries around the world. And I think that's of course, there have been things like the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of nineteen seventy seven from the United states great.
One of the top I remember that year the movie it's called Winter takes off. You should read this because once the Chinese are ruling us, they're probably going to make us read it anyway, I am be sayo, oh, that's our show. Joined us tomorrow at eleven. I just want to very quickly let you know that Denbi Samoyo knows more about everything than me.
Here it is your moment of Zen.
The Campaign, a new movie starring Will Ferrell and Zach Galafanakas.
There are some actually some pretty racy scenes in this, but it.
Really has quite a message, doesn't it.
And Yeah.
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