Mitt Romney Campaign Scraps $50,000 Per Plate Jerusalem Fundraiser On A Jewish Fasting Day

[dipsydoodle]

Mitt Romney's presidential campaign has been forced to scrap a $50,000 per plate fundraiser scheduled to take place during his visit to Jerusalem because the date coincided with a solemn Jewish day of mourning.

The fundraiser, which was supposed to be a "a small meeting, but a big fund-raiser," according to a source quoted in the Jerusalem Post on Wednesday, was set to take place on July 29, amid the Romney campaign's first foreign policy tour.

But July 29 is also Tisha B'Av, a Jewish day of fasting in some traditions of the religion, in which catastrophic events like the destruction of the First and Second Temples and the Holocaust are mourned.

Andrea Saul, a spokeswoman for the Romney campaign, pointed to a tweet by Natasha Mosgovaya, a political correspondent for the Israeli daily Ha'aretz, that stated on Thursday morning that the campaign would in fact not be holding the fundraiser. The tweet quoted a Romney official saying the campaign was "aware of the sensitivity of that date." Saul declined to comment on whether the fundraiser had been canceled or would be rescheduled.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/12/mitt-romney-jerusalem-fundraiser_n_1668271.html?utm_hp_ref=twitter&comm_ref&comm_crv

[TexasTowelie]

1. Romney--still out of touch.

[panzerfaust]

4. Odd - being as how he is a member of the Lost Tribe

Oh. Sorry. Right. Wrong.

I guess it is the Native Americans (at least the surviving, bad, brown Lamanites) who are members of the Lost Tribes. Not the Mormons themselves?? Which really gets confusing when the Church calls all non-members (including Jews?) "Gentiles."

Fortunately, when Lamanites convert to Mormonism they become "white and delightsome." It is not known what happens to Jews who convert.

Oh, yes - again, right - latest update: Sometime in the past few decades the revealed word of God changed to say "pure," instead of "white."

I do not know if that was before, or after, the Church decided that Black people (well, Black males, anyhow) could fully participate in the Church.

Terribly confusing.

However what is not confusing and is quite certain is that Mitty will still get massive donations from Israel - after all, he is willing to start a massive nuclear war on their behalf.

What could be more Christian than that?

But this confuses me too, for, when, as a kid, I asked the father of my Mormon friend if they were Christians, he said "No. We are Mormons."

Yet, that was prior to the jaunty new subtitle for The Book of Mormon: "Another Testament of Jesus Christ" - or is it "A Latter Testament of Jesus Christ" - I would swear I have seen both, so perhaps Mormons are now Christians too.

“Just as the arch crumbles if the keystone is removed, so does all the Church stand or fall with the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon”
~ LDS President Ezra Taft Benson

But how can one know the truth when it keeps changing?

Especially when all actual evidence is that Amerindians are part of the Asian Horde, not lost remnants of the Chosen People from the Middle East.

FSM: I humbly beseech You to keep Mitter's finger off of the nuclear trigger.

Prime Time he is ready for not.

[Raster]

21. According to Mormon myth, the Native Americans were part of the lost tribes of Israel...

Last edited Sun Jul 29, 2012, 04:38 PM - Edit history (1)

...And Jesus came and hung out with his lost homies right after his resurrection.

Only problem is that SEVERAL independent genetic researchers have all concluded that there is NOT ONE DROP of Jewish blood in the Native American gene pool, nor the Polynesian gene pool, whom were also elevated to lost tribe status.

[Moonwalk]

29. Don't confuse us with science. Next you'll be saying that science proves climate change is real...

and so is evolution. Oh, and that gays are born that way and can't be changed. Remember the mantra: "The prophet said it, I believe it, and that's that."

[Scootaloo]

52. And this is the one thing about the Mormon faith that pisses me off

Let me preface this by saying what I mean is, everyone's free to believe whatever kooky shit htye want, so long as it doesn't step into my space. I'm not going to share those beliefs, so I just don't worry too much about if people think a dude with a magic hat is king of a new planet or whatever's going on there...

But their "beliefs" about Native Americans HAVE caused real harm to history. One of the favorite pastimes of traveling Mormons was apparently scrubbing over existing petroglyphs and carving the ten commandments in Scholastic Hebrew over what was left, just so they could point and go "Look! Jesus wuz here!" Their bullshit has percolated up into general discourse, leading an asinine number of people to believe variations on the "Indians were invaders who killed all the good white people" story. Even into actual science regarding the possibility of paleolithic immigration from Europe; the "story" usually presented there is of anatomically modern caucasians landing and then getting kileld by the brown savages from Elsewhere™

As for the "lost tribe," fucking everyone's the lost tribe, if you read enough books. From the Irish to the japanese to the Fuegans, every time a European met a new culture, they would gasp and go "Lost tribe!" - it was sort of a fad at the time.

[roguevalley]

36. 2 strikes for this goober. he's pathetic.

[Igel]

49. Did you know that it was Tisha B'Av?

Heck, relatively few people have even heard of it. It's not such a big deal even among Jews that I knew in Jersey. Yeah, they know it's there. But they were ham sandwich Jews.They eat ham sandwiches during Passover, but go to a seder and some fall high day services because it's a family-and-friends thing. Like my brother's family for Xmas--the one day of the year he'd darken a church entrance. He liked the music.


I don't know that anybody I know in Houston would even know what 9 Av is. Every summer, late July or early August, I sort of remember it's in here some place. It wanders around this time of year. Like Rosh hashanah or Yom kippur. In a month or so I'll look up when they are so I can ask for days off for them. I don't do Av 9. I'm not Jewish.

I'd like Sukkoth off, though, but will content myself with just the first and last days and hope I don't get sick during the year.

[UCmeNdc]

2. Does Mitt Romney still plan to have the secret meeting?

Mitt Romney also planned to hold some sort of secret meeting while in Tel Aviv. Will that secret get together still take place?

[Moonwalk]

30. Yes! In the secret club house that says "Lost Tribes Only!" and "No gurls allowed!"

[rfranklin]

3. Was it going to be a pig roast?

Mmmmm! Pass the barbecue sauce, Yitzak!

[panzerfaust]

6. Nope, they were just going to toss some shrimp on the barby

[catrose]

18. With queso!

Seriously, though...
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[SkatmanRoth]

5. rMONEY will still find a way to collect the donations

Romney can be counted on to keep the weapons flowing to Israel.

[marble falls]

7. I thought he would have been more effective in Israel, so its a pleasure to see he has ....

enough of that Mitt touch to entertain us even from Israel.

[Chorophyll]

8. I really can't see the Israelis warming up to him.

He will find new and better ways to offend even the most conservative among them. I mean, he pissed off the English, and he's supposed to be Just Like Them.

[marble falls]

13. Its hard to warm up to anyone with the empathy deficet Mitt has even if he has an agenda ...

one could agree with.

[Chorophyll]

20. People skills: he doesn't haz them. nt

[Danmel]

9. he has one clueless and crappy advance team

tisha b av is the most solemn day on the Jewish calendar It marks the destruction on the Temple in Jerusalem. Observant Jews not only fast for 25 hours, but there are overnight readings from the book of lamentations and a 9 day period leading into the dast when there is a semi-mourningperiod with restrictions on diet & pleasurable activities. He has zero cultural awareness &.sensitivy. And needs to hire smarter people to book stuff dor him.

[babylonsister]

24. My first thought as well; they're all morons, it seems. nt

[Igel]

50. I'd put Yom kippur ahead of 9 Av.

Sorry. Some Jews put their nation ahead of their religion.

They're not just "observant." It's a bit more than that.

Still, for a meeting in Israel, he certainly should have hired somebody with a clue. It's like booking an event in Sa'udi Arabia: You want to check your local calendar.

[Danmel]

54. not the holiest day

The most somber day.

[Enrique]

10. his initial response was, "so don't eat"

[idwiyo]

11. OK, to compare to this twit Shrub starting to look like a genius.

[sellitman]

12. His advance team rocks!

I can only imagine his cabinet.

[marble falls]

14. they'll be rocks, too.

[xtraxritical]

28. I like your snarkasm!

[tblue37]

40. No--they'll be wooden, just like Mitt.t

[justabob]

25. really

This is planning/scheduling 101 stuff.... check the calendar. However I feel about Romney in general, I can't believe that they are having mistakes like this at this level, they're supposed to be professionals, right? It's one thing to have silly conflicts at the PTA level, but this is a presidential campaign, and it's going into a very tightly wound country in a tightly wound region, everything matters. It is truly shocking how out of touch they are on so many levels.

[annabanana]

15. Really? No one on his team KNEW this?

COULDN'T be stupider, imho.

[dipsydoodle]

16. Its the sort of thing which happens

when you've not actually got any Jewish friends.

[pnwmom]

41. The worst part is they DID know. They just thought it was as unimportant

to the Jewish people as it clearly was to them. One more example of their complete lack of diplomatic skills.

From the article in the OP:

"Jonny Daniels, a leading Republican political strategist in Israel, told The Huffington Post that the campaign had been aware of the date of the holiday when it scheduled the fundraiser. The campaign thought it could hold the event in a way that would not offend, he said, but was taken by surprise at the ferocity of the public outcry over the timing."

[Courtesy Flush]

17. Wait, I thought foreign campaign contributions were illegal

Was I wrong about that?

[caseymoz]

43. Yes. Part of Citizens' United. nt

[Igel]

51. Contributions from foreigners is illegal.

Obama raised a chunk of change in Europe when he did his European tour.

Romney's doing the same.

There are a lot of Americans overseas. That's all that's required: Have US citizenship, donate $500 dollars, it's not a foreign donation.

Now, that $500 donation, if your the Federal elections folk, how do you *prove* that it's a foreign donation. Good luck.

[Botany]

19. I wonder if Mitt will go into a kosher deli and order a ...

... BLT and a glass of milk?

[awoke_in_2003]

38. If mitt ran a grocery store...

[noamnety]

22. "It wasn't really a gaff"

I love this!

"It wasn't really a gaffe," Daniels said. "They knew what the day was, but they were looking for the correct time and circumstance to do it. Instead it ended up seeming like a big dinner, but that's not really what it is."

On a different note, could someone explain how this: "Immediately after the fund-raising meeting, Romney will host a conference in Jerusalem, where he will lay out his Middle East policy" works with his previous statement that he doesn't want to discuss foreign policy issues while on foreign soil? (http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=277050)

[rocktivity]

23. What's Hebrew for "TORO TURD!"

"...a Jewish day of fasting in SOME traditions of the religion..." Wasn't the Romney camp told of the holiday when they picked the date for meeting? More to the point, if so many people were unable to attend due to the holiday, why did they go ahead and set up the fundraiser in the first place?

I think what really happened is that in the light of Romney's showing in London, most, if not all, of the invitees bailed out -- why invest in a racehorse that can't even stand up?


rocktivity

[NJCher]

47. bingo

Cher

[TalkingDog]

26. It's all good though. He was serving Lobster.

n/t

[BumRushDaShow]

27. FAIL.

And more proof that he really doesn't give a damn about them or anyone else. His only love is money. And ironically, they informed the press that their event was "closed" to media, breaking a supposed transparency policy.

His staff is so breath-takingly lazy to not even care that Saturday IS the Sabbath (and is strictly observed by non-secular Jews), let alone to at least try to take time to touch base with contacts there regarding whether any holy days or other commemorations were scheduled. It shows that the whole trip was knee-jerk scheduled to try to get away from the tax-evasion story.

I can't even imagine what is bound to happen in Poland.

[caseymoz]

44. He's going to Poland next? I can't wait!

Aside from the fact that he's embarrassing our whole country, this is hilarious. This is comedy you couldn't make up!

[Zoeisright]

31. R(money). The gift that keeps on giving.

To Democrats.

[DallasNE]

32. More Bungled Staff Work

And another major gaffe at that. One would think that Romney staffers would check out whether dates were sensitive in Israel before putting together the plans only to have them blow up in their faces. If there preparations are this shallow on small matters I dred to think of how bad things could be with significant issues. This is another hint that Mr. Romney is not ready for prime time.

[caseymoz]

45. Will never be ready for prime time. nt

[tjwmason]

33. Seriously?

The sheer incompetence is mind-blowing.

[thelordofhell]

34. Mitt the Twit strikes again

Show us your tax returns!!

[dipsydoodle]

35. Such a shame

his given name isn't Runt.

[awoke_in_2003]

37. You know...

just put a camera on mitt- the comedy just keeps coming.

[aquart]

39. Politicians need calenders with ALL the religious holidays.

Was that Israel gaffe #1?

And wtf do they mean he's raising foreign money????????????????????

[bhikkhu]

42. "now what are we supposed to do with all these Honeybaked Hams?"

[caseymoz]

46. Didn't think it was possible

. . . but Mitt might actually be deposed as Republican nominee at the Convention.

He's no longer in danger of becoming defined, he's in danger of becoming a stereotype, of the bungling, out-of-touch politician. If this keeps up, he might as well go to Hollywood to play that role in comedies for the rest of his life.

[NJCher]

48. OK, give it up

What DU-er is incognito on Mitt's staff?


Cher

[The Blue Flower]

53. The Meshuganah Candidate

oy