Brian Wms' fateful question for Romney: "Do they look ready to your experienced eye?"

[ProgressiveEconomist]

I'm struck by how Mitt Romney's epic fail in London seems to have been set up by the framing of the question Brian Williams asked him--regarding Brits' preparation for the Olympics--"Do they look ready to your experienced eye?"

Not realizing that accepting this framing certainly would insult his British hosts, Romney went on to answer about glitches he'd seen in security and a catalog of other basic Olympics management tasks.

Later, Prime Minister Cameron would retort, "It's easy to run an Olympics in the middle of nowhere" (meaning 2002 Utah). And Romney would add gaffes including mentioning a meeting with most-secret MI6, referring to "the backside of Number 10 Downing Street", and fundraising with bank executives ensnared in the Libor price-fixing scandal. But it seems to me Romney's steep public relations slide began with falling into an easily-foreseeable "trap" question from Brian williams.

WHAT'S YOUR OPINION?

[fugop]

1. Hmmm

Oh yes. Right up there with Katie and her GOTCHA question: What newspapers and magazines do you read, Gov. Palin?

And Charlie Gibson with his Bush Doctrine iinterrogation!

Poor Mitt. Mean old journalists!

[ProgressiveEconomist]

4. Is that what you read in the OP? I said it was an "easily foreseeable"

"trap" question. I was admiring Brian Williams's writers' simple ingenuity and marveling at Mitt Romney's naivete

[brooklynite]

6. Actually, I think Mitt WANTED to answer the question...

He can't talk about his Bain experience; he doesn't want to talk about his term as Governor; I think he felt he could reiterate his experience with the SLC Olympics by opining on the London Games.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Mittens doesn't understand basic diplomacy.

Instead, he had to be the big know-it-all and show off his Olympic "expertise," never mind that he was insulting his hosts by questioning their preparations. All he had to do was say something like, London is a great city and I'm sure they will have a successful Olympics. And then STFU.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

5. "he had to be the big know-it-all". Exactly. This appears to be

a fundamental character flaw that the Obama campaign could exploit in the future.