Romney: Japanese In Century-Long Decline

[highplainsdem]

Source: BuzzFeed

"We are not Japan," he told donors at a $2,500-a-plate fundraiser. "We are not going to be a nation that suffers in decline and distress for a decade or a century. We’re on the cusp of a very different economic future than the one people have seen over the past three years."

Read more: http://www.buzzfeed.com/zekejmiller/romney-japanese-in-century-long-decline

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Romney said this at a fundraiser this morning.

As the first paragraph of this two-paragraph story said, this was "a shot at Japan" from the candidate who just keeps proving that he isn't qualified for any office that demands diplomacy, let alone the presidency.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. As the potential Diplomate-In-Chief, Romney's going to insult every single country

in his first term, isn't he?

[SoapBox]

4. Ditto

He's an idiot.

If we thought Czar Bush was the King of the Idiots...Mittens has replaced him.

[KamaAina]

11. Except for Ubeki-beki-bekistan

Herman Cain already took care of that.

[Odin2005]

2. Alzheimers, gotta be.

[LongTomH]

27. You may be more right than you think!

I posted something on this earlier in the week. I was talking to someone who remarked on Romney's gait, specifically the very short steps he takes. It seems that can be an early sign of Alzheimers or dementia.

See the links in this: Could Romney be an early case of Alzheimers or dementia?

Maybe it's time for a "Romney on the couch" post. His gaffes, his habit of laughing at inappropriate times, all could be signs of mental disturbance.

[starroute]

37. You mean like his inability to remember the word "doughnut"?

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/06/12/1099539/-Mitt-Romney-Can-t-Identify-a-Chocolate-Donut-Really

[dixiegrrrrl]

45. Well, half zeimers, at any rate.

[surrealAmerican]

3. What century is he talking about?

... or is there some other Japan?

[Lasher]

5. What a gaffe factory this dumbass is!

He just might be more prolific than Junior.

[KansDem]

6. It might have been a "shot" at Japan...

But I found it unintelligible. What's he trying to say?

[get the red out]

7. Maybe someone should send him a list of nations

So he can just keep the rude insults coming?

[goclark]

8. Wake me up

When he decides to tell "the whole truth and nothing but the truth".....

Wake me up when he finally understands how to NOT insult other countries.

IdiotMitt

[BeyondGeography]

9. Whatever...Here's 10,000 Japanese in decline singing Ode to Joy

I've been looking for an excuse to post this...Thanks, Willard:

[beac]

22. They must have just heard there is no way in hell MittWit will ever get elected!

Cool video. Thanks for posting!

[BeyondGeography]

23. It's an end-of-year ritual in Japan

And not a bad advertisement for the human race, if you ask me.

Thanks for watching.

[psychopomp]

63. It isn't a ritual per se

It's just something a lot of people in Kansai (iirc) like to do every year.

[silverweb]

40. Magnificent!

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]This piece always brings me to tears. It's so beautiful and uplifting, created by a genius who was almost completely deaf at the time he composed it.

Joy, beautiful spark of the gods,
Daughter of Elysium,
Joy, beautiful spark of the gods,
Spark of the gods!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beethoven%27s_Ninth_Symphony

Thank you so much for posting this incredible performance.

[kxm40]

54. 10,000 Japanese in decline singing Ode to Joy

That video is amazing!

[BeyondGeography]

55. That's a worthy first post

Welcome aboard, kxm.

[kxm40]

62. Thank You

[rox63]

10. How many allies has does this make that he has insulted?

I've lost count.

[Baitball Blogger]

12. We have found Romney's Achille's Heel.

It's shoved into his mouth.

[Lucy Goosey]

13. Hee!!

...awesome. And true!

[kestrel91316]

21. WIN.

[rocktivity]

26. DUzy candidate!

rocktivity

[xxqqqzme]

28. Excellent!

[awoke_in_2003]

59. DUzy. nt

[reflection]

14. Way to insult another ally, dipshit. n/t

[philly_bob]

15. The flip-side to Romney's American Exceptionalism ...

is that other countries are inferior.

[otohara]

16. Japan's Transportation

I was in in one of the many train stations and wondered if my country will ever have bullet trains or any trains like there are in Japan - I'm beginning to think not. Hydro-electric plants are common in Japan. They have survived Atomic bombs, Tsunami's and recessions - The Japanese are an amazing people IMO.

Fuck this guy, how dare he trash Japan, especially after suffering the loss of 3/11/11

[Rozlee]

35. We stay in Okinawa a month or two out of the year.

My stepson is half-Japanese and we visit, plus we own property there. Their ghettos look like our more modest subdivisions. If they're in decline, we should follow in their steps.

[JBoy]

17. Well, since he thinks Obama goes around "apologizing" to every country

it's only logical that he would try to do the exact opposite.

[Fozzledick]

18. Romney woke up this morning and thought; "Who haven't I insulted yet?"

How about Japan?

[nxylas]

19. "Wanna hear my funny Puerto Rican impression"?

"Whaddya mean they're practically American? They don't look American!"

[bayareaboy]

20. I wonder what Mittens Daddy ...

would have said about might have said about manufacturing cars? Japan vs America.

[LynneSin]

24. OMG really - is there any country that Mitt hasn't offended

What a douchebag!

[Major Hogwash]

47. Luxembourg.

That's the country Romney likes to funnel his winnings through to avoid paying income taxes in the United States.
Err, I mean, earnings.
Uhh, I guess it actually could be considered both . . when you buy a company and then bet against it by burdening it with massive amounts of debt like Bain did with GST Steel.

[JDPriestly]

25. Several of my family members own Prius cars.

We still buy a lot of Japanese technology.

I don't think Romney knows what he is talking about. But then, what is new?

As of the most recent census (October 2010), Japan's population is 128,057,352; for March 2012 the estimated population is 127,650,000[1] making it the world's tenth most populated country. Its size can be attributed to fast growth rates experienced during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Japan experienced net population loss in recent years due to falling birth rates and almost no net immigration, despite having one of the highest life expectancies in the world at 81.25 years of age as of 2006.[2] Using the annual estimate for October of each year, the population peaked in 2008 at 128,083,960 and had fallen 285,256 by October 2011.[3] Its population density was 336 people per square kilometer. Based on the Health and Welfare ministry estimation released in January 2012, Japan's population will keep declining by about one million people every year in the coming decades, which will leave Japan with a population of 87 million in 2060. By that time, more than 40% of the population is expected to be over the age of 65.[4]

. . . .


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Japan

[Bossy Monkey]

29. McCain was right. Palin IS better. nt

[Javaman]

30. "We are not going to be a nation that suffers in decline and distress for a decade or a century"

if mittens becomes prez, it will only take us 4 years.

"We’re on the cusp of a very different economic future " no shit, if the anti-pinnochio is elected, we will be in crash dive mode.

[Angry Dragon]

31. He is just trying to see who he would like to start a war with

[gordianot]

32. Chatty Cathy dolls made more sense than Romney.

Who writes this stuff for him?

[muntrv]

33. Except Switzerland and Cayman Islands.

[Justice wanted]

34. Where is he getting this stuff from?

[elleng]

36. He's done it AGAIN!!!

ALLIES ALLIES ALLIES!!!

What a dummkopf!

And in addition, he's WRONG, we ARE going to continue to decline as long as he, his friends, their friends, and their friends around the world behave as if financiers are entitled to FIDDLE WHILE ROME BURNS!

[Lone_Star_Dem]

38. Luckily for us he can't actually cause a global blackball of the US unless he's elected.

The man is a blazing disaster waiting to happen if he is elected, though.

[penndragon69]

39. Romney thinks we need to support only 1 nation.

He would be a lapdog for the imperial dreams of the fascist
leaders of Israel.

[Lefty Thinker]

41. Oh how the neo-lib economists hate Japan

I'll bet Romney picked up his antipathy for Japan from his business studies. You see, Japan steadfastly refuses to follow the neo-liberal models: even though their national debt is significantly higher than ours proportional to GDP, they still borrow yen at an astoundingly low rate. In fact, the Japanese economy is a poster child for Modern Monetary Theory. When they recently tried to abandon the prescriptions of MMT for neo-lib models, they were looking at a recession until they reverted to MMT prescribed policies.

I'll not claim that the Japanese Govt. actually ascribes to MMT, but they do exactly what MMT would recommend, which is good enough. Their big problem, the one they are in dire need of addressing, is their impending real goods and services shortage. With an aging population they won't be able to produce as much per capita, which monetary and fiscal policy can't readily address. They need to increase immigration or family size or they'll face some serious consequences in the future.

[maxsolomon]

42. the PLANET is going to be in decline, Willard

the cheap energy century is OVER, and it's never coming back. shuffing the deck chairs on the Titanic makes you look busy, but the boat's still sinking.

we need an honest politician who can manage contraction and a shift to a sustainable development model.

[hack89]

43. Japan has both an aging and declining population

23% of their population is over 65.

Fewer workers and fewer consumers supporting a large and growing population of the elderly is not a recipe for economic success.

[pampango]

44. Sure, Mitt. Leaving Japan with a GDP per capita of $42,820 (US - $48,450)

and a much more equitable distribution of income (Gini - 38.1) than the US (46.8-the worst in the developed world).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_United_States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_japan

The Japanese middle class is much better off than our. Even though their economy produces slightly less goods and services per capita than ours does but the benefits are shared much more equitably than they are here.

On second thought, I suppose that is a good reason for Mitt to disparage Japan (as republicans regularly do to Europe). Wouldn't want Americans getting too many ideas from other countries, would you Mitt?

[Major Hogwash]

46. Romney just lost the Japanese-American vote.

Never had it, but he could have acted like he wanted to have it.

[malthaussen]

48. Is there no one this man will not gratuitously insult? n/t

[Marrah_G]

49. Holy crap will someone shut him the fuck up?

[ProgressiveEconomist]

50. What bad timing! The 67th anniversary of Hiroshima

bombing by the US, where tens of thousands of civilians were incenerated instantly in the first use of nuclear weapons, occasions Romney's insult to the Japanese people. Is he blaming Japanese culture for lesser economic achievement, the way he's recently blamed Palestinian and "welfare" recipient culture?

A diplomat Romney certainly is not.

[madrchsod]

51. what the fuck is he talking about?

my god is this guy dumb....

[dimbear]

52. Let's put this in perspective. The US dressage team placed a fabulous 6th place in the Olympics.

Japan wasn't even in the top 9 places. Clearly a once proud empire gone to seed.

[brush]

53. Can't wait for the debates

What a Midiott.

[Flatpicker]

56. only

$2,500 per plate?
I thought that was the "wave in your general direction while walking by" price.

We ARE on the cusp of a very different economic future. But, who in hell thinks that Romneyhood would be the RIGHT economic future?

[fairytales]

57. what he's saying

He didn't say Japan was declining from 100 years ago . He said US isn't going to suffer for a century from now. The reason why he's talking about Japan is because Japan's birth rate is too low and the debt is too high which is still becoming larger every year, and this suffering started around 1990. Japan might not be able to have a healthy economic growth until 2090 and that's what he's saying about.

[maddezmom]

58. welcome to DU

[longship]

60. There goes the Republican Nippon-American vote

How many more voter demographics can Rmoney alienate?

The astounding one this last week was the normally conservative Iowa farmers who make a profit by leasing their farmland for wind energy production.

No wonder Rmoney is tanking. By November there won't be a demographic that he hasn't insulted.

Poor Mitt. Poor poor Mitt.

[highplainsdem]

61. LOL - from New York magazine's article on this today:

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/08/mitts-foreign-policy-etiquette-still-needs-work.html

As Foreign Policy's The Cable points out, the line could be interpreted as "needlessly insulting the face-conscious Japanese," particularly since Japan analysts (Japanalysts?) say the assertion that the country has been in decline for a century "isn't a fair characterization," considering the immense economic strides the country made following World War II. A former spokesman for the Japanese Foreign Ministry explained that, while the Japanese are somewhat used to being cited as a cautionary tale, Romney would be better off if he didn't seem to think "decade" and "century" were interchangeable.

[Ebadlun]

64. Also, Japan, after 20 years of 'decline'

is still the world's third largest economy, with very low rates of inequality and crime, superb public transport, and cars and electronics the world wants to buy. And this with a country with few natural resources.

I think it suits some people to talk of Japanese stagnation - Germany got the same shit in the 90s, and look at them now. They're not playing the neo-liberal rules, they must be suffering for it some how!

[truthisfreedom]

65. When rMoney gets finished downsizing, off-shoring, and doing a leveraged buyout of America,

we'll be better than ever! And he can walk away with all of the cash!