Tuesday Open Thread [10.9.12]

Mitt Romney gave a foreign policy speech yesterday in which he criticized the President and then announced he had no ideas different than the President.

Here are the horrific reviews of the speech:

Washington Post: “Much of Romney’s address focused on the complex threat posed by Iran, but he did not propose specific solutions that differ from the Obama administration’s current policy of tightening sanctions and insisting that an Iranian nuclear bomb is intolerable.”

New York Times: “Mr. Romney has yet to fill in many of the details of how he would conduct policy toward the rest of the world, or to resolve deep ideological rifts within the Republican Party and his own foreign policy team.”

New York Magazine: “Romney’s speech is still light on details, and those around him wonder if he’s even reading the various policy papers produced by the warring factions on his foreign policy team.”

Politico: “The former Massachusetts governor also criticized Obama for ending the war in Iraq, one of the president’s proudest accomplishments.”

AP: “The Republican has given several foreign policy speeches throughout the campaign, including one in Reno, Nev., ahead of a weeklong trip abroad in the summer. That trip was fraught, with Romney offending his British hosts by questioning their security preparations for the Olympic Games and raising hackles among Palestinians who charged him with racism after he said culture was part of the reason Israelis were more economically successful than the neighboring Palestinians.”

Washington Post: “Romney’s description of Russia as America’s ‘number one geopolitical foe’ has drawn criticism, and his overseas trip in July, intended to showcase Romney as a world leader and potential commander in chief, was widely seen as plagued by missteps.”

Los Angeles Times: “Romney faced his own political troubles after putting out a statement in the middle of the night while the attack on the U.S. consulate was still unfolding… His campaign has often struggled to explain what Romney would do differently than his Democratic rival in international hotspots such as Syria, Libya, Afghanistan and Iran.”

NBC’s First Read: “But according to the excerpts of the speech, almost every policy Romney will call for — tough sanctions on Iran, withdrawal from Afghanistan by 2014, a two-state solution between the Israelis and Palestinians, free trade, vigorously going after the terrorists in Libya — has been pursued by the Obama administration.”

michaelscherer ‏@michaelscherer Romney: “Obama has not signed one new free trade agreement” Here is the photo of Obama signing 3: http://tinyurl.com/8m93d9l Not new enough?

Daniel Gross ‏@grossdm You see, last year, Obama signed new free trade agreements with South Korea, Panama, and Colombia. Surely Romney knows that.

Sam Youngman ‏@samyoungman WHY? Why does he repeat that potus has “signed” no new FTAs? Why oh why? I mean, why?

Lisa Desjardins ‏@LisaDCNN ROMNEY NO SPECIFICS: on Iran sanctions he’d add, how he’d learn which Syrian rebels share US values & how he’d restart Is/Pal peace talks

Josh Marshall ‏@joshtpm Surprisingly large part of Romney speech made up of defiantly announcing initiatives that Obama is already doing #RomneyStrength

e mcmorris-santoro ‏@evanmc_s Albright says Romney’s foreign policy speech had “Cold War tone,” and “nostalgia for that period”

Byron Tau ‏@ByronTau Prof. Madeleine Albright on Romney’s op-ed in the WSJ: “If one of my students turned it in, they’d get a C.”

Daniel Larison ‏@DanielLarison So Romney largely ignored everyone who recommended that he say something new, substantive, or interesting

Tim Dickinson ‏@7im combined with his proposed Pentagon buildup, Romney’s calling for a NATO-wide spike in defense spending of ~$3 Trillion over a decade #wowza

A sampling of today’s headlines:

Washington Post: CNN’s O’Brien bludgeons Romney adviser with Israel-policy ‘contradiction’
New York Times: Romney Strives to Stand Apart in Global Policy
MSNBC: Learning foreign policy ‘at the International House of Pancakes’
The Hill: Campaigns spar over funds for embassy security in Ryan budget
New York Magazine: Advisers Admit They Don’t Know Where Romney Stands on Foreign Policy
Huffington Post: Romney Foreign Policy Speech To Soften Stance On Israel-Palestine Peace Process
Los Angeles Times: Obama campaign calls Romney ‘unmitigated disaster’ on world stage
Associated Press: Spain quip adds to Romney’s foreign policy trouble
Think Progress: Four Key Areas Where Romney’s ‘New’ Foreign Policy Is Identical To Obama
The Atlantic: Romney Strains to Find Big Differences with Obama on Foreign Policy
Politico: : Albright: Romney would get a C on foreign policy