Romney to Khatami: drop dead
Say this for Mitt Romney: he's got a genius for free PR. Come tomorrow, our soon-to-be-departed governor's screed against Iran's ex-president (and accompanying state boycott) is sure to have conservatives everywhere all atwitter. Just you watch. I smell some serious TV time with this one.
Two added pluses: in this case, Romney is lashing out against A) "liberal elites" in general and B) one of Massachusetts' best-known institutions! Couldn't have scripted it any better, Mitt. Very nice.
UPDATE: Did some quick Googling and noticed that Romney isn't the first politician to complain about Khatami's presence in the U.S. Congressman Brad Sherman (D-California) recently wrote Condoleezza Rice to urge that Khatami's request for a visa be denied.
UPDATE II: Either the Globe or Romney may need to cop to a mistake here. According to the Globe's web piece (see above), which was written by correspondent Andrew Ryan, "The governor said that the U.S. State Department listed Khatami as
Iran's number one state sponsor of terrorism, saying that he oversaw
the torture and murder of dissidents who spoke out for freedom and
democracy." But Sherman's letter (also see above) notes that during Khatami's time as Iran's president, the country was identified by the State Dept. as the top state sponsor of terrorism. Pretty big difference.
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