Newsweek Gets It Wrong: Obama Is The Real Wimp

The magazine's cover story, "Romney: The Wimp Factor," asks the question: "Is he just too insecure to be president?"  Using highbrow, intellectual words like "lame, annoying, whiny, a weenie, and a total bust," to describe the GOP presidential nominee, Newsweek's Michael Tomasky succeeds at one thing -- creating a disingenuous characterization of Romney that is far more fitting of President Barack Obama.

Take a look at some of the "lame" defenses, to borrow an adjective from Newsweek, which Tomasky uses to support his assertion.

Referring to Romney questioning whether Britain was prepared to host the Olympics, Tomasky writes, "It should be the easiest thing in the world for a presidential nominee: a trip to England... And yet, Mitt Romney managed to alienate just about every living Briton."

Ironically, though, it's Obama who has done just that a countless number of times in his first term.  Here are just a few examples, among many: disposing of the Churchill bust given to the United States as a sign of solidarity after Sept. 11, 2001; labeling France as America's strongest ally; giving Queen Elizabeth II an iPod during his visit to Buckingham Palace; and presenting Prime Minister Cameron Brown with a compilation of 25 DVDs as his parting gift from the U.S.  Don't worry. The Wizard of Oz was included.

And as if this is not enough, one need not forget his State Department's insult: "There's nothing special about Britain. You're just the same as the other 190 countries in the world. You shouldn't expect special treatment." 

So, forgive me, but when Tomasky asks, "What unintended offenses are going to tumble out of his [Romney's] mouth then, when he's representing our nation on the world stage," my answer is far fewer than Obama has uttered. 

Tomasky goes on to write, "He's kind of lame, and he's really ... annoying.  He keeps saying these ... things, these incredibly off-key things.  Then he apologizes immediately-with all the sincerity of a hostage."

Instead of writing about Obama, who has made far more off-key statements in the last few weeks, he is talking about Romney and, in doing so, chooses to ignore the Obama administration's continual and more egregious series of gaffes.

In June, there was Obama's infamous assertion that "the private sector's doing fine;" that same day, Obama back-peddled, doing a complete 180, saying "it is absolutely clear that the economy is not doing fine."  About a month later, under heavy criticism, Obama was forced to clarify his incredibly offensive remarks in Roanoke, Virginia: "If you've got a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen."   As far as apologies go, Obama has had more than his fair share.

Tomasky then suggests Romney is insecure and, as a result, must go around touting his wealth and bragging.  "A good-looking guy doesn't have to walk around saying, 'Hey, look at me!' He knows everyone's looking," he writes.

I, for one, have never gotten a highfalutin, braggadocios vibe from Romney.  In fact, no one has said "Hey, look at me!" louder than Obama, whose aides added plugs to the end of the presidential bios that suggested Obama's achievements have somehow expanded on almost every preceding president.

Let's not forget Obama's subtle assertion that he is our fourth best president. During an interview with 60 Minutes, Obama said: "I would put our legislative and foreign policy accomplishments in our first two years against any president -- with the possible exceptions of Johnson, F.D.R., and Lincoln -- just in terms of what we've gotten done in modern history." Hardly the words of a humble, secure president who doesn't "have to walk around saying, 'Hey, look at me!'"

Finally, Tomasky suggests, "There's another conservative yardstick on which Romney comes up short: he's too smart, as in clever or book-smart, to be a real Republican candidate."  Not only is this highly offensive to Republicans, but I seem to recall the liberal mainstream media saying the same of Obama. 

It was in Dana Milbank's Washington Post column that the "Obama's too smart for his own good" logic came into play.  But now, apparently, it's Romney who's too smart for the Republican Party -- probably because they're too busy "cling[ing] to guns or religion," as Obama so astutely observed in the 2008 election.

Taken together, Obama fits with almost every premise Tomasky uses to justify the conclusion that Romney is a wimp. 

Kayleigh McEnany is a writer and political activist who graduated from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and studied at Oxford University. She is the founder of www.RealReaganConservative.com. She writes every Tuesday for the International Business Times.