Two examples from what I hope will be an ongoing series:

1. At the annual Miami-Dade Lincoln Day Dinner (for our overseas readers, that translates as “South Florida, right-wing Republicans”), he ended his speech with the stirring phrase, “¡Patria o muerte, venceremos!” Somehow, Romney missed out on knowing that that phrase—“Fatherland or death, we shall overcome!”—has for decades been the closing line of almost every one of Castro’s speeches. It’s 100% associated with the Castro regime. Romney’s audience was not impressed. (From Making Light.)

2. Mitt Romney and his wife were on ‘Larry King Live’ last week, and the former governor discussed his Mormon mission overseas: “Oh, it is a fabulous experience. Look, I was sort of having fun going to college and not worrying about the future. And then I went to a different country and saw how different life could be if we didn’t have the values and the kinds of opportunities that exist in America.”

It is indeed tragic that so much of the world doesn’t have the same freedoms and conveniences that America does. Whole continents are filled with the scourges of disease and poverty. I’m just glad that Romney got a small taste of how so much of humanity actually lives. Anyhow, where exactly was he? “I was in France. Bordeaux, Paris, all over France. A great learning experience to live overseas.” (From The Plank via Brad DeLong.)