Absurd: Mitt Romney Blames Obama for Iran Election Fallout

Posted by Steve Benen, Washington Monthly at 5:24 AM on June 15, 2009.

WHEN IN DOUBT, BLAME OBAMA.... Former Gov. Mitt Romney (R) appeared on ABC's "This Week" -- no, I'm not sure why he was invited on either -- and was asked about developments in Iran. Naturally, the one-time presidential candidate said President Obama bears responsibility for what's transpired.

"[T]he comments by the president last week that there was a robust debate going on in Iran was obviously entirely wrong-headed. What has occurred is that the election is a fraud, the results are inaccurate, and you're seeing a brutal repression of the people as they protest.

"The president ought to come out and state exactly those words, indicate that this has been a terribly managed decision by the autocratic regime in Iran.

"It's very clear that the president's policies of going around the world and apologizing for America aren't working.... [J]ust sweet talk and criticizing America is not going to enhance freedom in the world."

Remember the time, a few years back, when credible political observers thought Mitt Romney was serious about policy, and would steer clear of becoming a clueless, partisan hack? Good times, good times.

Of course, it's not just Romney. Ali Frick noted this morning that neoconservatives Richard Perle and Frank Gaffney blamed the election results on the U.S. president.

Frick added, however, that MSNBC's Joe Scarborough struck a more reasonable note on "Meet the Press."

"[T]he law of unintended consequences came in again. I suspect that Cairo speech really scared the grand ayatollahs in Iran. If they were going to fix an election, this was the time to fix it, because the last thing they wanted to do was Barack Obama take credit for reformers winning in Iran, like they already have in Lebanon. And by the way, in the short term that's bad news for us. I think in the long term, though -- if the ayatollahs are seen stealing an election, as a result from what Barack Obama did in Cairo -- I actually think that's a positive for the United States and Iran in the long run."

Great. When it comes to conservative political analysis of developments in the Middle East, Joe Scarborough represents the Republican voice of reason. What a strange thought.

Tagged as: iran, republicans, obama, mitt romney

Steve Benen is "blogger in chief" of the popular Washington Monthly online blog, Political Animal. His background includes publishing The Carpetbagger Report, and writing for a variety of publications, including Talking Points Memo, The American Prospect, the Huffington Post, and The Guardian. He has also appeared on NPR's "Talk of the Nation," MSNBC's "Rachel Maddow Show," Air America Radio's "Sam Seder Show," and XM Radio's "POTUS '08."