Oh, my goodness, the United Kingdom, they’ve had a phenomenal year. I mean, they’ve pulled off a major wedding, a Diamond Jubilee and now, the Olympics. They know what they’re doing. So we’re just excited to be here, and I am just honored to be able to represent the United States. I mean, truly that’s what this is all about. It’s about these athletes and the stories that they tell. The inspiration that they transmit to the rest of the world, particularly kids in our country.”
As a lesson in good natured statesmanship - if not to say simple manners - it was a masterclass. For Michelle Obama cast aside stuffy protocol to join in the fun and games to celebrate today’s opening of the Olympic games with more than 1,000 children. The First Lady met the children - most of them from U.S. military families - in the grounds of Winfield House, the official residence of the U.S. ambassador in London. She was joined by David Beckham and Olympic gold-medal sprinter Carl Lewis who signed autographs. She said: “I’m so excited,” after jogging to the stage as a marching band played the University of Florida fight song. “I am thrilled to be here on London for the 2012 Olympic games. I am proud to be leading the U.S. delegation to the opening ceremony.” Mrs Obama, who later tried out sports including tug-of-war and football alongside the children, offered a tribute to military families who had been invited to take part in the event. “The military families who are joining us from U.S. bases that are stationed here in the U.K., we are so grateful for your service because you all sacrifice so much - you as kids, your mums, your dads,” said the First Lady. “You sacrifice so much for this country and we are so very proud of you.”
You can take Romney out of the United States… What was supposed to be easy breezy trip to Britain — filled with upbeat meetings and presidential-looking photos ops before the Olympics — turned into foreign policy nightmare for the presumptive Republican nominee. With our friends, the Brits. Romney, who ran the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, ruffled feathers across the pond after suggesting in a TV interview Wednesday that London wasn’t fully ready for the Games. "It's hard to know just how well it will turn out," Romney told NBC’s Brian Williams on Wednesday. "There are a few things that were disconcerting,” he said, citing a shortage of security officials. British Prime Minister David Cameron didn't keep a stiff upper lip over that dig. "We are holding an Olympic Games in one of the busiest, most active, bustling cities anywhere in the world," Cameron said Thursday at the Olympic Park in London. "Of course, it is easier if you hold an Olympic Games in the middle of nowhere." We're pretty sure he was talking about Salt Lake.
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Boris Johnson today issued an Olympics rallying cry in response to Mitt Romney’s dig over London’s appetite to host the 2012 Games. The U.S. presidential hopeful, who is in the UK on a diplomatic visit, had doubted the British public’s passion for the Olympics in a television interview for U.S. network NBC. Despite his backtracking today – saying that the Olympics would be ‘a wonderful 17 days’ – the man who could replace Barack Obama as the world’s most important leader found himself singled out as public enemy number one. Speaking in front of 60,000 assembled in Hyde Park at a concert to mark the end of the Olympic Torch relay, the London Mayor tonight reaffirmed the city’s zeal for the event. ‘There are some people coming from around the world who don’t yet know if we are ready,’ the Mr Johnson roared. ‘There’s a guy called Mitt Romney who wants to know whether we are ready. Are we ready? Yes we are!’
Mitt Romney is already having trouble on what was supposed to be his international debut. It started when Romney criticized the Olympics preparation in London and pondered whether the British people would rise to the occasion. The British Press and London’s mayor were quick to fire back. MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry and Steve Kornacki weigh in.
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