Missed this when it first came out at the beginning of August. But the National Jewish Democratic Council has brought it to my attention. Mitt Romney has criticized Democrats for being unable to "recognize evil." And yet Mitt Romney ALSO is calling for America to look to Hezbollah as a role model.

...in an article titled “Mitt Romney cited Hezbollah's social network as a model for U.S. diplomacy,” the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) reported on recent comments by GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney that Hezbollah’s “kind of diplomacy is something that would help America become stronger around the world …” Today, the National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) strongly criticized Mitt Romney for his praise of Hezbollah and released the following statement from Executive Director Ira N. Forman:

“It is the height of irony that, within weeks of saying Democrats are ‘uncomfortable in recognizing evil in the world,’ Governor Romney would make such ill-informed remarks that cite a terrorist organization as a model for U.S. diplomacy. Indeed, Mitt Romney’s naïve comments suggest a fundamental misunderstanding of the Middle East and geopolitical realities. Mitt Romney desperately wants to be President of the United States, but this type of comment clearly shows that he is not ready for prime time.

“Any candidate for President should know that Hezbollah’s social programs are inseparably tied to terrorism. The health clinics and schools praised by Romney have also been used as a cover for rockets launched at Israeli cities. Moreover, Hezbollah social activism has included paying “bonuses” for the murder of Israelis.”

Hezbollah’s Secretary General, Hassan Nasrallah said in 2002 that, “Regardless of how the world has changed after 11 September, Death to America will remain our reverberating and powerful slogan: Death to America.” The following year he said: “Israel is our enemy. … Its destiny is manifested in our motto: ‘Death to Israel.’’’ [BBC Monitoring: Al-Manar, Sep. 27, 2002 (from CAMERA’s website); AIPAC Memo, 8/31/06]

Romney is doing the equivalent of praising Mussolini for making trains run on time. I suspect that it is Mitt Romney that is having a very hard time recognizing evil. We do NOT need a president who looks to Hezbollah for inspiration. If he wants civic minded organizations Mitt Romney need look no further than most churches, synagogues, mosques or Buddhist temples in America. If we wants to look for leadership in terms of schools and healthcare, he could look at the nations of Scandanavia. But instead he looks to Hezbollah for his inspiration. Lends new meaning to the term "Barking Crazy Right Winger."