July 25, 2012 04:39 PM UTC

Romney's "Anglo-Saxon Heritage?" Do Tell!

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• by: Colorado Pols

A meeting between Mitt Romney campaign advisors and The London Daily Telegraph on the occasion of Romney’s trip to Europe this week is stoking outrage in multicultural England:

As the Republican presidential challenger accused Barack Obama of appeasing America’s enemies in his first foreign policy speech of the US general election campaign, advisers told The Daily Telegraph that he would abandon Mr Obama’s “Left-wing” coolness towards London.

In remarks that may prompt accusations of racial insensitivity, one suggested that Mr Romney was better placed to understand the depth of ties between the two countries than Mr Obama, whose father was from Africa.

“We are part of an Anglo-Saxon heritage, and he feels that the special relationship is special,” the adviser said of Mr Romney, adding: “The White House didn’t fully appreciate the shared history we have”. [Pols emphasis]

Folks, we suppose this as-yet unnamed advisor could have been referring to some other aspect to one’s “Anglo-Saxon heritage” than, you know, ethnicity. After all, we’re all taught to uphold the values enshrined in American law, and the English common law it was derived from. Of course, Barack Obama was president of Harvard Law Review, so we’re thinking he knows something about the shared traditions in American and English law. Either way, it is a more polite topic of conversation in the UK than, say, how we kicked their ass in the Revolutionary War.

It’s possible that this advisor was talking about that stuff, but Barack Obama is a black man.

And most people will stop parsing the meaning of “Anglo-Saxon heritage” right there.