Wednesday, May 25, 2011

The Strange and Contradictory Perceptions of the Obama Speech on Israel: What did the President Really Say?

Ron Radosh "The different responses to President Barack Obama’s speech from the mainstream media show something very revealing: everyone still projects their own assumptions about what Obama means and believes onto the president.... they still put forth their own beliefs and projected them onto Obama."
....
One view:
“[The Obama speech was a] strong reaffirmation of the U.S.-Israel relationship and represented an important and positive change” from his remarks Thursday. “By adding a whole section to the speech that was missing on Thursday, President Obama put himself in line with presidents since Lyndon Johnson who have said again and again, Israel cannot go back to the 1949/1967 lines,” Block said. ‘This is an important and crucial change from what he said last week.”
"Others have pointed out, however, that if read carefully the Obama speech in fact did not say that Israel was right to refuse to negotiate with a Palestinian state that has signed an agreement with Hamas. That in fact, he went on in his speech to argue that despite this reality, they must do so because peace is a necessity that cannot be put on the backburner because of the new alliance. That is, indeed, the essence of Obama’s approach — to take back what he just said one sentence after he said it, so that both sides will find the kind of reassurance that they seek."
Another view:
...one must look at how the Palestinian Authority took Obama’s speech: did they see it as one friendly to Israel, as the president’s supporters claim? Look no further than the statement released by chief PA negotiator Saeb Erekat: that they would not resume peace negotiations unless Israel accepts the ’67 border guidelines mentioned by the president. In other words, what might be determined in final status negotiations is now, according to Fatah, to be accepted first as a starting point before negotiations are to take place! What should be then negotiated?
Is it a trait of Democrat presidents, that their every sentence must be parsed to figure out what they really meant?

Corrupt Language Breeds Bad History and Bad Policy  "As the history of communism and fascism both illustrate, modern political tyranny has relied on fabricated history to legitimize its claims and actions, and such history in turn relies on the debasement of language. Nowhere is this axiom more evident than in the conflict between Israel and the Arabs — so much so that, as Obama’s recent remarks about Israel show, the false history and its false vocabulary are now taken for reality and made the basis of policy."....
"The misleading and false language used to describe the conflict between Israel and the countries that have tried to destroy it obscures the actual causes of Arab hatred of Israel, which in turn creates bad policies pursuing false solutions. A Palestinian state will not bring peace to the region, for the simple reason that a critical mass of Arabs does not want Israel to exist." Bruce S. Thornton  (Emphasis added.)
 Road Map to Peace
politicalhumor.about.com

Obama, Israel, and the Politics of Narcissism

http://terrellaftermath.com/
Pajamas Media "President Obama’s much publicized speech (May 19, 2011) to the Arab world created a new dimension in presidential character — the passive narcissist. Seldom, if ever, has any president been so infatuated with his own words at the expense of reality."
....
"Obama took office and quickly betrayed the Czechoslovaks and the Poles. He is a man who feels guilty about the pursuit of American national interests, who acts as if the dismal state of the Arab and Islamic world is our fault and not theirs. He cannot tell friend from foe. His betrayal of Israel is first and foremost a betrayal of America, a refusal to adhere to George W. Bush’s agreements on Jerusalem in exchange for the Gaza withdrawal. What confidence can nations have now in the continuity of American policy?
"Our concern should not be for Israel but for ourselves. We have elected a narcissist, naive and incapable, mesmerized by his own words echoing from the teleprompter, who is squandering our strategic interests in the Middle East with the same abandon that he squandered our strategic interests in Eastern Europe."
Even if we elect a president competent in world affairs, other nations will wonder if his- or her- commitments will have any lasting value; what if this nation then elects another Obama after that president?  What nations will ever again trust in the wisdom of American voters and our bipolar choices?
schooled%20sm.jpg
comicallyincorrect.com

Obama and the Arab Spring

STRATFOR  "Obama appears to have reached three conclusions about the Arab Spring:"
It represented a genuine and liberal democratic rising that might replace regimes.
American opposition to these risings might result in the emergence of anti-American regimes in these countries.
The United States must embrace the general idea of the Arab risings but be selective in specific cases; thus, it should support the rising in Egypt, but not necessarily in Bahrain
...."But Obama’s foray into Israeli-Palestinian affairs was not intended to be serious; rather, it was merely a cover for his broader policy to reconstitute a coalition of the willing. While we understand why he wants this broader policy to revive the coalition of the willing, it seems to involve huge risks that could see a diminished or disappeared coalition. He could help bring down pro-American regimes that are repressive and replace them with anti-American regimes that are equally or even more repressive."

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

The ObamaCare Fiasco: Americans Are Ned Beatty in Healthcare “Deliverance”

Debbie Schlussel  "While the passage of ObamaCare marks a liberal triumph, its impact will play out over many years. We fought this bill so vigorously because we have studied government health care in other countries, and the results include much higher taxes, slower economic growth and worse medical care. As for the politics, the first verdict arrives in November."







MSNBC's UnCivil War on the Right

Media Research Center  "On 150th anniversary of start of Civil War, to MSNBC, conservatives are secessionists, slavery sympathizers and unreconstructed rebels."

Democrats in the 1860's
Republican Party opposed slavery  "The Republican Party was established at Ripon, Wisconsin in 1854 by a group of former members of the Whig Party, the Free-Soil Party and the Democratic Party. Its original founders were opposed to slavery and called for the repeal of the Kansas-Nebraska and the Fugitive Slave Law. Early members thought it was important to place the national interest above sectional interest and the rights of individual States."

                                        Art from Photobucket


 The Republicans and the Civil War  "From 1854, when the Republican Party was founded, Democrats labeled it adherents "black" Republicans to identify them as proponents of black equality. During the 1860 elections Southern Democrats used the term derisively to press their belief that Abraham Lincoln's victory would incite slave rebellions in the South and lead to widespread miscegenation. The image the term conveyed became more hated in the South during Reconstruction as Radical Republicans forced legislation repugnant to Southerners and installed Northern Republicans or Unionists in the governments of the former Confederate states."  Emphasis added.  civilwarhome.com

Netanyahu hints at Israeli action against Iran, may leave some settlements out of borders

DEBKAfile  "On Jerusalem, the prime minister said: The only time in its history when all three faiths have enjoyed unfettered access to their holy places and freedom of worship was when Jerusalem fell under Israel sovereignty.. The city will therefore remain the undivided capital of Israel. Solutions will be found for Palestinian difficulties with creativity and good will.
"He was cheered loudly when he said Israel will not negotiate with Hamas, "the Palestinian version of al Qaeda" and called on Mahmoud Abbas to tear up his pact with the group committed to kill Jews everywhere."

Why Has Peace Eluded Us? Ask the Palestinians, Not Bibi.

Jonathan S. Tobin  "During the past few days, those cheering President Obama’s ambush of Netanyahu have repeated over and over again that Israel must make “hard choices” and must act boldly to snatch a last chance of peace. But as Netanyahu rightly asserted, Israel has already offered the Palestinians an independent state twice in the past few years. Until Palestinian leaders are prepared to accept the legitimacy of a Jewish state of Israel the way Netanyahu has accepted a Palestinian one, there can be no peace.
"Pressure on Israel like the kind being plotted by Obama and the leaders of the G-8 this week will achieve nothing since the only hope for peace is today, as it always has been, in the hands of those who refuse to live in peace with Israel."
http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/robertariail
Obama’s Diversionary Tactics: It’s Not About Israel’s Borders  "He knew full well that Netanyahu does not back the Palestinian formulation that negotiations with Israel must be based on the indefensible 1949 armistice lines, or what are wrongly referred to as the 1967 lines. In the days leading up to Obama’s speech last Thursday, Israel registered explicit, repeated requests that he not adopt the Palestinian position that negotiations should be based on those lines." Caroline Glick

Hamas victims of Israeli oppression
"Now the American left is urging politicians not to use Obama’s support for the Hamas-Fatah terrorist alliance as a political football. Of course, they say this not because they fundamentally disagree with the president, they say this because they don’t want Obama to be damaged politically for supporting the Palestinian parties over Israel.
"The Politico reported:"...




Biden Does Not Applaud After Netanyahu Says Jerusalem Will Not Be Divided  (video)
""Jerusalem must never again be divided," Bibi Netanyahu said. Notably visible, Vice President Joe Biden did not applaud after Netanyahu called for an undivided Jerusalem.
""Jerusalem must remain the united capital of Israel," Netanyahu declared."

Obama Has Something To Apologize For

Heritage  "The U.K. is not the only place in Europe where the President has gone wrong. When he travels to Poland, he owes an apology for his 2009 decision to bow to Russia and abandon the U.S. missile defense shield in Poland, thereby reducing NATO’s security and effectively stabbing that ally in the back, after it made the difficult decision to support the United States. The President also slapped Poland in the face when he passed on paying his respects to Polish President Lech Kaczynski, the Polish First Lady and 94 senior officials who perished in a plane crash.
"And make no mistake, it is the President’s responsibility to maintain these relationships."
 "Forgive me, old friends, for I know not what I am doing!"
Political Cartoons by Michael Ramirez



Cartoon:
http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/michaelramirez
How President Obama's EU Policy Undercuts U.S. Interests










Charles Krauthammer; Obama's policy of slapping allies  from April 2, 2010. "I'm not personally inclined to neuropsychiatric diagnoses, but Manning's guess is as good as anyone's. How can you explain a policy toward Britain that makes no strategic or moral sense? And even if you can, how do you explain the gratuitous slaps to the Czechs, Poles, Indians and others? Perhaps when an Obama Doctrine is finally worked out, we shall learn whether it was pique, principle or mere carelessness."

Netanyahu's Speech at the AIPAC Conference, May 2011

Council on Foreign Relations  "My friends, we want peace because we know the pain of terror and we know the agony of war. We want peace because we know the blessings peace could bring - what it could bring to us and to our Palestinian neighbors. But if we hope to advance peace with the Palestinians, then it's time that we admitted another truth. This conflict has raged for nearly a century because the Palestinians refuse to end it. They refuse to accept the Jewish state."....
 "Just imagine keeping a young soldier locked in a dark dungeon for five years without even a single visit - not a single visit of the Red Cross. I think that the entire civilized community should join Israel and the United States and all of us in a simple demand from Hamas: Release Gilad Shalit."  (More on Shalit at the bottom of this post)

Top Democrats Rebuff Obama at AIPAC  "The fact that two of the highest-ranking Democrats in Congress implicitly criticized the president’s proposals indicates two things. The first is that there is a disconnect between Obama and congressional Democrats on Israel policy. And the second is that top Democrats are now willing to disparage the president’s proposals publicly. Even if Obama wants to push anti-Israel policies (and there’s evidence to that he does), his own party won’t stand behind him on it."

Gilad Shalit
 Gilad Shalit:  The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity "In June 2010, the Human Rights Watch described Hamas’ treatment of Shalit as “cruel and inhumane” in violation of international human rights law by prohibiting from having contact with his family or visits from the Red Cross."




 

Late-night Osama Bin Laden jokes

Blackfive  "As President Obama spins up his new media watch dog (that you're paying for), I thought I'd share some of the OBL jokes that have been on the late night shows:"
....
"And my favorite about the SEALS and the President:"
"Thanking Obama for killing Osama bin Laden is like going into McDonald’s and thanking Clown Ronald McDonald for the hamburger. The person cooking the burger should get the credit, not the Clown." Emphasis gleefully added.
Ba-dump-bump

powerwall.msnbc.msn.com

Another Christian Adoption Agency Burdened by State-Sponsored Intolerance

The Foundry "According to a story published earlier this month, a Catholic adoption agency in the United Kingdom has been told that if it wishes to provide adoption services, it must be willing to facilitate adoptions involving homosexual couples, even though doing so would violate Catholic teachings."....

"The Christian adoption agency cases provide a prime example of government itself imposing a burden on religious and moral conscience. Therefore, the case for protecting the freedom of religious charities to serve society without violating commitments to faith and morality is compelling. The failure of public officials in certain jurisdictions to provide these protections is both regrettable and blameworthy."

Monday, May 23, 2011

Christian and Jewish Leaders Respond to Obama's Attack on Israel

Atlas Shrugs  "I just got back from a press conference earlier today at the National Press Club, of Christian and Jewish leaders responding to Obama's attack on Israel. This coalition of leadership, representing millions of Americans, is kicking off a media campaign across the country to proudly stand with Israel. I will write it up and post snaps later, but clearly Obama has galvanized the right, the righteous and the non-Muslim world.
"Christian and Jewish leaders have gone on the offense and announced an ad campaign. Obama has no idea of the unified movement he just created."

The television commercial responding to the attack on Israel:
VO: "THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS IN ISRAEL WHEN THEY GIVE AWAY LAND FOR "PEACE."
The video shows children running for shelter as the rockets explode around them.
"DON'T LET HAMAS MOVE THEIR ROCKETS ANY CLOSER TO INNOCENT ISRAELI FAMILIES."
ISRAEL: YOU'RE NOT ALONE CAMPAIGN"

An innocent Arab victim of the Israelis speaks of when Arabs and Jews lived together
She recalls with fondness how good it used to be for the Arabs. (This link is from an earlier post ).