Posted on 05/17/2008 5:36:28 AM PDT by goldstategop
Thats enough. That thats a show of disrespect to me.
That was Barack Obama, a couple of weeks back, explaining why he was casting the Reverend Jeremiah Wright into outer darkness. Its one thing to wallow in adolescent grandiosity (as Scott Johnson of Powerline called it) when its a family dispute between you and your pastor of 20 years. Its quite another to do so when its the 60th-anniversary celebrations of one of Americas closest allies.
Last week, President Bush was in Israel and gave a speech to the Knesset. Its perspective was summed up by his closing anecdote a departing British officer in May 1948 handing the iron bar to the Zion Gate to a trembling rabbi and telling him it was the first time in 18 centuries that a key to one of the gates to the Old City of Jerusalem was in the hands of a Jew. In other words, it was a big-picture speech, referencing the Holocaust, the pogroms, Masada and the challenges that lie ahead. Senator Obama was not mentioned in the text. No Democrat was mentioned, save for President Truman, in the context of his recognition of the new State of Israel when it was a mere 11 minutes old.
Nonetheless, Barack Obama decided that the Presidents speech was really about him, and he didnt care for it. He didnt put it quite as bluntly as he did with the Reverend Wright, but the message was the same: Thats enough. Thats a show of disrespect to me. And, taking their cue from the soon-to-be nominees weirdly petty narcissism, Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry, Joe Biden, and co. piled on to deplore Bushs outrageous, unacceptable, unpresidential, outrageously unacceptable, and unacceptably unpresidential behavior.
Honestly. What a bunch of self-absorbed ninnies. Heres what the president said: Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided. We have an obligation to call this what it is the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.
It says something for Democrat touchiness that the minute a guy makes a generalized observation about folks who appease terrorists and dictators the Dems assume: Hey, theyre talking about me. Actually, he wasnt or, to be more precise, he wasnt talking only about you. Yes, there are plenty of Democrats who are in favor of negotiating with our enemies, and a few Republicans, too President Bushs pal James Baker, whose Iraq Study Group was full of proposals to barter with Iran and Syria and everybody else. But that general line is also taken by at least three of Tony Blairs former cabinet ministers and his senior policy adviser, and by the leader of Canadas New Democratic party, and by a whole bunch of bigshot Europeans. Its not a Democrat-election policy, its an entire worldview. Even Barack Obama cant be so vain as to think his fly-me-to-[insert name of enemy here] concept is an original idea.
Increasingly, the Western world has attitudes rather than policies. Its one thing to talk as a means to an end. But these days, for most midlevel powers, talks are the end, talks without end. Because thats what civilized nations like doing chit-chatting, shooting the breeze, having tea and crumpets, talking talking talking. Uncivilized nations like torturing dissidents, killing civilians, bombing villages, doing doing doing. Its easier to get the doers to pass themselves off as talkers then to get the talkers to rouse themselves to do anything. And, as the Iranians understand, talks provide a splendid cover for getting on with anything you want to do. If, say, you want to get on with your nuclear program relatively undisturbed, the easiest way to do it is to enter years of endless talks with the Europeans over said nuclear program. Thats why that Hamas honcho endorsed Obama: They know hes their best shot at getting a European foreign minister installed as president of the United States.
Mo Mowlam was Britains Northern Ireland secretary and oversaw the process by which the IRAs Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness became Ministers of a Crown they decline to recognize. By 2004, she was calling for Osama bin Laden to be invited to the negotiating table, having concluded he was no different from Adams: Stern fellow, lots of blood on his hands, but no sense getting on your high horse about all that; lets find out what he wants and give him part of it. In his 2002 letter to the United States, bin Laden has a lot of grievances, from Americas refusal to implement sharia to Jew-controlled usury to the lack of punishment for President Clintons immoral acts. Like Barack Obamas pastor, bin Laden shares the view that AIDS is a Satanic American invention. Obviously, there are items on the agenda that the free world can never concede on President Clintons immoral acts but whos to say most of the rest isnt worth chewing over?
This will be the fault line in the post-Bush war debate over the next few years. Are the political ambitions of the broader jihad totalitarian, genocidal, millenarian in a word, nuts? Or are they negotiable? President Bush knows where he stands. Just before the words that Barack Obama took umbrage at, he said: There are good and decent people who cannot fathom the darkness in these men and try to explain away their words. Its natural, but it is deadly wrong. As witnesses to evil in the past, we carry a solemnly responsibility to take these words seriously.
Here are some words of Hussein Massawi, the former leader of Hezbollah: We are not fighting so that you will offer us something. We are fighting to eliminate you.
Are his actions consistent with those words? Amazingly so. So too are those of Hezbollahs patrons in Tehran.
President Reagan talked with the Soviets while pushing ahead with the deployment of Cruise and Pershing missiles in Europe. He spoke softly after getting himself a bigger stick. Sen. Obama is proposing to reward a man who pledges to wipe Israel off the map with a presidential photo-op to which he will bring not even a twig. No wonder hes so twitchy about it.
I'm thinking that -- if they haven't learned them by now -- they're never going to learn them.
Obama: "I will cut investments in unproven missile defense systems, ....I will not weaponize space... I will slow development of future combat systems... I will institute a 'Defense Priorities Board' to ensure the quadrennial defense review is not used ..."
Then, there will be peace in our time without the evil republicans causing war!
My change is good for Muslims, Islamofascists, Black Racists, and Chrislims. $crew the Christians and real Jews!
The press should be doing their jobs to find the weaknesses in the candidates' positioning.
Unfortunately, the press views their job as propagandizing for the liberal Messiah.
Fact is, the MSM no longer serves a worthwhile purpose.
Resetting ^#&^!*&@ PC bump! ;-)
... It says something for Democrat touchiness that the minute a guy makes a generalized observation about folks who appease terrorists and dictators the Dems assume: Hey, theyre talking about me. Actually, he wasnt or, to be more precise, he wasnt talking only about you. ... Its not a Democrat-election policy, its an entire worldview. Even Barack Obama cant be so vain as to think his fly-me-to-[insert name of enemy here] concept is an original idea.
... Increasingly, the Western world has attitudes rather than policies. Its one thing to talk as a means to an end. But these days, for most midlevel powers, talks are the end, talks without end. Because thats what civilized nations like doing chit-chatting, shooting the breeze, having tea and crumpets, talking talking talking. Uncivilized nations like torturing dissidents, killing civilians, bombing villages, doing doing doing. Its easier to get the doers to pass themselves off as talkers then to get the talkers to rouse themselves to do anything. And, as the Iranians understand, talks provide a splendid cover for getting on with anything you want to do. If, say, you want to get on with your nuclear program relatively undisturbed, the easiest way to do it is to enter years of endless talks with the Europeans over said nuclear program. Thats why that Hamas honcho endorsed Obama: They know hes their best shot at getting a European foreign minister installed as president of the United States.
... This will be the fault line in the post-Bush war debate over the next few years. Are the political ambitions of the broader jihad totalitarian, genocidal, millenarian in a word, nuts? Or are they negotiable? President Bush knows where he stands. Just before the words that Barack Obama took umbrage at, he said: There are good and decent people who cannot fathom the darkness in these men and try to explain away their words. Its natural, but it is deadly wrong. As witnesses to evil in the past, we carry a solemnly responsibility to take these words seriously.
Here are some words of Hussein Massawi, the former leader of Hezbollah: We are not fighting so that you will offer us something. We are fighting to eliminate you. Are his actions consistent with those words? Amazingly so. So too are those of Hezbollahs patrons in Tehran.
President Reagan talked with the Soviets while pushing ahead with the deployment of Cruise and Pershing missiles in Europe. He spoke softly after getting himself a bigger stick. Sen. Obama is proposing to reward a man who pledges to wipe Israel off the map with a presidential photo-op to which he will bring not even a twig. No wonder hes so twitchy about it.
Brilliant!
This ping list is not author-specific for articles I'd like to share. Some for the perfect moral clarity, some for provocative thoughts; or simply interesting articles I'd hate to miss myself. (I don't have to agree with the author all 100% to feel the need to share an article.) I will try not to abuse the ping list and not to annoy you too much, but on some days there is more of the good stuff that is worthy of attention. You can see the list of articles I pinged to lately on my page.
You are welcome in or out, just freepmail me (and note which PING list you are talking about). Besides this one, I keep 2 separate PING lists for my favorite authors Victor Davis Hanson and Orson Scott Card.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.