The President's Trip - An Opinion

The President is in Israel and I for one think this trip is a very positive reinforcement of the President's Pro-Israel, Pro-Two State agenda. For me, the trip cements some opinions of the President that I have held from the very beginning that President Obama is a great and solid friend to both Israel and the Jewish people.

What does this trip tell me?

1. Well, the President is now in his second term. He is done campaigning. He certainly didn't have to make this trip, he doesn't need the help from Jewish voters in swing states anymore.. YET... he still goes to Israel to re-affirm our friendship and commitments to Israel and it's security. Unlike the screeching of Jennifer Rubin and her usual nonsense (I still can't figure out how anyone who gets everything so wrong manages to have a column at the Washington Post but we'll leave that for another day), the President's words are very important.

In his speeches and discussions today, the President laid his understanding of exactly what the State of Israel means to both the Jewish people and the world. But, not only are his words important for Israelis (who are fed a strict diet of FOX News and U.S. Republican nonsensical garbage) to hear, but they are important that the Palestinians and Arabs hear them as well. Because no matter what he says to them, they have been told in very clear and unequivocal terms that the U.S. understands that Israel IS the National Homeland and State of the Jewish people.

2. His third trip to Israel gives President Obama a chance to directly speak to the Israeli people, side-stepping the machinations of the Right Wing, that are completely distraught and feinting at the possibility that their lies regarding the President be exposed. I think he will be clear that he does not call for "retreat to the 1967 borders", a myth that is spread by the right, despite all the availability of transcripts and documentation that he believes in something more akin to the Olmert plan of 2007-08.

Too much of the President's words and actions have been lost to the machinations of the punditry on the Right, who will stop at nothing, tell any lie and twist any truth just to make sure that people believe the worst in President Obama. BUT his history of support, in the U.N., with increased foreign aid (though the "sequester" does threaten some of that), with strongly enhanced security and intelligence cooperation between the two nations tells the TRUTH regarding his friendship.

Now will the Israeli Right (and their American cohorts) be happy regarding any of the President's trip to Israel. I sincerely doubt it. Up until now, they have been the ones to frame the discussion around Israel with their "Agree with us 1000% or you are no friend to the us", lessons learned from the Republican Teahadists here at home.

But this shouldn't be the case. It's time that those of us in the Center and Left stood up to the Republicans and Rightists and hold them accountable for their nonsense. First of all, all of those fans of Mitt Romney, refused to say what Mitt would have done differently. Further, Mitt himself said there was nothing he would have done differently. For instance when pressed on Egypt. Romney stated:

MR. SCHIEFFER: Governor Romney, I want to hear your response to that, but I would just ask you, would you have stuck with Mubarak?

MR. ROMNEY: No, I believe, as the president indicated and said at the time, that I supported his — his action there. (vb1 emphasis)  I felt that — I wish we'd have had a better vision of the future. I wish that, looking back at the beginning of the president's term and even further back than that, that we'd have recognized that there was a growing energy and passion for freedom in that part of the world and that we would have worked more aggressively with our — our friend and with other friends in the region to have them make the transition towards a more representative form of government such that it didn't explode in the way it did. But once it exploded, I felt the same as the president did, which is these — these freedom voices in the — the streets of Egypt where the people who were speaking of our principles and the — the — President Mubarak had done things which were unimaginable, and the idea of him crushing his people was not something that we could possibly support.

And why should they own up to this? It doesn't fit their meme that President Obama is no friend to Israel. I mean the guy they were voting for ADMITTED he would do the same.

These are the messages that the Israelis need to hear. Not some spinning FOX head who simply makes up the news wholesale.

But more importantly the President (AS EVERY OTHER AMERICAN PRESIDENT SINCE 1967) has re-affirmed the American commitment to the Two State Solution. The Rightists who now are in J'slem, from the Deputy FM Ze'ev Elkin to the Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon, to DM Moshe Ya'alon, to Naftali Bennett and his entire HaBayit HaYehudi Party are firmly AGAINST the two State solution. They have come out with an annexation plan for the Occupied West Bank.

So are we to let these people frame the argument of who is for Israel and who is not? I say no. I stand with our President and the Israeli Center / Center Left in their calls for Two State solution. It is the only way that Israel will remain a vibrant and Jewish Democracy. The President's actions and speeches have stood up to help support Israel in the long run. That is good enough for me, and I as a strong supporter of Israel am glad that Barak Obama is indeed President of the U.S. and is a strong friend to Israel. 

Mitt says: "Vote for me... Or Else"

According to TPM Mitt Romney has decided to go all out and tell the American people: "Vote for Me or else...."

Yep, he is telling us that if we don't elect him, his party will trash the U.S. Economy.

Romney said that Obama “promised to be a post-partisan president, but he became the most partisan” and that his bitter relations with the House GOP could threaten the economy. As his chief example, he pointed to a crisis created entirely by his own party’s choice — Republican lawmakers’ ongoing threat to reject a debt ceiling increase. Economists warn that a failure to pass such a measure would have immediate and catastrophic consequences for the recovery. 

“You know that if the President is re-elected, he will still be unable to work with the people in Congress,” Romney said. “He has ignored them, attacked them, blamed them. The debt ceiling will come up again, and shutdown and default will be threatened, chilling the economy.”

So basically, he is saying unless we vote for him... Republicans will shut down the U.S. government. Rather than saying that Republicans should compromise and work towards solving America's problems first, he admits that the only thing Republicans care about is maintaining power.

And of course... here is the ultimate projection (hypocrisy)...

“I won’t spend my effort trying to pass partisan legislation that’s unrelated to economic growth,” Romney said. “From day one, I will go to work to help Americans get back to work.”

Saying this as he is supported by a party that is saying "Pass our Partisan concerns or we will shut down the country's economy"... Just one more reason why we have to GOTV like mad for the President and for Congress, and make sure that these hacks cannot continue to hold America hostage.

Mitt Romney's Latest Endorsement

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ltCIEbLMaQg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ltCIEbLMaQg

C. Montgomery Burns endorsing Mitt....

OF course the Obama Derangement Syndrome crowd and their masters over at the RJC will be saying "But, but, but.... Mitt's a better friend of Israel (despite the fact that he would do absolutely NOTHING different than President Obama would do with regards to Jerusalem and Egypt, and would indeed simply do nothing at all with regards to working on a Peace deal, and despite the fact that these critics actually live in the U.S. and despite their wildest fantasies neither live in Israel nor have the guts to make Aliyah - if they even know what that is).

But remember these folks also think that regardless of the 47% comment, the support for a candidate who throws his weight behind a Senator who thinks Women's bodies can shut down pregnancy after a "legitimate rape", the fact that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan want to eviscerate Medicare, the fact that Mitt Romney wants to do away with (and privatize) FEMA, and host of other nonsensical positions that somehow, on some plane of reality, in some distant galaxy a man who supports the baptism of Holocaust victims to the Mormon Church is a friend to both Jews and the American people.

This is the perfect endorsement for Mitt... Now he just need the racist vote (which he has to fight Ron Paul for) and he has the perfect triumvirate: The Greedy, The Stupid, and the The Racists.  Perfect.

"Etch-A-Sketch" EXPOSED Point-By-Point: New York Times Details Romney's "Modulation"

POSTED FROM IAN REIFOWITZ OVER AT DAILY KOS

What's so great about this front page New York Times article is that it is a straight news piece, not something on the opinion page. Nevertheless, the article offers a simply devastating, piece-by-piece analysis of the incredible shape-shifting candidacy of Mitt Romney. It's a blow-by-blow account of Romney's attempt to Etch-A-Sketch away his "severely conservative" positions and rhetoric of the past 12 months and more and replace them with the new-found, bipartisan, "moderate" Mitt of the past four weeks. For a reminder, here's an Obama video including the "severely conservative" remark, and other choice statements by the Governor.

The article describes how Romney shifted his rhetoric on a whole host of topics. He's gone from emphasizing the need for two parent, heterosexual families to praising single moms. Romney has stopped talking about how Barack Obama is essentially a European socialist who doesn't get America, and now gushes about how "Democrats love America too," and about how well he'd get along with them.

But the article's author, Michael Barbaro, doesn't let Romney off the hook. He doesn't criticize Romney for his "modulation," he merely offers his analysis of the situation. Barbaro notes that a good chunk (one-third) of recently polled voters in a New York Times/CBS survey believed that Romney is more moderate now than before he was nominated. Barbaro notes that, although this may have been a necessary move, it is "one that holds peril for Mr. Romney."

Barbaro continues:

The tone and substance of his closing argument risks raising the questions about consistency and authenticity that have dogged him, tracking with his muddied stance on issues like amnesty for young illegal immigrants, Pell grants for college students and limits on abortions.

Barbaro reminds us of Romney's characterization of himself as a "severely conservative" governor, and broadens out the contrast between then and now.

Rewind to the primaries: Mr. Romney sounded much less centrist. He said then that Tea Party members, known for their uncompromising rigidity, would find him “the ideal candidate.” He also questioned his rival Rick Santorum’s conservative credentials, citing a vote to fund Planned Parenthood.

This article is no partisan, slashing attack. What it represents, however, is the mainstream media -- symbolized by the front page of the New York Times -- accepting the reality and the narrative of Mitt Romney as an unprincipled politician who will literally say anything, even if it directly contradicts his own positions. His willingness to lie is, of course, another issue. On that as well, however, the NYT had a front page article on Wednesday that made it clear to readers (without using the word) that Romney was, well, lying in his statements and his ad about Chrysler/Jeep and jobs being moved to China. 

The Etch-A-Sketch won't work. The media, finally, is starting to do it's job. Now it's our turn to do our job, and get out there to help re-elect Barack Obama.

PS-Please check out my new book Obama's America: A Transformative Vision of Our National Identity, published last month by Potomac Books, where I discuss these issues in greater detail. You can read a review by DailyKos's own Greg Dworkin here.

Need a laugh? Check this out

Looking for a good laugh... Here you go: The Tea Party gets a news site

Yep... as if they didn't already have FOX News, Drudge, Breitbart, CNN (lately) and many other outlets, now they have their own News Site.

Of course their site is merely a repeat of Drudge and RNC Talking points. But look what is at the top of their page.... The group that wants to bring "morality" back into politics.... features everyone's favorite adulterer Dinesh D'Souza and touts his hacktastic movie "2016"

Amongst their features... there are gems like this: The Polling Spread in Ohio: Is it real?

Over the last few months, there has been a raging debate over the demographics that most of the pollsters are using both nationally and in state polls. As the race has narrowed down the stretch, this has become particularly relevant in Ohio, which is likely to be the decisive state if the election turns out to be a nailbiter. 

Out of the last 19 polls of that state, the breakdown has been 14 (Obama) vs. 4 (Ties) vs. 1 (Romney).

The good news is that the one Romney victory was the latest poll, by Rasmussen, which had Mitt up 50-48.

Can you say mo-men-tum, boys and girls?

Okie Dokie then... forget the dynamics of this race, every poll out there and the fact that... there is this:

Ohio, as usual, is harder to measure, since the state doesn’t have traditional party registration. Polling last week showed Obama winning the early vote by between 26 and 30 points. A new CBS News/New York Times poll shows his advantage at 26 points and an automated SurveyUSA poll shows that margin is down to 16. A late Friday poll from CNN showed Obama winning by 21 among people who already voted or planned to vote early. The polling suggests that Obama is clearly building an early vote advantage in Ohio, even as we don’t have the party registration numbers to back it up.

And...

Let’s Get Real, General Powell….It IS about Race where the author opins:

No Republican, not even the biggest RINO Republican, could ever endorse someone like Obama based upon his policies, his moral (or in my opinion, immoral) compass, and his blatant disregard and disrespect for the Constitution and our system of government.... 

....To accuse Sununu or anyone else of racism for saying that Gen. Powell’s support of Obama is steeped in racial allegiance is outlandish, especially given how we have seen the black community react when “one of their own” dares to express support for Romney over Obama.

Yeah, because accusing someone of voting along racial lines because he supports the President is NEVER racist... Nope... Not at all...

And finally the ultimate Republican whine: "How come we get nailed with all the "gotcha" questions... why doesn't the media do that to Democrats"

Here are some suggestions for the future for Republicans.  First, we need to start demanding that we have conservative moderators.   If we cannot get a conservative moderator, then we should either boycott the debates or demand instead that there be a Lincoln-Douglas style debate with no moderator. 

Second, Republicans need to take debating lessons from Newt Gingrich.  Gingrich is the master at taking a gotcha question and using it to beat up on the media or his opponent, whichever is more convenient.

Finally, we Republicans should stop trying to speak for God.  I don’t speak for God.  It is too far above my pay grade.  We have priests, bishops and other clergy to do that.

As for Richard Mourdock, he is one of the best candidates the Republicans have advanced this year.  The fact that worthless RINO’s Richard Lugar (who he beat like a rented Democrat) and John McCain would turn their back on Richard is just more of an endorsement.

But there is much more than just these gems...

Personally, I think that the Teahadist News Site will be about as factual as those tabloids that you see at the supermarket (like the Globe, or the Weekly News) but, you never know... it is possible they can top those places. I guess those in the ODS crowd will have yet another place to post their lies and racist drivel.

"Romney Resumes Campaign; Obama Deals With Storm" -- PERFECT HEADLINE on Today Show

Another fine post from Ian Reifowitz over at Daily Kos

Headline on the Today Show:  "Romney Resumes Campaign; Obama Deals With Storm"

Could we get a better headline than that one, folks?

On the all-important, hugely popular Today Show, we have Matt Lauer looking serious, sitting next to co-host Savannah Guthrie, who throws it to Chuck Todd at the White House.

Todd: Mitt Romney actually resumes a full campaign schedule today in Florida, but President Obama will focus for one more day fully on Sandy recovery efforts. He'll get that firsthand look of the Jersey Shore and the damage there later today.

The broadcast also included Christie's remark:

I don't give a damn about election day. It doesn't matter a lick to me, so let the politicians who are on the ballot worry about election day. It's not my problem. I'm not dealing with it at the moment.

In the context of the report about Obama working with Christie, that only further highlights the contrast between what the President is doing today, and what Mitt Romney is doing today.

The headline for the report online at NBC is:

Romney Resumes Campaign; Obama Deals With Storm

Just perfect. While Mitt Romney is out hunting for votes, saying anything people want to hear, the President will be out there doing his job. He'll be in New Jersey with Republican Chris Christie, observing the damage from Sandy up close, working across party lines to help Americans.

It looks like this election got its October Surprise after all. And her name is Sandy.

PS-Please check out my new book Obama's America: A Transformative Vision of Our National Identity, published last month by Potomac Books, where I discuss these issues in greater detail. You can read a review by DailyKos's own Greg Dworkin here.

Can We Please Be REAL!

Cross Posted at Daily Kos

On Thurs. Sept 19th, I wrote a diary called: Please Hold with the Victory Dance - GOTV! following in the wake of the awesome Democratic National Convention and the numbers that we were seeing.

Now the overall numbers on that diary were positive BUT there were a number of "Hey, let us celebrate the Republicans are dust" (paraphrased) or "Don't be a downer" comments as well. Given the aftermath of the debate debacle (and it was a debacle whether we think it was or not), I think my warning was more or less on target. AND NOW... I see it again.

Look, this thing is tight. Why? Who knows. In my mind I cannot fathom why the hell someone would ever even consider voting for that shameless liar Mitt Romney. But, you know what... People are going to and are considering voting for him. That is just a freakin' fact. People do dumb things all the time. It doesn't necessarily matter what someone who makes their decisions based on facts thinks, it's just the way it is.
So.. now we have all these diaries out there spinning away that the debate didn't mean a thing. That the President even got a bounce from them. Well guess what? The debate did mean something and the only bounce that anyone got was Mitt Romney's. Here is the RCP average: President Obama + 0.5 (47.9 - 47.4). Just today PEW came out with a poll that has Romney leading by +4.

How about those battleground states that we supposedly doing so well in.... Holy crap... the leads are disappearing. Ohio... was +8... now +3, Colorado (RCP has +.2 Ras. Has the President +1, but U of Denver has the President at +4), Florida - TIE...

Ok but, RCP has a slight Republican bias. SO... let's see what Poll Tracker says... Oh why look... Romney at + 2.7%. Over there we have the President DOWN in CO. by .1%, FL, the President up by .6 and in Ohio the Pres. up by 3.4%

Despite what we say to cheer ourselves up... this one is now "anybody's Ball Game" and understanding that the Romney campaign is going to continue to lie shamelessly in the debates and the President is seemingly playing "Not to lose" who the hell knows what is going to happen.

Look people don't give a crap that Mitt is lying like a rug. They don't care that he demonstrably takes five sides of every issue. They really don't. They hear things like "Government has to get smaller, we refuse to raise revenue, we must have the strongest military in the world and it has to keep growing, Oh yeah, and we have to have the best parts of the ACA... but remember we are not going to run deficits". I mean who would actually be stupid enough to believe that? Apparently a lot of Americans, that's who.

So, what do we do... How do we fight this? WELL... First off we "play to win". What does that mean? It means we get out and inform people. Not sitting around telling our group of people that everything will be alright. It won't. We get out and we inform people and let them know what is at stake here. Do we do that... well with ourselves we do, but do we do that outside of this? I talk to Romney supporters all the time. I constantly challenge them. We all need to do that. Get out of our comfort zone and fight (not physically)...
What else do we do... We sign up at OFA offices and put in the time with the "ground game",. Phonebanking, precinct walking. You name it.

In my last diary ParkRanger had an awesome group of links, some great resources.

Come on people no need to stick our heads in the sand on this one. Let's be real. We need to push here. No matter how evil getting rid of Big Bird seems. That is not what is going to help us, because if it was... it would have. We need a debate win from Biden, We need the President to win the next two debates, AND we need to have our ground game firing on all cylinders for the next month - THAT is what will do it.

Forget "Zingers" -- The Debate Is About Obama's America vs. Romney's America

Another good one from Ian Reifowitz over at Daily Kos

You may have heard that Mitt Romney's debate prep includes his memorizing some "zingers" to fire at President Obama. This strikes me as, well, ridiculous, although it's even more ridiculous to announce this strategy before the debate. But who am I to question the strategy of the vaunted Romney campaign team?
Before I get serious about what the debate should be about, I have to share some of the zingers folks have proposed for Governor Romney via twitter, collected by Joe Gandelman:

Ann is a stay at 5 homes mom. 

Whoa, last time I saw a mouth like that my manservant was taking a hook out of it!

I Was So Poor At College….I Had To Sell Some Of My Offshore Hedge Fund Certificates
Are you better off than one of my prized horses America?

You don’t have to own 4 houses to know housing market isn’t where it should be, Mr. President

I’ve displaced plenty of workers in my time, Mr. President. You won’t be the first.
Obama stole my bad, I mean good, no bad health care idea

Finally, from our own David Waldman @KagroX, there's this advice:

The audience at the debate should download the “Rimshot!” app and play the sounds after every suspected zinger.

That was fun. But that's not what the debate is going to be about. The debate and, for that matter, this entire campaign offers a choice between two radically different visions of America, in terms of policy, politics, and rhetoric.

 

It Mitt Romney's America, you're on your own. Period. And he isn't even going to "worry" about 47% of Americans. And that was more than just an unintended, self-inflicted zinger. That's his philosophy. It's a philosophy that says each of us succeeds or fails completely on our own, and, moreso, that receiving help along the way -- if it comes from the government -- turns you into a dependent victim. Of course, his analysis ignores the ways that almost everyone, including the wealthiest business owner, has received help from the government.

And on political rhetoric, Romney's America is one in which politicians employ racial dog whistles, and play on the cultural and racial anxieties of some Americans toward others in order to win votes. Let's not forget that part of Romney's America.

Obama's America, on the other hand, is one that balances our country's twin longstanding traditions: a strongly individualistic approach to success, and a recognition that we must work together -- through the institutions of our democratic government -- to do some things that we could not do as individuals. Obama's America praises success, but also emphasizes humility and a recognition that all success owes something to the achievements and structures put in place by others. It's a place that asks those who've achieved great success to contribute a slightly higher percentage of what they earn to the common good, but never demonizes people for their successes.

And, finally, Obama's America is a place that considers pitting racial and ethnic groups against one another, the ginning up of prejudice and hate, to be a moral crime of the highest order.

This election is a serious choice about what kind of country we want to be. The idea that the American people will be moved one way or the other by zingers isn't funny. Like so much else the Romney campaign has offered in recent months, that idea is downright insulting.

PS-For anyone interested, I discuss these themes in greater detail in my new book: Obama's America: A Transformative Vision of Our National Identity, published last month by Potomac Books. You can read a review by DailyKos's own Greg Dworkin here.

Republicans Play Racist Dual Loyalty Card - A personal perspective

This has been a big week for news concerning President Obama, Israel and the Middle East in general. A lot of what happens really bothers me as a Jewish American and in particular as a Jewish American who supports President Obama. SO... let's go down the list....

1. The Republicans play the dual loyalty card.... For anyone not familiar with the "dual loyalty" card it is an old anti-Semitic meme that Jewish citizens of a given nation are more loyal to their fellow Jews or to Israel than they are to their own nation. This used to be a Right Wing meme but it has recently also been co-opted for use by the far left looking to justify their bigotry. Anyway... the latest ad that the Republicans are running in Florida and swing states with large blocs of Jewish voters is the following:

http://youtu.be/rJdH-PgmeK8

This ad is a failure on a number of levels. First, it presents a message from Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel seemingly endorsing Mitt Romney's candidacy. Now while it is true that Netanyahu has been rumored privately to be supporting Romney this ad forced him to distance himself from that position. How? Well the Prime Minister does not want to be seen as meddling in American politics as this would be something that could negatively affect American-Israeli relations should President Obama win re-election.
Netanyahu or the Israelis were never told about this ad nor did they endorse it. So Secure America Now ran this but didn't understand that the PM was going to disavow the ad. Rather than let what was going to be a silent endorsement these morons forced the Israeli leader to say the following:

"Asked by Meet The Press moderator David Gregory on Sunday if he thought "Governor Mitt Romney as President Romney make Israel safer," Netanyahu demurred.

I'm not going to be drawn into the American election. And what's guiding my statements is not the American political calendar, but the Iranian nuclear calendar," the Israeli leader replied. "I'm talking to [President Obama]. I just talked to him the other day. We are in close consultation. We're trying to prevent that. It's really not a partisan issue. It's a policy issue, not a partisan issue."

Oh well, there goes that... Hoping for a ringing endorsement they got instead a complete non-endorsement under the Headline: "Netanyahu: I'm Not Backing Romney".

BUT more than that they and unfortunately their Jewish Supporters in the RJC (Republican Jewish Coalition) play to the old anti-Semitic meme of "dual loyalty" where they make the assumption that American Jews will vote for Mitt Romney simply because they think that he will bomb Iran right away (something he has said he wouldn't do) at the behest of Israel. Of course this assumes that Jewish voters (traditionally a liberal voting bloc) would simply forget about things that are important to America like healthcare, the social safety net, the state of American education, the environment, civil liberties, voting rights and other issues and simply go all in for Romney because he has the support of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.

All this Jewish American (and strong Zionist) voter is can say is "F-U... RJC and Secure America Now. How do I say that.... Well first of all, F-U for thinking I care what Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu says more than I care about my fellow Americans. Second, F-U for even assuming that the President who has been termed an "exceptional friend to Israel" by Israeli President Peres AND Israeli Defense Minister Barak would after years and years of support would let Israel down. Just because the President doesn't buy the Right Wing Israeli / American line on the Middle East does not mean he is not a friend to Israel.

But this assumption that I would vote solely based on this line by the Israeli and American Hard Right is disgusting. The fact that Republicans got some fellow Jews to buy into this dual loyalty is even more disgusting. It just pisses me off. My Israeli friends (and I have a number of them) can't understand why anyone would vote for the interests of another country over their own. I agree with them. How they can think that this would work is beyond me particularly when all polls show that only 15% of Jewish voters list American - Israeli relations as Prime voting factors in their voting preferences (6% for prime factor and 9% for second to the top factor).

But not to be outdone, the wingnuts set up failure #2 in trying to create an incident portraying President Obama "snubbing" or "standing up to" Benjamin Netanyahu with a meeting regarding the U.N. Of course the fact that the Netanyahu Government never asked for a Washington (an official meeting) with the President shouldn't get in their way. Nor should the fact that they were on different schedules. Forget that the President is campaigning for re-election against forces that want to take the country and destroy all of the social progress we have made over the last 170 years and he needs to speak to the American people and can through popular venues. OH NO... he should have meeting number 3214 (snark) with PM Netanyahu so they can once again issue a rejection of Iranian nuke policy.

So am I as a Jewish American voter to now say... "Well the President, who constantly talks to Prime Minister Netanyahu, needs to sit down to say exactly the same thing as he has said a hundred other times rather than talk to the people of America thru some popular venues". Seriously? The President and PM spoke on the phone for an hour. The President has constantly stood by Israeli security through both word and deed. Not only that but, he plans (according to Jay Carney's press brief today) to present a serious warning to Iran about Nukes.

The fact is that a State visit was not asked for and that President Obama IS NOT at the beck and call of the Prime Minister of Israel (who did not demand that of him in the first place) or Republican claims that Jewish voters are more concerned with Israel than anything else. He neither "stood up to" nor "snubbed" Netanyahu, he other things planned at the time.

Again Republicans and their RJC lunatics buy into the fact that Jewish voters are more concerned with Israel than they are with their own country. And with these arguments they fail on two levels. The first and foremost is that they promote the racist meme that Jews are somehow more loyal to Israel than America. The second is that they assume in the first place that the hard line Rightist plans for Israel are the only way to even be Pro-Israel.

While this pisses me off to a great degree, I am heartened by the fact that as of the latest polls 70% of American Jewish voters are supporting President Obama. I have confidence that as the rolling train wreck better known as the Romney campaign rolls on AND as this campaign continues to alienate everyone with it's destructive kowtow to the Hard Right and their Randian fantasy of a "free for all" society, that this number will grow.

My advice to the Republicans and their lunatic fringe supporters... Try assuming that we as American - Jewish Voters vote American values first. Voting to deny American women fair pay, voting to deny children quality education, voting to deny Gays and Lesbians equal rights, voting strip the EPA of any power, voting to deny millions of Seniors a safety net for their old age, and voting to deny Americans health care are all against the interests of America. You want our vote. Assume we pay attention to making our country better.

Mitt Romney Now Has Less Foreign Policy Credibility Than Sarah Palin

FROM IAN REIFOWITZ OVER AT DAILY KOS

Think about that. But after Mitt Romney's stupendously stupid, not to mention patently false attacks on President Obama and the U.S. response to the violence in Egypt and Libya, I don't see how we can say different.

Even a Romney campaign adviser who had served in the White House under George W. Bush said:

“[Romney] had forgotten the first rule in a crisis: don’t start talking before you understand what’s happening.”  

That's from a Romney adviser! 

Mitt Romney -- the Republican nominee for President -- now has less foreign policy credibility than Sarah Palin. And that's saying something.

Remember what she said?:

http://youtu.be/JXL86v8NoGk


Compared to the cringe-inducing remarks from Gov. Palin, what Romney said was far worse because it revealed him not just as someone ill-prepared for the presidency, but someone willing to score political points during a foreign policy crisis, no matter the effect on our country's material interests.
Sarah Palin aside, that's no joke.

President Obama and PM Netanyahu... Much Ado about NOTHING

So, we had a day of diaries and articles decrying Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu for his supposed challenges to U.S. Electoral Procedures which elicited claims of dual-loyalty of Jewish Americans, bashing of Israel for trying to control the U.S. and other nonsense. We even had one anti-Semitic troll flip out over a movie that he thought was an Israeli/Jewish made film when it turns out that the apparent film-maker is neither Jewish nor Israeli.

Even a diarist here that has a ton of support from the community jumped in and completely messed up the story with a sensationalized headline and commentary to match. BUT... alas for those fired up about this issue. This is simply "Much ado about Nothing".
In brief we had this....

1. Reports yesterday which had President Obama "snubbing" Israeli PM Benyamin Netanyahu from a meeting in NY

2. The Americans saying there is no "snub", the leaders simply weren't in NY at the same time, however, that SoS Clinton would meet with the Prime Minister and they would discuss what was needed to be discussed.

Of course this prompted cries from the Wingnut Right (paraphrased) of; "SEE the President hates PM Netanyahu and he is friends with Iran"as well as the Paulista Rightist crowd with their babbling about how it was about time that the U.S. stood up to the Israelis.

It also prompted cries from the far-left saying: "HA! way to stand up to TEH EBILZ IZRAILEES" and how President Obama was really gonna show the Israelis "whatfor" in his second term.
Only problem... It was all just nothing.

As Haaretz reports:

Overnight, Netanyahu had held an hour-long telephone conversation with U.S. President Barack Obama, calming things down following reports that Obama had rejected Netanyahu's request to meet when the prime minister visits the United States later this month...... 

.....The White House said both leaders were determined to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and had agreed to continue "close consultations going forward." White House spokesman Tommy Vietor denied reports that Obama had rejected Netanyahu's request to meet in Washington, since "no such request was made or rejected."

And at the same time Prime Minister Netanyahu played down this supposed rift by saying:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu adopted a conciliatory tone one day after his attack on the United States' Iran policy, noting that Israel's "leaders are tested at times of differences with our allies, even our closest allies."

Now... Personally, I am not a supporter of Prime Minister Netanyahu. I support the Opposition Labor Party, but, I don't really see a need for everyone to get all worked up before the whole story came out. How about this... for the supposedly reality based community that we are... we actually base our stories in,.... you know... reality.

We still don't know what really happened though we have both the Israeli and American Administrations saying the same thing. Could this have been a failed attempt by Republicans and those sympathetic to them in Israel to "gin up" a story. Absolutely. It could have. BUT that story has been quickly discredited. So, I would ask could we please just get on with dealing with what actually has happened, particularly in this election season.

Thanks very much.

Hey Republicans... Where are the details?

Hey Republicans... Where are the details? You are doing a lot of complaining SO... where are your plans to fix the country? What are they?

Everyone needs to be asking these question: You don't like what President Obama is doing? What is your proposal to fix it? This election needs to be about solutions. SO... Republicans just what are your solutions?

Say you are talking about Healthcare... Ask a Republican about Healthcare and they will say something like "Obamacare is all about taking decisions out of people's hands and it is about big government". Aside from the fact that this is simply not true (but is a product of mis/dis-information) ask them, well then "What is Mitt Romney proposing we do?" What would YOU like to see us do? I would bet "dollars to donuts" that a solution that most people would come up with would either be Single Payer or some form of Obamacare.

Let's look at the Economy and Jobs. Today, House Speaker Boehner was whining about Jobs. Ok, it is pretty crappy out here (though getting better), so where is the Republican Job proposals. Just telling people that you are going to get America back to work means absolutely NOTHING. President Obama has a Jobs Proposal - The American Jobs Act (blocked by Republicans - of course), so... where is their plan. What are it's specifics beyond tax cuts for "Job Creators"? Again... we need to ask people, what would YOU suggest we do? My bet is that people would suggest something similar to what is in the Presidents plan.

Take Foreign Policy, Mitt and the Republicans have plenty to say to about how the President is guiding America down a path of weakness and destruction. Fine... tell us Mitt Romney, how will you deal with specific issues? Ask people... What would you do differently than the President? Saying, America looks weak is NOT an answer. Hold people accountable for their rhetoric.

If you are going to support something then BACK. IT. UP.

We need to put the pressure on the Republicans NOW! We need to be asking these questions and not accepting "pablum" like this: (from the Romney plan called Believe in America Plan for Jobs and Economic Growth - heads up it's a link to mittromney.com)

Reform Financial Regulation 

As president, Mitt Romney will also seek to repeal Dodd-Frank and replace
it with a streamlined regulatory framework. The recent financial crisis exposed
serious weaknesses in a regulatory system that was poorly equipped to deal with
dynamic and evolving markets. The government’s response was to layer on new
regulations and invent new bureaucracies that do not address the underlying
causes of a crisis driven by the over-leveraging of our financial institutions and
our homeowners. Rather than dealing directly with those issues, the government
gave itself an open check book to write ambiguous regulations that have left our
businesses and households uncertain of their obligations and uncompetitive in a
global marketplace.

Some of the concepts in Dodd-Frank have a place. Greater transparency for
inter-bank relationships, enhanced capital requirements, and provisions to address
new forms of complex financial transactions are all necessary elements of effective
financial reform. But these concepts must be translated into law in a way that
creates a simple, predictable, and efficient regulatory system appropriate for our dynamic economy.

A few questions come to mind... such as what the specifics involved in this? How specifically are you going to try to achieve financial regulation that promotes business but also protects consumers? I mean this paragraph is an INTRODUCTORY paragraph it is NOT a plan.

When asked about this and other parts of his "plan" previously... Romney has said "Well... I will tell you after the election"... Who should accept that for an answer? Should any of us?

Be aggressive, when people on Facebook or in the street or in blogs parrot the Republican line... ASK THEM: Where/What are the details? Make them explain their ideas. My bet... most can't do it and still feel they sound like rational people.  I just did this to someone and they simply couldn't tell me what President Obama did in specifics that they hated but more than that they couldn't tell me what their guy would do better.

MItt Goes Birther - Holy Crap he even flip-flops on this...

So  now even Mitt is full on in the "Birther" Movement.

Despite the President showing his Certificate of Live Birth and Long Form Birth Certificate proving that he was born in Hawaii. Despite the Honolulu Advertiser having his birth notice in their paper in 1961... Well... "apparently none of that is good enough for our Kenyan-Muslim-Communist-Fascist-Socialist President (I am full on being Snarky here)" - Here is Mittens:

Now, I love being home in this place where Ann and I were raised, where both of us were born. Ann was born in Henry Ford Hospital, I was born in Harper Hospital. No one has ever asked to see my birth certificate. They know that this is the place that we were born and raised.

 That just gets a "WTF"????

I mean this is just so damn typical of Republicans. The whole unspoken - "I am not saying the President is not American, but, I am just telling people where I was born - you know in case they wondered". 

So... Mitt, they "know" where you were born as opposed to say.... that "other guy", you know the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, President Obama.

Of course this wouldn't be a true Mitt Romney moment without a typical Mitt "Flip Flop". Here is senior Romney spokesperson Eric Fehnstrom from a May Article in the Atlantic:

"I can't speak for Donald Trump, Gloria, but I can tell you that Mitt Romney accepts that President Obama was born in the United States," senior Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom said on Friday. 

 I mean for G-D's sake... the guy can't even keep this one straight???? 

Now the President's team had this to say:

"Throughout this campaign, Gov. Romney has embraced the most strident voices in his party instead of standing up to them," said Ben LaBolt, Obama's spokesman, in a release. "It's one thing to give the stage in Tampa to Donald Trump, Sheriff Arpaio, and Kris Kobach. But Gov. Romney's decision to directly enlist himself in the birther movement should give pause to any rational voter across America."

It's ridiculous. This is the guy that a major political party puts up for President and even worse has people that will actually vote for him. It is like someone said... "let's just he ridiculous we can be and see who will vote that way".

Unbelievable.

Mitt Romney insults Israel. Can this man get anything right?

This in from Buzzfeed:

Romney's latest insult/gaffe

Romney: America Is No Kibbutz

Mitt Romney bills himself as an ardent friend of Israel running against President Barack Obama who hasn't visited the American ally since taking the oath of office, but Romney's friendship only extends so far.

At a fundraiser today in Chicago — barely a week after visiting the Holy Land — Romney took a shot at the Israeli Kibbutz movement, a product of the early socialist zionist movement and integral to the story of the founding of the State of Israel.

“It’s individuals and their entrepreneurship which have driven America," Romney said. "What America is not a collective where we all work in a Kibbutz or we all in some little entity, instead it’s individuals pursuing their dreams and building successful enterprises which employ others and they become inspired as they see what has happened in the place they work and go off and start their own enterprises.”

 It's incredible... the man just can't get anything right.

Aside from his insult of the British (who are putting on a great Olympics so far), and having his spokesman tell a reporter to "Kiss his Ass" during the Polish leg of his trip. Romney has been in craptacular form with his Israeli part of the trip. 

Before this latest gaffe/insult... Romney had managed to insult every Arab Nation at a time when America is engaged in serious alliance building to combat the threat of Iranian hegemony in the region. He then went on to immediately engage in some pandering by (doing the same thing candidate Obama did in 2008) and talk about an undivided Jerusalem. Well, this made the Rightists and their ODS allies just about cream with joy. The only problem was that hours later Romney (in typical Etch-a-Sketch fashion) immediately REVERSED himself by saying that he was going to follow in the path of every previous American administration for the past 35 years.

Which takes us now to this. Where Romney basically says... "Good thing that we are not like those idiot Israelis who live in a crappy little country and built their society with collective work. I mean G-d forbid anyone would want to be like Israel".....

So you have a Republican Party which had speakers at CPAC who were White Supremacists, who ran a candidate (Ron Paul who got roughly 10-15% of the Republican vote) who had ties to radical Right Wingers like the Neo-Nazi site stormfront AND who also said that had he been President during WWII he would not have saved the Jews. Finally, this year have a candidate who would not speak out against the conversion of Holocaust victims to the LDS Church.

And yet Republican Jews and their Obama Derangement Syndrome (ODS) Suffering friends cannot understand just why Jews are breaking hard for the President. I am not sure actually who is dumber... Mitt Romney and/or his handlers OR members of the American Jewish community who would vote for this guy.

Governor Romney - HONOR THY FATHER

POSTED BY IAN REIFOWITZ AT DAILY KOS






Need I say more?

Mr. Romney goes to Israel; Jewish voters say "Meh"....

Cross posted at Daily Kos

In the last week Mitt Romney has gone on what can be best described as an "around the world train wreck". In one week he has managed to piss off our strongest ally (the British) and then turn around and completely insult and anger the Arab World and any erstwhile ally or friend we have in the region outside of Israel.

All of this has been covered to the nth degree so there is no real need to rehash the information, HOWEVER, it is worth noting that in his shameless pandering to the Evangelical and Right wing voters (Including the hard fringe of the Jewish Right both here in the U.S. and in Israel) he manages to completely get in the way of the alliance that President Obama is building to counter Iranian hegemonistic interests in the region.

How did he do this? With his typical attempt to play both sides of an issue. First, he told the Israelis that he would call:

Jerusalem "the capital of Israel," ignoring their own claims to the city and most world opinion.

but when questioned on this issue he refused to say if he would actually do that. As the Egypt Gazette reported:

In an interview with CNN, Romney refused to be pinned down on whether he would recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital if he beats Obama and wins the White House. 

"A nation has the capacity to choose its own capital city, and Jerusalem is Israel's capital," he said.

"I think it's long been the policy of our country to ultimately have our embassy in the nation's capital, Jerusalem. The decision to actually make the move is one, if I were president, I would want to take in consultation with the leadership of the (Israeli) government which exists at that time. So I would follow the same policy we have in the past (vb1 emphasis)."

In other words... "I plan to do nothing, but, I want gullible American voters and their allies in other nations to think that I might do something AND in the meanwhile I will get any alliances the President Obama might be building and put them in jeopardy". 

Now, hopefully other nations seeing this, as well as the debacle that Romney made out of the British leg of his trip, will hopefully understand that Romney is NOT the President of the United States and does not speak for our nation.

But back to the main point of this diary...

Last week Gallup released yet another poll showing the race in terms of President Obama vs. Mitt Romney with Jewish voters. Following along with most polls of the Jewish American electorate in the words of The Forward:Obama Thumping Romney Among Jews: Poll GOP Candidate Trails 68%-to-25% as He Heads to Israel:

On the eve of presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s visit to Israel, a new Gallup poll reveals that Jewish American voters continue to support his rival, President Barack Obama, by a wide 68%-25% margin.

Now these numbers have been fairly consistent and that has led many Republicans and their ODS (Obama Derangement Syndrome) flacks to crow about how the President is "bleeding" Jewish support. Why do they do this? Well in the 2008 election, President Obama won the Jewish vote approx. 78%-22%. So, when they see the 68% number they immediately try to spin the information in their favor to feed the meme that the President is losing support amongst Jewish voters. 

BUT, hold the phone (as they say)... Is the President REALLY "bleeding" support from Jewish voters? The answer is... "Not so much". Let's look at the Gallup polls prior to the 2008 election at this time in fact... Quite the opposite seems to be happening. According to Gallup in July of 2008 then Senator Obama led John McCain 61%-31% NOW President Obama leads Mitt Romney 68%-25%.

As Mitt Romney tacks harder to the Right he risks losing even MORE Jewish support as Jewish voters tend to be more liberal voters. His continued gaffes including refusal to speak out on the conversion of Holocaust Victims to the LDS Church, or scheduling a dinner on Tisha B' Av, or basically showing himself to be completely unversed in Middle Eastern politics are not "confidence builders' to say the least. Let's also not forget that his domestic agenda (which as far as anyone can see is "Bring back the Bush team" and cut taxes for the super wealthy and not a whole lot else) is hardly inspiring to anyone outside the far-right and the lunatic fringe.

Laying Down with Dogs

As many readers of this blog may be aware there is an old adage "He that lieth down with dogs shall rise up with fleas". As much as we see the truth in this everyday, one place that it is particularly appropriate is how this applies to headline news of the day. For instance, we see this: Mitt Romney to visit Israel. According to the Ynet Story:

Republican US presidential candidate Mitt Romney is planning a trip to Israel this summer, the New York Times reported on Monday.
An aide to Romney confirmed that a trip is being planned. No details were immediately available about exactly when and where the candidate will visit.... 

This will be Romney’s fourth visit to Israel. His first visit was on a Mormon Church trip, and his second visit was in 2007, when he served as a keynote speaker at the Herzliya Conference. In January 2011, Romney spent three days in Israel during a tour of the region.

So, Romney has been to Israel 3x in the past and as late as last January. Why the need to go back there in the middle of a campaign? Because Israel is a strong ally? Perhaps it would it be a cynical ploy to get Jewish voters in Florida and Pennsylvania to reconsider their vote? And while trying to influence Jewish voters, perhaps it would also be an attempt to shore up his support with Evangelical and Hard Right Voters who want nothing more than to bomb Iran and take the fight to "Teh Mooslims"?

Now on the surface, it is an interesting move. I mean President Obama has NOT made a visit to Israel
 (something I think he should do in his second term). And if he so much as casts an unsavory glance at Ron Prosser or Benyamin Netanyahu than the Republican noise machine kicks into high gear and with it's little army of ODS (Obama Derangement Syndrome) suffering drones they spread out through the Intertoobz whining and using the slighest excuse to portray President Obama as an enemy of Israel AND the Jewish People.

Now, if Romney's intention is to shore up his support with Jewish Americans (78% of whom voted for President Obama in 2008 - and still has a support the President at a rating of 15-20 pts. higher than the general American public) then this trip is an odd way to do it. Of course it has the cheap point that President Obama has not visited Israel but, that is a small issue. In fact if this is his reason, then it shows just how out of touch Romney is with the American Jewish Political Community. American Jews have always been at the forefront of the Liberal and Progressive movements. Our long history of oppression has taught us to use our political power to help society NOT to turn our back on it in some Randian frenzy of greed.

Jews voted for and support Democrats (and President Obama) because of this. Romney with this trip assumes Jewish Americans will vote for him because they care about Israel MORE than they care about their fellow countrymen/women and that his cheap publicity stunt will somehow prove this. NOT ONLY THAT, but it's a fail of a move politically. According to the AJC poll of 2012 only 4% of American Jews put Israel as their #1 priority when it comes to voting. Of course, in my mind those people that put another country ahead of their own should simply move there but that argument is for another day. With this cheap stunt Romney assumes the old "Dual Loyalty" canard. He assumes that our community will simply forget our liberal and progressive roots and will "lie down" with some trickster who's closest connection to Jewish people is converting dead Holocaust victims to the Church of Latter Day Saints.

In making this assumption, Republicans actually think Jewish voters are stupid enough (well some are dumb enough / uninformed enough to fall for this) that they will ignore the following glaring shortcomings of the Romney campaign.

• Their candidate is dedicating his campaign to tearing down the new healthcare reform act that will provide 50 million more Americans with healthcare. Not to mention providing coverage to millions of people with pre-existing conditions and many other sweeping benefits.
• The Republicans stand for gutting the Social Safety Net, including removing protections for seniors, and privatizing (because you know the Market is such a safe place for investors) their retirement accounts.
• The Republicans further stand for gutting our environmental laws, drilling in protected areas, INCREASING our dependence on fossil fuels, denying climate change and a host of other horrible positions regarding the environment.
• They ignore the fact that conservatives want to do away with important civil rights protections for all Americans including voting rights for African Americans, and marriage equality rights for Gay and Lesbian Americans. That Republicans are moving forward trying to get DOMA revisted.

These blockheads actually think that Jewish Americans would overlook ALL of this because Mitt Romney is making a trip to Israel and that President Obama did not make one. Somehow they think this will magically transform the Romney candidacy for Jewish voters and that all of a sudden Jewish voters will completely sellout their own political ideals and countrypeople because they secretly value Israel over America.

Of course, what they don't realize is that Jewish voters have every reason in the world to support President Obama and as President he has been one of Israel's and the Jewish people's greatest friends. See, it is not the little things, like the President ragged on PM Netanyahu, or that the U.S. didn't cast a veto at some point in time when the hard right would have liked him too. When push comes to shove the President has always, and I mean always been there for us.

He is the first President in the history of the U.S. to host and introduce Passover Seders to the White House. He is the first President in the history of the U.S. to name a month in honor of Jewish History. He has been a consistant supporter of all things Jewish in the U.S. and is knowlegable about our community and its needs.

As for Israel, well... I can't think of a better friend. He has increased U.S. aid to Israel. American aid pays for anti-Missle systems that save Israeli (both Jewish and Arab) lives. His administration has been huge in supporting the development of the Iron Dome, Magic Wand, and David's Sling anti-Missle defense. At the U.N. he has supported Israel up and down the line but really all of this is neither here nor there.

His domestic agenda MATCHES that of our general community. Just a short list of accomplishments:

• The Affordable Care Act - which protects millions of Americans from calamity and provides benefits to almost every American.
• Ending discrimmination against Gay and Lesbian soldiers and bravely speaking out in favor of marriage equality
• Introducing sanity to our immigration issues and showing kindness to people who were otherwise outlaws due to no fault of their own
• Increasing environmental standards for automobiles and working to develop American clean energy sources
• Supporting Women's rights in the workplace
• Defending the rights of the unemployed.

All of these things are what Mr. Romney and the ODS drones want us to ignore. Instead, they that some cheap photo op. will change peoples reality so that they don't see all of the good that President Obama has accomplished and instead will fall for a "one off" trick. But most people (with the exception of a few morons) see through this. Most people understand that if they "lie down" with the Republicans and vote for them they would wake up the next morning with a huge case of "fleas". They would wake up to an America that doesn't value it's citizens health, that doesn't value the environment or education or equal rights. They would wake up to an America that is nothing more than pursuit of individual greed.

This is why the American Jewish Community supports the President by much larger margins than the general populace. We know what this President means to us. We know the good things that he has accomplished for our country and as Americans that is what is most important. We are also thankful for his real and practical support of our brothers and sisters in Israel. How America's alliance with Israel has never been stronger. It is a nice bonus. Overall, we KNOW the President has "our back" as he has proven time and time again.

As a community we know we do not need lie down with the "dogs" to get what we want or need. We should continue on the high road and ignore the incesssant whining and actual bullshit that spews from the failure that is the right wing and the Republican Party.

Hey Republicans... YOU OWN THIS!

Cross Posted at Daily Kos

Last nights Republican Arizona debate was truly a Wacktastic event. The candidates covered a gamut of subjects in what might be the Wackiest event I think I have ever heard.

First - if you want some real laughs... Here is the transcript of the debate. Read it and laugh or weep (I am still trying to figure out what to do). Either way - here are some of the gems....

First we have Former Governor Mitt Romney suggesting we use the Saudi Arabians and Turks to arm the Syrian Rebels to help overthrow the Government of Bashir Assad.

We need to work with — with Saudi Arabia and with Turkey to say, you guys provide the kind of weaponry that’s needed to help the rebels inside Syria. This is a critical time for us.

So let's see... we want to give the Wahabite Government of Saudi Arabia money or weapons to influence the overthrow of the Damascus Regime. The same Wahabite Sect that spawned Al-Qaeda, the same Wahabite Sect that runs one of the most backward regimes in the world - we want to have them surrounding our friends in Israel and Jordan? Yeah.... that makes sense. How in G-d's name does that make the situation any better than it is now.

OR... we want Turkey, a country that openly trades with Iran and has become increasingly hostile to both Israel and the U.S. to be sponsoring this change. Okie dokie, that too makes sense (well not really unless you live in the bizarro world that the Republicans seem to be inhabiting).

Of course the biggest FAIL line of the night.... goes to Newt Gingrich who said this:

And I agree with — with Senator Santorum’s point. This is an administration which, as long as you’re America’s enemy, you’re safe.

Perhaps we should ask Osama Bin Laden and a large former portion of the Al-Qaeda leadership about that... Oh wait, we can't - they're dead. Whoops.

But lets not forget "the Mad Elf" and noted racist Ron Paul with this pearl of wisdom:

The Iranians can’t possibly attack anybody. And we’re worrying about the possibility of one nuclear weapon.

Okay, why worry about just one bomb, I mean what can just one little nuke do... And hey Iran can't attack anyone anyway because we have them surrounded. I guess Mr. Paul has never heard of using proxies in war or using these modern things called Missiles. Someone might want to let him in on this. Perhaps our friends on the right who call Mr. Paul a "staunch ally of Israel" or "simply misunderstood:" can clear up just how this total unconcern can translate into "staunch ally".

But there was much, much more and on different subjects. Here, we once again have Mr. Paul on immigration:

Why is it if an illegal comes across the border and they go on private property, why isn’t that trespassing? And why don’t you have the right to stop it?

Gee, I wonder what Congressman Paul is really saying.... No, actually I don't wonder at all. We all see the "No Trespassing signs" that are posted (usually with pictures of a Gun) - so what does he mean "why don't you have a right to stop it"? Individuals do have a right to stop trespassing particularly if they see someone sneaking over the border. They can call the Border Patrol, or Police - THAT is what they can do.

Ok, so outside of advocating "stopping trespassing" another pearl of wisdom from the Congressman:

But once again, the question is, if you voted for Planned Parenthood like the senator has, you voted for birth control pills. And you literally, because funds are fungible, you literally vote for abortions because Planned Parenthood gets the money — “Oh, I’ll buy birth control pills,” but then they have the money left over to do the abortion.

Thus, in Congressman Paul's world if you support Planned Parenthood and you buy birth control pills then really you are funding and supporting abortion. Of course, for Congressman Paul and his associates, this exercise in illogic escapes them. Here is Rick Santorum on the same issue:

"Over 40 percent of children born in America are born out of wedlock. How can a country survive if children are being raised in homes where it’s so much harder to succeed economically? "

And Mitt Romney:

"Because these kids are raised in poverty in many cases, they’re in abusive settings. The likelihood of them being able to finish high school or college drops dramatically in single-family homes. And we haven’t been willing to talk about this."

And this lack of sensibility in a nutshell is where the Republicans and their candidates COMPLETELY FAIL.... They oppose Birth Control and education about Birth Control as well as groups that promote Birth Control and yet they whine about how there are so many unwanted pregnancies and abortions - THE VERY THING THAT BIRTH CONTROL PREVENTS!!!!

Do they think by teaching morality in schools they are really going to cut down on sex? Apparently they do.

So for those who support Republicans or those who suffer ODS and refuse to support President Obama in 2012.... You own this. This is your future. This is what you are voting for or advocating for when you argue against the President's re-election. Now, dissenters will say "Oh no.. I am just sending the President a message" or "Oh no, I don't support any of this". Well.. newsflash... These are the guys that WILL get elected if you vote against the President OR simply don't vote.

One may disagree with President Obama on issues - I certainly have complaints on a number of things (mostly related to the economy and the lack of focus on economic justice), but, I have no illusions regarding what would be happening if the President had not been elected and I have no illusions about what will happen if he is not re-elected. So, is he the perfect candidate... no but, he is a darn good candidate AND he is a whole lot better than those running against him.

Elie Wiesel to Mitt Romney - Stand up for what is right! Who are really our friends?

This year the Republicans and fellow their fellow ODS (Obama Derangement Syndrome) sufferers are trying to make a huge push for Jewish voters to turn from their traditional role as strong supporters of the Democratic Party to becoming Republican voters (particularly in "swing" states like Florida and Pennsylvania) and donors. In addition to continually ignoring or worse yet, lying about the Presidents record regarding Israel and Jewish people, these hapless Republicans continue to make tactical mistake after tactical mistake regarding our constituency.

The latest is in GOP Front Runner (and party establishment favorite) Mitt Romney. For all of his "lip service" to the Israeli Right, Mr. Romney is proving himself to be far from a friend to the Jewish people. How is this? Well, Mr. Romney is a member of the Mormon (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints - LDS) Church. Part of the practices of this church are to conduct posthumous conversions of people to Mormonism in an effort to gain them access to heaven.

So, what is the issue here? Well it seems that the family of the late (and great Nazi Hunter) Simon Wiesenthal is upset that a Mormon official performed a baptism on the parents of Mr. Wiesenthal after they died. To be fair to the Mormon Church in this instance they immediately apologized - HOWEVER, they did not say that they would cease this practice.

In today's Haaretz the great Elie Wiesel calls out Mitt Romney for not addressing this issue:

Republican presidential hopeful and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney should have spoken up against Mormon posthumous baptism of Jews, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Eli Wiesel said in an interview on Wednesday....

.......Speaking to MSNBC's The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell's on Wednesday, Wiesel mentioned the name of Republican presidential hopeful and Mormon Mitt Romney in relation to the affair, saying the former governor should have communicated his position on the matter.

"Mitt Romney is a Mormon, and I respect all religions, including the Mormon religion," Wiesel said, asking: "How come he hasn't spoken up after all?"

"It's not, I'm sure he's not involved in that. But nevertheless, the moment he heard about this, he should have spoken up, because he is running for the presidency of the United States, which means it's too serious of an issue for him not to speak up," he added.

The Wiesenthal Center also expressed it's condemnation:

Following news of the posthumous baptism of Wiesenthal's parents, the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center denounced the baptismal rites.

"We are outraged that such insensitive actions continue in the Mormon temples," said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean at the center.

Indeed, how would we feel if our parents were posthumously converted to another religion. Would we consider the church that carried out these practices to be friends of the Jewish people? While I appreciate that the LDS church did apologize - rather than apologizing they should simply cease this odious practice. moreover, Mitt Romney as a Presidential candidate and self described devout Mormon needs to address this issue.

But this is not the only case of Republican insensitivity towards the Jewish people and religion. We all know about Ron Paul (who polls between 15-20% of Republican base) and his Neo-Nazi connections. How Republicans and the ODS sufferers think we can ignore that is simply beyond me. But, they do. They keep saying "Don't vote for the Democrats, we will support you" but they simply refuse to address the problem that one in five or six Republican voters supports this bigot. It is like they want us to simply look the other way while a sizable part of their voting base flirts with people that want to actually end the State of Israel and hangs out with people found at hate sites like StormFront or Mondoweiss.

Or how about Rick Santorum (the new, not Mitt). Mr Santorum is a true religious Christian who makes all kinds of noise about supporting the Israeli Right and their quest to annex the West Bank. Nevermind that this act would end the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish AND Democratic State (something Republicans and ODS'ers care very little about particularly the Democracy part), in a typical act of arrogance Mr. Santorum sent a Chanukah card to his Jewish friends with the following quote on it:

"I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."

Ummmm, someone needs to tell Mr. Santorum that having quotes from the NEW TESTAMENT on a holiday card does not express respect for those of us who are Jewish. YET, we are are told to ignore all of this and vote against a man who has gone out of his way to provide friendship for the Jewish people (and Israel) and:

1. Held the first ever Seder in the White House

2. Named a month of the Year - Jewish History Month (May 2011)

3. Has had, not one but TWO Jewish Chiefs of Staff

4. Has been termed an "exceptional" friend of Israel by Israeli leaders across the Political Spectrum from President Shimon Peres (Kadima), to Defense Minister Ehud Barak (Atz'maout) to Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon (Yisrael Betainu).

I would ask individual Jewish voters given this... Which party is it or which candidate is it that seems to have our best interests in mind? I think the choice is pretty obvious.

Goofy Republicans and the Jewish Vote

Cross Posted at Daily Kos

This year the Republicans have been making a huge push for the Jewish vote AND with that Jewish Campaign Donations. Because of that, we see a myriad of strange attacks none of which are fact based, and all of which ignore the traditional liberal nature of the American Jewish Polity.

Many of these attacks center on the U.S. relationship with Israel and/or how President Obama has slighted Israel in some way by either originally supporting forces of change  in the Arab World, working with the changes that have been wrought by the mass revolts of the "Arab Spring", or has stuck to the position of every American Government since 1967 with regards to secure borders and the land captured from Jordan in the Six Day War. And of course, one of these slights has been not responding to every single incident that the Israeli Right (and their supporters here) have determined to be anti-Semitic (and these incidents may be and are anti-Semitic but the President of the U.S. has other things to worry about than issuing condemnations regarding every single thing broadcast on Palestinian Authority or Hamas T.V.).

Hopefully, the American Jewish community which has traditionally been quite liberal is not going to buy this crap.

Lately we see the ODS (Obama Derangement Syndrome) sufferers on the Right,  just getting silly and spewing (and I mean spewing) nonsense like, continuing to call President Obama a secret Muslim, saying that he loves and enables "radical genocidal jihad", blaming him for the breakdown in talks in the Middle East, straight out calling Democrats anti-Semites and generally urging the American Jewish Community to turn to the Right and actually vote for Republicans this year.... all the while claiming they are still "liberal".

Of course what makes this nonsensical (aside from the fact that it is not true) is that nothing says "liberal" like ending affordable Healthcare, pushing for an end to Medicare, taxing the Middle Class and Poor while relieving the Ultra Wealthy of all tax burdens, undoing Roe v. Wade, Gutting the environment and on and on and on. (/snark)

AND THAT'S WHAT THESE NITWITS ARE VOTING FOR WHEN THEY VOTE REPUBLICAN! and yet amazingly they call themselves "Liberals"

They simply seem to forget that President Obama:

1. Is the First President ever to hold a Seder in the White House.

2. Is the First President to declare a month of the year "Jewish History Month" (May 2011).

3. Has increased aid and cooperation with/to Israel beyond a measure of any other President and has been termed by the Israeli President (Shimon Peres) and Defense Minister Ehud Barak as an "EXCEPTIONAL FRIEND" to Israeli Security

and on and on and on.

Yet, "The Derangers" (as we call them) yell... But, but, but.... "He is an anti-Semite".

It simply boggles the mind just what these fools come up with.

Of course, many of them seem to love Newt Gingrich because of his rabid denials of Palestinian peoplehood and his ties to the Israeli Hard Right YET... I haven't seen anyone of them commenting on any blog regarding the fact that he has not denounced this incident that happened at a church service that he was attending:

Inside, the topic of the evening discussion, led by Joel Rosenberg, a novelist who writes about Islamic terrorism, focused partially on how to convert Jews to the faith.

 "As a Jewish person," Rosenberg, who was raised by a Jewish father and a Gentile mother, "our people really didn't get it the first time Jesus came."

He urged the audience not to be bashful, and to act quickly in case the End Times were nigh. "I know you know Jewish people," he told them. "You have an accountant, you have a lawyer..."

HEY Derangers... where are your calls for Newt condemn this anti-Semitic bullshit? Eh, anyone... anyone.....

The President of the United States has the people of the United States and U.S. Alliances to worry about. Gestures like not moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem or denying Palestinian history really don't amount to much considering his responsibilities and quite honestly his actions which prove beyond a doubt that he is supportive of our friendship with Israel.

But for these wanna-be Republicans I guess they will not like the following news from Nate Silver

7:29 P.M. |Jewish Turnout Low in Florida There has been some speculation that Democrats could struggle to hold the Jewish vote in 2012. They had struggled, for instance, in the special election in New York's 9th Congressional District in 2011, which has a heavy Orthodox Jewish population.

But there is no sign tonight of Jewish voters switching their registration over to the Republican side in Florida. According to early exit polls, just 1 percent of voters in tonight's Republican primary identified as Jewish. That's down from 3 percent in the Florida Republican primary in 2008, which also might mean that Jewish Republican voters in the state are not terribly enthusiastic about this group of candidates. Jewish turnout in general elections in Florida is normally about 4 percent

and then there is this:

I guess that President Obama is having such trouble with Jewish support that one of his top bundlers is the chairman of the American Jewish Congress

Among the newly named bundlers who have raised at least $500,000 or more for the Obama re-election are Marc Benioff, a Silicon Valley computer tycoon who founded Salesforce.com and hosted a fundraiser for the president at his home last spring; Jack Rosen, a prominent New York real estate developer who is chairman of the American Jewish Congress; and Kawana Brown, the chief operating officer of Magic Johnson Enterprises.

OH YEAH and according to the American Jewish Committee Poll 2011 (widely considered to be an accurate read on Jewish Political trends), while Jews do not identify as Democrats as much as they did in 2008 (54% to 46%), Republicans have not picked up anything and in fact, are down 1% in their support. Much of that support is now identified as "Independent", but if trends continue President Obama should still end up with close to 73% of the Jewish vote.

However it is important to continue to fight the misinformation, poor framing, and outright lies spread by the Republicans and their supporters/enablers in order to try to win enough of the Jewish vote away from the President particularly in States like Florida and Pennsylvania, where the President will need every vote that he can get.

As Mets102 so correctly wrote: Jewish values are Democratic Values and they are.These faux "liberals" (hey they claim David Horowitz is a "liberal" that is how far outside of rationality they are) don't represent anything but a wish list of Hard Rightists who are more worried about voting against a guy whose middle name is Hussein then they are with supporting Israel in fact or recognizing that President Obama is a true friend to Jewish Americans.

For me, and hopefully many of my Jewish brothers and sisters it will be OBAMA 2012!