Sunday, May 22, 2011

Into the fire



Just days after his speech on the Middle East followed by the chilly reception with Prime Minister Netanyahu, President Obama gave a speech at AIPAC today.

We've seen him do this before. He gave a speech about abortion at Notre Dame and one about corporate responsibility at the Chamber of Commerce. Its called stepping into the fire. And every time he's stated his positions fearlessly without demonizing his opponents.

Today was no exception.

I didn't expect anything good to come out of President Barack Obama's AIPAC speech today. I was wrong.

The President strongly endorsed "two states for two peoples" and explained to a skeptical crowd that the status quo is Israel's worst enemy.

Politely and nicely, he stuck it to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu by explaining that Bibi's faux-outrage over the '67 lines is utterly bogus...

And AIPAC applauded. Strongly.

The President did a masterful job. The neocons are outraged. And I expect that Netanyahu, seeing AIPAC's reaction to their President, will cut his losses and back down.

Bravo, Mr. President. You even brought out the best in AIPAC.

You gave us all -- Americans, Israelis, Palestinians -- reason for hope.

No need for chest-thumping when you regularly display courage like that.

4 comments:

  1. I love this post. The ability to treat fellow Americans with respect and dignity, even if you have disagreements with them, is a rare virtue in our current political climate. Barack Obama is a true role model. He just keeps impressing me with his forethought, intelligence, and decency.

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  2. 'And I expect that Netanyahu, seeing AIPAC's reaction to their President, will cut his losses and back down.'

    Now SP, given Netanyahu's infantile, and shortsighted, behaviour on Thursday, I wonder if you shouldn't change 'expect' to 'hope'. ;-)

    Don't forget that he's been mouthing off, and trying to work behind the President's back (meeting with repub. senators etc etc) for a while now. Given the fact that his actions to date haven't been very smart, him showing some sense now, admitting he 'misunderstood', and embracing the President's starting point would be the big surprise for me. Does he have a fraction of the President's strength of character to be able to do this, or will he carry through his original plan? And if he does continue with his original plan, will AIPAC and the Congress stand behind the United States President? I will wait to see.

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  3. VC - that quote about Netanyahu comes from MJ Rosenberg at the link (which I just realized was broken and have fixed).

    I share your cynicism about whether or not he'll back down.

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  4. What has always been troubling about Bibi is his crassness. He shares that in spades with most neo-cons, Mitch McC, comes to mind. When it comes to the President you can multiply their animus in spades. He will win in the end just like he always does because he is speaking truth to power.
    Smilingl8dy

    ReplyDelete

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