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Stop Believing Obama

The Illinois senator's dance on Hamas is the latest blow to his credibility.

David Axelrod laughed.

We were in the spin room following last month's debate in Philadelphia, and I had just asked Barack Obama's chief strategist to respond to a statement made by a top Hamas adviser endorsing Obama's candidacy, and favorably comparing the young Illinois Senator to John F. Kennedy.

"I like John Kennedy too," Axelrod responded. "That's about the only thing we have in common with this gentleman from Hamas. We all agree that John Kennedy was a great president, and it's flattering when anybody says that Barack Obama would follow in his footsteps."

Just a few days later, Obama was asked, at a diner stopover, about Jimmy Carter's meeting with Hamas, and his response was, "I'm just going to eat my waffle."

Last week, Obama described it as a "smear" that John McCain, in response to a question, correctly noted that a spokesman for the terrorist group publicly expressed support for Obama. But on Friday, McCain was further vindicated when the Times of London reported that Obama adviser Robert Malley had to sever ties with the campaign, because the newspaper was about to report that the prominent critic of Israel had been regularly engaging in talks with Hamas.

The Obama campaign has suggested that Malley's role with the campaign was "informal." But this is the same campaign that tried to downplay Obama's 20-year relationship with Jeremiah Wright (who, among other incendiary remarks, referred to Israel as a "dirty word").

Why was there a need to sever ties if none really existed? And if Obama is so utterly opposed to dealing with Hamas, as he has stated publicly, then why would he have an adviser, even an "informal" one, who was doing just that?

THROUGHOUT THE CAMPAIGN, Obama and his staffers have dismissed any scrutiny of his views on Israel with a blend of outrage and sarcasm, as if his record of support for Israel is so extensive, so undeniable, that anybody who raises doubts about his actual views is launching an inquisition.

But as is the case with most issues, Obama is such a blank slate, and has such a thin public record, that voters are forced to parse his statements, sift through his past, and examine those he chooses to associate with to get a better sense of his underlying philosophy.

Obama has touted his foreign policy approach as a break from "conventional Washington thinking." As part of this approach, Obama has boasted of his willingness to engage in direct talks with our enemies, including Iran, without preconditions.

Iran has consistently been deemed the leading state sponsor of terrorism by the U.S. State Department, has vowed to annihilate Israel within the context of seeking nuclear weapons, and has helped finance Hamas. Why should it be beyond the pale to question the earnestness of Obama's vow not to negotiate with Hamas, when he has promised, as part of his sweeping program for change, to negotiate with its patron, which shares the same ultimate goal?

It's no secret that within elite liberal foreign policy circles, one of the primary laments is that the United States hinders peace in the Middle East by being too reflexively pro-Israel.

So when a liberal politician comes along and assures that same crowd that he is going to do away with "conventional Washington thinking," it is only fair to wonder whether he is sending an unspoken signal that he also plans to tilt the balance of U.S. policy in the Middle East in a direction that is more favorable to the Palestinians and more critical of Israel.

ALI ABUNIMAH, a Palestinian activist from Chicago, insists that at least in the recent past, Obama wanted to see U.S. policy move in that direction.

"In 2000, when Obama unsuccessfully ran for Congress I heard him speak at a campaign fundraiser hosted by a University of Chicago professor," Abunimah has written. "On that occasion and others Obama was forthright in his criticism of US policy and his call for an even-handed approach to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict."

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topics:
Foreign Policy, John McCain, Barack Obama, Iraq, Iran, Israel, NATO, Nuclear Weapons

About the Author

Philip Klein is The American Spectator's Washington correspondent. You can follow him on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/Philipaklein

Letter to the Editor View all comments (13) | Leave a comment

Cybercorrespondent| 10.28.08 @ 8:24PM

Questioning the American Bolshevik views
1. Is wealth redistribution taking money from stockholders and redistributing it to those who don’t pay taxes?
2. Is it more important to make sure that illegal votes are not disenfranchised or making sure that groups like ACORN do not nullify honest votes.
3. Would premature U.S. withdrawal from Iraq grand jihadists a victory and make all of our accomplishments, money spent and lives lost a big waist?
4. Can this country afford to grant socialist Democrats total control of the government and allow them to sacrifice our safety by cutting the military budget by 25%?
Now comes the big question. How do we stop socialism from ruining our lives?
The answer is simple. Don’t vote American Bolsheviks into power and boycott the socialist propaganda media into bankruptcy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjvBEKrGkDI
Cybercorrespondent
cybercorrespondent@gmail.com

Joe| 7.25.09 @ 10:54AM

Isn't anyone paying attention!, Mr Obama is starting to show his true colors as a socialist and a racist! Why are we, the working-tax paying public allowing him to destroy this country. Maybe we should ban together and not pay our taxes - he is supposed to be for the people, ALL people! He is dividing this country, he is using us; the hard working educated Americans as his class to blame for hardship, yet pay for everything. I implore the American people - please change the balance of power in the next election so there is more pressure on the President to work for you. He has forgotten he was elected to WORK for all of us. All he has shown is he likes to be on TV, he likes to come up with multiple plans hoping one works, he likes to spend money, he likes to point fingers at someone to blame and then he likes to pretend he is an average "Joe", sorry Mr. Obama, we don't want a President who wants to sit down over a beer - we want a leader with conviction, integrity and experience - You Mr. President are proving you lack all three. Please, vote against him and change the balance of power in the House and Senate this coming election!

David| 7.29.09 @ 8:24AM

I am not a nutcase or a conspiracy theorist but Obama’s birth certificate is a fake. Keep in mind that documents change over the years and may not contain 100 % of the original info. But there is one thing that will never change and I have not found a site that points this out. The numbers on a B.C. from the time they started using a form rather then hand written start with a state code number usually 3 digits then a 2 digit date code and then the individual document serial number. I have been doing a lot of research on this all the birth certificates I have seen online( have seen 2 from Hawaii) mine my wifes and my childrens all have this type of numbering. Not until the late 90’s did they change the system of numbering. Why is Obama’s 151-1961. Now the big question why would they change his number? They never change!

cybercorrespondent| 8.18.09 @ 5:37PM

Fix healthcare by throwing self-serving politicians out of office

Why did Barack Obama attack pharmaceutical companies before and now he has teamed up with them to promote his health care plan? Why are all the tort lawyers big democratic supporters and multi-millionaires? Obama’s true intentions are so obvious that even the left is starting to express concerns. For example, on August 10, CBS Evening News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson filed a report stating that “the White House agreed not to seek price controls on drugs for seniors on Medicare and would not support importing cheaper drugs from Canada.” According to Attkisson, “The pharmaceutical industry is now so firmly in the President's camp it's developing plans to spend up to $150 billion promoting it with TV ads.”
According to the acting president of Public Citizen and founder and director of Public Citizen's Health Research Group, Dr. Sidney Wolfe, “An all sort of off the record deal was reached that is very bad for the American public.” Other experts say that for their cooperation, Obama is allowing pharmaceutical companies to charge $50 for a $2 pill and is assuring them that there will be no changes to the laws that make it near impossible for less expensive generic drugs to reach the American market.
Unless tort lawyers, the pharmaceutical lobby and other special interest groups like the AMA, ADA and the AARP are dealt with to preserves the Constitution and the free market system, while also protecting the medical provider and consumer, no healthcare plan can work. Please view http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe2bpV1QlkE
Cybercorrespondent
http://cybercorrespondent.blogspot.com

cybercorrespondent| 8.23.09 @ 3:38PM

ABC television has banned http://www.newsmaxstore.com/co...../video.htm from airing on its network. Stand up for your freedoms and start boycotting ABC and other state run media into bankruptcy.
cybercorrespondent

cybercorrespondent| 8.27.09 @ 10:28PM

Save yourselves while you still can. This is the most important video you will ever watch. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....r_embedded

George Soros and the progressive democrats he has in his pocket have a goal to destroy the dollar and to push for a global currency. As a result, George Soros would make billions just as he did from his attempt to destroy the British Pound. To accomplish his goal, George Soros and his team of democrats have chosen a messenger who via teleprompter will spread their message and will not oblige to his constitutional obligation to prove that he is a US citizen. Please view
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe2bpV1QlkE To help George Soros push for global dominance, the democrats have created legislations such as the Stimulus Bill, the Equal Pay Bill, the Global Poverty Bill, the Tobacco Bill, the Climate Change Bill, the upcoming Health Reform Bill, the UN sponsored Bill that will force Americans to pay a global tax and whatever else they have hidden in the bills no one has read. If George Soros and the democrats are allowed to succeed, it will increase the deficit by trillions, make the dollar worthless and cause this country to self-distrust.
Wake up America before it’s too late. Please watch this video
cybercorrespondent

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