Name:     Michael L. S.   [E-Mail]
      Location:  Earth
      Website:  Middle East Resource Center

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So, Sen. Obama has gained considerable momentum and is far from the inconsequential underdog he was a few short months back. Once seen as the "inevitable choice," Hillary Clinton's campaign is in a state of disarray, indeed, in freefall. Hussein Obama has gone so far as to claim primacy in the contest and has issued calls for the Democratic faction to coalesce around him. So confident of an eventual nomination is he that he spent a considerable portion of rhetoric taking aim at Sen. McCain, the all-but-crowned Republican nominee.

One espies these developments with amazement and sadness. Certainly, it is amazing for an African American to have reached this stage when barely a few decades ago "niggers" were sitting in the back of buses, were not allowed to use public libraries and attended separate schools in large swaths of the United States. This progress is so giddying that one is tempted to endorse him just to "cock a snook"--as the English would say--i.e. give the finger to the racist America of old. Besides, his success would enthrone the U.S. once and for all as the land of liberty, opportunity and justice for all. Doing so though would be a mistake.

Let me come clean: I don't like the guy. A large part of the reason for this is that he has garnered support thru soundbites and style, rather than concrete policies and substance. Listen to his speeches: It's all about change. Even disregarding the fact that change for the sake of change is myopic at best, "change" is not a policy! Change what, from what, to what, with what, how and why are policies... - but you will not get these details from the Illinois senator. In fact, according to at least one background investigation, he has been exceedingly careful since his early days in politics, not to step on anyone's toes on controversial issues. He conveniently missed a welter of important votes (one most recently on whether Iran's revolutionary guard should be designated a terrorist organization, a vote, which had a broad cross-party Congressional support).

This quote, from a book, perhaps illustrates the situation better than any disquisition: "Obama is not a conviction politician. His supporters do not look to him to do something; they look to him to be something, to represent something." Oh dear...

"Yes, We Can!" is Obama's motto. We can... - WHAT, exactly???

Is it fair for such a person to prosper over a woman of stature, principles and a track-record to prove it? No. Which is why I fervently hope the Obama bandwagon gets derailed before too long. Having made two catastrophic errors in judgement in the past eight years, the American people can ill-afford to make another one. If they don't come to their senses in a hurry, we will have a septuagenarian hawk in the White House this time next year. That would be bad for the U.S. and for the world: From the economy, to the war on terror, to America's cultural supremacy.

Can we restore America's tarnished image to its former glory? With a Democratic president who actually stands for something and we know what that something is, YES, WE CAN.

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Hayom kol Yisrael 7ogeget! We've offed another major scumbag: The deputy chief of 7izballah. All the menuvalim should be on notice that they are in our sights. The likes of Nasrallah, Meshal, A7madinejad, etc. have been screwing with the longsuffering Jewish nation for too damn long. There is no reasoning, negotiating or talking to them; they must be cancelled.

I am all for peace, as those who know me are well aware, but there will be no peace as long as the old guard keeps thwarting it. We need a lustration. Now.

3Am Yisra'el 7ai!!

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It appears competent homicide bombers are hard to come by these days. Just a couple of weeks after it came to light that the virile and leonine al-Qaida "fighters" had used mentally retarded women to do their dirty work for them in Iraq, in Afghanistan one schmoe exploded himself as he was putting on his explosive belt. He took out three of his buddies with him. In another incident, the would-be bomber managed to don his vest laden with explosives but then tripped, fell down a flight of stairs and went KABOOM!!

BTW, I've come across a hysterical Arab website called "Arab News." It's based in Saudi Arabia but it's in English. It's shamelessly biased but offers great insight into just what kind of sickos and retrogrades we're dealing with. I'll be visiting this subject in my future installments.

Shalom!

Labels: Afghanistan, homicide bomber, Iraq, suicide bomber, terrorism

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As we are all well aware, the Democrat Party's primaries are in full swing and, ensuing John Edward's withdrawal, it's a battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Hussein Obama. I have to confess to not having given much of a chance to Obama at the beginning nor did I view him as much of a threat. Hillary was always going to be a shoe-in choice. However, Obama has put up a formidable fight and seriously imperiled Mrs. Clinton's chances of competing against--what is almost certain to be--Sen. McCain in the Presidential election this November.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the key. We can talk about manifestos, agenda and even the candidates’ experience all we want. We all know who and what Hillary is. She may be divisive and she may be abrasive. She may well sell out to corporate interests the minute she walks into the White House. She though is a stateswoman with gravitas, a track-record of concrete policies and a voting record on issues that concern me and appeal to me. ("Me" being a social liberal.) Obama doesn't. He is young and he talks about effecting a change. Big deal. Who reading this can think off the top of their head what Obama actually stands for? I have read and heard a number of his speeches. Yes, rousing, inspired, invigorated... - just as many seasoned commentators have portrayed them. But that's ALL they are: Platitudes, clichés, ephemeral banalities. Other than being African-American, what are Obama's actual credentials? Whether those of us wishing for a utopian, color-blind world like it or not, his ethnicity IS a factor if only so as to prove that his success hitherto demonstrates what a long way the United States has come. That is not all it proves, however; it also proves America has not come far enough.

This isn't about sending any messages about the state, unity, priorities and principles of the Democratic faction. This is about fielding a candidate who can regain the White House from the Republicans whose excesses many feel have long gotten out of hand. The question, therefore, is whether Hillary or Obama can do it against McCain. If it comes down to Hillary and McCain, we can expect a historic battle of the titans. Polarizing though Hillary is unremittingly said to be, she has what it takes to beat a Republican contender. The American people are deeply disaffected and tired of Mr. Bush and his entire establishment. They crave change, which can be witnessed by the record-breaking numbers of people who turned out to participate in the Democratic primaries so far. But does this burning desire for change include a willingness to have an African-American president with recondite policies over a wealthy, Caucasian, straight-talking Vietnam vet? Well, that was really a rhetorical question.

Obama, nice enough a guy though he undoubtedly is, does not stand a chance against Sen. McCain. Unless we want four more years of a Republican administration, it is imperative we vote with our heads, not hearts. The bottom line is: Obama vs. McCain will yield McCain; Hillary vs. McCain will yield Hillary. The question to ask yourself is would you rather have Hillary or McCain as the next U.S. president?

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