Obama Takes It Personally,Editorial Board

By any measure, President Bush's speech to the Knesset last week on the occasion of Israel's 60th birthday was nothing short of stunning. This paean to the bond between the United States and Israel, while personal in many ways, went beyond anything any U.S. president had previously said and expressed sentiments that all people of good faith and seekers of peace can relate to and embrace.

The president's message was that when it comes to Israel, the U.S. would never accommodate terrorist pressure or political importuning from any source, and those who think otherwise had better reevaluate their position. He declared before one and all that "the fight against terror and extremism is the defining challenge of our time" and that America and Israel face a common enemy and are in this fight together.

"America," he said, "is proud to be Israel's closest ally and best friend in the world." He spoke of Jews as "the chosen people" with a homeland promised by God. He praised Israel's miraculous achievements in all areas of human endeavor and its leadership in several key ones. He referred to Israel as "Eretz Yisrael."

The president's speech was an opportunity for Senator Barack Obama to once and for all dispel the uneasiness in pro-Israel circles with his plans for the Middle East and the concern that his ambiguities will encourage those seeking to harm Israel. The venue of the president's speech was, after all, the Israeli parliament on the occasion of a landmark anniversary for Israel. Was it too much to expect Sen. Obama to say something positive about the occasion?

Sadly, not only did he avoid any reference to Israel, he focused instead on one small portion of Mr. Bush's speech. It was as if the president had not delivered the most unique speech of its kind in memory.

In his speech, President Bush, referring to the rants and threats of Hamas, Hizbullah, Ahmadinejad and Osama bin Laden, said:

There are good and decent people who cannot fathom the darkness in these men and try to explain their words away. This is natural. But it is deadly wrong. As witnesses to evil in the past, we carry a solemn responsibility to take these words seriously....

Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: "Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided." We have an obligation to call this what it is-the comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.

Sen. Obama erupted in a high state of umbrage, saying that the reference to "appeasement" was dishonest and divisive" and "exactly the kind of appalling attack that's divided our country and alienates us from the rest of the world." Not a word was uttered about anything else in the president's speech.

It is ironic that it was Sen. Obama himself who put the issue in play. As we noted last week, when asked in an interview why it was that a high Hamas official publicly welcomed his election, he responded:

It's conceivable that there are those in the Arab world who say to themselves, "This is a guy who spent some time in the Muslim world, has a middle name of Hussein and appears more worldly and has called for talks with people, and so he's not going to be engaging in the same sort of cowboy diplomacy as George Bush. [Emphasis added]

So maybe the terrorists have a point and it is George W. Bush who is the cause of the world's ills because he won't listen to their grievances against the U.S. In fact, Sen. Obama recently told New York Times columnist David Brooks that the U.S. needs a foreign policy that "looks at the root causes of problems and dangers," adding that Hizbullah and Hamas need to be compelled to understand that "they're going down a blind alley with violence that weakens their legitimate claims."

President Bush's speech at the Knesset was repeatedly interrupted by standing ovations. What he said about Israel was given enhanced significance by the dramatic events in Lebanon as Hizbullah was busy demonstrating its effective control of the country. It was unquestionably an opportunity for Sen. Obama to support those parts of Mr. Bush's comments about Israel with which he agreed.

Unfortunately, it seems he found little if anything in the speech with which he could agree. And maybe that's the point he inadvertently made.

Read Comments (1)

obama takes it personally
Date 11:05, 05-21, 08

President Bush gave a great speech in Israel on a day of
celebration.
Unfortunately, Barak Obama seems to be so caught up in
himself that he can see no further. He assumes that everything
anyone says is a reference to him. This is a scary mental
problem. A person suffering such an illness would be a great
danger to our country. The ''Me'', ''Me'', ''Me'', mental problem
should be addressed quickly.

Barak Obama has given a host of different speeches but none
of them had any real core. It was as if a high school organizer
was teaching the lower classes in cheerleading...
"Yes we can", "Yes we can", ""yes we can"!
Barak - - - Please tell us what we can... Please tell us exactly
what change you speak of when talking to the people. Please
put a ''core'' into your speech and tell us what exactly you intend
to do for the United States. We do not want generalities. We
want to know exactly what you are talking about.

As for the Democrat Party taking up the discontentment of
OBAMA - Whether or not they win or lose this election they have
been deeply hurt by this action.