Bloodthirsty Liberal

Madame Secretary evidently couldn’t tell East Jerusalem from East Jesus—and very likely doesn’t care:

The incompetence of American diplomacy reached a new nadir yesterday in an incident vershadowed by the elections in the US. Hillary Clinton told Al-Jazeera in an interview that the US wants to see an Israeli capital in East Jerusalem. Apparently, the chief diplomat of the United States and the woman who ran on her experience in foreign affairs did not remember that East Jerusalem is primarily Palestinian:

Egypt and other Arab nations reacted with strong concern to remarks Clinton made in Jerusalem on Saturday. She caused a stir when she said with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at her side that his government’s offer to restrain — but not stop — settlement activity in Palestinian areas was unprecedented.

And in a new twist Tuesday, Clinton made what appeared to be an inadvertent slip of the tongue in a television interview with the al-Jazeera network, referring to the goal of “an Israeli capital in east Jerusalem.”

…

Two Clinton aides monitoring the interview alerted her to the mistake and that portion of the interview was retaped so she could correct herself.

In other words, she pressed the re-set button.

If it indeed were American policy to recognize the Israeli capital in East Jerusalem, I would be the first to praise the morality and courage of such a decision. But no, they just hit the re-wind button, and erased history.

What a bunch of rank amateurs.

When Secretary of State Clinton praised Israeli flexibility on relations with the Palestinians (specifically on settlement construction), not everyone was pleased to hear the words coming out of her mouth:

“Why, Mrs. Hillary? How much did the Zionists pay you as a bribe?”

…

“Words that treat truth with cruelty and wallow in the swamp of lies, especially coming from a person of senior position, are improper… [such are] the words of US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.”

…

Al-Hayat Al-Jadida also ran a cartoon reiterating a longstanding Palestinian claim that the US is controlled by Jews. It shows an Uncle Sam figure looking into a mirror held by a caricature of a hook-nosed religious Jew, wearing a hat with a Star of David. Instead of seeing his own reflection, the American sees the Jew in the mirror.

I love cartoons. How about a couple more?

Hysterical. And they had their intended effect:

Secretary Clinton delivered the following remarks Monday morning at a camera spray upon meeting with Moroccan Foreign Minister Fassi-Fihri in Marrakech, Morocco:

For 40 years, successive American administrations of both parties have opposed Israel’s settlement policy. That is absolutely a fact.

And the Obama Administration’s position on settlements is clear, unequivocal. It has not changed. And as the President has said on many occasions, the United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements.

Exactly. His noxious, hostile, biased position is very clear, and I’m sure it’s entrenched. Anti-Semitism doesn’t make much of an impression on him.

But you’d think anti-Palestinianism would:

Israel’s harshest critics claim to champion the rights of Palestinians. So we’re curious about the fallout, or lack thereof, from revelations that the Palestinian Authority regularly brutalizes its own in the West Bank while enjoying a steady flow of dollars and euros.

Senior PA official Haitham Arar was quoted in the Daily Mail more than a week ago openly discussing the abuses. That follows a Mail On Sunday report in January that detailed the Authority’s regular use of beatings, whippings, attacks with electrical drills, and other methods of torture doled out to anyone seen threatening the authority of Fatah, the party of President Mahmoud Abbas. Murder and rape are also commonplace.

As Middle East analyst Tom Gross points out, the only news here is that a Western newspaper has bothered to write about it. At least some ink is spilled documenting Hamas’s blunt methods, but much less has been made of Fatah’s abuses since Yasser Arafat took over most of the territory in 1993. What’s more, Western governments support the internecine violence with ever-increasing aid. As of Sept. 15, the European Union had delivered €268 million to the Authority this year, and in July the U.S. extended an additional $200 million.

The money will not stop now that Ramallah is no longer trying to hide the mistreatment. Westminster’s one response has been to quietly send officers to the West Bank to train Authority forces on how not to torture prisoners.

So here’s the state-of-play in the department of moral outrage. When Britain is accused of abetting U.S. interrogations, lawsuits, investigations, and threats to try Tony Blair for war crimes quickly follow. When Israel attacks Hamas in order to end rocket launches on its soil, it risks a session before the International Criminal Court. But when the West funnels billions to a Palestinian government whose abuses are brazen and ongoing, there is mainly silence.

Maybe back when we started this blog, we hoped we could change the way Israel is portrayed in the media. But we’ve matured. Now, all I want is for Israel to take care of itself and its citizens. Play along with Obama if you must, but do not ever think he has your best, or even second-best, interests at heart. He’d sell you down the river faster than you could say “daily humiliation of the Palestinian people.”

We have been known to ridicule the Nobel Peace Prize Committee for their absurd choices—Jimmy Carter, Yasser Arafat, the other guy, name escapes me, big ears—but they got at least one right: Yitzak Rabin.

And look how he planned to achieve peace:

Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin: Ratification of the Israel-Palestinian Interim Agreement
The Knesset
October 5, 1995

* No Palestinian State: “We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority.”

* No return to ‘67 borders: “The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines.”

* Control of Jordan Valley: “The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term.”

* Gush Katif as model: “The establishment of blocs of settlements in Judea and Samaria, like the one in Gush Katif.”

* All settlements remain intact during interim period: “I want to remind you: we committed ourselves, that is, we came to an agreement, and committed ourselves before the Knesset, not to uproot a single settlement in the framework of the interim agreement, and not to hinder building for natural growth.”

* (During interim period) “The responsibility for external security along the borders with Egypt and Jordan, as well as control over the airspace above all of the territories and Gaza Strip maritime zone, remains in our hands.”

Even if the current Democratic president doesn’t remember the negotiations conducted by the previous Democratic president, it would seem to me he has a Secretary of State who was around at the time and might recall the events.

Unless he doesn’t listen to her.

Rabin might have been willing to seek peace with the Palestinians, but never through weakness and surrender. How long ago that seems.

First, Russia unleashes a vodka-infused belch in Madame Secretary’s pitch for sanctions against Iran.

Now, China drip-drip-drips cold water on the initiative, too:

China praised its growing energy and trade ties with Iran in remarks that further diminished any expectation that Beijing will support efforts by the U.S. and its allies to sanction Iran over its nuclear program.

“The Sino-Iran relationship has witnessed rapid development, as the two countries’ leaders have had frequent exchanges, and cooperation in trade and energy has widened and deepened,” Premier Wen Jiabao said in a meeting with visiting Iranian Vice President Reza Rahimi, according to the state-controlled Xinhua news agency.

…

The comments Thursday came a day after Russia also pushed back on any possible sanctions. Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, in Beijing for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, said Wednesday it is “premature” to threaten sanctions against Tehran.

Resistance from China and Russia, which can veto sanctions proposed through the United Nations Security Council, could derail attempts to use sanctions to punish Iran. Last week, the U.S. met with 10 allies to explore possible sanctions, such as targeting Iran’s energy supplies or financial system.

This is the change we’ve been waiting for?

I’m going to be more than fair to President Obama (not for long, don’t worry) and say that these commie reprobate poor excuses for world leaders would have given the brush off to President Bush, too. I think that’s a given.

But Bush would have known that, expected it, while Obama, Clinton, and the rest don’t get why the rest of the world (the Nobel committee aside) just don’t dig them. They’re so smart, so charming, so articulate, they hate Bush as much or more—shouldn’t that be enough?

Our readers know how the world works, even if the administration does not. China ain’t our friend, Russia ain’t our friend, the UN ain’t our friend. They all wish us ill. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. This administration is stark raving mad.

American gay people who are disappointed that President Obama has words, just words, on their behalf can take solace that words, just words, are all his administration has for gays around the world:

Russia’s leading gay activist said yesterday that he was disappointed that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met with an outspoken foe of gay rights during her two-day visit and did not decry homophobia.

Clinton attended a statue unveiling of Walt Whitman at Moscow State University with Mayor Yuri Luzhkov. Luzhkov has blocked all attempts to hold gay pride marches in Moscow, once saying they “can be described in no other way than as satanic.’’

Clinton did not mention of the issue during the ceremony. Some biographers have described Whitman as homosexual and US gay activists have claimed him as a symbol of their movement.

…

Gay activist Nikolai Alexeyev said yesterday that he was disappointed Clinton did not discuss discrimination against gays.

“Russia is supposed to be a democracy and she said nothing,’’ he said.

Alexeyev had called on Clinton to denounce what he called entrenched and degrading homophobic attitudes in Russia.

I’m sure she’ll get right on that.

America is supposed to be a democracy, too, Nikolai, and how’s that working out for us?

Another in a series of check-ups on the status of Smart Power (ower-ower-ower), the amazing ability to turn foe into friend, enemy into amigo, by saying pretty please and thanks ever so much.

It may be true that you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar—but you can catch most of all with s**t:

Russia pushed back Tuesday at U.S. efforts to threaten tough new sanctions if Iran fails to prove its nuclear program is peaceful, a setback to the Obama administration’s desire to present a united front with Moscow.

After meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow believed that such threats would not persuade Iran to comply and that negotiations should continue to be pursued.

“At the current stage, all forces should be thrown at supporting the negotiating process,” he told reporters at a joint news conference with Clinton. “Threats, sanctions and threats of pressure in the current situation, we are convinced, would be counterproductive.”

Clinton, on her first visit to Moscow as secretary of state, had been looking to gauge Russia’s willingness to join the United States in applying additional pressure on Iran to come clean about its nuclear intentions.

Back in the day, we killed commies on sight. Now we just give looks that could kill.

Hardly the same thing.

So not only has Iran spat at Obama’s extended hand of friendship—and in the face of the international community—but Russia won’t even offer us their handkerchief to wipe away the spittle.

This is how Secretary Clinton defined Smart Power in her confirmation hearings (and we won’t let her forget it):

We must use what has been called “smart power”: the full range of tools at our disposal — diplomatic, economic, military, political, legal, and cultural — picking the right tool, or combination of tools, for each situation.

With smart power, diplomacy will be the vanguard of foreign policy. This is not a radical idea. The ancient Roman poet Terence, who was born a slave and rose to become one of the great voices of his time, declared that “in every endeavor, the seemly course for wise men is to try persuasion first.” The same truth binds wise women as well.

Oh, please. Yes, you are very wise Madame Secretary, very wise indeed.

But a wise guy (in the organized crime sense of the word) would recognize that the tool called for in this instance is a tire iron or a crow bar. The feather duster you brought isn’t up to the job.

If liberal health-care reform is going to make people better off, why does it require “a very harsh, stiff penalty” to make everyone buy it? That’s what Senator Obama called it in his Presidential campaign when he opposed the individual mandate supported by Hillary Clinton. He correctly argued then that many people were uninsured not because they didn’t want coverage but because it was too expensive.

From today’s WSJ.

And check out these haters at a health care rally today:

Oh wait, they’re pro-health care. Can’t be racists, then. Sorry.

But he can:

“The Baucus bill is the worst piece of healthcare legislation I’ve seen in 30 years. … In fact, it’s a $60 billion giveaway to the health insurance industry every year. … It was written by healthcare lobbyists, so that’s not a surprise. It’s an outrage.”

…

“I’m glad Senator Rockefeller is not going to vote for it. I wouldn’t vote for it at all under any circumstances.”

That’s Howard Dean, expressing his inner James Earl Ray. Will someone please check with Janeane Garofalo on who is racist and who is not? I’m so confused.

My how times have changed.

- Aggie

There are liberals, there are women, and then there are liberal women. God have mercy:

The Daily Beast head [Tina Brown] made her candid comments on today’s Morning Joe. Mika Brzezinski made a spirited defense of Hillary, claiming her latest gaffe—putting Florida 2000 in the same boat as Nigeria’s notoriously rigged elections—was no big deal. But Scarborough, Buchanan and Barnicle all said it was past time for Hillary to return. And Brown put in the unkindest cut of all

. . .

JOE SCARBOROUGH: Tina Brown, what’s wrong with my former, ex-girlfriend Hillary Clinton?

TINA BROWN: What’s wrong with Hillary is one week too long on this African hellish tour that she’s on. Think of it from the human point of view: she is in her second week. She’s hot. She is feeling fat. She had this horrible business where she suddenly lost it a bit over the whole Bill thing. Frankly, I want to get her home now. I want to get her home. Otherwise, by the time she hits Liberia, she’s going to be saying: “what can I tell you? We had an idiot for the president!” She’s letting it hang out.

…

SCARBOROUGH: Take the microphone away, get her on a — maybe Bill ought to leave Vegas –

BROWN: I agree with that. She ought to get back to the gym!

Now, I believe in the ad hominem, gratuitous fat remark and use it often (mostly on men, now that I think about it). I defend Tina Brown’s use of it here. In fact, Secretary Clinton is looking Falstaffian these days, due in part I’m sure to immobility after her recent broken arm.

But do not—not for a second—insult what little intelligence we have by claiming liberals are more sensitive about sex, race, religion, anything. They feel themselves so superior on all matters of conscience, they never have to examine theirs for prejudices. Hence their minds are like computer hard drives: infested with worms and bugs, and very slow.

Let me condense this story down to its building blocks—cut to the chase, in other words:

The US State Department once again expressed its disapproval Tuesday night over Israel’s eviction of two Palestinian families from their homes in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

The American officials made a phone call to Israel’s Ambassador to Washington Michael Oren and protested the move. Foreign Ministry officials in Jerusalem stressed Wednesday that the call was not a reprimand.

On Monday Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the eviction “deeply regrettable” and “provocative.”

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The European Union has also criticized Israel for the eviction, expressing “serious concerns” over the action.

…

Robert Serry, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, called Sunday’s evictions “totally unacceptable.”

How will our hero get out of this jam? A neat gadget pulled from the Bat Belt? Nope, bats are not kosher. Superhuman strength? Well, one doesn’t wish to boast. A fine point of law that turns the whole situation upside-down, leaving people gasping at its brilliance?

You’re getting warmer:

The evictions were carried out early Sunday morning after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Jewish families who claimed ownership. The families had maintained that the homes were owned by Jews dating back to the late 19th century, and were abandoned during a spate of Arab attacks in the area in the 1920s and ’30s.

My country, America, under this administration, now agrees with the likes of the EU and the UN. I could just stop there and hang my head in shame, but I must face the truth. While the Holocaust might have taken things a bit too far, we now tolerate, even tacitly encourage, lesser assaults on the Jewish people. Centuries and millennia of ownership mean nothing; only the snapshot, the Weegee flash of how things looked when the Jews were burned out of their homes. To the well-thinking liberal minds of the world, this is how things ought to be.

What is even worse, they are not stupid. Hillary Clinton cannot be ignorant of the crimes against Jewish people in country after country throuughout the Middle East, decade after decade. Barack Obama must have had it explained top him that Israel is a Jewish state not merely out of destiny and pride, but out of necessity. Surely, the EU and the UN know that the Israeli Supreme Court is no friend of land grabs, after it ordered the separation barrier moved (more than once, I believe) to be fairer to Palestinians.

But they are mute on those facts.

Last point: Israel was not founded as a safe-haven for Jews after a European decade-long genocide against them, as the American and Iranian presidents seem to think. The genocide was a lot broader than that, and lasted a lot longer.

But while genocide was the immediate cause, no fair appraisal of the history and culture of the Middle East can deny the claim the Jews have to that land. The three great holy books of the religions that trace their origins there agree on the point; contemporary Roman histories reinforce it; archeology confirms it. One doesn’t have to be Jewish, or even religious, to see the justice of a Jewish state on the land granted to them by someone a lot more powerful than Barack Obama, and on which they have lived (with interruptions for occasional genocides) for thousands of years.

Somehow, a Palestinian deed of ownership clipped from the back of a cereal box just doesn’t measure up.