The Best "Fuck You" Ever

Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania on Wednesday said Obama's policy toward radical Islamists "has been nothing but appeasement."

When asked about the accusations that his foreign policy is timid and amounts to a policy of "appeasement," The President responded:

"Ask Osama bin Laden and the 22 out of 30 top al-Qaida leaders who have been taken off the field whether I engage in appeasement. Or whoever is left out there, ask them about that."

BOOM! goes the dynamite.

An Open Letter to ECI

Posted by Nowhere Man

To: The Powers-That-Be at Emergency Committee for Israel
Re: Queensborough Bridge Not For Israel Billboard.

I recently came across your billboard as I was heading into Manhattan, showing a picture of President Obama shaking hands with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas with the caption, "Telling Jews They Can't Build in Jerusalem. Not Pro-Israel."

The people of Israel are also divided on the building of more settlements on the West Bank. Do you consider them to be traitors or just simply not friends of their own country? Why is it that a President of the United States isn't considered a friend of Israel unless he kowtows to every single Israeli right wing policy? If your friends disagree with something you do or say, are they no longer your friends? President Obama didn't say anything critical, although he should have, about Israel's massacre of 1,500 Palestinians in the Gaza conflict, did he?

Did I miss something or has President Obama stopped sending Israel $3 billion a year in aid? Newsweek is reporting that President Obama sold Israel bunker-buster bombs in 2009 - something even former President Bush wouldn't do - and yet it is Obama that isn't a friend of Israel?

The real injustice is that the Arab Spring has dramatically changed the Middle East but the US is impotent to try to forge broad relationships with these new governments because as always, the President and his State Department are the marionettes of Israel and are not allowed to freely conduct broad relationships with other Arabs and Muslims... you know,the people who "attacked" us. Your billboard is so pathetically disingenuous that it reminds me of the propaganda the Nazis used to hide the truth. What Israel is doing to the Palestinians is no different from the apartheid that was practiced in South Africa. I would also appreciate it if for once you'd let us be free to conduct our own independent foreign policy without the typical smears and maliciously intended misinformation.

Merkel Has Obama's Back

NY TIMES: Mr. Obama was speaking at a press conference after meeting here [in Dresden] with Chancellor Angela Merkel, who praised the president’s speech in Cairo, saying it offered a “new beginning” for relations between the United States and the Muslim world.

...Mrs. Merkel called Mr. Obama’s words an “ideal basis” to pursue peace efforts [in the Middle East].

It seems that Chancellor Merkel has Obama's back as opposed to just a few years ago when Dubya "had her back" in the mighty clutches using his python forearm strength.

President Obama - The Cairo Speech

A New Beginning

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

MSNBC will be repeating the full speech today at 12pm EDT. You can read the transcipt here (PDF).

Israel's Gaza Strike Timing

Scott Shane has written a very interesting analysis on the timing of Israel's strikes in Gaza that have continued for 10 days despite UN officials urgently calling for a cease-fire.

Many Middle East experts say Israel timed its move against Hamas, which began with airstrikes on Dec. 27, 24 days before Mr. Bush leaves office, with the expectation of such backing in Washington. Israeli officials could not be certain that President-elect Barack Obama, despite past statements of sympathy for Israel’s right of self-defense, would match the Bush administration’s unconditional endorsement.

Now, everyone has been making a big deal out of Obama's statement that there is only "one president at a time" as if perhaps he should stage a coup and take office early to deal with the current administration fucking up as many things as possible during its last days in office. Speaking about future plans to deal with the economic crisis during the transitional period is one thing, but speaking on foreign policy affairs and confusing who actually speaks for the US during a critical time is something else. That's why this one statement - the final one in the article - kind of pissed me off.

Martha Joynt Kumar, a political scientist at Towson University who studies presidential transitions, said Mr. Obama’s predicament exemplified the treacherous weeks between election and inauguration, and the way inspiring visions inevitably give way before unexpected events.

“On a campaign, you control what you talk about and when you talk about it,” Ms. Kumar said. “When you begin governing, you have to respond to what happens in the world.”

That's right, Kumar. "When you begin governing." And that happens January 20th, not one day before.

9/11™

This was brewing inside Keith Olbermann since the final day of Republican Convention. I had commented on the politicization and fear mongering of 9/11 at the RNC the next day, but as usual KO does it so much better.



Meanwhile, it seems that White House aides today have been repeating the fact that the US has not been attacked since 9/11, a total of 2,557 days. But as Keith so aptly put it, "Does 'then' not count?" I'd also like to add that I'm guessing they aren't counting the anthrax attacks - but maybe that's because it wasn't done by an Islamic extremist Middle Easterner.

Andrea Mitchell and the "Fake News"

What's going on with Andrea Mitchell? I used to think she was a pretty credible journalist (even though she is married to Alan Greenspan) but now I'm starting to have my doubts. For the most part she can pretty much play it down the middle, but on occasion she blurts out some not-so-objective statements like she did yesterday on Hardball when covering Obama and his trip to visit troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mitchell: "Let me say something about his message management. He didn’t have reporters with him. He didn’t have a press pool. He didn’t do a press conference while he was on the ground either on Afghanistan or Iraq. What you’re seeing is not reporters brought in, you’re seeing selected pictures taken by the military, questioned by the military and what some would call fake interviews because they’re not interviews with a journalist so there’s a real press issue here. Politically it’s smart as can be, but we’ve not seen a Presidential candidate do this in my recollection ever before."

And the phrase "what some would call" is just doublespeak for "what I would call." But as far as her recollection of a presidential candidate ever doing this before? John Amato at Crooks & Liars might refresh her memory.

AMATO: I understand the need to get footage of Obama is her job, but to say they were phony was like saying his trip was like those fake news reports the administration sold to local networks that were presented as real new stories. I wondered if John McCain handled any of his overseas trips in the same way and guess what?

(via email) From an AP article during McCain’s March trip:

McCain’s visit was not announced and he was believed to have been in the country for several hours before reporters were able to confirm his arrival. It was unclear who he met with and no media opportunities or news conferences were planned.

So I think the GOP and wingnuts should stop whining about the supposed love-in the media is having with Obama on his trip, given the fact that they probably would have gone with McCain as well had he given them a heads up.

Pat Buchanan Skewered On Hardball

Sometimes Chris Matthews is completely off the mark, but sometimes he hits the nail on the head.

On tonight's Hardball, Matthews was contrasting Barack Obama's and John McCain's prospective policies for the Middle East and took Pat Buchanan to task for attempting to compare John McCain to Dwight D. Eisenhower. Matthews and Mark Green are on Buchanan like a couple of pit bulls.

Watch and enjoy.

CENTCOM Chief Fallon Quits

NY Times: Adm. William J. Fallon, the commander of American forces in the Middle East whose outspoken public statements on Iran and other issues had seemed to put him at odds with the Bush administration, is retiring early, the Pentagon announced Tuesday.

Admiral Fallon had rankled senior officials of the Bush administration in recent months with comments that emphasized diplomacy over conflict in dealing with Iran, that endorsed further troop withdrawals from Iraq beyond those already under way and that suggested the United States had taken its eye off the military mission in Afghanistan.

...In a statement issued by his headquarters, he acknowledged that “recent press reports suggesting a disconnect between my views and the president’s policy objectives have become a distraction at a critical time and hamper efforts” across his region.

Yet another in a continuing line of military brass that couldn't eat the shit that Bush was doling out and decided to resign rather than be a "Yes" man.

According to Esquire Magazine, Admiral Fallon was the one man that was preventing the Bush administration from provoking war wih Iran. Chimpy's still got 10 months left to initiate the beginning of the rapture. Hold your breath.

Now all Fallon has to do is endorse Obama and all hell will break loose!

Dumbest Leader On The Planet

I was watching "Morning Joe" just now and was interrupted by a live Bush speech with Egyptian President Mubarak . In the span of one minute, Raisinbrain used the word "appreciate" at least eight times. Every time this guy opens his mouth, he's an embarrassment to the United States.

What a way to start the day...

Is It Over?