On Thu, 15 May 2008 17:13:32 -0500, Phisher KIng
<locker2@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>"Harry Dope" <Pres.McCain'08@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in
>news:482cb174$0$30169$4c368faf@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>> Obama: But I Want To Talk To Terrorists
>>
>> May 15th, 2008 at 12:45pm Matt Margolis
>>
>> ABC News re****ts that Obama's campaign is "taking issue" with a
>> comment made by President Bush during remarks he made in Israel to the
>> Knesset on the 60th anniversary of Israel's statehood.
>>
>> "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," the President said to the country's legislative
>> body, "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 false
>> comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by
>> history."
>>
>> In a statement, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., shot across the bow: "It is
>> sad that President Bush would use a speech to the Knesset on the 6Oth
>> anniversary of Israel's independence to launch a false political
>> attack. It is time to turn the page on eight years of policies that
>> have strengthened Iran and failed to secure America or our ally
>> Israel. Instead of tough talk and no action, we need to do what
>> Kennedy, Nixon and Reagan did and use all elements of American power -
>> including tough, principled, and direct diplomacy - to pressure
>> countries like Iran and Syria. George Bush knows that I have never
>> sup****ted engagement with terrorists, and the President's
>> extraordinary politicization of foreign policy and the politics of
>> fear do nothing to secure the American people or our stalwart ally
>> Israel."
>>
>> Perhaps it's just Obama's massive ego, but what makes him think that
>> remark was direct at him? As the story points out, those words from
>> the President are hardly new.
>>
>> ABC News' White House troops point out that the President has made
>> similar statements in the past and Bush did not specifically cite
>> Obama by name, though he did reference Sen. William Borah's immortal
>> reaction upon hearing that Hitler had invaded Poland and begun World
>> War II, something he has not highlighted in the past.
>>
>> "(The President) has said similar things before," a White House
>> official told ABC News' Martha Raddatz. "But it is in reference to a
>> number of people, think Carter, others who have engaged in this or
>> suggested it."
>>
>> White House spokesperson Dana Perino was asked if Bush's line was a
>> slam against Obama and she insisted, "It is not."
>>
>> "I understand that when you are running for office sometimes you think
>> the world revolves around you. That is not always true and it is not
>> true in this case," Perino added, though the White House is keenly
>> aware of how such statements might play during a heated political
>> season and has steadfastly avoided commenting on the 2008 race.
>>
>> It sounds to me that Obama is trying to score points with Jewish
>> voters who are understandly wary of sup****ting a candidate who has the
>> endorsement of Hamas, and whose own advisor had talks with the terror
>> group.
>>
>> The fact is that President Bush is 100% correct. Appeasement and
>> containment don't always work - and its dangerous to assume they do.
>> As inexperienced as Obama may be, he should be able to recognize that.
>> But, if he wants to have coffee and doughnuts with terror groups, then
>> that's his position. but don't expect me to vote for someone like
>> that.
>>
>> http://blogsforvictory.com/2008/05/15/obama-but-i-want-to-talk-to-terro
>> rists/
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>Obama himself quickly responded to the comparison, calling it a false
>attack
>and listing past presidents who didn't think that diplomacy was such a
bad
>idea:
>
> "It is sad that President Bush would use a speech to the Knesset on the
>6Oth anniversary of Israel's independence to launch a false political
>attack. It is time to turn the page on eight years of policies that have
>strengthened Iran and failed to secure America or our ally Israel."
>
> "Instead of tough talk and no action, we need to do what Kennedy, Nixon
>and Reagan did and use all elements of American power -- including tough,
>principled, and direct diplomacy -- to pressure countries like Iran and
>Syria. George Bush knows that I have never sup****ted engagement with
>terrorists, and the President's extraordinary politicization of foreign
>policy and the politics of fear do nothing to secure the American people
or
>our stalwart ally Israel."
>
>
>It was only yesterday that Secretary of Defense Robert Gates argued that
>United States needed to engage with Iran:
>
> "We need to figure out a way to develop some leverage . . . and then
sit
>down and talk with them," Gates said. "If there is going to be a
>discussion,
>then they need something, too. We can't go to a discussion and be
>completely
>the demander, with them not feeling that they need anything from us."
>
> In a telephone interview on CNN just a few minutes ago, Robert Gibbs,
the
>communications director for Senator Barack Obama, called Mr. Bush's
remarks
>"astoni****ng" and an "unprecedented political attack on foreign soil."
>UPDATE: Rahm Emanuel has chimed in as well:
>
> The tradition has always been that when a U.S. President is overseas,
>partisan politics stops at the water's edge. President Bush has now taken
>that principle and turned it on its head: for this White House, partisan
>politics now begins at the water's edge, no matter the seriousness and
>gravity of the occasion. Does the president have no shame?
>UPDATE: Howard Dean has called on McCain to reject Bush's statements:
>
> "On the same day John McCain is talking about putting partisan****p
aside,
>the President launched a cheap political attack while on a state visit
>honoring the 60th anniversary of Israel, one of America's greatest
allies.
>Bush's outrageous comments are an embarrassment to our country, not based
>in
>fact and bring us no closer to our goal of ending terrorist attacks
against
>Israel and bringing peace to the region. If John McCain is really serious
>about being a different kind of Republican, he'll denounce these remarks
in
>the strongest terms possible."
>
> House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that Bush's remarks were
"beneath
>the dignity of the office of the president and unworthy of our
>representation" at the celebration of Israel's 60th anniversary.
>
> Referring to Sen. John McCain, Pelosi said: "I would hope that any
>serious
>person that aspires to lead the country, would disassociate themselves
from
>those comments."
>
>Sen. Reid has joined the pile on:
>
> "Not surprisingly, the engineer of the worst foreign policy in our
>nation's history has fired yet another reckless and reprehensible round.
>More than seven years into his Presidency and in the sixth year of the
>directionless Iraq war, President Bush has yet to learn that his brand of
>divisive partisan rhetoric is precisely what has made America and our
>allies
>less secure. And for the President to make this statement before the
>government of our closest ally as it celebrates a remarkable milestone
>demeans this historic moment with partisan politics.
>
> "President Bush's own actions demonstrate that he believes negotiations
-
>at the right moment, under the right conditions and with the right
leaders
>-
>can both show strength and produce results. He has relied on negotiations
>with North Korea and Libya, two state sponsors of terror. And by
conducting
>discussions with Russia, China, Libya, North Korea and Iran in recent
>years,
>President Bush has demonstrated his belief that negotiations can be a
tool
>to advance America and Israel's national security interests. I call on
the
>President to explain the inconsistency between his Administration's
actions
>and his words today."
>
>
>UPDATE: John Kerry has responded on TPMCafe:
>
> First, it's absolutely shameless that an American President would use a
>speech in front of a foreign government to launch such a petty political
>attack. President Bush has abused the dignity of the office in ways that
>make especially ironic his long ago pledge to "restore dignity and
>integrity
>to the Oval office."
>
> Perhaps worse -- he's not even right on the facts, and he knows it.
Like
>Representatives Boehner and Cantor, President Bush just makes up policies
>to
>attack. Barack Obama opposes negotiating with terrorists. And always has.
>This is just another example of the disingenuous habit of this
>administration to create "some people" whom they can argue against,
>strawman
>arguments that they can use in their disgusting political attacks.
>
>
>"This is bull****, this is malarkey. This is outrageous, for the
president
>of the United States to go to a foreign country, to sit in the Knesset
...
>and make this kind of ridiculous statement."
>
>UPDATE: Biden calls bull****:
>
> "He is the guy who has weakened us," he said. "He has increased the
>number of terrorists in the world. It is his policies that have produced
>this vulnerability that the U.S. has. It's his [own] intelligence
community
>[that] has pointed this out, not me."
> Biden noted that Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Secretary of
State
>Condoleezza Rice have both suggested that the United States ought to find
a
>way to talk more with its enemies.
>
> "If he thinks this is appeasement, is he going to come back and fire
his
>own cabinet?" Biden asked. "Is he going to fire Condi Rice?"
>
> http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/05/15/bush-suggests-obama-
>wants-appeasement-of-terrorists/
If you want your view sup****ted then you should get endorsed by
someone other than the three stooges; kerry, biden and reid.
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