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20080630
John McCain - Barack Obama -US - Military - 2008 Election - World - Iraq - Afghanistan - Israel - Jordan - Germany - France - Britain - Ireland
"Former Nato commander questions value of McCain's military experience." ... "A top supporter of [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama has questioned the value of Republican [2008 Election Presidential Candidate] John McCain's military experience, suggesting it did not qualify him to be president." ... "Former Nato [NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization] commander Wesley Clark described Mr McCain as "untested and untried", lacking the executive experience needed to lead the country." ... ""He [McCain] has been a voice on the Senate armed services committee. And he has travelled all over the world. But he hasn't held executive responsibility. That large squadron in the navy that he commanded - that wasn't a wartime squadron," Mr Clark said. "I don't think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president."" ... "Mr Obama hopes to beef up his foreign-policy credentials with a visit to Iraq and Afghanistan later this year. His campaign announced at the weekend that the Democratic candidate would go to the Middle East and Europe next month. Mr Obama will visit Israel, Jordan, Germany, France and Britain, but does not apparently plan to stop in Ireland, where he has ancestral roots in Co Offaly [Ireland, Irish county in the Province of Leinster]." ... ""This trip will be an important opportunity for me to assess the situation in countries that are critical to American national security and to consult with some of our closest friends and allies about the common challenges we face," Mr Obama said." -By Denis Staunton -IrishTimes.com

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20080602
John Hagee - John McCain - Joseph Lieberman - Racist - Homosexual - Religious - Military - Politics - Arizona - Connecticut - New York - Indiana - History - Germany - Israel - Iraq - US - 2008 Election - "Pastor Hagee: The Antichrist Is Gay, "Partially Jewish, As Was Adolph Hitler" (Paging Joe Lieberman!)." ... "On March 16, 2003, on the eve of the United States' invasion of Iraq, [Republican Televangelist] Pastor John Hagee took to the pulpit to warn of the coming Antichrist. In his sermon, "The Final Dictator," Hagee described the Antichrist as a seductive figure with "fierce features." He will be "a blasphemer and a homosexual," the pastor announced. Then, Hagee boomed, "There's a phrase in Scripture used solely to identify the Jewish people. It suggests that this man [the Antichrist] is at least going to be partially Jewish, as was Adolph Hitler, as was Karl Marx."" ... "This "fierce" gay Jew, according to Hagee, would "slaughter one-third of the Earth's population" and "make Adolph Hitler look like a choirboy."" ... "Exposed here for the first time, Hagee's comments identifying the Antichrist as a partly Jewish homosexual arrive in the wake of a furor the pastor provoked by describing the Holocaust as an act of God. Hagee's chilling sermon about the Holocaust prompted [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain to reject the preacher's support, an unexpected turnabout after McCain spent over a year soliciting his endorsement." ... "Days after McCain's rejection, I reported that a key McCain ally, [Connecticut Independent Senator] Sen. Joseph Lieberman, planned to deliver the keynote speech at Hagee's upcoming Christians United For Israel (CUFI) summit. As the story exploded into the mainstream press, pressure mounted on Lieberman to withdraw." ... "[New York Democratic Representative Eliot] Engel is slated to speak on CUFI's "Middle East Briefing" panel this July. He will be joined on the panel by Republican [Indiana Representative] Rep. Mike Pence, Weekly Standard editor and New York Times columnist [and Fox contributor] Bill Kristol, and Christian right activist Gary Bauer." -By Max Blumenthal -HuffingtonPost.com

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LISTEN to McCAIN endorser John HAGEE claim the Antichrist will be a Jewish homosexual.
WATCH McCAIN endorser John HAGEE relate a story of how Florida Jews "mysteriously" voted for Republican George W Bush and subsequently explain, "And I believe it is because that this nation is doing what God intended us to do from the day that Christopher Columbus discovered this nation.".

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20080525
• John McCain - Rick Davis - Criminal - Government - Money - Politics - Foreign - Military - Satellite - Imagery - Technology - Israel - Ukraine - Russia - Switzerland - Arizona - US - 2008 Election - "Lobbying labyrinth in McCain camp." ... "Rick Davis, the manager of [Arizona Republican] Senator John McCain's [2008 Election] presidential campaign, is a typical Washington insider in many ways, having long worked as both a lobbyist and a political operative along the intersection of politics, policy and money." ... "Take Davis's involvement with one of his lesser-known lobbying clients, an Israeli company, Imagesat, which sells satellite imagery. Along with lobbying for it, Davis became a consultant to a private investment firm that had a financial stake in it. That connection opened the door for him to get in on the ground floor of other investments made by the firm, Pegasus Capital Advisors." ... "... Davis's business partner, Paul Manafort [of the Davis Manafort lobbying firm], has met with the United States ambassador in Ukrain    e, a time when he was advising Viktor Yanukovich, that country's onetime prime minister, a State Department official said. Yanukovich's party was opposed by both the [Republican President] Bush administration and McCain because it was closely tied to Vladimir Putin [Russia's former President]." ... "Davis Manafort received $120,000 from late 2004 to mid-2005 to lobby for Imagesat on both defense and domestic security issues. Davis and Christian Ferry, now McCain's deputy campaign manager, were the two lobbyists on the project, the records show." ... "Along with his work as a lobbyist, Davis at the time was also drawing a salary as the part-time president of the Reform Institute, a Washington group that McCain helped found to reduce "the influence of special interests" in politics and government." ... "In November 2005, Pegasus bought a stake in a company called Traxys, which trades in industrial metals." ... "In January 2006, just two months later, the subject of metals trading came up in association with a social meeting Davis helped arrange near Davos, Switzerland. At that meeting, first reported by The Washington Post, McCain met the Russian aluminum magnate, Oleg Deripaska, who has been barred from entering the United States apparently because of alleged criminal ties." (1, 2) -By Barry Meier with contributions by Kate Zernike and Andrew E. Kramer -NYTimes via -IHT.com 

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20080523
• John McCain - US_Debt - Money - Politics - Legislator - Military - Families - Housing - Construction - Iraq - Israel - Egypt - Jordan - Arizona - US - 2008 Election - Noteworthy - "McCain's Fantasy War on Earmarks." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain boasts that he can save $100 billion a year "immediately" by eliminating the so-called earmarks that legislators attach to spending bills to finance pet projects, usually in their home state. But he has refused to say exactly which projects he would cut, and his estimates of the amount of money that is being spent on earmarks have been challenged by independent experts." ... "The Facts:" ... "The Arizona senator is promising to balance the budget by the end of his first term, while simultaneously extending the [Republican] George W. Bush tax cuts, introducing billions of dollars of new tax cuts of his own, and remaining in Iraq as long as is necessary to stabilize that country. Asked how this miracle will be accomplished, McCain told George Stephanopoulos of ABC News This Week on April 20 that he could come up with $100 billion "tomorrow" by vetoing pork-barrel spending bills." ... "There are a number of problems with this magical budgetary balancing act. First of all, the suspiciously round $100 billion figure is largely a figment of the McCain campaign's imagination. I have not been able to find a single independent budget expert to vouch for it. McCain's economics adviser, Doug Holtz-Eakin, will not say how the campaign arrived at the figure, other than that it is an extrapolation from various studies, including a 2006 study by the Congressional Research Service available here [PDF]." ... "However, much of this money is tied to items such as foreign aid to countries like Israel, Egypt, and Jordan, that McCain says he will not touch." ... "By most definitions of the term, the amount of money spent on earmarks is much lower than the CRS study. The Office for Management and the Budget came up with a figure for $16.9 billion in the 2008 appropriation bills. Taxpayers for Commonsense, an independent watchdog group that focuses on wasteful spending, identified $18.3 billion worth of earmarks in the 2008 bills, a 23 per cent cut from a record $23.6 billion set in 2005 [when Republicans controlled Congress]." ... "The figure includes such items as $4 billion for the [United States] U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which could not be eliminated without halting hundreds of construction projects around the country. Another big chunk goes to military construction, including housing for servicemen and their families, which McCain has also promised not to touch." ... "McCain's talk about eliminating $100 billion a year in earmarks is largely fantasy." ... "To use a phrase coined by [Republican] George H.W. Bush, this is "voodoo economics," based more on wishful thinking than on hard data or carefully considered policy proposals." [The Washington Post gives McCain's accounting numbers four Pinochio's out of a possible four, calling the statements by Candidate McCain "Whoppers."] -WashingtonPost

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20080521
• John McCain - John Hagee - Terrorism - Racism - Politician - Military - Religion - History - Germany - Israel - Palestine - Book - Arizona - US - 2008 Election - "McCain Backer Hagee Said Hitler Was Fulfilling God's Will (AUDIO)." ... "[Republican televangelist] John Hagee, the controversial evangelical leader and endorser of [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain, argued in a late 1990s sermon that the Nazis [Germany] had operated on God's behalf to chase the Jews from Europe and shepherd them to Palestine. According to the Reverend, Adolph Hitler was a "hunter," sent by God, who was tasked with expediting God's will of having the Jews re-establish a state of Israel." ... "Going in and out of biblical verse, Hagee preached: "'And they the hunters should hunt them,' that will be the Jews. 'From every mountain and from every hill and from out of the holes of the rocks.' If that doesn't describe what Hitler did in the holocaust you can't see that."" ... "He goes on: "Theodore Herzl is the father of Zionism. He was a Jew who at the turn of the 19th century said, this land is our land, God wants us to live there. So he went to the Jews of Europe and said 'I want you to come and join me in the land of Israel.' So few went that Hertzel went into depression. Those who came founded Israel; those who did not went through the hell of the holocaust." ... ""Then god sent a hunter. A hunter is someone with a gun and he forces you. Hitler was a hunter. And the Bible says -- Jeremiah writing -- 'They shall hunt them from every mountain and from every hill and from the holes of the rocks,' meaning there's no place to hide. And that might be offensive to some people but don't let your heart be offended. I didn't write it, Jeremiah wrote it. It was the truth and it is the truth. How did it happen? Because God allowed it to happen. Why did it happen? Because God said my top priority for the Jewish people is to get them to come back to the land of Israel." (Listen to the audio below.)" ... "The sermon, which was first posted by Bruce Wilson on his site, Talk To Action, adds another element to Hagee's controversial stance on the state and history of Israel." ... "Since McCain secured the endorsement, both his campaign and Hagee have been pressed to explain a series of derogatory remarks the Reverend made about the Catholic Church, including his reference to the institution as "the Great Whore."" ... "As Wilson notes, in his 2006 book "Jerusalem Countdown", Hagee proposed the theory that "anti-Semitism, and thus the Holocaust, was the fault of Jews themselves -- the result of an age old divine curse incurred by the ancient Hebrews through worshiping idols and passed, down the ages, to all Jews now alive." He also wrote that "Most readers will be shocked by the clear record of history linking Adolf Hitler and the Roman Catholic Church in a conspiracy to exterminate the Jews."" -By Sam Stein -HuffingtonPost.com

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  (Audio) "McCain Endorser Hagee: God Sent Hitler, Jews Have Dead Souls"
McCain Hagee:
McCain's endorser Hagee, "They [Jews] are physically alive but they're not spiritually alive."

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20080520
• Barack Obama - John McCain - Military - Terrorism - Iran - Palestine - Israel - Afghanistan - Foreign - South Dakota - Illinois - W.Va. - US - 2008 Election - "Obama criticizes McCain, Bush on appeasement talk." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama rebuked Republican [2008 Election Presidential] rival John McCain and [Republican] President Bush for "dishonest, divisive" attacks in hinting that the Democratic presidential candidate would appease terrorists, staunchly defending his national security credentials for the general election campaign." ... ""I'm a strong believer in civility and I'm a strong believer in a bipartisan foreign policy, but that cause is not served with dishonest, divisive attacks of the sort that we've seen out of George Bush and John McCain over the last couple days, " Obama told about 2,000 voters at a town hall-style meeting in a livestock barn [in South Dakota]." ... "Obama said McCain had a "naive and irresponsible belief that tough talk from Washington will somehow cause Iran to give up its nuclear program and support for terrorism."" ... ""They [Bush and McCain] aren't telling you the truth. They are trying to fool you and scare you because they can't win a foreign policy debate on the merits," said Obama. "But it's not going to work. Not this time, not this year."" ... ""That's exactly the kind of appalling attack that's divided our country and that alienates us from the world," Obama said." ... ""If they want a debate about protecting the United States of America, that's a debate I'm ready to win because George Bush and John McCain have a lot to answer for," Obama said. He blamed Bush's policies for enhancing the strength of terrorist groups such as Hamas [in Palestine] and "the fact that al-Qaida's leadership is stronger than ever because we took our eye off the ball in Afghanistan," among other failings." ... "Other Democrats accused McCain of hypocrisy Friday, saying the certain GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] presidential nominee had previously been willing to negotiate with the militant Palestian group Hamas." ... "In Charleston, W.Va. [West Virginia], speaking before Obama's speech, McCain told reporters: "I made it very clear, at that time, before and after, that we will not negotiate with terrorist organizations, that Hamas would have to abandon their terrorism, their advocacy to the extermination of the state of Israel, and be willing to negotiate in a way that recognizes the right of the state of Israel and abandons their terrorist position and advocacy."" -By Mike Glover with contributions by Glen Johnson -AP via -SeattleTimes

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20080517
• Obama - McCain - Osama bin Laden - US - Iraq - Iran - Palestine - Israel - Russia - China - Foreign - Military - Terrorism - Intelligence - Politics - History - Illinois - 2008 Election - "Obama Strikes Back at Bush On Diplomacy." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama pushed back Friday against [Republican] President Bush's implicit criticism of his approach to foreign policy, condemning his administration for not capturing Osama bin Laden and blaming its Iraq war policy for strengthening and emboldening Iran." ... ""If [Republicans] George Bush and John McCain want to have a debate about protecting the United States of America, that is a debate that I'm happy to have anytime, anyplace, and that is a debate I will win because George Bush and John McCain have a lot to answer for," the Democratic front-runner said." ... "At a news conference later Friday, Obama called it "disingenuous" to assert that he was not the clear target of the president's comments. Obama then used the exchange to link Bush's foreign policy record to McCain's stance toward the Middle East, and to outline the ways his own approach to the world's most vexing problems would differ from those of the current administration." ... "His list of grievances included a war fought on the premise of weapons of mass destruction that were never found, the failure to capture bin Laden and turning Iran into the "greatest beneficiary" of the Iraq war." ... "He said McCain will "need to answer" for a strengthened al-Qaeda leadership, Hamas's control of the Gaza Strip [Palestine], and Iran's ability to fund Hezbollah and pose "the greatest threat to America and Israel and the Middle East in a generation."" ... ""That's the Bush-McCain record on protecting this country," Obama said. "Those are the failed policies that John McCain wants to double down on."" ... "In a later appearance, Obama added that he is "puzzled" that the concept of meeting with controversial foreign leaders is a point of debate "when this has been the history of U.S. [United States] diplomacy until very recently."" ... "He pointed to [Democratic] President John F. Kennedy's meetings with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev when the United States and Russia were on the brink of nuclear war, and to [Republican] President Richard M. Nixon's meeting with China's Mao Zedong, "with the knowledge that Mao had exterminated millions of people." " -By Matthew Mosk with contributions by Perry Bacon Jr., Michael D. Shear and Dan Eggen -WashingtonPost

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20080516
• Opinion - John McCain - Clinton - Obama - US - 2008 Election - Israel - Palestine - Military - Terrorism - Politics - "[McCain] Hypocrisy on Hamas: McCain Was for Talking Before He Was Against It." ... "Two years ago, just after Hamas won the Palestinian parliamentary elections, I interviewed [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain for the British network Sky News's "World News Tonight" program. Here is the crucial part of our exchange:" ... "I asked: "Do you think that American diplomats should be operating the way they have in the past, working with the Palestinian government if Hamas is now in charge?"" ... "McCain answered: "They're the government; sooner or later we are going to have to deal with them, one way or another, and I understand why this administration and previous administrations had such antipathy towards Hamas because of their dedication to violence and the things that they not only espouse but practice, so . . . but it's a new reality in the Middle East. I think the lesson is people want security and a decent life and decent future, that they want democracy. Fatah was not giving them that."" ... "Given that exchange, the new John McCain might say that Hamas should be rooting for the old John McCain to win the presidential election. The old John McCain, it appears, was ready to do business with a Hamas-led government, while both [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidates Hillary] Clinton and [Barack] Obama have said that Hamas must change its policies toward Israel and terrorism before it can have diplomatic relations with the United States." ... "Even if McCain had not favored doing business with Hamas two years ago, he had no business smearing Barack Obama. But given his stated position then, it is either the height of hypocrisy or a case of political amnesia for McCain to inject Hamas into the American election." -By James P. Rubin -WashingtonPost

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  WATCH "McCain on Hamas in 2006: Going to Have to Deal With Them." John McCain: "They're the government; and sooner or later we are going to have to deal with them, in one way or another, and I understand why this administration and previous administrations had such antipathy towards Hamas is because of their dedication to violence and the the things that they not only espouse but practice, so . . . but it's a new reality in the Middle East. And I think the lesson is people want security and a decent life and decent future, then they want democracy. Fatah was not giving them that."

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• Barack Obama - Hillary Clinton - New York - South Dakota - Illinois - Nevada - California - US - Israel - Iran - Syria - Military - Terrorism - Politics - History - 2008 Election - "Bush Assails ‘Appeasement,’ Touching Off Storm." ... "[Republican] President Bush used a speech to the Israeli Parliament on Thursday to liken those who would negotiate with “terrorists and radicals” to appeasers of the Nazis — a remark widely interpreted as a rebuke to [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois] Senator Barack Obama, who has advocated greater engagement with countries like Iran and Syria." ... "The comments created an angry tussle back home, as Democrats accused Mr. Bush of breaching protocol by playing partisan politics overseas." ... "Mr. Obama delivered a quick and pointed response, saying in an e-mail statement to reporters that he had no intention of dealing with terrorists and accusing Mr. Bush of using his visit, timed for the 60th anniversary of Israel’s independence, to “launch a false political attack.”" ... "On Thursday, other Democrats leapt to the Illinois senator’s defense. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, called Mr. Bush’s remarks “reckless and irresponsible.” Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said Mr. Bush had behaved in a manner “beneath the dignity of the office of president.” Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, chairman of the House Democratic caucus, accused Mr. Bush of violating the unwritten rule against playing politics overseas." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and New York] Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Mr. Obama’s rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, joined him in taking issue with Mr. Bush. Weighing in from South Dakota, Mrs. Clinton said: “President Bush’s comparison of any Democrat to Nazi appeasers is offensive and outrageous, especially in the light of his failures in foreign policy. This is the kind of statement that has no place in any presidential address.”" -By Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Jim Rutenberg -NYTimes 

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  WATCH Pelosi's comment on Bush's criticism of Democrats while in Israel, "What the President did in that regard is beneath the dignity of the office of the President and unworthy of our representation at that observance in Israel. And I would hope that any serious person would disassociate themselves from the President's remarks who aspires to leadership in our country."

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20080515
• Barack Obama - Hillary Clinton - John McCain - Terrorism - Military - History - Israel - Iran - US - 2008 Election - "Barack Obama says President Bush falsely accused him of appeasement in speech in Israel." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama accused [Republican] President Bush of "a false political attack" Thursday after Bush warned in Israel against appeasing terrorists — early salvos in a general election campaign that's already blazing even as the Democratic front-runner tries to sew up his party's nomination." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain, the Republican nominee in waiting, said Obama was showing "naivete and inexperience and lack of judgment" in his willingness to meet with U.S. [United States] foes." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Hillary Rodham Clinton then called Bush's original comments "offensive and outrageous, especially in light of his failures in foreign policy."" ... "By tradition, partisan politics comes to a halt when a U.S. president is on foreign soil, and Bush's remarks led Obama to quickly cry foul. The first-term Illinois senator responded to the comments as if they were criticism of his position that as president he would be willing to personally meet with Iran's leaders and those of other regimes the United States has deemed rogue." ... ""It is sad that President Bush would use a speech to the Knesset on the 60th anniversary of Israel's independence to launch a false political attack," Obama said in a statement his aides distributed. "George Bush knows that I have never supported 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 is time to turn the page on eight years of policies that have strengthened Iran and failed to secure America or our ally Israel," Obama said in his statement. "Instead of tough talk and no action, we need to do what (Presidents) 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."" -By Liz Sidoti with contributions by Jennifer Loven and Glen Johnson -AP via -StarTribune 

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• Barack Obama - 2008 Election - US - Israel - Iran - Palestine - Terrorism - Military - "Obama attacks Bush over Iran barb." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama has accused [Republican] George W Bush of attacking him after the US president compared those in favour of talking to terrorists to Nazi appeasers." ... "The White House has denied that the remarks - from a speech to the Israeli parliament - were aimed at Mr Obama." ... "Mr Obama, who is the frontrunner to become the Democrats' presidential nominee, has argued in favour of negotiating with the Iranian regime." ... "But he has ruled out talking to militant organisations like Hamas [in Palestine]." -BBC/News 

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20080514
• US - Military - Families - Iraq - Afghanistan - Israel - Consumer - Business - Terrorism - Politics - History - "Bush Says He's Not A Golfer In Wartime." ... "[Republican] President Bush said yesterday that he gave up golfing in 2003 "in solidarity" with the families of soldiers who were dying in Iraq, concluding that it was "just not worth it anymore" to play the sport in a time of war." ... "Democrats have criticized Bush for allegedly not requiring Americans to sacrifice enough while waging wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and for urging people to keep shopping as a way to fight terrorism after the [September] Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Bush was also widely criticized in August 2002 when he decried terrorist bombings in Israel while golfing and then told reporters: "Now watch this drive."" ... "... [Presidential historian Robert] Dallek, who is critical of the current president's legacy, said Bush's remarks about Iraq "speak to his shallowness." Dallek added: "That's his idea of sacrifice, to give up golf?"" -By Dan Eggen -WashingtonPost

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  WATCH: "Now watch this drive," video of Republican President Bush golfing immediately after explaining that "We must stop the terror. I call upon all nations to do everything they can to stop these terrorist killers, thank you. Now watch this drive."

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20080512
• Barack Obama - 2008 Election - Illinois - US - Israel - History - Terrorism - Politics - "House Republican Leaders Twist Obama Statement on Israel." ... "In an interview with The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg, [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. [Democratic-Illinois], talked a great deal about Israel. He was rather effusive in his support for the Jewish state." ... "Apparently given nothing of substance to criticize, House Republican leaders then took a statement Obama made and twisted it to act as if the Democrat had insulted the Jewish state. Which he had not." ... "After describing some of the first times he thought about Zionism, Obama said "the idea of a secure Jewish state is a fundamentally just idea, and a necessary idea, given not only world history but the active existence of anti-Semitism, the potential vulnerability that the Jewish people could still experience."" ... "He talked about how "the idea of Israel and the reality of Israel is one that I find important to me personally. Because it speaks to my history of being uprooted, it speaks to the African-American story of exodus, it describes the history of overcoming great odds and a courage and a commitment to carving out a democracy and prosperity in the midst of hardscrabble land."" ... "He assailed Hamas as a terrorist organization and said the United States "should not be dealing with them until they recognize Israel, renounce terrorism, and abide by previous agreements."" -By Jake Tapper -ABCNEWS.com 

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20080508
• Barack Obama - John McCain - 2008 Election - Military - Terrorism - Israel - Palestine - Iraq - Pakistan - US - Indiana - North Carolina - "Obama: McCain is 'losing his bearings'." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama chastised [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain Thursday for engaging in “smear” politics, and defended himself from critics who question whether he is capable of being commander-in-chief, during a wide-ranging interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer — his first sit-down since the Indiana and North Carolina primaries." ... "“This is offensive, and I think it's disappointing,” Obama told Blitzer, when asked his thoughts about McCain’s comments that the terrorist organization Hamas wants Obama to be president. “Because John McCain always says ‘I am not going to run that kind of politics,’ and to engage in that kind of smear is unfortunate, particularly because my policy toward Hamas has been no different than his." ... "“I’ve said it’s a terrorist organization and we should not negotiate with them unless they recognize Israel, renounce violence, and unless they are willing to abide by previous accords between the Palestinians and the Israelis. So for him to toss out comments like that I think is an example of him losing his bearings as he pursues this nomination. We don’t need name calling in this debate.”" ... "(Related: Obama: World wants to see U.S. lead)" ... "On the topic of national security, Obama said that the American people are looking for a leader with “good judgment” — a trait the Democratic presidential hopeful said he possessed." ... "“Whether it’s my judgment on Iraq and recognizing that that was going to be a strategic blunder, to my insistence that we need to talk not just to countries we like, but countries we don’t, to my assessment in terms of how we had over-invested in the Musharraf government in Pakistan and that was going to be setting us up for failure later on,” Obama said. “I think I’ve consistently displayed the kind of judgment that the American people are looking for in the next president.”" -By Mark Preston and Alexander Mooney -CNN

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• Israel - Racism - Palestine - Families - Human Rights - Law - People - History - "Arabs say racism on rise as Israel turns 60." ... "Salwa Abu Jaber believes her story shows Israel discriminating against its Arab citizens, 60 years after the state was established as a haven for Jews." ... "The 32-year-old mother of four from northern Israel said her five-year-old daughter has never seen her father, who lives in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Separated from the man for five years, she says she has been forced to divorce him." ... "Thousands of families have been similarly split by a 2003 ban on Palestinians in the West Bank from reuniting with their families inside Israel, imposed citing security reasons after the Palestinian uprising or intifada began in 2000." ... ""In practical terms, Israel forced the divorce on us," Abu Jaber said. "We could not continue to live like this any longer. If this is not racism, then what is it?"" ... "This week, as Israel celebrates the anniversary of its foundation, its supreme court has said it found merit in the position of numerous petitions filed by rights groups against the law that keeps the families apart." ... "But Israeli Arabs -- those Palestinians who remained after hundreds of thousands fled or were expelled from their homes when Israel was created -- say institutionalized racism and illegal killings of Arabs have increased since the intifada started." ... "After 1948, about 120,000 stayed and were granted Israeli citizenship. Now about one in five Israelis is Arab, and many prefer to be called Palestinians like their kin outside Israel." ... "About 1.5 million Arabs reside in Israel with 5.5 million Jews, but 3.8 million Palestinians live in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem." (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) -By Mohammed Assadi with contributions by Samia Nakhoul, Sara Ledwith and Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem -Reuters 

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20080423
• Barack Obama - Hillary Rodham Clinton - Karl Rove - Terrorism - Politics - Osama bin Laden - Television - Ad - Money - History - Pennsylvania - Illinois - New York - Iran - Israel - US - Military - 2008 Election - "The Low Road to Victory." ... "The Pennsylvania campaign, which produced yet another inconclusive result on Tuesday, was even meaner, more vacuous, more desperate, and more filled with pandering than the mean, vacuous, desperate, pander-filled contests that preceded it." ... "Voters are getting tired of it; it is demeaning the political process; and it does not work. It is past time for [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and New York] Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to acknowledge that the negativity, for which she is mostly responsible, does nothing but harm to her, her opponent, her party and the 2008 election." ... "If nothing else, self interest should push her in that direction. Mrs. Clinton did not get the big win in Pennsylvania that she needed to challenge the calculus of the Democratic race. It is true that [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois] Senator Barack Obama outspent her 2-to-1. But Mrs. Clinton and her advisers should mainly blame themselves, because, as the political operatives say, they went heavily negative and ended up squandering a good part of what was once a 20-point lead." ... "On the eve of this crucial primary, Mrs. Clinton became the first Democratic candidate to wave the bloody shirt of 9/11. A Clinton television ad — torn right from Karl Rove’s playbook — evoked the 1929 stock market crash, Pearl Harbor, the Cuban missile crisis, the cold war and the 9/11 attacks, complete with video of Osama bin Laden. “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen,” the narrator intoned." ... "If that was supposed to bolster Mrs. Clinton’s argument that she is the better prepared to be president in a dangerous world, she sent the opposite message on Tuesday morning by declaring in an interview on ABC News that if Iran attacked Israel while she were president: “We would be able to totally obliterate them.”" -NYTimes

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