George W. Bush

Is Obama Changing US Policy Toward Israel From What It Was Under Earlier Presidents? NO!

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There has been a divided response to President Obama’s proposal that Israel and the Palestinians come to an agreement to return to the pre 1967 War boundary lines, but with agreed upon “land swaps” to create viable, contiguous boundaries for both Israel and a Palestinian state.

Many major Jewish organizations, along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, criticized the statement, with Netanyahu doing so eyeball to eyeball in the Oval Office before cameras, and also in a speech to a joint session of Congress, allowing the Republicans in Congress to attack the President’s stand.

Of course, it was all politics on the part of Netanyahu to keep the control of his unstable coalition government in Israel, and also politics on the part of the Republicans, who are so used to lies and deception on a regular basis!

The fact is that earlier Prime Ministers of Israel, including Ehud Olmert and Ehud Barak, had understood what Obama said, and George W. Bush had made the same statement a few times during his Presidency, along with Bill Clinton in his last year in the White House!

The understanding was clear to those who wished to notice, that Obama was NOT calling upon Israel to give up stable boundaries, and therefore the statement about “land swaps”, which is very different from the unstable situation before the 1967 war.

Also, Obama understood the need for Arab recognition of Israel, and that Israel could not deal with a terrorist government of Hamas as part of a Palestinian negotiating team, and that the US would be against recognition of a Palestinian state by the United Nations until the Palestinians recognized Israel’s right to exist!

Obama was not demanding any territorial concessions, unless agreed to by the participants in the negotiation, and it is clear that division of Jerusalem, or return of the Golan Heights is unlikely.

But Israel trying to continue to have control of heavily Palestinian territories in the West Bank would be a long term nightmare, and as long as areas of Jewish settlement are secure in Israeli hands, the argument is that Israel is fighting a losing demographic battle with the Palestinians, and should not want occupation of areas that are hard to govern, so should wish for peace, as long as they have a willing partner, which right now seems highly unlikely, in any case.

All that Obama is trying to accomplish is the movement forward in negotiations, but with understanding that there is no quick or easy fix likely at any time in the future!

Wisconsin Senate Seat Open With Herb Kohl’s Retirement: Will Russ Feingold Seek The Seat?

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With the announced retirement a week ago of Senator Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, the possibility of the return of former Senator Russ Feingold, who was defeated by Tea Party favorite and businessman Ron Johnson, to the US Senate beckons.

Feingold, who has formed his own Political Action Committee, Progressives United, to fight for progressive causes, has not announced if he will seek the seat, but progressives all over America should insist he run, as his defeat in 2010 was the biggest loss for progressives and liberals, of all the lost members in the Republican tide of 2010.

Rumors had spread that House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan would seek the seat, but with the outrage expressed nationally and in his home district against his Medicare plan to privatize the system over the next decade, he seems reluctant to give up his prestigious position to run for a junior role in the Senate as a new member.

Instead, former Governor Tommy Thompson, who was also Health and Human Services Secretary under President George W. Bush, is planning to run, making a possible top race between Feingold and Thompson.

The question will be whether Thompson, as former HHS Secretary, will endorse the Ryan plan on Medicare.

If he does, and Feingold runs, it will be a classic battle of progressivism against extreme right wing conservatism and Tea Party influence. It will be a battle for the future of the social safety net of the New Deal and Great Society, and it is unacceptable for Feingold to decide not to run, and to lose the race to Thompson or any other Republican, even if Thompson does not support the Ryan plan.

This is one of the key battles for the future of America!

The Republican Party’s Effect Since 2001: Promotion Of Ignorance, Poverty, Shorter Life Span!

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Since the inauguration of President George W. Bush in January, 2001, the Republican Party has been going down the path of promoting hatred of government, a tone of mean spiritedness and lack of compassion, and extreme advocacy of the interests of the rich and powerful at the expense of the rest of American society!

Whether it is the national government, state governments, or local governments, the Republican Party philosophy has been in unison with the promotion of ignorance, by doing everything within their capability to undermine educational opportunity, the major way for an individual to advance in social mobility!

The Republican Party has also managed to destroy the American economy through lack of regulation of corporations and Wall Street, and through manipulation and incompetence, they have created the worst economic conditions since the 1930s. And any attempt by President Barack Obama and his Democratic Party to reverse course has been met by total obstructionism and refusal to deal with the jobs crisis, therefore creating a higher level of poverty in America than we have seen in many decades.

And now, with the refusal to recognize the humanity of promoting health care for ALL Americans, and instead doing everything to DENY health care, and to advocate the destruction of Medicare as we know it, the Republican Party is making clear its lack of concern for longevity of life of anyone who is poor or elderly.

How any decent human being could be a loyal Republican, with the total lack of humanity and compassion that the present party membership in politics has, is beyond comprehension!

Barack Obama And Israel: Is He Abandoning Israel? NO!

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Listening to Republicans and Fox News Channel today, one would think that Barack Obama is ready to destroy Israel in his quest for good relations with the Islamic world.

Nothing could be further from the truth!

Obama, in his speech at the State Department yesterday, and in his meeting with right wing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today at the White House, made it clear that the United States does not expect Israel to negotiate with Palestinian leadership which refuses to recognize the right of Israel to exist.

Obama also said that the Palestinian leadership cannot expect Israel to accept their dealing with and uniting with Hamas, the terrorist government in charge of the Gaza Strip.

Also, Obama said that the United States would back up Israel in the United Nations against any move to delegitimize or isolate it by vote in that body.

Also, Israel cannot be expected to endanger its own national security and safe borders, and that America would back its steadfast ally in its desire to remain a secular, democratic nation.

The controversial part of the Obama speech yesterday dealt with the proposal to return to pre 1967 borders with some mutually agreeable land swaps to stabilize the territorial boundaries of Israel and a Palestinian state. This is, Obama said, a beginning point for negotiations. Notice, the words are BEGINNING point for NEGOTIATIONS! It is NOT settling the final boundaries and terms of a settlement.

This idea of promoting negotiations and making concessions on both sides is nothing new! It was promoted by all of our Presidents since Israel was created in 1948, but always with the guarantee of protection of the security interests of Israel, our traditional ally!

To believe that President Obama is abandoning Israel is simply wrong thinking, and it must be recalled that earlier Israeli governments under other Prime Ministers were willing to make concessions for peace, but without handing over the security and sovereignty of Israel to Palestinians and terrorists.

The main point here is to help promote negotiations at a time of the so called “Arab Spring”, when so much turmoil and possible democratization is occurring in an area that has seen such harsh dictatorial regimes for so long.

It turns out that President George W. Bush had called for return to pre 1949 boundary lines when Israel was first created, as recently as a speech in 2008, while Obama referred to pre 1967, which in most respects is the same statement, but when Bush suggested it, his party endorsed it, but when Obama suggests it, he is bitterly condemned by Republicans.

What it comes down to is that the Republican party, as always, will simply come out against anything Obama says or does, even if it follows earlier Republican principles or stands.

So an appropriate term for this might be that the Republican Party has a disease–Obama Derangement Syndrome!

John McCain Vs The Bush Administration And Rick Santorum

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Senator John McCain of Arizona, the 2008 GOP Presidential nominee, spent five and a half years in a North Vietnamese prison, and suffered horrible torture.

George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and other figures in the Bush Administration NEVER suffered torture, and neither did former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, who is one of the group of Republicans seeking the Presidency in 2012.

But the Bush loyalists and Senator Santorum continue to assert that waterboarding, a form of torture, helped to bring about the assassination of Osama Bin Laden two weeks ago, despite clearcut evidence from CIA head Leon Panetta that waterboarding had no role in bringing about the demise of Bin Laden.

Senator McCain had the courage last week to condemn those who think torture is an acceptable and useful method to gain information from detainees. McCain has always been against the breaking of international law which the Bush Administration was engaged in by using waterboarding as a method to try to force information from captives in the War on Terror.

If John McCain, who suffered for this country, and CIA head Leon Panetta, both claim that torture did not work, and undermines our values, that should be enough to stop the propaganda endorsing torture, and it is good that Barack Obama has repudiated such a policy in the future, as it diminished the image of the United States as a nation that exists under law and a sense of morality.

The Bush Apologists In Full Swing: Blame Clinton And Avoid Giving Full Credit To Obama Regarding Osama Bin Laden

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The Bush Presidency was when September 11 occurred, and everyone knows that George W. Bush was on vacation in Crawford, Texas, and did not pay attention to the memorandum warning of the intentions of Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda to attack America in a short period of time.

The Bush apologists went to work after September 11, placing a large share of the blame on Bill Clinton, because he had not resolved the threat of Al Qaeda during his administration.

Now that President Obama hasa accomplished the goal of eliminating Osama Bin Laden, after the Bush Administration had over seven years to resolve the issue and failed, Bush apologists are trying to take a lion’s share of the credit for his demise, pointing out the effects of waterboarding on gaining information as to his location, even though there is no proof that using torture actually worked. They have tried to give Bush the major credit for setting up the conditions for the successful mission, even though it occurred more than two years after Bush left office.

In both ends of this story, there is a refusal to take responsibility by Bush and his apologists for the failures, instead blaming Clinton and avoiding giving full credit to Obama.

This is an attempt at rewriting history, and taking Bush off the hook on the whole disgraceful matter of September 11.

Fortunately, intelligent and knowledgeable people KNOW that Bush is responsible for the failures in 2001, and has no right to ANY credit for the success of 2011!

The Multi Tasking President In His Prime: One Week In Barack Obama’s Presidency

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Everyone knows that the American Presidency is a tremendous burden, with the occupant of the Oval Office having to deal with so many issues and problems at the same time, that he MUST be able to multi task with great skill.

So is the case of Barack Obama, who in one week, did the following:

1. Had Hawaii issue his official Certificate of Live Birth to silence his critics, which now have dropped dramatically, according to public opinion polls.

2. Toured Alabama and other states that were victims of the worst tornado destruction in decades, and was praised for the quick federal response to the natural disaster, as compared to Hurricane Katrina uncer President George W. Bush

3. Traveled to Florida to witness the Space Shuttle launch, which was unfortunately delayed, but also to visit Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, wounded in an assassination attempt in January, who was there to witness her husband, Mark Kelly, the captain of the shuttle crew, begin the space mission.

4. Performed great standup comedy at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner, including teasing of Donald Trump, who has been bad mouthing Obama for the past month, including on the “birther” controversy.

5. All of that week, and even earlier, Obama was planning the raid on the compound in Pakistan to eliminate the Al Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden, the most daring action by a President in many decades!

And in the past week since, Obama has also visited the site of Ground Zero and commiserated with the families of victims of the World Trade Center, and also visited the Navy SEALS who were engaged in the most delicate operation possible, the attack on the Bin Laden compound and retrieval of the body of Bin Laden after he was killed.

This period of the last week of April and first week of May, a two week period, will go down in history as one of the most momentous periods in the history of the nation!

The Proper Decision By Barack Obama On Photo Images Of Osama Bin Laden!

Ronald 1 Comment

We are so fortunate to have Barack Obama as our President, as he is such a wise man in so many ways!

The President’s decision today NOT to release photo images of Osama Bin Laden’s body makes total sense, as to do so would provoke violence and increase the possibilities of terrorism.

There is nothing to be gained by putting such photos into circulation. It would shock many sensitive people and children, and there is no need to waste effort trying to prove to conspiracy theorists that Bin Laden is dead, as there is absolutely no chance that he will suddenly emerge and tell us he is alive!

It is time for our government and intelligent, normal people to stop catering to conspiracy theorists!

Let them have their hallucinations and work on gullible people, while the rest of us deal with the real world that exists, and work to make our government operate better!

We certainly do not need to brag about what we accomplished regarding Osama Bin Laden, and it is a tribute to our President that he is not boasting about it, showing swagger, being cocky, which assuredly George W. Bush and Dick Cheney would have been had it happened on their watch!

Just because one accomplishes a goal does not mean we have to draw attention to ourselves, as the act alone is more than enough for a normal, healthy person. This whole matter shows just how well balanced and stable a President we have, and we should be thankful for that, and for his sound judgment!

The fact that Sarah Palin is finding fault with Obama on this matter is further proof of the stupidity and empty mindedness of this woman, who should never have been given a national stage by John McCain. As stated many times before, Sarah needs to be out of our lives, as she is detrimental to American sanity!

Obama Action On Bin Laden Proof John Kerry Was Right In 2004 Campaign Stand On War On Terror

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In 2004, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, the Democratic Presidential nominee, was trashed by the Bush Administration and Vice President Dick Cheney for his assertion that defeating terrorism was based on law enforcement, rather than constant military intervention!

Kerry said intelligence gathering and law enforcement, in cooperation with other nations, was the way to fight terrorism, rather than create military clashes with other civilizations.

Kerry also said that we should look at terrorism as a nuisance, not as a constant threat to everyone on a daily basis. If we militarize the struggle against terrorism, we will be involved in endless military confrontations, he declared! Instead, we should work to improve relations with the Islamic world!

Instead, we have spent four trillion dollars and lost 49,000 men, dead and wounded combined, in fighting an endless war against terrorism, which cannot be won by military strategy alone, as shown by the failures in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The last decade did not have to be a decade of war, causing our tremendous national debt. We did not need to overreact as we did, and this will always be the condemnation that the Bush Administration deserves!

We live in a world now more unsafe than it was on September 12, 2001, and if we had had President Al Gore or President John Kerry, that would not have been the result, and we would not have to be considering destroying Medicare and Medicaid, and denying children educational needs, and damaging the environment, and the denial of civil liberties that was brought about by the Patriot Act hysteria right after September 11!

So although losing the Presidency, we owe gratitude to Senator John Kerry for his vision and wisdom, not appreciated by his countrymen in 2004!

Republican Lies And Deception After Bin Laden Is Killed Under Obama’s Watch

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It is amazing how the Republican leadership feels a need to promote lies and deception in a moment of great triumph for President Obama!

They have to put in the concept that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney and others working under the last administration were responsible for providing information that helped Obama accomplish a goal that Bush could not achieve in more than seven years.

They try to claim that “enhanced interrogation techniques”, meaning torture including water boarding, were responsible for information that led to the successful mission. But it is clear that is a total fabrication, meant to justify the Bush Administration’s violation of international law and the laws of war!

Also, it is clear that George W. Bush, himself, had dismissed the importance of finding Bin Laden within less than a year after September 11!

It is also clear that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and General Tommy Franks, in charge of the Afghanistan invasion in 2001, chose not to pursue Bin Laden at Tora Bora when we knew he was there in the months after September 11, allowing him to get away and live in hiding for nine and a half years!

So for the Bush loyalists to claim that Bush and his administration deserve credit for what has happened is totally without substance, and it is time for the Republicans to give full credit to the courage and brilliance of Barack Obama, who has accomplished the greatest single victory by his actions since John F. Kennedy accomplished the solution of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October, 1962!