Comments on: Hot-Damn! Obama’s Secretly a Leftist

By: americangoy

americangoy — Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000

Well he is dancing around the issues of the pro Israel Jewish-American lobby instead of shouting it out full blast with a megaphone.

As a good politician should - goes with the job (some recent examples of American politicians notwithstanding...)

By: Richard Witty

Richard Witty — Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000

I think Obama is experiencing a combination of phenomena.

1. He is open to dialog and presentation of credible alternative perspectives.

2. He has more respect and sympathy for the dilemmas of Israeli leaders in dealing with terrorism, than just the ideological formulation.

I like it. He is different than Bush, is different than Clinton, but he is also different than Abunimah.

By: bar_kochba132

bar_kochba132 — Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000

Phil said:
———————
Obama is schooled completely in progressive values. He's a leftist at heart, I better keep that secret.
———————

You are right, you had better keep it a secret, since most American voters are not "progressive" in the sense that you mean it. However, it will get out, McCain's people will see to it. That is why he will lose against McCain.

BTW-Why is refusing to identify with your country when it is under attack, and thousands of its citizens butchered considered to be "progressive"?

By: Jim Haygood

Jim Haygood — Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000

By the way, why is "just pressing down on these folks constantly without giving them some prospects for hope" [Obama's words], and evaluating the results in the cold-blooded terms of "that's not good for our security situation" [ditto], acceptable for any country or religion?

By: tonylee

tonylee — Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000

bar_kochba132, I understand what you are saying. But the two most important issues
for the U.S are the Israel Palastine issue and getting control of nukes in the former soviet union. Obama just got my vote.

By: Sean

Sean — Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000

//Obama clearly has studied the progressive critique of Israel//

And Hillary hasn't. Or if she has, she's unwilling to air it. And she wonders why she's getting her ass kicked by this guy?

By: bar_kochba132

bar_kochba132 — Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000

Tonylee:

What is Obama's policy about getting control of the nuclear weapons of the former USSR and how is it different than that of other candidates? I thought that the Ukraine, for example, turned to the US years ago to deal with dismantling their arsenal. I also know Khazakstan, which also has good relations with the US, also had weapons and although I can't recall what they did with them, I assume the US also had a hand in it. For that matter, I understand the US has helped Pakistan increase security of its nukes, which I think most people believe is a greater problem that those of the former USSR.

By: Chuck

Chuck — Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000

Honest dialogue regarding Israel???

Time to pour yourself another Jack Daniels, Phil.

By: scorpio

scorpio — Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000

i can top michelle obama. i havent been proud of this country since Nixon & Wallace in '68. that's 40 of my 50 years on the planet. i think she's being generous. it's time for a progressive vision for this country. i think people are starved for it. Wall St Republicans and Democrats have devoured the recent past.

By: Donald

Donald — Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:00:00 +0000

I had mixed feelings about this. Phil quotes the more positive aspects of it. On the negative side, Obama says he supported Israel's war in 2006.

Which is defensible, up to a point, but the problem was that Israel killed hundreds of civilians with its indiscriminate bombing and whether or not one thinks they had a right to go to war, their actual conduct of the war was as criminal as Hezbollah's firing of rockets (and deadlier, but the point is that both sides were guilty of war crimes.) Obama isn't going to be an honest broker if he can't bring himself to criticize Israel in cases like that. He'll have to be more forthright in office and I have no reason to think he will be. Many Americans are willing to pay lip service to the notion of balance on this subject.