"[Rev. Wright] expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country – a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam."

http://www.drudgereport.com/flashos.htm

In the balance of the speech, Obama displays his remarkable ability to articulate the views of both blacks and whites, highlighting distortions in their outlooks, as well as points of unity. But no such nuance is found in this wholly one-sided caricature of Israel and Islam. Indeed, it's so starkly inconsistent that it sounds like a kidnap victim's note, written at gunpoint. And maybe it was.

The upshot is that for Barack Obama, Muslims are the new Willie Horton. If demonizing them will win an election, and energize a flood of Jewish cash, then by God, let's whack 'em!

This was intended to be a hopeful speech. Toward the end, Obama stated:

"We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. We can tackle race only as spectacle – as we did in the OJ trial – or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina – or as fodder for the nightly news. We can do that. But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we’ll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change. That is one option. Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, “Not this time.”

Sounds brave, doesn't it? Yet when it comes to Israel, Obama has chosen the first option: stick to stereotypes and caricatures, and sweep meaningful discussion under the rug.

So instead of hope, Obama's speech inspires only dread. He's clearly going to drive the middle eastern bus off the cliff, perhaps taking the U.S. over the precipice with it. It didn't have to be this way, Mr. Obama. Didn't Rev. Wright warn you about selling your soul to Mammon?

"Security guards with Israeli accents turned away people at the door as the room overflowed." Wow, same deal as the Breaking the Silence exhibit at Harvard Hillel. It really makes me feel good, knowing that foreign soldiers are involved in political events which concern my country's future. Thank goodness there's no Lobby. Nobody here but us Americans!

Get Israel out of my government, off my back, and get their hands out of my wallet, then we can talk about how our problems are self-inflicted.

The disaster in Iraq is entirely due to Israeli moles in our government, such as Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, and Douglas Feith, who planted false evidence and blackmailed our leaders into a war for Israel's benefit. The looming disaster in Iraq is likewise due to Israel-Firsters pushing for us to fight Israel's wars for them.

Jesus said that "no one can serve two masters", therefore, Jesus has declared that anyone who is loyal to Israel is NOT loyal to the United States. There is no middle ground.

Excuse me? The role of the POTUS is to advance the interests of Americans.

The assertion of the Clinton surrogate really, really frosts my ass. It's outrageous.

OK, Doug. Those statements are lunatic. Unconditional, official support for Israel is problematic, but hardly of the scope you claim. Let's maintain some perspective.