My friend Jack Ross lives in Brooklyn. He's a Jew on the left. He sent me an email re Obama's speech at AIPAC that I found interesting. I've interpolated my leaden comments [thusly]:
When I read the first extended account of the speech
this morning I actually felt better about it then I
did yesterday. References to the need for a
"contiguous and cohesive" Palestinian state, and even
on the flip side about the need to "preserve Israel as
a Jewish state", seemed to me to exhibit the Godfather
approach insofar as Obama pushed the envelope by
suggesting either principle is in question.
Also consider that AIPAC may have its own agenda in
showering Obama with such praise and applause, and
that Obama’s more outrageous declarations may well
have been meant to play into it – that is, that AIPAC
is desperate to preserve the image of bipartisanship
and broadness of mind on the vital issues. Don’t
forget either that all candidates lie through their
teeth in these speeches – every president has promised
to move the embassy to Jerusalem.
But absolutely, Milbank’s article [in WPost] is a most welcome
development, and you can bet considering that Milbank
is a mainstay of Olbermann and thus of the Obama
campaign junta at MSNBC, that the article was
published with Obama’s blessing. [Jack this seems too
conspiratorial for me, sorry dude] After McCain spoke
at AIPAC Olbermann had his piece denouncing him in
which he referred to AIPAC as being “sometimes
controversial”. I asked my friend Ernest Evans if he agreed
that this statement was a breakthrough, and he replied
“frankly it’s a breakthrough that he’s talking about
AIPAC at all”. [I agree completely]
In the end, the most important thing to keep in mind
about all this is that Obama never has to do this
again.
[One other thing. It may be that we are all being too credulous about the Milbank piece. Milbank is not a very straightforward writer. Of course part of that is, he is an entertainer. But it may be that he was signalling to the Jewish community, protectively, This guy is lying thru his teeth… Don’t trust him. Janet McMahon of WRMEA had that feeling, and I did when I first read his piece. I suppose I could investigate further but frankly, he’s not that interesting…]
