Carter Shouldn't But Obama Can and Elitism!

Obama finally slams Carter to appease Jewish voters but how does this square with his earlier comments that he will talk/meet with Iran? Obama does not feel Carter is correct in meeting with Hamas until they renounce terrorism and accept Israel's right to exist but he is wiling to sit/meet with Iran etc. Seems either Obama is pandering for votes or has caught himself in another trap of inconsistency. (See 1 below.)

Obamas has also decided to start wearing the American Flag pin again. You see, I wore a pi, then I took off the pin, then I put the pin back. You know, patriotism is a sometime thing! (See 2 below.)

Perhaps Obama should be put in the D.C. zoo next to the "Pandas."


IAF responds to previous attack by Hamas in which 3 Israeli soldiers were killed. These actions by Israel accomplish nothing strategically. (See 3 below.)

Michelle denies she is an elitist.

It is OK, Michelle, to be an elitist, after all you and your husband attended exclusive schools, live in a million dollar home, report a combined income quite above that of "Joe lunch box" and mingle with the upper classes. The problem seems to be your husband made condescending comments, that suggest he looks down on the little people. Let's face it, Michelle, Obama never served in the military, has spent only two years in the Senate and apparently awoke one morning, after listening to his reverend, and decided he knew what was wrong with our nation and could fix it. In truth, your husband doesn't have all the answers, if he has any. He has run a clever and slick campaign against a women with high negatives, who has run a lousy campaign, at a time when your own party and mistakes made by the current administration has led to frustration and despair.

If truth be known Michelle, your husband suffers from something far worse than elitism. He suffers from an overblown imagination of his ability. His views frequently smack of racism, he is beginning to make his share of gaffs and he is slowly being found out notwithstanding his efforts to hide who he really is and what he really thinks.

Most Americans, unlike yourself, are proud of their country but are concerned about the nation's direction with cause, most Americans are religious because they believe in something other than themselves, most Americans do not own guns and most Americans can smell a fraud a mile away.

If factories have closed, it is not because of Free Trade Agreements. It is because labor unions out-priced themselves, management allowed it or could not stop it because of government legislation which favors unions, American industry did not stay abreast of the competition, Americans are not savers and we allowed our education system to rot. These are systemic problems and being a captive of labor, Obama's voting record belies his rhetoric.

Obama might be able to glibly talk his way out of any hole he gets himself into because he went to Harvard but he has yet to convince me he knows what he is talking about, has any answers that make sense and will stand the test of time.

In fact, the Senator has proven to be just another Far Left politician who has wrapped a message of change in old thread worn solutions that,in no small measure, have brought us to where we are - economically and socially speaking. When Congress gets our fiscal house in order, addresses the enormous off balance sheet obligations we face down the road, allows competition to determine the course of education, we restore responsibility and self respect as part of our national character and we bury political correctness then, and only then, will we meet be in the best position of meeting future challenges.

It is ironic that the one elite segment of our society is the military. They are the finest, most spirited and courageous segment of our society. How is that? What are they doing right? Is it because of discipline, education, training and patriotism? Yet, your own Senate Majority Leader disparages their achievements , has little faith in their accomplishments and you would have them accept defeat. Nothing elite about that for sure!

Dick


1) Obama slams Carter for meeting Hamas, tries to reassure Jewish voters

PHILADELPHIA - U.S. Senator Barack Obama on Wednesday criticized former U.S. President Jimmy Carter for meeting with leaders of the Islamic terrorist group Hamas as he tried to reassure Jewish voters that his presidential candidacy is not a threat to them or U.S. support for Israel.

The Democratic presidential candidate's comments, made to a group of Jewish leaders in Philadelphia, were his first on Carter's controversial meeting scheduled this week in Egypt.

Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting John McCain called on Obama to repudiate Carter in a speech Monday.

Obama told the Jewish group he had a fundamental disagreement with Carter, who was rebuffed by Israeli leaders during a peace mission to the Middle East this week.

"We must not negotiate with a terrorist group intent on Israel's destruction," Obama said.

"We should only sit down with Hamas if they renounce terrorism, recognize Israel's right to exist, and abide by past agreements," he added.

Obama has been working to reassure Jewish voters nervous about his candidacy in the wake of publicity about anti-Israel sentiments expressed by his pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

Obama's rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton, also criticized him during a February debate, saying he did not immediately rejected an endorsement from black Muslim leader Louis Farrakhan. Obama responded that he already denounced Farrakhan, but would reject his support as well.

Obama told the group that he had not been aware of Wright's more incendiary speeches before launching his presidential campaign last year, even though he had been a member of Wright's congregation for nearly 20 years. Obama said he had spoken to Wright and privately conveyed his concerns about some of his sermons once he learned of their content. But he acknowledged that he had declined to be more public in his criticism until recently, since Wright was preparing to retire from ministry at Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ.

"You make a decision about how are you going to handle it," Obama said. "Do you publicly denounce his comments? Do you privately express concern but recognize you are still part of a broader church community that is going to be transitioning? I chose the latter."

Obama has stepped up his outreach to the Jewish community in recent weeks after videos of Wright's speeches surfaced where he criticized Israel and expressed sympathy for the Palestinian cause.

Among other things, Wright has denounced Israel as racist and suggested tension between Israel and the Palestinians had contributed to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Obama also met privately with about 100 Jewish leaders in Ohio before that state's primary March 4.

Obama has been the subject of persistent Internet rumors suggesting he is a Muslim who was educated at a Madrassah in Indonesia and took the oath of office with his hand on a Koran. Obama did spend part of his childhood in Indonesia but attended Catholic and public schools there. He took the oath of office on a Bible.

Obama delivered a well-received speech last month addressing the Wright controversy, in which he criticized many of his former pastor's views. But the issue has continued to dog him.

Obama told Jewish leader he would work as president to diminish tensions between the black and Jewish communities, noting that both groups shared the experience of suffering discrimination.

2)Breaking News: Obama caves! Flag pin returns to his coat lapel

OMG, will you look at that? Amazing what a protracted primary struggle amid bitter small towns will do to previously stated political positions.

You may recall Obama removed the lapel flag pin last fall as something of a gesture of independence if you're an Obama fan -- or an act of defiant antiwar non-patriotism if you're not.

At the time Obama simply removed the pin, which most politicians had worn on their suit coats since 9/12 as a sign of patriotism, solidarity with 9/11 victims and their families and national support for American troops.

However, when a sharp-eyed local ABC-TV reporter in Iowa asked him, half-jokingly, about it in October, Obama went on seriously at some length:

"You know, the truth is that right after 9/11, I had a pin. Shortly after 9/11, particularly because as we're talking about the Iraq war, that became a substitute for, I think, true patriotism, which is speaking out on issues that are of importance to our national security, I decided I won't wear that pin on my chest.

"Instead," Obama added rather grandiosely, "I'm going to try to tell....

the American people what I believe will make this country great, and hopefully that will be a testimony to my patriotism."

Of course, removal of the little symbol could also be framed as a statement of principle that usefully An American flag lapel pin like Democratic senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama has not been wearing until April 15 2008 underlined his oft-stated and long-standing opposition to the Iraq war unlike, say, some other Democratic senators who wanted to be president and voted to authorize use of force in Iraq.

The little flag's big disappearance aroused considerable controversy at the time. It was tied in with the fraudulent photo of Obama not placing his hand over his heart during the Pledge of Allegiance, thus publicly displaying a lack of patriotism.

"It just shows you he's not ready for prime time," said Laura Ingraham, the conservative commentator.

Once the flames of controversy really got roaring, Obama reasonably explained, "I'm less concerned with what you're wearing on your lapel than what's in your heart. You show your patriotism by how you treat your fellow Americans, especially those who serve. And you show your patriotism by being true to your values and ideals. And that's what we have to lead with, our values and ideals." But it was too late by then.

OK, he weathered that one and has done just fine on the delegate-collection side of things ever since, wearing naked lapels. Although the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's sermon about the chickens coming home to roost on American shores on 9/11 re-created some awkward moments for Obama.

But, whoa, there he was Tuesday on national television at a Keystone State town hall meeting trying, with some success, according to recent polls, to play catch-up to Sen. Hillary Clinton in the next key Democratic primary state of Pennsylvania, which votes April 22.

And there, like a screaming eagle proclaiming Obama's patriotism for all the bitter, disgruntled voters of small-town America to see just days after he seemed to dis them to an elite crowd of donors at an allegedly closed fund-raiser in a San Francisco mansion, waving stiffly on the senator's left lapel was the old red-white-and-blue BEFORE PHOTO Illinois Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama wearing naked lapelsflag pin. Watch and see if it's still there in tonight's debate.

According to a touching-possibly-true-but-then-again-you-never-know-in-big-time-politics report circulating on several blogs during the night, the pin was reportedly given to Obama Tuesday morning by a disabled veteran whose name nobody seems to know right now.

So naturally not wanting to hurt the vet's feelings, how could the 46-year-old Obama do anything other than immediately put the pin back on his public lapel for as long as necessary?

If we were cynical and had over the years seen even the most seemingly idealistic politicians sway with the winds in the face of political pressure just before a crucial election, we'd write something about how convenient that no one caught the vet's name.

But then, probably by lunchtime today someone will find a disabled Pennsylvania veteran who claims he's the one who proudly gave the little pin to the candidate. And Obama can then wear the minute flag until he himself turns 88 without having to explain an embarrassing but awfully convenient political flip-flop in the face of running against a Republican war veteran who spent nearly six years in a POW cell. And who, by the way, won his party's presidential nomination rather handily without any lapel pin.

3) Fayyad: IDF operation in Gaza 'crime against humanity'
By Ali Waked and Hanan Goldberg

Clashes, air strikes continue throughout day as IDF troops engage Palestinian gunmen. Officials in Gaza put death toll at 18 - including two youths, local photographer. Palestinian Authority declares day of mourning


The Palestinian government, headed by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, declared a nation day of morning will commence on Thursday following the deaths of 18 Palestinians in IDF strikes in the Gaza Strip. Fayyad's cabinet harshly condemned the Israeli operations, calling them "crimes against humanity."



Since the early morning hours on Wednesday the death toll in Gaza has risen to 18, several of whom are said to be youths.



Ten people were reported killed in an IDF strike near the region where three IDF soldiers were killed earlier in the day during an exchange of fire with Palestinian gunmen. Witnesses said the attack included at least three Israeli missiles. The army confirmed it had targeted a group of gunmen in northern Gaza.



Most of those killed are members of the 'Army of the Nation' organization, however two youths are also said to be among the dead. At least 17 people were wounded in the attack, which Palestinians say took place near a mosque. Several of the wounded are reportedly in serious condition.



In the early evening hours a second airstrike was reported in central Gaza, A local photographer employed by the London-based Reuters news agency and two Palestinian men were killed.



Clashes were also reported between armed Palestinians and IDF troops near Khan Younis. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is currently visiting Moscow, also slammed the operations. Abbas called on the Israeli government to "end the aggression and cooperate with Egypt's efforts to secure a ceasefire."


Names of fallen Israeli soldiers released

The three Givati Brigade combat soldiers killed in Wednesday's clashes are: Corporal Matan Ovdati (19) from Moshav Patsih in the western Negev, Corporal Menahesh Albinath (20) from the Negev town of Kuseife and Corporal David Papian (21) from Tel Aviv.



Their names were cleared for publication after their families were notified.



Around 6:00 am soldiers manning an IDF observation post near the Gaza border identified a group consisting of six armed Palestinian men approaching the security fence near Kibbutz Be'eri in an apparent attempt to infiltrate the border. A force from Givati's Tzabar Battalion was alerted to the scene and troops crossed some 500 meters into Palestinian territory to engage the gunmen.



The terrorist cell managed to flee to a nearby vantage point, and two gunmen were sent to set off explosives near the Israeli troops.



Meanwhile over 13 Qassam rockets were fired towards Israel on Wednesday afternoon, in the latest barrage by Palestinian terror groups from northern Gaza. The rockets landed throughout the western Negev, with one landing in Kibbutz Nir Am and damaging several homes.



Another rocket landed in Sderot's industrial zone. At least 19 rockets have been fired from the Strip since the early morning hours. No injuries have been reported in any of the incidents.

4) Michelle Obama rejects elitist characterization


Michelle Obama said Wednesday she is a product of a working-class background and rejected characterizations of her and her husband as elitist.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has tried to deflect criticism of his comments that people in small towns cling to religion and guns out of bitterness over their economic plight. Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republican John McCain have called the remarks elitist. Obama said it was a poor choice of words to describe the economic insecurity many face.

"I am a product of a working-class background, I am one of those folks who grew up in that struggle. That is the lens through which I see the world," Michelle Obama told a cheering crowd at Harrison High School, the first stop of a three-city campaign swing ahead of the state's May 6 primary.

"So when people talk about this elitist stuff, I say, 'You couldn't possibly know anything about me.' So let me give you a better sense of who me and Barack are and why we're doing this," she said.

Michelle Obama said the difficulties people face are real.

"Folks are struggling like never before," she said. "We shouldn't be surprised that people are cynical. There is a level of cynicism that comes when you feel like no matter how hard you work, no matter how much you do, you never catch up and you certainly can't get ahead. So you don't believe that politics can do anything for you, you lose hope. Naturally, you fold your arms in disgust of the process."

As a result, she said, people become isolated.

"They feel lonely and oftentimes they're embarrassed by their struggle because they feel like somehow they must be doing something wrong," she said.

That can make people "susceptible to being led by fear," she added.

Michelle Obama drew heavily on her upbringing in a working-class family in Chicago, noting that her family lived on her father's city salary while her mother stayed home.

"There were no miracles in my life," she said. "The thing that I saw that many of us still see is hard work and sacrifice."

Touching on rising food and gas prices, the mortgage crisis and many Americans' struggles to make ends meet on one salary, she asked the crowd, "Does this sound familiar? Am I out of touch?"