PRESIDENT BUSH ADDRESSES MEMBERS OF THE KNESSET

President Bush gave a speech yesterday – May 15, 2008 – to the Israeli Knesset that is causing consternation amongst liberals. If you want to read the entire speech – and it is an excellent speech – you can go here and read it. What I want to do is discuss the portion of his speech that is causing the liberal Democrats to gnash their teeth and rent their clothes. The offending passage is this –

“There are good and decent people who cannot fathom the darkness in these men and try to explain away their words. It's natural, but it is deadly wrong. As witnesses to evil in the past, we carry a solemn responsibility to take these words seriously. Jews and Americans have seen the consequences of disregarding the words of leaders who espouse hatred. And that is a mistake the world must not repeat in the 21st century."

"Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: "Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided." We have an obligation to call this what it is -- the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history."

Shortly after speaking the above words, Senator Barack Obama, whose middle name must never be mentioned (unless by the Senator himself), complained these words were aimed at him. However, Senator Barack Obama recently stated –

"I think it's language that's reflective of George Bush. We have had a foreign policy of bluster and saber rattling," Obama said of Clinton's threat to "totally obliterate" Iran if it attacked Israel.

"It is important that we use language that sends a signal to the world community that we're shifting from the sort of cowboy diplomacy, or lack of diplomacy, that we've seen out of George Bush," the Illinois senator said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

You can also read about Senator Barack Obama’s plans concerning Iran in his Blueprint For Change starting at page fifty. This excerpt should give you an example what he would do -

“Obama is the only major candidate who supports tough, direct presidential diplomacy with Iran without preconditions. Now is the time to pressure Iran directly to change their troubling behavior. Obama would offer the Iranian regime a choice. If Iran abandons its nuclear program and support for terrorism, we will offer incentives like membership in the World Trade Organization, economic investments, and a move toward normal diplomatic relations. If Iran continues its troubling behavior, we will step up our economic pressure and political isolation. Seeking this kind of comprehensive settlement with Iran is our best way to make progress.”

It sounds like appeasement to me. But that’s beside the point. Why is Senator Obama and the other liberal Democrats complaining about President Bush’s statement? The only time the word ‘Democrat’ appears in the speech is in the word ‘democratic.’ President Bush mentions no Democrat Senator by name.

Governor Mitt Romney said it best – “When you throw a rock over a fence, the dog that yelps is the one who got hit.” President Bush threw one big rock over the fence yesterday, hitting nearly Democratic Senator and Congressmen. Remember this when you go to the polls this November.