A Whole Wide World Beyond Obama (Bush appeasement Comment Dems React)

President George W. Bush spoke to the Israeli Knesset on Thursday morning, to mark the nation’s 60th anniversary. The president said:

Some seem to believe we should negotiate with 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 only I could have talked to Hitler, all of 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.

Immediately, the Democratic party responded in outrage, insisting it was an unprecedented political attack on their presumptive nominee from foreign soil. Barack Obama himself said: “It is sad that President Bush would use a speech to the Knesset on the 60th anniversary of Israel’s independence to launch a false political attack.”

The White House denied the remark was about Obama. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino responded, “I would think that all of you who cover these issues and for a long time have known that there are many who have suggested these types of negotiations with people that the president, President Bush, thinks that we should not talk to. I understand when you’re running for office you sometimes think the world revolves around you. That is not always true. And it is not true in this case.”

The White House’s denial is believable, and the Democrats’ accusation is a distortion and a distraction. The commander-in-chief, believe it or not, might have been concerned with something besides The Situation Room running a clip of him hitting Obama. The presidency, you see, is about more than the spin-cycle, the next election, and even the next president.

The president could have been speaking of any number of Democrats. Say, Jimmy Carter, who in April, 2008 said: “Through more official consultations with these outlawed leaders [Hamas and Syria], it may yet be possible to revive and expedite the stalemated peace talks between Israel and its neighbors. In the Middle East, as in Nepal, the path to peace lies in negotiation, not in isolation.”

Or Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, freelance diplomat, who in December 2007 said: “the road to Damascus is a road to peace.”

Or, perhaps he meant Speaker Pelosi in April 2007: “I believe in dialogue. As my colleagues have said over and over again, unless you communicate, you cannot understand each other. You cannot reach agreement.”

Or maybe he meant recent Obama endorser and former North Carolina senator John Edwards, who, according to his own press release in February of last year, believes “the U.S. should step up our diplomatic efforts by engaging in direct talks with all the nations in the region, including Iran and Syria.”

Or Bill Richardson, who has said, about meeting with Iran and Syria: “They’re bad folks … But you don’t have peace talks with your friends.”

It could have been about Congressman Henry Waxman, who in April said: “A Democratic administration would go back and try to open that possibility up for discussions [with Iran] of a grand bargain of one sort or another ... Democrats would certainly have seen that as a missed opportunity.”

Or Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich: “I can go to Syria. I can go to Iran and work to craft a path towards peace. And I will … How can you change peopled minds if you don’t meet with them?”

Or former Democratic presidential candidates and senators Chris Dodd and John Kerry, who met with Syria’s al-Assad and said: “As senior Democrats on the Foreign Relations Committee, we felt it was important to make clear that while we believe in resuming dialogue, our message is no different: Syria can and should play a more constructive role in the region … We concluded that our conversation was worthwhile, and that … resuming direct dialogue with Syria should be pursued.”

Or the former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, from April 10: “[Diplomats] can deliver some pretty tough messages … You don’t begin with a president of the country, but you do need to talk to your enemy.”

You get the idea. The world does not actually revolve around Barackstar. It doesn’t even revolve around contemporary Democrats. There are two very different ways of looking at the world, represented by the two parties here in the U.S. President Bush, obviously, believes the other party’s approach is wrong. To say so, in his mind, was of historic importance, for obvious reasons. Obvious, at least, to any statesman who can see before and beyond this current election season. Thank you, Senator Obama, for helping make clear where you stand on that front.

"Some seem to believe we should negotiate with 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 only I could have talked to Hitler, all of 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."
~ President Bush speaking before the Israeli Knesset on the 60th Anniversary of Israel's statehood.

"It is sad that President Bush would use a speech to the Knesset on the 6Oth anniversary of Israel's independence to launch a false political attack... Instead of tough talk and no action, we need to do what Kennedy, Nixon and Reagan did and use all elements of American power -- including tough, principled, and direct diplomacy - to pressure countries like Iran and Syria. George Bush knows that I have never supported engagement with terrorists..."
~ Sen. Barack Obama D-IL thinking the President was talking about HIM.

"George Bush should be making Israel secure, not slandering Barack Obama from the Knesset."
~ Sen. John Kerry D-MA, thinking the President was talking about Obama.

"There is no escaping what the president is doing. It is an attack on Sen. Obama’s position that we should not be avoiding even those we disagree with when it comes to negotiations and diplomacy."
~ Sen. Dick Durbin D-IL, Senate Majority Whip, thinking the President was talking about Obama.

"President Bush’s comparison of any Democrat to Nazi appeasers is both offensive and outrageous on the face of it, especially in light of his failures in foreign policy."
~ The Beast thinking the President was talking about Obama.

“This is bullshit, this is malarkey. This is outrageous, for the president of the United States to go to a foreign country, to sit in the Knesset... and make this kind of ridiculous statement.”
~ Sen. Joe Biden D-DE, as eloquent as ever.

"The tradition has always been that when a U.S. president is overseas, partisan politics stops at the water's edge. President Bush has now taken that principle and turned it on its head: for this White House, partisan politics now begins at the water’s edge, no matter the seriousness and gravity of the occasion. Does the president have no shame?”
~ Rep. Rahm Emanuel House Democratic Caucus Chairman, thinking the President was talking about THEM.

"..."beneath the dignity of the office of the president and unworthy of our representation..."
~ Rep. Nancy Pelosi D-CA, Speaker of the House, thinking the President was talking about THEM.

"Not surprisingly, the engineer of the worst foreign policy in our nation’s history has fired yet another reckless and reprehensible round. For the President to make this statement before the government of our closest ally as it celebrates a remarkable milestone demeans this historic moment with partisan politics."
~ Sen. Harry Reid D-NV, Senate Majority Leader thinking the President was talking about THEM.

Hmmmm.... let's take a walk down memory lane regarding comments made by leading Democrats about President Bush near the end of the first year of the war in Iraq....

Sen. Ted Kennedy:
"There was no imminent threat. This was made up in Texas"

"My belief is this money is being shuffled all around to these political leaders in all parts of the world, bribing them to send in troops."

"He has broken the basic bond of trust with the American people."

"In this administration, truth is the first casualty of policy."

"This whole thing was a fraud"

"Shamefully we now learn that Saddam's torture chambers reopened under new management, U.S. management."

Sen. Robert Byrd:
"...many Iraqis, both Sunni and Shiite, are seething under the yoke of the American occupation."

"I have wondered anew at the President's stubborn refusal to admit mistakes or express any misgivings over America's unwarranted intervention in Iraq."

Sen. John Kerry:
"...he built a fraudulent coalition"

"Did I expect George Bush to fuck it up as badly as he did? I don't think anybody did."

"They shut a newspaper that belongs to a legitimate voice in Iraq... It belongs to a voice... which is sort of a terrorist alignment."

"fraudulent"

"stunning lack of vision"

"fake-patriotism"

"almost stupidity of it"

"worse than incompetent"

"crooked, lying"

"we need a regime change in the United States"

"arrogant, inept, reckless"

"screwed-up"

"unpatriotic"

Oh but THAT'S all fair game because they all said those "kind, civil, respectful words" about the President in the spring and summer of 2004 during an election year.

Oh-kay!

[rolleyes]

As the article points out - President Bush COULD have been talking about members of the Kennesset who are wishy-washy on defending Israel.

He COULD have been talking about nearby nations like Egypt, Dubai or Jordan who try to appease Iran with economic and diplomatic measures.

He COULD have been talking about the UN Security Council and their milquetoast approach to Iran's nuclear ambitions.

He COULD have been talking about factions in Iraq who are still trying to appease Iran with regards to interfering in Iraqi reconstruction.

He COULD have been talking about American groups like Code Pink, A.N.S.W.E.R. and others who don't take the daily direct threats against Israel and us by Achmadinijad seriously.

He COULD have been talking about Jimmy Carter who just recently met with and PRAISED terrorists who wage war to to wipe Israel off the map.

He COULD have been talking Dennis Kucinich, Ron Paul, Louis Farrakahn or even members of his own State Department who may still naively believe a negotiated diplomatic solution is the only way to stop terrorists.

He COULD have been talking about ALL of them and more....

But somehow... SOMEHOW... all those Democrats were so egocentric and paranoid that they could ONLY imagine that Bush was talking ONLY about THEM exclusively.

Oh the smug, conceited, arrogance and narcissistic vanity of those twit-minded Democratic JACKASSES.

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