Plaguing Notion
Different people are latching onto different parts of the Obama-Goldberg interview on Israel, Hamas. It’s turning out to be fertile ground for praise and condemnation. There’s the “some of my best friends are Jewish” hit.
That’s an awkward point to hit someone on, especially if some of your best friends, or relatives, are Jewish. Though in Obama’s case, some of his best friends are also raving anti-Semites, so I guess you can’t blame anyone from cocking an eye at the “best friends are Jewish” card.
Gateway joins Ed with another look at Obama’s non-Jewish friends.
Karl at Protein Wisdom pokes at the “constant sore.” Israel Matzav gives it a poke, and answers Obama’s handwringing question on settlements: it doesn’t make any difference what size the Jewish state is if Arabs won’t accept it.
Goldfarb at Weekly Standard: leave off that sore!
Here’s one of my favorite Jewish relatives offering his thoughtful take on the Obama thing, by the way.
This is the part that jumped out at me:
The notion that a vibrant, successful society with incredible economic growth and incredible cultural vitality is still plagued by this notion that this could all end at any moment — you know, I don’t know what that feels like, but I can use my imagination to understand it.
I don’t know about you, but I know exactly what it feels like to be plagued with the notion that a vibrant, successful society with incredible economic growth and incredible cultural vitality could end at any moment. Didn’t that guy live through the Cold War? How about 9/11? He must be aware the world is full of nuclear states and there is a very real threat of loose nukes, beyond the very real threat of non-nuclear mass casualty attacks. China and Russia are both ramping up, and Iran wants to join the club. He isn’t one of those people who thinks, as he drives to work on a big freeway, watches ballgames, goes to the supermarket or the liquor store, that nothing can touch this, is he?
OK, I know he doesn’t drive to work, go to supermarkets or liquor stores anymore, and I doubt he has much time for ballgames. The elitist slam may or may not be a fair one. But there may be nothing more elitist in the world than taking it all for granted, and thinking every last bit of life doesn’t have to be defended, let alone the whole show. That’s about as detached as you get.
If he doesn’t think he needs to worry about our fundamental existence as a nation, and requires an effort of imagination, I’m beginning to think he doesn’t have any qualifications to be president whatsoever.
More commentary at Memeorandum, which provided the links above.
Topics: pols
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 10:40 pm Comments (3) on Monday, May 12, 2008
3 Responses to “Plaguing Notion”
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May 13th, 2008 at 1:43 am
I am going to keep picking at that sore.
The problem here is that Obama has bought on to the idea that a few apartment buildings are a problem that is equal in importance to daily missile strikes, suicide bombings and threats of genocide and murder. This puts Israel behind an eight ball they don’t deserve to be behind.
May 13th, 2008 at 11:07 am
Permanence is the illusion of every age.
- Mark Steyn
May 13th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
“Supremely evasive” was a polite way to describe Mr. Obama. I would add “eternally clueless”.