President Obama arrives to speak at a Women’s Leadership Forum, May 19
For better quality video go to C-Span - thank you Donna ;-)
Archive for May 19th, 2011
19
May
11
‘no more lies’
Fred Rotondaro (Chairman of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good): … President Obama took more than his share of verbal assaults during his 2008 campaign …. For the first time in history, a major candidate found his birth qualifications to be President questioned, in addition to false claims being made about his religion…
To his everlasting credit, John McCain was not one of those bigots who spread such lies … From what I have seen so far, I hope but do not expect such decency and true patriotism in 2012.
Four major candidates have spoken already about Barack Obama not being born in America or having a Kenyan worldview. The potential Republican candidates seem to be appealing to the worst elements of their own party … they seem terrified of confronting the bigotry that is often directed at the President. When Newt Gingrich calls Obama a “food stamp president,” he is giving a dog whistle to racists. When Michelle Bachmann said she took President Obama at his word regarding his place of birth, she was winking at the birthers. America needs better than this in 2012.
Deceit has worked its way into important debates also …. While the financial regulation bill was being discussed, Mitch McConnell met with Wall Street leaders to discuss strategy and raise campaign funds. Soon, back in Washington, he began pounding the theme that the bill was an attempt to set up bailouts for banks. This was not spinning. This was an out and out lie to the American people.
The debate about health care centered for a time on the theme of non-existent death panels after former Gov. Palin tweeted about them.….
This is where the American religious community can play a vital role by insisting on truth in public policy debates … Politicians campaign dishonestly because they can. Let’s make it difficult and let them know they will pay a price for deceptive campaign tactics. We owe it to ourselves, our children, and our country.
Full post here
** Thank you Suzanne **
19
May
11
give & take
BBC: US President Barack Obama has insisted that the “1967 border” must be the “basis for negotiations” to set up a future Palestinian state. In an interview with the BBC, Mr Obama said the position was “obvious” to those who had followed the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
…”The basis for negotiations will involve looking at that 1967 border, recognising that conditions on the ground have changed and there are going to need to be swaps to accommodate the interests of both sides,” Mr Obama said in an interview to be broadcast in full on Sunday.
The US president said Israel would not “move forward” in negotiations unless the country felt secure against attacks from Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. And he acknowledged that the future status of Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees would remain to be discussed.
“Our argument is let’s get started on a conversation about territory and about security,” he said. “If we make progress on what two states would look like and a reality sets in among the parties, that this is how it is going to end up, then it becomes easier for both sides to make difficult concessions to resolve those two other issues.”
Israel immediately rejected Mr Obama’s vision of a Palestinian state based on the borders before the 1967 Six Day war between Israel and a bloc of neighbouring Arab states. In a statement, Mr Netanyahu, who is due to hold talks with Mr Obama in Washington on Friday, said the 1967 lines would leave Jewish settlements outside Israel.
More here
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I see the President is being attacked by both extremes after his speech today (which is a good sign)…. reminds me of these two photos:
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Washington Post: President Obama used an address Thursday on the tumult in the Middle East and North Africa to increase pressure on American allies in the region, including Israel, to carry out lasting political reform and make peace with old enemies.
…Obama used one of the longest sections of his speech to urge Israel, in unusually frank terms, to negotiate a final peace agreement with the Palestinians.
For the first time, Obama cited Israel’s boundaries on the eve of the June 1967 Arab-Israeli war as the basis for negotiation over final borders, saying that a “full and phased withdrawal of Israeli military forces” from the West Bank should be carried out in coordination with Palestinian security forces.
The formulation goes beyond principles outlined by President George W. Bush, who stated during his term that “it is unrealistic to expect” Israel to pull back to the 1967 lines. Obama said the negotiations over final borders, which he indicated may include land swaps to accommodate Israel’s large settlement blocs, should result in “a viable Palestine, a secure Israel.”
Obama acknowledged that the conflict’s most emotional questions — the division of Jerusalem, which both Israelis and Palestinians claim as their capital, and the right of Palestinian refugees or their descendants to return to homes inside Israel — would still need to be resolved. But he said moving forward now on the border and security aspects would provide a foundation for resolving the two “wrenching and emotional issues” in a “just and fair” manner.
By doing so, Obama essentially embraced the middle ground between two camps within his national security team, which for months have debated how far he should go in spelling out his plan for an Israeli-Palestinian peace…..
Full article here
19
May
11
let’s groove!
“The Queen of Latin Pop Gloria Estefan had Michelle Obama movin’ and swayin’ to the Miami Sound Machine music at the Congressional Club’s lunch in honor of the First Lady at the Washington Hilton on Wednesday.”
White House.gov
