Helping Joe the Plumber with Shep Smith
By Larry Johnson on October 28, 2008 at 8:58 PM in Current Affairs
Our friend, the plain spoken Joe Wurzelbacher aka Joe the Plumber, made news today by agreeing with a questioner that the election of Barack Obama poses a great risk for Israel. Shep Smith launched a verbal barrage on Joe. Check it out:
Joe is not a foreign policy expert nor is he a policy wonk. He’s your average guy who smells a rat but lacks the full body of evidence to present the case. Well, let me help him out.
The problem is that Barack has not fully explained his past activities. If you are a citizen of Israel you have cause to be worried about Barack’s true views about Israel. He got his start in politics with an assist from Louis Farrakhan. Minister Farrakhan is not known as a fan of Israel. In fact, he’s on the record espousing anti-semitic views. Is it credible to believe that he backed Barack Obama, knowing that Obama allegedly has a deep, abiding love for Israel? I don’t think so.
Then we look at Obama’s activities on the Woods Fund. With his fellow board member–unrepentant terrorist Bill Ayers–Barack steered money to an organization created and directed by a former PLO spokesman, Rashid Khalidi. Khalidi’s wife actually ran the day-to-day ops of the Arab American Action Network (AAAN). Which explains in part why Barack was at the farewell dinner for Rashid, who was leaving Chicago for greener pastures in New York City.
And then we have the fact that Obama was in full belly laugh during the reading of a poem at the Khalidi dinner describing Israel as a terrorist state.
We also should recall Israel is nervous about Barack’s promise to sit down without preconditions with the “tiny,” “non’-threatening” state of Iran (see Susan’s post here).
So that’s on the one hand. Then we have the Barack position when he ran for the House in 2000. At that time Barack adopted a much more pro-Israel position:
Barack Obama believes that moral and strategic imperatives require strong support and a close relationship between the United States and Israel. Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East and this country’s most critical and stable ally in that vital region. For these reasons the United States must continue to aid Israel in the military, economic and diplomatic spheres.
Moral and Strategic Imperatives
U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and throughout the world should be grounded in the democratic values central to this country’s success. As the strongest and most committed democracy in the Middle East, Israel stands out by sharing with us a strong commitment to democratic values; including freedom of the press, freedom of religious expression and regular, competitive elections. These commonly held values mandate the United States fulfill the commitment to strengthen fellow democracies.In addition to the moral mandate, our close ties with Israel are essential to protecting and promoting U.S. interests in the region, including: the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction by certain rogue regimes; state-sponsored terrorism; the potential disruption of access to Middle East oil; and the spread of religious radicalism in the Middle East. Israelis have suffered from an increase in terrorist activities since the beginning of the peace process; progress achieved through negotiations makes the terrorists more determined to commit acts of violence to undermine the process.
For these reasons, Israel’s defense needs are dramatically increasing. To continue to counter these threats, Israel must retain a significant qualitative edge over her enemies to compensate for their quantitative advantage. Israel must upgrade its Air Force, build new missile defenses, and acquire adequate advance surveillance and early warning technology. This requires ongoing assistance from the United States.
To meet these goals, Senator Obama supports Israel’s recent proposal to
gradually increase military assistance while phasing out economic assistance over a ten-year period. The Senator would support greater economic assistance, if a reversal in Israel’s economic condition occurred.The Senator also believes the Wye aid package is needed now and should not be tied to the larger debate over federal spending, tax cuts and Social Security.
The Peace Process
Throughout its history, Israel has been anxious to make peace with its Arab neighbors. If successful, the current peace process is a potential opportunity for Israel to increase its security, normalize relations with its neighbors, and create a more stable and prosperous Middle East.Resolution of the conflict depends on direct negotiations between the parties based on mutual respect and recognition. The United States’ commitment to Israel must continue so Israel can negotiate with its former and current adversaries from a position of strength. Senator Obama believes that Israel can take risks for peace only because of unwavering American support.
The Status of Jerusalem
Like all sovereign nations, Israel has the right to determine the location of its nation’s capital. Jerusalem should remain united and should be recognized as Israel’s capital. Mr. Obama shares in the disappointment over President Clinton’s recent decision to use the waiver provision contained in the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 to delay the transfer of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem.
Barack needs to explain the dichotomy between his private associations and his public pronouncements. There is a wide gulf between the two. So forgive Joe the Plumber for not being able to quickly summarize Obama’s “position” vis-a-vis Israel. Obama has been on both sides of the issue.
, the basis for the Best Motion Picture Nominee (Golden Globes) starring Brad Pitt.
, the novel by John Le Carre, a new motion picture starring Gary Oldman and Colin Firth.
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