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In Obama-speak, Post-partisan means purely partisan

September 22, 2008 by GayPatriotWest

It’s not just Senator Obama. Even the woman he defeated for the Democratic presidential nomination has also shown a partisan streak that makes Obama’s voting record seem bi-partisan.

There was to be a public rally today at “Dag Hammerskjold Plaza, across from the UN, to protest Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s upcoming speech to the General Assembly and unite in opposition to his nuke program and his vow to wipe the US and Israel ‘off the map.’”

The GOP had tapped vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin to speak for our party. Hillary Clinton would speak for the Democrats. That latter backed out, claiming via a spokesman that Palin’s presence was news to them: “Clearly there was some miscommunication because this was never billed to us as a partisan political event. Sen. Clinton will therefore not be attending this event” (Via Roger L. Simon).

So, the presence of a Republican at an event makes an event partisan?

When Hillary said, “No,” the organizers, the Council of Presidents of Major Jewish Organization “trying to salvage the situation, then invited Palin’s counterpart on the Democratic ticket, Sen. Joe Biden. But his campaign turned thumbs down, reportedly citing a ‘longstanding commitment’ to speak at a National Guard convention in Maryland.”

At this point, Democratic operatives strong-armed the organizers into dis-inviting Palin (via Instapundit).  (The Jewish Athena has more.)

The editors at the New York Post opine:

As Sen. John McCain rightly noted in a statement, the threat that a nuclear-armed Iran would pose, to Israel and to America, is too great for the issue to be used as a political football.
 
Hillary Clinton and the Obama campaign could have driven that point home by her appearance at Monday’s rally.
 
But they chose instead to play politics.

No wonder Obama attributes his toughness to his Chicago ties. He’s learned well the art of machine politics.

This guy may talk the talk, but when it comes to walking the walk, he’s no different from any other ambitious pol, albeit with a more ruthless partisanship.

And claiming to be a new kind of post-partisan makes his hypocrisy all the more manifest.

The New York Sun reprinted the remarks Governor Palin would have delivered had she been allowed to speak. I include them below the jump:

I am honored to be with you and with leaders from across this great country — leaders from different faiths and political parties united in a single voice of outrage.

Tomorrow, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will come to New York — to the heart of what he calls the Great Satan — and speak freely in this, a country whose demise he has called for.

Ahmadinejad may choose his words carefully, but underneath all of the rhetoric is an agenda that threatens all who seek a safer and freer world. We gather here today to highlight the Iranian dictator’s intentions and to call for action to thwart him.

He must be stopped.

The world must awake to the threat this man poses to all of us. Ahmadinejad denies that the Holocaust ever took place. He dreams of being an agent in a “Final Solution” — the elimination of the Jewish people. He has called Israel a “stinking corpse” that is “on its way to annihilation.” Such talk cannot be dismissed as the ravings of a madman — not when Iran just this summer tested long-range Shahab-3 missiles capable of striking Tel Aviv, not when the Iranian nuclear program is nearing completion, and not when Iran sponsors terrorists that threaten and kill innocent people around the world.

The Iranian government wants nuclear weapons. The International Atomic Energy Agency reports that Iran is running at least 3,800 centrifuges and that its uranium enrichment capacity is rapidly improving. According to news reports, U.S. intelligence agencies believe the Iranians may have enough nuclear material to produce a bomb within a year.

The world has condemned these activities. The United Nations Security Council has demanded that Iran suspend its illegal nuclear enrichment activities. It has levied three rounds of sanctions. How has Ahmadinejad responded? With the declaration that the “Iranian nation would not retreat one iota” from its nuclear program.

So, what should we do about this growing threat? First, we must succeed in Iraq. If we fail there, it will jeopardize the democracy the Iraqis have worked so hard to build, and empower the extremists in neighboring Iran. Iran has armed and trained terrorists who have killed our soldiers in Iraq, and it is Iran that would benefit from an American defeat in Iraq.

If we retreat without leaving a stable Iraq, Iran’s nuclear ambitions will be bolstered. If Iran acquires nuclear weapons — they could share them tomorrow with the terrorists they finance, arm, and train today. Iranian nuclear weapons would set off a dangerous regional nuclear arms race that would make all of us less safe.

But Iran is not only a regional threat; it threatens the entire world. It is the no. 1 state sponsor of terrorism. It sponsors the world’s most vicious terrorist groups, Hamas and Hezbollah. Together, Iran and its terrorists are responsible for the deaths of Americans in Lebanon in the 1980s, in Saudi Arabia in the 1990s, and in Iraq today. They have murdered Iraqis, Lebanese, Palestinians, and other Muslims who have resisted Iran’s desire to dominate the region. They have persecuted countless people simply because they are Jewish.

Iran is responsible for attacks not only on Israelis, but on Jews living as far away as Argentina. Anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial are part of Iran’s official ideology and murder is part of its official policy. Not even Iranian citizens are safe from their government’s threat to those who want to live, work, and worship in peace. Politically-motivated abductions, torture, death by stoning, flogging, and amputations are just some of its state-sanctioned punishments.

It is said that the measure of a country is the treatment of its most vulnerable citizens. By that standard, the Iranian government is both oppressive and barbaric. Under Ahmadinejad’s rule, Iranian women are some of the most vulnerable citizens.

If an Iranian woman shows too much hair in public, she risks being beaten or killed.

If she walks down a public street in clothing that violates the state dress code, she could be arrested.

But in the face of this harsh regime, the Iranian women have shown courage. Despite threats to their lives and their families, Iranian women have sought better treatment through the “One Million Signatures Campaign Demanding Changes to Discriminatory Laws.” The authorities have reacted with predictable barbarism. Last year, women’s rights activist Delaram Ali was sentenced to 20 lashes and 10 months in prison for committing the crime of “propaganda against the system.” After international protests, the judiciary reduced her sentence to “only” 10 lashes and 36 months in prison and then temporarily suspended her sentence. She still faces the threat of imprisonment.

Earlier this year, Senator Clinton said that “Iran is seeking nuclear weapons, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps is in the forefront of that” effort. Senator Clinton argued that part of our response must include stronger sanctions, including the designation of the IRGC as a terrorist organization. John McCain and I could not agree more.

Senator Clinton understands the nature of this threat and what we must do to confront it. This is an issue that should unite all Americans. Iran should not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons. Period. And in a single voice, we must be loud enough for the whole world to hear: Stop Iran!

Only by working together, across national, religious, and political differences, can we alter this regime’s dangerous behavior. Iran has many vulnerabilities, including a regime weakened by sanctions and a population eager to embrace opportunities with the West. We must increase economic pressure to change Iran’s behavior.

Tomorrow, Ahmadinejad will come to New York. On our soil, he will exercise the right of freedom of speech — a right he denies his own people. He will share his hateful agenda with the world. Our task is to focus the world on what can be done to stop him.

We must rally the world to press for truly tough sanctions at the U.N. or with our allies if Iran’s allies continue to block action in the U.N. We must start with restrictions on Iran’s refined petroleum imports.

We must reduce our dependency on foreign oil to weaken Iran’s economic influence.

We must target the regime’s assets abroad; bank accounts, investments, and trading partners.

President Ahmadinejad should be held accountable for inciting genocide, a crime under international law.

We must sanction Iran’s Central Bank and the Revolutionary Guard Corps — which no one should doubt is a terrorist organization.

Together, we can stop Iran’s nuclear program.

Senator McCain has made a solemn commitment that I strongly endorse: Never again will we risk another Holocaust. And this is not a wish, a request, or a plea to Israel’s enemies. This is a promise that the United States and Israel will honor, against any enemy who cares to test us. It is John McCain’s promise and it is my promise.

Thank you.

Filed Under: 2008 Presidential Politics, Liberal Hypocrisy, Obama Watch

Comments

  1. DinaFelice says

    September 22, 2008 at 9:46 pm - September 22, 2008

    Have you heard of the Great Schlep?

    A pro-Obama group is tasking the grandchildren of Jewish Floridians with visiting their grandparents (or at least calling them) and trying to convince this Israel-supporting key demographic that Obama is really a good guy on the subject.

    Yet no one from the Obama campaign can be bothered to show up at a conference that deals, in part, with Israel’s very survival. Fascinating.

  2. V the K says

    September 22, 2008 at 10:17 pm - September 22, 2008

    I’m not a McCain supporter, but I can’t help but think an effective ad for McCain would be for him to speak into the camera and say something like, “My fellow Americans, I know in good times, we can take a chance on someone new and unproven. But tough times lie ahead of us. We are facing unprecedented economic and strategic challenges. It’s not the time to roll the dice and hope for the best. It’s the time for real leadership. Proven leadership.”

  3. DinaFelice says

    September 22, 2008 at 11:09 pm - September 22, 2008

    Have you heard of the Great Schlep?

    A pro-Obama group is tasking the grandchildren of Jewish Floridians with visiting their grandparents (or at least calling them) and trying to convince this Israel-supporting key demographic that Obama is really a good guy on the subject.

    Yet no one from the Obama campaign can be bothered to show up at a conference that deals, in part, with Israel’s very survival. Fascinating.

    I’d include links regarding the Schlep, but comments don’t quite seem to be working for me.

  4. Z. Towner says

    September 23, 2008 at 12:22 am - September 23, 2008

    News coverage is becoming scary to say the least…..or the non-coverage. If you or anyone can follow up on this story, here is the timeline re: Auchi to Rezko to Obama money and corruption trail. No one will follow up or expose this data. Hope you can forward it to your bloggers and news sources of interest. We rely on the bloggers.
    http://groups.google.com/group/alt.politics/browse_thread/thread/327afefca8dfe9b8?pli=1
    Thank you.
    Z. Towner

  5. ThatGayConservative says

    September 23, 2008 at 1:19 am - September 23, 2008

    One of the “talking points” from The Great Schlepp:

    Obama has expressed a willingness to talk to any nation without precondistions but with appropriate prepreations. This is the kind of smart, but strong, diplomacy that led Israel to a peace treaty with its strongest enemy, Egypt -unbroken for 30 years – and led the United States to convince Libya to end its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

    I’m not a student of liberal revisionist history, but didn’t both instances follow wars?

    What’s more, what kind of douchebag needs “talking points” to talk to his grandparents? I don’t know about yours, but my grandparents could smell a bull dropping shit a county away and would see right through any “talking points”.

  6. DinaFelice says

    September 23, 2008 at 7:31 am - September 23, 2008

    #5

    I’m more creeped out by the whole concept: these kids are going to visit (or call) their grandparents with the express purpose of getting them to vote differently? Even assuming that they are normal loving grandchildren who just get caught up in their own lives…pledging to call their grandparents through the election season? Visiting them just because I want their votes?

    Two of my grandparents are pretty hard core libs. And the subject of politics and who each of us is voting for has come up the last few times I visited (I’m lucky, they live much closer than FL). But I would never *dream* of giving them the hard sell *against* Obama, though that seems to be more in line with their own ideals, much less try to convince them (if they were anti-Obama) to support him.

    I’m just…disturbed at using a cute name to do a very uncute thing.

    Oh, and sorry everyone for the double post before.

  7. rightwingprof says

    September 23, 2008 at 2:37 pm - September 23, 2008

    What’s really pathetic is that Sarah Palin has more balls than all the men in the Democratic party put together. It’s become the castrati party.

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