Obama's heavy stones

As everyone aspiring to high elected office has to, Obama went to AIPAC to kiss some ass, but fortunately TPM and MyDD see his performance as not bad at all (Text of the Obama Speech at AIPAC today | TPMCafe). The speech continues the usual meaningless rhetoric that is Obama's signature:

It won't be easy. Some of those stones will be heavy and tough for the United States to carry. Others with be heavy and tough for Israel to carry. And even more will be difficult for the world. But together, we will begin again.

The only thing I can think of doing "together" with Obama is not having a "conversation" with Hillary. But if Obama decided to leave his stones at AIPAC, he sure was right that they are some heavy ones. Here are some of the top hits:

But I am also fortunate to have seen Israel from the air.

On my journey that January day, I flew on an IDF helicopter to the border zone. The helicopter took us over the most troubled and dangerous areas and that narrow strip between the West Bank and the Mediterranean Sea. At that height, I could see the hills and the terrain that generations have walked across. I could truly see how close everything is and why peace through security is the only way for Israel.

Our helicopter landed in the town of Kiryat Shmona on the border. What struck me first about the village was how familiar it looked. The houses and streets looked like ones you might find in a suburb in America. I could imagine young children riding their bikes down the streets. I could imagine the sounds of their joyful play just like my own daughters. There were cars in the driveway. The shrubs were trimmed. The families were living their lives.

Then, I saw a house that had been hit with one of Hezbollah's Katyusha rockets.

I suspect that I have quoted too much and risked losing you as you collapse in a mixture of laughter and tears of incredulity. Perhaps you are wondering if Obama got to see some of the Palestinians in refugee camps and in the bantustans that Israel has created. Or you may be curious as to whether Obama managed to score any civilian hits -- he was in an IDF helicopter after all. Maybe the IDF helicopter even strayed into Lebanese territory, as the Israelis accidentally do every now and then, giving Old Stones Obama a look at the territory from where the dastardly Katyusha rockets were launched. In passing I will also note our silver tongued wunderkind's turn of phrase in aid of upturning the truth: "peace through security" is his prescription to complement Israel's unwillingness to achieve it's much desired security, through peace. Do not let your mind wander far though, for there is more:

It is important to remember this history—that Israel had unilaterally withdrawn from Lebanon only to have Iran supply Hezbollah with thousands of rockets.

Ah yes, history lessons. Obama's hyper-religiousness (I presume), which usually includes magical beliefs about the origin of things, permits him to visualise an arbitrary starting point for history: the withdrawal of Israel from Lebanon. That Israel "withdrew" might clue a less self-certain person to what Israel did to require its withdrawal, but such mere facts are no match for the verbal footwork of Obama's "unilateral withdrawal". The facts of the recent Israeli terrorist strikes against Lebanon, killing and displacing thousands of civilians, before it had to once again "withdraw" its laughably vaunted troops -- those facts too might give pause to those lacking the heavy stones. Obama, made of sterner stuff, marches on:

That effort begins with a clear and strong commitment to the security of Israel: our strongest ally in the region and its only established democracy.

It is fortunate for Obama that his history starts with Israel's "withdrawal" from Lebanon, for that absolves him of pondering about democracies in the region, such as the elected government of Mossadegh in Iran, which we toppled.

Perhaps the best measure of progress (for progressives) is how we treat (or let others in power treat) the most disadvantaged members of the human population -- such as the Palestinians. By that measure, support of individuals like Obama is one of the most regressive acts we can indulge in.