Comedy gold: Obama's favorite reporter interviews John Kerry
It doesn't get much sillier than this. @JeffreyGoldberg interviews @JohnKerry, who describes the deal that guarantees that Iran will be a nuclear armed state as 'pro-Israel.'
Kerry rejected criticism from Israel,
and from many in the American Jewish community, that by publicly
warning Israel that it will be further isolated internationally if the
deal should be rejected, he has encouraged scapegoating of the Jewish
state: “If you’ve ever played golf, you know that you yell ‘fore’
off the tee,” he explained. “You’re not threatening somebody, you’re
warning them: ‘Look, don’t get hit by the ball, it’s coming.’”
Kerry believes that a congressional rejection of the deal will lead
to war—he explains his theory of his case in detail below—and he finds
the “visceral” and “emotional” criticism of the deal in Israel, and
among many of Israel’s supporters, flummoxing. “I’ve gone through this
backwards and forwards a hundred times and I’m telling you, this deal is
as pro-Israel, as pro-Israel’s security, as it gets,” Kerry said. “And I
believe that just saying no to this is, in fact, reckless.” When I
asked him how he interprets Israeli criticism of the deal, he said there
is a “a huge level of fear and mistrust and, frankly, there’s an
inherent sense that, given Iran’s gains and avoidance in the past, that
somehow they’re going to avoid something again. It’s a visceral feeling,
it’s very emotional and visceral and I’m very in tune with that and
very sensitive to that.”
Though he says he is in tune with this set of Israeli fears, he does
not endorse a view widely shared by Israelis—and by many Americans—that
Iran’s leaders, who have often said that they seek the destruction of Israel,
mean what they say. “I think they have a fundamental ideological
confrontation with Israel at this particular moment. Whether or not that
translates into active steps to, quote, ‘Wipe it,’ you know ...” Here I
interjected: “Wipe it off the map.”
Kerry continued: “I don’t
know the answer to that. I haven’t seen anything that says to me—they’ve
got 80,000 rockets in Hezbollah pointed at Israel, and any number of
choices could have been made. They didn’t make the bomb when they had
enough material for 10 to 12. They’ve signed on to an agreement where
they say they’ll never try and make one and we have a mechanism in place
where we can prove that. So I don’t want to get locked into that
debate. I think it’s a waste of time here.”
They didn't make the bomb when they had enough material for 10-12 (which only happened during the Obama administration by the way), because they figured why become a pariah when a little bit of patience will let you do it with the 'international community's approval.
The highest-ranking Jewish Democrat in the House announced his
opposition to the nuclear accord with Iran on Tuesday, in a blow to the
Obama administration’s lobbying efforts.
"I'm going to vote
against the Iran deal," Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) — the former head of
the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee — told Newsday.
"I
tried very hard to get to yes. But at the end of the day, despite some
positive elements in the deal, the totality compelled me to oppose it.”
In
addition to Rep. Israel, Reps. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) and Ted Deutch
(D-Fla.) also came out against the deal on Tuesday, saying that the
multinational agreement did not include enough safeguards to prevent
Iran from cheating on its commitments or limit it from supporting
extremist groups such as Hezbollah.
“After a decade in public life
working to stop Iran from ever acquiring nuclear weapons, I cannot
support a deal giving Iran billions of dollars in sanctions relief — in
return for letting it maintain an advanced nuclear program and the
infrastructure of a threshold nuclear state,” Deutch wrote in the
Broward County Sun Sentinel.
So it's not just the Israelis who are opposed.
Kerry's flippant attitude toward this really grates. In a lot of ways, he's even more irritating than Obama. UPDATE 3:50 PM Forgot to show you this:
“The ayatollah constantly believed that we are untrustworthy, that
you can’t negotiate with us, that we will screw them,” Kerry said.
“This”—a congressional rejection—“will be the ultimate
screwing.” He went on to argue that “the United States Congress will
prove the ayatollah’s suspicion, and there’s no way he’s ever coming
back. He will not come back to negotiate. Out of dignity, out of a
suspicion that you can’t trust America. America is not going to
negotiate in good faith. It didn’t negotiate in good faith now, would be
his point.”
'Look, the alternative is unacceptable, and this is actually a good deal'
It's party over country for Hillary Clinton as she passes on a chance to lead by coming out with 'full-throated support' of Obama's Iran sellout (Hat Tip: Memeorandum).
Democrats who met with Clinton said she strongly endorsed the nuclear accord during their meeting with her.
"She
endorsed it — full-throated — and described her own role in helping to
build the coalition … that led to this," Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.)
said leaving the closed-door meeting in the Capitol. "She laid out,
'Look, the alternative is unacceptable, and this is actually a good
deal.' That's her words."
"She was not equivocal at all in her support for the agreement as she understands it," Connolly added.
Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), who voiced his own skepticism, also said Clinton is backing the agreement.
"She
did say the core elements are worth supporting," Israel said. "She
believes that we have an obligation to review all the details."
...
Congress now has 60 days to review the accord.
Israel
said Clinton's position on the issue will hold great sway among
congressional Democrats ahead of that vote. He described her influence
as second only to President Obama on the issue.
"There's no question that her opinion is critically important," he said.
One
House Democrat, who spoke anonymously in order to discuss the private
conversation, suggested Clinton's message to the Democrats carried
stronger tones of support than her cautious public remarks.
"She
was highlighting the positives within the report, and it sounded to me
as if she would be more inclined to support it," the lawmaker said.
Nancy Pelosi, Steve Israel and Chris Murphy appeared at CAIR (Hamas' US branch) fundraiser
Representatives Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca) and Steve Israel (D-NY), and Senate candidate Chris Murphy (D-Ct), appeared at a secret May fundraiser on behalf of CAIR. CAIR, which acts as Hamas' US branch, was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land terrorism trial in 2007-08.
Nancy Pelosi, Democratic congresswoman from San Francisco, Steve
Israel, Democratic congressman from NY, and Chris Murphy who is running
for the Senate against Linda McMann in Connecticut, joined Reps Keith
Ellison and Andre Carson as headliners at a Democratic Party fundraiser
with leaders of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood front groups on May,
2012.
It was held in secret.
Why is it a secret? Aren’t they transparent? Shouldn’t they be
flaunting the names of their new bundlers who will in turn expect
support for their many anti-Israel goals?
Nancy Pelosi, who has been a supporter of Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian
leader who is currently massacring his own people, is now supporting
the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) whose Executive
Director Nihad Awad, has openly championed Hamas and defended suicide
bombings as “legitimate resistance.”
Awad views the Democratic Party as supporters who are bringing about
change in U.S.-Hamas-Brotherhood relations. Not all Democrats are on
board, but too many are.
The Nassau County Federation of Republican Women hosted a forum to discuss
the assault on Religious Freedom in the US at all levels of
government and in particular by the Obama administration and members of
the Democratic Party. The guest speakers/panelists were renowned
commentator Rabbi Aryeh Spero and Jim Krug, president of the Long Island
Chapter of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. This
video shows Rabbi Spero repsonding to an audience question about why
Congressman Steve Israel and other Jewish politicians support the
anti-semetic group Occupy Wall Street.
Let's go to the videotape.
You will note that Rabbi Spero makes a point that I have often made on this blog about how so many Jews have substituted Liberalism for Judaism as their religion. Indeed.
Republican ad targets Steve Israel for supporting #OWS (Occupy Wall Street)
The National Republican Congressional Campaign has gone after Representative Steve Israel (D-NY) for supporting the anti-Semitic Occupy Wall Street movement.
Let's go to the videotape.
Israel is furious. This is from an email he sent to supporters on Friday:
Today they hit a new low.
The extreme right wing has launched an outrageous attack to distract us from their reckless economic policies: They are questioning my commitment to my own religion.
Hard working people are standing with middle income families across the country who are angry about Republican policies that failed them. The American people are outraged, and they have every right to be.
In response, over the last 24 hours, National Republicans have started personally attacking me by questioning my commitment to my own Jewish community.
I’m proud of my Jewish faith and heritage, of my leadership for Israel’s safety and security and my strong fight against the serious threats of anti-Semitism. It is outrageous that national Republicans are questioning that.
Please stand with us and sign our petition to the NRCC and Washington Republicans to stop the disgraceful attacks and start a real debate about jobs and how we can move America forward.
They’re attacking me to try to silence you -- because they think it’s wrong that you’re frustrated and even angry about what Republicans are trying to do to this country. The personal attacks they’ve launched on me for standing with you are nothing in comparison to the hardships faced by middle income families across America every day.
Americans deserve a debate about our ideas. They deserve answers and solutions that rebuild the middle class and restore the American dream. They deserve representatives that make the middle class a priority again.
They can come at me as hard as they want, but I’m not backing down. Will you continue to stand with me? Stand with us today.
Your Friend,
Steve Israel
Well, Steve, when you support a movement that's full of anti-Semites, founded by anti-Semites, funded by anti-Semites, and has anti-Semitic overtones, is it unreasonable to question your loyalty to your co-religionists?
There's a lot more here about who is behind Occupy Wall Street. If you're a Jew, Occupy Wall Street should make you sick.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
