President Obama in Israel

If you can overlook Chuck Todd's stupid questions - and of course we can, and should - this has been a fantastic historical trip for President Obama. And goodness knows it has been more successful than Mitt's #Romneyshambles when he tried to declare war on Iran even though he held no elected office and was just a guy from Michigan.

This is a speech of hope. Blessed are the Peacemakers, as Jesus said. I am so proud today I voted for this President.
Full Speech Transcript Here on Daily Beast

First, peace is necessary. Indeed, it is the only path to true security. You can be the generation that permanently secures the Zionist dream, or you can face a growing challenge to its future. Given the demographics west of the Jordan River, the only way for Israel to endure and thrive as a Jewish and democratic state is through the realization of an independent and viable Palestine. Given the frustration in the international community, Israel must reverse an undertow of isolation. And given the march of technology, the only way to truly protect the Israeli people is through the absence of war – because no wall is high enough, and no Iron Dome is strong enough, to stop every enemy from inflicting harm.

This truth is more pronounced given the changes sweeping the Arab World. I recognize that with the uncertainty in the region – people in the streets, changes in leadership, the rise of non-secular parties in politics –it is tempting to turn inward. But this is precisely the time to respond to the wave of revolution with a resolve for peace. As more governments respond to popular will, the days when Israel could seek peace with a handful of autocratic leaders are over. Peace must be made among peoples, not just governments. No one step can change overnight what lies in the hearts and minds of millions. But progress with the Palestinians is a powerful way to begin, while sidelining extremists who thrive on conflict and division.

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Romney on Palestine: Apartheid Better than Peace

Mother Jones has posted another portion of the "Secret Video." This time Mitt talks to his wealthy donors about Israel and the Palestinian Problem, but also get other glimpses into his foreign policy agenda. Perhaps this is what he talked about with his old friend Bibi Netanyahu on his trip to Israel?

From Mother Jones

He paints Obama as "naive" on foreign policy and someone who gets by merely on charm alone. Romney misses the intense irony of this statement, coming from someone who bungled his European trip so badly and insulted our closest and most easily charmed ally, Great Britain. Obama never did that, LOL. Note: My daughter just pointed out to me that Romney made these statements in May, before his ill-fated European Tour. Little did he know just how naive he was.

The president's foreign policy, in my opinion, is formed in part by a perception he has that his magnetism, and his charm, and his persuasiveness is so compelling that he can sit down with people like Putin and Chávez and Ahmadinejad, and that they'll find that we're such wonderful people that they'll go on with us, and they'll stop doing bad things. And it's an extraordinarily naive perception.

He also rambles on about Iran again. I think he is fixated.

If I were Iran, if I were Iran—a crazed fanatic, I'd say let's get a little fissile material to Hezbollah, have them carry it to Chicago or some other place, and then if anything goes wrong, or America starts acting up, we'll just say, "Guess what? Unless you stand down, why, we're going to let off a dirty bomb." I mean this is where we have—where America could be held up and blackmailed by Iran, by the mullahs, by crazy people. So we really don't have any option but to keep Iran from having a nuclear weapon.

Good idea - a man who wants to be President of the U.S. suggesting that the Iranians should attack Chicago, which also happens to be Obama's hometown. It was a sure bet he wasn't going to say "Boston."

The other side of the West Bank, the other side of what would be this new Palestinian state would either be Syria at one point, or Jordan. And of course the Iranians would want to do through the West Bank exactly what they did through Lebanon, what they did near Gaza. Which is that the Iranians would want to bring missiles and armament into the West Bank and potentially threaten Israel. So Israel of course would have to say, "That can't happen. We've got to keep the Iranians from bringing weaponry into the West Bank." Well, that means that—who? The Israelis are going to patrol the border between Jordan, Syria, and this new Palestinian nation? Well, the Palestinians would say, "Uh, no way! We're an independent country. You can't, you know, guard our border with other Arab nations."

And now how about the airport? How about flying into this Palestinian nation? Are we gonna allow military aircraft to come in and weaponry to come in? And if not, who's going to keep it from coming in? Well, the Israelis. Well, the Palestinians are gonna say, "We're not an independent nation if Israel is able to come in and tell us what can land in our airport." These are problems—these are very hard to solve, all right?

And I look at the Palestinians not wanting to see peace anyway, for political purposes, committed to the destruction and elimination of Israel, and these thorny issues, and I say, "There's just no way." And so what you do is you say, "You move things along the best way you can." You hope for some degree of stability, but you recognize that this is going to remain an unsolved problem.

More at Mother Jones

Romney Warmongering in Israel

In a speech that will delight Jewish extremists and Evangelicals alike, Mitt Romney stated that he believes Jerusalem is the "capital of Israel," trying to sound like the guy who is going to rebuild the Temple of Solomon single-handedly while also fulfilling the Mormon White Horse Prophecy, which will save the Constitution of the U.S. but also bring about the Rapture and Armegeddon.

Isn't that special? The problem is, he hasn't been elected to anything yet.

So mainly Romney wants to get that sweet money from Sheldon Adelson, and everything else is secondary. By the way, the Romney camp has reversed their policy of yesterday and will now allow journalists inside the fund raiser in Jerusalem. Apparently that includes both the American Press Corps, as well as the Jewish Press. But stay tuned in case another etch-a-sketch happens.

Romney's Complete Speech Here

From the Boston Globe

JERUSALEM—On Israeli soil, U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Sunday declared Jerusalem to be the capital of the Jewish state and said the United States has "a solemn duty and a moral imperative" to block Iran from achieving nuclear weapons capability.

"Make no mistake, the ayatollahs in Iran are testing our moral defenses. They want to know who will object and who will look the other way," he said. "We will not look away nor will our country ever look away from our passion and commitment to Israel."

The presidential election hovered over the speech, with the Old City forming a made-for-television backdrop behind Romney, while some of his campaign donors listened in the audience.

Romney Shambles Day One: Disconcerting London Gaffes
Romney Shambles Day Two: British Press Pounces
Romney Shambles Day Three: On to Israel
Romney Shambles Day Four: Bomb Bomb Bomb Iran