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With Rahm Emanuel, Islamists Already Upset
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Topic Started: Nov 6 2008, 12:29 AM (169 Views)
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Dwayne
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Nov 6 2008, 12:29 AM
Post #1
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Obama picks pro-Israel hardliner for top post Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada, 5 November 2008 During the United States election campaign, racists and pro-Israel hardliners tried to make an issue out of President-elect Barack Obama's middle name, Hussein. Such people might take comfort in another middle name, that of Obama's pick for White House Chief of Staff: Rahm Israel Emanuel. Emanuel is Obama's first high-level appointment and it's one likely to disappointment those who hoped the president-elect would break with the George W. Bush Administration's pro-Israel policies. White House Chief of Staff is often considered the most powerful office in the executive branch, next to the president. Obama has offered Emanuel the position according to Democratic party sources cited by media including Reuters and The New York Times. While Emanuel is expected to accept the post, that had not been confirmed by Wednesday evening the day after the election. Rahm Emanuel was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1959, the son of Benjamin Emanuel, a pediatrician who helped smuggle weapons to the Irgun, the Zionist militia of former Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin, in the 1940s. The Irgun carried out numerous terrorist attacks on Palestinian civilians including the bombing of Jerusalem's King David Hotel in 1946. Emanuel continued his father's tradition of active support for Israel; during the 1991 Gulf War he volunteered to help maintain Israeli army vehicles near the Lebanon border when southern Lebanon was still occupied by Israeli forces. As White House political director in the first Clinton administration, Emanuel orchestrated the famous 1993 signing ceremony of the "Declaration of Principles" between Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin. Emanuel was elected to Congress representing a north Chicago district in 2002 and he is credited with a key role in delivering a Democratic majority in the 2006 mid-term elections. He has been a prominent supporter of neoliberal economic policies on free trade and welfare reform. One of the most influential politicians and fundraisers in his party, Emanuel accompanied Obama to a meeting of AIPAC's executive board just after the Illinois senator had addressed the pro-Israel lobby's conference last June. In Congress, Emanuel has been a consistent and vocal pro-Israel hardliner, sometimes more so than President Bush. In June 2003, for example, he signed a letter criticizing Bush for being insufficiently supportive of Israel. "We were deeply dismayed to hear your criticism of Israel for fighting acts of terror," Emanuel, along with 33 other Democrats wrote to Bush. The letter said that Israel's policy of assassinating Palestinian political leaders "was clearly justified as an application of Israel's right to self-defense" ("Pelosi supports Israel's attacks on Hamas group," San Francisco Chronicle, 14 June 2003). In July 2006, Emanuel was one of several members who called for the cancellation of a speech to Congress by visiting Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki because al-Maliki had criticized Israel's bombing of Lebanon. Emanuel called the Lebanese and Palestinian governments "totalitarian entities with militias and terrorists acting as democracies" in a 19 July 2006 speech supporting a House resolution backing Israel's bombing of both countries that caused thousands of civilian victims. Emanuel has sometimes posed as a defender of Palestinian lives, though never from the constant Israeli violence that is responsible for the vast majority of deaths and injuries. On 14 June 2007 he wrote to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice "on behalf of students in the Gaza Strip whose future is threatened by the ongoing fighting there" which he blamed on "the violence and militancy of their elders." In fact, the fighting between members of Hamas and Fatah, which claimed dozens of lives, was the result of a failed scheme by US-backed militias to violently overthrow the elected Hamas-led national unity government. Emanuel's letter urged Rice "to work with allies in the region, such as Egypt and Jordan, to either find a secure location in Gaza for these students, or to transport them to a neighboring country where they can study and take their exams in peace." Palestinians often view such proposals as a pretext to permanently "transfer" them from their country, as many Israeli leaders have threatened. Emanuel has never said anything in support of millions of Palestinian children whose education has been disrupted by Israeli occupation, closures and blockades. Emanuel has also used his position to explicitly push Israel's interests in normalizing relations with Arab states and isolating Hamas. In 2006 he initiated a letter to President Bush opposing United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based Dubai Ports World's attempt to buy the management business of six US seaports. The letter, signed by dozens of other lawmakers, stated that "The UAE has pledged to provide financial support to the Hamas-led government of the Palestinian Authority and openly participates in the Arab League boycott against Israel." It argued that allowing the deal to go through "not only could place the safety and security of US ports at risk, but enhance the ability of the UAE to bolster the Hamas regime and its efforts to promote terrorism and violence against Israel" ("Dems Tie Israel, Ports," Forward, 10 March 2006). Ira Forman, executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council, told Fox News that picking Emanuel is "just another indication that despite the attempts to imply that Obama would somehow appoint the wrong person or listen to the wrong people when it comes to the US-Israel relationship ... that was never true." Over the course of the campaign, Obama publicly distanced himself from friends and advisers suspected or accused of having "pro-Palestinian" sympathies. There are no early indications of a more balanced course. http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9939.shtml
Now you really didn't think that our enemies would love us, because we elected Obama, now did you?
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Dandandat
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Nov 6 2008, 12:35 AM
Post #2
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Time to put something here
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That puts that to bed;
but Rahm Emanuel is hardly the guy you chose if you’re trying to unite the country. But he is the guy you chose if you want to keep congress in check; which I think is the most interesting thing about choosing him. based on this pick It seems Obama is setting up an administration that can stand up to Nancy Polocy.
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Dwayne
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Nov 6 2008, 12:39 AM
Post #3
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Profanity deleted by Hoss
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But is he going to go further left or toward the center... I just don't see him alienating his base by moving to the center.
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RTW
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Nov 6 2008, 12:40 AM
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Vice Admiral
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I realize this is all speculation, but...
Supporting Israel over Islamists?
Standing up to Pelosi?
So far so good Mr. President-elect!
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Dandandat
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Nov 6 2008, 12:42 AM
Post #5
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Time to put something here
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- Dwayne
- Nov 6 2008, 12:39 AM
But is he going to go further left or toward the center... I just don't see him alienating his base by moving to the center. He'll want to be reelected in four years; and his base isn’t going to vote for the republican. His victory the 4th was born out of many independents and right wingers giving him a chance to see what he can do. If he goes left they won’t approve and he risks losing their support and so reelection.
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Dwayne
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Nov 6 2008, 01:14 AM
Post #6
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Profanity deleted by Hoss
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I suspect any move to the left from Obama will be countered in 2010 as well as 2012. People have their eyes set on 2012, but the time to take congress back in 2010. Republicans need to get their act together.
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Dwayne
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Nov 6 2008, 11:10 AM
Post #7
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Taliban asks Obama to end war in Afghanistan Islamabad, Nov 6(PTI) Hoping that a new era of peace will dawn with the election of Barack Obama as the US President, the Taliban has asked the President-elect to change his country's policies towards it and end the war in Afghanistan. Reacting to Obama's victory in the American polls, top Taliban spokesman Qari Muhammad Yousaf Ahmadi told reporters: "We want to tell the world and the West to pull out their troops from Afghanistan as the (party of US President George W Bush) has lost the race because of their flawed polices." Another Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said it would be "unwise" if Obama tried to solve the Afghan problem militarily. He said it would be "wrong thinking" if Obama tried to increase US forces in Afghanistan to "make Afghans slaves". Mujahid pointed out that the Russians too tried to suppress Afghans by deploying thousands of soldiers but could not succeed. "We are hopeful that Obama will withdraw forces from Afghanistan. The US should try to solve its financial crisis instead of keeping troops in Afghanistan," he said. Ahmadi said the new President should bring an end to fighting and begin a new era of peace in the world. "The US President should end the continuing era of war and begin a new era of peace," he said. Asked whether he thought Obama would pull out troops, Ahmadi said: "We do not have much expectations. But despite that we will see. If Obama sends more troops to the war-ravaged country, jehad and resistance will be continued." Ahmadi said there was neither joy nor sorrow in the Taliban ranks over the election of Obama. Obama should respect the mandate from the public and spend the taxpayers' money on social welfare and development rather than weapons and war, Pakistani Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said. PTI http://www.ptinews.com/pti%5Cptisite.nsf/0/07EFBE0FA5F233BE652574F9002E7429?OpenDocument
So, lets see, if we pull our troops out of Afghanistan, the Taliban says that will bring peace? Peace for whom? Certainly not for women.
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Admiralbill_gomec
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Nov 6 2008, 11:16 AM
Post #8
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- Dandandat
- Nov 6 2008, 12:35 AM
That puts that to bed;
but Rahm Emanuel is hardly the guy you chose if you’re trying to unite the country. But he is the guy you chose if you want to keep congress in check; which I think is the most interesting thing about choosing him. based on this pick It seems Obama is setting up an administration that can stand up to Nancy Polocy.
Interesting.
He was the "architect" of the 2006 Democrat Congressional race.
What this pick says to me is that Obama is going with the über-partisan option. What does this bode for his administration and/or his cabinet picks?
2010 is looking to be a fascinating election (and yes, the campaigns kicked off yesterday).
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Dwayne
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Nov 6 2008, 11:30 AM
Post #9
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- Admiralbill_gomec
- Nov 6 2008, 11:16 AM
(and yes, the campaigns kicked off yesterday).
Yep... and the left doesn't even realize it yet.
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Admiralbill_gomec
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Nov 6 2008, 11:35 AM
Post #10
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UberAdmiral
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- Dwayne
- Nov 6 2008, 11:30 AM
- Admiralbill_gomec
- Nov 6 2008, 11:16 AM
(and yes, the campaigns kicked off yesterday). Yep... and the left doesn't even realize it yet. Emanuel did the same thing following the 2004 elections.
Obama geared up for same thing following the 2006 election.
Of course the Republicans are going to do the same. Then again, the left is in a euphoria like the one described in last night's South Park episode. Maybe they'll fail to see.
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Dwayne
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Nov 6 2008, 11:44 AM
Post #11
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^^^ A great episode of SP btw... I'm glad to read that you're a fan.
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8247
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Nov 6 2008, 11:57 AM
Post #12
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Apparently we look like this now
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^^^
Damn, I missed it. Hope they replay it soon
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Dwayne
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Nov 6 2008, 11:59 AM
Post #13
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You can watch it online here: http://www.southparkstudios.com/episodes/207897/
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Dandandat
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Nov 6 2008, 12:04 PM
Post #14
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Time to put something here
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- Admiralbill_gomec
- Nov 6 2008, 11:16 AM
What this pick says to me is that Obama is going with the über-partisan option. What does this bode for his administration and/or his cabinet picks?
Yes, Emanuel is an uber-partisan; but he is also a guy who can stand up to party leaders in the congress. The latter seems a far better reason for Obama to choose him.
Obama is a newcomer (and so relatively weak) in Washington he would be personally ill fated to take on a role of subordinate to party leaders in the congress who hold a much larger networking power then he does. Emanuel could help level the field.
It is not a given that a president lead the congress; the congress and congressional leaders would benefit where they to diminish executive power and strengthen their own. Just because in this case they all play on the same team does not preclude them from partaking in self interested actions.
A weak Obama makes Nancy Polocy the countries leader; its not surprising that Obama would try to guard himself against that.
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Admiralbill_gomec
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Nov 6 2008, 12:12 PM
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^^^
Interesting analysis, Dante.
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