Guy who wants to negotiate personally with Iran: Israel can’t negotiate with a party that won’t recognize its right to exist
posted at 8:16 pm on March 3, 2008 by Allahpundit
Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama on Monday backed the Bush administration’s policy of shunning contact with the Islamic militants of Hamas in its Middle East peace diplomacy…
Obama, hoping to win his party’s nomination to face likely Republican nominee Sen. John McCain in the November presidential election, said his willingness to meet with foes “does not include Hamas.”
“You can’t negotiate with somebody who does not recognize the right of a country to exist so I understand why Israel doesn’t meet with Hamas,” Obama told reporters during a campaign stop in San Antonio, Texas.
Iran does not recognize Israel either and its president has often threatened the imminent destruction of the Jewish state, drawing criticism from the West which fears Iran wants to make nuclear bombs that could threaten the region.
Exit question: Anyone want to try to parse this one? Your best bet is some distinction about how it’s okay for us, but not Israel, to meet with the leader of a country who calls Israel a “filthy germ.” Show your math. And be sure to avoid cynical answers about how Obama is making an exception for Israel for purely political reasons. The Messiah, surely, is made of sterner stuff.
Blowback
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Why do I get the impression that he’s making this up as he goes along?
spmat on March 3, 2008 at 8:20 PM
Hope! Change! Inconsistency! Pandering!
Hope!
Vizzini on March 3, 2008 at 8:20 PM
Allah,
He has trouble with the Jewish vote, and there is fear that it could spill over into the general election. Just more pandering by Obama.
bert169 on March 3, 2008 at 8:23 PM
Maybe he was Jewish before he was Muslim and Christian.
JiangxiDad on March 3, 2008 at 8:24 PM
Perhaps the distinguished Junior Senator from Illinois is not aware that Iran does not recognize our right to exist.
hicsuget on March 3, 2008 at 8:24 PM
Words. Just words.
SouthernGent on March 3, 2008 at 8:24 PM
Cause he is.
ThePrez on March 3, 2008 at 8:25 PM
Well hell, that is exactly what I was going to say. He isn’t very good at “winging it”.
Vigilante on March 3, 2008 at 8:26 PM
Unfortunately most American Jews would vote for the worst anti Semites as long as they ran on the Democratic line. The much vaunted “Jewish genius” is limited (as my friend points out to me) to the research laboratory, not to common sense when dealing with existential enemies.
Hilts on March 3, 2008 at 8:26 PM
Racism!
(Where’s Michelle when you need her?)
Vatican Watcher on March 3, 2008 at 8:27 PM
someone must’ve told him the Jewish vote was getting antsy. So Obama has the audacity to say this and those dumb jewish voters get their placeibo to have the audacity to support the Obamamessiah
Defector01 on March 3, 2008 at 8:29 PM
Yes, Jewish
geniusstupidity is somewhat unique, as many of the professionals and liberals in my family prove on a daily basis.JiangxiDad on March 3, 2008 at 8:31 PM
It would be hilarious if this was a comedy skit.
Since its the very real policies of a man that may very well be President of the United States, its terrifying.
Mattpat11 on March 3, 2008 at 8:32 PM
That’s what happens when you take away his teleprompter.
AZCoyote on March 3, 2008 at 8:32 PM
Ding ding ding!!
First post was a winner!
Obama’s empty suit gets emptier every day. Eventually, it will start to suck in all things around it.
If he ends up our President, he will be the most clueless President we’ve ever had.
Montana on March 3, 2008 at 8:39 PM
Well, I guess he could say that Iran is more “legit” in terms of UN recognition. After all, the UN is the epicenter of issuances of legitimacy. Once he places Iran in that frame work, the framework of the international community, he can reduce all actions against Iran to negotiations and diplomacy. All actions and declarations by Iran’s mad-men can simply be seen as cries for help, cries that must be heard and answered by the one whose name shall not be uttered. Honestly though, I feel like I’m trying to square a circle with this one.
Weight of Glory on March 3, 2008 at 8:39 PM
We do the talking for ourselves and for Israel.
Israel does the fighting for themselves and for us.
Tzetzes on March 3, 2008 at 8:40 PM
Obama’s in the arena.
One can only blame Bush for so long; eventually that line wears thin and you have to come up with an alternative.
Nice man; empty suit.
SteveMG on March 3, 2008 at 8:40 PM
OMGoodness, where to start? At the beginning, of course:
Checkmate. I withdraw…
Jaibones on March 3, 2008 at 8:41 PM
Bingo, though the BO wasn’t able to get the proper nuance out. Hamas is a terrorist organization, Iran is a nation.
I hope Team McCain got that sound bite on tape.
ninjapirate on March 3, 2008 at 8:43 PM
Whomever said that Obama is making it up as he goes along is correct. He simply does not deem it necessary to do his homework or bone up on a subject. He is sure he can get by on blah, blah. And up until now, he has. When confronted by real questions about real issues(as I hope he will be in the future)the fact that he plays it by ear will become ever more obvious I think. I’ll bet he didn’t remember(if he ever bothered to know)that Iran does not recognize Israel. If this guy is going to run the country by the seat of his pants, we’re in trouble.
jeanie on March 3, 2008 at 8:45 PM
Nah… gotta remember..
He’s the candidate of CHANGE!!!
So, he changed… whats the problem?
Romeo13 on March 3, 2008 at 8:45 PM
Tut, tut, Bertie. Mind your manners. The Jewish vote is so brainlessly, effortlessly, kneejerkedly, slavishly dedicated to the Dem candidate that it matters not what that candidate says or does. Not convinced? I give you distinguished Representative to the House, Keith Ellison, D-Mecca.
Jaibones on March 3, 2008 at 8:46 PM
The U.S. has already agreed to meet with the Iranians.
For example:
WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 — American officials said Tuesday that they had agreed to hold the highest-level contact with the Iranian authorities in more than two years as part of an international meeting on Iraq.
The discussions, scheduled for the next two months, are expected to include Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Iranian and Syrian counterparts.
The announcement, first made in Baghdad and confirmed by Ms. Rice, that the United States would take part in two sets of meetings among Iraq and its neighbors, including Syria and Iran, is a shift in President Bush’s avoidance of high-level contacts with the governments in Damascus and, especially, Tehran.
MB4 on March 3, 2008 at 8:46 PM
It’s called self-preservation. They don’t have to worry about the Republicans, so they focus their votes on keeping the Democratics from getting too toxic.
pedestrian on March 3, 2008 at 8:48 PM
Hopetastic changerifications Batman!
I feel the urge to walk up to every liberal friend I have and sound like Regis: “Is that your final answer? No, really? You wanna call a lifeline on this one? Can we eliminate half of the choices to give you a better chance. Work with me here. IS THIS YOUR FINAL ANSWER?”
Sugar Land on March 3, 2008 at 8:51 PM
We’d be lucky if he was just clueless. This man could be the most flat out destructive President we’ve ever had. I think part of him actually believes his own bull and he really is naive enough to think he can chat with the mad men, despots and dictators of the world without consequence.
Mattpat11 on March 3, 2008 at 8:51 PM
Nice theory. doesn’t work.
JiangxiDad on March 3, 2008 at 8:55 PM
Because he IS!
Great post!
ArmyAunt on March 3, 2008 at 9:01 PM
Such a nice double standard Obama has.
His followers give him a pass and dismiss it in 3, 2, 1.
Yakko77 on March 3, 2008 at 9:03 PM
He is so untested and unsure, the Hamas could actually bring him around.
Well, some of his advisors are already on-track with invading Israel
http://sandbox.blog-city.com/speaking_truth_to_power.htm
bbz123 on March 3, 2008 at 9:08 PM
Want some butter n syrup with that waffle?
Speakup on March 3, 2008 at 9:08 PM
Like most vapid clueless liberal phonies he has gotten along for his whole life by talking like a cross between a used car salesman and a minister and lookin real smooth.
He has been told for so long that you don’t need experience just charisma that he belives it. He’s a poster child for “everybody get an achievement medal”.
Now he’s on the cusp of being in a position of responsibility and he finds himself carrying a knife to an intellectual gun fight.
Alden Pyle on March 3, 2008 at 9:08 PM
On Bill O’Reilly tonight, he had a former CIA agent that was in charge of going after OBL, and quite frankly stated that neither Obama, Clinton, nor McCain have the slightest clue as to the threat we face.
Watching the throngs of “believers” that faint at the very site of The Messiah scares the daylights out of me that he may have a serious chance of being the CIC of the United States of Amercia.
Why do I think you hit the target in the black, and this is very, very dangerous for this country?
Seven Percent Solution on March 3, 2008 at 9:10 PM
In short, because Iran is going nuclear.
In essence, the only way modern Democrats are willing to “negotiate” with someone is because they represent a “real threat”. As opposed to those pesky Hamas guys.
If Palestine was in a position to independently develop nuclear technology, then they’d be on the Dems radar.
Maybe.
SouthernDem on March 3, 2008 at 9:16 PM
And the facade begins to crack…
This guy is winging it.
WisCon on March 3, 2008 at 9:17 PM
But that Mahmoud guy just seems so nice and speaks so well, he couldn’t possibly really mean all he says, right? Liberal World at its most insane.
William Teach on March 3, 2008 at 9:21 PM
Maybe he’s not saying it’s wrong to negotiate with someone who doesn’t recognize your right to exist, but that it’s impossible in practice. The party whose existence is not recognized has no ground to stand on, from which to negotiate.
That’s my attempt to see a plausible reason.
mikeyboss on March 3, 2008 at 9:23 PM
Vizzini on March 3, 2008 at 8:20 PM
You da man!!!!
dmann on March 3, 2008 at 9:45 PM
This guy could give John Kerry lessons.
baldilocks on March 3, 2008 at 9:50 PM
Personally it is my opinion that this “empty suit” simply doesn’t know enough facts about much of anything. It is very easy to get “turned inside out..or upside down, or sideways” when you simply do not know. This is the exact problem with his followers: they cannot articulate why, but will support him anyway!
sharinlite on March 3, 2008 at 10:03 PM
Let’s review, shall we?
This moron is all over the place. If you string together any of his positions on, say, foreign policy and review them in aggregate (as this post suggests), you might think this boy’s name should be “Sybil.”
He has lifted entire speeches from his brother in vapidity, Deval Patrick, a governor who has failed from day one.
He’s a clone of some figment of drug addict Aaron Sorkin’s warped liberal paradise imagination.
Some of his associates are among the most vile human scum in our midst.
His wife is a loudmouth, a snob and a bit of a bitch.
AND TED KENNEDY ENDORSED HIM, FOR CHRISSAKES…
What is wrong with this country that someone so hollow and stupid can fool so many people?
D2Boston on March 3, 2008 at 11:06 PM
This man is truly an idiot!
Winebabe on March 3, 2008 at 11:11 PM
Just let Barry talk some more, he loves the sound of his own voice, likes the sonorous tones he belches forth over and over and over…
He will eventually mess up badly enough that he can’t extricate himself with the help of the MSM.
He’s a second class intellect with a bunch of a$$ kissers running around puckering up.
benrand on March 3, 2008 at 11:26 PM
You mean it will become a Black Hole? That’s raaaaacist! /PC Police.
BKennedy on March 4, 2008 at 12:12 AM
Just a minor point, but Obama is not calling for Israel to negotiate with Iran, he’s only calling for us to do so. And Iran might not recognize our right to exist, but it recognizes that we will exist.
Of course, he’s foolish and narcissistic to want to make a big publicity visit to Iran. We’re already talking with Iran, through diplomatic back channels. And it should stay that way.
daryl_herbert on March 4, 2008 at 12:40 AM
I just hope people will see the light soon(that obama is nothing more then an
that looks good and can speek well.
sko17 on March 4, 2008 at 1:31 AM
Even worse (I get the feeling that we’re going to be hearing that used a lot with Obama), once he disarms the US, he will negotiate “with the mad men, despots and dictators” from a position of weakness. Because in Obamaworld, everybody wants the same thing: A world where children can romp amongst the flowers all day in an environment of peace, love and spare change. What could go wrong with a foreign policy premise such as that? And if he fails, he can at least say he tried something different. No harm in that. Right?
This clown’s friggin’ surrendered before he’s even been nominated. Some bloody commander-in-chief he will be.
If he goes through with his plans to disarm America, I predict an exodus from the military. Who could serve under a man who so blatantly disrespects, with his every un-American gesture and thought, the very thing they are about? During the Clinton Administration, good people left thanks to the lack of respect for the military held by senior White House leadership. With a nuclear Iran, Barama will compound Carter’s folly by an unfathomable magnitude. This is by far the scariest election I’ll be voting in, going back to 1976.
RickZ on March 4, 2008 at 5:01 AM
Barama, shmarana. Barry Hussein.
RickZ on March 4, 2008 at 5:03 AM
Oh, boy. I can’t wait to see a moderator in the next debate ask Obama how he squares this with his willingness to negotiate with Iran.
But I guess I’ll have to wait, ’cause it ain’t gonna happen.
flipflop on March 4, 2008 at 7:28 AM
Again Obama is showing his TOTAL NINCOMPOOPERY when it comes to foreign affairs. His understanding of the military and its role in world politics as equally flawed. OBAMA = FOOL.
jimbo2008 on March 4, 2008 at 7:41 AM
He’s a complete phony and his wife is one scary female.
UnEasyRider on March 4, 2008 at 2:50 PM