Obamateurism of the Day
posted at 8:05 am on May 20, 2011 by Ed Morrissey
Most of the fury over Barack Obama’s speech yesterday has focused on his statement about the US position on the borders of Israel, but as Jeffrey Goldberg noted, that’s hardly a change. The 1967 borders have formed the basis of American peace proposals for years, and two years ago Hillary Clinton explicitly made the same statement of American policy.
Supporters of Israel should find this more puzzling, though:
As for security, every state has the right to self-defense, and Israel must be able to defend itself – by itself – against any threat.
Huh? Did Obama just specifically say that the US won’t defend Israel if attacked?
Israel has long said that it will fight its own wars, and that all they need from America is our friendship. However, it has been rather clear that the US takes its alliance with Israel very, very seriously, and that an attack on Israel by its neighbors could very well provoke a reaction from the world’s superpower. That kind of strategic ambiguity serves our interests well by deterring anyone from initiating an attack on Israel, which apart from attacks by Hezbollah and Hamas have not taken place in decades. Obama’s emphasis on “by itself” seems to send a much different signal, one a lot more potentially dangerous than a restatement of the obvious American approach to peace proposals on the two-state solution.
Got an Obamateurism of the Day? If you see a foul-up by Barack Obama, e-mail it to me at obamaisms@edmorrissey.com with the quote and the link to the Obamateurism. I’ll post the best Obamateurisms on a daily basis, depending on how many I receive. Include a link to your blog, and I’ll give some link love as well. And unlike Slate, I promise to end the feature when Barack Obama leaves office.
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Those crazy Glenn Beck predictions are never right./
Disturb the Universe on May 20, 2011 at 8:08 AM
I got your back *wink*
-dear leader
cmsinaz on May 20, 2011 at 8:13 AM
And yet, the Jewish in the US will still send obaka money and vote for him…
ladyingray on May 20, 2011 at 8:14 AM
Except for Arizona and all of our other states trying to protect our borders, right, Barry?
Knucklehead on May 20, 2011 at 8:15 AM
boggles the mind
cmsinaz on May 20, 2011 at 8:16 AM
Why is anyone surprised? He’s a MUSLIM!
flytier on May 20, 2011 at 8:17 AM
Columbia, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, get in line because you’re next.
Bishop on May 20, 2011 at 8:18 AM
When push comes to shove, Øbama will put a knife in Israel’s back. I halfway expect Øbama to find some excuse to back out of it’s commitment to veto the UN vote in September.
petefrt on May 20, 2011 at 8:18 AM
I can see him doing that…abstain
cmsinaz on May 20, 2011 at 8:19 AM
FIFY
Freelancer on May 20, 2011 at 8:19 AM
Yup. And then when war breaks out, he’ll vote “present”.
petefrt on May 20, 2011 at 8:21 AM
After he sleeps on it for 16 hours.
Knucklehead on May 20, 2011 at 8:25 AM
I keep getting conflicting accounts of whether Odinglenutz was talking about the 1967 borders or the pre-1967 borders. Some may know that there was a change of some significance in 1967…
mr.blacksheep on May 20, 2011 at 8:25 AM
That’s what I heard.
ctmom on May 20, 2011 at 8:26 AM
He wants borders for Israel. What about us?
TimBuk3 on May 20, 2011 at 8:26 AM
That statement, which O slipped in unnoticed by many a pundit, really bothered me. The speech was broadcast to the ME in Arabic and Farsi. As far as I am concerned, it was a dog whistle to Israel’s enemies that America will look the other way when aggressors are on the attack. The State Department paid little attention to the orchestrated border demonstrations the other day during the third intifada.
Did you notice that O did not include Saudi Arabia in his listing of countries yearning for freedom and self-determination. I guess that O is relying on funds from there, rather than his American Jewish benefactors for the billion-dollar campaign.
The way he throws around terms like billion dollars– in loan forgiveness and Egyptian/Tunisian entrepreneurial support– demonstrates in another way how little sense he has about how much money those figures represent.
onlineanalyst on May 20, 2011 at 8:26 AM
I will bless those who bless you…
kingsjester on May 20, 2011 at 8:26 AM
The last part of the speech re Israel/”Palestine” was a gratuitous, audacious slap to Netanyahu prior to the statesman’s visit. It was a typically nasty ObaMao stunt.
onlineanalyst on May 20, 2011 at 8:29 AM
He is an enemy of the American way of life…
OmahaConservative on May 20, 2011 at 8:31 AM
I’m glad you’re highlighting this, Ed. It sent a shiver down my spine when I heard it.
Don’t know that it classifies as an Obamaturism, though. As someone said yesterday, “Our president is an enemy of God.” Ergo, Israel is his natural enemy as well.
Naturally Curly on May 20, 2011 at 8:31 AM
That’s what I heard too. Like a good little community organizer, he’s stirring the “Arab Spring” pot as much as he dares without risking defeat in 2012.
petefrt on May 20, 2011 at 8:33 AM
Imagine this POS back in 1939 ……. “Poland, Schmoland, you’re on your own”.
I mean, really …. why wouldn’t you stick up for your friends in a time of need when facing destruction …. unless, maybe, you agreed with and sided with the Natzeees.
Jerome Horwitz on May 20, 2011 at 8:34 AM
If anything, Obama made it very clear yesterday that he is, without question, the most anti-Israel President to have ever served in office.
pilamaye on May 20, 2011 at 8:41 AM
This is not an “Obamateurism” — it is grounds for impeachment.
Unless, that is, you like having an antisemitic, terrorist-enabling traitor in the White House.
But I guess we’ll have to wait until Israel — or the United States — is destroyed for anyone to actually take, you know, some kind of action against Osama Obama’s regime.
MrScribbler on May 20, 2011 at 8:43 AM
Hey. 56 out of 57 ain’t bad.
Mr. President, lech la’azazel.
Regards from Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the Jewish nation.
Shy Guy on May 20, 2011 at 8:43 AM
This is what happens when your foreign policy has no direction whatsoever.
joe btfsplk on May 20, 2011 at 8:46 AM
Israel has always, and will always, stand. There will always be Jews there that will not be uprooted. No matter what the president does/thinks/acts upon, his plans will fail. I think this speech was an attempt to focus the Arab Spring towards Israel and to give them the greenlight.
For if God is with us, who can stand against us? Rom 8:31
ted c on May 20, 2011 at 8:46 AM
Obama: “Israel have no fear, I have your back…….wayyyyy back!”
search4truth on May 20, 2011 at 8:47 AM
I am still not understanding how we think the POTUS of the US telling Israel they need to return to pre-67 borders is not a betrayal!!!
Netanyahu is furious, almost everyone on these threads and anyone I’ve talked to since they heard the speech is saying this is a dramatic assertion for the president to make. WTH am I missing?
hawkdriver on May 20, 2011 at 8:47 AM
… way, WAY back.
Bastage. I hope Bibi breaks his foot off on him.
CantCureStupid on May 20, 2011 at 8:48 AM
Yep, in Barry & Holders world, we should have NO borders, but everybody else should.
Tim Zank on May 20, 2011 at 8:49 AM
When will
the massesthem asses understand that this administration wants to reduce our nation to third world status?Glenn Beck and/or Biblical prophesy aside, Odamna is attempting to fulfill the mooslim dream while destroying the American dream.
Crusader Rabbit on May 20, 2011 at 8:49 AM
Yeah, POTUS “of the US” is stupid. More coffee.
hawkdriver on May 20, 2011 at 8:50 AM
Imagine that. A man who sat in an antisemitic church for 20 years actually shows his hatred for Israel. When the Muslims make war on Israel, the blood will be on Obama’s hands.
pearson on May 20, 2011 at 8:50 AM
Hitler’s Sudetenland ploy really IS being reenacted almost to the letter…
golfmann on May 20, 2011 at 8:51 AM
Great minds… :)
CantCureStupid on May 20, 2011 at 8:51 AM
Harold Camping checks in…
Akzed on May 20, 2011 at 9:04 AM
Galatians 4:24.
Akzed on May 20, 2011 at 9:05 AM
LOL; happens to the best of us…
Keemo on May 20, 2011 at 9:06 AM
This man is a dangerous thug. How dare he dictate what concessions Israel will make on the heels of Hamas uniting with Abbas and Fatah, and after the massive incursion on three sides last week.
Shameful POS.
Key West Reader on May 20, 2011 at 9:06 AM
Ccs
Heh :)
cmsinaz on May 20, 2011 at 9:07 AM
Republicans need to pounce on this and ask every democrat whether they agree with Obama regarding Israel. This is shocking and needs to be exposed and we can’t count on the LSM to ask the questions. There should be ads up in every state with a dem senate seat asking “Senator McCaskill, do you agree with the president’s position on Israel.”
PatMac on May 20, 2011 at 9:08 AM
I have your back just close enough to plunge a knife into it.
backstabber.
ted c on May 20, 2011 at 9:11 AM
Thinking hard now about making the trip to Israel in August for Beck’s Restore Courage event. I’ll support this effort every way I can. I feel awful about what this country is doing to Israel.
petefrt on May 20, 2011 at 9:23 AM
Aw.
Wimpy Ed Morrissey is trying to retrieve some cred after his Obama Israel borders speech luv from yesterday with some kind of Israel defense thingie criticism of the 0.
Dr. Carlo Lombardi on May 20, 2011 at 9:28 AM
If I were Israel I’d be trying to make fast friends with Moscow right about now, and offer them full access to Hatzerim Air Force Base, among others….and pretty much tell the White House to bugger off.
The Russians are not at all too thrilled with the mobs trying to rule more and more Arab states these days.
Sometimes one has to do what one has to do in order to stay alive, especially with some nut job president calling for your destruction.
(And, no, I am not talking about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.)
coldwarrior on May 20, 2011 at 9:29 AM
Time to renegotiate the border – eastward!
OldEnglish on May 20, 2011 at 9:36 AM
307 million people in the US and most of us take our alliance with Israel very seriously. Obama doesn’t so the rest of us can suck it. Way to vote, a$$holes.
SKYFOX on May 20, 2011 at 9:43 AM
Yes, my fellow Christian president, Israel will be all by herself.
/
rogerb on May 20, 2011 at 9:46 AM
Israel will not need any help defending themselves. The Arab world will need to be helped. What is left of it anyway.
DeweyWins on May 20, 2011 at 9:49 AM
Of course, it’s his nature. He comes from the radical black left, which has been historically anti-semitic. Look at the views of nutballs like Wright, Shlapton, Jackson, Jarrett, Rice, Power, and the entire CBC. Add to that the more recent world alliance between the progs and the islamists, and it’s clear that little Bammie and his gang are one of Israel’s most dangerous enemies.
slickwillie2001 on May 20, 2011 at 9:50 AM
Isn’t that Rear Leader?
mchristian on May 20, 2011 at 9:53 AM
Whether past Presidents have endorsed this or not(and failed with this policy)….is it the right thing to do now?????
Will it bring both sides together and create an agreement????
The obvious answer to that is no.
Israel has more unstable governments and hatred directed it’s way than ever before.
……Egypt is on the verge of becoming run by the Muslim Brotherhood.
Libya is a mess……
………..Syria is a mess and could end up just like Egypt with jihadist running the show.
…. The agreement that Hamas has reached in Palistine makes peace between them and Israel even less likely.
………..Hezbollah has gained power in the region and Iran’s proxy armies are getting stronger by the day.
………….Iran declares almost daily it’s desire to destroy Israel and is on the verge of a nuclear weapon.
All this is going on and our Presidents great idea is to make Israel strategically weaker and harder to defend.
It should come as no surprise that after a major Middle East speech by Obama…it’s Israel on the defense instead of the genocidal terrorist regime of Iran.
Stuck on Stupid!!!!!
Baxter Greene on May 20, 2011 at 9:56 AM
If little Bammie continues on this path, Germany may offer him an honorary military commission. Field Marshal perhaps?
slickwillie2001 on May 20, 2011 at 9:58 AM
I didn’t know you could get an entire country under the bus.
sdd on May 20, 2011 at 10:01 AM
“The Final Solution?”
sdd on May 20, 2011 at 10:04 AM
Yep, sure did. And the Jewish people in this country will continue to support him with money and votes. Go figure.
GarandFan on May 20, 2011 at 10:22 AM
Hopefully Mossad can help him revise this policy.
Alden Pyle on May 20, 2011 at 10:23 AM
I’d like to see Mossad come up with his real birth certificate.
slickwillie2001 on May 20, 2011 at 10:31 AM
Why side with allies and democracies, when the intention is a dictatorship? Obama knows who’d support him, when he finally decides to go for it.
capejasmine on May 20, 2011 at 10:40 AM
Here’s another perspective of Jeffrey Goldberg, the one person Ed found that seemed to agree with him: Far Left Israel Hater Jeffrey Goldberg Attacks Netanyahu For Defending Jewish Homeland
slickwillie2001 on May 20, 2011 at 10:43 AM
Indeed. As Krauthammer pointed out, Obama succeeded in boxing Israel into a position where the border issue is “settled” as far as he is concerned but the so-called refugee issue remains open for negotiation. If borders are no longer on the table, what does Israel have to negotiate with?
ProfessorMiao on May 20, 2011 at 10:50 AM
This just in:
Obama sucks….
Sponge on May 20, 2011 at 10:51 AM
No, no, no. An all out ME war is more serious, therefore needs more of his royal self naval gazing.
So the media can portrait his anguish and nuanced stand.
How long did Obama put off McChrystal again? Yep, that long.
Sir Napsalot on May 20, 2011 at 11:07 AM
As Rush said yesterday the US agreeing to ’67 borders then knee caps Bibi by taking away a bargaining chip. What do the Israeli’s now have as a bargaining chip? Answer; Go quietly into the dark night.
Herb on May 20, 2011 at 11:12 AM
How is it that the Jews in the US support this guy? Still haven’t figured out that one.
Pablo Snooze on May 20, 2011 at 11:36 AM
This. Because leopards don’t change their spots.
GrannyDee on May 20, 2011 at 11:42 AM
Obama calls for the ’67 borders (sorry, Ed, think you’re wrong on this one), he calls for a “contiguous” Palestinian state and tells Israel it’s on its own if attacked.
Now, what demands did he make of the new allies Hamas and Fatah? An immediate cessation of rocket attacks? No more brutal murders of children in their beds? No more suicide bomb attacks? The return of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit? A declaration of peace? Recognition of Israel’s right to exist? Anything?
If Netanyahu had any sense at all he’d cancel his White House meeting and simply go to Congress.
Jay Mac on May 20, 2011 at 12:21 PM
There is the thought out there that little Bammie chose the timing of his recital to strangle Prime Minister Netanyahu for having the temerity to come to the USA to speak to Congress. Little Bammie doesn’t like anyone going around his personal highness.
slickwillie2001 on May 20, 2011 at 12:24 PM
More proof that the Zero is a stealth Islamic extremis.
This administration is turning out to be an amateur remake of “The Manchurian Candidate”…retitled “The Iranian Candidate”!
landlines on May 20, 2011 at 12:45 PM
Still no joint statements from Obama/Netanyahu?
Schadenfreude on May 20, 2011 at 2:20 PM
Schadenfreude on May 20, 2011 at 2:22 PM
Odd that there’s no HA thread on the press-conference, easily the biggest news of the day.
slickwillie2001 on May 20, 2011 at 3:04 PM
It is quite obvious and well known that Obama is an anti-Semite. Look at the people with which he has surrounded himself. Look at his statements.
On the other paw, is there anybody he likes other than himself? I think he hates almost everything. He acts to destroy everything other than other destroyers.
{^_^}
herself on May 21, 2011 at 8:04 AM