Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Huckabee: No Palestinian State in Israel
Former Arkansas Governor and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said during a trip to Israel that the land "belongs to the Jewish people alone." He acknowledged that the Palestinians deserve a state of their own, but insisted: "It just can't be in Israel."
Huckabee, a Baptist minister and Fox News personality, was accompanied on his trip by Helen Freedman, executive director of Americans for a Safe Israel.
He told reporters that two sovereign nations cannot control the same piece of territory, and said: "Many people with many different faiths believe in a strong Israel. They believe in Israel based on issues of security as well as promises made in the Bible. This land belongs to the Jewish people alone."
Asked about the so-called Israeli "occupation" of Palestine, Huckabee said he would characterize the Israeli government's efforts as "accommodation, not occupation," the Jewish Voice and Opinion reported.
He referred to the Barack Obama administration's criticism of the Israeli government over construction of Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem, and his backing away from campaign promises of support for a unified Jerusalem. "The current administration has taken a different track from the one followed by the Bush and Clinton administrations, and Obama's position now is different from what it was during the campaign," Huckabee observed.
He also said: "Jews should have the right to live wherever they choose in their homeland. If the Arabs didn't want to lose land, they shouldn't have started wars."
SOURCE
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Christian Zionists
It sounds like Huckabee is a Christian Zionist and I don't know how anybody who believes in the Bible can be anything else. But I suspect that Pastor Hagee trumps them all.
It's hard to believe that the videos below were recorded in a Texas church. This is Pastor John Hagee's congregational choir. Hagee is the founder and National Chairman of the Christian-Zionist organization Christians United for Israel. They are singing popular Hebrew songs IN HEBREW. It's an amazing occasion and in my view reflects a proper appreciation of Israel by Biblical standards.
And the average NYC Jew thinks these people are clowns. I think I know who the real clowns are. Except for the mass votes of people of faith like these, Obama would throw Israel under the bus in 5 minutes. As it is, he knows that the Donks would be routed at the mid-terms if he did so. (H/T ICJS)
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Why The Return To Zion? The Jewish Connection To The Land of Israel
Not long after the establishment of the State of Israel, Abba Eban, Israel’s representative to the United Nations, remarked, “The peace on Israel’s borders may be no more than the peace of a quiescent volcano; and the crisis of state in its immediate external relationships remain unsolved.”
Given the intractable nature of this conflict, many ask why the Jews have been so tenacious in their desire to reconstitute the Jewish state in the land of Israel. What is it about this land that has inspired their love of Zion through centuries of exile?
Culturally, during the 18 centuries of Jewish life in the Diaspora, the connection to the land of Israel played a vital role in the value system of Jewish communities and was a basic determinant in their self-recognition as a group. Without the connection to the land of Israel, the people who practice Judaism would simply be a religious community, without national and ethnic components. Jews were distinct from the Muslim and Christian communities in which they lived because of their religious beliefs and practices and the eternal link to the land of their forefathers. That is why Jews considered themselves — and are seen by others — as a minority living in exile.
As Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel explained: “For the Jews and for them alone [the land of Israel] was the one and only Homeland, the only conceivable place where they could find liberation and independence, the land toward which their minds and hearts had been uplifted for a score of centuries and where their roots had clung in spite of all adversity. . . . It was the homeland with which an indestructible bond of national, physical, religious and spiritual character had been preserved, and where the Jews had in essence remained — and were now once more in fact — a major element of the population.” 3
The Jews did not publicly challenge the occupation of their land by the empires of the East and West. They did so in their homes, sanctuaries, books, and prayers. Religious rituals were instituted to remember the destruction of the temple and the subsequent exile. During times of joy and sorrow, Zion is always part of a Jew’s thoughts and liturgy. At least three times a day, observant Jews pray for the redemption of Zion and Jerusalem and for her well-being.
More here
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Massachusetts 'Run Into the Ground' by Politicians
Former Major League pitching star Curt Schilling hasn't finalized his decision on whether to run for the Massachusetts Senate seat vacated by the late Ted Kennedy, but he's being outspoken in his criticism of elected officials. Schilling, who helped lead the Boston Red Sox to victory in the 2004 and 2007 World Series, has expressed interest in the Senate seat but said in a recent interview in Quincy, Mass., that he doesn’t know when he will make up his mind about running.
He is a longtime Republican supporter who backed John McCain in 2008, but he is not registered with the GOP and would have to run as an independent.
Schilling didn't mince words on his 38 Pitches blog for the WEEI sports radio network: "I live in a state where I can’t drive 1/2 a mile without a torn-up road, or on a major highway without paying a toll, a large toll. How in the hell is this state broke? How in the hell has a state with supposedly as intelligent a voter base as Massachusetts allowed itself to be run into the ground by entrenched and often times corrupt ‘me first’ politicians?...
"I’m not even close to a Rhodes Scholar or Ivy League graduate, but I also know I’m watching many people with those exact credentials run this state, and this country, into the ground."
Schilling, a six-time All Star who announced his retirement earlier this year, also delineated his positions on a variety of issues:
* "I’m pro-life (with exception to rape, incest or terminal consequences to mom or child during birth) and against gay marriage. However, let me be very clear on both of those issues. Those issues are so far beyond the scope or responsibility of one person to legislate, it’s laughable. The state you reside in should be the body that determines BOTH of those laws."
* "I am absolutely for the Second Amendment. But I also think this country has become so beholden to special interests and lobbyists that we have completely sacrificed the safety and well being of the individual American citizen. Why should our police officers have to worry about automatic weapons?"
* "Taxes? Sure I’ll pay them, regardless of the number. Would I prefer lower taxes? Sure, who wouldn’t? But I’ll pay, whatever they are, because that’s the cost of being able to live in this country and I’ve never had a problem with that."
Schilling added: "I’ve always tried to vote for the right team more so than the right person. I believed in Dick Cheney, I believed in Colin Powell, I believed in Condoleezza Rice. I voted as much, if not more, for the team President Bush had assembled as I ever did for the man. It’s the reason I voted for his father, it’s the reason I voted for Bill Clinton."
SOURCE
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ELSEWHERE
Heh! Senate cuts off ACORN housing funding: "The Senate voted to cut off ACORN Housing funds following the release of three videotapes that show employees of the activist group advising a ‘pimp’ and ‘prostitute’ on how to break the law. The amendment, offered by Nebraska Republican Sen. Mike Johanns, passed in a vote of 83 to 7 and prohibits the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now from receiving funds from the current Transportation and Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill. It marks the third time this year Republicans tried to block the organization from federal funding. The latest vote comes on the heels of the release of hidden-camera videos showing workers in three separate ACORN housing offices apparently helping a couple posing as a pimp and prostitute evade the IRS and apply for an illegal housing loan for a brothel.”
US launches military strike in Somalia: "A U.S. commando attack in Somalia has killed an al Qaeda operative who is on the FBI’s list of most wanted terrorists, sources tell ABC News. The dead terrorist, Saleh Ali Nabhan, is believed to have taken part in the 1998 attacks on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. He is also believed to have orchestrated the 2002 bombing of a resort hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, and a failed missile attack on an Israeli airliner leaving Mombasa airport.”
Pakistan: US drone attack kills 30: "Attacks by government troops and a US drone have killed at least 30 pro-Taliban militants, leaving several others injured in northwestern Pakistan, Press TV reported. A missile allegedly fired on Monday by an unmanned US aircraft targeted a vehicle believed to be carrying pro-Taliban insurgents in the North Waziristan tribal district, near the Afghan border.”
Military considers revised medical training for troops: "Troops trained in advanced trauma care could prevent up to 20% of combat deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan, the military’s top medical board says. The Defense Health Board said in a recommendation to the Pentagon last month that enhanced Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) skills developed by military trauma specialists already have saved an estimated 1,000 lives in both wars.”
Stiglitz: Bank problems bigger than pre-Lehman: "Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel Prize-winning economist, said the U.S. has failed to fix the underlying problems of its banking system after the credit crunch and the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ‘In the U.S. and many other countries, the too-big-to-fail banks have become even bigger,’ Stiglitz said in an interview yesterday in Paris. ‘The problems are worse than they were in 2007 before the crisis.’ Stiglitz’s views echo those of former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, who has advised President Barack Obama’s administration to curtail the size of banks, and Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer, who suggested last month that governments may want to discourage financial institutions from growing ‘excessively.’”
A tale of two pledges: "I am going to tell you a story about two pledges. The first was written in 1892 and has been recited by America’s public school children ever since. Some of the words have changed since then but it remains virtually the same pledge written over 100 years ago. The second is a pledge recently shown by video, with the permission of the local PTA, to elementary schoolchildren in Salt Lake City in 2009. It was written and produced by Hollywood celebrities, Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher both devout disciples of Barack Obama. The first pledge as you may have already guessed is the Pledge of Allegiance. The Moore-Kutcher video should be called ‘The Pledge to Obama.’ … It looks harmless enough until you realize that they all appear to be making pledges to Obama himself like swearing an oath to king or dictator. … Since when did we start pledging allegiance to a person in this country?”
When politics determines crowd size: "When the major media outlets fundamentally ignored the massive rally against Obama they were sure to ignite a controversy. But when they started bullsh*tting the public about how many people attended they poured fuel on the controversy they lit. Earlier this week we provided some fairly convincing video evidence that the crowd was much larger than what biased publications like the New York Times reported. The only honest estimate was from MSNBC which estimated a few hundred thousand. And that number really does make the most sense.”
One year after Wall Street meltdown, Obama targets Main Street: "One year after the Wall Street meltdown, President Obama is touting new regulations he says are urgent for preventing a crisis like this from ever happening again. He is receiving much coverage today for his speech on Wall Street on the eve of the anniversary of Lehman Brothers’ collapse. But a closer look at new rules Obama is proposing shows that the bulk of them do not go after the Wall Street culprits, but Main Street entrepreneurs that had nothing to do with the crisis.”
Obama then and now: Deficit edition: "Obama doublespeak continues to abound. This week Congress and the Prez return to Washington to continue ‘addressing’ our nation’s woes. Up next: the deficit. … Obviously President Obama and his team are being vocal about the necessity of this so that the President can keep spending like a maniac. The administration and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner are pushing for the debt ceiling to be increased ASAP. … The Senate had to consider raising the debt ceiling in 2006 and Senator Obama took the opportunity to make a floor speech: ‘Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership.’ He obviously voted against raising the debt level.”
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The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialist) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party" (In German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei)
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