Gene Lyons: It’s not tough to be stupid

[mooseandsquirrel]

snip

I’d also bet a lot that the only way he offers Clinton the vice-presidential nomination is as political theater after she’s privately agreed to turn it down. Why would she choose VP over Senate majority leader, a more powerful job definitely within her reach ? Were I Obama, I’d take a long look at Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel: a strong conservative, an Iraq war skeptic from the get-go, a Vietnam combat veteran and a serious man.

snip

So how does Obama get around the “naïve” business ? Not by dissembling, but fighting back. Consider Jerusalem, for example. You wouldn’t call the hardline Likudnik position naïve. Words like “delusional,” and “tribal,” however, do come to mind. Sacred to all three monotheistic religions—Christianity, Judaism and Islam—Jerusalem was a divided city from 1948 to 1967, when the Israelis conquered it by force. Its hundreds of thousands of Palestinian residents, whose ancestors have lived there since biblical times, are not considered Israeli citizens and cannot vote. Meanwhile, Israelis keep taking Palestinian land for illegal settlements as the Arab slums fester and decay. So long as these things are true, there can never be peace or justice. The great majority of Israeli citizens understand that. So do most American Jews. So does Obama. Instead of mimicking McCain’s cartoonish neo-conservatism, he owes it to the American people to explain that ignoring reality isn’t evidence of strength, but stupidity.

http://moose-and-squirrel.com/gene/gene.html

[GracieMansion]

1. incisive. thanks.

[Fredda Weinberg]

2. Always welcome n/t

[FiveGoodMen]

3. "I’d take a long look at Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel"

Guess there aren't two Dems in the US who could run for the White House.

Republicans are the other fucking side, stupid -- even the better ones among them.

[acmavm]

4. NOOOOOO! NOT HAGEL. Hagel is a horrible man. The only, AND I

MEAN ONLY thing he agrees with the dems on is Iraq.

He voted against healthcare for poor children.

What the fuck is the matter with people anymore? Hagel? He began his political career lying about whether he was still part owner of the voting machine company that put his ass into office.