As is so often the case, JJ Goldberg of The Forward provides clarifying correctives to the Oren oped and the storm it’s generated. First he mentions something that occurred to me as well. The Journal subtly but dramatically changed the meaning of Oren’s attack with its headline. Oren said Obama “abandon[ed] the two core principles of Israel’s alliance with America.” The Journal glosses that as “How Obama Abandoned Israel.” Big difference.
But what are these two principles Oren claims Obama abandoned? The so-called policy of “no daylight” – no public disagreements between Israel and the US on core security issues and “no surprises”, which is what it sounds like, both sides brief the other side before taking actions. Don’t catch the other party off guard.
I’m told that Moshe Kahlon, head of Israel’s Kulanu party and minister in the new Israeli government, has sent a letter to US Ambassador Shapiro, distancing himself and his party from fellow Kulanu MK Michael Oren’s criticism of President Obama. A fellow reporter in Israel tells me this has just been reported on Israel’s Channel 2.
I’ve been meaning to write a few posts on Israel over the last ten days because of a series of related developments tied to BDS, the Adelson-Netanyahu alliance and the broader issue of Israel’s and Zionism’s battle for hearts and minds around the world but also specifically on the slippery ground of American college campuses. But I was drawn to do so tonight because of the dramatic reappearance of Michael Oren, historian, former Israeli ambassador to the US and now a member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s rightist coalition, as an MK for the centrist/center-right Kulanu party.
Gov Brownback of Kansas says the massive sales tax increase he just signed doesn’t count as a tax increase.
Anything short of complete Obamacare repeal remains a tough sell for Republicans: “I’m not sure how I go back and tell people that I ran trying to undo Obamacare, and that the first real chance I get, I vote to extend one of the most heinous parts of the law,” said Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC).
Meet the married gay Mormon men (and their wives) who are begging the Supreme Court to save ‘traditional’ marriage.
These are men who are open about being gay but nonetheless have decided to marry women. A group of them have filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court asking the Court to rule against gay marriage in the upcoming case because it undermines their marriages.
He may have run a hilariously “CRAPPY” moving company, but federal prosecutors allege the Arizona man charged in the Muhammad cartoon contest shooting is “off-the-charts dangerous” and wanted to attack the Super Bowl in Glendale earlier this year.
Sanders-supportin’ Neil Young did not appreciate Donald Trump’s unauthorized use of his song.