Levant Laments

Israel’s ambassador to Washington said Sunday that his country would reject an international inquiry into last week’s deadly raid on a Turkish ship…. (NYT, 6/7/10)

President Obama – ever concerned about what the rest of the world thinks - could take a cue from Israel. They know that they will be condemned no what they do, so they do what they have to do.

The fallout over veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas' controversial comments about Jews continued to build as a Washington-area high school abruptly canceled a graduation speech she was scheduled to deliver… Thomas, known as the dean of the White House press corps, has long been critical of Israel but remarks caught last month on video by a New York rabbi led several former White House officials to call for her to be fired or at least have her credentials reconsidered. In the video, Thomas said Jews should "get the hell out of Palestine" and suggested they go instead to Germany, Poland or the United States. (FoxNews, 6/7/10)

The champion of the liberal media when she was accusing George Bush of war crimes, turns out Thomas is just another bigot.

Avoidance Response
If the time-honored tradition of the political meeting is not quite dead, it seems to be teetering closer to extinction. Of the 255 Democrats who make up the majority in the House, only a handful held town-hall-style forums as legislators spent last week at home in their districts….With images of overheated, finger-waving crowds still seared into their minds from the discontent of last August, many Democrats heeded the advice of party leaders and tried to avoid unscripted question-and-answer sessions. (NYT, 6/7/10)

So the elected representatives of the people don’t want to talk to the people. Time to elect new representatives.

Landmark Skeptics
President Obama and his allies, concerned about deep skepticism over his landmark health care overhaul, are orchestrating an elaborate campaign to sell the public on the law, including a new tax-exempt group that will spend millions of dollars on advertising to beat back attacks on the measure and Democrats who voted for it. (NYT, 6/7/10)

It seems almost silly to ask the question, but if this bill is so great why does the administration need to spend millions to convince the country?