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Diane Weber Bederman

Chicken$hit and $anction$

“It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.” Winston Churchill

Democracy is a fragile construct. Only forty percent, approximately 2.8 billion people out of the seven billion people on this planet live in freedom. Sadly, more countries lost freedoms than gained them over the course of 2012. It is the seventh year in which countries with declines outnumbered those with improvements.

“As in the world at large, more countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)region endured declines than made gains in their drive toward freedom in 2012.”

And in the middle of MENA resides a thriving democracy, small in population and large in liberty. Israel. It is incumbent upon those of us blessed with living in a democracy to defend each other for we are a minority. Yet, the USA, home of the brave, land of the free, the de-facto champion of democracy, and her President-the de-facto leader of the free world-has floated the idea of $anction$ against Israel in order to force her into a “peace agreement” with countries who have declared without embarrassment that Israel has no right to exist.

$anction$ on a democracy in order for Obama to leave a legacy-“I brought peace to the Middle East.”

Why am I inclined to believe this report about $anction$? Because this President is well-known for his micromanaging of all things. Because Obama has been meddling in Israel’s affairs for years. Because it was reported in Haaretz ;a left of centre Israeli paper with similar attitudes toward the Jewish communities as the American Democratic administration.

“The failure of the Netanyahu-Obama meeting and the administration’s growing anger over the settlement construction led to the understanding that denunciatory statements, no matter how harsh, have become ineffective.”

So why not threaten $anction$ by floating the idea. And then deny the rumour.

So the talk began on December 3rd and continued on Thursday, December 4, when “State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf also refused to answer questions about the internal conversations at the White House and Foggy Bottom.”

On Friday while Josh Earnest, official Spokesperson for the President of the USA “reaffirmed the strong bond between the two nations, he called the settlements “illegitimate” and said the U.S. was deeply concerned about the settlement activity.

“But he refused to go any further, saying he was “not willing to talk about” backroom discussions.

“The comments follow recent news reports that said administration officials have held internal discussions in recent weeks on possible sanctions.”

And rumours about $anction$ were allowed to float over the weekend.

Here’s Earnest, again, responding with incredible powers of bafflegabbing obfuscation to questions raised by Fox News about $anction$ at a press conference.

FOX NEWS: There were reports that the administration is considering sanctioning Israel over the settlements issue. I wonder if you could say true or false.

EARNEST: Well, uh, I’ve been informed of some of these reports. What I can tell you is that I’m not going to talk about any sort of internal deliberations inside the administration and certainly not inside the White House. But I will say something that I have said many times before, which is that Israel is a close and strategic partner of the United States. And I don’t need to remind you of the strong and unshakable bonds that exist between the United States and Israel and the United States’ exceedingly strong commitment to the security of the nation of Israel.

That being said, we have also been crystal clear about our view of settlement activity. That view has not changed. We believe that settlements are illegitimate, and we have deep concerns about highly contentious planning and construction activities that the Israeli government is pursuing in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. We believe that those kind of activities are counterproductive. We’ve made those views clear in public; we’ve made those views clear in private.

FOX NEWS:So very clearly you are not denying that sanctions are on the table against even an ally?

EARNEST: I am very clearly not denying we have strong concerns about that settlement activity that’s underway in Israel. But it has not and will not affect the United States’ strong commitment to the national security of the nation of Israel.

FOX NEWS: But how can you be telling Congress don’t issue more sanctions against Iran at the same time you’re considering sanctions against an ally in Israel?

EARNEST: Again, I’m not going to comment on those reports about our discussions as it relates to Israel.

FOX NEWS: But you are talking about sanctions. You’re leaving that door wide open here.

EARNEST: I’m not saying I’m not willing to talk about those conversations.

Then finally on Monday the administration repudiated the rumour about $anction$. “Reports that [we] might be contemplating sanctions against Israel are completely unfounded and without merit.” It was the settlement activity” that was a “matter of disagreement.”

Was it a trial balloon? To the progressives who say that it was merely a rumour that swirled in the wind, then the administration should have buried that rumour when it first appeared. The point is it should never have come to this. The de-facto leader of the Free World should not be advocating $anction$ against any democracy-but especially the only democracy in the Middle East and North Africa.

But this is the same man who allowed members of this administration to refer to the Prime Minster of Israel as “Chicken$hit.” Obama has developed a reputation for blaming others for his failures.

“Obama administration officials express, in the words of one official, a “red-hot anger” at Netanyahu for pursuing settlement policies on the West Bank, and building policies in Jerusalem, that they believe have fatally undermined Secretary of State John Kerry’s peace process. Over the years, Obama administration officials have described Netanyahu to me as recalcitrant, myopic, reactionary, obtuse, blustering, pompous, and “Aspergery.

“One official said “the administration believes Netanyahu to be a “coward” on the issue of Iran’s nuclear threat, no longer believing he would ever launch a pre-emptive strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“The thing about Bibi is, he’s a chickenshit,” this official said, referring to the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, by his nickname.”

NetYoung-Obama-Young-Bibi

Young Netanyahu………….Young Obama

It isn’t that Obama just besmirched himself. It is that he brought disgrace to the very office of the President of the United States, the leader of the FREE world.

Chicken$hit and $anction$

About the Author
Diane Weber Bederman is a multi-faith, hospital trained chaplain who lives in Ontario, Canada, just outside Toronto; She has a background in science and the humanities and writes about religion in the public square and mental illness on her blog: The Middle Ground:The Agora of the 21st Century. She is a regular contributor to Convivium: Faith in our Community. "