In praise of Barack

Raanan Shaked explains why he cast his fears aside and started adoring Barack Obama

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3507732,00.html

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"I too, just like my friends Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Oprah Winfrey, Ted Kennedy, Toni Morrison, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Halle Berry, Sharon Stone and George Clooney, have been able to overcome my natural tendency to chuckle when I hear about politicians called “Barack” talking about change. Yes, I’m throwing my full weight behind Barack Obama for president of the United States.

Let him be elected, I say. It’s good for Israel, because it’s bad for Israel. Just like anyone who had a rough childhood, Israel too needs someone who will be tough with it at least some of the time.

For Israel, he is indeed some kind of an unknown entity, stemming from the fact that Obama’s middle name was and still is “Hussein.” Indeed, leading commentators in the Channel 2 studio repeatedly say that George W. Bush is Israel’s best friend and that it would be best if he just stayed in the White House with all the other furniture.

Well, you saw what happens when such a great friend of Israel is ruling Washington: Nothing. Any president who resides in the White House without aiming a double-barreled rifle to the heads of Israel and the Palestinians so that they get down on their knees and put their hands up is not quite a friend of Israel. Yes, there’s plenty of love there, but something gets screwed.

It doesn’t matter where you had a chance to watch an interview with Barack Obama, you know with certainty that this man is the most charismatic phenomenon in American politics since, apparently, John F. Kennedy – yet as opposed to President Bush, who always sounds as if he just walked out of an intermediate-level English class at Berlitz, Obama commands the English language instead of the other way around. He is coherent, captivating, and tells the truth."

but endorse any Israeli policy that its leaders put forth.

expecting anything else is just wishful thinking among peace activists, and the fearful nightmares of the Israel-cannot-be-criticized crowd.

i think aipac will be very pleased at what Obama accomplishes in office in working to quash any hope for a just solution for Palestine.

Third party?

just sharing my sad expectations of what an Obama administration will refuse to do... make any real change in regards to Israel/Palestine.

I do expect that Obama will be elected president.

mccain will destroy the planet through war. so that is not an option.

People-based movements are vital to bring change... i rarely expect anything from politicians.

People-based movements are definitely vital. And politicians do generally fail to live up to expectations.

However, I do think that either Obama or Clinton would do what they could to help make a two-state solution a reality. Of course, the most important actors are the Israelis and the Palestinians themselves, but an engaged US President could help speed things along.

and that he does move, as President, to support human rights for all in the Middle East.
I do have friends who do very much believe that this will happen.

i am always hoping that my pessimism will be proved incorrect.

we both agree that the world cannot afford the real danger of a McCain presidency. Any person who likes this planet should be able to agree with that.

Recent developments in the marathon process by which the United States chooses its presidential candidates have buttressed that country's claim to greatness but also reaffirmed that it has yet to approach its full potential. Specifically, the rise of Senator Barack Obama as a viable contender for his Democratic Party's nomination has broken new ground for even America's unchallenged capacity for self-reinvention by taking it into a new domain: that of race in general and of Obama's African heritage in particular. The notion of the first black man in the Oval Office has also spurred hope that a new generation of Americans is ready to back away from some long-held assumptions about matters outside their country's borders as well, especially in the turbulent Middle East, and so to increase their own security even as they improve the lives of people in this region.

Obama's emotional expressions of profound concern for the Palestinian and Israeli peoples have been unprecedented for a major American presidential hopeful, encouraging some observers to presume that he could be the man to fix the problem at the core of the Middle East's many woes. Predictably, Obama has come under fire from some on the American right who have sought to paint him as a dangerous radical. He has also been criticized by elements of the left and of the Arab-American community, too, who claim that he has not gone far enough in addressing their concerns. This is surprising - and disappointing, too, because it fails utterly to appreciate the courage it has taken Obama to go as far as he has. It also demonstrates a myopic willingness to let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

http://dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&article_id=89038&categ_id=17

Editorial about Obama from the Lebanon Daily Star.