Ron Kampeas has a story coming on Hillary Clinton’s insistence during the debate last week that an Iranian attack on Israel or any other of our Middle East allies would be met with “massive retaliation.” Since then, her aides have suggested she didn’t necessarily mean a nuclear response, but that seemed to be her clear… More ▸
Last night Barack Obama reminded us why some hawkish pro-Israel folks prefer Hillary Clinton. Asked whether he would extend American deterrence to Israel, Obama, carefully crafting his words, promised “appropriate action” in the event of an Iranian attack: As I’ve said before, I think it is very important that Iran understands that an attack on… More ▸
Here’s a second batch of media reaction to the exchange about Louis Farrakhan during Tuesday night’s debate. Michael Tomasky (GUARDIAN): It’s also worth noting that Clinton, somewhat clumsily, helped Obama in this exchange by making what probably seemed to many viewers as a pedantic distinction between “denouncing” Farrakhan’s support and “rejecting” it. I understand what… More ▸
With all the controversy over last night’s debate exchange about the connections between Louis Farrakhan and Barack Obama’s pastor, it’s worth reviewing what the candidate had to say about the topic during a meeting in Cleveland on Sunday with Jewish leaders. From the transcript provided by the Obama campaign: I am member of the Unity… More ▸
During Tuesday’s debate in Ohio Hillary Clinton argued that Barack Obama had not gone far enough in speaking out against Louis Farrakhan. After the debate her pollster, Mark Penn, was in the spin room arguing that Obama may have rejected and denounced Farrakhan, but he failed to criticize his pastor’s praise of the Nation of… More ▸
Here’s a running list of media reactions to the exchange about Louis Farrakhan during Tuesday night’s debate. Andrew Sullivan (THE DAILY DISH): Does Obama understand that saying he has consistently denounced him is not the same as simply saying, “I denounce him”? A weak response – reminiscent of Dukakis. (By the way, why is it… More ▸
Noah Scheiber of The New Republic gives Barack Obama the win in the Farrakhan exchange: About two-thirds of the way through the debate, Barack Obama took a question about Louis Farrakhan’s support for his campaign. He gave a sufficient, if not quite stellar answer–saying he’d repeatedly denounced Farrakhan’s anti-Semitic statements, that he’d long been a… More ▸
Writing on the Huffington Post, Taylor Marsh argues that Barack Obama blew his “Sister Souljah” moment. As a Scots-Irish broad, I saw Obama’s tepid response to Farrakhan, and was appalled. Emails from Jewish friends confirmed that I wasn’t alone. That Obama had to be led to this reality is proof of his ruffle no feathers… More ▸
Over at talkingpointsmemo.com, Josh Marshall and Greg Sargent slammed NBC’s Tim Russert over his handling of the Farrakhan issue. More ▸
The most Jewish moment in any debate during this campaign came Tuesday night, in an exchange over Louis Farrakhan’s recent comments praising Barack Obama. More ▸
Opinion
The US anti-BDS bill may be bad, but not as bad as some critics say