Senator Barack Obama won the North Carolina primary by 14
percentage points. Senator Hillary Clinton won the Indiana primary by a
narrower margin of two percent. Neither candidate scored a knockout
punch, but Obama came out ahead.
Clearly Senator Obama who had the most to lose - it would have
been considered a huge loss if Indiana went big for Hillary - also had
the most to gain. The race goes on and will go on until a decision is
made at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. The fat lady here
is Hillary, and she won't sing. I'm part of her primary campaign until
she wins or withdraws. I simply do not trust Senator Obama's judgment.
Obama's actions in not standing up to Rev. Jeremiah Wright and
protest the minister's attacks on white America, the United States
government and the State of Israel, and his support of Minister Louis
Farrakhan, are important matters. No one accuses Obama of adopting any
of Rev. Wright's positions as his own. Indeed, he has denounced them.
But his denouncement comes 20 years too late and only after Rev. Wright
denounced his heretofore devoted congregant as a hypocrite for conveying
his disagreement with his minister, stating at the National Press Club
on April 28th, "We both know that, if Senator Obama did not say what he
said, he would never get elected. Politicians say what they say and do
what they do based on electability, based on sound bites, based on
polls, Huffington, whoever's doing the polls. Preachers say what they
say because they're pastors."
Yes, it is true that not many people would stand up in a
church or synagogue and publicly argue with their minister, but surely,
there are some who would argue privately - which was not done here - and
even more who would leave a church or synagogue that was led by someone
spouting hateful speech.
In any event, we expect more courage from a candidate for
president of this great country. We are now engaged in a war against
Islamic terrorism and are in need of someone who can be trusted to
advocate on behalf of the United States. Senator Obama, regrettably,
was silent for too long.
An even more telling incident recently occurred. Hillary
Clinton responded to the threats of the president of Iran, Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, who has stated, "The annihilation of the Zionist regime
will come...Israel must be wiped off the map...And God willing...we
shall soon experience a world without the United States and Zionism."
This week, according to The New York Times, "Ahmadinejad
called Israel 'a stinking corpse' that was doomed to fail, and warned
countries that they would 'burn in the fire of their people's hatred' if
they helped Israel, the news agency IRNA reported. 'Today the reason
for Zionist regime's existence is questioned, and this regime is on its
way to annihilation,' he said in a speech on the 60th anniversary of the
Jewish state."
We know that were Iran, which is on the verge of creating
nuclear weapons and already has the capacity to deliver them, ever to
launch such missiles at the United States or any NATO ally, it could
expect immediate oblivion as the result of the U.S. response. Hillary
recently attempted to warn Iran that were it to launch nuclear weapons
against Israel, the U.S. "would be able to totally obliterate them."
Hillary's comments were totally in keeping with the doctrine of Mutually
Assured Destruction which kept the Soviet Union at bay during the Cold
War when it threatened its European neighbors and members of NATO.
Instead of joining Hillary in a similar warning to Iran,
Senator Obama on "Meet The Press" criticized Hillary stating, "It's
language reflective of George Bush...This kind of language is not
helpful."
Hillary's language is exactly what was warranted. The Soviet
Union understood the meaning of mutually assured destruction and
consequently refrained from using its nuclear inventory. Lesser
language conveying not destruction or obliteration, but simply lesser
punishment encourages fanatical countries like Iran to believe they can
attack our allies and survive.
Hillary's statement regarding Iran and Israel was consistent
with U.S. policy towards Israel. As Vice President Dick Cheney has
said, "America's commitment to Israel's security is enduring and
unshakable, as is our commitment to Israel's right to defend itself
always against terrorism, rocket attacks and other threats from forces
dedicated to Israel's destruction. The United States will never
pressure Israel to take steps that threaten its security."
We now know just how far Senator Obama is prepared to go to
defend our friends and allies. It is not far enough.
