Some people might presume that the forthcoming appointment of Rahm Emmanuel is good news for the Jews.

Well, someone else, Peter Wehner, has a different view:-

"As a candidate, Obama spoke endlessly–particularly during the Democratic primary–of ushering in a new era in politics. He was going to “turn the page” on the partisanship, anger, and divisive tactics of the past. And so forth. Yet, in offering the job to Emanuel, Obama has turned to one of the most ruthless and fierce partisans on the political landscape.

"One person I know who worked in the first Clinton term wrote me an e-mail in which he said, in part, “Rahm is the toughest, meanest partisan I ever worked with.” That seems to be a consensus view. Dick Morris was on The O’Reilly Factor saying that, based on his experience of working with Emanuel in the Clinton White House, he is rightly considered a vicious partisan.

"In his book All Too Human, George Stephanopoulos, writing about the 1992 campaign, says, “All I knew about Emanuel at first was that he had once mailed a dead fish to a rival political consultant. But when the former ballet dancer arrived in Little Rock and leaped onto a table to scream his staff into shape, I knew the money side would be OK.” And we learn of Emanuel’s disappointment when Mario Cuomo decided against running for President that year. “Damn. It would have been so great if he came in. We’d rip his head off.”

"And perhaps most revealingly of all, former Clinton aide Paul Begala, a man who rivals Emanuel when it comes to bitter partisanship, was singing Emanuel’s praises on CNN. (According to this story, Begala describes Emanuel’s aggressive style as a “cross between a hemorrhoid and a toothache.” High praise!)"

If anyone presumes that Israel can benefit from this man, well, maybe Obama is the Messiah.

Ralph Peters had a piece in the New York Post on November 1, 2008 as if we were already in 2012, looking back and it is entitled Obama's Triumphs Abroad.

Here's one excerpt:

Looking back on the four years of his first administration, President Obama can be proud: He made the US welcome among the family of nations again; he reduced our reliance on military force; and he gave us peace by reaching sensible accommodations with our enemies.

The lies told about him in the 2008 election were exposed as sheer bigotry. Far from being "soft on radical Islam," President Obama was the first world leader to welcome Jewish refugees after Iran's nuclear destruction of Israel's major cities (his only caveat - a fair one - was the refusal to accept Zionist military officers and their families, in light of Israel's excessive retaliation).

That is not funny.

But what is really sad is that so many of the MOTs (Members of the Tribe) voted for a man of whom we know little, whose experience in government is little, whose contact with other world leaders is little and who ran such a media-backed-and-supported campaign which provided him the advantage (see: LATimes affair).  One who didn't know the difference between "Jerusalem undivided" and just plain "Jerusalem as the capital of Israel".

But maybe Israel will end up receiving Jewish refugees from America?

Last week in Tel Aviv, I spotted this election sign for Oren Shachor. Shachor was a very pro-Oslo person, formerly a former IDF general who was forced to resign for having leaked details of secret Hevron negotiations to then-opposition leader Shimon Peres a decade ago.

He's running for mayor of Tel Aviv.

Now, what caught my attention is the word מתעלל in the ad. And I'll explain.

The ad translates as: "52% Assert That Huldai Is Abusing Them. Huldai Is Abusing You. 200 million NIS in Parking Fines"

[Ron Huldai is the current Mayor]

In Hebrew, מתעלל conveys not only a sense of abuse in the psychological realm but of real physical pain.

For example:
וּלְמַעַן תְּסַפֵּר בְּאָזְנֵי בִנְךָ וּבֶן-בִּנְךָ אֵת אֲשֶׁר הִתְעַלַּלְתִּי בְּמִצְרַיִם
Exodus 10:2 - "And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son's son, what things I have wrought in Egypt" or,
וַיַּחֲזֵק הָאִישׁ בְּפִילַגְשׁוֹ וַיֹּצֵא אֲלֵיהֶם הַחוּץ וַיֵּדְעוּ אוֹתָהּ וַיִּתְעַלְּלוּ-בָהּ כָּל-הַלַּיְלָה עַד-הַבֹּקֶר
Judges 19:25 - "So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night"

Now, why would a leftist politician use such a harsh word?  Just to get votes he would stoop so low?

Moreover, if rightwing demonstrators would have accused this government of "abusing" them, the media and the officials in the Justice Ministry would immediately be crying "danger! assassination" or "danger! Jewish extremists are threatening".

In fact, even without that word they are doing that already.  The annual "Rabin Festival" is winding up as even Dalia, the-daughter-of, appeared on Channel One TV to protest the irresponsible language used by some residents of Yesha as well as the very unfortunate throwing of stones at the Border Police, although she did not criticise the Anarchists at Nialin doing the same and worse.

Once again, the double standard of the "elites" here in Israel is apparent but the media makes sure it goes unmentioned by not drumming up 'firestorms' on talk shows, commentary programs and the news.

The blogosphere is publishing that what Obama had said at the Khalidi toast was that "Israel has no G-d-given right to occupy Palestine" and that there's been "genocide against the Palestinian people by Israelis".

Source