Conservative Blogger
Thursday, March 19, 2015
New rift opens between Obama, Netanyahu after election victory
After staying mum on Israeli issues in the run-up to the election, the White House on Wednesday broke its silence -- answering Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's victory with fresh criticism and making clear that a new rift has opened between U.S. and Israeli leaders, this time over Palestinian statehood.
In its first public response to Netanyahu's election triumph, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said President Obama still believes in a two-state solution. This was after Netanyahu, shortly before the vote, reversed his stance and stated he would not allow the creation of a Palestinian state.
Earnest acknowledged Wednesday that the U.S. would have to "re-evaluate" its position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in light of those comments. But he stressed that Obama believes a two-state solution is best. And State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki clarified that the administration "absolutely" will continue to push for this.
Further, Earnest chided Netanyahu's Likud Party on Wednesday, saying the White House was "deeply concerned" about divisive language emanating from Likud. He said the party had sought to marginalize Israel's minority Arabs, an apparent reference to social media posts the Likud distributed that warned Israelis about the danger of high turnout by Arab voters.
"These are views the administration intends to convey directly to the Israelis," Earnest said.
While tensions have flared for years between the two leaders, the last several weeks have seen their relationship further fray.
In the run-up to the election, Netanyahu took a hardline stance on the two issues on which his government and the Obama administration are most intertwined -- Iran nuclear talks and the seemingly far-off prospects for an agreement with the Palestinians.
Netanyahu pronounced earlier this week he would not allow the creation of a Palestinian state -- something which not only Obama supports but is a key demand of the Palestinians for any peace agreement.
Netanyahu also infuriated the White House early this month when he delivered a speech to the U.S. Congress criticizing an emerging nuclear deal with Iran.
Secretary of State John Kerry and other international negotiators are scrambling to reach the framework for an Iran deal by the end of the month. Netanyahu, though, has warned that the details he's seen provide for Iran to eventually pursue a nuclear weapon years down the road, and has urged the U.S. to scrap the pending deal.
With the victory of his Likud Party, Netanyahu is stronger-positioned to keep making that case on the international stage -- and needle Obama administration efforts to etch an agreement with Tehran.
Earnest said Wednesday that Kerry has called to congratulate Netanyahu. Obama has not yet, but will in the coming days, according to Earnest. A day earlier, he insisted that Obama has "no doubt" that the strong U.S.-Israel bond will endure "far beyond this election" no matter the result.
But David Axelrod, a former top adviser to Obama, tweeted overnight as returns were coming in: "Tightness of exits in Israel suggests Bibi's shameful 11th hour demagoguery may have swayed enough votes to save him. But at what cost?"
Speaking on CNN on Wednesday, White House Director of Political Strategy David Simas congratulated the Israeli people -- but notably, not Netanyahu personally.
"We want to congratulate the Israeli people for the democratic process of the election they engaged in with all of the parties that engage in that election," he said. "As you know the hard work of coalition building now begins. Sometimes that takes a couple of weeks and we're going to give space to the formation of that coalition government and we're not going to weigh in one way of the other except to say that the United States and Israel have a historic and close relationship and that will continue going forward."
Indeed, Netanyahu's next step would be to build a coalition government.
With nearly all the votes counted, Likud appeared to have earned 30 out of parliament's 120 seats and was in a position to build with relative ease a coalition government with its nationalist, religious and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies.
The election was widely seen as a referendum on Netanyahu, who has governed the country for the past six years. Recent opinion polls indicated he was in trouble, giving chief rival Isaac Herzog of the opposition Zionist Union a slight lead. Exit polls Tuesday showed the two sides deadlocked but once the actual results came pouring in early Wednesday, Likud soared forward. Zionist Union wound up with just 24 seats.
Even before the final results were known, Netanyahu declared victory and pledged to form a new government quickly.
"Against all odds, we achieved a great victory for the Likud," Netanyahu told supporters at his election night headquarters. "I am proud of the people of Israel, who in the moment of truth knew how to distinguish between what is important and what is peripheral, and to insist on what is important."
Netanyahu focused his campaign primarily on security issues, while his opponents instead pledged to address the country's high cost of living and accused the leader of being out of touch with everyday people.
While his victory may rattle the Obama administration, conservatives worried about the Iran talks saw Netanyahu's election as a strong sign.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who is weighing another presidential bid, said in a written statement that "it is time for the U.S. government to stand with Israel once again." He told Fox News on Wednesday that Netanyahu has a clear "mandate" and argued this is good not only for the U.S. but also other Middle Eastern countries worried about the prospect of a nuclear Iran.
"The worst thing that can happen is to trust Iran," Huckabee said.
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who also is flirting with another Republican presidential bid, likewise said in a statement Wednesday that, "It is my great hope that our next President will be able to stand side-by-side with Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu" to "defeat this Radical Islamist enemy and ensure Iran never develops a nuclear weapon."
First government-owned pot store opens in Washington state
The city of North Bonneville, Wash. -- population 1,000 -- sits along the Columbia River a stone’s throw from one of the world’s largest hydroelectric dams. On the other side of the Columbia River Gorge is the state of Oregon.
It may seem an unlikely place for the nation’s first city-owned marijuana shop, which opened Saturday. The Cannabis Corner sold $8,000 worth of pot on the first day.
“The economy has been tough for everybody, for small towns like this, it’s been especially tough,” said North Bonneville Mayor Don Stevens. “And I think after people got over the initial shock of how we were going about it, they realized that what we’re doing is trying to create new revenue streams at a time not a lot of them are available.”
Dubbed the "marijuana mayor" by detractors, Don Stevens has been smoking pot since he was a sophomore in high school. When Washington state voters legalized the drug in 2012, Stevens got the City Council to form a Public Development Authority for the sole purpose of selling pot, pipes and marijuana-infused edibles. All the business profits from The Cannabis Corner will now be kicked back to City Hall.
Residents did not get a vote on the move, which has plenty of opposition.
“I think it’s sad for the city,” said Skamania County Sheriff Dave Brown. “I think it’s sad for the county and the residents, and I think it’s sad for society as a whole.”
While it’s legal for adults to buy marijuana and consume it in private, it is illegal to carry it across the state line. But in the course of one hour, Fox News saw half of The Cannabis Corner customers had Oregon license plates. One buyer concealed his weed in the spare tire wheel well of his car’s trunk. Brown says he doesn’t have the resources to enforce the law prohibiting interstate transport.
City employees who run the pot shop say the more the merrier.
“We’re trying to be sustainable within this small community,” said Cannabis Corner’s manager Robyn Legun, “and we hope people will travel to the community enjoying themselves here and then come back.”
Stevens says marijuana revenue will allow North Bonneville to keep its street lights on, water its grass all summer and make improvements to a playground. But critics, who believe a large majority of residents oppose the city-run pot store, argue it gives the town a black eye.
“How do I justify that to my kids? That we’re making money by selling a drug that’s still illegal under federal law,” said North Bonneville resident Brad Anderson.
Others worry about North Bonneville’s reputation. The city’s best-known business is the Bonneville Hot Springs Resort, a 78-room upscale health spa resort which opened in 2002. Marfa Scheratski, whose father built the resort, doesn’t think people coming to the area to buy pot will help her business at all. And she sees a potential problem hiring and keeping employees.
“It’s always a challenge for us to find help that is clean,” said Scheratski. “We’re a no-tolerance workplace, so this just makes it a little more challenging.”
Consultants expect sales to reach up to $3 million a year at The Cannabis Corner. The nearest competitors are over a 30-minute drive away. If that sales projection holds, the city could see an annual windfall of close to $500,000. It’s a huge sum considering the current budget is $1.2 million.
The pot shop also employs 10 workers and supports local marijuana growers who employ up to 35 people. But the weed window of opportunity may not stay wide open for long. Last fall, Oregon voters legalized marijuana. Possession and home grows will be legal July 1 and Oregon’s first pot retailers are expected to open for business in January of 2016.
North Bonneville’s mayor isn’t all that concerned. He sees his shop as having a price advantage over every other pot store, whether in Washington or Oregon. Why? His store pays no federal income tax because it’s a city-owned business.
Stevens makes no apologies for trying to profit off of pot.
“It’s legal," he said. "You don’t have to like it, but there’s a lot of stuff about government that all of us don’t like.”
Obama floats making voting mandatory, calling it 'potentially transformative'
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WASHINGTON – They say the only two things that are certain in life are death and taxes. President Barack Obama wants to add one more: voting.
Obama floated the idea of mandatory voting in the U.S. while speaking to a civic group in Cleveland on Wednesday. Asked about the influence of money in U.S. elections, Obama digressed into the topic of voting rights and said the U.S. should be making it easier for people to vote.
Just ask Australia, where citizens have no choice but to vote, the president said.
"If everybody voted, then it would completely change the political map in this country," Obama said, calling it "potentially transformative." Not only that, Obama said, but universal voting would "counteract money more than anything."
Disproportionately, Americans who skip the polls on Election Day are younger, lower-income and more likely to be immigrants or minorities, Obama said. "There's a reason why some folks try to keep them away from the polls," he said in a veiled reference to voter identification laws in a number of states.
Less than 37 percent of eligible voters cast ballots in the 2014 midterms, according to the United States Election Project. And a Pew Research Center study found that those avoiding the polls in 2014 tended to be younger, poorer, less educated and more racially diverse.
At least two dozen countries have some form of compulsory voting, including Belgium, Brazil and Argentina. In many systems, absconders must provide a valid excuse or face a fine, although a few countries have laws on the books that allow for potential imprisonment.
At issue, Obama said, is the sway that those with money can have on U.S. elections, where low overall turnout often gives an advantage to the party best able to turn out its base. Obama has opposed Citizens United and other court rulings that cleared the way for super PACs and unlimited campaign spending, but embraced such groups in his 2012 re-election campaign out of fear he'd be outspent.
Obama said he thought it would be "fun" for the U.S. to consider amending the Constitution to change the role that money plays in the electoral system. But don't hold your breath.
"Realistically, given the requirements of that process, that would be a long-term proposition," he said.
Heroine from hell: Palestinians honor mass killer with monument
A female terrorist who died in an infamous attack that killed 38 Israelis, including 13 children, was memorialized last week at a public square in Ramallah in what Jewish leaders say is just the latest twisted example of Palestinians glorifying extremist murderers.
Dalal Mughrabi, who led the deadly 1978 bus hijacking on Israel’s Coastal Highway that also wounded more than 70, has long been venerated as a freedom fighter in Palestinian territories, where schoolchildren are taught to praise her as a martyr and freedom fighter. The move to honor her with a dedication of a square in the West Bank capital dates back to 2010, when the Palestinian Authority canceled a ceremony that would have coincided with a visit by Vice President Joe Biden. A year later, the PA went through with a dedication, and last week held a "re-dedication" that once again opened an old wound.
“People from all over the world need to reject the type of celebration of terrorism and murderers everywhere.”- Oren Segal, Anti-Defamation League“Whenever any public area is named for somebody, it is meant to honor them and to never forget that person and their legacy,” said Oren Segal, director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism. “What makes this so inflammatory is this is a terrorist responsible for one of the deadliest attacks against Israel.”
The Beirut-born Mughrabi, who was 19, led a group of 11 terrorists in the March 11, 1978, attack near Tel Aviv, which was aimed at disrupting peace talks between Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. The terrorists, who hoped to attack the Knesset, hijacked a taxi, killed its occupants and then seized two buses. Israeli forces stopped the bus and engaged the terrorists in a gunfight during which Mughrabi raised the Palestinian flag and then blew up the bus with a grenade.
The monument in the middle of Martyr Dalal Mughrabi Square depicts Mughrabi cradling a gun against a backdrop of a map of Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Last week's rededication ceremony was preceded by a Facebook post by Fatah, the group that carried out the attack, commemorating the day and even exaggerating the number of casualties.
“A huge self-sacrificing operation in Herzliya, Tel Aviv," the post stated. "80 Israelis killed and over 100 wounded.”
Related Image
Dalal
Mughrabi, who led an attack that left 38 Israelis dead, including 13
children, is seen as a freedom fighter in the Palestinian territories.
"It is an eternal day and a painful anniversary, but [it also] gives us energy, honor and power on this day, the anniversary of the Martyrdom of the fighter commander Dalal Mughrabi," said Rabiha Dhiab, former Minister of Women's Affairs."She who commanded a squad of self-sacrificing fighters, defined "return" [of refugees] in her own unique way and returned to Palestine to liberate Palestine."
The Palestinian Authority's insistence on elevating a terrorist with blood on her hands should be condemned by the international community, Segal said.
“People from all over the world need to reject the type of celebration of terrorism and murderers everywhere,” he said. “This rededication does not exist in a vacuum – celebration of terrorists and their actions happens frequently and, whenever it happens, we need voices of reason to say this is not acceptable.”
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