Obama in a Pickle

Getting caught in a pickle is one of the most embarrassing things that can happen to a baseball player. 95 to 99 percent of the times you’re going to be called out – O-U-T! Trot back to the dugout after such an embarrassment and you’re going to find a very silent, unreceptive place. E-M-B-A-R-R-A-S-S-I-N-G!
by Charlie Leck

It must be even worse for a politician. Well, poor President Obama has been caught in the proverbial political pickle. The poor fellow, is about to be embarrassed – E-M-B-A-R-R-A-S-S-E-D!

With two months to go in a very close presidential campaign, the President needs the support of America’s Jewish community in order to win this election. He especially needs that vote down in Florida. Unless he’s very careful he might not get it.

If I were to put it crassly, I’d say: Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has got President Obama by the balls and he’s squeezing – S-Q-U-E-E-Z-I-N-G!

Yesterday (Tuesday), the Prime Minister clearly said to President Obama that the U.S. has no “moral right” to restrain those who would take action against Iran and its nuclear program in order to defend themselves. Clever of Netanyahu! He’s got the President in a full-nelson and he won’t let up until the President declares, loudly, uncle – U-N-C-L-E!

Israel wants to draw a very clear and very red – R-E-D – line for Iraq over which it dare not cross.

“We know they can discern the color red,” Netanyahu said. “We know that the redder the line, the lesser the chance they will pass it.”

Perhaps it was Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that set Netanyahu to seeing red! She recently rejected the Israeli approach and said, “we’re not setting deadlines” beyond which we would turn to military action.

Could you imagine if we added another war to our current military commitment? Oh, my!

But, what prevents us from giving the nod to Israel – an affirmation that we would not interfere if they took matters into their own hands to lessen the Iranian threat against their security and rights as a nation?

Oh, these are not simple problems. It is so easy to be principled when the threat is not again you – Y-O-U-R-S-E-L-F!

And, Obama and the Secretary of State are being principled here. They are holding out for peace through negotiations and coercion and economic pressure. Israel, however, is getting impatient with that approach and they want to know that the U.S. will not interfere in the event they decide to strike against their foe. It might seem like a small request, but it would have vast international consequences if America would look the other way. There are a dozen other nations that would be livid if America took that position. The loyal opposition (what a farce to put it that way) is not going to understand the complexities of this foreign policy issue. Frankly, Romney wants the presidential office too badly to stand on principle here. He’d rather help Netanyahu squeeze – S-Q-U-E-E-Z-E!

Oh, ouch! What’s a man to do?

Lose Florida? Or lose all your principles? That’s not a tough call for Romney and that’s why we can’t let him become our next President.

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THE TIME OF OBAMA

This is the time for Obama to shine or not!
by Charlie Leck

There are a host of crisises arrayed in front of the President of the United States right now. And, they are real testers. North Korea is stirring up trouble. Iraq is quiet one day and volatile the next. Afghanistan has seen too many civilians getting slaughtered and the mission there seems fuzzy. The stability of Pakistan is threatened daily by terrorists who appear, seemingly, out of nowhere.

Yet, the most critical test for our new President is clearly Iran. We should watch this situation and how Obama handles it very closely.

The Republicans – even moderates – are being highly critical of the President so far. They want to hear a stronger voice. Senator John McCain has been one of the loudest critics urging the President to get tougher. Yet, Obama remains moderate and urges the Iranian leadership to be more open to protest and negotiation.

We just went through a period of drum beating, shouting and threats from the last occupant of the White House. I urge you to look at where it has gotten us – deeply mired in military interventions in too many places and spread so thin that we cannot respond to threats in other parts of the world.

This is the promised change that Obama campaigned on. This is what he pledged – that things would be handled differently.

We don’t need bellicose threats and raised, clenched fists. We need calm rationality. We need discussion. We need a pursuit of solutions. We need cooperation from other nations around the world.

World citizens are liking what they are seeing in Obama. First, there is not gun-slinger, fast draw reaction. At the moment, the McCain approach in Iran would be the worst possible thing we could do. If we shake our fists and makes demands on Ahmadinejad, the Iranian leader will laugh at us and tell us where to go. He’ll challenge us to make good on our threats and try to lure us into a third front of military confrontation. Is there a sane person who thinks we can handle that? Obama is being praised all around Europe for his approach on this crisis – and on his approach with North Korea.

This quiet, voice of Ali Reza, an actor from Iran who is observing the street protests, is the same voice of hope I feel in my own soul:

“We don’t want this regime to fail. We want our votes to be counted, because we want reforms. We want kindness. We want friendship with the world.”

That is the quiet, consistent voice of our President. He knows that the movement for change in America is really an international movement. There have been years and years of loud voices and clenched fists. The President approaches these matters with open hands and an open mind. It has been so long since we have had such leadership. If we are patient, I believe the approach will work.

This is the moment of Barack Obama. This is why we voted for him.