Thursday, November 08, 2012

Bibi

The Likud Party led by Benjamin Netanyahu wins...
The Likud Party led by Benjamin Netanyahu wins a narrow victory in the Israeli general election (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Netanyahu Rushes to Repair Damage With Obama
Over the past several years, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has on several occasions confronted or even undercut President Obama, taking his message directly to the Israel-friendly United States Congress, challenging Mr. Obama’s appeal to the Arab world, and seeming this fall to support his opponent, Mitt Romney. ...... Netanyahu still maintains strong ties to members of Congress, particularly Republicans ..... Jerusalem is worried that Washington will agree to direct talks with Tehran, and go easier on the Palestinian Authority’s quest this month for upgraded status in the United Nations. ....... “Given what Netanyahu had done these recent months, the question is: Does our prime minister still have a friend in the White House?” Mr. Olmert asked at a meeting with Jewish leaders in New York. “I am not certain of this, and this might be very significant to us at critical points.” ...... “My sense is that he both dislikes and distrusts Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, and that he is more likely to use his new momentum to settling scores than to settling issues.” ..... Obama was loath to take on a new Middle East military operation ..... “a decade of war is ending.” .... the bid for nonmember state status in the General Assembly
Can Republicans Adapt?
A coalition of aging white men is a recipe for failure in a nation that increasingly looks like a rainbow. ...... America needs a plausible center-right opposition party to hold Obama’s feet to the fire, not just a collection of Tea Party cranks. ..... the Democratic Party embraced the pragmatic center-left Bill Clinton in 1992 after three consecutive losses in presidential elections. ..... primary voters are their party’s worst enemy. ...... the profusion of right-wing radio and television programs. Democrats complain furiously that Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck or Sean Hannity smear the left, but I wonder if the bigger loser isn’t the Republican Party itself. Those shows whip up a frenzy in their audience, torpedoing Republican moderates ......... an ideological black hole that no light can enter. ..... After this election, a record 20 senators will be women, almost all of them Democrats. Opposition to same-sex marriage used to be a way for Republicans to trumpet their morality; now it’s seen as highlighting their bigotry. ...... An astonishing 45 percent of Obama voters were members of minority groups .... Many others were women or young people. ...... if the Republican Party remains a purist cohort built around grumpy old white men, it is committing suicide. That’s bad not just for conservatives, but for our entire country.
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