Thursday, September 6, 2012

September 6, 2012


THE WEEKLY STANDARD
Democrats Bring Platform Debacle on Themselves  Obama now owns a radical Democratic platform
by Mark Hemingway
September 5, 2012


The Democratic convention ran off the rails when DNC Chairman Antonio Villaraigosa steamrolled over dissenting delegates to make sure that the Democratic party platform included language mentioning "God" and "Jerusalem." Appearing Godless and insufficiently supportive of Israel was not the message that the president wanted to send with the party platform, and it has been reported that Obama personally intervened to make sure the language was restored.

By the elevating the importance of party platforms and social issues, Democrats sprung the trap they're currently ensnared in. There's little doubt that the party appears to be lurching leftward at this year's convention, especially compared to 2008 when the party and Obama made serious outreach efforts to faith groups and pro-lifers. This year, the heavy emphasis on abortion and other liberal social issues is undeniable, and it's also hard to argue that the party base's positions here—such as advocating taxpayer subsidization of abortion until birth—are way out of step with the mainstream. And stripping the words "God" and "Jerusalem" out of the party platform are such a perfect encapsulation of this, it's no wonder that even the likes of Paul Begala called has called the Democratic platform contretemps Wednesday "beyond awkward" and "an unforced error by my party." Michael Yaki, who ran the Democratic platform committee in 2008, told Slate's Dave Weigel, "The best platforms don't generate controversy and certainly do no harm. There was a calculated decision to make sure 'God' was in our platform, and the Jerusalem language was one of those that popped up on the plank comparison as non-negotiable."

Read more: http://goo.gl/v1VLG




AMERICAN THINKER
Democrat Convention enters fiasco territory
by Thomas Lifson
September 5, 2012

Democrats shot themselves in the foot in the second day of their convention. Twice. If a Republican convention had suffered similar fiascoes in the same day, the media would be claiming the convention was verging on chaos.

Today, the Democrats showed us that President Obama can no longer draw the same kind of crowds he did in 2008. Even worse, the party fell all over itself scrambling to undo the damage of exposure of its surreptitious excision of the words "God" and "Jerusalem" from the platform
First, the party announced that Barack Obama would move his acceptance speech to Time-Warner Arena, rather than face thousands of empty seats at Bank of America Stadium. With a straight face, spokespeople have assured us that threat of rain was so severe that there was no alternative. The fact that they were so desperate to get bodies to the stadium that they were handing out tickets in bars, we are expected to discount. As well, we must ignore the meteorologist of the local NBC affiliate who predicted the best weather of the week on Thursday.

But this was just a warm-up for the self immolation that was to come over the party's platform.
Informed people noticed that the Democrats had seriously weakened platform language regarding Israel and had removed the words "God" and "Jerusalem" from the platform. Yesterday, Senator Dick Durbin suffered a humiliating meltdown when asked by Bret Baier why the words were taken out, and the video received much attention online.  The issue festered, as pro-Israel Democrats faced humiliation, and pressure mounted to undo the excision of the two words.

Today, in a supremely awkward event, a resolution to restore the two words (while leaving intact other problems such as removal of language about Hamas) was brought to voice vote. A two-thirds majority being required, a voice vote was called three times, before the chair declare it passed. Most people present, as well as my ears, indicated the two crowd voices were roughly equal, obviosuly not two to one.

So the crowd booed. Yes, they booed passage of a restoration of the word "God." It's right there on digital media. See for yourself:


I expected that the Democratic National Convention would feature one or more deeply embarrassing moments, when Democrats couldn't help themselves from showing the world who they really are. The talk of patriotism and values, scripted for the prime time TV audience, was all a masquerade. The "low information voter" (i.e., the readily deceived) is the target of this Potemkin patriotism. I figured that, gathered together with like minded folks, Democrats would shoot off their mouths, say outrageous things, demonstrate in cringe-inducing fashion, and maybe let slip something really horrifying.

But I never suspected the party would officially reverse itself through a crooked vote, in public, when its attempt to undercut Israel and religion was exposed. I never thought that they would demonstrate their contempt for democratic procedures by visible example.   And I never thought that they would boo God.

Read more: http://goo.gl/t1LP8


BREITBART
Obama Saw Platform Language Prior to Convention
by Ben Shapiro
September 5, 2012

The Democratic National Convention, reeling from Wednesday’s chaotic fiasco surrounding the reinsertion of pro-Israel, pro-God language into the party platform, has announced that President Obama personally intervened to ensure that that language was revived. But Politico is now reporting that President Obama approved the original, Jerusalem-less, Hamas-less language less than a fortnight ago. He didn’t try to change the platform “until after Republicans jumped on the omissions of God and Jerusalem late Wednesday.” And his own party was clearly against it – the people on the floor of the convention probably didn’t even vote in majority numbers for the reinsertion of pro-Israel, pro-God language. They booed Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the DNC chairman, off the stage after he rammed through the measure on the third vote.

President Obama is not pro-Israel. He hasn’t been since the outset of his administration. Whether it’s military leaks designed to sink an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, refusal to say that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel by his State Department and spokespeople, or stating that Israel must begin negotiations at the baseline of the 1949 borders, this administration has easily been the most anti-Israel administration in the history of the State of Israel. And Barack Obama’s desperate last-minute attempt to fix his own anti-Israel mistake by running roughshod over his delegates is simply shameful.

Read more: http://goo.gl/IU3tM

 

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