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President Obama Signs US-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act

July 27, 2012 | 3:23 | Public Domain
President Obama signs the United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act of 2012, which strengthens Israel’s qualitative military edge and support for Administration initiatives that deepen U.S. defense and security cooperation with Israel.

"I’m also very pleased that this week we are going to be able to announce $70 million in additional spending -- $70 billion [million]*, excuse me, in additional spending for Iron Dome." ~President Obama.

Lotsa talk online about Obama "standing up" to Netanyahu by skipping his calls and meeting to go chat with Whoopie and the girls on The View.

That's all for show, you must understand.

One commentor, ripping into candidate Romney, said she was glad Obama had stiffed Netanyahu. Snubbed, not stiffed. Take a look at that check-signing photo again.

When I worked as a claims adjuster at State Farm, they taught us in negotiating with policyholders to settle their claims that we ought to go by the four corners of the policy. That is, not to be bullied by demanding claimants to get more than they had contracted for in their loss.

"You have the bargaining power. You're signing the check," they told us.

So long as we fully and faithfully paid out what was promised as determined by the contract, they wanted us to understand the balance of power and not undercut the company's strength and integrity by essentially being bullied into special deals just for pushy people, backing down and giving in to pressure because this one or that one thinks they have more coming...

(You see this a lot in some experienced travelers too.  Their problems, emergencies, and unplanned for stresses suddenly become an opportunity to cash in if only they verbally moan and bother you long enough you give in to their demands simply to get them out of your presence.)

In short, actions speak much louder than words.
Do you like how -- over the past 4 years, while he has held presidential power -- Obama negotiated with and addressed Israel?  Do you, like Mitt Romney, understand that it's perfectly appropriate to attach conditions to the taxpayer money being transferred?   Perhaps you're a literal Old and NewTestament believer, who honestly thinks Israel will be ground zero for the end times, and we've got to keep funding the little State in order to fulfill the Book?  Maybe you just annually vacation in Tel aviv?

Either way, let's not falsely pretend that Obama has "stood up" to Israel or affected change via our dollar transfers in any significant way.  Let's not reward that, or believe the next 4 years would be any different.

Why not try Romney's approach?  We have nothing to lose, afterall.  The money is being spent, the power parity way out of whack, and truth be told?

Instead of imitating Israel's outrageously overreaching -- and so often deadly -- security measures, the US ought to have been teaching our little buddy something about 200-year old Constitution and the concept of due process (not taking out the family house as punishment for a suicide bomber, not locking up suspects indefinitely without trial, not treating some of your citizens differently than others based on ethnicity, religion or bloodlines...).


Because afterall, enough time has passed and the results are in:  have these actions made Israel more secure?  Did might triumph?  Can we bomb, and kill, and imprison our way to security? Is our own country more or less powerful in the world by embracing drones and pre-emptive strikes and violently taking out those world leaders as we see fit?

I know what the Constitution here, and the New Testament teaches, but again, you can evaluate yourself just based on world results.  Look around and ask:  are we really safer or more secure in this country now, or did our tradeoff of freedoms really weaken us here at home?

If you like this,
the way things are continuing to go under Obama as under Bush, reward the lobbyists then and re-elect the man who has brought us thus far.  But please, don't confuse snubbed with stiffed.

Words still do have meaning to some of us.