Spotted at Skeptical Observor via Not Larry Sabato:

I was just cruising the Internet, and came across the biography of the Democrat Party’s nominee for Virginia’s Sixth Congressional District: Sam Rasoul.

It seems that Mr. Rasoul’s biography makes reference to having visited “Palestine.”

Interesting, but Mr. Rasoul doesn’t appear to be old enough to have visited “Palestine,” which hasn’t existed since 1948. It’s “Israel,” Mr. Rasoul.

The reference itself speaks volumes about Rasoul’s radical politics. And while it is about what I’ve come to expect from the modern Democrat Party, one wonders why those who trashed clearly loyal Americans on the flimsiest of “evidence,” using guilt-by-association tactics, haven’t turned their attention to the actual statements of Mr. Rasoul.

Folks who gave Barack Obama a giddy reception at the AIPAC policy conference might not want to read Soren Dayton in Red State.  MIght deflate them a bit.

Fortunately, we’re brave enough to take a look.  Here’s what we find.

Earlier, Mark Kilmer noted that Hamas expressed displeasure at Barack Obama’s speech to AIPAC. So what did Obama do? He caved to Hamas.

The Washington Post reported it as “Obama Backtracks on Jerusalem” and Reuters as “Facing criticism, Obama modifies Jerusalem stance”. WaPo:

Facing criticism from Palestinians, Sen. Barack Obama acknowledged today that the status of Jerusalem will need to be negotiated in future peace talks, amending a statement earlier in the week that Jerusalem “must remain undivided.”

So let’s make this very clear. Under pressure from Palestinians and terrorists, Obama caves on perhaps Israel’s most fundamental issue. Not a good sign for those meetings with Ahmadinejad.

From today’s Dana Milbank coverage of Barack Obama at AIPAC:

How could they be confused? As a pandering performance, it was the full Monty by a candidate who, during the primary, had positioned himself to Hillary Clinton’s left on matters such as Iran. Yesterday, Obama, who has generally declined to wear an American-flag lapel pin, wore a joint U.S.-Israeli pin, and even tried a Hebrew phrase on the crowd.

That’s the spirit, Senator!  Kippah truckin’…

Hillary Clinton speaking to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Wednesday:

Let me leave you with just this glimpse of why America matters and why AIPAC matters. In her memoir, one of my personal heroines, Golda Meir, wrote about the wonderful moment 60 years ago when Israel joined the family of nations and America stood at her side.

Here’s what she wrote: “A few minutes after midnight, my phone rang. It had been ringing all evening and, as I ran to answer it, I wondered what bad news I would hear now.”

The news couldn’t have been worse than this phone call…

Imagine our glee to learn that Moishe Oofnik will be part of the Israel at 60 celebration on the Mall on Sunday.

Like most Israel haters, you’re probably wondering, who’s Moishe Oofnik?

This is Moishe Oofnik:

Yeah, that’ll bring joy to the festivities. Clearly modeled after someone whose soup arrived too cold.

If you were watching C-SPAN last night, you saw an amazing moment in political history — the thunderous standing ovation Israelis gave President Bush at Shimon Peres’ “Facing Tomorrow” conference.  Even the upcoming Republican convention is unlikely to match the emotional outpouring of raw support and love the Israelis showed for Bush.

Peres’ speech offered a grand historical sweep of U.S. presidents’ support for Israel.

And here’s what Peres recently told Lally Weymouth:

So, how does this president impress you?

I think Bush did something very courageous, and that was to topple Saddam Hussein. Imagine today that we would have in the Middle East both Ahmadinejad and Saddam Hussein. Bush [made] a decision and should be given credit for it. The problem with the Europeans is, they are right but they are always late. And here to be late is to be wrong. To be right means to be on time. Would they have been right on Hitler, the whole [of] Europe would look different.
What about President Clinton?
Clinton was a friend. Bush’s father was a friend, and President Ronald Reagan was a friend.

If Barack Obama becomes president, we’d be curious to see who calls him a friend.  Judging from by this Al Jazeera report from Gaza, the answer might be quite evident.

On Sunday, instead of wasting your time reading this in the Washington Post …

The president has acted as Israel’s exclusive corner man when he should have been refereeing the fight.

… read this instead in The New Republic:

Given that AIPAC and other similar groups already speak for most American Jews, and given that J Street’s founders are well outside the mainstream of Jewish public opinion, it’s far from clear what, exactly, the new organization can realistically hope to accomplish. Of course, if J Street someday surpasses AIPAC in membership and manages to convince the majority of pro-Israel voters in the United States that negotiations with Hamas are a smart idea, then it will rightly be able to accuse other groups of misrepresenting American Jews. But that is about as likely as crossing J Street on a journey from I to K.

Happy 60th birthday, Israel!

Democracy.  Military might.  Strong, reliable ally of America.  Front-lines in the global war on terror.

But more important, as CNN put it, “Israel is hip, sexy, and fun.”

I sure hope I look that good when I turn 60.

Our good friend and Nobel Peace Prize winner-in-waiting William Daroff merits this big Slate mention

William Daroff is vice president for public policy and director of the Washington office at United Jewish Communities, an organization representing America’s Jewish federations. In other words, he’s a lobbyist. Daroff is also one of the country’s better-connected Jewish operatives. In recent months, he has been called upon to moderate dozens of panels aimed at Jewish activists and professionals, dealing with the hot topic of the day: the 2008 election and the Jewish community.

This election has reignited an old debate: Which party is better for Israel—the Republicans or the Democrats? Assuming that Jewish voters care about this question, the parties have to make their case if they want Jewish voters to support them.

Read the whole piece here.  Or, just consider this photo…

We learn this in the Washington Post today:

The schedule is coming into focus for President Bush’s second trip to the Middle East this year: He is planning to visit Israel next month to celebrate the country’s 60th anniversary. While in Israel, Bush appears likely to visit Masada, the desert fortress overlooking the Dead Sea where nearly 1,000 Jews committed suicide in the 1st century rather than be taken alive by the Romans.

He is also planning a speech to the Israeli Knesset, and will attend a giant celebratory conference being hosted by Israeli President Shimon Peres that is expected to feature such notables as Tony Blair, Mikhail Gorbachev and Henry Kissinger. But Barbra Streisand, the liberal singing and acting icon who had been tapped to sing the Jewish prayer “Avinu Malkeinu” (Our Father Our King), abruptly pulled out last week for “personal obligations.” Was Babs unhappy about the prospect of sharing the bill with Bush? We will never know.

Actually, that Streisand news should come as a relief to the already long-suffering people of Israel.  At least they’ll be spared Stresiand’s unique, cutting-edge, and breakthrough political commentaries and observations, such as the knee-slapping hilarity we see here…