I DON'T LIKE WHERE THIS IS GOING...

When we take a look at the world it goes without saying that there are many layers of complexity, confusion and miscommunication that obscure some of the concepts of right and wrong. The issue we're discussing doesn't have to be a moral dilemma or life-altering event. It could just be a decision that one has to make at any given time.

Throughout history decisions have been made and respective compromises have been made in order to resolve conflict. Some of these decisions and compromises worked out as planned while others led to more conflict or just a different kind of conflict. Unfortunately, we have somehow come to a point where we are more convinced than ever before that our decisions are based on wisdom founded in principles of a newly discovered intellectualism.

In other words: we are starting to believe our own bullshit.

Last week, our President, Mr. Obama, paid a visit to the Middle East. He chose to speak to the Muslim world as an outreach _ a new beginning as he termed it. Mr. Obama's communication skills are quite good and, on the surface, far better than our last President's. But the substance of what he is saying and the general tone of his message are both very troublesome. I don't like where this is going and if you consider yourself a human being who is not functionally mentally disabled, you should too.

Let me point out the obvious first. The President of the United States of America went to Cairo to give this ridiculous speech. Egypt is not exactly the bastion of democracy nor has it been a consistent partner in fostering peace in the Middle East. The New York Times Travel Section might paint a rosy picture of what it's like to haggle with an Egyptian merchant or take a guided camel ride to the pyramids while eating a philo-hummus wrap but that's not the whole story. The extremist terror-supporting organization known as the Muslim Brotherhood (origianlly founded in 1928) operates out of Egypt and dominates the student and professional associations there. Ever heard of them? I'm sure Mr. Obama has but he didn't make mention of them in his speech. For those of you just checking in, Hosni Mubarak, the "President" of Egypt has been in power since 1981 and, while he has managed to block some of the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood, he has tolerated their so-called "political activity". The Brotherhood holds 88 seats in the Peoples' Assembly which is half of the Legislative Branch of government in Egypt. (The other half is called the Advisory Council.) This is kind of like having Timothy McVeigh holding a Senate seat or making David Duke the Speaker of the House.

Hamas is the Palestinian wing of the Muslim Brotherhood and it has been widely reported that the Brotherhood has links to Al Queda.

Shhh...don't upset anybody.

So Obama traveled 5,722 miles from Washington D.C. to Cairo to give his speech. Now, Tel Aviv is a mere 251 miles from Cairo. Jerusalem, even closer. But he shunned Israel - the only democratic nation in the Middle East. Israel, our only true ally in this world aside from Great Britain. Israel which, in a mere 60 years, in spite of being in fight mode every day since its inception, has been a productive, thriving country that accepts refugees from all over the world regardless of their origin. Israel is at the forefront in terms of women's rights, tolerance of homosexuality and civil liberties worldwide. On a map of the Middle East it's so small one can barely find it. Fine. So he passed on visiting Israel.

Then the speech itself. This is just unbelievable and it goes back to my opening comments. In one glaring moment of particularly egregious shit-spewing Obama said "A partnership between America and Islam must be based on what Islam is, not what it isn't."

Really? Because it ISN'T is a religion of peace, that is of course if you happen to be Muslim. Then it's "peace be with you brother" all around. No problem.

It ISN'T a religion that has advanced a culture of mutual understanding and co-existence. On the contrary, Islam was spread by bloodshed.

And Islam ISN'T a religion with a legacy of achievement in the arts, philosophy and the sciences as Obama stated. Overwhelmingly, the preservation of cultural achievements in the Muslim world were actually the accomplishments of people and civilizations that the Muslims conquered by the sword. Harvard educated or not, the man doesn't know his history.

And it only got better. Obama then cherry-picked verse from the Koran in order to support what he referred to as a "proud tradition of tolerance." He left out the parts exalting the faithful to violence against non-believers and the numerous references in the Koran to the Jews being the children of apes and pigs. My personal Koran favorite is the portion from the hadiths that talks about Mohammed's divine vision of the end of the world. It includes the abolition of Christianity and the murder of the Jews by Muslims with the help of trees and stones which will suddenly speak up and say to the faithful; "Muslim, there is a Jew behind me. Come and kill him!"

Indeed, a beacon of tolerance. Really, I don't know who came up with this crap. Very creative literature though.

But it gets even more convoluted. After our doe-eyed President waxed lyrical about the contributions of Islam we had the privelege of hearing responses from great Muslim leaders like....Khaled Mashal, the exiled "political" leader of Hamas who lives (in exile) in Damascus. He welcomed the new approach and said; "After the change in the American tone, we want a change in the American policies. We are waiting for real pressure on Israel."

Isn't that great? They want a change in OUR policies_the policies of combatting terrorism and supporting the existence of the only democracy in the Middle East. They're not going to change THEIR policies. That's it, right there. They're waiting for us to lay off of THEM and put "real" pressure on Israel.

I'm sorry. I'm stunned. You have this two bit terrorist who has dedicated his life to sweeping Israel into the sea telling the leader of the free world that he wants a change in American policies and that the administration should put ADDITIONAL pressure on Israel.....?

This is not what we want. This is not a "new beginning". This was a joke.

Once we begin to distort reality for the purposes of floating a diplomacy we have lost.