What I Didn’t Say

I feel like I am lost in an alternate universe.  After the President’s speech on Thursday the world went haywire.  And when I tried to get answers on exactly what the President said that was so evil.

Near as I could tell, he had given Hamas a big, sloppy wet kiss and then turned to Israel and said, “Suck it up, bitch!”

The reason for this is that the President’s critics all heard only one thing in the entire speech.  Today people were arguing that words are important on Morning Joe.  And I agree.  But te problem is, the most important words in the speech were not “Pre-1967 Borders.”  Sure, that is all that many supporters of Israel heard.  But they apparently did so at the expense of listening to any of the rest of the speech.

Many went on and on about how re-instating the pre-1967 borders is unacceptable, as those were not secure borders.  When it was pointed out previous administrations (including the Bush Administration) also thought this was a working point, the response was “Not uh!  Not Publically!” Wow…killer defense.  Bush spoke of 1949 borders-which are the same as the pre-1967 borders.  But publically, in a letter to Israel, Bush told them that it was not plausible.  So, he thought one thing, but told certain people what he thought they (Israel) wanted to hear.

So, people were enraged that the President declared that we should asked Hamas to make no sacrifices and hand them the pre-1967 border set up.

Except, he di not do that.  Anyone who actually listened to the speech would understand that.  Now, if steam started coming out of your ears at the words “Pre-1967 Borders”I guess it is understandable that you missed the actual content.

The President actually stated that the pre-1967 borders were a starting point, but that there would be swaps and changes made to make it workable.  So, the plan was not, and is not to actually just re-instate the pre-1967 borders.

The borders had to be secure.  So, this answers that whole “Pre-1967 Borders were not secure” issue.

The Palestinian state would have to be a demilitarized one.  Yeah, telling a country they cannot be militarized sure is not demanding that a side give something up.

The Palestinian leadership would have to renownce their anti-Israel ways.  They would have to publicly state the Right of Israel to exist as a state.

Not meeting these conditions is Israel’s out.

So, again, one cannot help but ask…what about the speech created such rage?