Photo credits: APThomas Lifson in his post at the American Thinker this morning reminds us of a gaffe made by Obama in an interview with Jeff Goldberg in the Atlantic published a couple of weeks ago.
Lifson recalls:
“When we noted that Barack Obama uttered the following gaffe, we were inundated with protests that he didn't mean to say what he clearly said to the Atlantic:
“Q: Jeff Goldberg:--- Do you think that Israel is a drag on America's reputation overseas?
“A: Obama: --- No, no, no. But what I think is that this constant wound, that this constant sore, does infect all of our foreign policy. The lack of a resolution to this problem provides an excuse for anti-American militant jihadists to engage in inexcusable actions.
“The antecedent in the question was Israel, so ‘constant wound’ and ‘constant sore’ logically refer to Israel.”
Lifson compares the kid-glove treatment Obama receives for his gaffe in the Atlantic to the weekend firestorm over Clinton’s RFK comment to the Argus Leader editorial board in South Dakota.
“Many of the same people who excused this Obama gaffe, and many others (57 states, 10,000 tornado victims, etc.) now declare Hillary out of the race, and so do many others in the media. Because the media has decided this gaffe is fatal, it shall be so. Our own Rick Moran is among them. They are probably all correct that Hillary's race to convince super delegates is now hopeless, thanks to the negative PR.”
Refusing to write Hillary off, Lifson predicts she’ll take it to the convention, and he highlights some “notable aspects” to the reactions to her RFK comment:
“1. Once again Obama and his partisans take deep personal offense when his name is not even mentioned. Obama is, to himself and his partisans, so significant that any mention of anything that might tangentially be directed at him amounts to a personal attack. The president warns agains appeasement and that is a vicious attack on Obama. Hillary marks a memorable campaign with the most memorable event associated with it, and it is thought to amount to a call for killing her opponent. For a guy with a Teflon coating, he certainly bruises easily.
“2. Many assume that this kills any chance of Obama inviting her on the ticket as second banana. I beg to differ.
“If Obama decides it is useful to have her as veep candidate, he will look all the more magnanimous by inviting her on the ticket. This incident adds to her value to him. Of course, Michelle Obama is all the more likely to veto any offer. I doubt this ticket will happen anyway, but the gaffe doesn't make it less likely.
“3. Hillary will fight on, with even more vigor. Even if she thinks she has no chance at the nomination. She will want even more to redeem herself and her name by proving she is serious about the race, and this gaffe was not a telling revelation of her innermost darkness. Quitting now would be an admission of guilt.
“4. Assuming she loses the nomination, Hillary is even more likely to avoid helping Obama win. She must resent deeply that the press has turned on her. Watching this younger inexperienced man trump her victim card and entice the press into treating her like Newt Gingrich has got to rankle. Hillary Clinton knows about resentment, and the power of that emotion to motivate and energize a body into ever-greater efforts.
“5. Now that gaffes are a big issue, there could be blowback for Obama, who is prone to them when not relying on a teleprompter and vaporous generalizations. Politics is a chess game, and you have to remember that there are more moves ahead.
“6. I can't count the times I have heard the expression "the race is over" and "Hillary should concede." The people writing that have been wrong. They still are. Probably.
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