Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Moral Clarity and the Lack Thereof

Congressman Gary Ackerman (D-NY) tells it like it is in this statement from his website on his resolution calling on Hamas to release Corporal Giliad Shalit.

“I think it is absolutely essential that the United States keep faith with our Israeli allies and stand with them in calling for the immediate release of IDF Corporal Gilad Shalit. The terrorists in Hamas, it should be recalled, snuck into Israel proper and attacked a group of IDF soldiers for the purpose of kidnapping Corporal Shalit in order to hold him hostage. Descending even further into subhuman barbarity, they have forced him to appear in propaganda videos, they have denied him visits from the Red Cross, they have denied him medical attention, and they have prevented him from sending even so much as a postcard to his parents, or allowing them to contact him.

Hamas’ stooges can say whatever they want about this blood-soaked bunch of terrorists, but their behavior, in the form of unrelenting violence against Israeli civilians and the disgusting anti-Semitism they spew, shows their true beliefs and their real values. These are not partners for any kind of peace. These are thugs hiding an agenda of hate behind a façade of religious devotion.

“Congress must stand with Israel in calling for Corporal Shalit’s immediate and unconditional release, and I expect many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this resolution and call for its consideration and adoption by the House.” [my bolding]

I guess he must just be some ignorant, Southern, Baptist, redneck - no, wait he is a Democratic congressman from a blue state!

Meanwhile the White House is still putting pressure on Israel to negotiate with Hamas and simultaneously stating that its policy is that Israel cannot negotiate with a negotiating partner which denies its right to exist. (See this post by Jen Rubin on the Obama administration's incoherence on Hamas.)

So what is the difference between Rep. Gary Ackerman and Barack Obama? Moral clarity and the lack thereof.

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