Obama/Netanyahu; Forgiving $2 Billion in Debt for Egypt; Al-Qaea Planning Major Terrorist Attack on London; Ed Koch Blames Obama; Get to Know Herman Cain; States Demanding Voter IDs; History's Judgement of Obama

RedState opines: I half expect Benjamin Netanyahu to come to the United States and demand the U.S. cede all territory gained from the 1848 Mexican cession back to Mexico. It, like Obama’s Middle East speech of yesterday, would be a key distraction from a date and duty Barack Obama has had 60 days to get ready for.  http://www.redstate.com/erick/2011/05/20/today-barack-obama-meets-his-inner-richard-nixon-in-libya/
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Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) issued a press release today stating his intention to introduce a resolution next week disapproving of the policy concerning Israel that President Barack Obama announced on Thursday.
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/sen-hatch-introduce-resolution-against-p
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American Thinker opines: After making his swan dive into the abyss, Obama preceded with a White House chat with Prime Minister Netanyahu followed by a press opportunity and a scheduled state dinner.

In a controlled but respectful address to the press while seated alongside the president, Bibi argued that "peace based on illusions will crash on the rocks of reality" and used the opportunity to  school the president on the facts on the ground.  Bibi flatly stated that Israel could not be secure with a return to the 1967 borders, that it could not negotiate with a state that is partnered with Hamas, and it could not agree to an Arab right of return, which would destroy Israel entirely.

Like Obama, Netanyahu has fine educational credentials, with degrees from Harvard and MIT, but Netanyahu has been personally tested in battle, where rash, unconsidered actions have immediate, fatal consequences.  Obama until now has been pontificating and swanning about.  His only real battles to date have been with straw men of his own making.  http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/05/clarices_pieces_obama_and_the.html

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Fox News opines: President Obama's call for $2 billion in loan assistance to Egypt has left many political figures scratching their heads as they try to figure out why a debt-ridden U.S. would commit that much money to a country whose new government may not end up friendly to America.

In Thursday's sweeping address on the uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, the president said he wants the U.S. to forgive roughly $1 billion in debt owed by Egypt and to provide another $1 billion in loan guarantees to free up money for job-creation efforts there.

"We do not want a democratic Egypt to be saddled by the debts of its past," Obama said.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/05/21/lawmakers-resist-obamas-offer-2b-loan-assistance-egypt/#ixzz1N0ycXoRP

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The UK Daily Mail reports: Osama Bin Laden's replacement as leader of Al-Qaeda is planning a major terrorist attack on London, ordering his followers to 'crush' the city.
Soon after being officially appointed caretaker chief of the terrorist group, Saif al-Adel vowed to avenge the death of his former boss.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1389374/New-Al-Qaeda-chief-pledges-major-attack-London-avenge-Bin-Ladens-death.html#ixzz1N0zbxbEV

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Newsmax TV hosts Ed Koch: Democratic senior statesman Ed Koch says Israel is facing its “most dangerous and critical period” and he is ready to break with his party in the next presidential election over President Obama’s policies on the Middle East.
In an exclusive interview with Newsmax.TV, the former New York City mayor said, “Mitt Romney correctly summed it up when he said that President Obama has once again thrown Israel under the bus.  http://www.uncoverage.net/2011/05/mayor-ed-koch-democrat-says-he-will-change-parties-due-to-obama-israel-policy/
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American Thinker writes about Herman Cain, candidate for President: Not the least of reasons is that a Cain candidacy would be a hoot.  And I do not mean that in a derisive or condescending way at all.  I mean that it would be the kind of doggone honest and refreshing campaign the country needs.  It would be the opposite of the stale McCain run.  Cain does not speak Washington drivel, and he's not afraid to take a strong position.  
Herman Cain is peerless among the long list of potential candidates -- and his impact on the field and the direction of the party will be in the direction of free enterprise, less government, and speaking with boldness -- you know, pretty much the opposite of what the GOP has done since Newt's Congress lost steam in the mid- to late '90s.  

10. The "race card": A Cain candidacy not only takes the race card off the table.  He does not have a white parent.  He has a slight black dialect and does not "turn it off" to impress Harry Reid or Joe Biden, nor does he "amp it up" to impress Jeremiah Wright.   

9. Been there, done that: Cain brings a lot of "been there, done that" to the office, and that is in stark contrast not only to Obama, but to almost anyone else running. Making a payroll; dealing with employees, the IRS, the INS, insurance companies; dealing with rents, lawsuits, unemployment commissions, etc. -- Cain has been there, done that.  Obama has not.

8. Not forgettable:  Cain's boldness and confidence and accent and voice will cut through the noise out there.

7. Will break every rule set for him by "strategists":

6. Will really get under the skin of the Washingtonian class:

5. Will not get in way of the 2010 Congress' momentum:

4. Never held office before:  "Everyone in Washington has held public office before.  How's that working out for you?"  Case closed.

3. Ann Coulter's second-favorite pick: While I love Christie's boldness on the issues where he is conservative, he will wobble off to the Jersey left a bit on some issues.  Cain will not. 

2. Will not be cowed by the new speech police:

And the number one reason to support a Cain candidacy?  It opens the door to a ticket of Cain and Haley Barbour in some order.  OK, maybe this is not earthshaking, but imagine the "racist Republican Party" putting forth a national ticket including a drawlin' Mississippi good ol' boy and a black businessman who still speaks a smidgen of Ebonics.

[I have met Herman Cain and have listened to his powerful message.  He is inspirational.] For full explanations of reasons, go to http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/01/top_ten_reasons_to_support_her.html 
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American Thinker writes: The impressive size and staggering energy of the 15 thousand folks at Olympic Centennial Park gave the rally [for Herman Cain] the feel of a winning movement. 

And there was not just a festive atmosphere and a lot of cheering, those cheers came from many cheeks moist with tears that a Cain candidacy is actually what real hope and change should feel like for America. 

You get the idea that a Cain-Obama debate would be the wise grandfather taking the arrogant silly whippersnapper to the wood shed.  That thought alone will likely bring supporters Cain's way and keep his campaign relevant for a long time to come.  http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/05/rock_you_like_a_hermancain.html

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The Wall ST. Journal writes: Kansas's Secure and Fair Elections Act combined three elements: (1) a requirement that voters present photo IDs when they vote in person; (2) a requirement that absentee voters present a full driver's license number and have their signatures verified; and (3) a proof of citizenship requirement for all newly registered voters. Although a few states, including Georgia, Indiana and Arizona, have enacted one or two of these reforms, Kansas is the only state to enact all three.
Other states are moving in the same direction.
In Colorado, the Secretary of State's office recently identified 11,805 aliens illegally registered to vote in the state, of whom 4,947 cast a ballot in the 2010 elections.
Fear that elections are being stolen erodes the legitimacy of our government. A 2010 Rasmussen poll showed that 82% of Americans support photo ID laws.
Carrying a photo ID has become a part of American life. You can't cash a check, board a plane, or even buy full-strength Sudafed over the counter without one. That's why it's not unreasonable to require one in order to protect our most important privilege of citizenship. But just in case any person lacks a photo ID, Kansas's law provides a free state ID to anyone who needs one. Other states have included similar provisions in their photo-ID laws.  Mr. Kobach is the Kansas secretary of state.  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704816604576333650886790480.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop
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American Thinker opines: The white middle-American voters who put their faith and trust in Obama in 2008, and without whose support Obama could not have won, lost that faith almost immediately after Obama took office.  Similarly, the non-white racially motivated voters who identified personally with Obama and flocked to the polls for him in 2008 failed to assist him in 2010 by supporting white Democrats in the midterm races.  White Americans did not suddenly wake up to the realization that they had voted for a black man; rather, they were confronted with the unavoidable fact that Obama was not the "post-racial" president of all Americans that he promised to be.  Instead, it turned out, Obama was committed to reinventing America in order to address perceived past injustices at white Americans' expense.  Believers in identity politics (from both the left and the right), however, always knew what they were getting: a man dedicated to the inversion of America's social order.

This is one of the great tragedies of Obama's caustic and divisive political strategy; at the precise moment when we as a society were poised to move beyond race as a relevant social and economic issue, race was forcefully injected back into the national consciousness.

When Obama tells Hispanic-Americans to join with him and "punish their enemies," and when Attorney General Eric Holder scornfully tells America that bat-wielding Black Panthers patrolling a polling place do not warrant prosecution because "his people" once experienced far worse, when all who disagree with Obama's social and economic policies are reflexively labeled racists by the president's supporters, an attitude of fatalism begins to set in, and a frustrated electorate becomes cynical.  The tedious and predictable repetition of racial platitudes takes its toll on logic, civility, and unity.

The success of non-white political candidates in both broad-based and predominantly white electorates in states below the Mason-Dixon Line contributes to a growing body of evidence that the embrace of core conservative values is a viable, powerful, and uniquely American alternative to race-based politics. 

But history will judge Obama harshly.  Rather than leaving the United States stronger, more unified, and more resolute in its commitment to the founding principles of liberty and self-determination, Obama will leave behind the bitter fruits of class warfare, racial identity politics, and a redistributive economic policy that will fundamentally alter the American social compact.  http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/05/the_deadend_street_of_identity.html