Norma Zager & Ari Bussel
Keep the Course
March 24, 2010

President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu are expected to meet in Washington, DC, next week. By then, the President’s effort to completely overhaul the healthcare system in the United States in one fell swoop would either have passed another hurdle, and bring us closer to the brink of economic destruction, or serve as a reminder that humility is a necessary ingredient in governance.

The President, in a public debate, reminded Senator McCain that the election period is over. That was then, and any promises we made belong to that era, he said. Now I am the President, and I am the Lord of the Land. I am clearly paraphrasing, but humility was absent as was the most basic promise to us, the voters. Truth in all its ugliness was spoken, and the White House is busy twisting every Congressman and Congresswoman’s arm-whatever it costs, whatever needs to be promised, whatever deals need to be struck, just give us your vote.

It must have been the stress of the most profound change of the American landscape planned by the President that caused him to lash out at Israel. Whenever the President wants to achieve a milestone, he talks about its absolute urgency. Lives are at stake, he says, although the only change most of us who do not belong to unions, small business owners and retired Americans will see is higher mandatory taxes for five years. Is that what is going to reduce the deficit while a new, huge government bureaucracy is being formed?

The President never liked Israel. How could he after having sat for some two decades in a church that spewed hatred and pro Palestinian rhetoric from the pulpit week after week? We were promised he did not listen, that nothing stuck in his mind. He even appeared at the AIPAC Conference in DC, shaking the hands of each person seated in the front row, promising that Jerusalem is the undivided Capital of the Jewish State.

Promises, as the saying goes, are like piecrusts and made to be broken; flip-flopping serves to fit the agendas or mood of the moment. AIPAC stood and cheered, and the Jewish organizations blushed and downed another glass of denial. An email circulated urging voters to be cautious about the Democratic Party presidential candidate. Those at the helm needed to make it clear they supported Obama, whose birth certificate and early childhood Muslim upbringing were under scrutiny and whose close friend and mentor regularly spewed hatred against the Jewish State.

He was a Teflon candidate and nothing stuck. Jews threw both unimaginable sums of money as well as tremendous support behind the promise of hope and change for a new era of long despised DC politics. Washington has indeed changed to the Obama Way, but the illusion and hope for that better day has not come to fruition. Even the most pivotal piece of the new Administration, health care reform, so badly needed, has not won the President’s own party’s support. Instead, members had to be cajoled, threatened, bribed and bought.

Then came the failed foreign policy attempts – from losing in Afghanistan, the President’s new priority, to Russia and China which stand firm against us in an attempt to prevent a nuclear Iran. Country after country for some odd reason has refused to buy into the President’s slick brand of charm. Are they not seeing what Americans saw? Or was it never really there in the first place? Can they see something we do not?

The President seems to believe his top priority in foreign policy is peace in the Middle East. Peace NOW. Like his other agenda items, we cannot wait any longer. In his view, our soldiers are dying in Iraq and Afghanistan because Israel is building homes in Jerusalem. Yet, he is more than willing to wait around while rogue terrorist nations secure weapons of mass destruction. Why is this not an urgent agenda?

A sense of unease has spread throughout the land, despite trillions of dollars being poured into pet projects and big business. More than one in ten Americans is unemployed, and contrary to the President’s pronunciations that we are out of the abyss, most economists disagree. Lofty promises are not bringing food to a family’s table. With no manufacturing base, and with utter dependence on foreign capital to finance the endless spending by the Administration, the USA’s global position is very shaky.

Drastic measures are required, so the Vice President is sent to Israel. Like his boss (who on Tuesday before the election told AIPAC Jerusalem is undivided and on Thursday, or was it Wednesday, had already changed his unshakeable position) seems to say one thing but behave quite differently. Apparently, the VP was so offended he rebuked Israel in the harshest terms, condemned her in a manner only used half a dozen times in the last century: Israel is guilty of a sin that cannot be forgiven.

Empty promises to stop Iran fall on deaf ears as America continues to appease the evil nation. Our State Department steps with all its might on Israel, yet when Iranians murder citizens in the streets in broad daylight, the U.S. silence is deafening. Deny Israel’s request for arms, implement a de facto freeze of any military support to Israel, and continue your tongue-and-cheek diplomacy. Interestingly, sadly, no one seems to be buying it. Ahmadinejad is the first to laugh at the President’s failed attempts at appeasement as each day their plans for mass murder become more a reality.

A rush of exhilaration welcomes the President of the Islamic Republic whenever Washington takes a stand: bow deeper to the Arabs, press harder on the Zionists, their end is near anyway. We, the Great Islamic Republic of Iran, will be ushering in the end of the imperialistic, expansionist, rotten and corrupt Americans. You, Barack Hussein Obama, will pay the price for betraying your Muslim brothers and serve as an example to all Infidels.

Pray the Almighty guide the Jewish State and her leaders in a path of light. May His strength be bestowed on and protect them as they march through this very dangerous valley. Their enemies are watching every move from upper ground, weapons drawn, ready to kill; yet as long as higher supervision surrounds them, they will remain safe.

Fear not, Jewish State. It is not a change of course, or building plans or permits. The declaration of your historical heritage sites will light your way through this dark time. The world will one day open the Lord’s Book, and the truth will shine, with a clarity and focus the likes of which have not been seen for millennia.

In the meantime, tribulations and challenges are necessary. They are formidable, consuming and harmful; yet they help guide the Jewish people down the path He has created for them. As they stray to the right or left, a new Goldstone Report surfaces, riots by Muslims, lies and accusations and rebuke by those we thought were friends are inflicted. These are all necessary for they serve as candles to help adjust our progress and remain on course.