Mediaboss Marketing

But just how challenging that task will be was crystal clear Monday afternoon when White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said the administration would not overlook Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's flip-flop on Palestinian statehood last week.

McDonough told a friendly crowd during a conference held by the pro-Palestine Jewish advocacy group J-Street that a two-state solution is "the best way to guard Israel's long-term security," and that's why Netanyahu's declaration that there would be no Palestinian state while he was prime minister which he later disavowed was "very troubling."

"After the election, the prime minister said that he had not changed his position, but for many in Israel and in the international community such contradictory comments call into question his commitment to a two-state solution," McDonough said. "We cannot simply pretend that these comments were never made."

McDonough repeatedly pledged strong U.S. support for Israel, promising to "continue to ensure Israel's qualitative military edge" and echoing President Barack Obama's proclamation that the U.S. "has Israel's back."

RELATED: 367 House lawmakers warn Obama on Iran

But his remarks underscore just how fraught relations between the two nations have become in the wake of Netanyahu's speech to Congress earlier this month, against the urging of the White House and a number of congressional Democrats, who saw it as an affront to the President.

Following his election win last week, Obama told Netanyahu that he would "reassess" U.S. support for Israel. Obama was reportedly particularly offended by Netanyahu's comments that Arab Israelis were coming out to vote in "droves," which critics said had racial undertones.

Netanyahu apologized for those comments in a Facebook post on Monday.

"I know that my comments last week offended some Israeli citizens and offended members of the Israeli Arab community," Netanyahu said, according to a translation provided by his party, Likud. "This was never my intent. I apologize for this."

Congressional Democrats, it seems, are looking to mend fences as well. Israel told CNN that he helped arrange the dinner with Dermer, which will take place at the Israeli ambassador's residence, in hopes of "tamping down on the drama" between Democrats and the Israeli prime minister's government.

Go here to see the original:
First on CNN: House Democrats to dine with Israeli ambassador

In a recent interview, Rep. Steve King of Iowa said:

I dont understand how Jews in America can be Democrats first and Jewish second and support Israel along the line of just following their president.

Steve King has questions. We have answers.

I turned to the political scientist Kenneth Wald, who is the distinguished professor of political science and Samuel R. Bud Shorstein Professor of American Jewish Culture & Society at the University of Florida. He is also the author of the newly published article The Choosing People: The Puzzling Politics of American Jewry. He graciously responded to some questions via e-mail. Below is a lightly edited version:

Q: The title of your article refers to the puzzling politics of American Jewry. So what is puzzling about their politics?

In their voting behavior, political identity and attitudes, American Jews are disproportionately clustered on the liberal/Democratic side of the political spectrum. The pattern has held more or less steady since the late 1920s. But we expect most affluent people to favor the party of the right. As a group, even allowing for individual differences, American Jews rank at or near the top on most measures of social class education, income, occupational prestige and such. That makes their commitment to the Democratic party and liberal values puzzling.

Q: Your argument discounts explanations that depend on the distinctive aspects of Judaism. For example, you say that its not that Jewish values promote liberalism, or that liberals have historically been more accepting of Jews, or that Jews tend to make common cause with other socially marginalized groups on the left, like blacks. Whats wrong with those explanations?

I criticize what I call Judaic theories that emphasize Jewish values, Jewish historical experience, and minority consciousness as the cause of this liberal/Democratic skew among American Jews. I dont mean to deny that one can interpret Judaism as intrinsically left-liberal or read the historical record to conclude that liberals have historically been supportive of Jewish aspirations, or that having been a stigmatized minority may engender Jewish empathy with other oppressed groups.

But these explanations dont help us explain political differences among Jews across countries or over time. American Jews share a religious tradition, historical inheritance, and minority status with most Jewish communities around the globe and yet only Jews in the United States are concentrated on the left. Jews outside the U.S. are sometimes centrist, sometimes rightist, and occasionally indistinct from the general population, but never as tightly clustered on the left as American Jews.

And if, as these theories presuppose, liberalism is intrinsic in the Jewish experience, how can we explain short-term fluctuations in American Jewish political behavior? Judaic theories are universal and static, so they cannot account for American Jewish political exceptionalism nor the oscillations in American Jewish voting patterns.

Continued here:
Monkey Cage: Why most American Jews vote for Democrats, explained

Sixty Democrats Boycott Netanyahu #39;s Speech to Congress
1. Sixty Democrats Boycott Netanyahu #39;s Speech to Congress 2. We have key video clips of Netanyahu #39;s speech 3. Senate Panel Probing Possible Obama Administration Ties to anti-Netanyahu...

By: Gordon James Klingenschmitt

Here is the original post:
Sixty Democrats Boycott Netanyahu's Speech to Congress - Video

Michigan Democrats introduce same sex marriage bills
Michigan #39;s democratic lawmakers want to repeal the state #39;s ban on same-sex marriage saying opinions have changed. NBC25 #39;s Walter Smith-Randolph reports.

By: NBC25

Excerpt from:
Michigan Democrats introduce same sex marriage bills - Video

Climate Crackdown - Democrats Try To Silence Global Warming Skeptics - Journal Editorial Report
Climate Crackdown - Democrats Try To Silence Global Warming Skeptics - Journal Editorial Report =========================================== **Please Click Below to SUBSCRIBE for ...

By: Mass Tea Party

More here:
Climate Crackdown - Democrats Try To Silence Global Warming Skeptics - Journal Editorial Report - Video