I actually just started reading this book they were talking about in the article. And spooky they said Obama would have to say something exactly like that. The main point so far (I've only read the intro and first few pages of chapter 1) is that all our 2008 potential presidents disagree on everything under the sun except anything to do with Israel. I'm going to hit the net and check to see if this is all the way true.
Not true - there is a range of opinions on how to resolve the Israel/Palestine conflict among the candidates. Obama's advisors aren't going to suggest razing Palestinian villages anytime soon.
Your objection seems to be more that you don't like where that range of opinions falls on the overall spectrum.
I'd compare it to our policies toward China and East Asia; there are a range of opinions among politicians, but that range is relatively narrow.
I think it's a natural result of our political institutions to have that Overton window be narrower than in countries with proportional representation, and I don't think that's a bad thing -- when a wider spectrum of policy options goes on the table, they tend to include options like "bomb Iran" and "unilaterally declare war in Iraq".
There's broad support for a two-state solution in Israel and Palestine. We could do more to bring that about (including rebuking Israel when it oversteps in the same way we do with another ally of ours, Taiwan) -- but at the same time, the Palestinians could do much, much more. If Hamas were to unilaterally recognize Israel's right to exist, and renounce any willingness to target Israeli civilians, in exchange for the opening up of trade -- that'd transform the situation overnight.
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Your objection seems to be more that you don't like where that range of opinions falls on the overall spectrum.
I'd compare it to our policies toward China and East Asia; there are a range of opinions among politicians, but that range is relatively narrow.
I think it's a natural result of our political institutions to have that Overton window be narrower than in countries with proportional representation, and I don't think that's a bad thing -- when a wider spectrum of policy options goes on the table, they tend to include options like "bomb Iran" and "unilaterally declare war in Iraq".
There's broad support for a two-state solution in Israel and Palestine. We could do more to bring that about (including rebuking Israel when it oversteps in the same way we do with another ally of ours, Taiwan) -- but at the same time, the Palestinians could do much, much more. If Hamas were to unilaterally recognize Israel's right to exist, and renounce any willingness to target Israeli civilians, in exchange for the opening up of trade -- that'd transform the situation overnight.