Barack Obama, theocrat?

In a fundraising appearance in New York, Obama bid to turn the focus of the U.S. relationship to Israel back toward making peace with the Palestinians, rather than war with Iran. In so doing, he overcompensated by overstating the nature of the bond between the two countries. As summarized by ABC News' Devin Dwyer:

“The sacrosanct commitment that we make to Israel’s security is not only a matter of providing them the military capabilities they need, not only providing the sort of qualitative military edge that they need in a very tough neighborhood, but also that we are a partner with them to try to bring about a peace in the region that can be lasting,” he said. “And that is a challenge.”

"Sacrosanct" is an odd word for the foreign policy arena.  Here's a definition and etymology from The American Heritage Dictionary:

sac·ro·sanct

adj. Regarded as sacred and inviolable.

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[Latin sacrosanctus, consecrated with religious ceremonies sacro, ablative of sacrum, religious rite (from neuter of sacer, sacred; see sacred) + sanctus, past participle of sancire, to consecrate; see sak- in Indo-European roots.]

What is Obama suggesting? That America is a Christian nation, with some kind of spiritual bond with the Jewish homeland? If a "sacrosanct" bond isn't founded on religion, what is it founded on?  Why should an alliance with any nation be founded on anything but the United States' interest? And if that interest is intertwined with the country's values, that means it's dependent on the behavior of the countries with which the U.S. interacts, e.g., commitment to human rights, democracy, peaceful resolution of differences, etc.

Santorum double-blind

The core of Rick Santorum's domestic policy and governing philosophy is to boost the two-parent family. That's his anti-poverty program. Here he is in today's debate in New Hampshire:

And I believe that there’s one thing that is undermining this country, and it is the breakdown of the American family. It’s undermining our economy. You see the rates of poverty among single- parent families, which are -- moms are doing heroic things, but it’s harder. It’s five times higher in a single-parent family.

We -- we know there’s certain things that work in America. The Brookings Institute came out with a study just a few -- couple of years ago that said, if you graduate from high school, and if you work, and if you’re a man, if you marry, if you’re a woman, if you marry before you have children, you have a 2 percent chance of being in poverty in America. And to be above the median income, if you do those three things, 77 percent chance of being above the median income.

Theocracy in America

A lot of people are angry that Senate rules and Republican intransigence give Joe Lieberman and Ben Nelson life-or-death power over the health care reform bill.  I am angry that the Catholic Church also has a near-veto:

Leadership aides say progressives are prepared to take it on the chin and will vote for a final bill without a public option. But they say pro-life Democrats will seek direction from the U.S. Conference of Bishops as to whether they can support an amendment weaker than Rep. Bart Stupak's, thus setting up what will likely be the most difficult negotiation before a final vote.

Catholic bishops have about as much credibility on matters of sexual and reproductive morality as Iranian mullahs have with respect to vote-counting.

Clinging to a clunker

In marked contrast to his handling of the Wright controversy, Obama is firing round the target as he parries attacks on his "bitter" comment. First, he mocked the suggestion that it's elitist to characterize a swath of white working class voters as 'bitter.' But that's not where the offense lay -- the problem was not saying that some voters are bitter but characterizing certain political passions as products of bitterness and disillusion with government. Then, last night at the 'Compassion Forum' at Messiah College, he claimed in effect that when he said "they cling to guns, the cling to religion" etc., he didn't mean 'cling' in a bad way (it's good to 'cling' to religion and tradition in times of stress). That's ridiculous. That's not what he meant. Now, he's ridiculing Hillary's joyously combative overreaction -- which is justifiable, but does not address the core of his offense. It looks like he's changing the subject. And the mockery sounds hollow and arrogant.

In fact, his false explanation last night -- that saying "they cling to religion' was in effect praising such clinging as a strong response to adversity -- makes matters worse, because it takes that remark at face value instead of acknowledging that "religion" was in this case shorthand for religious-right hot buttons such as gay marriage, abortion, and school prayer. It would be hard to say, "I don't think religion is a crutch, but theocratic political planks are.' But his alternative explanation, because it concedes (wrongly) that he meant "they cling to religion" literally, lends credence to the right-wing attack machine meme that Obama has simply faked his own faith for political expedience. The explain-away focuses on the word "cling," which in fact meant what people assumed it to mean, rather than on the word "religion," which meant "politicized theocratic nostrums."

The comment is difficult and damaging because it's the flip side of Obama's "one nation" message. His appeal to evangelicals is based on a belief that their faith can be channeled into poverty alleviation and seeking economic justice rather than curtailing gay rights and restricting abortion. What slipped was his belief that people turn to such issues out of frustration and cynicism. It's one thing to say, I disagree with you on X, but let's agree on Y. But that message is undercut somewhat when you purport to dissect my (unflattering) motives for believing X.

This is latest instance of Obama's sometime tendency to dig deeper when he's in a hole.