Obama Breaks with Supporters of Israel

As most people know by now, the UN security Council today approved a resolution calling on Israel to cease building settlements.
The administration said they abstained from voting because the language mirrored facts on the ground.
Obama could have vetoed the resolution but didn't because they agreed with much of the resolution.
In effect, this is a propaganda victory for Arabs, and another propaganda tool to use while attacking Israel.
This will be a large part of Obama's legacy. mfbsr


PEACE ON EARTH?
Team Obama Lets U.N. Condemn Israel for Settlements
Republicans and Democrats alike excoriated the Obama administration for allowing the Security Council measure to pass.
Andrew Desiderio
ANDREW DESIDERIO

12.23.16 2:44 PM ET
In a stinging rebuke to Israel, the United States abstained from a United Nations Security Council vote on a resolution that demands a halt to Israeli settlements, allowing the measure to pass despite vigorous bipartisan opposition at home.
In advance of the vote, Democratic and Republican lawmakers called on the Obama administration to block the measure, saying it would harm peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine. The Obama administration, meanwhile, contends that Israel’s settlements have imperiled the peace process, and that a two-state solution cannot exist while settlement activity increases.
Speaking immediately after the vote, Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., singled out Netanyahu and his allies for their continued support of settlements.

“One cannot simultaneously champion expanding Israeli settlements and champion a viable two-state solution that would end the conflict,” Power said. “One has to make a choice between settlements and separation.”
Of the 15 member states, 14 voted in favor of the measure. As one of the five permanent member states on the Security Council, the U.S. has veto power over any resolution. It decided instead to abstain, prompting rousing applause inside the chamber but vehement criticism from Capitol Hill and the incoming administration.
As drafted, the resolution condemns Israel’s settlements as a “flagrant violation of international law” and as having “no legal validity.” Israel has long maintained that its settlements, particularly those in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, are legitimate and legal.
President-elect Donald Trump had intervened in the process earlier in the week, speaking on the phone with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in an appeal to delay the vote that was originally scheduled for Thursday. Trump was successful, but the same resolution was put up for a vote by four separate nations—Malaysia, New Zealand, Venezuela and Senegal. After the vote, Netanyahu asked his ambassadors in New Zealand and Senegal to return to Israel.
Trump also personally offered his support to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose government vehemently opposed the resolution. The president-elect tweeted in response to the vote: “As to the U.N., things will be different after Jan. 20th”—the day Trump officially takes office.
That sentiment was echoed by Israel’s ambassador to the U.N., Danny Danon, who said he has “no doubt that the new U.S. administration will usher in a new era.” In a separate statement, Netanyahu called the vote “shameful” and vowed to defy it, accusing the U.S. of sabotaging his government.

In advance of the vote, Rep. Adam Schiff and Sen. Chuck Schumer, both Democrats, were vocal in their opposition to the resolution, and urged the Obama administration to block it. After the vote, critics from both sides of the aisle piled on.
“I am dismayed that the Administration departed from decades of U.S. policy by not vetoing the U.N. resolution regarding Israeli settlements. I continue to believe that a productive path toward peace requires direct negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians,” said Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia.
Added House Speaker Paul Ryan: “This is absolutely shameful. Today’s vote is a blow to peace that sets a dangerous precedent for further diplomatic efforts to isolate and demonize Israel.” He pledged that the incoming Trump administration will work to “rebuild our alliance with Israel.”
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said the U.N. as a whole “is increasingly viewed as anti-Semitic and seems to have lost all sense of proportionality.”
Amid the backlash, the White House held a last-minute call with reporters after the vote, during which senior White House officials said the settlements have only contributed to Israel’s “isolation” within the international community, making it harder to achieve a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.
“The continued pace of settlement activity, which has accelerated significantly in recent years … puts at risk the two-state solution,” said Ben Rhodes, a top national security aide to President Obama.
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Rhodes added that the U.N. is a “flawed venue” through which to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict because it “has frequently been used to single out Israel.” The U.S., Rhodes said, has therefore resisted efforts to hold negotiations on the issue through the international body.
The Obama administration’s opposition to Israel’s settlements has been well-documented. Earlier this month, Secretary of State John Kerry said Israel was “heading to a place of danger” with its construction in disputed territory. The White House said Friday that opposition to Israeli settlements and “incitements of terrorism” are “consistent with longstanding bipartisan policy.” Breaking with her colleagues, Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein praised the Obama administration for acting to preserve the U.S.’s support for a two-state solution.
Responding to the vote, GOP Sen. Tom Cotton, a foreign policy hawk, suggested that the U.S. should consider pulling out of the international body.
“Time for complete review of our U.N. policy, not just funding. Open question whether U.S. should remain member & allow U.N. to disgrace our soil,” Cotton wrote on Twitter. White House officials characterized similar suggestions as an overreaction.
The incoming Trump administration has signaled its intention to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and critics suggested the Obama administration’s decision to abstain from the U.N. vote was intended to rebuke Trump. Rhodes shot down that suggestion.
“It is absurd to suggest this action is related some way to police positions that the incoming administration has already said it was going to pursue,” Rhodes said, adding: “There’s one president at a time.”

http://www.thedailybeast.com/contributors/andrew-desiderio.html

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Will Trump's Dementia Be Diagnosed as Alzheimer's ?

The GOP gave us Reagan who had Alzheimer's, Now they give us Trump.

Anyone with anything like an education and Common Sense can see that trump is bat shit crazy.
No normal person can dispute that.
The lack of Civics instruction in America's schools has contributed to the dumbing down of America to the point where almost half of the electorate voted for a failed businessman and pervert to be President.
Although Hillary Clinton crushed Trump in the popular vote, the scam of the electoral college has once again saddled our country with a man who is not fit to run a flea market.
Here are some "tweets" by and about trump that demonstrate that he is as crazy as Reagan was:
mfbsr


Let us to not forget that Donald J. Trump has nothing if not the world’s most professional doctor. (Hey, remember that one letter by Trump’s doctor that read suspiciously like Trump’s own unique, superlative-heavy language excessively praising the candidate’s health might have hidden a nasty secret? Yeah, I knew you remembered, I just wanted to talk about it because it brings me joy.) Leaving aside, for the moment, how plenty of people who have either worked closely with Trump or have advanced degrees in psychology have associated the Donald with sociopathy, research into symptoms of dementia reveals that he’s exhibited quite a few.

Before I delve into those signs, take a minute to recall all the times he’s demonstrated these behavioral traits, courtesy of the Mayo Clinic:

“irritability, personality changes, restlessness, lack of restraint” — any late-night tweets in particular come to mind? Then there’s these cognitive symptoms: “memory loss, mental decline, confusion in the evening hours, paranoia”

I repeat: recall the late-night tweets

“disorientation, inability to speak or understand, making things up.”

The Alzheimer’s Association emphasizes dementia and “decline in memory or other thinking skills,” and similarly, Web MD associates the illness with “trouble recalling recent events or recognizing people and places,” and “trouble finding the right words.”

Now, I’m not outright saying Trump has dementia, but let’s look at the signs. You can’t argue with facts. That’s why they’re facts. Also, science. Let’s dig in:

The late-night Twitter storms

 Follow
 Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
"@RubenMMoreno: @realDonaldTrump The biggest loser in the debate was @megynkelly. You can't out trump Donald Trump. You will lose!
1:23 AM - 7 Aug 2015
  865 865 Retweets   1,974 1,974 likes
 Follow
 Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
"@timjcam: @megynkelly @FrankLuntz @realDonaldTrump Fox viewers give low marks to bimbo @MegynKelly will consider other programs!"
1:24 AM - 7 Aug 2015
  845 845 Retweets   1,461 1,461 likes
 Follow
 Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
Wow, @megynkelly really bombed tonight. People are going wild on twitter! Funny to watch.
1:40 AM - 7 Aug 2015 · Manhattan, NY
  1,771 1,771 Retweets   4,369 4,369 likes
Trump’s Twitter shit storms tend to be unpresidential in their language and immaturity, sure, and they certainly demonstrate “irritability” and “lack of restraint,” but take a minute to just look at the time stamps on some of his craziest ones. He goes off in the wee hours of the night. “Confusion in the evening hours”??? Right. Like I said, facts. Most of what he’s saying is despicable, whether that’s sexist attacks on his favorite victim, Fox News’ Megyn Kelly, or accusing the hosts of the Morning Joe show of having an affair, but above all, this prompts the question of whether or not the man is OK.

The above tweets merely highlight his summer 2015 midnight crusade against Kelly. Let’s not forget his 4 A.M. Twitter rampage against Ted Cruz, in which he basically identified his former rival as Goldman Sachs’ bitch. Highlights below:

 Follow
 Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
Ted Cruz was born in Canada and was a Canadian citizen until 15 months ago. Lawsuits have just been filed with more to follow. I told you so
4:40 AM - 16 Jan 2016
  4,015 4,015 Retweets   8,418 8,418 likes
 Follow
 Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
Oh no, just reported that Ted Cruz didn't report another loan, this one from Citi. Wow, no wonder banks do so well in the U.S. Senate.
5:17 AM - 16 Jan 2016
  2,877 2,877 Retweets   6,824 6,824 likes
 Follow
 Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
Ted is the ultimate hypocrite. Says one thing for money, does another for votes. http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/us/politics/at-new-york-reception-ted-cruz-is-said-to-strike-different-tone-toward-gays.html?referer= …
9:11 AM - 16 Jan 2016
Photo published for Ted Cruz Is Guest of Two Gay Businessmen
Ted Cruz Is Guest of Two Gay Businessmen
Mr. Cruz said at an event hosted by prominent gay hoteliers that he would have no problem if one of his daughters was gay, according to one of the attendees.
mobile.nytimes.com
  2,777 2,777 Retweets   5,434 5,434 likes
And, of course, that other 4 A.M. tweet from last month in which he identified journalists Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski as two philandering “clowns.”

 Follow
 Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
Some day, when things calm down, I'll tell the real story of @JoeNBC and his very insecure long-time girlfriend, @morningmika. Two clowns!
5:29 AM - 22 Aug 2016
  7,114 7,114 Retweets   21,900 21,900 likes
Irrationality is easily the most prominent and troubling symptom Trump has been long displaying.

The video of Muslims cheering on 9/11 that he definitely saw


Trump, late last year, claimed to have watched a video of “thousands and thousands” of Muslims in New Jersey celebrating in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Other than former rival for the nomination and known Islamophobe Ben Carson (who, actually, went on to walk back on his claims), no one else could corroborate that such footage existed. Sound like “memory loss” or “making things up,” to anyone? DEFINITE DEMENTIA (probably).

The time he confused Ben Carson with President Obama

Photo published for Trump confuses Barack Obama for Ben Carson
Trump confuses Barack Obama for Ben Carson
The Republican candidate was corrected by his audience.
politico.eu
  13 13 Retweets   18 18 likes
Speaking of Ben Carson, worth mentioning is that one time in February, where Trump switched Carson and Obama’s names. Frankly, I wouldn’t take it personally if I were either guy. Trump has literally mixed up his wife and daughter before. SYMPTOM CHECKER™: memory loss, mental decline, disorientation, and inability to understand or speak.

The time he confused 9/11 with 7/11


Trump is not OK. Irrefutable fact: This is an instance of memory loss, or at the very least, a good example of his inability to speak.

He keeps forgetting he supported for the Iraq War


  124 124 Retweets   132 132 likes
Donald Trump supported the Iraq War. That’s not speculation, that’s objective fact, and yet for the life of him, the man cannot seem to remember that. Poor guy. Thoughts and prayers.

All the times he pretended to be his own publicist


  5 5 Retweets   3 3 likes
The signs were there so early! How have we missed Trump’s clear and present need for help and compassion? Does pretending to be one’s own publicist and rambling on and on about how wonderful they are really sound like the actions of someone fully in their right mind? If evidence of Hillary Clinton ever doing something like this ever came to light, I imagine Trump supporters would have long formed a mob and forced her into a rehabilitation center by now.

His intense paranoia about everything related to Mexicans


 Follow
 niran. [IVI] @TheOfficialFNG
Interviewer: "Why do you support Donald Trump?"
American: "Muslim socialist Mexicans stealing our jobs & stuff"
Me:
4:35 PM - 24 Mar 2016
  2 2 Retweets   4 4 likes
Early on, Trump made his unwarranted, intensive fears of Mexican immigrants coming to steal American jobs the focal point of his campaign, and imploring other to share in his paranoia that they are literally coming to kill us. Xenophobic and racist as fuck? Yes. Symptom of dementia? That, too.

Lack of empathy, poor judgment, impulsiveness, etc.

Donald Trump GOP Presidential Candidates Debate In Milwaukee

He’s called Megyn Kelly a bimbo, made references to Hillary Clinton using the bathroom, fat-shamed countless women, compared current pal Ben Carson to a child molester, publicly distributed former rival Lindsey Graham’s personal phone number, forgot about the KKK and David Duke — the list goes on and on like a once-healthy man’s screaming descent into complete mental flaccidity.

I am in literally no position whatsoever to diagnose Trump. Even if I was a doctor, I would never be half the doctor that Trump’s doctor is. And also making diagnoses about someone’s mental health without their consent is unethical and shitty. All I’m saying is the signs are there. For what it’s worth. And if mental and physical health are suddenly of paramount importance for presidential candidates, why should only one candidate be spared of thorough examination? I just love America, guys. Get well soon, Trump.

Daesh Criminals Dress as Women to Escape Justice

Iraqi special forces battling to clear Islamic State from eastern Mosul have killed nearly 1,000 militants but fighting has slowed as troops face a mobile enemy hidden among thousands of civilians in the city, a top commander said.

Six weeks into a major offensive, Iraqi forces have captured nearly half of eastern Mosul, moving from district to district against jihadist snipers, suicide attackers and car bombs.

Elite Iraqi troops, known as the "Golden Division", are the only brigades to have entered Mosul from the east, with Iraqi army, federal police and Kurdish Peshmerga units surrounding the city to the north and south. Shi'ite militias are trying to complete the encirclement from the west.

The U.S.-trained Counter Terrorism Service unit breached Islamic State's defenses at the end of October, but has been slowed by the militants' mobile tactics and concern over civilian casualties preventing the use of tanks and heavy armor.

Major General Abdul Ghani al-Asadi, one of the commanders of the special forces, said troops had adapted their tactics, surrounding one district at a time to cut off the militants' supplies and protect civilians.

"Progress was faster at the start. The reason is we were operating before in areas without residents," Asadi told Reuters in Bartella, on Mosul's outskirts.

"We have arrived in populated districts. So how do we protect civilians? We have sealed off district after district."

He said around 990 militants had been killed in fighting in the east so far. He would not say how many casualties there were among government special forces.

"We have made changes to plans, partly due to the changing nature of the enemy ... Daesh (Islamic State) is not based in one location, but moving from here to there," he said.

"Tanks don't work here, artillery is not effective. Planes from the coalition force and the air force are restricted because of the civilians."

THOUSANDS DISPLACED

The Iraqi government has asked civilians in Mosul to stay at home during the offensive, as humanitarian organizations say they cannot cope with an influx of hundred of thousands of people displaced from the city.

More than one million people are believed to remain in the city, the largest in northern Iraq.

Defeating Islamic State in Mosul, Islamic State's last major bastion in Iraq, is seen as vital to destroying the "caliphate" declared by the group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, from the pulpit of Mosul's Grand Mosque in July 2014.

But commanders have said the battle could take months. Dozens of districts must be taken in the east before attacking forces reach the Tigris River which splits Mosul into east and west. U.S. air strikes have taken out four of the five river bridges used by the militants.

RELATED COVERAGE

Iraqi special forces screen Mosul men in hunt for suicide bombers
Major General Najm al-Jubbouri, one of the army's top commanders, told Reuters that the western part of the city could be the more dangerous.

To the south, Iraqi army brigades are now advancing slowly on the remaining Islamic State-held villages before reaching the city limits. To the west, the mostly Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias known as Popular Mobilisation have cut off the highway to Syria, but they have yet to close in on the city.

"The force left in front of us is small, unable to stop our advance. Their spirit is broken," Asadi said.

"We have killed more than 992 fighters on our front plus more wounded ... Their supplies and communications to the outside world are cut. They stage fewer suicide bombings."

Iraqi military estimates initially put the number of insurgents in Mosul at 5,000 to 6,000, facing a 100,000-strong coalition force. But Asadi said the figure for the Islamic State presence may have been too high.

Iraqi authorities have not released estimates of civilian casualties but the United Nations says growing numbers of injured, both civilians and military, are overwhelming aid groups.

By Patrick Markey and Ulf Laessing | BARTELLA, IRAQ

Trump will “review” the Iran nuclear agreement, but will stop short of ripping up the pact.

Women in the Iranian Dictatorship risk Imprisonment and worse to defy conservative demands that women submit

A senior adviser to President-elect Donald Trump said the new US leader will “review” the Iran nuclear agreement, but will stop short of ripping up the landmark international pact. Walid Phares, one of Trump’s top foreign policy advisers, also signaled that Trump might not move the US Embassy to Jerusalem immediately and indicated he would make negotiating an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal a priority right off the bat. The comments appeared to represent a break with some comments made by other Trump advisers and the president-elect himself, and highlighted persisting confusion over what the contours of a Trump administration’s foreign policy may look like. Speaking to BBC Radio on Thursday, Phares said the nuclear deal, which Trump has railed against and vowed to dismantle, would instead be renegotiated with Tehran. “Ripping up is maybe a too strong of word, he’s gonna take that agreement, it’s been done before in international context, and then review it,” he said, according to a CNN recording of the interview. “He will take the agreement, review it, send it to Congress, demand from the Iranians to restore a few issues or change a few issues, and there will be a discussion,” Phares added. “It could be a tense discussion but the agreement as is right now — $750 billion to the Iranian regime without receiving much in return and increasing intervention in four countries — that is not going to be accepted by the Trump administration.” During the election campaign, Trump described the nuclear deal as “disastrous” and said it would be his “number one priority” to dismantle it. Yet he also sowed confusion when he said he would demand greater oversight over the deal and enforce it, at a speech to the pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC in March. In that same speech, he also said he would dismantle the deal. “We must enforce the terms of the previous deal to hold Iran totally accountable. And we will enforce it like you’ve never seen a contract enforced before, folks, believe me,” he said then. On Thursday, State Department spokesman Mark Toner warned that nothing was stopping Trump from tearing up the agreement, rebuffing comments from Iranian President Hassan Rouhani that the pact was enshrined by the United Nations Security Council and could therefore not be canceled by one party. The agreement, reached in July 2014 to thwart suspected work toward an atomic weapon, requires Iran to curb its nuclear enrichment activities in exchange for sanctions relief. Israel was and remains the world’s leading critic of the deal, calling it a “historic mistake” and arguing that it falls woefully short of preventing Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Toner said if Trump pulls out of the agreement, it could fall apart and lead to Iran restarting work toward a bomb. It’s not clear if Iran, which remains deeply distrustful of the United States and has complained of receiving a raw deal under the nuclear pact, would be open to renegotiating the agreement, the hard-fought result of years of intensive diplomatic activity. Will move embassy ‘under consensus’ Phares also told the BBC that while Trump was committed to moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, as other presidential candidates have vowed, he would not do so unilaterally. “Many presidents of the United States have committed to do that, and he said as well that he will do that, but he will do it under consensus,” Phares said. Phares did not elaborate on what consensus would be sought for such a move, which would break with decades of precedent and put Washington at odds with nearly all United Nations member states. A number of Israeli politicians, including Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, have seized on Trump’s victory by asking him to make good on his promises to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s undivided capital and move the embassy there, breaking with long-standing US policy to await a final status agreement on the city. During the campaign, Trump called Jerusalem “the eternal capital” of Israel and said he was “100 percent for” moving the embassy there. Earlier Thursday, Trump Israel adviser Jason Dov Greenblatt told Israel’s Army Radio that the president-elect would make good on his promise. “I think if he said it, he’s going to do it,” Greenblatt said. “He is different for Israel than any recent president there has been, and I think he’s a man who keeps his word. He recognizes the historical significance of the Jewish people to Jerusalem, unlike, say, UNESCO.” The US Embassy in Tel Aviv. (photo credit: CC-BY Krokodyl, Wikimedia Commons) The US Embassy in Tel Aviv. (CC-BY Krokodyl, Wikimedia Commons) Congress passed a law in 1995 mandating the move of the embassy to Jerusalem, but allowed the president a waiver. Each president since then has routinely exercised the waiver, citing the national security interests of the United States, despite repeated campaign promises. Phares also indicated efforts for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal would be a top agenda item for Trump, casting doubt on a claim by Greenblatt that Trump would not necessarily prioritize trying to push the Israelis and Palestinians into peace negotiations. “He is ready and he will immediately move to try and solve the problem between Palestinian and Israelis,” Phares said. “He told me personally that, as the author of ‘The Art of the Deal,’ it’s not going to be impossible for him to broker a deal between the Israelis and Palestinians. At least he’s going to go in that direction and not waste eight years — four years for now — not doing something for the Palestinians and Israelis.” Jason Dov Greenblatt, Donald Trump's top real estate lawyer and an Orthodox Jew, is one of three members on the Republican nominee's Israel Advisory Committee. (JTA/Uriel Heilman) Jason Dov Greenblatt, Donald Trump’s top real estate lawyer and an Orthodox Jew, is one of three members on the Republican nominee’s Israel Advisory Committee. (JTA/Uriel Heilman) On Wednesday, Greenblatt told The Times of Israel that Trump would only prioritize solving the conflict if that’s what the sides wanted him to do. “He will make it a priority if the Israelis and Palestinians want to make it a priority,” Greenblatt said. “He’s not going to force peace upon them, it will have to come from them.” The gap in signals coming out of Trump’s camp is consistent with frustration some have pointed to in trying to demystify what Trump’s foreign policy will be. In comments published in German weekly Der Spiegel Thursday, Germany Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said it was urgent for the incoming US administration to set out its positions quickly since “very many questions are open” on its foreign policy. Steinmeier said he had spoken several times with former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger about what President-elect Donald Trump’s foreign policies might look like. But Steinmeier said even Kissinger had no insights to offer. “Many have already tried to read a foreign policy doctrine, or at least clear and coherent positions, out of Donald Trump’s comments. Without much success,” Steinmeier said. In Israel, the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported Thursday that Israeli officials were viewing Trump as “a puzzle,” without a clear sense of whether he will match his words with actions or how he will manage ties with Jerusalem. Others close to the Israeli government, though, said the new US president will fall closer in line with their views than the current administration. Tzachi Hanegbi, a minister-without-portfolio who is a close confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Thursday that the Iran nuclear deal and construction over the Green Line — the two most contentious topics between the Obama administration and Netanyahu — will no longer be a source of tension between Israel and the United States under a Trump presidency. “On both of these issues, our view was much different than Obama’s, while it is likely much more similar to that of Trump,” Hanegbi told Army Radio. The Associated Press contributed to this report