Obama and Netanyahu to speak to Israel supporters at #AIPAC2011

@thatgirl_ellie shared on yfrog

At 10am EDT or 7am PDT the video rectangle in the upper right portion of the page in the link below will go live with speeches from the morning session at AIPAC. It is also on CSPAN.  Obama will speak this morning. Twitter is abuzz with people in line at AIPAC and getting double frisked, by the usual AIPAC screeners and the Secret Service.

http://www.aipac.org/pc/

The Washington Post opined:

The president blew it on Thursday. Obama articulated a major shift in U.S. policy at odds with prior administrations and agreements that the United States is party to or helped negotiate. Some have called this “no big deal” or “no big change” from past presidents’ positions. This — to the Israelis, the American Jewish community, and close observers and participants in the peace process — is inaccurate. In fact, the Obama team knew it was a big deal when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton belatedly called Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to explain what Obama was about to spring on him....

In the lack of coordination with our ally and the distinctly pro-Palestinian slant, Obama confirms his distinction as the president least sympathetic to Israel and most disruptive of the peace process.

That was the background to Friday’s extraordinary scene at the White House. A stone-faced Obama with head in hand (disrespectful, if not hostile, body language) listened to Netanyahu correct the record, as a parent or teacher would instruct a misguided or ignorant minor. (One who perhaps doesn’t know what the Knesset is.)...

Soon Obama will enter the room. I suspect many of the attendees share the view of Rep. Theodore E. Deutch (D-Fla.), who put out a statement that read in part: “Should Israel find a partner for peace who is willing to join Prime Minister Netanyahu at the negotiating table, Israel cannot be expected to make any territorial concessions that do not acknowledge the reality on the ground. The 1967 borders are indefensible.”

If Obama had said that, he wouldn’t be in the current fix. The crowd’s reaction (after explicit pleas by AIPAC’s executive director to be courteous, something never before required for a president) and Obama’s comments are a decisive moment for him, the U.S- Israel relationship and the American Jewish community. The high tensions speak volumes about how Obama is perceived by friends of Israel.

It's true. An email was sent out to AIPAC delegates to instruct them to behave courteously to guests at "our house".

I am invited to a townhall

I need your input here. I have been invited to a town hall meeting with my congressman, Gary Miller (R-CA), to be held at a neighbor's home. I was invited through AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee), probably because I went to an AIPAC fundraiser luncheon this past year. It was my first one, and it was interesting to see the parade of politicians getting a turn at the podium and all saying pretty much the same thing. Yes, we support Israel. Yes, we love AIPAC. Some of their statements were met with approval, and some were met with grumbling, if the statements were at odds with their past voting record.

I need your help figuring out what questions to ask Congressman Miller, should I get the chance. Or what ideas I should pass along to him. He is already against Obamacare, so I could compliment him for his stance on that. What about U.S/Israel relations. Do you have any ideas about that? How to handle Iran?

Then I need to figure out what to wear. I'm thinking probably a Palin-style skirt suit.