Left I on the News

Barack Obama says he will not meet with Hamas. In a strange formulation, he says "You can't negotiate with somebody who does not recognize the right of a country to exist so I understand why Israel doesn't meet with Hamas," which doesn't explain why the U.S. shouldn't meet with Hamas, since as far as I know Hamas recognizes the right of the U.S. to exist. Or is Sen. Obama running for President of Israel? Incidentally Cuba hasn't recognized the right of Kosovo to exist (as a separate nation), so I guess there goes Obama's pledge to talk with Cuba.

Actually the main thing in this article I wanted to draw attention to wasn't Obama's hardly surprising stand on Hamas, but this, presented as a simple statement of fact by Reuters:

Iran does not recognize Israel either and its president has often threatened the imminent destruction of the Jewish state.

OK, for undoubtedly not the last time, not only has Ahmadinejad not "often" threatened the "imminent" destruction of the Jewish state, he has never done so. He has predicted its ultimate "disappearance from the pages of time," which, to put it mildly, is hardly the same thing. Ahmadinejad even made that explicit when he said:

"Just as the Soviet Union was wiped out and today does not exist, so will the Zionist regime soon be wiped out."

Needless to say, as we all know the Soviet Union was not "wiped out" by an invasion or by bombs.

Hey, I've got an idea. Let's spread a rumor that Obama is a Muslim. Let's see how long that one lasts and how often it gets repeated by the corporate media.