The consensus among intelligence people is that Israel was baited into confronting a pro-Palestinian flotilla in the Mediterranean Sea. The ships were on their way to Gaza with so-called relief supplies. The Israelis were worried that contraband was on board.
Obviously Israel acted aggressively here, and now bad things are happening.
The conflict began on Monday. Israeli commandos killed at least nine people on board the flotilla. Israel says they were acting in self-defense, and video shows the commandos were attacked, at least one thrown overboard.
To be fair, if soldiers jump onto your ship, you might resist as well.
Stratfor.com has the best analysis as far as foreign policy is concerned. You can access that on BillOReilly.com.
But it is the impact on the Obama administration that "Talking Points" wants to address. So far, the president has been quiet; the administration saying it is studying the situation.
Meantime, the U.N. has condemned Israel as usual, and the anti-Jewish lobby is out in force.
In New York City, hundreds of protesters, who apparently know everything that happened, couldn't wait to vent in Times Square:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GROUP: Obama, it's about time, stop Israeli war crimes.
GROUP: Hey, hey, ho, ho, the occupation has got to go.
GROUP: Free, free Palestine. Free, free Palestine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
In San Francisco, the scene was similar: anti-Israel protesters taking to the streets:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GROUP: Free, free Palestine. Free, free Palestine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No more killing innocent civilians. No more killing innocent activists.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are a criminal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
So who are these anti-Israel people?
Well, most of them are committed liberals who believe Israel is persecuting the Palestinian people. The right-wing in American generally supports Israel and is sympathetic to their ongoing struggle to protect themselves against people who have hated them for thousands of years.
President Obama, of course, is a left-wing guy, and his relationship with Israel is tense. That's ironic because 78 percent of Jewish-Americans voted for Mr. Obama in 2008. It will be fascinating to see if that support continues.
The polls say Mr. Obama cannot afford many more defections. The oil spill is definitely hurting him. Tuesday's Rasmussen daily tracking poll says just 46 percent of likely voters like the job the president is doing.
So once again, there is no rest for Barack Obama. It seems every time he turns around, there's another problem, and this Israeli business is certainly another problem.
And that's "The Memo."
Pinheads & Patriots
The rock group Kiss will be touring this summer, and they're doing a good thing in the process.
$1 dollar from every ticket they sell will go to help the Wounded Warrior Project, which of course we here at "The Factor" support as well.
Kiss is a very entertaining band, and they are patriots.
On the pinhead front, Nancy Pelosi is now sermonizing about the word of God:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI, D-CALIF., SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: My favorite word is the Word, is the Word. And that is everything. It says it all for us. And you know the Biblical reference, you know the gospel reference of the Word. And that Word is — we have to give voice to what that means in terms of public policy that would be in keeping with the values of the Word. The Word. Isn't it a beautiful word when you think of it?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Interesting. We have a word here as well: pinhead. You can decide whether it applies in this case.
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