Thursday, Dec. 09, 2010
Obama Plagued by the Middle East
As eloquent as Barack Obama often is, anyone who does that much public speaking is bound to lapse into incoherence at one time or another. The President found himself in just such an oratorical pretzel during a January town hall event in Tampa, Florida. Asked about U.S. support for Israel and tensions with the Palestinians, Obama, perhaps distracted by a rambunctious crowd, began by not-so-sagely noting, "The Middle East is obviously an issue that had plagued the region for centuries." In fact, it's done more than leave Obama tongue-tied; he's struggled all year to get Israel to agree to a settlement freeze.