Perhaps the most important issue during the Democratic National Convention (DNC) week, was the fact that an amendment was made to the Democratic Party's platform which said that “Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel". Which Jerusalem is that? Arab – or East – Jerusalem is the only real Jerusalem. So far, it has been established that there was no historic Jewish presence there, be this related to the Temple Mount or the alleged kingdoms mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. This Arab Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine, and not any other state. The amendment was met with large opposition during the vote held on whether to pass it or not. Yet this is less important than it seems to be, because if Barack Obama wins a second term, he will no doubt return to the same position that every single U.S. president before him was compelled to adopt, namely that the future of Jerusalem is to be decided by negotiations. Even George W. Bush, in whose name the neoconservative supporters of Israel were ruling, had to cave in to this reality, and abided by it throughout eight catastrophic years in the United States and the world at large. The global economic crisis, which was precipitated by the lost wars of the United States, was the most important topic in both the RNC last week and the DNC this week. Every other topic, including foreign policy, is less important, and I even go as far as to consider it as completely insignificant, compared to the economy. Elizabeth Warren, Democratic senate candidate for Massachusetts, said that Mitt Romney's economic plan “[is] to give tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires. But for middle-class families who are hanging on by their fingernails? His plans will hammer them with a new tax hike of up to $2,000." The major papers and specialized websites in the United States check every figure, and declare whether it is true or whether it should be added to the mountain of lies that accompanies every election campaign. Former President Bill Clinton, who endorsed Barack Obama for a second term in a speech that was well received, surprised the fact checkers with a piece of information that never occurred to them. He said that since 1961, the US economy created 24 million production-sector jobs in the 28 years that Republicans ruled and 42 million jobs when the Democrats ruled. The fact-checkers were surprised to find that Clinton's numbers are accurate, but decided that Elizabeth Warren's statement was a half-truth: while the tax cuts for the rich are indeed present in Romney's program, the new taxes on the middle class are not what the candidate said they are – and the details are difficult and complicated and go beyond the scope of this space-constrained article. Obama, who is a master orator known for his intelligence and erudition as a former professor, told the Americans that he was not elected to tell them what they want to hear, but to tell them the truth. He promised to put them on the path to economic recovery. However, Obama admitted that success will not come quickly or be easy. Nevertheless, Obama stressed that America's economic woes are not intractable, and asked to be given time to continue the work he had started. I say that he find that the difficulties that prevented a solution his first four years in the White House remain extant, especially if the Republicans continue to control the House of Representatives. On the 6th of November, there will also be elections for all the seats in the House, and a third of the Senate, simultaneously with the presidential elections. The Republicans chose to pursue efforts to prevent Obama from winning a second term in the last four years, ahead of efforts to improve the economy, harming all Americans in the process. Today, polls in United States all give Obama a small lead over Romney. The last figures I read were 42.7 percent for the Democratic candidate, 40 percent for the Republican candidate and 4.3 percent for the libertarian (proponents of reduced government) candidate Gary Johnson, with 12 percent so far undecided. I hope that Barack Obama wins the presidency, for the sake of America and the whole world, including the Arabs and Muslims. [email protected]
