Psst...Obama Hates Jews!

Since the Republican Party has made such a hash of everything over the last eight years and with no actual accomplishments to point to in this year's election, their only hope of holding onto the White House is to attack and destroy the Democratic nominee by any means necessary. And so with Barack Obama looking more and more like the inevitable GOP opponent, the Republican smear machine has shifted into overdrive. To wit, the guilt-by-association attacks on Obama based on his former pastor, his acquaintances, and others.

But now the GOP seems to have a new tactic to handle Obama - lie like hell and hope that someone believes it.

In an interview with The Atlantic, Obama discussed Israel, the terrorist group Hamas, and other matters in the Middle East. Wholeheartedly supporting that vibrant democracy, he said that the history of Israel "describes the history of overcoming great odds and a courage and a commitment to carving out a democracy and prosperity in the midst of hardscrabble land." For Hamas, he had sharp and unequivocal words: "since they are a terrorist organization, we should not be dealing with them until they recognize Israel, renounce terrorism, and abide by previous agreements."

He also brought a note of realism to the interview, realizing that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is central to understanding and constructing a viable foreign policy with regard to the Arab world. "This constant wound, that this constant sore," he said, "does infect all of our foreign policy. The lack of a resolution to this problem provides an excuse for anti-American militant jihadists to engage in inexcusable actions, and so we have a national-security interest in solving this, and I also believe that Israel has a security interest in solving this because I believe that the status quo is unsustainable."

Sounds pretty straightforward and common-sense, right? Well, surprise, surprise - the GOP promptly took his words and twisted them around.

House Minority Leader John Boehner attacked Obama for supposedly saying that Israel is a "constant sore." "Obama's latest remark, and his commitment to 'opening a dialogue' with sponsors of terrorism," Boehner went on, "echoes past statements by Jimmy Carter who once called Israel an 'apartheid state.'"

Of course, Obama said nothing of the sort. He was referring to the conflict as a "constant sore," not Israel. And his "opening a dialogue" quote was taken entirely out of context. What Obama actually said was:

When Israel invaded Lebanon two summers ago, I was in South Africa, a place where, obviously, when you get outside the United States, you can hear much more critical commentary about Israel's actions, and I was asked about this in a press conference, and that time, and for the entire summer, I was very adamant about Israel's right to defend itself. I said that there's not a nation-state on Earth that would tolerate having two of its soldiers kidnapped and just let it go. So I welcome the Muslim world's accurate perception that I am interested in opening up dialogue and interested in moving away from the unilateral policies of George Bush, but nobody should mistake that for a softer stance when it comes to terrorism or when it comes to protecting Israel's security or making sure that the alliance is strong and firm. You will not see, under my presidency, any slackening in commitment to Israel's security.

Seems pretty supportive of Israel to me.

But the utter desperation with which the GOP is attacking Obama, trying to drive a wedge between blacks and Jews (both core Democratic constituencies) is emblematic of their electoral panic this year. They know they're going to get the tar beaten out of them this fall, and so they are frantic to minimize the damage any way they can.

And if that involves smear attacks and playing to fears of black anti-Semitism, so be it.