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Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert (R) on Wednesday connected the Monday bombings in Boston to the immigration debate and warned that "radical Islamists" were "being trained to come in and act like Hispanics."

During an interview on C-SPAN, host Greta Wodele Brawner asked the Texas Republican about a bipartisan "Gang of Eight" proposal in the Senate that would increase funding for border security by $5.5 billion over ten years and establish a 13-year pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

"What I first thought after my prayers went for the victims and the families in Boston is, 'My gosh, we've seen this in Israel,'" Gohmert recalled. "And after Israel had to suffer the slings and arrows and the deaths and the maimings... Finally the Israeli people said, 'You know what? Enough.' They built, over 70 percent of it is just a fence, and the rest is a wall, prevents snipers from knocking off their kids. And they finally stopped the domestic violence from people that wanted to destroy them."

"And I'm concerned we need to do that as well," he insited.

Pressing Gohmert, the C-SPAN host noted that Rep. Steve King (-R-IA) had speculated that the Boston bombings were perpetrated by a "foreign national" and that Congress should proceed with caution on immigration reform.

"We know that al Qaeda has camps with the drug cartels on the other side of the Mexican border," Gohmert agreed. "We know that people are now being trained to come in and act like Hispanics when they're radical Islamists. We know these things are happening, and it's just insane to not protect ourselves and make sure that people come in -- as most people do, they want the freedoms we have."

(h/t: Think Progress)

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Rachel Maddow highlighted, in real time, what CNN and MSNBC were showing versus what Fox News decided was relevant (repealing the health care law) when President Obama makes his first trip to Israel. The results were eye-opening, surreal even. At the very moment Obama was receiving the highest honor Israel can bestow, Fox News was quite literally declaring him an enemy of the state.

Text via Egberto Willies' blog:

After that big speech that was so well received by that huge Israeli audience in Jerusalem, President Obama was honored at a state dinner. He was awarded the Israeli Medal Of Distinction which is the highest honor a civilian can receive in Israel. He is the first sitting President to ever receive this award. Israeli President Simon Peres said to President Obama quote “The people of Israel are particularly move by your unforgettable contribution to their security”. He called President Obama, Dear Barack.

So that was what was happening live in Israel. CNN and MSNBC are carrying it live showing the President of the United States receiving this medal at this big state dinner in a foreign country… Fox News channel however is pretending like it is not happening. They’re talking about repealing Obamacare…. We are all watching as the Israeli president is saying to President Obama, “I know that you would not stop striving for a better world. What was running on Fox News instead was a commercial for their new special on President Obama as an enemy of Israel…

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A Christian radio host who is dedicated to covering the Second Coming of Jesus Christ says that "God guided" the History Channel to create a Satan character that resembled President Barack Obama.

TruNews host Rick Wiles on Wednesday explained that it was not a coincidence that people like radio host Glenn Beck thought that "Satan" in the History Channel's The Bible series looked similar to the president.

"As Mr. Obama prepares to enter Jerusalem this week, days before Passover, another massive swarm of locusts have entered southern Israel," Wiles reported. "Mr. Obama is not only facing a biblical plague of locust in the Middle East he is also being compared to Satan in the popular The Bible series on the History Channel."

But Wiles admitted that he believed the network and producer Mark Burnett when they said that it was "utter nonsense" that any resemblance was deliberate.

"I don’t believe they intentionally portrayed the Lucifer character to look like Mr. Obama," the Christian radio host noted. "I think God guided the hand of the makeup artist and blinded the eyes of everybody on the movie set while it was being recorded, and the spiritual blinders were removed Sunday night when the program was broadcast nationally on the History Channel."

"How many clues do we need from Heaven to understand that the man in the White House is a devil from Hell?"

(h/t: Right Wing Watch)

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Israeli soccer fans in Jerusalem say that it wasn't racism that made them walk out when one of their own players scored a goal over the weekend, but that it was "just a matter of being Arab" and they want to keep the team "pure."

A group of hardcore fans -- known as "La Familia" -- have recently expressed outraged after the Beitar Jerusalem team signed two Chechen Muslim players, Zaur Sadayev and Dzhabrail Kadiyev. Members of "La Familia" were seen last month flying a banner that said, "Beitar is pure, forever." And more recently, two members were arrested for starting fires outside the management offices of Beitar Jerusalem.

On Sunday, the tension boiled over when Sadayev scored his first-ever goal for the club.

The Independent reported that many at Teddy Stadium cheered, but "hundreds" of members of "La Familia" stood up and walked out.

"The reaction to the Muslim players being here is not racist," a 19-year-old fan named Akeeva explained. “But the club’s existence is under threat. Beitar is a symbol for the whole country.”

"It’s just a matter of being Arab," a fan named Jacob concurred, referring to the fact that Sadayev is Muslim. "It’s not racism, they just shouldn’t be here."

"Beitar Jerusalem has always been a clean club, but now it’s being destroyed – many of the other players are thinking of leaving because of the Muslim players being here," he added.

Deadspin's Tom Ley snarked that the "La Familia" members were using "solid logic" in defending their actions.

"Now we have to add Israel to the ever-growing list of countries that are home to bigoted shitbag soccer fans," Ley wrote.

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CNN host Howard Kurtz on Sunday blasted News Corp chief executive Rupert Murdoch for an "atrocious" suggestion that stereotyped the "Jewish owned press" as having a hidden agenda.

In a tweet on Saturday, Murdoch had lashed out at what he called the "Jewish owned press" for its coverage of a recent conflict between Hamas and Israel.

"Why is Jewish owned press so consistently anti-Israel in every crisis?" he wrote.

The Daily Beast's Peter Beinart quickly noted that Murdoch's tweet managed to offend both journalists and Jews.

"It’s offensive to journalists because it implies that institutions of the 'press' should reflect the ideological biases of their owners," Beinart wrote. "Reading Murdoch’s tweet, it would be logical to conclude that he believes that any newspaper he owns should reflect his right-wing views, even in its news coverage."

"Murdoch’s tweet is offensive to Jews because he’s suggesting that when it comes to Israel, Jewish media-owners should let their Jewishness guide their journalism. ... Murdoch seems upset that Jewish media owners are not Israel-firsters. He wants their tribal loyalty to a Jewish state to trump their professional obligation to oversee fair-minded, unbiased journalism."

In his Sunday media analysis on CNN, Kurtz also tore into Murdoch.

"Last night, he went beyond outrageous to offensive," the media critic said of Murdoch, observing that most media organizations -- with the exception The New York Times -- were owned by public companies like Viacom, Comcast, Disney and Time Warner.

"And beyond that, this media mogul who isn't shy about interfering in his own newsrooms is suggesting that Jewish Americans have a hidden agenda in which their religion trumps their commitment to journalism," he added. "That is atrocious and it is beneath Rupert Murdoch."

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A fundamentalist Christian minister has become the first to link Hurricane Sandy to marriage equality and the "homosexual agenda."

Gay Star News first reported on Monday that Defend and Proclaim the Faith ministries founder John McTernan had posted on his blog that Hurricane Sandy is proof that "God is systematically destroying America."

"If you add the area of the drought and now the hurricane together, it would be about 80 percent of the country!" the preacher wrote. "As I said, the Holy God of Israel is systematically destroying America right before our eyes."

He continued: "Just last August, Hurricane Isaac hit New Orleans seven years later, on the exact day of Hurricane Katrina. Both hit during the week of the homosexual event called Southern Decadence in New Orleans!"

McTernan noted that "God's judgement" began 21 years ago, on October 20, 1991 when President H.W. Bush initiated the Madrid Conference to negotiate peace between Israel and Palestine.

"Twenty-one years breaks down to 7 x 3, which is a significant number with God. Three is perfection as the Godhead is three in one while seven is perfection," he explained. "It appears that God gave America 21 years to repent of interfering with His prophetic plan for Israel; however, it has gotten worse under all the presidents and especially Obama. Obama is 100 percent behind the Muslim Brotherhood which has vowed to destroy Israel and take Jerusalem."

The Christian leader warned that even electing Mitt Romney might not save the country from God's wrath because both President Barack Obama and Republican presidential nominee supported LGBT rights.

"Both candidates are pro-homosexual and are behind the homosexual agenda," McTernan insisted. "America is under political judgment and the church does not know it!"

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During the third 2012 presidential debate, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney praised President Barack Obama for his use of unmanned aerial drones to fight terrorism.

"I believe we should use any and all means necessary to take out people who pose a threat to us and our friends around the world," the former Massachusetts governor said. "And it’s widely reported that drones are being used in drone strikes, and I support that and entirely, and feel the president was right to up the usage of that technology, and believe that we should continue to use it, to continue to go after the people that represent a threat to this nation and to our friends."

"But let me also note that as I said earlier, we’re going to have to do more than just going after leaders and -- and killing bad guys, important as that is," he added. "We’re also going to have to have a farm more effective and comprehensive strategy to help move the world away from terror and Islamic extremism. We haven’t done that yet."

"You look at the record of the last four years and say is Iran closer to a bomb? Yes. Is the Middle East in tumult? Yes. Is -- is al Qaeda on the run, on its heels? No. Is -- are Israel and the Palestinians closer to reaching a peace agreement? No, they haven’t had talks in two years."

Obama, however, took issue with Romney's characterization of the last four years.

"We’re always also going to have to maintain vigilance when it comes to terrorist activities," the president explained. "The truth, though, is that al Qaeda is much weaker than it was when I came into office. And they don’t have the same capacities to attack the U.S. homeland and our allies as they did four years ago."

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Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Sunday blasted President Barack Obama's administration for agreeing to discussions with Iran about the county's nuclear program because 'the time for talking is over."

The New York Times reported on Sunday that Obama administration officials had said the White House had agreed in principle to one-on-one meetings with Iran, a result of efforts to pressure Tehran that began soon after Obama took office.

"The Iranians are trying to take advantage of our election cycle to continue to talk," Graham told Fox News host Chris Wallace on Sunday. "As we talk with the Iranians, whether it's bilaterally or unilaterally, the vice president and the president have said, 'We will do nothing without coordinating with Israel.' So, we've talked with them in Moscow, we've talked with them in Baghdad, they continue to enrich."

"I think think the time for talking is over," he continued. "We should be demanding transparency and access to their nuclear program. They've doubled their centrifuges so I think this is a ploy by the Iranians. I hope we are talking to the Israelis."

Graham added that he hoped that the U.S. would not "take the bait" and agree to one-on-one discussion with Iran.

"I would like to talk with Israel before we make any major decisions with Iran," he explained.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is insisting that a strategy of containment would not work to stop Iran's nuclear program and is calling for the United States to impose "red lines" that could lead to military action.

"Iran is guided by a leadership with an unbelievable fanaticism," the prime minister told NBC's David Gregory in an interview that aired on Sunday. "You want these fanatics to have nuclear weapons?"

"I mean I heard some people suggest, David -- I actually read this in the American press -- they said, 'Well, you know, if you take action, that's a lot worse than having Iran with nuclear weapons,'" he said of a potential military strike. "Some have even said that Iran with nuclear weapons would stabilize the Middle East, stabilize the Middle East."

"I think the people who say this have set a new standard for human stupidity."

While Netanyahu has called for action soon rather than later, President Barack Obama has said that his "red line" was a nuclear-armed Iran.

The president told Telemundo on Wednesday that he had "stated repeatedly, publicly, that red line - and that is we're not going to accept Iran having a nuclear weapon."

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Fox News contributor Liz Cheney on Sunday blasted President Barack Obama with the false claim that he had apologized to enemies of the United States and had abandoned Czechoslovakia, which has not existed since 1992.

During a panel on ABC's This Week, host Jake Tapper asked the daughter of the former vice president if she agreed with Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's assertion that Obama was "sympathizing" with the people who attacked the U.S. embassy in Libya and killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and other Americans.

"I think he did get it right," Cheney insisted. "We've now had three and a half years of Obama policy and it looks an awful lot like -- whether you're talking about the Mexico City speech in 2009, the Cairo Speech in 2009, the extent to which he's been apologizing for America, he's abandoned some of our key allies like Israel, Poland, Czechoslovakia. He's attempted to appease our enemies, the Iranians, for example, the Russians. ... The president himself has got a terrible record on national security, and it's clearly something that Gov. Romney ought rightly to be pushing."

"I think the governor handled it exactly right when he went out and condemned the embassy statement," she later added. "I think, frankly, it would be a tragedy for the nation if President Obama is allowed to effectively claim that he's been a successful national security president. And it would be a tragedy for the nation if the Romney campaign doesn't push this issue very hard."

Cheney concluded: "But there's no question but that we're weaker than we were when Barack Obama took office. And if he has four more years, we may well be unrecognizable."

An Associated Press fact check last week determined that President Obama never apologized for the United States or expressed sympathy for the people who attacked the U.S. embassy in Libya.

"The claim that Obama repeatedly has apologized for the United States is not borne out by the facts, especially if his full quotes are viewed in context," Washington Post fact checkers wrote in 2011. "Note to GOP speechwriters and campaign ad makers: The apology tour never happened."

As for the claim that Obama "abandoned" Czechoslovakia, that country was dissolved in 1992 -- over 16 years before he took office.