Former President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday that racial politics played a role in South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst during President Obama's speech to Congress last week and in some of the opposition the president has faced since taking office. "I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he's African-American," Carter told "NBC Nightly News."- CNN.com

SATIRE - Congress says that with no way to actually pay back our debts, faking a coup to eliminate financial obligations is the best plan for the U.S. economy. - THE ONION

OPINION - We were reminded this past week of the biblical injunction against idolatry as we listened to the Ten Commandments in synagogues around the world. This commandment was preceded by the proclamation that our nation, the Jewish people, has been liberated from such slavery. The adoration afforded Obama that has propelled him to the highest office in his country - nay, the world - borders on idolatry. That American Jews have contributed to Obama's rise is not surprising. Israeli Jews may not vote for the US president, but they suffer from a neurotic side-effect of this "adoration-bordering-on-idolatry" syndrome. They display a neurotic anxiety at every manifestation of presidential approval or disapproval. How many presidents have been described sycophantically by Israeli representatives as "the best friend Israel has ever had." Or conversely, how many Israeli prime ministers have been lamented as having "gotten off on the wrong foot" with this or that president? Such manic-depresssive reactions are inappropriate for a nation - no matter how small - that is truly free. When are we Jews going to get off our idolatrous merry-go-round vis-à-vis American presidents and realize the consistently confirmed proposition that in international relations there are no "friendships" - only interests! - JERUSALEM POST

SATIRE - President Barack Obama today celebrated his 48th birthday with a retroactive declaration of statehood for Kenya, his father's homeland and the nation where some skeptics say he was born on August 4, 1961. Conspiracy theorists, collectively called 'birthers' by those who trust the president's version of events, say Obama has refused to release his official birth certificate, so no one can be sure that he's a 'natural born' U.S. citizen, or even that he's at least 35 years old and, therefore, Constitutionally qualified for the office. By declaring Kenya a U.S. state retroactive to July 1961, the president said he hoped to "put an end to fruitless speculation about my citizenship, which should -- by the way -- be a private matter between a woman and her obstetrician, or village midwife as the case may be." - WASHINGTON EXAMINER

American Life League says two prominent Catholic charities have "divorced themselves" from church teaching in supporting the Obama administration's healthcare proposal. The two charities -- the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and the Catholic Health Association -- recently released a notice to their members encouraging them to support healthcare reform. "We must maintain momentum for health care reform efforts with calls and emails [to members of Congress] supporting health care reform immediately," the notice read.
But American Life League president Judie Brown says the healthcare bill is contrary to Catholic teaching in several areas. For example, she points out, it will require taxpayers to pay for abortion-on-demand through all nine months of pregnancy. The healthcare proposals also include forms of euthanasia -- end-of-life care -- that she argues actually translate into ending life care. - ONE NEWS NOW.com

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday announced that the United States has transferred $200 million to the Palestinian Authority in order to help ease a growing budget deficit. The transfer of aid directly to Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad's budget was an expression of confidence in his fiscal reforms, Clinton said. "The ability of the United States to provide support directly to the Palestinian Authority is an indication of the bipartisan support for the effort to secure the peace in the Middle East, as well as for the fundamental reforms that the Palestinian Authority has undertaken," she said.

SATIRE - Supporters of the Pentagon's Dragon Tank urge Obama to reconsider the fearsome power of titanium nostrils mounted with long-range flamethrowers. - THE ONION.ocm

OPINION - When Obama visited Cairo, he sent a clear message by not visiting Israel and in his speech uttered words that pose a grave danger to Jews everywhere. The immediate danger posed by Obama’s speech is in its incredible re-writing of the history of Jews, Christians and Muslims from Medieval times to the present. “For centuries, black people in America suffered the lash of the whip as slaves and the humiliation of segregation,” Obama told his audience, citing a litany of American shortcomings. He failed to mention that Arab Muslims were the greatest slave traders in the history of humanity. Isn’t it odd an American president would go to a foreign country and slander his own country and its long-time ally? He added, “And throughout history, Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality.” Does he not know that a Jew or Christian would be beheaded in Saudi Arabia for practicing their religion today, now, this minute? He proudly told his audience that in every state of the union and throughout the U.S. there exist more than 1,200 mosques. But why, Mr. President, is there no Christian Church or Jewish synagogue operating within the borders of Saudi Arabia? Not even one. - NEWSMAX.com

The US will not stand in Israel's way if Israel believes military action is needed to eliminate Iran's nuclear threat, Vice President Joe Biden said on Sunday, during an interview with ABC's 'This Week.' He said that Israel can determine for itself "what's in their interest and what they decide to do relative to Iran and anyone else." When questioned if Israel could make that decision "whether [the US] agrees or not," Biden answered in the affirmative, noting, "Any sovereign nation is entitled to do that." - JERUSALEM POST