Rep. Cantor Makes Things Up

As reported by Laura Rozen in POLITICO yesterday, Rep. Eric Cantor claimed that President Obama has accused Israel of "significantly costing the US in terms of blood and treasure."

Of course, that is not what Obama said.  He said this:

And the truth is, in some of these conflicts the United States can't impose solutions unless the participants in these conflicts are willing to break out of old patterns of antagonism. I think it was former Secretary of State Jim Baker who said, in the context of Middle East peace, we can't want it more than they do. 

But what we can make sure of is, is that we are constantly present, constantly engaged, and setting out very clearly to both sides our belief that not only is it in the interests of each party to resolve these conflicts but it's also in the interest of the United States.  It is a vital national security interest of the United States to reduce these conflicts because whether we like it or not, we remain a dominant military superpower, and when conflicts break out, one way or another we get pulled into them.  And that ends up costing us significantly in terms of both blood and treasure.

In short, Obama was saying that the United States is bound to be affected by conflicts in the Middle East and our national security benefits when those conflicts are resolved.

But Cantor loves exaggerating when it comes to the Middle East. 

At last year's AIPAC conference, Cantor delivered  a typically impassioned speech about Ahmadinejad, "the man holding the gun with which to kill Israel and the Jews."  (Although Israel is rightly concerned about Iran's nuclear development, no one accuses Iran of planning to kill "the Jews.")

But Cantor cried "that many men are pointing guns at Israel, indeed at Jews everywhere, promising to kill us."

"Promising to kill us."  I guess that was a prelude to Cantor's now thoroughly discredited charge last month that the stray bullet  that sort of pierced his sometime campaign office's window was directed at him because he opposed health care reform and is Jewish.

The man loves drama and hyperbole.  But he might be more considerate of those whose genuine concern for Israel's security and horrific memories of the Holocaust are serious concerns, not just political fodder.

But that is not Cantor's way.  There is nothing he won't say to smear Obama and advance his personal political agenda.