l) was his appointment an opening to the Jewish community for more Obama support-financially and politically?

Probably. It seems Obama has a keen sense and understanding of power. The Israel Lobby, with its powerful influence on the media and many aspects of political life, has been putting pressure on Obama's campaign. That's why people like Mr. Lobby Dennis Ross replaced people with a more balanced policy standing like Zbigniew Brzezinski, Anthony Lake, Robert O. Malley and Susan Rice who were described by Israeli sources as "problematic".

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1203589810710&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/Printer

2) Why did Emanuel fight in Congress to stop the Democratic attempts to reign in on Bush's aggressive Iraq policy?

The Israel Lobby in all its manifestations was the main force behind the Iraq war (and in promoting war on Iran). For a better understanding of how the Lobby operates you may want to take a look at the paper published by professors Mearsheimer and Walt in the London Review of Books ((http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n06/print/mear01_.html) and the "clean break" report ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Clean_Break:_A_New_Strategy_for_Securing_the_Realm)

(3) What investments did Emanuel make to turn himself into a billionaire almost overnight? Will his Wall Street contacts further or hinder the new Democratic President's call to help the middle class survive before the overwhelming power of America's moneyed classes?

Not sure. But he probably got lots of help from his buddies!

(4) Will we continue to defend Israel's harsh foreign policy,its continuous illegal settlements? Will Emanuel direct foreign policy by continuing finacial support of Israel to the tune of billions of dollars?

You bet. Unless Obama turns out to be more of a leader than his choice of Emmanuel seems to indicate!

As evidenced by the appointment of Rahm. The problem is that Rahm, as the gatekeeper to Obama, will ensure that most of the "advisors" that Obama gets to hear, when it comes to the crucial Mideast policy, are from the Lobby (e.g people like Dennis Ross).

Is this bad? You bet it is, because the Lobby which - along with its neocon allies and the crazy evangelicals- brought us the Iraq war wants a war with Iran soooo badly. It will also do whatever it takes to maintain Israel's domination of the Middle East. It is quite revealing that when Rahm was asked on "Meet the Press" whether he would have voted to authorize the invasion of Iraq "knowing that there are no weapons of mass destruction," he answered that he indeed would have done so (http://www.alternet.org/audits/106189/?page=entire). After all he is "a good friend of Israel, coming from good Irgun stock"as William Daroff, the director of the Washington office of the United Jewish Communities said (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1035128.html)

As mentioned in my previous post, Irgun - of which Rahm's father was a member - is the terrorist Zionist pre-state organization that specialized in brutally murdering Palestinian villagers wholesale to terrorize other villagers into fleeing what was then Palestine (http://www.deiryassin.org/) in order to create a "Jewish state".

"Rep. Emanuel is also a good friend of Israel, coming from good Irgun stock"

- William Daroff, the director of the Washington office of the United Jewish Communities

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1035128.html

Irgun is the terrorist Zionist pre-state organization that specialized in brutally murdering Palestinian villagers to terrorize them into fleeing what was then Palestine (http://www.deiryassin.org/) in order to create a Jewish state.

I am not Obama can fix the World. But a good place to start would be to put an end to having US taxpayers finance the brutal occupation of Palestine by Israel which is at the center of the US being perceived as a country that advocates a double standard when it comes to human rights, democracy and rule of international law.

Obama, and all Americans, should be outraged at how Israeli occupation troops humiliate and dehumanize Palestinians

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1035088.html

One of the greatest things about Obama is that he deals in the currency of hope, rather than fear which Bush, Fox and the Israel Lobby have perfected to an art form.

I hope Obama is too smart to fall for the machinations of the Israel Lobby. I find his selection of Rahm Emanuel as chief of staff a bit disconcerting. Emanuel is a vicious Zionist who is also an Israeli citizen. His father was a member of Menahem Begin's terrorist Irgun organization which played a major role in the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in the 1940's, using some of the most brutal terrorist tactics against Palestinian villagers, to create a Jewish majority there.

After 9/11, the US had a golden opportunity to strengthen international law and institutions and bring about a new era of multi-lateralism, stability and prosperity for the world.

Instead, the neocons saw the terrorist attacks as their opportunity to lead a traumatized and frightened nation (and an intellectually challenged Bush administration) into fighting Israel's wars for domination over the Middle East.

Now we are seeing the results of this; a weakened and economically devastated US with a thinly spread military. Meanwhile Russia and China have become significantly stronger and much more able to project power.

My experience has been that on average women make better leaders than men (except when they try to prove they are "tougher" than men!)

Israel's strategic domination of the Middle East. It will certainly be worth the trillions of dollars and thousands of American lives (not to mention over a million Iraqi lives) to achieve this noble goal.

After all, the US must support the Middle East's only democracy. Never mind that it is a state for one religious group that, for over 50 years, has brutally occupied and controlled the West Bank and Gaza Palestinians - who along with Palestinian Israelis - form about 50% of the total population!