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Middle East Violence Scrubs O'Malley Trade Mission

Maryland delegation was set to leave next week on eight-day trip to Israel, Jordan and the West Bank.

The escalating conflict in the Gaza Strip has forced Gov. Martin O’Malley to postpone his eight-day trade mission to the Middle East.

O’Malley (D) and a delegation of elected officials and business leaders were set to leave next week for Israel, Jordan and the West Bank city of Ramallah, The Washington Post reported. He announced his decision today after mounting Hamas rocket strikes and Israeli counter-strikes that have left more than 100 dead in the past week.

“Not wanting to be a distraction from the urgent cause of peace, I look forward to visiting Israel in the months ahead with Maryland business, research and academic leaders,” O’Malley said in a statement. “For now, we join with our Israeli and Palestinian neighbors in praying for a cease-fire and peaceful resolution to the conflict.”

This would have been his third trip to Israel since 2005, according to The Post. O’Malley announced the trade mission in September at the opening of a radar electronics manufacturing facility in Columbia, MD, owned by a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries.

Captain Cook November 20, 2012 at 08:11 pm
O'Malley Trade Mission???? To where - the Fun House??? This dope can't even speak english without a teleprompter or his wife holding cue cards - and he is spending OUR tax dollars on a trip????????
Joe November 20, 2012 at 08:30 pm
I'll pay for Owe'Malley to go to Gaza? I'l even pay and supply a Yamaka for him to wear while there.
Joe November 20, 2012 at 09:54 pm
Not being Jewish Frank I used the urban language term instead of Yarmulkah.
I'll buy one of them too if he wears it in Gaza.
H.R. Pufnstuf November 20, 2012 at 11:44 pm
I think O'Malley should go. He's not that big of a deal so he would not distract from the peace proces in any way. Does he think Maryland's economy is not important?
djp952 November 21, 2012 at 06:28 am
... and the opening of the "Amman Live! Casino" has thusly been delayed until 2014. Sorry Jordanians.
Laurie November 21, 2012 at 02:12 pm
He so wants to be President some day. A sitting Maryland Governor has no business travelling to the Middle East for trade initiatives.
H.R. Pufnstuf November 21, 2012 at 04:20 pm
No, won't. Otherwise the actual CEOs who understand business would be going instead of a brainless politican (I was being sarcastic in my first comment about the trip helping Maryland's economy).
jag November 21, 2012 at 06:06 pm
Wow, H.R. Pufnstuf, what to not even have a remedial understanding of how trade missions work. Of course actual CEOs and businessmen go on the trips w/O'Malley. That's the entire point.
"A year ago, O’Malley headlined a delegation of more than 100 Maryland business leaders, elected officials and lobbyists to India. He also made a brief stop in Doha, Qatar. In 2010, O’Malley led a 68-member delegation on a similar trip to China, South Korea and Vietnam. O’Malley’s administration says deals signed during or shortly after the trips netted a combined $145 million in trade and investment for Maryland and the companies that were part of the delegation." ------------------------------------------ "I was being sarcastic in my first comment about the trip helping Maryland's economy" Of course you were being sarcastic; you were making an accurate statement and, surely, that didn't happen because you were actually educated on a topic for once.
H.R. Pufnstuf November 21, 2012 at 06:21 pm
Jag, you're extremely gullible. Elected officials and lobbists are not business people. I don't know what a "business leader" is but that doesn't mean CEO. O'Malley's trip is nothing more than a dog and pony show. Any deals that happened would have happened regardless of his photo op. You're so naive you probably think Obama didn't know about the Petraeus until after the election. A+ for working so hard to be clueless.
jag November 21, 2012 at 06:50 pm
H.R. Pufnstuf, please stop embarrassing yourself. Here's the delegation list of the India trip: http://www.governor.maryland.gov/documents/Indiadelegation.pdf
Let me guess, CEOs and company presidents aren't "business leaders" either? You're such a joke. Complain about everything and you're so uneducated on the topics that you can't even whine properly.
H.R. Pufnstuf November 21, 2012 at 07:11 pm
Jag, wake up, son. A large chunk of the folks on that list (about half it looks like) are from University of MD, State of MD government, PG County govt, Mont Co govt, etc. What value are these folks adding? Why is government involved in this at all? This trip is a joke!
jag November 21, 2012 at 07:27 pm
lol, pathetic. First you don't understand what a trade mission is, then you claim only politicians go, then you claim only elected officials and lobbyists go, now you claim government employees don't have anything to contributed to the state's economy? Yeah, you're so right, I can't possibly imagine what UMD's Research and Development program might have to do with economic growth. Maryland's Program Director, Office of International Investment and Trade? Obviously, that has nothing to do with job creation and growth.
Seriously, Puf. Move on with your life. Just be thankful you're not in charge of anything important and the adults in the room are taking care of you.
H.R. Pufnstuf November 21, 2012 at 07:35 pm
Jag, government employees are a drain on the economy, not a contributor. Government exists at the expense of business. Sorry, but you didn't build that, brah.
jag November 21, 2012 at 07:43 pm
lol, right, local government doesn't play a role in attracting investment/jobs. Obviously. Phew, I'm sure our politicians are glad you've officially let them off the hook. Granted, that's because you know exactly nothing about business, but they appreciate it nevertheless. Have a good day, brah.
Steve November 21, 2012 at 10:25 pm
Somehow I don't think the usual suspects were complaining when Bob Ehrlich took a trip to Israel when he was Governor. Here are the facts when it comes to the Maryland/Israel relationship.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/states/MD.html
H.R. Pufnstuf November 21, 2012 at 10:41 pm
I need a Kleenex for our country. I didn't even vote because none of the morons that ran can fix this mess. We're already over the cliff, waiting to hit bottom.
H.R. Pufnstuf November 21, 2012 at 10:52 pm
Jag, you know nothing about business, son. Best case government can lure existing businesses from elsewhere. They redistribute the same pie. Actual private business people build new factories and make the pie bigger. Government does not innovate. Anyone who expects government to create jobs (like Republicans and Dems) is amazingly ignorant.
Eric S. November 26, 2012 at 04:01 pm
Is it wrong that I find the spam comments more satisfying than the actual commentary sometimes on here? Wow.
jag November 26, 2012 at 04:14 pm
"Government does not innovate."
What an unbelievably dumb statement. Landing on the moon? The microchip? The internet? GPS? The vast majority of major technological advancement we've seen this generation is directly due to the U.S. government. For someone to be completely ignorant of that fact is mind-boggling. Your understanding of the world around you is severely lacking.
H.R. Pufnstuf November 26, 2012 at 05:21 pm
While I could refute every one of your examples, I'll simply knock down the notion that the government created the internet. While it's true that there was government involvement in ARAPNET back in the 60's, it's shockingly ignorant to give government credit for inventing the modern internet, and certainly not for all the things that we typically think of when we think of the internet (google, etc.). It's nearly impossible to spend as much as the government does and not have some influence on tech, but all cost-beneficial advances are from the private sector. Landing on the moon is a great example of a tremedous waste of money. For as much as was spend on that, Social Security could have fixed several times over.
Jeff Hawkins November 30, 2012 at 01:07 pm
Been off the site for awhile, came back for a "peek". It appears the level of discussion has seriously deteriorated on most topics with the usual suspects still working "overtime" to see their names in print.....
Yes.....Eric.....the "spam" looks good!!!
Bailey Henneberg November 30, 2012 at 03:27 pm
Eric and Jeff I deleted the spam ads, but am making a note of it here so folks know that you were commenting on real spam.
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