Spike caught up to me as I was taking a break on the journey.
“What do you think of the prez doing all those fund raisers?” he asked.
“I’ve been wondering about that,” I replied. “He doesn’t seem to spend any time doing any thinking or reading – he’s always running around doing foolish interviews.”
“That’s what I’m wondering about too. Like, he’s off on Martha’s Vineyard and all day he golfs and parties at night. How’s he get anything clear in his mind?”
“I sometime wonder,” I replied. “Look at the mess he’s fallen into in Iraq.”
“What do you mean with Maliki and what’s his name claiming to be prime minister.”
“No, with the Islamic State. ISIS. He’s really a day late and a dollar short on that one. Do your remember back in January when he was asked about them. He said: “If a jayvee team puts on Lakers uniforms, that doesn’t make them Kobe Bryant.” In January they’re a bunch of junior leaguers, in June they capture Mosul, and in August we’re back in a war with them.”
Spike shook his head: “That’s sort of scary he’s so out of touch.”
* The beleaguered State of Israel !
Matt :
Don’t expect logic from Israel’s detractors. ISIS is just the latest player in the eradication of the Jews and the Jewish State of Israel game. Sophistries such as … ” So criticism of Israel is off the board because groups like ISIS exist ” are deft prosecutorial ripostes from our old Legal Lion, but they ignore historical and regional contexts and imply that certain terms are mutually exclusive when they are not. Straw men to set up and burn down is the dalliance of glib debaters, but the reasoning is specious. Israel was not created in a historical vacuum and has been beleaugered since its May 15, 1948 creation by UN Resolution
Our views on Israel and its right to self-defense clearly differ. Let’s leave it at that. We’ll call it a balancing act.
John:
The last I looked Israel had the fourth largest army in the world and is backed by the first largest; it has the latest in military technology and science. You make it sound like its in some sort of peril. Deal with today, not with 1948. Israel was created on land of the Palestinians who were driven from their homes. Israel has expanded far beyond its original borders taking more and more of the Palestinian land. It has cemented its position to the point that it has a thriving economy yet still gets 3 billion dollars a year from the US. No one says it doesn’t have the right to self-defense but no one is realistically threatening it.
Matt :
Raising anti-semitism as an issue is not an ad hominem attack. This is a fallacious argument that distorts a reality that reached its apotheosis in the Nazi death camps . Both France and Germany are very concerned right now with eruptions of anti-semitic demonstrations, graffitti … ” Juden Verboten ” style. … rhetoric …. and personal violence. For the record I do not consider you an anri-semite Matt, but it is common sense that seems to be melting in regards to tolrerating Islamic fanaticism … especiallly as its favorite donkey to whip is Israel …rarher than your ice cream cone. Did you seriously think I was suggesting ISIS’ boast would ever be matched in reality in Washington ? … Read between the lines. What they are essentially saying is that they hate the West : our Institutions, Law Codes, Democratic Culture and Respect for the Sanctity of Individuals. Jihad is coming to a city near you, you Western devils is their raw and undiluted message.. Whether by bomb, fire or sword it is coming. Joke and jape all you will, this is not your Father’s Jihad anymore . Bio-terrorism … small scale dirty bombs … these are the new Millennium Jihad terror toys. Play around at our own peril wirh these unrepentant bastards.
John:
So criticism of Israel if off the board because groups like ISIS exist. I don’t follow the logic.
* ISIS rant about raising their flag. Could see it … there … in minds eye even as I wrote that. They’ll be here soon enough no doubt and then won’t there be some frantic scrambling. How soon we seem to forget WTC.
John:
ISIS has as much chance of raising its flag over the White House as an ice cream cone does crossing the Sahara.
People raise the anti-semitism issue because it is an issue. Ask the French and the Germans. Virulent anti-jewish slogans and language proliferates never mind the tradition Islamic bastions of anti-semitism in the Middle East. Bromides and platitudes about anti-semitism being raised as an issue to silence debate are the real silencers of debate. The Israeli/Palestinian problem deserves a balanced treatment. The Jews have this persnickety aversion to Genocide apparently. Israel is sensitive when it comes to Moslem leaders in the Middle East calling for their blood, racial and State extinction. Let ISIS rant about raising there flag over the White House. To name them ruthless, undemocratic, religiously fanatic terrorists soaked and soaking in the blood of groups they oppose would only silence debate after all.
John:
The last I looked this wasn’t France, Germany or the Middle East. I’m not quite sure what point you are making.
One doesn’t have to denounce all wrongdoing in the world before it questions Israel’s tactics. Don’t equate criticism of Israel with anti Semitism. People raise the anti Semitism issue to silence legitimate debate. 2. Malliki may be doing what he needs to do. If he lets the old Bathist-Sunnis run the army he’ll end up like Morsi, a democratically elected official deposed by the U S and NATO. He is content to let others ( Kurds and non radical Sunnis) fight ISIS. His main interest is protecting the Shia majority. Let the Americans and NATO that created the Syrian revolt , trained and funded the rebels including ISIS fix the problem. 3. Who voted for that guy anyway? If we had bombed Assad as planned 16 months ago ISIS would be massacring Shia and Christians in Syria. Too many clowns in DC demand regime change not knowing what follows. Didn’t the Democrats in the U S Senate, including Kerry Hillary and Shummer, in 1998 vote fir regime change in Iraq.
NC
1. Anti-Semitism is a useful word to throw out to shut down debate. Rather than discussing the pros and cons of an issue, an ad hominem attack like suggestine one has a bias destroys discussions. Too many people are afraid of expressing opinions for fear of being labeled. I say speak your peace and let the chips fall where they may.
2. Maliki’s replacement is another guy from his group; no one is putting the Shia majority out of power. But that is the problem, they rule the country for themselves rather than for all the people.They are incapable of keeping themselves in power without our help. Our policies from the first day of the Iraq invasion set the stage for ISIS; our inept performanc in Egypt and Syria gave it a greater life. The question that now must be faced is whether it can be defeated without introducing American ground forces to fight it. Air power has never controlled the groung. ISIS will go into the cities; are we going to follow Israel’s example and start attacking the cities?
3. I voted for Obama. I did because I didn’t want to go to war with Iran. The Republicans being controlled by Adelman had to promise such a course of action. It’s too late to look back but must decide what to do now. The Christians in Syria are in deep trouble; the Christians in Iraq are just about gone. Yes, all the Democrats you mentioned voted to war with Iaraq; as did most of the Republicans. I’m not sure how you differentiate between them.