Rats In The Cellar - When Jews Turn On Their Own

Ever wonder about whether people calling themselves Jews could actually be anti-Semites? Of course they can.

As I've mentioned before, the dinosaur media has a common tactic when it comes to attacking Israel - they'll find some self-hating leftard Jew to do the pick and shovel work for them, to fend off accusations of anti-Semitism.

This stuff typically runs in cycles. Earlier in the week it was the New York Time's own Jewish anti-Semite Roger Cohen. And now the Los Angeles Sunday Times has weighed in with a piece by one Ben Ehrenreich, who weighs in and writes that Zionism is the problem behind peace in the Middle East:

Even after the foundation of Israel, anti-Zionism was not a particularly heretical position. Assimilated Reform Jews like Rosenwald believed that Judaism should remain a matter of religious rather than political allegiance; the ultra-Orthodox saw Jewish statehood as an impious attempt to "push the hand of God"; and Marxist Jews -- my grandparents among them -- tended to see Zionism, and all nationalisms, as a distraction from the more essential struggle between classes.

What Ehrenreich is telling you here is that he is a 'red diaper baby', someone raised by communists in a brand new religion that substituted for Judaism, no matter what other innocuous sounding names it might be called. This is an important sidebar. Let's go on...

For the last several decades, though, it has been all but impossible to cry out against the Israeli state without being smeared as an anti-Semite, or worse. To question not just Israel's actions, but the Zionist tenets on which the state is founded, has for too long been regarded an almost unspeakable blasphemy.

Yet it is no longer possible to believe with an honest conscience that the deplorable conditions in which Palestinians live and die in Gaza and the West Bank come as the result of specific policies, leaders or parties on either side of the impasse. The problem is fundamental: Founding a modern state on a single ethnic or religious identity in a territory that is ethnically and religiously diverse leads inexorably either to politics of exclusion (think of the 139-square-mile prison camp that Gaza has become) or to wholesale ethnic cleansing. Put simply, the problem is Zionism

.

There's a real quandary here. There's so much ignorance, bigotry and selective revisionism here that even to parse it feels like a waste of time and energy.

However, for the swing votes, those who may not know any better...

Zionism per se came into existence when another highly assimilated Jew, Theodore Herzl, covered the Dreyfuss trials as a journalist and watched mobs in Paris screaming death to the Jews, almost a century after Napoleon tore down the ghetto walls and allowed French Jews to freely assimilate in French society.What Dreyfuss realized is that the experiment of Jewish assimilation in Europe was a failure, and that the way for Jews to survive in freedom and dignity was not to ride the tides of fortune as a more or less tolerated minority but to have their own country.

It was because there was no Israel that 6 million Jews ended up in the ovens, and because Israel exists that similar orgies of death and slavery were not visited on the Jews of Ethiopia, Yemen, the former Soviet Union, and the Arab world.It was Aushwitz survivor Elie Wiesel who wrote that to him, the holiest spot in Israel was not the Kotel but the little booth at Lod Airport where a Jew was stamping entry visas.

Useful idiots like Ehrenreich simply don't understand that or willfully refuse to admit it because it doesn't jibe with their politics.

Ehrenreich also parrots the nonsense that Israel is an apartheid state ('founding a modern state on a single ethnic or religious identity') , when in fact Israel is the most diverse and pluralistic state in the Middle East. it was, after all, not Israel that ethnically cleansed it's Arab minority after 1948...it was the Arabs who did that to the Jews. In Israel, Arabic is the country's second official language, Arab citizens have full political and legal rights and and Arabs can be found in every walk of Israeli life, including in the IDF and in Israel's Parliament, the Knesset. This is even more remarkable when one considers that Israel has been attacked by its Arab neighbors consistently since its founding.

Of course, to Ehrenreich, the very fact that Israel exists at all as a predominantly Jewish State is an affront to his leftist beliefs.

If two decades ago comparisons to the South African apartheid system felt like hyperbole, they now feel charitable. The white South African regime, for all its crimes, never attacked the Bantustans with anything like the destructive power Israel visited on Gaza in December and January, when nearly 1,300 Palestinians were killed, one-third of them children.

Israeli policies have rendered the once apparently inevitable two-state solution less and less feasible. Years of Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem have methodically diminished the viability of a Palestinian state. Israel's new prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has even refused to endorse the idea of an independent Palestinian state, which suggests an immediate future of more of the same: more settlements, more punitive assaults.

I would absolutely love to see Ehrenreich's reaction if his tony West L.A. digs were under missile attack from Hamas. He'd be flailing his wrists and screaming like a wounded peahen for somebody to do something about it, yet he has no compunction in demonizing Israel for doing what it needed to do to protect its citizens under attack...which makes him a flaming hypocrite of the first order.

And I've got news for him...it wasn't Israeli policies that stopped the Palestinians from have a second Arab Palestinian state. Israel, in case anyone has forgotten, is the only country in the Middle East to give the Palestinians so much as a square dunam of land for their own and allow them to plot their own destinies. After Oslo, the Palestinians could have elected to fulfill Oslo to the letter, forswearing terrorist violence, educating their people for peace and taking the steps to form an economic and political closeness with Israel, which is the only thing that could have actually led to the success of the Oslo venture.

Instead, Arafat did what he intended to do all along, from the moment the Oslo agreements were signed. He stole the aid money gullible western idiots gave him 'for the Palestinian people' created a terrorist enclave in Gaza and the Palestinian occupied areas of Judea and Samaria ( AKA the West Bank), built an army and when he felt the time was right, launched a brutal war against Israel's civilians.

The checkpoints, the security barrier, the so-called 'occupation' and yes, Israeli military ops like Defensive Shield and Cast Lead stem from Palestinian violence against Israel's civilians and nothing else.

And the violence itself stems not from a Palestinian desire for coexistence, but from a desire to annihilate every Jew in the Middle East- which is why the Palestinians support Hamas by a vast majority.And why Ehrenreich's idiotic call for a single Arab dominated state ( because that's exactly what it would be ) is a fantasy..but one that would be paid for by other people's blood, not his if it was ever implemented.

Needless to say, that won't ever happen unless the Israelis decide to commit national suicide. But the funny thing is that if Israel ever were to disappear as a Jewish state, the only thing to change in the Middle East would be the targets..which would then ultimately end up as Ehrenreich and people that think like he does.

He really ought to read the Hamas charter sometime and see what it says about Jews not only in Israel, but worldwide.

And yes, I have absolutely no trouble whatsoever in dubbing him a Jew hater...whether he realizes it or not.

Oh, and by the way, should you care to let him know how you feel about the matter, his MySpace page can be found here

Israeli Invention Significantly Cuts Auto Emissions, Gas Useage

Yet another hi-tech miracle from the land of Israel:

Zion Badash, 18, from Savyon, has invented a device to reduce emissions from internal combustion engines in most vehicles by as much as 40 percent and significantly cut gasoline consumption.

The compact contraption called Z5 has no moving parts and can be easily self-installed in cars.

After two years of research and development, it went on the market three months ago - and by all accounts is selling like hot cakes.

"Some of the people who come to us want to reduce their emissions and others want to save money on gas," Badash told The Jerusalem Post on Friday.

While it is being marketed for automobiles, the Z5 will theoretically work with any type of engine, from huge electric turbines to home generators.

"We've started marketing the Z5 in Israel, Turkey, Great Britain, the US and on the Internet," Mor told the Post. "It goes for $208. We are also in negotiations with automobile manufacturers."

According to an IBA English News report on the Z5, a government-approved mechanic independently confirmed that the device reduced emissions in all sorts of vehicles, from trucks to cars.

It would be the height of poetic justice if it was Israeli technology that helped free the world from Arab oil!

Obama Reverses Himself On Embryonic Stem cells..After Two Days!

President Obama, in a highly publicized bit of political theater signed an executive order last Monday, March 9th reversing a 2001 executive order that President Bush had signed that allowed federal funds for research involving embryonic stem cell lines that was already in progress using embryos that had already been destroyed, but denying federal funding for new research that required the killing of any additional embryos.

Since the current occupant of the White House is an avid fan of abortion, even to the point of mandating that babies who survive an abortion be allowed to die of neglect, this was hardly a shocker.

But then, a mere two days later came the old switcheroo, buried in the 465-page omnibus appropriations bill that Obama signed Wednesday.

Known as the Dickey-Wicker amendment, it's been part of the annual funding for the Department of Health and Human Services for over a decade, and explicitly prohibits funding for "(1) the creation of a human embryo or embryos for research purposes; or (2) research in which a human embryo or embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death."

It not only prohibits the government from providing tax dollars to support research that kills or risks injury to human embryos, it specifically mandates an all-inclusive definition of “human embryo” that encompasses any human life even if created in a laboratory through cloning, in vitro fertilization or any other technology.

Sooo..what is President Barry Zero up to?

I see three possibilities: one, he simply didn't realize that the Dickey-Wicker Amendment was part of what he was signing; two, this was a window to allow well-connected `friends of Obama' to dump some stock they held (or short it) in companies specializing in embryonic stem cell research at a profit after it was artificially pumped up by the highly publicized White House announcement and make a tidy profit; or three he's planning an attack on Dickey-Wicker in Congress.

As a matter of fact, there's nothing to stop the any two of these from being true.

For the record, embryonic stem cell research has been almost entirely a waste of time, although a great deal of significant and valuable discoveries have been made using ADULT stem cells. The embryonic stem cells tend to mutate quickly and be unstable, which is why this research has mainly been a means to funnel government grants and taxpayer funds at certain scientists and companies specializing in the area. In states like California, New Jersey, Illinois, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts and New York, the treasure trove runs into the billions.It's almost as lucrative as global warming.

Obama's 'Domestic Security Force'

Remember this?



Apparently the One is pretty wedded to proceeding with this plan. As Doug Ross reveals he re-emphasized it again at the dedication ceremony of the National Defense University's Abraham Lincoln Hall:

On February 16, I noted a little-publicized Department of Defense Directive (Number 1404.10), which establishes a "DoD Civilian Expeditionary Workforce" and rescinds a prior (and longstanding) directive dealing with the emergency use of civilian personnel.

The new 1404.10 cancels the prior directive of the same designation ("Emergency-Essential (E-E) DoD U.S. Citizen Civilian Employees"), which was issued in 1992 under President Clinton. The 1992 directive specifically deals with overseas deployments of civilian personnel. It does not mention terms like "restoration of order" or "stability operations", prominently featured in the new directive.In fact, those functions are central to the mission of President Obama's new DoD Civilian Expeditionary Workforce. The 1992 directive mentions the term "overseas" no fewer than 33 times. The 2009 directive does not mention the term "overseas" in the body of the directive even once.

News flash: the Constitution defined a civilian national security force. It was all of us. It was established and protected by the Second Amendment.

Blogpal Megan Fox notes this as well, and her take is especially relevant as she lives in Obama's old home town of Chicago, has seen what the Chosen One and his allies think of that Second Amendment and noted the results first hand:

Why it's called a "workforce" is beyond me since its main objective is to be in combat. I ask you, why would we need more combat forces than the police, the National Guard, the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines? Could it be because of the video I posted yesterday? Looks like someone might have an inferiority complex and some serious concerns about our fighting forces' loyalty. {...}

Obama's Chicago, you may not know, has the toughest and most numerous gun laws in the nation. We are one of only two states left in the Union that does not allow conceal-carry legislation. Chicago and several surrounding suburbs have "hand-gun bans" which were just recently declared unconstitutional by the Supremes. This still has not swayed our illustrious Mayor, King Richard. (Who is surrounded by armed guards 24 hours a day. Also, note that our Aldermen also carry handguns on them everywhere they go but if you or I do it, we'll be sent to jail.) Gun laws in Obama's Chicago are only for the little people to follow.

A report came out stating that 26 school-aged children have been shot dead since the school year started. This has set off the predictable wailing mommies leaning on Jesse Jackson while he gets his face time under the hot lights of the cameras. He is again calling for a gun grab. Clearly, gun laws in Obama's Chicago don't work. {..}

And while Obama's Chicago burns to the ground in a war zone that is claiming more lives than the insurgents in Iraq, the Democrats are whining about grabbing my guns. Guns that have never been used to harm anyone and would only be used to defend my families' and my life. (And possibly bag a deer when the grocery stores run out of food.)

Pop Quiz: How do you disarm a population?Answer: Create a Jack-booted Civilian Brown Shirted Black Panther Brigade to come and take them by force. How does that saying go again? From my cold dead fingers....

She has it exactly right. The Founders put the Second Amendment in the Constitution precisely because they realized that a disarmed population was subject to the whims and tyranny of a dictatorial government.

With the cuts in our military budget Obama is ramming through in the new budget,one has to wonder...is this where the funding for Obama's 'domestic security force' is coming from? And for that matter, if a domestic security force was needed at all, say, to patrol our southern borders, why not just expand the National Guard?

Or could it be that, as Megan notes, the Chosen One has doubts and prefers a force organized on the lines he dictates and loyal to him personally?

The Worst Airline In The World?

As regular members of Joshua's Army know, I'm a huge fan of blogger/war correspondent/photojournalist Michael Totten.

And he has an alternately hair raising and comic( at least from a safe distance) story on his encounter with what he calls the worst airline in the world.

Was it some Middle Eastern antiquated national airline? Some hell hole in Africa? Some primitive carrier in Central Asia?

Nope.

Alitalia, the Italian national airline..and in Rome, of all places.

After spending several weeks each in Iraq and Lebanon at the end of 2008, I bought a plane ticket to the U.S. from Beirut on December 22 and figured I had plenty of time to get home for Christmas. I had no idea, though, that I had purchased my ticket from the worst airline company in the world – Italy’s national carrier Alitalia – and that a two-hour layover in Rome would turn into an ordeal that lasted longer than a week.

I placed my most critical and expensive items in my carry-on bag so they wouldn’t get damaged or lost. Yet the woman at the Alitalia check-in counter in Beirut’s international airport said my bag was too large and would have to be checked. I wasn’t happy about that, but I did as I was told and surrendered my luggage. She neglected to tell me that Alitalia’s baggage handlers were on strike and that it would be a very long time before I would see my property again – if I ever would see it again.

My flight left Beirut on time, and I had no idea what I was in for in Italy.

After I landed in Rome, the Departures board said my flight to Chicago was delayed two hours. I didn’t mind. I had a 24-hour layover there, so I could wait patiently. But an angry stirring of passengers at the flight counter caught my attention.

“What’s going on?” I asked an American woman who looked concerned yet approachable.

“I’m not sure,” she said. “But somebody told me the baggage handlers on are strike and that we might not be going anywhere.”

A few moments passed before I absorbed what that meant. My laptop was in my carry-on bag that Alitalia had forced me to check. My work from Iraq and Lebanon was on that machine. My Nikon camera was in that bag. I didn’t want to hand it over, but the airline forced me to hand it over and didn’t tell me what was happening in the bowels of the company.

At least I had the presence of mind to make backup copies of my recorded interviews and place them on a flash memory stick that I carried around in my pocket. My hand-written notes and my photographs, though, were not in my pocket. Alitalia’s baggage handler’s union was holding much of my Middle East work hostage.

The man and woman working at our Alitalia flight counter wouldn’t tell us what was going on, and I assumed it was because they didn’t know. They looked slightly stressed, and I felt bad for them. They weren’t on strike, but they had to deal with the fallout. And that fallout was about to get nasty.

A fifty year-old Italian man in a fedora started screaming at both of them.

A man standing next to me chuckled.

“Do you understand what he’s saying?” I said.

“I’m from Argentina,” he said, “but I speak Italian. That man is cursing like you wouldn’t believe.”

Mr. Enraged was screaming like you wouldn’t believe – wild-eyed, nostril-flared, spittle-flecked screaming.
Listening to him and imagining which curse words he used he was entertaining, but mostly the guy came across like a belligerent jerk. The two Alitalia employees on the receiving end of his tirade weren’t responsible for our predicament. The baggage handlers were on strike, but the counter employees were still on the job.

Later, though, I realized that Mr. Enraged was just ahead of everyone else. The rest of us booked on the flight to Chicago would learn soon enough that a huge number of Alitalia's employees absolutely deserved to be screamed at.

Our flight was delayed another four hours. Almost every other Alitalia flight in the airport had been cancelled. You might think we were lucky that our flight hadn't been cancelled. That's what I thought at the time, but I was wrong.

“I live in the UK,” a man said, “but I was born here in Italy. They will not fly us to Chicago. They will do nothing but lie. Trust me. I know how this country works.”

Our flight was delayed again another three hours, and the man and woman and the flight counter put on their coats and walked away. Several passengers impotently screamed at their backs in Italian. Two hundred of us were left stranded alone.

No one had screamed at them in English. Not yet.

European Union regulations required the airline to book us with another company so we could get home. But they refused to book us with another company. Word slowly trickled into the crowd from passengers who had been stranded in Rome’s airport for days. Alitalia hadn't booked any of them on flights with other airlines, nor did the company reserve or pay for hotel rooms as the law required.

Certainly there were worse fates than being stranded in Italy. Daniel, the Italian-speaking man from Argentina, knew that better than most of us. He lives in the Indianapolis now and works as a professor of Social Work.

“Indiana is a big change,” he said, “but I like living there.” He has fond memories of his hometown of Buenos Aries, but also terrible memories. “There were leftist terrorists and right-hand terrorists killing people all over the country. When the army took over, everyone cheered. But the army was no better, and they went after the intellectuals. 30,000 people were killed or disappeared. It was a horrible fascist regime.”

Daniel managed to remain calm even after order and civility in the airport later disintegrated. His American friend and traveling companion Greg was about a disgruntled as I was. “No one is coming back here,” he said. “They’re supposed to rebook us, but they’ve abandoned us.”

“I think we should get some people together and go to the office,” I said, “since they refuse to rebook us. Ten people should be enough to put pressure on them.”

He agreed, and we asked others standing next to us if they wanted to join us. Everyone seemed to think it was a good idea. I had only been stranded in Rome for a half day so far, but some of those who had been marooned for days looked like they were ready to punch somebody.

Believe it or not there's a lot more to the story..kinda reads like a libretto for one those operas where everybody dies.

Uhh, welcome home Michael!

Brazil Added To The List Of US Allies Obama Has Alienated

Remember during the campaign when we were told about all that smart diplomacy the Obama Administration was going to practice, as opposed to that stto-pid cowboy George W. Bush.

Well, so far the Chosen One has been humiliated by Russia, Iran and China while insulting and/or alienating our allies and trading partners Israel, India, Poland, the Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Columbia and Britain.

Now, we can add Brazil to the list:

After the Gordon Brown debacle, you would think the White House would put a little more
thought into planning for visits by visiting heads of state. But Brazil is already
grumbling about the treatment of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who
will sit down with Obama this weekend and is the first Latin American leader to
visit the White House under the new administration.

Silva aides said the trip was pushed forward from Tuesday because of
the St. Patrick's Day holiday - making Latin America once again look like an
afterthought. Then, the White House announcement misspelled his name as "Luis
Ignacio" and put "Lula" - a nickname that decades ago became a legal part of the
Brazilian leader's name - in quotes.

Un-freaking-believable.

Here we have an important trading partner of long standing, the world's fifth-most-populous nation and ninth-largest economy and one with a brand new significant oil find that could help ween us off of Hugo Chavez's Venezuelan crude...as well as lots of ethanol it wants sell if Obama is willing to work on moderating the stiff 53 cent-a-gallon tariff the US slapped on it. And he pulls this amateur crap?

Desculpe Brasil ... pedimos desculpas para o nosso presidente da má educação.

Please excuse the bad manners of our president...he's a punk and a novice and doesn't know how to treat our friends.

Sharia Finance... Stealth Jihad Against The West

Did you know that our government and the Treasury Department are in the business of promoting Islamic sharia finance big time...and that a part of the profits from sharia finance are mandated to support jihad against the West?

These two videos outline the connection. Watch and be informed.

Full disclosure...I have absolutely no connection with the producers of the second video, from a group called ACT For America, and I'm not necessarily endorsing any of their views. However, their video contains good information and I include it for that reason.

Obama's Approval Ratings Worse Than Bush's in 2001

People eventually wise up:

It is simply wrong for commentators to continue to focus on President Barack Obama's high levels of popularity, and to conclude that these are indicative of high levels of public confidence in the work of his administration. Indeed, a detailed look at recent survey data shows that the opposite is most likely true. The American people are coming to express increasingly significant doubts about his initiatives, and most likely support a different agenda and different policies from those that the Obama administration has advanced.

Polling data show that Mr. Obama's approval rating is dropping and is below where George W. Bush was in an analogous period in 2001. Rasmussen Reports data shows that Mr. Obama's net presidential approval rating -- which is calculated by subtracting the number who strongly disapprove from the number who strongly approve -- is just six, his lowest rating to date. {..}

Overall, Rasmussen Reports shows a 56%-43% approval, with a third strongly disapproving of the president's performance. This is a substantial degree of polarization so early in the administration. Mr. Obama has lost virtually all of his Republican support and a good part of his Independent support, and the trend is decidedly negative.

Now that's change you can believe in. And yes, based on what's gone down so far, I hope Obama's policies fail miserably. It's been thirty years since Jimmy Carter, and perhaps we need to relearn the lesson of wnat it feels like to have a really incompetent Democrat in charge of things....

You can't say I didn't give him a chance.

But like Bobby Womack said, it's all over now.

John Bolton: The Obama Administration's Anti-Israel Turn

Ex-UN Ambassador and bestselling author John Bolton scores again:

The Obama administration is increasingly fixed on resolving the "Arab-Is raeli dispute," seeing it as the key to peace and stability in the Middle East. This is bad news for Israel - and for America.

In its purest form, this theory holds that, once Israel and its neighbors come to terms, all other regional conflicts can be duly resolved: Iran's nuclear-weapons program, fanatical anti-Western terrorism, Islam's Sunni-Shiite schism, Arab-Persian ethnic tensions.

Some advocates believe substantively that the overwhelming bulk of other Middle Eastern grievances, wholly or partly, stem from Israel's founding and continued existence. Others see it in process terms - how to "sequence" dispute resolutions, so that Arab-Israeli progress facilitates progress elsewhere.

Pursuing this talisman has long characterized many European leaders and their soulmates on the American left. The Mideast "peace process" is thus the ultimate self-licking ice cream cone - its mere existence being its basic justification.

And now the Obama administration has made it US policy. This is evidenced by two key developments: the appointment of former Sen. George Mitchell as special envoy for the region, and Secretary of State Hillary's Clinton's recent insistence on a "two-state solution" sooner rather than later.

Naming Mitchell as a high-level, single-issue envoy - rather than keeping the portfolio under Secretary Clinton's personal control - separates Israel from the broader conduct of US diplomacy. Mitchell's role underlines both the issue's priority in the president's eyes and the implicit idea it can be solved in the foreseeable future.

Obama and Mitchell have every incentive to strike a Middle East deal - both to vindicate themselves and, in their minds, to create a basis for further "progress." But there are few visible incentives for any particular substantive outcome - which is very troubling for Israel, since Mitchell's mission essentially replicates in high-profile form exactly the approach the State Department has followed for decades.

When appointed, Mitchell said confidently: "Conflicts are created, conducted and sustained by human beings. They can be ended by human beings." This is true, however, only if the conflict's substantive resolution is less important than the process point of "ending" it one way or another. Surrender, for example, is a guaranteed way to end conflict.

read it all

Watcher's Council Results, 3/13/09

The Council has spoken! A complete rundown of the voting tallies is here.

The winning entry in the Council category this week was The Provocateur for The Financial Crisis White Paper, a fine in depth look at how we got here and what we can do to move forward.

In second place was Mere Rhetoric with Four Theories Why Obama Is Throwing Britain Under The Bus, Omri's ideas on why the Obama Administration has acted in the way it did towards Britain.

Also getting votes was Joshuapundit for About Those Israeli ‘Settlements’

In the Non-Council category, the winner was This ongoing war - “I was born into a Bedouin tribe…” an account by an Israeli Arab of his life in Israeli society .

In second place, we had Zenpundit - Obama’s Foreign Policy Trifecta of Foolishness - an apt recap of the Obama Administration's efforts in this area to date.

As always, congratulations not only to the winners but to the participants.

Flushing Charles Freeman

As you know Charles Freeman withdrew his name from consideration as President Obama's Head of the National Intelligence Council yesterday.

Freeman chose to use the occasion to mouth off about how it was all the fault of those evil Jooos who were persecuting him, thus proving those people right who believed he was unfit for anything more demanding than being a paid Saudi hireling. Yet he still has his defenders, and a lot of the usual suspects have been absolutely bellowing over this supposed fresh evidence of the awesome power of the Zionist conspiracy, AKA the Israel Lobby.

Two particularly idiotic examples came from the WAPO's David Broder ("Chas Freeman's withdrawal is a loss for the country.") and from Salon's own Israel basher, Glen Greenwald.

Broder's turgid stupidity was adequately dealt with by an editorial editorial in his own paper ( h/t Soccer Dad)but let's look at this opening para to get a real sense of how silly the whole thing is:

The Obama administration has just suffered an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the lobbyists the president vowed to keep in their place, and their friends on Capitol Hill. The country has lost an able public servant in an area where President Obama has few personal credentials of his own -- the handling of national intelligence.

And Chas Freeman's intelligence credentials that would entitle him to analyze a myriad of intel reports and prepare summaries directly for the president?

Zip. Nada, Zero. Nichevo. Nothing. No intel experience whatsoever.

Freeman's nothing but a pro-Arab lackey and Foggy Bottom hack whom the Obama Administration picked for one reason and one reason only - because it would please the Arabs and especially the Saudis, which seems to be the reason behind a lot of the things President Obama does.

Salon's Glen Greenwald at least attempts to make some kind of a cogent argument, amidst Protocols of Zion-type fantasies of a secret Jewish conspiracy manipulating Congress like puppets on a string:

One last point on Freeman: it's certainly true that some of the objections to Freeman had nothing to do with Israel and were motivated by claims that he was too close to the Saudi government or too soft on the Chinese, though is there anyone -- anywhere -- who believes that the controversy over a relatively obscure appointment of this type, not subject to Senate confirmation, would have received anything approaching this level of attention without Freeman's criticisms of Israel driving it? {...)

Compared to the involvement with the Saudis of the Bush family, which ran the country for many years -- or even the financial ties to foreign countries on the part of the Clintons, one of whom currently runs the entire U.S. State Department -- Freeman's supposed financial ties to Saudi Arabia is dwarfed by many magnitudes. And if ties to Middle Eastern countries disqualified people from holding high political office, we wouldn't know the names Doug Feith or Elliot Abrams or Dennis Ross or even Rahm Emanuel

The thing here is that none of that matters, because Greenwald is pushing fallacious arguments. First of all, we all know about the Bush's and Clinton's ties to the Saudis and the UAE and some of us even know about Obama probable ties to the House of Saud. Does that make Freeman's ties OK? If there's a liquor store robbery and one guy gets away with most of the bills in in the register while another guy gets caught with the rolls of coins, and a couple of stolen six packs does that make any of it right ? Do we just let him get away with it because the other perps walked?

And comparing a shill for hire like Freeman with Ross, Feith, and Abrams? Is our pal Glen Greenwald suggesting that these people are regularly paid by Israel, that they have suspect dual loyalty simply because they're American Jews? Sounds like it to me, and it's a fairly despicable charge to make..although, considering the source, it's not exactly unexpected.

So what if AIPAC or even certain Congressmen were aghast at the idea of yet another anti-Israel jerk off in the Obama Administration with the President's ear? The position wasn't subject to Congressional approval, and if Obama wanted him that bad, there's nothing AIPAC or its pals in Congress could have done about it.

AIPAC and the 'Israel Lobby' didn't keep Charles Freeman out of the NIC, any more than they were able to get Obama to dump Susan Powers or keep the US from giving almost a billion dollars to Hamas. It was Barack Obama's decision to cut Freeman loose to save himself some political embarrassment once it went public that Freeman was a Saudi shill with no intelligence experience whatsoever, as well as one with some mighty suspicious connections. It was the combination that did Freeman in. One Leon Pannetta in a national security position is one too many. And Freeman's foaming at the mouth parting shot proved what a clueless amateur he really is.

And while we're on the subject, just why exactly is Greenwald twisting his panties about the idea of AIPAC and other pro-Israel voices making themselves heard and attempting to influence American policy while he obviously could give a rip about Freeman's close ties to the Saudis or the Chinese?

That's a question worth asking..although if you've read the sort of thing Greenwald usually writes about Israel, the answer's pretty obvious.

Freeman was just another self-seeking turd in the Washington fishbowl, with no qualifications for the job Obama wanted him in other than Freeman's close ties with the Saudis. We're better off with him flushed.

Border Sherrif Targeted By Obama Administration, Illegal Alien Lobby

The Obama Justice Department has launched an investigation of Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio on behalf of illegal alien lobby - For those of you who don't know, Sherrif Joe Arpaio is the highly popular top lawman in the border county of Maricopa, where illegal aliens have created major law enforcement problems.

Now, at the behest of ACORN, the National Day Laborer Organizer Network, some of the usual Democrat suspects like John Conyers (D-Mich.), Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), and Robert Scott (D-Va.)have requested that th eObama Justice Department investigate Sheriff Joe an dhis department for violating the civil rights of illegal aliens.

What, you thought non-citizen illegal aliens didn't have civil rights under US law? Are you serious?!

Here's what Sheriff Arpaio, his department and a handfuyl of ICE officers have done to try and plug the open sieve that is our southern border:

Concerning the DOJ’s investigation, Arpaio told CNSNews.com: “I will not back down. What I am doing is upholding the laws of the state of Arizona, and I will not be persuaded to turn my back on my oath of office as sheriff of this county.”

In an August 2008 press release, Arpaio's office detailed those results.

"While the Sheriff’s illegal immigration and human smuggling operations conducted on the streets and roadways here have netted nearly 2,300 arrests, another very successful effort to locate illegal aliens has been quietly happening inside Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s jails," the release said.

It continues: "Despite the growing criticism of the Sheriff’s illegal immigration fight by some valley politicians and activists, Sheriff Arpaio says 60 detention officers trained by ICE officials have conducted over 106,000 interviews and investigations of inmates booked into jail since April of 2007.

"In those 18 months, 16,000 inmates were determined to be illegal aliens. Either they have already been deported or will be deported after being tried and/or serving their sentences for crimes committed in the valley. The work being done be Arpaio’s detention staff is a likely contributor to the recent reduction in crime in the valley,” the press release added.

"That number of 16,000 represents a full one-third (1/3) of all inmates in the United States who have had holds placed on them after being identified by jail or prison officials as illegal aliens."

The press release goes on to say that 20 percent of inmates in the Maricopa County Jail are illegal aliens and that of those, 2,000 illegal aliens - 70 percent - were arrested for felony crimes.

Those felony crimes committed included the following: forgery, 12 percent; kidnapping, 10 percent; aggravated assault, 7 percent; driving under the influence, 7 percent; drug charges, 27 percent; robbery, 3 percent; murder, 3 percent; and theft, 4 percent.

Apparently the Obama Administration is siccing Homeland Security, bossed by ex-Arizona governor Janet Napolitano on Sheriff Joe's department as well, working from the angle of the training provided by ICE.

Hope n' Change 'n amnestia por todo! Wait and see.

JoshuaPundit's Headlines, 3/12/09

All the links you need and nothing you don't... make sure to check back for updates.

Obama Appoints John "American Taliban" Lindh's zealous lawyer, to the Justice Department's Civil Rights division. Tony West also, conveniently enough, helped raise $65 million for Obama in California as a state finance co-chair during the campaign. Whadda cowinkydink, hmmm? Maybe there's a Supreme Court judgeship or federal bench vacancy in it for the San Francisco based attorney eventually.

The White House Misfires on Limbaugh - Karl Rove, Wall Street Journal

The Obama Rosetta Stone - Daniel Henninger, Wall Street Journal

MADOFF PLEA: GUILTY... He's going away for a while.

Newsweek and Air America get married Sort of like arranging doubles for shuffle board on the Titanic...Well, at least even the pretense of 'news' and objectivity in Newsweak is officially a thing of the past.

Corporations head to low-tax Switzerland to escape Obama's tax increases... The flight of the golden goose...

Canadian Muslim given 10 year sentence over UK bomb plot

The Politico: Steele backs off abortion remarks — RNC Chairman Michael Steele stepped in it again.
After telling an interviewer he supports “individual choice” and state-level decisions on abortion, now he had an RNC spokesperson tell the media he in fact opposes abortion and supports a Constitutional ban!

Why he is falling into a media trap and getting involved in this controversy at all when his promary job is to rebuild the party is beyond me. Apparently a good many Republicans are more than a little disgruntled with his stumbling thus far. Word is that if Jim Tedesco doesn't win the special election for NY Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's old House seat Steele is outta there.

Quinnipiac University: Christie Opens 9-Point Lead Over Corzine In NJ Gov Race, Quinnipiac University New Jersey Poll shows that Christopher Christie, the Republican challenger in this year's New Jersey Governor's race, leads Democratic incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine ..can it be that the people of New Jersey are finally fed up?

Power Line: BAGHDAD IN NPR'S PARALLEL UNIVERSE — "The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President Bush has been sentenced to three years in prison. The sentence seems harsh to me (a fine might have been sufficient), but I'm the last person who would presume to judge a great Arab culture..."

UK approves visit of Hezbollah official - terrorist? What terrorist?

Shari'a making inroads in the West

Australia threatens 'Durban II' boycott - Good-o, mates. Don't let the UN drongos get away with giving Israel a rum go!

Demjanjuk charged in 29,000 murders - Germany wants this scumbag former concentration camp guard extradicted..it's about time.

Netanyahu as prime minister - déjà vu? - Daniel Pipes' latest

Grading Obama...The Tribe Is Speaking!

There's an interesting online poll out, offering readers a chance to grade Obama's performance so far. With 259,205 votes in so far , here's how the Chosen One stacks up...

I'd give him an A: 80,609 votes or 31.1%

I'd give him a B: 23,741 votes, 9.2%

I'd give him a C: 18,416 votes , 7.1%

I'd give him a D: 41,099 votes, 15.9%

I'd give him an F: 95,340 votes or 36.8%!

Notice that the D and F votes add up to 52.7%. It's so sad to see a love affair start to go down the tubes...not.

And the kicker? This is an MSNBC poll!!

By the way, feel free to click on the link and give Obama the grade he deserves. The Lefty blogs are already panicking and urging their sordid minions onward to preserve the One's inflated rep.

UPDATE: WSJ: Economists Give Obama and Geithner failing grades as well...

Watcher's Council Nominations, 3/11/09

The Watcher's Council is a group of some of the most incisive blogs in the`sphere. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one of their own and one from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council.

So, let's see what we have this week....and do check out the Watcher's take on Barack Obama, the ultimate weasel...


COUNCIL

Joshuapundit - About Those Israeli ‘Settlements’ There has been a lot of verbiage from the Arab league, the Palestinians, the UN, the EU and the Obama Administration ( including Mid East envoy George Mitchell and Secretary of State Clinton) about those so-called Israeli 'settlements' and what an obstacle to peace they are. Are they really? Or is this an indication of exactly the opposite, signalling that Jews have no real rights in the Middle East and are not to be tolerated except grudgingly?


The Provocateur - The Financial Crisis White Paper - Mike gives us an in depth view of his thoughts on the current financial crisis, what caused it, why the Obama administration's actions have worsened it, and how we can get out of it.

The Razor - The Failure of Non-violence in Tibet Ah, I liked this one. Advocates of non-violence have long used Gandhi's campaign against the British in India as an example of what a winning startegy it is. As Scott points out, what worked against a liberal British democracy with a free press struggling with the post-WWII era is an abject failure in other circumstances, with occupied Tibet's struggle for even limited autonomy from China as an example.

During the Holocaust, Gandhi actually lectured Europe's Jews, saying they should use his non-violence techniques against the Nazis, if necessary "baring their breasts to be slaughtered" . That may give some of you an alternate view of how saintly and intelligent Mahatma Gandhi actually was.

Soccer Dad - A first for freeman - The Obama administration nominated Charles Freeman for head of the National Intelligence Council , a sensitive post that overseas and prepares national Intelligence summaries for the eyes of the president. Aside from having zero intelligence background and thoroughly poisonous views on Israel, Iran and the Middle East, Freeman has such close financial ties to the Saudis and the Chinese that he should literally be compelled to register as a foreign lobbyist and agent. He should have been precluded from a position of this nature, and Congress was entirely correct in leading opposition that finally compelled the Obama Administration to get him to withdraw his name from consideration.

Soccer Dad recounts this sordid story in detail, including the fact that this shill blamed his problems on 'the Israel Lobby' instead of his own compromising connections.

The Glittering Eye - Chicago Foreclosures - Dave Schuler took some time out from his civic duty as a poll watcher and trying to keep warm during a Chicago winter to ponder a pattern of foreclosures in his neighborhood and what it might portend.

Cheat-Seeking Missiles - Oh,Happy Day! Laer rejoices in the well deserved stoning of dhimmi Brit MP George Galloway and his pals in Egypt on the way to deliver supplies to Hamas. Pity they weren't dodging M-16 rounds instead.

Right Truth - Poll on World Equal Rights for Women - Debie Hamilton parses world wide poll results on women's equality.

Bookworm Room - A couple of thoughts about the American Revolution - Ms. Bookworm watched the DVD of the recent John Adams biography and weighs in on the nature of our revolution, revolutionary movements in general, and the similarities and differences between the Founding Fathers and Hamas. (!!)

The Colossus of Rhodey - National Review Online’s Top 25 Conservative Movies of the Last Quarter Century - Hube has his list...and comments on NRO's.

Mere Rhetoric - Four Theories Why Obama Is Throwing Britain Under The Bus - Omri notes the amateurish and boorish behavior of the current occupant of the White House towards Britain's prime minister and some of our other allies he mentioned ( India, Israel) and provides four theories to explain it.

Actually, I think there's some substance in all of them, but I think the overiding reason is one he doesn't mention - Obama's apparent desire to prostrate US policy in favor of the Muslim world ....where Britain is still thought of as a colonial power and occupier.


NON-COUNCIL

Submitted By: The Provocateur - The Washington Post - Tim Geithner’s $2 Trillion Black Hole

Submitted By: The Razor - The Economist - Lexington: Anger Management

Submitted By: Joshuapundit - Gateway Pundit - Cuba Si, Colombia No?

Submitted By: Soccer Dad - This ongoing war - “I was born into a Bedouin tribe…”

Submitted By: The Glittering Eye - Zenpundit - Obama’s Foreign Policy Trifecta of Foolishness

Submitted By: Cheat-Seeking Missiles - Pat Dollard - The Founding Fathers Would Want Obama to Fail

Submitted By: Right Truth - Biga’s Rants at Townhall.com - We are divided. So Be it.

Submitted By: Bookworm Room - Tne Mudville Gazette - Diversions (III)

Submitted By: The Colossus of Rhodey - kavips - kavipsian Economic Table of Contents

Submitted By: Mere Rhetoric - The Investigative Project On Terrorism - Are Acts of Staged Controversy an Islamist Strategic Tactic?

Submitted By: The Watcher - American Thinker - The New American Class Structure

The New Vast Left Wing Conspiracy

Yes, it definitely exists....:

The vast new left-wing conspiracy sets its tone every morning at 8:45 a.m., when officials from more than 20 labor, environmental and other Democratic-leaning groups dial into a private conference call hosted by two left-leaning Washington organizations.

The “8:45 A.M. call,” as it’s referred to by members, began three weeks ago, and it marks a new level in coordination by the White House’s allies at a time when the conservative opposition is struggling for a toe-hold and major agenda items like health care reform appear closer than ever to passage.

The call has helped attempts to link the Republican Party to radio host Rush Limbaugh, and has served as the launching ground for attacks on critics of Obama’s policy proposals. It springs from a recognition of what was lacking in the Clinton years, said Jennifer Palmieri, the senior vice president for communications at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, one of the groups hosting the call.

“[CAP President John] Podesta’s and my experience was in the White House during the Clinton years, and we didn’t have a coordinated echo chamber on the outside backing us up,” she said. “There’s a real interest on the progressive side for groups to want to coordinate with each other and leverage each other’s work in a way I haven’t ever seen before.”

The call is hosted by Progressive Media, a project of the CAP Action Fund and the Media Matters Action Fund. The project began last year as a launching pad for attacks on John McCain, but failed to raise money for television advertisements, and served in the later days of the presidential campaign as a platform for disseminating opposition research critical of his policy plans. White House officials do not take part in the calls.

And if you believe that last sentence, I've got a bridge to sell you.

These efforts are likely funded by George Soros and his pal Peter Lewis. Here's an example of how they work the White House enemies list:

The calls are led by its top staffer, Tara McGuinness, who will also head Progressive Media’s “communications research and analysis war room” to wage spin and policy wars throughout the day, Palmieri said.

The call has proved particularly effective at coordinating attacks on critics, said Jackie Schechner, the national communications director for Health Care for America Now, a labor-backed alliance of groups that support Democratic efforts to expand health care.

“There’s a coordination in terms of exposing the people who are trying to come out against reform —they’ve all got backgrounds and histories and pasts, and it’s not taking long to unearth that and to unleash that, because we’re all working together,” Schechner said.

When a new group called Conservative for Patients Rights, for instance, launched an ad campaign featuring former health care executive Rick Scott, “There was a discussion about what do we know about this guy and in a very quick period of time we were able to come up with his background,” she said.

When Betsy McCaughey, best known for her attacks on Clinton’s 1993 health care plan, published a column criticizing Obama, groups on the call coordinated attacks on her recalling questions about her 1993 article and noting her seat on the board of a medical device maker, in which she also owned stock.

The results of the new coordination are perhaps most obvious in the ongoing effort to saddle the Republican Party and its allies with radio host Rush Limbaugh’s hope that Obama “fails.” The Center for American Progress’s blog seized on Limbaugh’s “fail” comment early, as did congressional Democrats, and participants in the call drove it well beyond its obvious political range.

Media Matters, for instance, launched a “Limbaugh Wire” http://mediamatters.org/limbaughwire/; and even the League of Conservation Voters Tuesday released a video in which Limbaugh’s attacks on conservation and global warming theory are played over the talking heads of Republican leaders.

Though White House officials do not participate in the calls, Palmieri said, the new infrastructure is closely tied to the White House. Podesta directed Obama’s transition, and Americans United for Change exists largely to run ads promoting the White House agenda.

Just like Joe the Plumber or Sarah Palin. Deviate from Leftist orthodoxy or criticize Obama and your life, your privacy, your family and your livlyhood will come under attack. They will burn you at the stake.

And to think..these are the people who use 'McCarthyism' as a swear word!

Think of this as one more wakeup call.

The answer is to ignore 'bi-partisanship' except when it matches conservative priciples, bridge the gaps and organize, exactly as these genuinely misguided ideologues have done.

It's been thirty years since the Carter Administration and people have forgotten what really inept government feels like. They're in the process of learning that lesson again, and our responsibility is to provide a pathway out of it. Like Rahm Emanuel said, never waste a crisis.

And afterwards, hold our own to the same strict standard.

We have a country to save.

A Musical Tribute To President Obama

The perfect soundtrack...thanks to Okie for reminding me of this one..

Slo-Joe Biden Weighs In On Afghanistan

Hooo boy.

Vice President Biden has joined the parade of Obamanistas calling the war in Afghanistan a losing proposition:

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden urged NATO members Tuesday to jointly confront al-Qaida and other extremist groups in Afghanistan where he said instability threatens all of the alliance's members equally.

Biden told the allies the United States was open to talks with Taliban moderates as part of a new approach, echoing comments made by President Barack Obama over the weekend.

"It is worth engaging and determining whether or not there are those who are willing to participate in a secure and stable Afghan state," Biden said.


Biden solicited ideas from European allies during a one-day round of talks at NATO and EU headquarters on amending a troubled military strategy in Afghanistan and bringing more allies on board to fight the Taliban-led insurgency.

Biden told NATO's top decision-making body that the situation in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan was worsening, adding, "The deteriorating situation in the region poses a security threat from our respect not just to the United States, but to every single nation around this table."

"It was from that remote area of the world that al-Qaida plotted 9/11 and subsequent attacks" in Europe and elsewhere.

I especially liked the EU's answer to Slo-Joe's pronouncement that the US would consider a terrorist attack on its NATO buddies as an attack on America.

Their response? They agreed to provide more police trainers, judges and other judicial experts to Afghanistan! Yeah, lawyers...they can sue the Taliban and Lakshmi al Taiba to death!

You can't make this stuff up.

OK, sarcasm aside, Slo-Joe has it right in the broad sense - Pakistan and Afghanistan are part of the same problem. But talking with the 'moderate' Taliban? To the extent they exist, they're not same guys who are waging war against our troops and sheltering al-Qaeda. And when you have both whatever remains of the Pakistani government caving in to them left and right and both Obama and Biden saying that we're losing the war and things are deteriorating, just why would they have anything to gain from 'talks' unless it gave them exactly what they wanted - us out of Afghanistan and a free hand to take over again? And why would any of the Taliban feel obligated to keep any deal made with ferenghis and infidels?

Slo-Joe is like his master...not real swift on the uptake when it comes to foreign policy. And I would question the wisdom of publicly yakking about how bad things are while our troops are still in the field. Aside from encouraging our enemies to even greater efforts and more intransigence, it has a certain effect on any Afghans thinking of betting on our side.You would think you could expect a bit more from a commander in chief and his vice president, even if they are Democrats.

For that matter, the Obama Administration made another little noticed signal that we may be pulling out of Afghanistan sooner than later ( h/t Bookworm).

The linked article mentions that we're pulling 17,000 U.S. troops out of Iraq and sending them to Afghanistan...except it looks like maybe that was just more Obama razzle dazzle for the media.

As milblogger Greyhawk notes, it looks like we're not actually pulling any troops out of Iraq at all..and there's no certainty that we're actually sending more boots on the ground to Afghanistan.

My guess is that Obama is looking for a graceful way out.

Another Obama Nominee Bites The Dust

Charles 'Chas' Freeman was the Obama Administration's pick to head the National Intelligence Council, a key position because the head of the NIC directly prepares the intelligence summaries for the president.

Freeman was a particularly foul choice.

Freeman has no intelligence experience whatsoever,joining Leon Pannetta, the political fixer and bagman now in charge of our CIA.

He's also an ex-diplomat who's a recipient of the Saudi government pension augmentation plan I mentioned before, and as you would imagine, he's extremely anti-Israel.

Freeman is on record as saying that the main reason for Islamic terrorism directed at America is our support for Israel, who he likewise blames entirely for the situation in the Middle East.Freeman has said that the US should deal directly and support genocidal groups like Hamas and Hezbollah as "part of the world order the United States wants to see," and as you might imagine, he's part of a growing pro-Iran lobby in Washington DC.

He also has significant connections with the Chinese government, saying that China did not move fast enough in crushing dissidents in Tien An Min Square and characterized a revolt by Tibetans against the Chinese occupation of their country as a 'race riot.' Coincidentally, he sat on the board of a Chinese state oil company at the time and for all I know still does.

This was the sort of creature the Obama Administration wanted to put in a high security position overseeing the nation's intelligence reports.

With the exception of Bret Stephens at the Wall Street Journal, hardly any of the dinosaur media could be bothered with reporting on this story...but eventually the stench got too bad for even Congress to avoid dealing with this, and Freeman obviously withdrew his name rather than generate additional publicity on the Obama Administration's failure to vet this man.Admiral Dennis Blair, the man who officially submitted his name was given the task of falling on his sword and taking the blame.

Hot Air has some more details on why Freeman was made to pull out.

It says something for the essential, innate decency of America that even with a relatively anti-Israel Democrat administration in the White House and given all the money the House of Saud is able to spread around, this one didn't slip through the cracks.

It also says something about the basic nature of the Obama Administration that they would attempt to shove this one through. Unbelievable.

hat tip Carl in Jerusalem and Hot Air

Hey, It's Purim!!

And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword....And the Lord said unto Moses, "Write this for a memorial in the book and tell it unto the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven..the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation."- Exodus 17:14

That's the way the Big Boys talked in the old days,when conversations with the Lord were commonplace and Amalek and his pals were freely labeled as the rabid dogs they were for picking off stragglers and attacking and killing Jews out of hand just for the pure sport and profit of it as the Jews moved through the desert after leaving Pharaoh's Egypt. No illusions there...you have to defeat evil, not negotiate with it. G-d said so,and He most likely knew what He was talking about.In any event He'd been right enough times so that Moses, Aaron and Joshua weren't about to argue the point.They defeated Amalek and then proceeded on their way in peace.

Nowadays, the UN would be thumping for a state for Amalek and shrugging off the murder of Jewish women and children as 'resistance'. For that matter,the current occupant of the White House and his secretary of state would be leading the charge for an Amalek-stan, and giving them millions in foreign aid while warning the Jews against a 'disproportionate response.'

Note another thing about the above passage...it says there will be war with Amalek from generation to generation,and gives the Jews the responsibility of fighting in that war to defeat evil wherever it rears its ugly head.

The Jews commemorate one victory over a latter day manifestation of Amalek tonight when they celebrate Purim, the victory of Queen Esther and Mordecai over the evil Haman, who tried to manipulate the King of Persia into signing on to the murder, enslavement and plunder of every Jew in Persia.

The Megillah, which is read in every synagogue in the world at Purim relates how Queen Esther,wife of the king could have reacted the way a great many people would have, by simply pretending that what was going on didn't concern her,and rationalizing it. Instead, she realized that a threat to her people was a threat to her, even as high up and removed as the King's palace. She took the commandment to battle Amalek to heart and risked her life and position to defeat Haman and his evil allies and, along with her brother Mordecai, lead her people to victory.

Purim is preceeded by a fast in honor of Esther, and then, it's party time.Many Jews observe the custom of sending a special basket of goodies to friends and family, the megillah reading is a noisy and joyous affair especially loved by children, celebrations and costumes abound, and even a bit of liquid libation is quite common..



Think of it a sort of like the Jewish equivalent of carnival.

As far as I'm concerned, Purim may have special meaning for the Jews, but it ought to belong to the whole world. It'a a joyous fete celebrating the triumph over evil.

And I'll let my pal Yakov at Dry Bones let you in on a little something, the hidden joke of the whole holiday:



Purim Sameach!

What's The Going Price for An Idiotic, Self-Hating Quisling These Days?

And of course, I mean to ask the question of none other than the New York Time's Roger Cohen.

Last week's brilliance from Cohen concerned how good them Jooos have it in Iran a column that anyone with any actual knowledge and experience with this subject let him know that was absolute horse manure.It really doesn't take much intelligence to figure out that a New York Times columnist going to a dictatorship like Iran and meeting some of the locals under government supervision is not exactly going to get the real story, does it?

This week, he surpasses even that idiocy. Looking at the UK's overtures towards Hezbollah, he likes the idea of the west interacting with genocidal terrorists and says that the US should follow this lead and deal directly with Hamas and Hezbollah...and never mind about those nasty little sticking points of call for the extermination of Israel, or in the case of Hamas, of Jews worldwide:

The 1988 Hamas Charter is vile, but I think it’s wrong to get hung up on the prior recognition of Israel issue. Perhaps Hamas is sincere in its calls for Israel’s disappearance — although it has offered a decades-long truce — but then it’s also possible that Israel in reality has no desire to see a Palestinian state.

One view of Israel’s continued expansion of settlements, Gaza blockade, West Bank walling-in and wanton recourse to high-tech force would be that it’s designed precisely to bludgeon, undermine and humiliate the Palestinian people until their dreams of statehood and dignity evaporate.

The argument over recognition is in the end a form of evasion designed to perpetuate the conflict.

It's hard to read this garbage with anything like a serious intent- 'perhaps Hamas is sincere in it's call for Israel's disappearance'? Whatever would have made this idiot think they weren't? And it's not just Israel by the way, Roger ol' chum - it's all Jews worldwide. Curiously apropos for today's Purim celebration... like Mordecai told Queen Esther, don't think that if the Jews are destroyed that you're somehow going to miss the barbecue.

And that decades long truce - it was a temporary ceasefire, and one Hamas never adhered to in the slightest. And just why would you believe people with genocide in mind would bother over a little thing like keeping their word to a bunch of non-believers? Why would he expect 'negotiations' to succeed when one side doesn't even recognize the others' right to exist?

The bit about blaming the the so-called settlements for the lack of peace is especially ludicrous. I suppose the war Arafat launched against Israel's civilians had nothing to do with it? Does Cohen actually think the blockade of Gaza would exist if Hamas wasn't a bunch of genocidal maniacs and they weren't launching rockets at Israel? And as far as the Jewish communities that exist in land the Palestinians claim they want as a state...why does it matter which side of a border Jews live on unless the Palestinian's intention really are genocidal? If the Palestinians are serious about peace why would Jews in 'Palestine' be in any more danger than the Arabs who live in Israel? And if the Arabs are unable to live next to Jews peacefully are why should Israel give them another dunam of land or a single concession?

I won't bother with the rest of Cohen's crap..it's just too stupid and betrays a total ignorance of the Middle East and it's history. Unfortunately, his viewpoint likely coincides with that of the Obama Administration.

So we return to my original question...exactly where did they find Roger Cohen? Did they run a classified for a suicidal anti-Israel jihad friendly Jew? Or was he already someone they knew would fit their requirements?

I'm guessing the latter. In any case, it amazes me what you can buy for a little money and recognition these days.

Are You A Socialist, Obama? Well A-Hum-Ah, Uh.. No...

Our president apparently found time in his busy schedule to call a bunch of reporters to obsess about a question that was asked of him by the New York Times, no less.Are you a socialist?:

"It was hard for me to believe that you were entirely serious about that socialist question," he told reporters, who had interviewed the president aboard Air Force One on Friday.

Opening the unusual presidential call to reporters by saying that there was "just one thing I was thinking about as I was getting on the copter," he said it wasn't he who started the federal government's intervention into the nation's financial system.

"I did think it might be useful to point out that it wasn’t under me that we started buying a bunch of shares of banks. It wasn’t on my watch. And it wasn’t on my watch that we passed a massive new entitlement -– the prescription drug plan -- without a source of funding. And so I think it’s important just to note when you start hearing folks throw these words around that we’ve actually been operating in a way that has been entirely consistent with free-market principles and that some of the same folks who are throwing the word 'socialist' around can’t say the same."

The New York Times asked, "So whose watch are we talking about here?" but Obama wouldn't name names.

"Well, I just think it’s clear by the time we got here, there already had been an enormous infusion of taxpayer money into the financial system. And the thing I constantly try to emphasize to people if that coming in, the market was doing fine, nobody would be happier than me to stay out of it. I have more than enough to do without having to worry the financial system. The fact that we’ve had to take these extraordinary measures and intervene is not an indication of my ideological preference, but an indication of the degree to which lax regulation and extravagant risk taking has precipitated a crisis."

He concluded the brief call by saying, "I think that covers it."

The phone call came after the president was asked aboard his plane: "Are you a socialist as some people have suggested?"

He was clear in his first answer: "You know, let’s take a look at the budget – the answer would be no."

"Is there anything wrong with saying, 'Yes'?" a Times reporter pressed.

"Let’s just take a look at what we’ve done," Obama said, ticking off efforts his administration has made to stabilize the economy. But he acknowledged that, as he told Joe the Plumber, he plans to try to spread the wealth around.

As you listen to the audio, it's obvious the Chosen One is winging this one without his teleprompter, which gives him a distinct air of...disbelivability, just slinging it out there in hopes it will fly. And you'll note that he didn't provide any specifics on why he wouldn't be regarded as a socialist.

And when the question that was asked 'who's watch is it' he ducked it.

Can't blame Bush forever, Mister President. The chickens gotta come home to roost sometime.