The honeymoon period for President Barack Obama is more than just over, as alluded to in “Change Your Expectations” (Jan. 20). In fact, the plane crashed on the way back from Hawaii. The end of the beginning can be seen in a stimulus package that was so good, it may need repetition (someone please explain that to me). Next we can see faults on the international stage. In 2009 we saw four ‘solid’ deadlines on Iran’s clearly militaristic nuclear agenda that vaporized when it came time to doing anything real like issue sanctions. At the same time we saw a halt to all progress in Middle East peace while Obama stated this past week that, when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, “this is just really hard.” Then somewhere between the nearly successful Christmas day bomb attempt and the healthcare proposal being rammed down our throats, the good people of Massachusetts actually elected a Republican Senator. The state bluer than Papa Smurf himself, with three registered Democrats to every Republican, decided that DC was just too liberal. If that isn’t a message that the Hope-train has hit a Reality-bump, I don’t know what is.
Joel Taubman
SEAS I
What is the world is the point of this letter? To make yourself feel good about being a Republican? As a Jewish person, who considers himself a humanitarian and a promoter of humanity (not Israel, not Palestine, just humanity itself), I would agree with Obama’s assessment that the situation “is really hard.” Was that an attempt to mock Obama? Because it didn’t work.
You want to talk about a “nearly successful Christmas day bomb attempt”? Give me a break. No one died. Over 3000 people died on 9/11. A republican was in office.
Remember that your party is the one with bigots, confederate flags, war mongerers, religious freaks, and worst of all, neoconservatives (i.e. jewish americans who want American foreign policy to reflect what is in the best interest of ISRAEL, and not what is in the best interest of the USA – it is undoubtedley true that America’s presence in the middle east is to the benefit of Israal – hence Lieberman’s support for the Iraq war.)
Is sanctioning Iran to the benefit of the USA? In my opinion, the answer is undoubtedly NO. Of course it benefits Israel, because Iran is a threat to Israel. You will never convince me that Iran is a threat to the USA in any way shape or form. They are not. Why should we do Israel’s dirty work for them? Let them do it. Let them be the country engaged in war, not us. I would respect you neocons (krautheimer, william kristol, and the rest of the fox news jews) a hell of lot more if you just admitted that your allegiance is not 100 percent with the USA, that it is partly with Israel. Oh wait, the Israeli Lobby can never be spoken about..
For the record, I do not support Obama and I don’t think he has been a very good president. That said, I would much rather have him in office than some neocon who starts wars, wants to destroy half the middle east, and doesn’t value human life in general. That’s what I came away with after the years 2001-2008. It seems to my that people like you (always talking about the supposed threat that Iran is), just want war. I just can’t come to any other conclusion.
-A libertarian – against bailouts, stimulus packages, universal healthcare, overspending wars, the confederate flag (in practice, not policy. I’m still for the 1st amendment), the Israel Lobby, and Dick Cheney.
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Ok, Mr. Yup. So it is clear that you are an anti-semitic bigot, who obviously hates all Jews, and sees a “world wide Jewish conspiracy” based on the appearence of Fox News. (Sounds a lot like Hitler and Goebbels, but you are probably too igniorant of history to realize that). You tolerate and excuse suicide bombers and cretins who would blow planes out of mid-air. You almost seem sorry that the latest al-Qaeda plot did not succeed! Why is that? Is it because you have such hatred for America and western society? Read Bernard Lewis’ “What Went Wrong” (among others) so you can see how the once proud arab traditions got lost in a dark ages of ignorance from which they have never recovered. What does Saudi Arabia export besides black goo from the ground and suicide bombers? Israel exports microchips, medicines, life saving technologies. Which is the failed society?
This brings us back to Obama and the original letter. He is weak and pathetic, the entire world is already laughing at him. Iran does threaten the world and its neighbors (just ask the Saudis and Jordanians). Obama weakenly “mirandized” the underwear bomber who promptly became silent, and now Obama’s own national security advisor (Blair) says that was a mistake. Obama tried to bully Israel, but where was his bullying of Hamas and Hezbollah which stock missiles and rockets pointed at Israel. Did Obama really think that ploy against a valuable allie would bring them to the “peace” table? I could go on and on, but you are obviously blinded by your anti-semitism, anti-Americanism and Bush-hatred.
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What exactly did I say that was anti-semitic – fox news jews – I don’t believe that’s anti semitic in any way, shape, or form. Please point this out. How does critiquing the power of the Israel Lobby, or critiquing Israel in general = anti semitism? Your insistence on equating Israel with jewish people is racist. I am jewish, but I am not Israeli.
You put so many words in my mouth, its unthinkable. Let me start: “so it is clear that you are an anti-semitic bigot, who obviously hates all Jews, and sees a ‘world wide Jewish conspiracy.’” So I guess I hate my mom (the one from the Bronx, whose family was kicked out of Spain during the inquisition, and whose family settled in Turkey for 400 years before coming to America). For the record, the only Jews I hate are the republicans ones who want to kill all the Arabs (like you Ms. Moshe).
I was also wondering: What does Saudia Arabia have to do with anything? And why are you telling me the difference between Israel and Saudia Arabia. I was talking about Israel’s influence over US policy with regards to Iraq and Iran, nothing else. I couldn’t care less about the merits of each country. I care about the United States and humanity, nothing else.
Finally, please don’t act like going to the “peace table” is a bad thing. Ploy or no ploy on Obama’s part, peace is a good thing. Don’t lose sight of that. Also please tell me how advocating for less war and more peace = Anti Americanism? That would imply that Americanism = more war and less peace.
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I was not originally going to reply to Mr. Yup who declines to share his name, however I believe the submission of Gershon prompts me to give a reply. The purpose of submitting my letter was obviously to respond to the article I noted in my submission. This editorial mentioned some of Obama’s failings, but also attempted to say that he has done some things well. I think he has done almost nothing right since entering office and has let no crisis go unexploited.
As for Obama’s admission that the situation in the Middle East is really hard, I would agree that this is so. It is too bad Obama made the situation intractable by not realizing this earlier. Whether he believed he could do what no president from Truman until today could do is irrelevant. It was the methods he used. Upon entering office he made it his policy that Israel must freeze all settlement activity, period. Not even the Palestinian Authority(PA) would call for such a thing because it was assumed that many of the settlements which lie in the suburbs of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv would become part of Israel. What Obama failed to understand back then was that the PA, like all Arab governing bodies has to maintain good relations with the ‘Arab street.’ As soon as the Arab Street saw that the US had taken such a radical position, they immediately demanded that their leader, Mahmoud Abbas, do the same. Hence, even though Obama in all his wisdom realized the error of his ways, Abbas was unable to back down without his rule being toppled. Obama took one of the most successful negotiation processes between Israel and the PA and brought it to a halt. And only now does he realize that the problem might have been more difficult than he could handle.
9/11 (which could not be called Bush’s fault by any stretch of the imagination), was a wake up call. The Christmas day plot should also be a wakeup call. It was not the fault of Obama, however one cannot argue that the brain drain caused by the Left’s berating of our intelligence establishment did not contribute.
On the next issue, Mr Yup’s clear hatred for all things remotely Republican, I defer to Mr. Moshe.
On the subject of international relations, Mr. Yup is clearly blind. His libertarian views on the economy are respectable. However the isolationism that comes with it is nearly intolerable. He cannot believe, understanding market forces, that actions in Iran have no affect on the United States. Case in point, before 9/11 the most successful terrorist group in terms of number of Americans killed was Hezbollah. The group is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Americans (including Marines and embassy personnel outside of Lebanon). This group is rooted in Iran’s current theory of government and is directly supported by Iran. Iran, the same country that intelligence experts say could build a nuclear truck bomb in a year. The same country that squelches opposition with violence and blacklists students who associate with this movement. Action and reaction happen in the market and on the world stage. Ignoring Iran’s influence does not make it go away.
As for Mr. Yup’s strikes on George W. Bush’s record, the war arguments lead to merely an endless circle of accusations and is not worth my trouble or Mr. Yup’s. On that point I will agree to disagree. However diluting oneself to believe that Bush wants to destroy half of the Middle East and has no regard for human life is beyond ignorant. It shows only that one makes categorical judgement based on far less than all the facts. We are talking about the President whose administration did more to prevent AIDS and other diseases in Africa than any before it.
I would like to end on common ground, even if Mr. Yup does not. Obama’s domestic policy has struck a chord. I would note that Mr. Yup did not address my berating of Healthcare being rammed down our collective throats nor does he address the subject of failed stimulus. He merely states once again that he is a libertarian. My advice is to be a libertarian on domestic policy, but never that isolationist on the world stage. My only question to Mr. Yup is to ask why he writes his piece. If he thinks it is a bad idea to ‘vent’ or damn a specific group for perceived failings in this manner, then why does he spend half of his space damning everything Republican categorically?
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I will note that I did not see Yup’s second post when I submitted my post. There is a complete lack of knowledge that is shown by not realizing the dynamic between Saudi Arabia and a possibly nuclear armed Iran. As for the ‘peace table,’ whether Gershon (male Hebrew name, not female) wishes for both parties to sit at it is obvious. He clearly wishes that Obama had not driven both sides away. I can only assume that he calls Mr. Yup names such as antisemitic for two simple reasons. One, that Yup used such inflammatory language against Republicans categorically. The second is Yup’s clear distaste or apathy for the idea of a Jewish national home despite his religious background. Any Jew attuned to world events can easily see that anti-zionism is the new face of antisemitism.
(Note: Zionism is nothing less or more than Jewish Nationalism, the belief in a Jewish homeland. No different from Arab, Iranian, Palestinian, American, or British Nationalism)
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Actually, this is a very good response Joel. I probably didn’t take into account that letters to the editor are supposed to be short, making a nuanced explanation almost impossible.
That said, I do believe there are a significant number of Republican policymakers (and shapers of modern conservative thought – i.e. Beck, O’Reilly, Hannity, Limbaugh) who really would would wipe out the middle east if they could. This is what I come away with when I watch Fox News (admittedly it shits on MSNBC and CNN), especially when watching William Kristol, Bill O’Reilly, Rudy Guiliani, or Karl Rove). Here’s an example: O’Reilly says “you know as a soldier, we can’t kill all the muslims, so we want to win as many hearts and minds of good-hearted muslims” That very clearly implies he would kill all the muslims if he could. http://rawstory.com/rawreplay/?p=4275 And you talk about brain drain on the left?
With regards to Iran, I simply don’t believe they are a threat to my family, my friends, or anyone else in America. Are they a threat Israel and its neighbors? yes definitely. I simply don’t care because I don’t believe its America’s job to “police the world”, as Ron Paul would say. I believe America should take action when it is directly threatened, and in no other situation. Vietnam should have taught us that you don’t go to war based on what a nation might do, or based on notion that a form of gov’t (communism) might spread.
On a final note, your last point is true. thanks for calling me out on my hypocrisy.
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I just saw your second post.
I do consider myself anti-zionist, but I do not think that makes me anti-semitic. There is a lot of debate among jews about whether anti-zionism = anti-semitism. I do not believe they are the same in any way, shape, or form.
With regards to Zionism, your definition is missing one very aspect: Zionism is both a POLITICAL and religious movement – whereas British and American Nationalism are purely political movements. Zionism mixes politics with the idea of the “chosen people” and their right to the land of Israel (according to God). I’m not against the religious movement in and of itself; I’m against the politicizing of that religious movement.
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http://www.motherbird.com/no_New_%20Anti-Semitism.html
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Mr. Yup, here’s my last post, and I will end on this note: You claim that “There is a lot of debate among Jews about whether anti-zionism = anti-semitism. I do not believe they are the same in any way, shape, or form.” I beg to differ with you, and it is sadly clear that you know NOTHING about the religion of which you claim to be (or perhaps are) a member. Have you ever been to Israel to see the wonders that have been created there???, or do you just rely on Mother Jones and other left wing trash for your anti-Israel/anti-Jewish beliefs? I suggest you open a prayer book (called a siddur) or a book of Jewish Psalms (called Tehillim), all of which are filled with the love of Zion and a longing for the establishment of a homeland for Jews in Jerusalem. (“If I forget thee o Jerusalem, let my right hand wither and my tongue cleave to my palate.” Ever hear that one???). Moreover, I suggest you take some biblical history courses while you are at UVA, where you will learn that Jews had a homeland in Israel for a thousand years, but were banished by the Babylonians (450BCE), only to return and rebuild, whereupon they were exiled by the Greeks, the Romans, and further repressed and denied a homeland by a series of Mamluks, Crusaders, Ottomans, Nazis and Europeans. But never once in this 2000 year diaspora did a single Jew ever stop yearning for Zion. You know nothing about your own history and the history of your people, but it is not too late to learn. For all but the very ignorant few, Judaism IS Zionism. By equating Zionism with some evil malign force, you give succor to islamic fascists, suicide bombers, evil men who enslave women in burkas, and holocaust deniers. Ask yourself whether you like being in such company, and go read a few books, it wouldn’t hurt. (Try “From Time Immemorial,” that’s a good primer for know-nothings.)
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Last Post.
For me, being Jewish is an ethnicity. It is not a religion for me as I don’t believe in god. I consider it part of my blood. I don’t care for a history lesson and I don’t care about what the Babylonians did. I care about the here and now and the ways in which the immediate past and future affect us. I do not think Zionism is “some evil malign force”, I just think it is not in the best interest of humans as a whole. You are right, I don’t know much about my own religion and the history. You are certainly “more Jewish” tham me–or maybe you don’t consider me Jewish? Either way, thank you for your thoughts. I will certainly look at those books. google “mark twain jews”
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What I have observed over the years is that it appears to me that being of the jewish faith gets confused with ones ethnic identity. I have been aware of the fact that there are Polish, Russian, Spanish, Italian, German, American, African people who are of the Jewish faith. It concerns me that people of various ethnic origins confuse their religion with their ethnicity. Also lets remember that the French withdrew from fighting in Viet Nam, and in the US at that time was the idea of the Domino Theory held dearly by some members of the government at that time. The US went into Viet Nam supposedly to prevent the rest of the region from becoming Communist as I recall and if memory serves me correctly. I sure all you historians well know who the individual was who was so influential in upholding the Domino Theory.
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Joel, you strike me as a typical rank and file Republican. As an 18 (I’m guessing) year old engineering student, who probably didn’t vote in the last election, and who’s worldview has most likely been shaped by predominantly by your parents (white and affluent I might guess) until college, I would encourage you not to invest too much time in negative politics.
I would be more interested to hear what you think should be done, rather than your retroactive criticism of previous events. What is the Republican plan for health care? Or the Economy?
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shaped predominantly by*
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A late reply to a Moderate:
To be clear and honest I am a 19 year old Engineering student who voted McCain. My worldview is indeed influenced by my parents as all of our worldviews are. However, as someone who read the newspaper and was a debater throughout High School, my worldview is far better developed than I believe you give me credit. This was one of my few CavDaily entries that was a straight up rant angrily going through the administration’s faults. On the issue of Healthcare I believe in proposals such as Tort reform and allowing competition across state lines, both of which are Republican counterproposals that received little media attention. I personally also believe in the idea of uninsured health insurance. If you are uninsured then you prove to be a liability to health providers when you get sick. This would be similar to uninsured driver’s insurance for those who wish to drive what is essentially a deadly weapon but choose not to get insurance. I do thank you for your advice and I would like you to know that most of my political efforts are of a much more positive nature.
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