Friday, March 27, 2015

Some Sober Weekend Thoughts


Read this:
The voice recordings from the doomed aircraft reveal that as the jet began its rapid descent, the passengers were quiet. There was probably some nervous laughter, confusion, a bit of comforting chatter with seatmates, followed by a brief period in which anxiety had not yet metastasized into terror. 
It was only near the end of the 8 minute plunge that everyone finally understood what was really happening. Only near the end when they began to scream. 
Like those passengers, a growing number of Americans feel a helpless dread as they come to the inescapable conclusion that our nation's decline is an act of choice rather than of chance.The choice of one man who is in full control of our 8 year plunge. 
A man who has locked everyone out.
I can only imagine how my friends in Israel must feel as we hurtle toward the abyss. William Krystal yesterday spent some time with Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of the rapidly shrinking Free World, and wrote this:
But counting on prominent and wealthy Jewish liberals to speak up against their friends in the face of existential threats to the Jewish people has never been a good bet. Benzion Netanyahu saw this up close in June 1940, when mainstream American Jewish leaders boycotted his mentor Ze’ev Jabotinsky’s speech in New York when Jabotinsky sounded the alarm about what was happening in Europe. 
Now his son, Benjamin Netanyahu, is sounding the alarm about what is happening today. He has made the case, in my view irrefutably, that no friend of Israel can support the forthcoming deal with the Iranian regime. Nor is such a deal in any way in the broader American national interest. Yet a misguided American administration is on a path to choosing dishonor and setting the stage for future wars. It is up to American leaders in both parties and all walks of life to do their best to avert this outcome. And if it is left to Israel to act, the least Americans can do is support our democratic ally, just as the least Americans could honorably do in 1940 was support Britain as, in her finest hour, she stood and fought alone.
This is a more analytical article from Edward Morrissey at The Fiscal Times that helps explain our situation and puts it in context:
It has become abundantly clear that Obama wants a deal for the sake of claiming a foreign policy achievement, no matter what the cost, and no matter what it does to our allies, especially Israel. The situation is reminiscent of another confrontation between Western powers and an extremist dictatorship that professed its own destiny to rule the world, and where the dictator even wrote out his plans for world domination and practically begged everyone to read them. 
In both cases, Western leaders told themselves that the extremist rhetoric was only intended for domestic consumption. Also in both cases, they treated with contempt their allies whose very existence was threatened by the new hegemon, who kept breaking international agreements and stalling negotiations until the West appeased them by betraying those same allies -- even locking their democratic allies out of the negotiations. 
At least Neville Chamberlain learned his lesson after Munich, albeit far too late for the Czechoslovakians, Eastern Europe, and millions of Jews. Obama and Kerry seem determined to repeat those same mistakes. That can be described many ways, but smart power isn’t one of them.
I don't know…I do think if you're not worried you're not paying attention. I think we might talk a little bit about prepping this Wednesday…

and meanwhile, on the Home Front...


...from The New Yorker, America's arbiter of progressive thought, this "thoughtful" piece from the inestimable Lena Dunham titled, "Dog or Jewish Boyfriend?" Here's just a yummy sample:
13. He doesn’t tip.
14. And he never brings his wallet anywhere.
15. He came with me to therapy once and was restless and unexpressive.
16. When I go out of town on a business trip, he sleeps with a pair of my underwear.
I can just imagine the editors at The New Yorker rolling on their asses laughing when this came in! "Man, Lena really nailed it this time! Jews are like dogs!" Maybe glance around the swank New Yorker offices, make sure that none of the [fingers make quote marks in the air] "wrong" people are listening. After all, there's always been something…off-putting…about those Jews…their funny little hats and their crazy prehistoric diet rules…the way they lord it over those poor Palestinians…and they're so greedy…it's like those big noses only smell money! It's getting easier and easier to understand why our President doesn't want to deal with those…Jews...and that filthy little man who leads them.

Sadly, not everyone agrees with our progressive opinion-makers...
4. To dehumanize people, one of the first steps is to call them non-people or animals. The whole “Jew and Dog” thing, in my mind, is pretty played out. But Lena, you’re not the first one to think that the two should be addressed in the same piece, or equated to one another. You don’t even have to go as far back in time as Nazi Germany to find people equating Jewish people to dogs. I mean, look at this nice café in Belgium just last year that posted a sign saying, “Dogs are allowed in this establishment, but Jews are not, under any circumstances.” Also last year, a Turkish café in Istanbul posted a sign saying “Jew-dogs” are banned from entering. So all around the world, there are not-so-nice people who equate Jews and dogs. Welcome to their ranks, Lena. Are you proud to be there?
That's from Jordana Horn, who up until yesterday counted herself as a fan of Ms. Dunham. Never mind that…I'm sure Ms. Horn will come around…


Or else.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is the best commentary you have done in a long time. Nails it right in the forehead. A lot of us out here feel exactly like this.

KevinC said...

Obama thinks that his policy in Yemen has been a success.
If being overtaken by pro-Iranian Shia militias is a success, I'd hate to see Obama's definition of failure.

Anonymous said...

And from "over-the-hill" comes Hillary.......


Life Member

Anonymous said...

We shall listen and support the cause of freedom with our brothers. In Israel.

Sigman said...

I cringe when I think this but I believe she'd be better than the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Av. But that's like saying old garbage smells better than a skunk. It may be an informal, sub rosa kind of thing, but I wouldn't be surprised by an Israel, Egypt, Saudi alliance since they have many interests that coincide right now and they seem the most rational actors on the scene.

Unknown said...

I am and always will be an American christian and my heart and soul has been and always will be with Israel our peoples are brothers and sisters.
Government leaders will come and go,give or rescind their support of each other, but they will never be able to break our peoples bond .

George said...

It is time for Israel to act, on its own, and deal with Iran. They have my full support.

I am tired of sending our troops to the Middle East to enforce other nations foreign policies under the guise of them being in our best interest.

Over 5,000 Americans are dead and many more are permanently wounded and maimed. All for what? Cheap gas and less freedom. Let I forget to mention it, we are broke too.

Anonymous said...

George, With all due respect, The "cheap Gas" mantra is worn out.
I will agree with you that it's time for some opposition from other countries in the middle-east to fight their own battles. I just don't believe that many of them will be Muslim.

As for Israel? They will not just fight back, they'll probably start and finish the battle. Unfortunately, the local regime will take credit for it.

Life Member

Will said...

A potential downside to that idiot Obama engineering/allowing the collapse of so many of the nations in that area, is there may no longer be enough concentrated muscle to stomp on those idiot mullahs in Tehran. Before, there had to be some semblance of sanity in the group to realize that if those mullahs deliver a nuke into Israel, the response might just be to turn them ALL into parking lots that glow at night.

Israel is now rated at the #4 Nuke Power position. Perhaps 400 warheads. We, and the Middle East, forget this at our collective peril. Plus, how many years could the oil fields be unavailable? That's a large percentage of the worlds oil production.

Vince Warde said...

Amen, brother, amen!

Know this: It's not just American Jews who are concerned about this. I'm a retired evangelical minister and I can tell you that many in our community would be willing to lay down our lives to protect Israel. If there is another effort to attack the Jewish people, then they will have to take on many of us as well. We are very much awake and watching.

nj larry said...

An observation or rather a nightmare I had this past weekend. On the Sunday news shows and elsewhere I heard again and again, how could that pilot be so calm while flying the plane into the mountain? His breathing was normal and he made no outbursts. Then it hit me. I pictured him in his seat from behind. He turns back towards me. The horror. It was BHO himself. Yes, Obama is doing to America what the pilot did. A sociopath bent on destroying us all. I don't think he will be satified until we are in smoldering ruins.

Gordan Chang is an analyst covering the East region. This week he published a story on reports that Iran is actually building its nukes in North Korea. They may have their nukes already. They played the west as fools for the last 20 years. The concern of those about Irans "breakout " time are wrong. As Chang says the breakout time is 1 day. Load the nukes on a plane and fly it to Tehran.

Putting 2 and 2 together, Israel undrstands the threat. That is why they have focused on submarines the last 10 years. Missle capability and I am damn sure they have nukes on board. It is their version of MAD or a doomsday machine. I 'veheard that Israel is a 3 bomb nation at most. Three hits and the Jewish nation is gone. It will be up to the few hundred Israeli sailors to deliver retribution on the demonic Iranian regime. God bless them and may he steady their hand.

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