A power failure fried my computer. I therefore admit right off the bat that I am typed this column with a hatred of many people on this Earth, with the LA Department of Water and Power and the make of my computer at the top of the list.
Nevertheless, a hastily cobbled collection of thoughts regarding various issues in the news today will hopefully make for an amalgamation that only Alka Seltzer could fix.
Right of the bat, conservatives lost a longtime leader at the Heritage Foundation. Paul Weyrich is no longer with us. Rest in peace.
Now on to the issues.
Be Gay and Shut Up Part II–This was going to be my entire column, but other issues should be given short shrift. The gay community, which still cannot get over the fact that they won the election, is still enraged. Given how angry liberals are in general even when they win elections, imagine how insufferable they would be if they lost. Oh wait, the last 8 years are an accurate reflection.
Now the left wing gay community is enraged that Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church (Not to be confused with Saddleback Ranch, which makes a fine steak for all people, atheists included.) will be doing the invocation at the inauguration. To the gay community, I ask a simple question…
So the heck what????????
Rick Warren will not be setting policy. He will be giving a 2-3 minute speech praying for Barack Obama and for America…that is it. This has nothing to do with gay anything.
Enough already. If Obama were to select somebody to head up the Department of Health and Human Services that was anti-gay, that would be serious. If his nominee for Surgeon General was anti-gay, that would be a major issue. One can even make a weaker case that the Secretary of Defense could be a point of concern based on the issue of gays in the military.
However, does anybody care if the Secretary of Transportation or Agriculture held views that are anathema to the gay community?
(Past held views is separate from the future. If the new Agriculture Secretary would make an anti-gay speech today, they should be fired.)
Rick Warren is a Pastor who happens to be an evangelical Christian. On top of that, he is one of the few evangelicals that deviates from the right wing evangelicals. He does care about abortion, but he also talks openly about fighting poverty. This is a perfect example of Obama trying to reach out. If anything, it is a bread crumb to evangelicals, as if a 5 minute speech will affect policy in any way. It will not.
I am tired of hearing about gays saying how Christians are a bunch of intolerant bigots when there is plenty of bigotry an hostility directed at these Christians by “tolerant” gays.
Everybody has to knock it off on both sides. The economy needs fixing, and the War on Terror is entering a critical phase. To spend one minute arguing about an invocation speech by a good man that does not possess hatred in his heart is nuts.
Also, the gay community again might wish to appeal to moderates by presenting a more moderate image. Most gay people are normal, mainstream individuals. They are not freaks. Yet many Americans picture drag queens running around yelling, “We’re here, we’re queer.” The gay community needs the guys from “Queer Eye For The Straight Guy” to give their own community an image makeover. All the goodness of their cause will be ignored if they do not get better public relations people. In fact, in that sense gays are exactly like republicans.
They need to focus on important issues, and not antagonize an incoming President that in general supports them on most issues.
Now on to other issues with rapid fire.
Liberals cackling with glee over a fellow throwing his shoes at President Bush might want to keep in mind that Dana Perino was injured in the incident. Do liberal care? Of course not. I only wish that the shoe throwing incident had happened in the United States so that the Secret Service would have beaten the life out of the person. Had an American thrown a shoe at a foreign leader there would be mass apologies for the behavior of the “ugly American.”
This was a disrespectful act that could have caused serious harm, and in the same way pies being thrown at Ann Coulter go uncriticized because she in Ann Coulter, wait until the…and I hate to use these words…the shoe is on the other foot. Try throeing shoes at Obama and see what happens.
In Middle East news, Palestinians are firing rockets into Sderot and killing innocent Israelis. Palestinians are the scourge of the Earth, and I pray that Obama drops this idiotic notion that his charisma alone, which I confess is abundant, can solve the problem. Israel needs to obliterate the Palestinian terrorists. They need to bring Bibi Netanyahu back into power, and let him proceed with zero interference.
While Palestinians are the scourge of the globe, in America we have Al Franken. I truly believe there will be a special place in Hades for this monster. Like many left wing bullies, he is trying to steal an election. When democrats claim that they want to count all the votes, what they really mean is they want to count until they take the lead, and then stop. It is like the child that scores the go ahead run and then tries to quit.
Al Franken will represent Minnesota with all the honor and dignity of the Arab that threw shoes at the President. I only hope that sales of a Franken rebuttal book “Al Franken is a Buck Tooth Moron” take off.
Liberals have gotten to the point that they truly do not care about qualifications. As long as the person despises conservatives, they are part of the club.
With Al Franken in Minnesota not being bad enough, New York is still trying to bring Caroline Kennedy into the long since devalued club of Senators. Today she showed her political courage by sitting down with Al Sharpton. Perhaps they talked about what really happened to Tawan Brawley, or why Jewish businesses burned down with agitation from Sharpton lighting the fuse. One article compared Caroline Kennedy positively to Princess Leah. Women wonder why I sometimes advocate repealing the 19th Amendment. Between Hillary Clinton and Caroline Kennedy being slobbered over while a fine human being like Sarah Palin gets skewered, the 19th Amendment and feminism in general should be obliterated faster than Palestinian terrorists in Gaza.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/12/no_appointment_for_kennedy.html
On the subject of useless women that think they matter, Nancy Pelosi is trying to talk tough with Rahm Emanuel and Barack Obama. They are going to slap her harder than the late Gangsta Rapper Ol’ Dirty B@stard used to slap his bizzatches and hos. Granted they will do it politically, but somebody needs to let the San Francisco Pelosiraptor know that she is irrelevant.
Presidents succeed in passing legislation when they let their own side know that the President is driving the train. Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush understood this. Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter were weaklings. Clinton let Dick Gephardt push him around.
Obama should privately let Pelosi know that if the democrats fail, Pelosi will be out as Speaker in 2010, but he will still be in power. Newt Gingrich replaced Gephardt as speaker, but Clinton rebounded and kept his job. Obama has 4 years to work with. Pelosi has 2, and people make up their minds after one year. If he tells her to yap like puppy a dog, she will do it. What are feminists going to do, get angry? Have they ever not been angry? The day they are happy it will be front page news. They are worse than gays in 2008, always angry even when their own side is in power.
It all does tie in together.
Yeah I admit it. I am bitter. My computer is fried. More money down the d@mn drain. At least I will get a government bailout. Oh wait, I am a productive member of society. Never mind.
eric
Its just a dog and pony show on the part of both Warren and Obama.
Its admirable that what they’re doing is a stab at uniting both parties.
They’re only creating an illusion of unity. Anyone with half a brain whos the least bit informed knows that both men have convictions that are very much the opposite of each other, abortion etc…
Its an intentional display of civility in the hopes that people will feel that we can go on as we have and still act as if nothing is wrong with this picture.
Just another token gesture meant to give the same appearance as his appointing Ray LaHood to a rather beinign and boring post(Rahm Emanuels buddy) along with the appointment of Gates which is really a no brainer and shows that Obama is not a “complete” idiot.
So now when inauguration day rolls around we can all sit back and look at Rick and Obama united in harmony and relax knowing its all gonna be O.K.
Yea, they’re both into charity but unfortunatly they both have different ideas on how to get it.
I’m willing to bet that Rick doesnt subscribe to forced charity.
I agree that we should be hearing more about the middle east but since when is the MSM actually going to worry about Israel or good news ?
I honestly believe that the lefties running the media dont want to put up addressable issues that Obama doesnt really have a handle on or a clue as to what should be done.
Of course, he would probably weasel out and give us that flimsy “theres’ only one president at a time”
Anyone who just came into the game would probably think he is the pres since hes on the tube every damn day now.
And yea, It would be nice if someone on the left with an ounce of influence would tell the gay community to get grip and pull it out already.
I’m gonna start my own minority consisting of men who have a preference to slender hot Asian women with really huge knockers.
Every work place should have at least one around so I can feel like an equal memeber of society
While your at it heres another thing to get pi$$ed about.
I dont want to hear one more schmuck on the hill talk about the pain that the average American is going thru right now and how much they care about us and all that insincere smoke they blow up our a$$es.
These punks just went and accepted their automatic Cost Of Living Adjustment of about 5000 each while we have a bunch of people that could use that.
People are broke because of these schmucks and yet we have to give then their raises ?
I suggest they all turn around when they get this and pool it for something, anything but them.
Obama is honest and he’s smart. If that’s not “change” in today’s political world, I don’t know what is. He promised to reach out to the other side, and he’s lived up to that thus far. His economic team is very mainstream, even a little laizzez faire, making Wall Street conservatives rest at relative ease. He has promised to keep some of Bush’s rightwing social initiative, like Faith-Based and Abstinence programs and have pastor Warren give the invocation, and that should help assauge the social right a little. And for the MIC, he’s keeeping Casey and other top military figures, and that should make the Fear crowd pretty happy as well. I applaud Obama for these things. He’s honestly trying to be the “uniter” president Bush promised to be but never made any effort to accomplish. For Obama to be successful, especially in these troubled times, it would be very smart to throw the right some bones and keep divisive hot-button pseudo-issues out of the limelight. I believe that’s exactly what he’s going to do. I don’t blame some people for being upset about the Warren invocation, but I think they really should just shut up and think a little bigger. As our good host said, this just isn’t worth the fuss.
As for the Shoe Throwing incident, I thought it was funny as all $#@!. I hope the man gets a pardon.
As for Netanyahu, I hope he doesn’t become PM. He would only exaserbate the situation. Livni is the key to progress in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
As for Franken, he is very bright and, through rather mainstream and moserate, progressive. He just might be able to bring the honor of Paul Wellstone back to that seat.
As for Kennedy, this is a huge mistake. As I said before, it will demoralize NY rank and file, and it just plain looks bad.
JMJ
“Obama is honest and he’s smart. If that’s not “change” in today’s political world, I don’t know what is.”
It would be real change if they were smart and honest at the same time.
“He promised to reach out to the other side, and he’s lived up to that thus far.”
No he hasnt. Dont be ridiculous.
All he did was make some picks for appearances.
After we see how he actually works with these picks we can determine if hes truly reaching out or just posing.
“Casey and other top military figures, and that should make the Fear crowd pretty happy as well. ”
No.
He came out of his first security breifing with the realization that he was clueless and needed someone who knew his way around.
He took one look at the goods and decided that Casey wasnt goin anywhere since its obvious that Biden wouldnt be worth a rats a$$ in that dept.
“He’s honestly trying to be the “uniter” president Bush promised to be but never made any effort to accomplish.”
Yea right.
BS.
As soon as election time came around he had no choice as the left launched a massivly disengenuous campaign under the guise that he alone was responsible for going into Iraq when half the schmucks trying to get in office also were in favor of invading Iraq.
The left and its “oil for war” and “Bush lied soldiers died” mantra of insanity is what killed any chance of unity.
Bush was pretty well spoken of in this country, had high approval ratings, all until 2002 when all the campaigning started.
“keep divisive hot-button pseudo-issues out of the limelight. I believe that’s exactly what he’s going to do.”
Dont worry.
His buddies who voted for him,the media, bloggers and whoever wont let that happen.
They’ll keep throwing up all the fluff stories untill the country sees their paychecks next year and then the media will have no choice but to turn on him.
“As for the Shoe Throwing incident, I thought it was funny as all $#@!. I hope the man gets a pardon.”
Typical lib hypocrisy.
Violence is OK if its tied to their hatred.
So if he gets a pardon it validates this behavior so others can do the same thing figuring they’ll get off with a pardon.
Grow up for crusts sake.
Frankens a greasy little weasel.
If Franken even running doesnt demoralize them I doubt anything could.
This is primarily but not exclusively directed to Israel-lovers:
THE SHAME OF THE USS LIBERTY
Fortunately, or unfortunately, some news stories have lives of their own. It’s as if they don’t want to die, which is sometimes a very good thing.
Such a story is the disgraceful tale involving the USS Liberty, a disgrace which began more than forty one years ago and continues to this day.
Neither the disgrace nor the shame of the USS Liberty applies in any way to its crew or to its captain, William McGonagle, who subsequently received the Congressional Medal of Honor in recognition of his bravery and refusal to leave the Liberty’s bridge despite being wounded. The shame is on America, the shame is on our shameless politicians, and the shame is on Israel.
For those still unaware of what transpired on the afternoon of June 8th, 1967 in the waters off the Sinai Peninsula, the USS Liberty was a converted Victory ship, a 455 foot vessel then being used for intelligence gathering during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It was attacked by Israeli air and naval forces, strafed and torpedoed, leaving 34 sailors dead and 174 injured, many severely.
A confessed news junky, I had never heard about the Liberty until a decade or so ago. Back in January, 2008, I posted an article here, an interview with Rick Aimetti, a petty officer first class assigned to Damage Control aboard that U.S. Navy vessel. He was one of the survivors and still vividly recalled the events of that day.
The fortuitous circumstances of that interview are detailed here, “Remembering the USS Liberty,” (January 10, 2008, http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=19.)
A calm, composed man, Rick was nevertheless passionate in his recollections, especially about the friends he lost, but also in his certainty that it was a deliberate attack by a presumed ally on an American ship.
That assault continued for hours even though the Liberty was clearly marked and flying the stars and stripes.
Israeli helicopter gunships first took out the ship’s antennae and shot down the flag mast before launching torpedoes in an attempt to, first, cripple the Liberty’s communications and, second, to sink it.
It struck me that with a new president taking office precisely one month from today there was a possibility, however remote, that President Obama would do what seven presidents before him failed to do, namely, give official, government recognition of the Liberty heroes who died that June day, and to acknowledge why they died and were wounded.
That Israel attacked and killed 34 and injured 174 Americans on the Liberty is indisputable. Israel ultimately admitted as much and paid reparations. What it never did was concede intent. Instead, Israel to this day alleges it was a “mistake,” a mistake which could only have been made by two blind Israeli helicopter pilots and three blind Israeli torpedo boat captains.
Petty Officer First Class Rick Aimetti was a witness and a survivor of the attacks on the USS Liberty but he can hardly be considered an objective observer. Running for cover, seeing your dead and bleeding fellow sailors, and trying to keep your ship from going down aren’t situations conducive to objectivity.
His status as an eye-witness has been supported by numerous other accounts, however. Our military and our politicians just love investigations, studies, and inquiries even if they rarely uncover the truth, that whole, nothing but the truth that scares the uniforms off our military and which makes our politicians dive for cover when they can’t admit it.
Such is the truth of the USS Liberty. It has festered on the American conscience for over four decades now.
Five years ago, the National Security Agency, which was instrumental in the outfitting and in the mission of the Liberty, declassified, (under pressure), documents, recordings, and interviews relating to the assault on the USS Liberty: http://www.nsa.gov/liberty/.
Although that wealth of material and information is fascinating, it nevertheless is transparently slanted as can be seen in the interviews of personnel who admit to being pro-Israel and even in the greatly redacted translated transcripts of the Israeli pilots: http://www.nsa.gov/liberty/recordings.cfm.
Far more objective is this analysis of the events of June 8th, 1967: http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig/margolis12.html. There Eric Margolis dares to spell out the truth and dares to explain and substantiate what really happened that day.
It’s an ugly and shameful truth about the USS Liberty.
Perhaps President Barack Hussein Obama will address that truth and redress the grievances of the crew members such as Rick Aimetti?
One can always hope for “change” from Obama, no?
Festering stinks, literally.
(http://genelalor.com/)
For some reason I get feeling that the last comment is a stock comment that gets cut and pasted to any blog that has sentiments or keywords relating to Israel.
Unless Obama wants to appear even weaker on his commitment to Israel I doubt we’ll see him touch this.
Usually, the only reason a story doesnt die is because there are people who just arent happy with the answer they got.
Do you really believe that if a suitable version of the truth were told our soldiers would rest any better ?
Or are you basically in some sublime manner trying to say that its really an ugly shameful truth about Israel, and not really the USS Liberty ?
One can hope for change from anything, but we usually only hope for change favorable to us from people that take the same positions we do.
In the case with Obama and his weak stance on Israel I find it curious that this is the man you place your hopes in.
My article was neither a “stock comment” nor a randomly cut and pasted piece. I notice no effort was made to refute the content of the article. Rather, disparaging and ridiculing said content was the best Micky2 could muster.
I have no clue as to what “some sublime manner” could mean but I do wonder if he is implying that there is some “shameful truth” concerning the brave men of the USS Liberty that he knows of. If so, please state and substantiate it.
May God bless and save America!
(http://genelalor.com)
Berlet.
Your post was taken at face value without even bothering to verify any of your links or sources.
The shameful truth it seems to me is that you are trying to imply that Israel has a price to pay and that the attack was not so much an accident as it was intentional.
As you criticize my statement for lack or contribution of whatever you yourself do not contribute enough to make it clear with transparency that you have a bone to pick with Israel.
As an adult who does know how to read and listen its painfully obvious that you interpret Israel’s actions as deliberate and hostile.
Why don’t you just come out and say what it is you have to say ?
And please, spare me the over done grandiose patriotism by suggesting that I do not recognize truth in the same manner you do.
A soldiers death is tragic no matter how it happens, but even more tragic when someone attributes it to that of an ally’s actions through nothing on his part but conjured up speculation and delusional conspiracy theories.
Tell me.
What exactly is the change in this case that you would be expecting from Obama ?
You do not make this clear but seem through some suggestive references that he should maybe issue some sort of ultimatum or pressure on Israel to re pay for what you only “THINK” they are responsible for ?
Do you believe it was intentional or deliberate ?
Have some balls, just come out and say it.
Lets put the issue of the soldiers deaths aside for a second and just concentrate on the attack itself and what you believe the motivation or causes were.
Since my last visit I have gone to your references/sources and links and read them. Though I don’t really want to listen to hours of verbal testimony, it seems that you really at this point know nothing more than anyone else does today as your sources more than once make it clear that> ” It is not NSA’s intention to prove or disprove any one set of conclusions, many of which can be drawn from a thorough review of this material. Instead, through these public releases, we intend to make as much information as possible available for the many scholars, historians, academia, and members of the general public who find interest in analyzing the information and forming their own conclusions. ”
So you see, there is nothing to “REFUTE” as there are no facts dictating what the motive was, or real conclusion to this other than the ones you draw based on your own bias and the fact that US soldiers were killed.
Obama already has enough problems with his position on Israel to where even Jesse Jackson basically said that if Obama wins this election Israel is screwed.
Obama re opening this and digging for what I think you would like to hear is the last thing he probably wants to do if he’s going to have America perceive him as any kind of partner with Israel in the future as an ally.
Don’t use a soldiers death to cast doubt on someone else’s patriotism just because they don’t agree with you.
Its unimaginative, cheap and sleazy.
Me thinks you just don’t like Jews.
I’m surprised that a “professed news junkie” just found out about the Liberty! Where’s he been?
Israel, like evry other ally of ours, has had it’s ups and downs in relations. I once read (don’t recall where) that more Israelis have been caught spying in and on America than any other nation on the planet. And I do remember the Liberty story, and yes, it appears it was intentional at the time. They were hoping to sink the ship so no one would be the wiser, but they couldn’t get it down, so the story has since grown into a life of its own.
But lets not get all crazy about this – we’ve been known to do a lot worse ourselves, and for much lesser cause.
You have to remember that Israel was dead set against NATO or the UN, France, Britain or America, stepping into the Sinai situation, just as to this day they don’t want any of said bunch involved in the West Bank, Gaza or the Golan Heights. Israel wanted the Sinai as a bargaining chip at the table with Egypt, which had always been its greatest threat of a neighbor. Egypt was the one country with both an Israeli border and a military that was truly formidible – stronger than the militaries of Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia (and, at the time, Iraq as well) combined. There was also a popular, if unspoken, desire in Israel to keep the Sinai, just as with the occupied territories today. The last thing they wanted was the UN or America, or whoever, permanently sitting there, removing Israeli’s position at the bargaining table and squelching dreams of expansion.
Now, this is all pretty understandable, especially when you consider just how tenuous Israeli’s survival seemed at the time, how their population then was growing exponentially, and how the memories of WWII and its aftermath were still quite fresh in their minds. The USS Liberty, both literally and figuratively, got caught in the crossfire. It would have been best if we’d just stayed out of the way, but by 1967, staying out of the way of anything had become anathema to American foreign policy, and it’s repeatedly bitten us in our collective @$$ ever since.
Its an interesting story, and bears remembrance, but Israel apologized and paid reparations and has done nothing of the sort ever since, so the only reason I could imagine anyone belaboring this “tale” is that they have some personal problem with Israel. To each his own, but least be honest about it.
JMJ
My website has one primary goal and that is to promote the interests and survival of the United States, and I firmly believe both of those are in serious peril.
Toward the ends of that promotion, as you have probably noted, I take on any and all forces and agents which I feel threaten America’s interests.
Those include but are not limited to radical Muslim terrorism, the inherent dangers of homosexual efforts to undermine the nation’s values, the growing dominance of Hispanics throughout the nation, and, yes, the so-called “Jewish lobby,” which I and many others feel is a threat to our sovereignty and future.
Although that is often construed by Jews to mean anti-Semitism, it is nothing of the kind.
As a person of Irish extraction and a Catholic, I would feel the same about Ireland and the Vatican should, hypothetically, either pose a serious threat to my country.
Considering those hypotheticals, if I were of some other national extraction or of some other religion and criticized undue and excessive influence in America by Ireland or the Vatican, would I therefore be considered anti-Irish American or anti-Catholic?
I think not.
As a foreign power, Israel should, as you wrote, also be “fair game” without my being subject to venomous accusations, such as Micky2’s, who concludes his diatribe against me by saying, “Me thinks [sic] you just don’t like Jews,” which is an irrational conclusion to make based on my USS Liberty article.
I thought that, before responding to Micky2 with further documentation, I should first respond to your questions and concerns: I have no issues with regard to Jews but I do have issues with regard to Israel which, to me, is an entirely different matter. I also have issues with France and Canada, which doesn’t equate with not liking Frenchmen or Canadians.
Furthermore, I despise Barack Hussein Obama, which does not equate with despising all African Americans.
Finally, I don’t consider my assessment of the Israeli attack on the Liberty to be harsh at all. It is as forthright and honest as the assessment of Admiral Thomas H. Moorer’s (U.S. Navy, Retired): http://www.gtr5.com/evidence/moorer.htm.
As Jersey McJones in a followup post wrote, “Yes, it appears it was intentional at the time. They were hoping to sink the ship so no one would be the wiser, but they couldn’t get it down.”
Is Jersey therefore anti-Semitic? Again, I think not.
Eric, whether you agree to add my website, http://genelalor.com/, to your blogroll is of far less importance to me than your, and Micky 2’s, understanding my point of view re: Israel and the Jewish lobby in America.
I will be posting this response on TygrrrrExpress, but not your query which was sent to me and not intended for public consumption.
Regards and may God bless and save America!
Yea well Berlet, your long and eloquent dodge does not explain why you chose to post the liberty story as opposed to the many other issues you have mentioned.
Although Jersey mentions that it “appears” (which is not conclusive by any means) to of been an intentional attack, and it may of very well been, you conveniently also forgot to include the other facts that Jersey mentioned which is that Israel was in the initial phases of holding its turf in those days, held many nations suspect, was of a different attitude, and has since made apologies, reparations, and done nothing of the sort since. And as a matter of fact since then has come to be one of our strongest ally’s in many of our endeavors such as the war against radical Islam which mention as one of your concerns also.
So, it defeats logic and you yourself refute your own asinine claim that Israel should fall under one of these threats to Americas “interest” and “survival”
Mr. Mc Jones also delivered a question that I had thought of but failed to ask and that is… why after 41 years have you decided to resurface this incident which has long since been dealt with ?
Mr. Mc Jones repeating what he has read in the anal’s of history and what comes from your sources should not make him anti semetic by any stretch of the imagination, or any one else for that matter who study’s history.
But it does make you appear to have a problem with Israel simply due to the fact that your initial post seems to have popcorn farted out of nowhere with no real relevance to anything of topic in Eric’s post.
How do you get to an attack on an American ship by Israeli forces 47 years ago from what Eric’s issues and sentiments for Palestinians are today ?
Please explain the connection to me.
I would love to hear it.
“As a person of Irish extraction and a Catholic, I would feel the same about Ireland and the Vatican should, hypothetically, either pose a serious threat to my country.”
“Hypothetically” ? “Should” ?
I am a Christian myself but find it rather curious that it seems you conceive Christianity exempt from any criticism, yet you have said that your issue is more with the country of Israel than it is with Jews and you still mention the Jewish lobby as a concern.
Is it the Jewish movement in this country (American citizens by the way) that has your concern or Israel, or both ?
Also, in your attempt to refute my claim that your initial comment was a stock comment that was cut and pasted to any blog that had sentiments or keywords relating to Israel you said;
“My article was neither a “stock comment” nor a randomly cut and pasted piece.”
But yet you have done exactly that as you mentioned in your own blog.
“Because I posted my previous article, “The Shame of the USS Liberty,” on other websites I have been inundated with accusations of anti-Semitism, threats of expulsion from those sites, and even revocation, sans explanation, of my posting privileges by one, FreeRepublic.com.”
In lesser terms, you’re just running around spamming with eloquence.
Point being, I think you’re a bit full of it as evidence shows that you have deposited this story on many websites.
The many accusations of anti semitism you mention that have been leveled against you also stand by and bolster my same exact feeling that you are an anti semite which only makes it obvious that I’m not alone in my ability to read between the lines and see what your objective is.
You have obviously singled out Jews and Israel as threat to our security, which I find absurd and disgusting.
Personally, what I find even more disgusting is that you don’t have the balls to just come out and display your contempt in a more honest means and you instead resort to these sublime and associative techniques of casting hate for Jews.
You may find that a rather steep accusation, I don’t care, at least I have the balls to say what I think is true.
Berlet.
O.K.
In all fairness I went to your blog and read many of your posts which I agree with and as a result, I may have to take back some of my criticisms and contempt for you.
On the other hand, I don’t think it would be unfair to blame me for my suspicions/accusations since the timing of your post was rather irrelevant and disconnected to anything of topic in Eric’s post and it was deposited at many blogs as I suspected.
Also, since 1967 Israel has made reparations, apologized, and become one of Americas closest ally’s I find it conspicuous that you still have reservations about Israel and display a sense of hostility in the sense that you feel they are a threat to our interests and security.
Like most Americans I feel they are quite the opposite and that there are more actual and existential threats such as and which you mentioned were the immigration of Hispanics on a scale which could one day change the fabric our country was built on. Not only that but its an incredible strain on our economy as it is today.
I don’t see how Israel or the Jewish movement in our country even comes close to that kind of threat.
Nor do I see how any perceived threat of Jews could even come close to the threat posed to us by radical Muslims which you mention, and would of certainly been a greater concern to bring up than Israel or Jews.
Your posting the story of the Liberty at this point and time along with what seems to be some need to settle a score is much like bringing up Pearl Harbor all over again as if enough hasn’t been done already on the part of both the U.S. and Japan to settle the score and move on with our lives.
Its like you want to open an old wound and sprinkle some salt on it out of a lingering anger.
Tell me what good it would it do to present this to Israel right now, or drive the story into the minds of every American right now ?
In addition, if you had at least explained in some detail as to why and what it is about Israel you feel is such a threat today you would not be conceived by me as just launching a spiteful attack.
Is it because you feel that they do not bargain with Palestine on a level that would advantageous to Middle Eastern or American security ?
What demographics (if any) of the American Jewish community do you feel is a threat to our interests and security ?
When you do not make any of these points clear but simply issue a sentiment that they are dangerous you pretty much come out looking like a bigot.
Can you understand that ?
What I primarily understand is that you evidently have a great deal of time on your hands and that you are far more adept at typing than I and therefore I won’t attempt to compete with the volume of your response(s).
I will say also that you seem filled with venom, not to mention skilled with tossing around offensive, ad hominem, vitriolic diction. I won’t try to compete with that either. I will say that you tend to be very repetitive.
I have focused on a single incident, the cover-up of the truth concerning the USS Liberty. How and why you persist in citing extraneous issues such as the Palestinian question and Christianity is a mystery to me. I wrote an article, not a dissertation.
I also never even obliquely suggested that that cover-up was on a par with the threat to our nation of Muslims terrorism. Since you say you consulted my blog, surely you must be aware that I wrote and published a book on that very threat, which book also relates incidents of past sins of Christians.
I’d be more than happy to provide you with a complementary copy should you wish to read it and if you cannot afford to purchase same.
Finally, as to the timeliness of my Liberty article, as I stated, it was actually originally posted last January and is as relevant today as it was in 1967 since the questions won’t go away. There has never been a congressional investigation, either, which is more than odd.
Berlet;
“I wrote an article, not a dissertation.”
That’s part of my point.
This is Eric’s blog, he writes the articles and we respond.
What you did was to deposit an article onto his blog that was of minimal if any relation any of the topic(s)
I myself stray from the topic very often but unlike you I don’t have the arrogance to just walk in and start my own topic.
Eric has written many articles relating to Jewish/Israeli relations and you could of made your little contribution there instead
Berlet;
“I also never even obliquely suggested that that cover-up was on a par with the threat to our nation of Muslims terrorism. Since you say you consulted my blog, surely you must be aware that I wrote and published a book on that very threat, which book also relates incidents of past sins of Christians.”
You compartmentalized the “perceived” cover up and relations with Israel and Jews along with other threats to our country.
Please, give me a break. You say the reason you blog is to “take on any and all forces and agents which I feel threaten America’s interests.”
And below you list them as a threat to future and sovereignty.
Its right there , so please don’t insult my intelligence any further. It just makes you look like the one who is lacking.
Berlet;
“Those include but are not limited to radical Muslim terrorism, the inherent dangers of homosexual efforts to undermine the nation’s values, the growing dominance of Hispanics throughout the nation, and, yes, the so-called “Jewish lobby,” which I and many others feel is a threat to our sovereignty and future. ”
You can spin this anyway you want and try to dress it up with other supposed concerns but I’m not an idiot and I know when someone is drawing attention to an issue out of nothing but contempt.
What would Israel’s motive have been?
Your argument that Israel knowingly attacked an American ship lacks a convincing motive.
The only reason the questions wont go away is because people like you ardent getting the answers you want.
You’re about on the same level as those who keep asking why Bush had a banner behind him saying “mission accomplished” when the war was clearly not over.
As many times as I’ve shown the trail that lead to that banner with quotes from everyone from the capt of the ship to members of the pentagon they still keep asking the same question in hopes that their BDS will get its fix.
I don’t care if you wrote the article the day you were born.
The timing of the presentation of your article on “THIS” blog seems to have only one purpose.
And that would be to contribute to the defamation of Israel and Jewish people.
Investigation for what ?
There seems to of already been many investigations into the matter, most of which conclude it was a result of mis communication and/or mistaken identity.
I’ve looked into the matter in the last day or so visiting other sites with interpretations from sources that are much more reputable than the ones you supply that mostly draw me to my original conclusion that you just don’t like Jews.
As far as you wanting a congressional investigation goes I doubt there is or will be a need for one seeing as how congress has probably already reviewed the findings from the list of investigations below and determined any further look into it would be a waste of time.
U.S. Naval Court of Inquiry of June 1967
Joint Chief of Staff’s Report of June 1967.
CIA Intelligence Memorandums of June 1967
Clark Clifford Report of July 1967
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Testimony of July 1967
House Armed Services Committee Investigation of 1971
The NSA History Report of 1981
“I will say also that you seem filled with venom”
Yea, that happens when snakes take a shot at me.
“not to mention skilled with tossing around offensive, ad hominem, vitriolic diction. ”
Thats what happens around me when people try to start sh*t thats only designed to hurt others out of bigotry.
And its not half as bad as the poison you’re spreading
“I won’t try to compete with that either. I will say that you tend to be very repetitive.”
I doubt that you could.
I do repeat myself when angered.
I guess its beter than trying to smear an entire prople.
Rather, why dont you attempt to answer the questions I asked for a start ?
THE NOBEL POLITICAL PRIZE
Does the Nobel Peace Prize Selection Committee ever rescind one of its priceless awards and demand return of its money? If not, it should.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), divvied up the Nobel Peace Prize (Nobelpriset, in Swedish) cash with Al Gore in 2007, splitting the approximate $1.6 million award. Both should cough up their shares since neither has advanced the cause of world peace even an iota.
Gore should have rejected it on the spot, given the fraudulent nature of An Inconvenient Truth, the “documentary” which won him an Academy Award in Hollywood and which must have convinced the Swedes that he knew what he was babbling about. He didn’t, as shown by, among many other sources, this Canadian analysis which described the award as a “travesty:” http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/261.
Now the IPCC has been outed for what it truly is, a group of intergovernmental blowhards pretending to be climatologists committed to saving the planet from itself–and from Americans dirtying up the atmosphere. In actuality, the IPCC now concedes its dire predictions as to the effects and even the existence of global warming aren’t even predictions. Rather, they are “projections:” http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/7116.
The IPCC began its word play in 2001 when it altered its nomenclature: “Projections are distinguished from predictions in order to emphasise that projections involve assumptions concerning e.g. future socio-economic and technological developments that may or may not be realised and are therefore subject to substantial uncertainty.”
Huh? Simplified, that means the IPCC admitted it guesses the future and may very well be totally wrong. Expressed another way, it assumes the climate’s future is predicated on what could happen, and we all know what happens when we assume.
I’m guessing those climatologists looked out a window, sniffed the air, and decided to hedge their language though not their cataclysmic “projections,” which are dependent on which direction the political winds are blowing. In the case of the IPCC, its prevailing winds are always blowing from the Left of the political spectrum.
It’s sad really what has happened to the Nobel Peace Prize. It is now conferred…
(Read the rest of this article at http://genelalor.com/.)
I’ll agree with you on the global warming farce and that al Gore should be stripped of many things including his clothes so he can be tarred and feathered.
The IPCC models are flawed.
http://www.heartland.org/policybot/results.html?artId=15727
Their computers dont have the capability to project what they have been telling us will happen. Instead selective and incomplete data is being used from the models whithin the IPCC to collaborte with among many things …Obamas 48 billion dollar global poverty tax.
Which is designed under the guise of helping third world countries to better eliminate their carbon footprints as result of the industrialization our aid will bring.
Its nothing more than wealth redistribution on a global scale.
So far Obama , through his choices has appeared to be a little further left of center than what makes me comfortable and a little closer to the middle than many who voted for him expected.
But I wouldnt get too comfortable if I were anyone.
My belief is that he will use environmentalism as his ace in the hole in order to promote his socialist agenda.
Environmentalism is the perfect tool to usher in socialism while many would not be much the wiser to whats going on right under their noses.
Energy consumption, distribution and regulation will be the start of class warfare like weve never seen.