248 fun reasons to love America

July 4th, 2024

248 fun reasons to love America

Thursday, July 4th, 2024

248 fun reasons to love America

1980 Olympic Gold Medal Hockey Team

1980s hard rock hair metal

2 Live Crew’s Banned in the USA

7-Eleven Big Gulps and Slurpees

ACDC’s You shook me, Thunderstruck, Moneytalks

Adam Sandler

Aerosmith

Airheads band The Lone Rangers

Al D’Amato’s singing

Alf

America the Beautiful sung by Ray Charles

American soldiers and veterans

Animaniacs

Anthony Clark

Bad Touch’s Discovery Channel

Batman: The Dark Knight

BB King and Lucille

Belker on Hill Street Blues

Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia

Biff Henderson

Bill Cosby, Himself video

Bill Murray’s Quick Change

Bill of Rights

Bill the Cat

Billiards

Blue Collar Comedy Tour

Blue Bloods

_____________

Bluegrass Junction

Bounce houses

Bouncing 25 cent rubber balls

Boxing promoter Don King

Brooklyn

Bubblebaths for two

Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck

Burgertime

Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise movies

Caddyshack

Capitalism

Capture the flag

Cards Against Humanity

Chabad Houses

Charitable people

Cheerleaders

Cheers’s Sam Mayday Malone and Norm Peterson

Cherry Lime Rickeys

Chocolate covered cherries

Chris Berman

Chris Gardner’s The Pursuit of Happyness

Chris Noth’s Mike Logan

Chris Tucker singing Barry White

Coca-Cola

Coed touch football

Colorwar

Commando and pantsless Wednesdays (until HR intervened)

Conan O’Brien’s In the Year 2000

Corn Fritters

Cosmic Bowling

County Fairs

Dale Intimidator Earnhardt’s 1998 Daytona 500

Dana Carvey

Dann Florek’s Captain Donald Cragen

David Letterman’s Top Ten Lists

Dazed and Confused — Mitch Kramer

 

Dennis Farina

Desperate Housewives

Deuce Bigalow, Male Gigolo

Dick Cheney and the Neocons

Die Hard

DirecTV NFL Package

Dog-riding monkey

Donald Trump–from the Apprentice to the White House to Twitter

Doritos

Dr. Brown’s Black Cherry Soda

Dr. Charles Krauthammer

Duck Dynasty

Ebay

Edible underthings

Entrepreneurship

ESPN

Eye of the tiger

Fireworks

Flavored massage oil

Founding Fathers

Fox News

Fraggle Rock

Freedom, liberty, right of dissent

Gaga (dodgeball using closed fist and cherry ball)

Game nights

Garlic knots

Gatorade dumping on coaches

George W. Bush picks up bullhorn

Glow sticks as fake cigars

Golden Corral

GPS trackers

Greg the Bunny


Greg Gutfeld

Hamburgers

Happy face emoticons

Harmonicas

Hawaii

Henny Youngman

Hot Chocolate’s You sexy thing (I believe in miracles)

Hot scantily clad women

Howard Stern

I once finger-(blanked) a hermit crab (whoever said that)

In n Out Burger

Independence Day BBQs

Instant messaging

Internet dating

Iphones

Italian ices

J. Geils Band’s Centerfold

Jack Nicholson’s Colonel Nathan R. Jessup

Jacuzzi romps

Jell-O

Jell-O wrestling

Jerry Orbach’s Lenny Briscoe

Jerry Reed’s Eastbound and Down

Jim Carrey’s Ace Ventura, Pet Detective

John Cougar Mellencamp’s Pink Houses and Hurts so good

John Facenda’s The Autumn Wind

John McEnroe’s tennis tantrums

Judaism celebrated in peace

Justice Clarence Thomas

Justice Scalia’s scathing dissents

Karl Rove’s whiteboard

Kazoos

KFC Popcorn Chicken

Kickball

Kim Kardashian’s bare bottom

King of the Hill

Kool-Aid

Kosher imitation bacon and crab

Krispy Kreme Donut Hamburgers

Laff-Olympics

Larry Hagman’s J.R. Ewing on Dallas

Las Vegas

Lee Greenwood’s God bless the USA and Bandit Express

Lilo and Stitch — Ohana means family––––––––––––––

Louie Armstrong’s It’s a Wonderful World—————————————-

Louisiana Cajun Cooking (Especially with Justin Wilson)

Lucky Charms

Madden Football

Magnum, P.I.

Mardi Gras, New Orleans

Mark Levin’s rants

Married with Children’s Al Bundy

Marvin Gaye’s Sexual Healing and Let’s get it on

Mascots

McDonalds

Meat and potatoes

Michael J. Fox’s Alex P. Keaton on Family Ties

Mills Lane yelling Let’s get it on

Miniature golf

Monopoly

Morris Day and the Time’s Jerk Out

Mountain Dew Code Red

MTV’s Celebrity Deathmatch

Murder, She Wrote

Nathan’s Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest

National Federation of Republican Women

National Football League

Neocons

New Years Eve noisemakers

New York Post front and back page

New York Stock Exchange opening and closing bells

NFL Films

NFL Network

Oakland Raiders

Old School with Will Ferrell & Vince Vaughn & Godfather Luke Wilson

Overtime playoff hockey

Pajama parties

Peaceful transition of political power

Phil Hartman

Pizza

Political Conventions

Pool volleyball

Pringles

Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio

Q-Bert

Queen’s I want it all

Raider Nation

Rainbow Sherbert

Redeye with Greg Gutfeld

Republican Jewish Brunettes

Republican Party Animals

Riptide

Robin Williams

Ronald Reagan’s self-deprecating jokes 

Rudy Giuliani’s New York toughness

Run DMC

Rush Limbaugh

San Diego Wild Animal Park

Satellite TV

Save a horse, ride a cowboy

Scrabble

Sean Hannity’s Freedom Concerts

Seinfeld

Sexting

Sherman Hemsley’s George Jefferson

Sizzler

Sky high skyscrapers

Skype

Slim Jims

Snoopy’s Joe Cool

Snow football

Social networks for building businesses

South Beach, Miami Spring Break

South Park

Spiderman

Sportsbars

Stock trading

Stratego

Strip chess

Stuart Scott

Sudoku

Summer camp

Super Soakers

Supply-side tax cuts

T-shirt originals

Taco Bell

Talk radio

Thanksgiving with John Madden

The Color of Money

The Counter Build Your Own Burger

The Expendables

The Frat Pack

The Honeymooners

The Muppets

The Onion

Tim McGraw’s Indian Outlaw ——————————————————

Tivo

Toby Keith’s Courtesy of the Red White and Blue

Train rides

Trampoline Dodgeball

Tygrrrr Express

USA Cartoon Express

Video Arcade Games

We’re not France

Weekend at Bernie’s

Western medicine

Whitesnake’s Here I go again video

Wifi on planes

XM Sirius Satellite Radio

Yoo-Hoo

Young Jewish Conservatives

Yummy bouncies and badonkadonks

ZZ Top’s Sleeping Bag and Sharp Dressed Man

The Top 120 Political Yummy Bouncies of 2024

June 21st, 2024

YBs 2024

Welcome to Summer. Every June 21st, I release my list of the Top 30 hottest women in politics. This list was originally known as the Top 120 political yummy bouncies. Anyway, this is a bare bones list. You can Google the photos yourself. The top 10 liberals, centrists and conservatives are listed for your viewing pleasure. I threw in one major curveball due to the changing times. 

Racist whitey-hating bully Angel Reese and her white target Caitlan Clark did not make the list. Clark’s refusal to become black, woke or a lesbian is leading to her being physically attacked. Nevertheless, nobody cares about the WNBA. 

Taylor Swift did not make the list. If you’re not over the whole Swift thing, you should be. Enough already. 

Liberals:

10.) Eva Longoria — The Eva Longoria rule is simple. When this Desperate Housewives star intentionally says or does anything political, she automatically tops the list. This year she is on the list but not at the top because her actions were unintentional. President Joe Biden tried to grope her in full public view in 2023. She pushed his hands off of her body. Don’t expect her to show any self-respect beyond that. She will likely make excuses for his behavior and campaign for his reelection. Inadvertantly exposing more hypocrisy in the #MeToo movement puts her on the list, but not at the top. If she makes another speech for him at the 2024 DNC Convention, she will show that self-respect matters less than power. 

9.) Julia Louise-Dreyfuss — She plays Kamala Harris on television as a completely incompetent Vice President in Veep. She is famous because she road Jerry Seinfeld’s coattails on his hit television show about nothing. Her obnoxious speech at the 2020 DNC Convention has been followed up with her criticizing Seinfeld for demanding freedom in comedy. She believes political correctness has a place in comedy. A comedian who favors censorship is not funny. 

8.) Gretchen Whitmer — She locked down her state of Michigan with draconian Covid restrictions that she and her husband openly disobeyed. She bashed Florida during Covid while secretly visiting the state. Somehow, she managed to get reelected. She is a future presidential candidate only because Michigan is a swing state and Democrats have abandoned all pretenses of moderation. If Biden or Harris is ousted, she will try to make the leap.

7.) Kathy Hochul — The failed New York Governor was initially appointed when Democrats forced out the more moderate Andrew Cuomo over a few cases of grab-@ss. Hochul is a radical leftist who was elected to a full term by the skin of her teeth. Her arrogance cost Democrats five congressional seats and control of Congress. Her total failure at everything makes her a perfect future Democrat presidential candidate. If Biden or Harris are tossed aside, she will try to make the climb up. She has managed to take solid blue New York and make it competitive for Republicans. 

6.) Sheng Thao — The Mayor of Oakland had her home raided by the FBI in a corruption probe. While Democrats usually skate on such matters, taking down a low level Democrat would allow the FBI to maintain a phony cloak of non-partisan neutrality. You have to be very corrupt to be held accountable as a Democrat, especially in a Democrat administration. She grew up in poverty, and supports policies that will enrich her while keeping her constituents in poverty. She with significant help from her predecessor Libby Schaaf have helped rid Oakland of all remaining professional spots teams and their pesky job-creation mechanisms.

5.) Letitia James — The only thing bigger than the New York Attorney General’s ego is her badonkadonk, and it’s a close call. She campaigned on a promise to frame Donald Trump for crimes, and in the short term she has succeeded. She would rank higher but her work will most likely be overturned by a sane judge. However, if Joe Biden gets reelected before this happens, James will rocket up this list. 

4.) Bailey Anne Kennedy — Miss Maryland is transgender. This means she is more confused about women than Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. For those wondering why beauty pageants are failing, it is because they keep putting politically correct insanity over what has always been normal. Putting Kennedy on top of the female beauty pyramid is not groundbreaking. It is simply crazy. 

3.) Claudia Sheinbaum — Mexico’s first female president happens to be Jewish. She is also a hardcore leftist socialist, which means she will be a nightmare for Jews. If she messes up in office, her critics will remind everyone that she is Jewish. If Karl Marx were a Mexican woman, he would have nothing on Sheinbaum. She is expected to allow the few people still living in Mexico to illegally enter the United States. Any fentanyl that crosses the border and kills Americans is just coincidental. 

2.) Kamala Harris — This giggling, cackling hyena became an affirmative action hire when Barack and Michelle Obama ordered Joe Biden to put her on the ticket. Despite being terrible at everything, Harris has outlasted rivals Ron Klain and Susan Harris. She does virtually nothing, and what little she does, she does badly. Yet because of her race and gender, Biden cannot fire her from the ticket. He is stuck with her. She has the ultimate no-show job. She will have absolute power if anything happens to Biden. 

1.) Tiffany Henyard — The Mayor of Dolton, Illinois might be the most corrupt politician on earth. When a constituent criticizes her, she sics the police on them to raid their home. Her profligate spending is matched only by her brazenness. She is living proof that being a black female Democrat is an automatic license in politics to do whatever she pleases whenever she pleases without consequences. For having absolute power and bragging about it, Mayor Henyard is the hottest political liberal of 2024. 

Centrists:

10.) Kirsten Glavin — This New England NBC reporter covers Cape Cod and surrounding areas. Being non-controversial in New England is a rare talent. 

9.) Liz Cho — This New York City ABC reporter has managed to work in media in the most leftist market outside of New England while coming across as sane and reasonable. For refusing to politicize virtually everything, Cho may face career setbacks. So far she has survived, although to be fair, there is a lack of a talent pool in the triple-state area. 

8.) Courtney Friel — This former Fox News personality avoided partisan commentary. She decided that all politics is local, leaving Fox News for Fox KTLA in Los Angeles. She remains gorgeous, bright, and non-partisan. 

7..) Erin Burnett — It’s hard to call anyone a centrist at CNN, but Burnett seems far less crazy than most of her colleagues. She has managed to avoid disgracing herself at her network, not an easy feat. She would rank higher but virtually nobody watches CNN.

6.) Melissa Theuriau — This French journalist works for M6, the most profitable TV news entity in France. As beautiful as she is, her stories often get overlooked due to a global apathy toward the irrelevant nation of France. President Emanuel Macron suffering severe legislative election losses may cause a ripple if she reports on it. If she covered any other nation, she would be an even bigger superstar. The upcoming French elections will not make France relevant, but it could propel her to greater career heights. 

5.) Megyn Kelly — This former attorney turned Fox News personality left the network and sued her former boss Roger Ailes. Her stint at NBC was unsuccessful, but she has now rebounded as a top internet reporter and analyst, She is a tough as nails questioner who plays it straight down the line. She would rank higher if she were on a major television network. As great as she is, the internet just does not allow for the same exposure. 

4.) Susan Li — She was born in China and raised in Toronto, Canada. Now she is a Fox Business correspondent. She has interviewed top political and business leaders in Canada and the United States. 

3.) Robin Meade — This lead morning news anchor for Headline News was once Miss Ohio. In 2021 she even released a country music album. She is an example of drop-dead gorgeous and multi-talented women who deserve to be taken seriously. 

2.) Melania Trump — She is married to the former Republican president, but she has never been overtly political. She is a former model, not a political activist. Her stint as First Lady would have been completely non-controversial had the media not despised her husband so much. She is drop dead gorgeous but ranks low on the list for staying out of the spotlight this year. If Donald Trump wins the White House again, Melania will top the list again.

1.) Princess Kate — The Royal family does not have any political power, but they do have influence far beyond Britain. The death of the beloved and respected Queen Elizabeth led to the ridiculed Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles taking over. If they somehow do not permanently destroy the monarchy, Kate and her husband Prince William could restore it. Kate and her husband both conduct themselves with propriety and class, a sparkling contrast to the publicity seeking grifters Harry and Meghan. Kate’s role is more vital than ever given the wreckage around other family members. She has been a beacon of dignity and grace as she wages a brutal battle against cancer. For her kindness, boldness, and overall strength and dignity, Princess Kate is the hottest political centrist of 2024. 

Conservatives:

10.) Kristi Noem — This great South Dakota Governor achieved plaudits for keeping her state completely open during the Covid pandemic. She has kept the state normal but lost the battle to have July 4th fireworks at Mount Rushmore an annual event. She was considered a presidential candidate and an even stronger vice presidential choice, but she ranks lower on this list for giving her dog the Old Yeller treatment. The issue of her shooting her dog is overblown, but she fumbled the media part of explaining her actions. 

9.) Lauren Boebert — While nobody should celebrate divorce, many single men perked up at the news that Lauren Boebert is about to be single. This stunning brunette is a sexy pistol packing hot mama. This Colorado congresswoman  barely survived her reelection, but is now fighting back hard against the anti-American Squad. She is held Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s feet to the fire. She will need to get reelected again to move up the list. She was involved in a sexually inappropriate incident in a movie theatre, but to be fair her date was a Democrat. 

8.) Anna Paulina Luna — She is the first Mexican-American to be elected to Congress in Florida. She is a warrior, leading the charge to have Merrick Garland and other corruptocrats impeached and Adam Schiff expelled from Congress. To move higher on this list, she needs to show staying power by getting reelected. She also needs to get results from her inquiries. So far, no Democrat she has targeted has been held accountable. 

7.) Mollie Hemingway/Miranda Devine — These are two of the hottest and smartest reporters in America. Hemingway writes for the Federalist, while the appropriately named Divine writes for the New York Post. Hemingway has done extensive work on exposing corruption involving the 2020 presidential election. Divine has brilliantly revealed the various controversies surrounding Hunter Biden and his laptop from hell. The more information dribbles out, the more these two women are seen as right. 

6.) Winsome Sears — The Lieutenant Governor of Virginia is a rock star. She is a proud black woman who served her country in the United States Marines. In her citizen life, she ran a homeless shelter. She has broken plenty of barriers in Virginia politics, which would make her a media darling if she were a Democrat. She has to settle for being loved by Republican voters nationwide. The Governor of Virginia is limited to one term, making her the logical successor to Governor Glenn Youngkin in 2025 or earlier if he becomes the Vice President. 

5.) Victoria Seaman — This gorgeous and successful businesswoman has a real chance of being the first Republican woman elected Mayor of Las Vegas in a very long time. She is a real conservative who understands the needs of small business owners. 

4.) Nikki Haley — This successful former South Carolina Governor and spectacular Ambassador to the United Nations is more than qualified to be President. Yet she ranks near the bottom of the pack. Some are seeing her as a candidate for Vice President. She has been more than competent at every government job she has ever held. Although she did not win the GOP nomination, coming in second place out of everyone is not bad. She still has a block of support. If she campaigns hard for Trump in 2024, she will earn good will in 2028. If she does not, she may be finished. 

3.) Sarah Huckabee Sanders — She was Donald Trump’s White House press secretary. Now she is the first female Arkansas Governor. Her father previously held that job when Bill Clinton’s successor Jim Guy Tucker resigned due to the Whitewater scandal. Succeeding the more moderate Asa Hutchinson, Sanders has battled critics while raising several children and moving her state sharply to the right. She has beaten back the Woke mob and largely won the culture wars in her state. She is drastically reducing taxes in an attempt to get her state income tax to zero. She could be President some day. 

2.) Amy Coney Barrett — This United States Supreme Court justice is everything her supporters could have hoped for. She is Superwoman. A mother to seven children including a racially diverse mixture of adopted children, she went through her entire SCOTUS hearing without needing to take notes. She has sided with the conservative bloc on almost every issue, including the biggest decisions regarding abortion and guns. 

1.) Judge Aileen Cannon — This young smart judge was randomly chosen to oversee one of the indictment cases against Donald Trump. Because Trump appointed her, the left is already launching baseless attacks against her for bias. She has not backed down. She would rank higher but the cases against Trump are overrated in terms of significance. Very few if any people who love or hate Trump will be persuaded, regardless of the results. Once this is over, she will fade into the background. If she rules against Trump, she will briefly become a liberal hero until her next conservative ruling. A governor can influence a state. A Supreme Court justice can influence the entire nation. For being a key player in the 2024 presidential election, Judge Cannon can influence the entire world for several years to come. For this reason, she is the hottest politically conservative woman of 2024.

eric

Israel’s best raid since Antebbe

June 12th, 2024

Lessons Learned and Not Learned From the al-Nuseirat Raid

Is George Soros really a Jew? The Torah has an answer

May 29th, 2024

Torah law, George Soros, and who is a Jew

 

Being Jewish is a birthright privilege. Jews have existed for nearly 6,000 years. Those who tried to eliminate the Jews have repeatedly been relegated to history’s ash heap. They are dust. We Jews remain.

 

While we have so far defeated our external threats, internal threats persist. Jews have a 52% intermarriage rate. A frightening Aish Hatorah graph shows that for each 100 unaffiliated Jews, two generations down the line will produce only four affiliated Jews. A 96% elimination rate is deadly.

 

Yet according to our holy Torah, every Jew is, was, and will always be a Jew.

 

Parsha Emor confronts this issue. Emor means “to speak.”

 

To celebrate Sukkos, Torah commands us to take a beautiful fruit of a tree, date palm fronds, the branch of a dense-leaved tree, and a willow of the brook.

 

With full credit to Chabad of North Hollywood, this parsha’s Midrash delves deeper.

 

A beautiful fruit of a tree, date palm fronds, a dense-leaved tree, and a willow of the brook all refer to Israel.

 

A beautiful fruit of a tree has taste and smell, comparable to Jews who study Torah and do good deeds.

 

Date palm fronds have taste but no smell. They compare to Jews who study Torah but do not do good deeds.

 

A branch of a dense-leaved tree has smell and no taste. These Jews do good deeds but do not study Torah.

 

Willows of the brook have no taste or smell. These Jews do not study Torah or do good deeds.

 

This last group of Jews are unaffiliated. Yet unaffiliated Jews still have the spark of Judaism. They were born with Jewish potential. That potential is a flame that cannot be extinguished during their lifetime.

 

Yet unaffiliated Jews are not nearly the most complex case. A lack of good deeds can be neutral. Far below that rung is the Jew committing evil deeds. What is to make of the Jew who not only forsakes Judaism, but spends their life fighting against Jews and Judaism?

 

Take the organization “Jews against Zionism.” They dress like Chassids and travel to Iran to stand in solidarity with the mullahs. Observe Jewish college students marching for Gaza and embracing the vile “From the river, to the sea, Palestine will be free” chants.

 

Judaism forbids excommunication. Jews who hate Jews are still Jews.

 

Chabad tells a tale of Jewish medical students facing budget cuts. Told to supply their own cadavers, the students asked their rabbi if they could use bodies of Jewish criminals. The shocked rabbi said he needed to know what God thought of these people.

 

Torah commands us to love and cherish every Jew. Every Jew is responsible for every other Jew. This is Ahavos Yisroel. A Jew is a Jew because they were born a Jew, regardless of mitzvahs.

 

So what do proud Jews do about George Soros? Forget momentarily his destructive leftist politics. Briefly look past his financing anti-Jewish college campus riots. Mr. Soros bragged in a videotaped CBS interview that his happiest days were as a teenager sending Jews to the gas chambers.

 

My father is a Holocaust survivor. Must I accept Soros as a Jew when he tried to murder my family? How does one reconcile a man as a Jew when his crowning joy was actively working to permanently exterminate Jews?

 

The Torah says you can love Soros as a Jew while hating him for what he does. Those things are not in conflict.

 

As long as Soros lives, we can pray he sincerely renounces his evil past.

 

Many Jews will insist this is not good enough. While this reaction is understandable, it puts them at odds with our Jewish God Hashem.

 

Torah is binding codified law. Torah says a person born of a Jewish mother is legally irrevocably Jewish. God’s word ends the discussion.

 

We can hate this. I do. When Soros dies, I will not mourn or help form a minyan to say Kaddish. To me, he represents anti-Jewish evil.

 

Yet it’s not my call. It’s Hashem’s call.

 

Soros may have lost his sense of humanity, but he remains forever a Jew. Thus saith the lord.

eric

The Top 24 Games of NFL 2024

May 15th, 2024

Top 24 Games of NFL 2024

1) Week 1: Baltimore Ravens at Kansas City Chiefs

2) Week 2: Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins

3) Week 2: Cincinnati Bengals at Kansas City Chiefs

4) Week 3: San Francisco 49ers at Los Angeles Rams

5) Week 4: Kansas City Chiefs at Los Angeles Chargers

6) Week 5: Green Bay Packers at Los Angeles Rams

7) Week 6: Los Angeles Chargers at Denver Broncos

8) Week 6: Pittsburgh Steelers at Las Vegas Raiders

9) Week 7: Kansas City Chiefs at San Francisco 49ers

10) Week 8: Kansas City Chiefs at Las Vegas Raiders

11) Week 9: Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers

12) Week 10: Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens

13) Week 10: Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints

14) Week 10: Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys

15) Week 11: Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers

16) Week 11: Kansas City Chiefs at Buffalo Bills

17) Week 12: San Francisco 49ers at Green Bay Packers

18) Week 12: Baltimore Ravens at Los Angeles Chargers

19) Week 14: Atlanta Falcons at Minnesota Vikings

20) Week 17: Baltimore Ravens at Houston Texans

21) Week 17: Detroit Lions at San Francisco 49ers

22) Week 18: Los Angeles Chargers at Las Vegas Raiders

23) Week 18: Miami Dolphins at New York Jets

24) Week 18: Cincinnati Bengals at Pittsburgh Steelers

Why the Florida case against Trump must permanently disappear

May 14th, 2024

https://www.newsmax.com/ericgolub/rights-searches-seizures/2024/05/14/id/1164656/

 

Israel must finish Rafah

May 8th, 2024

Israel Must Finish Rafah

Donald Trump would be a lousy dictator

April 18th, 2024

https://www.newsmax.com/ericgolub/why-donald-trump-would-make-a-lousy-dictator/2024/04/17/id/1161383/

 

Beyond Israel and War

April 1st, 2024

Beyond Israel and War

Beyond Israel and War

 

The three reasons Tom Friedman keeps attacking Bibi Netanyahu

March 24th, 2024

Three explanations for Thomas Friedman’s war on Bibi Netanyahu

 

With Israel fighting for survival, an influential politically liberal Jew is waging a verbal war on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

 

In a blistering New York Times op-ed, Thomas Friedman launched an all-out assault on Mr. Netanyahu. While offering standard tepid criticisms of Hamas, Friedman saved his toughest punches for Bibi and his war.

 

“But no fair-minded person can look at the Israeli campaign to destroy Hamas that has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza and not conclude that something has gone terribly wrong there.”

 

What has gone terribly wrong is too many liberal Jews parroting the Gaza Ministry of Health, which Hamas controls. The 30,000 figure is unverified and unverifiable. The GMH does not distinguish terrorist deaths from civilian deaths. The GMH does not categorize deaths by gender or age. Children and adult deaths are lumped together. Most importantly, the GMH does not separate Gazans killed by the Israeli Defense Forces from Gaza deaths inflicted by Hamas.

 

Statistician Abraham Wyner brilliantly shows “How the Gaza Ministry of Health Fakes Casualty Numbers.” https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/how-gaza-health-ministry-fakes-casualty-numbers

The IDF claims to have killed 13,000 Hamas terrorists. A staggeringly low percentage of civilian deaths proves exceptional IDF restraint and compassion. Far from terribly wrong, Netanyahu and the IDF got much right.

 

Friedman doggedly casts Netanyahu as darkly as possible, empowering Hamas by trusting their numbers over IDF numbers. Friedman is not a Jihadist sympathizer. In certain circles his words carry significant weight.

 

There are three explanations for why a grown liberal Jewish man like Friedman would cite Hamas death tolls to attack the Israeli leader.

 

Friedman may believe what he says. Conservatives may dismiss this explanation, but Friedman could be genuine. Lazy investigative journalism and a misguided world view are not contra to sincerity. Lenin referred to Western liberals as “useful idiots.” Friedman’s argument is emotional, not logical. A statistical analysis exposed Hamas’s numbers as preposterous. Friedman offered them anyway, perhaps due to ideological blindness.

 

Friedman could fear losing liberal friends. The American left is trying to implement a Chinese-style social credit score system on Americans. Companies are judged less on profitability than on Environmental Social Governance (ESG) and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). Keeping up appearances and spouting supposed morally correct platitudes supersedes taking tough but correct positions. Political correctness and cancel culture ruined plenty of people who strayed from liberal orthodoxy. Lifelong liberal Democrat Professor Alan Dershowitz’s social credit score plummeted when he defended former President Donald Trump against impeachment. Dershowitz is now persona non grata at many Martha’s Vineyard social events. Friedman is a New York liberal. Planning for the Hamptons Summer party season is already underway. Friedman could be offering Grade D intellectual analysis in a desperate attempt to remain an elite A-Lister. Many liberal Jews who defended Israel were suddenly ostracized by leftists who they thought were their friends. Supporting Netanyahu or the IDF, would remove Friedman from the elite liberal social circuit. For some upper class liberals, that is death. They need People Magazine to find them beautiful and fellow elites to label them caring.

 

 

Friedman could be terrified of a conservative being proven right. The late Dr. Charles Krauthammer in 2003 coined the term “Bush Derangement Syndrome” to describe “the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies, the presidency—nay—the very existence of George W. Bush.” Some liberals opposed the Iraq War on principle, but others could not accept the possibility that Bush was right. Reflexive opposition to anything a conservative says, does or breathes puts ideology over rationality. Friedman is a liberal. He prefers soft power diplomacy worshiped by Barack Obama, John Kerry, and others among the liberal intelligentsia. Bibi is a conservative. He is fine with the hard power approach embodied by Dick Cheney and Neoconservatives. Bibi being proven right would shatter Friedman’s entire world view. It is a shock to the system to discover that everything you believe is wrong.

 

Whatever the reason, Friedman and his fellow liberals obsess over appearances and global approval. This puts their options in a straitjacket. It may seem counter-intuitive, but conservatives being hated no matter what we say or do is liberating. We might as well kill all the bad guys and win the war. In war, it is often better to ask for forgiveness than seek permission. Police prefer to be judged by 12 than carried out by six.

 

Netanyahu’s war approach is legally, morally and ethically right. The IDF must finish the job, even if this means losing the approval of those who never approve of Jews anyway. Liberal Jews prostrating themselves in front of anti-Jewish critics need their come to Moses moment. Hamas is the enemy, not Bibi. Attacking Bibi during wartime harms Israel, especially since Netanyahu and not his critics occupy the military and moral high ground.

 

 

Eric Golub is a retired stockbrokerage and oil professional living in Los Angeles.