Althouse: "God bless you.”/“Here comes the next president!”/“He is for Israel!”

July 29, 2012

"God bless you.”/“Here comes the next president!”/“He is for Israel!”

Romney at Jerusalem's Western Wall.

56 comments:

Dustin said...: Has Obama been an effective diplomat towards Israel, a powerful country in a volatile and arguably existentially imperiled situation?

Since before the days of Carter we have had a problem with the once great Iranian nation. It's a bipartisan failure driven by the American addiction to kicking the can down the road. The problem has gotten worse and worse and worse and worse and when we do finally face it, it's going to lead to a nuclear weapons exchange.

We should have gone to war in 1979. It was certainly justified, and failing to do so will cost, net, millions of lives.; 7/29/12, 9:29 AM
harrogate said...: Hey, I know: Let's start another war!; 7/29/12, 9:35 AM
chickelit said...: harrowgate joked: Hey, I know: Let's start another war!

Don't even laugh: link; 7/29/12, 9:38 AM
Ross said...: It'll be nice to have a president again who looks out for all Americans and not just his cronies.; 7/29/12, 9:39 AM
harrogate said...: Not laughing.; 7/29/12, 9:40 AM
Brian Brown said...: Obama has been to Israel over and over!

Nancy Pelosi says so you dummies!; 7/29/12, 9:42 AM
edutcher said...: By all means, let's talk about Commandante Zero's Smart Diplomacy.

The big c communists in Blighty hated the Romster for telling the truth about diconcerting problems.

The people who need a friend, rather than a small c communist, in the White House see it differently.

harrogate said...

Hey, I know: Let's start another war!

I think he means another campaign in the one we've already got.

Between Bucketmouth, Willie, and Zero, it started a while ago.

But it's nice to see the Lefties will go back to their traitorous selves once the election is over.; 7/29/12, 9:44 AM
harrogate said...: It is traitorous to oppose starting wars!; 7/29/12, 9:45 AM
Kovacs said...: "Another said, 'Get rid of Obamacare.'"

From Wikipedia:

Health care in Israel is universal and participation in a medical insurance plan is compulsory. Health care coverage is administered by a small number of organizations, with funding from the government. All Israeli citizens are entitled to the same Uniform Benefits Package, regardless of which organization they are a member of, and treatment under this package is funded for all citizens regardless of their financial means. Generally, health care in Israel is of high-quality and is delivered in an efficient and effective manner. Partly as a result of this, at an overall 82 years, Israelis enjoy the fourth-longest life expectancy in the world as of 2012.; 7/29/12, 9:49 AM
Anonymous said...: Health care in Israel is universal and participation in a medical insurance plan is compulsory

They're well-placed to warn us away from that, then.; 7/29/12, 9:59 AM
Hagar said...: It is also a tiny little country with a highly motivated citizenry, very nearly being on permanent war footing.; 7/29/12, 10:15 AM
edutcher said...: harrogate said...

It is traitorous to oppose starting wars!

It's treasonous to give aid and comfort to the enemy in time of war.

And, where exactly has harro and the rest of the trolls been the last few years, protesting Commandante Zero's war?

The one he was going to end.

Oh, yeah...; 7/29/12, 10:27 AM
Kchiker said...: Quite a different response to the one he experienced in London.; 7/29/12, 10:31 AM
chickelit said...: edutcher wrote: It's treasonous to give aid and comfort to the enemy in time of war.

I suspect harrogate isn't an American so there's that.; 7/29/12, 10:38 AM
edutcher said...: Then we can shoot him.; 7/29/12, 10:47 AM
harrogate said...: everyone get in line with another war or you're not an American or you're guilty of treason. whether or not we should have another war, whether or not there be a positive or even practical endgame, is irrelevant.

shoot those not on board.; 7/29/12, 10:57 AM
chickelit said...: shoot those not on board.

waterboard those not shot; 7/29/12, 11:00 AM
harrogate said...: Also, If you don't agree with your loved ones killing dying when an Israeli official says it is "time," then you are an anti-Semite as well as a traitor or not an American.

you deserve to be shot too.; 7/29/12, 11:01 AM
harrogate said...: these are the "ethics" of Ann.; 7/29/12, 11:02 AM
harrogate said...: finally, why question it? don't you see how spot-on right and good and resolvable Iraq and Afghanistan were?; 7/29/12, 11:05 AM
Rusty said...: harrogate said...
Also, If you don't agree with your loved ones killing dying when an Israeli official says it is "time," then you are an anti-Semite as well as a traitor or not an American.

you deserve to be shot too.

You and reason don't meet up too often. Do you?; 7/29/12, 11:07 AM
harrogate said...: Rusty, you seem like a good candidate for consoling loved ones of dead soldiers if we go to war on this front. good thing it's resolvable, else you'd never be able to do anything else.; 7/29/12, 11:10 AM
edutcher said...: harrogate said...

everyone get in line with another war or you're not an American or you're guilty of treason. whether or not we should have another war, whether or not there be a positive or even practical endgame, is irrelevant.

Another?

There's only been one since Bucketmouth tried to "fix" things in Iran, the way Zero did with the Arab Spring, and it's just going to make things worse.

As I say, harro and the rest of the trolls have been sooo quiet the last 4 years as Zero played at having a surge in A-stan, so his sudden protests at the thought of a strong foreign policy for this country show him to be the hypocrite he is.

And treason is defined in the Constitution as giving aid and comfort to the enemy in time of war or making war on the US. One way or another, the Lefties qualify.

shoot those not on board.

Hey, that's the way the Lefties play the game.; 7/29/12, 11:14 AM
jr565 said...: harrogate, you're arguing as if wars are started in a vacuum. When in fact, Iran has been developing nukes despite the world telling it not to, thus provoking a conflict. And clearly Obama's position has been, rather than holding Iran to account to alienate our allies.
Now, will a war happen. I don't know. But if it does, lets at least give Iran a portion of the credit ok?; 7/29/12, 11:17 AM
jr565 said...: Besides, harrogate, do we even have to have a war anyway? We can engage like we did in Libya, and call it a "kinetic military action". Drop a bunch of bombs, and completley ignore the war Powers act.

Just like Obama did, with almost no protest from the left.
Something tells me though, that were Mitt Romney to win the white house, all those protest kids we haven't heard from in so long will be dusting off their protest clothes.
Because suddenly, and completely coincidentally were Romney to win, speaking truth to power and moral outrage would suddenly become popular again with the kids.

You do know that no one will be buying the act this time don't you?; 7/29/12, 11:26 AM
harrogate said...: "But if it does, lets at least give Iran a portion of the credit ok?"

Fair enough, they get a very hefty portion of the credit.

All snark aside, my rule has always been and remains, if it isn't a mission for which you would risk your own life, as well as the life of your own son or daughter, then it doesn't merit support. This has nothing to do with the chickenhawk charge btw, although I do think it is all too easy to beat the drums of war when you have no skin in the game whatsoever.

It needs to be obviously compelling, enough to where no salesmanship is necessary. And finally, it needs to be something for which a positive attainable outcome is very evident.

Those criteria are not even on the radar. Indeed, it is very rare when they are!; 7/29/12, 11:27 AM
Matt said...: The current president is for ALL the people and cultures of the Middle East. Romney is only for Israel.; 7/29/12, 11:36 AM
jr565 said...: Matt wrote:
The current president is for ALL the people and cultures of the Middle East. Romney is only for Israel.

That was sarcastic right?; 7/29/12, 11:39 AM
edutcher said...: harrogate said...

All snark aside, my rule has always been and remains, if it isn't a mission for which you would risk your own life, as well as the life of your own son or daughter, then it doesn't merit support.

Baloney. Just more Lefty misdirection.

The test is national interests and national security. And Zero has damaged both enough that we'll be fighting for another 50 years.

And, in case harro didn't notice - we were the ones attacked.

And, oh, yeah, those WMDs Saddam didn't have - the ones his pal Putin trucked into Syria, the ones the Syrians are threatening to use?

As always, the Lefties don't care about whose daughter it is, as long as they can go against this country.; 7/29/12, 11:45 AM
Anonymous said...: harrogate: So how do the Revolutionary War and the Civil War stack up for you?

By the reasoning I hear from Democrats and liberals, it's hard for me to believe they would have supported those wars.

Today's Democrats remind me very much of their 1860s counterparts, the Copperheads.; 7/29/12, 11:58 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: The current president is for ALL the people and cultures of the Middle East. Romney is only for Israel.

No matter how good his intentions, I don't think that that is possible. I think that you have to take sides, because so many of the Muslims in the area have done so. And, realistically, by his actions essentially in support of the Muslim Brotherhood and Islamic Jihad, President Obama has indeed picked a side, and it isn't Israel.

The problem is that Israel is in much more jeopardy now than it was when he took office. Sure, some of that was the natural result of all of these dictatorships and autocracies in the area having revolutions. So, we now have a regime in Egypt that has vowed to destroy Israel. This is a country of 70 or so million to which we have spent billions of dollars a year over more than 30 years to rearm, and now those arms and many millions of potential Islamic martyrs are right next door. And, we may end up with something similar just to the north in Syria. Flight time across the Sinai is minutes, as is the time to get from Syria to Tel Aviv by air.

You wonder why Romney was greeted so warmly in Israel? It should be obvious. The Israelis are scared, as they should be.; 7/29/12, 11:59 AM
grackle said...: … my rule has always been and remains, if it isn't a mission for which you would risk your own life, as well as the life of your own son or daughter, then it doesn't merit support. This has nothing to do with the chickenhawk charge btw …

Clearly stating something while at the same time denying you are stating it doesn't work. Try something else … maybe … honesty?

And finally, it[any war not conducted by Obama] needs to be something for which a positive attainable outcome is very evident.

It's a good thing FDR did not adhere to this principle with WW2, where the outcome was very much NOT "evident."; 7/29/12, 12:08 PM
Rusty said...: harrogate said...
Rusty, you seem like a good candidate for consoling loved ones of dead soldiers if we go to war on this front. good thing it's resolvable, else you'd never be able to do anything else.

See my comment above.; 7/29/12, 12:30 PM
Deb said...: "The current president is for ALL the people and cultures of the Middle East."

If only that were true. The State Department has consistently followed their own agenda and most assuredly have been anti-Israel. It has generally been Congress and U. S. Presidents except for FDR, Carter, Clinton and this one who have been pro-Israel but have been held back by the State Department, to include the Secretaries of State. Earliest case in point: 1947 when Truman recognized Israel it was against the recommendation of the State Department. When DOD approved the sale of P-47, Corsair and Avenger aircraft as well as a CVE and 4 Destroyers to Israel it was the new Secretary of State, George C. Marshall who stopped the sale. When Israel wanted to maintain a portion of the Sinai as a defense buffer it was Carter who forced compliance with the promise to guarantee Israel supplies and US backing in the UN for Israel actions to protect itself (since then we have regularly let them down, except when Bolton was at the UN, by no action in the UN). Israel has never asked the US or anyone for troops at any time to fight for their protection. They ask only to be provided the supplies they have purchased for their defense.; 7/29/12, 12:47 PM
leslyn said...: If you don't shoot 'em when they disagree with you, then waterboard 'em.

Yep, that"s the "ethics" of Althouse. None.; 7/29/12, 12:50 PM
traditionalguy said...: The temptation for all those unemployed moslem guerilla trained jihad groups is immense.

They outnumber Israel 100 to 1. They have the best weapons we sold them or Russia sold them.

Why not act on their own 50 years of proclamations that they will obey allah and his prophet and kill all of the Jews and Christians in Jerusalem and keep going on over to the Mediterranean coast of Isreal where the newly discovered oil and gas fields are under Israeli development?? Why not??

A creditable fear of American material support is the only reason Holocaust Redux has not already finally solved the Jews' existence problem.

If Israel goes down under their sword, then the next target for the Jew hunters lies across the Atlantic Ocean where the rest of the world's Jews live today.

And the Muslims' hatred of the Jews who worship on Saturday is matched only by their extreme hatred for the other people of the book ones who worship on Sunday. That's me. So I have a vested interest in Israel. And so does everyone else who is not prepared to convert tp Mohammedism and help them slaughter ths Jews, The Copts, The Catholics, the Presbyterians, the Methodists and the Southern Baptists.; 7/29/12, 12:52 PM
leslyn said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 7/29/12, 12:56 PM
leslyn said...: Ross said... It'll be nice to have a president again who looks out for all Americans and not just his cronies.

Another vote for Obama!; 7/29/12, 12:59 PM
leslyn said...: At least Robney didn't walk up to the Wailing Wall and ask if it was finished yet. At least he's got that diplomatic victory to put in his back pocket.

The company that was the program manager for construction of almost all the London Olympic venues finished July 27, 2011. That would have been about as hard for Robney to find out as it would be for Sarah Palin to read a newspaper.

Oops.; 7/29/12, 1:09 PM
gk1 said...: I think obama momentarily regrets being openly hostile to israel because it shows plainly who he is and what he cares about. He just needs enough cover from jewish leaders so he can finish the job of tossing Israel overboard. I hope they are smart enough to see through that.; 7/29/12, 1:13 PM
Michael K said...: "All snark aside, my rule has always been and remains, if it isn't a mission for which you would risk your own life, as well as the life of your own son or daughter, then it doesn't merit support."

In 1938, The Oxford Union agreed with you. It was passed by 275 votes to 153,"That this House will in no circumstances fight for its King and Country". It was passed by 275 votes to 153,

How did that work out for them ?; 7/29/12, 1:14 PM
Michael K said...: "
The company that was the program manager for construction of almost all the London Olympic venues finished July 27, 2011. That would have been about as hard for Robney to find out as it would be for Sarah Palin to read a newspaper."

He wasn't talking about construction.

Dope.

Read about the empty seat scandal. Try a little harder.; 7/29/12, 1:21 PM
Kelly said...: one thing I've learned from democrats during our last wars...they are untrustworthy, treasonous sob's. Don't ever trust them to follow through on support of a war that may take place during a republican administration. They symbolically drag the bodies of us soldiers through the media for political gain. Once they've retaken office and ramped up a war even further, the death of US soldiers are listed as NATO deaths and fade. A daily body count is no longer politically useful.

Israel really needs to act before the election. the only way to keep the democrats pie holes plugged is if Obama supports Israel. Otherwise, the media and anti war types will be on the march again.; 7/29/12, 1:22 PM
Big Mike said...: Barack Obama thought that he could kick Israel into major concessions and all the Middle East problems would be solved. Isn't that the scientific consensus of the academic lounges?

Didn't work? But, but, but it's the consensus!; 7/29/12, 1:47 PM
chickelit said...: @Michael K: Don't go all Oxford Union on poor dear Harrogate. You might out him.; 7/29/12, 1:47 PM
furious_a said...: if it isn't a mission for which you would risk your own life, as well as the life of your own son or daughter...

It has everything to do with chickenhawking, please...

Considering the way Iran and her proxies play the game, anytime one boards a bus or plane or sends one's kids to school they're risking their lives (google "Underwear Bomber", "Israelis Bulgaria" or "Beslan").; 7/29/12, 2:12 PM
edutcher said...: leslyn said...

At least Robney didn't walk up to the Wailing Wall and ask if it was finished yet. At least he's got that diplomatic victory to put in his back pocket.

The company that was the program manager for construction of almost all the London Olympic venues finished July 27, 2011. That would have been about as hard for Robney to find out as it would be for Sarah Palin to read a newspaper.

They probably read more papers than leslyn. We've been inundated with justifications for the Romster's concern about the preparations for the Olympic Village.

And, of course, Miss Sarah knows enough that her endorsements do a lot better in their elections than Choomie's.; 7/29/12, 2:30 PM
Gene said...: Dustin: We should have gone to war in 1979.

There hasn't been a decade since I was born when we haven't wanted to go against another country, oftentimes several.

I wish after we had avenged 9-11 10 years ago we would have brought everyone home from Afghanistan, stayed out of Iraq and used the trillions we subsequently wasted to do something worthwhile for America, such as build roads, bridges, airports, nuclear power plants and schools.; 7/29/12, 4:31 PM
Anonymous said...: "...It needs to be obviously compelling, enough to where no salesmanship is necessary. And finally, it needs to be something for which a positive attainable outcome is very evident.

Those criteria are not even on the radar. Indeed, it is very rare when they are!."

What was on you radar 9/10/01?; 7/29/12, 4:34 PM
ken in tx said...: I have not seen anyone mention it yet, so I will. Mormons recognize only three religious groups in the world; Jews, Mormons, and Gentiles. I don't mind this anymore than I mind Jews considering everyone else Gentiles. But it might help people understand Mormon support of Israel.; 7/29/12, 4:56 PM
Joe said...: Mormons recognize only three religious groups in the world; Jews, Mormons, and Gentiles.

That's a complete load of shit.; 7/29/12, 5:26 PM
Gene said...: gk1: I think obama momentarily regrets being openly hostile to israel because it shows plainly who he is and what he cares about.

I hope what he cares about is keeping the US out of our third mid-east war in 10 years. We don't need the mid-east anymore. We've got enough oil and gas in this country to meet our needs. Let someone else go fight those endless wars over there.; 7/29/12, 7:11 PM
gk1 said...: Gene, thats a nice thought if obama and his crew wasn't so openly hostile to the mounds of fossil fuels we have locked up in the U.S oil shale and gas reserves. But instead he wants to make us dependent on the middle east for energy.; 7/29/12, 8:15 PM
Gene said...: gk1, you are absolutely right. If the price of electricity or gasoline or natural gas skyrocketed Obama would cheer. He doesn't understand that energy is wealth. The more cheap fuel we have the better lives we have. Obama thinks if the price of fuel goes up that's good, because then we use less of it.; 7/29/12, 10:05 PM
Saint Croix said...: harrowgate writes...

everyone get in line with another war or you're not an American or you're guilty of treason.

shoot those not on board.

these are the "ethics" of Ann

leslyn adds...

If you don't shoot 'em when they disagree with you, then waterboard 'em.

Yep, that"s the "ethics" of Althouse. None.

So I looked up and down the thread for some Althosue comment that inspired this insanity. Nothing. She said nothing. She linked to an article about Romney in Israel. That's it, she's a monster.; 7/29/12, 11:34 PM
harrogate said...: Saint Croix, that you seem to think you made a "point" there is comedy gold. Keep at it, fella.; 7/30/12, 10:10 AM