tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post1299874936922254077..comments2024-03-28T15:35:21.498-05:00Comments on Althouse: "By the time Mitt Romney meets with Israel’s leaders on Sunday, the Republican Jewish Coalition will have kicked off an unprecedented political campaign..."Ann Althousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-50157256868059657132012-07-26T02:25:45.751-05:002012-07-26T02:25:45.751-05:00"The 1920 to 1980s GOP (pre Ronald Reagan) wh..."The 1920 to 1980s GOP (pre Ronald Reagan) whose country clubs proudly excluded wealthy Jewish members to scratch an anti-semitic itch are reaping what they sowed."<br /><br />Oh please. When I was growing up ('50s - '60s) there were three country clubs in town - Protestant, Catholic and Jewish. We couldn't get into any of them.Gary Rosenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00338791760274457388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-77963862315636301022012-07-26T02:22:36.815-05:002012-07-26T02:22:36.815-05:00"Cedarford.
I've told the elders about yo..."Cedarford.<br />I've told the elders about you. Watch you're back"<br /><br />That's hard to do, there's always someone else in the way.Gary Rosenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00338791760274457388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-13503545865553950912012-07-26T00:23:32.116-05:002012-07-26T00:23:32.116-05:00traditional guy: While it is too bad about your pr...<i>traditional guy: While it is too bad about your pretty grandchildren being threatened . . . </i><br /><br />That's just crude and cheap.Genehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10438099877519107411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-40132168945344483562012-07-25T21:59:04.168-05:002012-07-25T21:59:04.168-05:00"The Jews' greatest natural political all...<i>"The Jews' greatest natural political ally is the group that is gaining increasing influence in the Republican Party -- fundamentalist Christians. The irony is that most Jews are irrationally afraid of fundamentalist Christians."</i><br /><br />I hate to agree with C4 here, but yes, this is true. It's vile how some Jews treat their Christian allies.<br /><br />Also, Bibi makes Obama look bad because Bibi is an example of a passionate, knowledgeable leader who is an unfailing advocate for his own country. Obama is none of those things, and so he looks like a dork next to Bibi. As icing on the cake, while Bibi's priority is and should be Israel, he seems to have a deep personal fondness for the US that I don't think Obama shares.holdfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15206911009978107266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-80228129588457689382012-07-25T21:55:00.642-05:002012-07-25T21:55:00.642-05:00Would've been a great pitch if not so heavily ...Would've been a great pitch if not so heavily worded in the present tense on the front end. All about what we will see Obama do in his second term. As if a 2d term is a fait accompli. Good God, but the Rs are bad at framing, Shiver me timbers.Lawyer Momhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04487040434589941351noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-10390279503880838412012-07-25T19:14:10.692-05:002012-07-25T19:14:10.692-05:00@ Gene...How long gas it been since the USA start...@ Gene...How long gas it been since the USA started asserting that we would enforce the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty on Iran's secret A-Bomb Program about to build a bomb? <br /><br />Every year for ten or fifteen years, maybe longer.And how many times has Israel attacked Iran? Why not once.<br /><br />The Iranian Navy ijust announced that it is repositioning warships into the Atlantic Ocean. Do we wait for Bibi to threaten Iran to save our East Coast from inceneration from Iran's nuclear missiles?<br /><br />Now who did you say is dragging whom into a useless war? Great Satan is Iran's target.<br /><br /> While it is too bad about your pretty grandchildren being threatened with nuclear holocaust, how do you manage to blame that on Netanyhu maintaining sovreignty over Jerusalem since June, 1967 war took in The Old City, expanding those pre 1967 ( meaning the 1949) truce lines that are all that Obama decreed to be legitiment for Jews to live in.traditionalguyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05706120413005530014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-19801221588512089262012-07-25T18:54:46.408-05:002012-07-25T18:54:46.408-05:00Rocketeer: I'm not asserting you're of the...<i>Rocketeer: I'm not asserting you're of the left - I don't know - but "America, right or wrong!" is typically not an argument advanced by the left.</i><br /><br />America right or wrong is not my position. But Netanyahu is hardly right here either. He most certainly doesn't have America's best interest at heart (why should he? He's paid to represent Israel.)<br /><br />I'm no fan of Obama and won't be voting for him, but he's at least he's trying to keep us out of a war with Iran which will wreck our economy and leave us in a thirties' style depression for the next 20 years. Netanyahu on the other hand is doing his best to get us to fight that war for him. Well, phooey on that.Genehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10438099877519107411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-59551262014261377862012-07-25T17:39:08.371-05:002012-07-25T17:39:08.371-05:00And as for the Republican Jewish Voter pitch?
You...And as for the Republican Jewish Voter pitch?<br /><br />Your tent? It's too small.<br /><br />When are you going to have enough courage to pitch a tent and a solid message to ALL Jewish voters?Pennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02094488084214911115noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-57073852956818651562012-07-25T17:29:54.386-05:002012-07-25T17:29:54.386-05:00It's a mistake to call our allies "strang...It's a mistake to call our allies "strange bedfellows".<br /><br />Soon enough they may see us as their "bad dream".Pennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02094488084214911115noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-58470419339513756482012-07-25T16:35:00.366-05:002012-07-25T16:35:00.366-05:00traditional guy:
@ Gene...Where have you been? sa...<i>traditional guy: <br />@ Gene...Where have you been? saying Obama presumably has America's best interests at heart is a knee slapper.</i><br /><br />Slap away if you want but you should know that I suspect that we both share a similar distaste for Obama and his vision for America. Even so, this isn't to say by his own lights Obama's not doing what he thinks is best for America. <br /><br />Netanyahu on the other hand is doing what he thinks is best for Israel, which in this case consists in getting the US to go fight a war with Iran for him. <br /><br />Netanyahu has us over a barrel. If he decides to make even so much as a candy-ass pinprick bomb strike at Iran, Iran will conclude the US and Israel are in cahoots and launch an attack on our ships in the Persian Gulf. Once American sailors die, we will have to respond in a massive way, whereupon we end up in a huge war which we can't afford, don't need and which, prior to the Israeli attack and subsequent Iranian miscalculation, would not have been necessary for our security in the first place. <br /><br />The US economy is already teetering on the precipice. Another Mid-East war (the third in 10 years) will push us over the edge for another generation. <br /><br />So if you want to know why I'm critical of Netanyahu, it's the fact that he has in his hot war-ready hands the ability to wreck the financial security of my children (and perhaps mine too), not to mention that of much of America. And there's nothing we can do about it.Genehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10438099877519107411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-41023256298019811372012-07-25T16:12:58.265-05:002012-07-25T16:12:58.265-05:00I hate to see Michael Goldstein supporting someone...<i>I hate to see Michael Goldstein supporting someone like Netanyahu over our own president.</i><br /><br />I'm not asserting you're of the left - I don't know - but "America, right or wrong!" is typically not an argument advanced by the left.Rocketeerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05277758566013062712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-69374996145992374302012-07-25T15:21:56.136-05:002012-07-25T15:21:56.136-05:00@ Gene...Where have you been? saying Obama presuma...@ Gene...Where have you been? saying Obama presumably has America's best interests at heart is a knee slapper.traditionalguyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05706120413005530014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-24580693803619534882012-07-25T15:04:15.621-05:002012-07-25T15:04:15.621-05:00art, I meant if Netanyahu launches a preemptive st...art, I meant if Netanyahu launches a preemptive strike Obama will need to react. And, how he reacts will influence Jews on the fence.<br /><br />I think you may be mistaken by the "glaringly obvious" comment. Nothing is glaringly obvious to an idealogue.ndspinellihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01446291993043775612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-4326002077928694652012-07-25T14:28:59.488-05:002012-07-25T14:28:59.488-05:00@ndspinelli, thank you for your thanks, but I susp...@ndspinelli, thank you for your thanks, but I suspect I don't understand your comment.<br /><br />> I believe Netanyahu may be the key.<br /><br />The key to what? How American Jews will vote? If so, then we will have to disagree. I know of no one whose vote will be influenced by Mr. Netanyahu's endorsement, whether overt or implied.<br /><br />> He's exposing Obama as a weak ally of Israel <br /><br />I'm not sure that anyone needs to "expose" what is glaringly obvious.art.the.nerdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15217116501544593071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-7539870502491993192012-07-25T14:28:24.558-05:002012-07-25T14:28:24.558-05:00Pookie Number 2: It's not Netanyahu's job ...<i>Pookie Number 2: It's not Netanyahu's job to represent America. . . </i><br /><br />I agree. Netanyahu should represent Israel and Obama (or Romney if he wins) should represent America (not Israel).<br /><br />As for Obama insulting Netanyahu, the way I heard it it was Netanyahu who hung Obama out to dry. Not that I care in one sense, I just hate to see Americans taking the side of Netanyahu, who just wants us to go fight Iran for him, instead of sticking up for the American president, who, whatever his other faults, presumably has America's best interests at heart.Genehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10438099877519107411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-57940112257754211022012-07-25T14:27:25.786-05:002012-07-25T14:27:25.786-05:00Cedarford.
I've told the elders about you. Wat...Cedarford.<br />I've told the elders about you. Watch you're back.Rustyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00938263272237104128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-51811862600015129932012-07-25T14:01:51.694-05:002012-07-25T14:01:51.694-05:00I hate to see Michael Goldstein supporting someone...<i>I hate to see Michael Goldstein supporting someone like Netanyahu over our own president. Netanyahu doesn't represent America and he doesn't have America's best interests at heart. He can put us into a war with Iran at the drop of a hat.</i><br /><br />It's not Netanyahu's job to represent America, but Obama's weak foreign policy (including unnecessarily insulting allies like Netanyahu, and ignoring the Iranian uprising due to his unrealistic vision of his own influence) also makes the war scenario you describe more likely. American interests would be much better served with Obama replaced.Pookie Number 2https://www.blogger.com/profile/14410582724951232720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-42661513601723400672012-07-25T14:01:15.646-05:002012-07-25T14:01:15.646-05:00artthenerd, Thanks for your perspective. I believe...artthenerd, Thanks for your perspective. I believe Netanyahu may be the key. He's exposing Obama as a weak ally of Israel and there may be a shitstorm coming soon w/ Syria/Iran/Hezbollah.ndspinellihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01446291993043775612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-24028794629509512802012-07-25T13:56:26.919-05:002012-07-25T13:56:26.919-05:00I find the comments here to be appallingly naive. ...I find the comments here to be appallingly naive. It's not about money, country clubs, or even about Israel. This Orthodox Jew would like to provide some perspective. I hasten to say that I speak in generalities here and individual exceptions certainly exist.<br /><br />Politically as well as ritually, Conservative Jews are hard to categorize, and I will not attempt to do so.<br /><br />For better or for worse, I note a tension between the "prophetic" side of Judaism and the "halakhic" (legalistic or ritualistic) side.<br /><br />The prophetic side values tzedakah (charity), tikkun olam (repairing the world), and social justice as the essence of Judaism. This side is often identified with Reform Jews and these individuals are often more comfortable with the Democratic Party.<br /><br />The halakhic side values tradition over change, family over individuals, authority over anarchy, personal responsibility over communal responsibility. This side is often identified with Orthodox Jews and these individuals are often more comfortable with the Republican Party.<br /><br />It is also true that Orthodox Jews tend to support Israel more strongly than Reform Jews. With most political candidates, this is not a reason to prefer one party over the other. Arguably the 2012 election is unusual in this regard.<br /><br />Finally, I note that people who self-identify as Jews are trending more religious, simply because it is so easy to "opt out" of being Jewish in the country. You don't have to be Jewish to enjoy a bagel with cream cheese! If this observation is correct, it makes sense that the "Jewish" vote will trend more conservative politically.art.the.nerdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15217116501544593071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-21326831982615767372012-07-25T13:50:05.725-05:002012-07-25T13:50:05.725-05:00ricpic - "The Jews' greatest natural poli...ricpic - "The Jews' greatest natural political ally is the group that is gaining increasing influence in the Republican Party -- fundamentalist Christians. The irony is that most Jews are irrationally afraid of fundamentalist Christians."<br /><br />Jews like the political Israel-1st support the Christian Zionists fundies give them, but personally revile them as a group. Hold them in some contempt as dumb rubes.<br /><br />Less educated, evolution denying, taking stuff Jews wrote and said should not be read literally..as the literal truth of God. Too close in nature to the religious fervered, uneducated peasants of Europe that launched Pogroms. <br /><br />The other matter is that while some more liberal, progressive Jews like the kneejerk support of Israel, they hate the other political views of Christian Zionists.<br /><br />Jews in Hollywood and the Jewish lever-pullers of mass media led the Palin-bashing. They regularly run "the Fundie" "the Catholic priests" the "religious CEO" as villains in entertainment. And lampoon the Goobers in news and on reality TV shows in a way Jews would never do to blacks or gays or members of the Tribe.Cedarfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00602418702398818596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-68546303739015469752012-07-25T13:36:54.799-05:002012-07-25T13:36:54.799-05:00I hate to see Michael Goldstein supporting someone...I hate to see Michael Goldstein supporting someone like Netanyahu over our own president. Netanyahu doesn't represent America and he doesn't have America's best interests at heart. He can put us into a war with Iran at the drop of a hat. <br /><br />All he has to do is send a lonely F-16 to bomb Iran and Iran will assume it was done with the support and blessing of the United State. Iran in turn will attack our ships in the Persian Gulf. We will have no choice but to massively respond and there we will be, right in the middle of the next big Mid-east war which will wreck our economy for a generation. And when it's over we'll be a second rate power. <br /><br />And none of this is in America's hands. It's in Netanyahu's. If Goldstein supports him over the American president, Goldstein is a fool.Genehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10438099877519107411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-39137763146125638072012-07-25T13:21:23.373-05:002012-07-25T13:21:23.373-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-8020964720998343242012-07-25T12:59:18.629-05:002012-07-25T12:59:18.629-05:00But is not Florida busy scrubbing their voter list...But is not Florida busy scrubbing their voter lists of <i>all</i> those not eligible to vote in Florida, including all those New York residents with winter homes in Florida?Hagarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03653025261513705773noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-90839078621401432882012-07-25T12:42:38.636-05:002012-07-25T12:42:38.636-05:00"Ann Althouse said...
@Geoff -- Florida is th..."Ann Althouse said...<br />@Geoff -- Florida is the biggest swing state with 29 electoral votes. This is a voting bloc to be mined in Florida. There's the election."<br /><br />And if Romney picks Rubio...Curious Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14440726941494085334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-25544998244713338962012-07-25T12:26:31.100-05:002012-07-25T12:26:31.100-05:00CubanBob...Yes, the Dems were allowed to play at ...CubanBob...Yes, the Dems were allowed to play at those exclusive golf clubs as were any wealthy Jews, but the GOP guys who owned and ran them did blackbal Hebrews for membership applications.<br /><br />And Nixon did more for the Jews living in Israel than anyone since Truman. Nixon was nobody's fool.traditionalguyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05706120413005530014noreply@blogger.com