US President Barack Obama is an inept, incompetent leader. More than his failure to pass his domestic agenda on health care and global warming despite his Democratic Party’s control over both houses of Congress, Iran’s announcement on Thursday that it is a nuclear power and has the capacity to produce weapons-grade uranium is a testament to Obama’s feckless incompetence. Even his most ardent supporters are admitting this.
Take The New York Times. In a news analysis Thursday of Obama’s failure to prevent Iran from advancing with its nuclear program, David Sanger wrote that for the US president, the last year has been “a year in which little in his dealings with Iran has gone the way that the White House expected.”
Since Obama first announced his wish to sit down with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, at a Democratic presidential candidates’ debate in the spring of 2008, the 44th US president’s only strategy for dealing with Iran has been to appease its leaders. And as of Tuesday, he still believes that ingratiating himself with the regime is his best bet.
At his press conference Tuesday, Obama wouldn’t admit that appeasement has failed, even as all of Iran’s top leaders said they were expanding their illicit uranium enrichment activities. The most he would do was acknowledge that the regime’s leaders “have made their choice so far, although the door is still open.”
As for sanctions, well, Obama said it will take “several weeks” to put those together at the UN.
The distressing truth is that Obama’s aim has never been to prevent Teheran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. His whole “sanctions-if-engagement-fails” strategy is just a ruse. The Obama administration has never intended to place serious sanctions on Iran. As one senior administration official told The New York Times, the purpose of the sanctions talk is to get the Iranians to agree to negotiate. As he put it, “This is about driving them back to negotiations, because the real goal here is to avoid war.”
Got that? As far as Obama is concerned, Iran with nuclear weapons isn’t the main concern. Israel using force to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons is the main concern.
US PRESIDENTS have a far freer hand in foreign policy than they have in domestic affairs. A president’s ability to implement his domestic agenda is constrained by Congress. Congress has much less of a say in foreign policy. But the main constraining factor for a US president in both domestic and foreign affairs is public opinion.
Over the past year, Obama failed to pass his domestic agenda even though he enjoyed governing majorities in both houses of Congress, because the public opposed his agenda. So, too, if the public is able to express its opposition to his foreign policy, particularly as it relates to Israel and Iran, he will be unable to sustain it.
To date, in light of his sinking approval ratings, the main thing Obama has had going for him is that since the presidential election, his political opponents have lacked a leader capable of uniting his opponents around an alternative path. Over the past week, that leader may have emerged.
On Saturday, former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin gave the keynote address at the Tea Party Movement convention in Nashville, Tennessee. As she did in the presidential campaign, Palin electrified her audience in Nashville by credibly channeling the populist impulses of American voters. In her signature line she asked, “So how’s that hopey changey stuff working out for ya?”
Palin excoriated Obama on his handling of US foreign policy. Among other things, she noted that a year into his quest to appease dictators, America’s international standing is in shambles. “Israel, a friend and a critical ally, now questions the strength of our support,” she added.
Palin bellowed that on issues of foreign policy, there is no room for self-delusion. As she put it, “National security, that’s the one place where you’ve got to call it like it is.” And then, “We need a foreign policy that distinguishes America’s friends from her enemies and recognizes the true nature of the threats that we face.”
If her address wasn’t enough to convince Americans – and specifically American Jews – that Palin thinks supporting Israel and standing up to Iran are the keys to US national security, then there was her interview on Fox News Sunday. Asked how Obama can win reelection in 2012, Palin responded, “Say he decided to declare war on Iran or decided really to come out and do whatever he could to support Israel, which I would like him to do.”
And if that still isn’t enough, there is her lapel pin. The politician who leads the populist opposition to Obama decided to make her most important speech since the 2008 election wearing a pin featuring the US flag and the Israeli flag.
Palin, who is considering a run in the 2012 Republican presidential primaries, is using her public platforms to reassemble the coalition of security hawks, social conservatives and blue collar workers that propelled Ronald Reagan to the White House in 1980. Her support for Israel serves her in building support among both security hawks and social conservatives.
Unlike Obama’s empty protestations of support for Israel, Palin’s support is obviously heartfelt and therefore will not diminish while Obama remains in office. And as Palin becomes stronger, her ability to influence the US debate in a manner that constrains Obama’s freedom to intimidate Israel into allowing Iran to become a nuclear power will rise.
DISTURBINGLY, IN spite of Palin’s extraordinary support for Israel, the American Jewish community overwhelmingly rejects her. As Jennifer Rubin noted in her article, “Why Jews hate Palin,” in Commentary magazine, Jews disapproved of Sen. John McCain’s choice of Palin as his running-mate by a 54 to 37 percent majority. The sneering broadsides published against Palin by leading American Jewish writers are legion.
In her article, Rubin gives a number of reasons for American Jews’ rejection of Palin.
On the one hand, American Jews, who overwhelmingly self-identify as Democrats and disproportionately identify as liberals, oppose Palin for the same reason they oppose all social-conservative Republicans – because she isn’t a liberal Democrat. What makes American Jews’ rejection of Palin unique is its emotional potency. Rubin argues that the visceral hatred that many American Jews express towards Palin is effectively an issue of class hatred, or snobbery. They are four generations removed from the sweatshops where their great grandparents labored on New York’s Lower East Side. And they don’t like this woman with a funny accent who went to University of Idaho, guts fish and shoots moose.
This may be true. But if it is, American Jews might want to rethink their loyalty to their social class. As the demonstrations against Ambassador Michael Oren at UC Irvine, against former prime minister Ehud Olmert at University of Chicago, against Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon at Oxford, as well as the disinvitation of Prof. Benny Morris at Cambridge and the celebrity of Harvard’s anti-Semitic Prof. Steve Walt show clearly, the bastions of intellectual elitism where American Jews feel most at home have become the repositories of the most virulent hatred of Jews in America and the West today. Liberal standard bearers like Hollywood have had no compunction about giving prestigious awards to movies like Paradise Now, which glorified murderers of Jews in a manner unmatched since the days of Leni Riefenstahl. Elite media outlets like The Atlantic Monthly ar
e only too happy to publish the rantings of newly fashionable haters like Andrew Sullivan.
e only too happy to publish the rantings of newly fashionable haters like Andrew Sullivan.
Liberal Democratic Jewish voices, like Leon Wieseltier at The New Republic, are aware that there is a problem with the rampant anti-Semitism in their camp. And they fear that as a consequence, American Jews may take a second look at Palin with her Israeli flag lapel pin. As Wieseltier wrote this week, “A day does not go by when I do not do my humble part to prevent such a transformation [of American Jewry from liberals to conservatives] from coming to pass.”
THE FACT of the matter is that for Israel’s sake such a transformation can’t happen quickly enough. It isn’t that American Jews have to change their social agenda, but they must recognize that today, sadly, there is not meaningful bipartisan support for Israel in the US Congress. The 54 lawmakers who wrote Obama a letter last month asking him to force Israel to open up Gaza’s borders were all Democrats. Opposition to passing sanctions against Iran, and opposition to an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear installations, are only politically significant among Democrats.
In her speech at the Tea Party Conference, Palin said, “We need a commander-in-chief, not a professor of law standing at the lectern.”
The fact of the matter is that Obama came to many of his anti-Israel sensibilities through his professor friends – Rashid Khalidi, John Mearshimer, Samantha Power, William Ayres, Bernadine Dohrn and, of course, the late Edward Said. Americans interested in national security – and particularly American Jews who support Israel – should be the first ones to second Palin’s statement.
Sarah Palin’s emergence as the mouthpiece of populist opposition to Obama presents Israel’s supporters – and particularly Israel’s Jewish supporters – with an extraordinary opportunity and an extraordinary challenge. Palin’s coupling of support for Israel with her populist domestic agenda marks the first time that support for Israel has been treated as a core, populist issue. The opportunity this presents for American Jews who care about Israel is without precedent.
But of course, to make the best use of this opportunity, American Jews who support Israel have to disappoint Wieseltier. They have to acknowledge that the Left has rejected their cause and increasingly, rejects them.
Obama’s failure to prevent Iran from moving forward with its nuclear program, and his stubborn refusal to support an Israeli move to deny Iran the ability to threaten Israel and global security as a whole, place Israel and core US national security interests in unprecedented jeopardy. His fellow Democrats’ willingness to support him as he maintains this perilous course means that the Democratic ship has abandoned Israel, and strategic sanity.
Palin’s future in politics is unknowable. But what is clear enough is that today hers is the strongest single American voice opposing Obama’s foreign policy and the loudest advocate for supporting Israel and denying Iran nuclear weapons. For this she deserves the thanks and support of American Jewry.
Imagine that you are standing with a modern US liberal/progressive in front of a huge, old spreading oak tree. You point out its obvious traits, and the response is, “What tree?”
Perplexed, you try again. The response is, “I don’t see any tree.”
Now what?
There are voting blocs in the US that continue in a state of absolute denial to support the Democrat Party. Two of the more perplexing are “liberal” Jews and 90+% of Blacks. Even though there is overwhelming evidence that it is not in their best interests to have Democrats in power, they continue to facilitate exactly that. My guess is their self-image is so intertwined in their distorted political beliefs that the thought of taking a more rational course is just too ego threatening. Meanwhile, we continue to hear a constant refrain of, “What tree?”
Strategic sanity indeed…
The problem with Palin is that she’s not a serious contender in national politics. Her heart may be in the right place, but she doesn’t seem to have a serious understanding of the issues, and she doesn’t exactly impress with her intellect. When she says things like “Obama should do everything to support Israel,” she is playing directly into the hands of those who accuse real Israel-supporters of blindly following the Likud party line, or any of the myriad variations of this smear.
American Jews tend not to study Israeli and Zionist history in depth, often because the subject is genuinely painful for them, and they take at face value that Israel must take at least part of the blame for the conflict. They are often sensitive to accusations of blind support for Israel, which is unfortunately exactly what Sarah Palin represents. Her rhetoric may be attractive to Christian Zionists, who tend to be better informed, and don’t have to deal with antisemitic innuendoes, but American Jews would (if anything) be scared away.
Ever since the US embarked on carving up Israel to create a 23 Islamic state everything has gone from bad to worse in every area especially politics on the left and the right.
What the die hard idol worshipers who look to the US and get excited about the latest false hope Palin can’t grasp is that no hope or salvation for Israel will come by way of this now cursed land.
Israeli’s are such easy suckers for power brokers,political con men and hucksters from the US that Mike Huckaby spends a lot of time there lately.
He puts on a good show like the last con man Bush did on the easily fooled voters.
Palin is real but she’s not going anywhere.
This latest hyped balloon will pop.
Obama and his revolutionaries plan to grant citizenship to the millions of illegal aliens which globalist presidents Clinton D. ans Bush R allowed to flood across the US border. This will end all political hope of someone who is a real conservative and not a John McCain phony from being elected.
The establishment media created Obama and the stupid voters were easily led by the nose.
Lets face it ,the bad folks are in a majority and the minority’s only hope is faith in a big God.
America is finished and all we have to look forward to is third world disorder and growing strife and revolution.
Israel will soon come to this conclusion albeit late.
Another great article Caroline – thanks for bringing this to our attention. Here in the UK we got limited exposure to Sarah’s speeech – the MSM here prefer not to listen, or even let us listen, but to attempt to mock her instead. But the more they try to destroy her, the more powerful she becomes; it’s like something out of Star Wars!
I did not notice the Israel lapel badge – you’ve just got to love her!
We need a Tea Party movement here in the UK – I vote Daniel Hannan to lead it.
Go Sarah!! Dig baby dig!!
Davieboy
You are right about Palin’s message content. And she does deserve thanks. However, unfortunately, she’s the wrong messenger at this time. That voice and accent is chalk on the blackboard to much of America, particulary Jews. Me too, despite my contempt for the hard American Jewish left. She was successfully branded a hick in the last campaign and won’t be able to overcome that ridicule by Tina Fey and others. Remember Dan Quail? Once a dope, always a dope – fair or not. American Jews pride themselves on the intellectual and financial accomplishments of other Jews. They require a seeminly more sophisticated, urbane campaigner. Only then can they be moved from the Pavlovian left more to the center. Great column as usual.
The Obama Administration’s real goal is to avoid war. Because of that misguided strategy, a Mid-East war is coming soon. There is no honor in appeasing enemies like Iran because it views President Obama with contempt. Peace at any price will bring calamity to millions, who will die because of the West’s cowardice toward Totalitarian Islam. American Jews need to wake-up to a new reality of increasing Jew-hatred. The current wave of Anti-Semitism is driven by Radical Islamists and Leftists. We can only hope that President Obama loses in 2012.
I love the way that Sarah Palin is able to pull the covers off of the false conspicuous compassion of liberals. While openly aiding and apologizing for those who would slit their throats in an instant, they’re nothing less than vicious and cruel in their demeaning personal attacks on those who disagree with them, such as Gov. Palin. Where is all that sympathy and warmth for the dispossessed (as long as you don’t have to live next door to one, that is) when it comes to the opposition?
Caroline, sad but true.
You know I sit in amazement because I am bewildered how liberal American Jews don’t see the harm this president is causing Israel.
They have eyes yet they do not see, have ears and they do not hear.
Obama has done absolutely nothing to convince, deter or derail Iran’s continued course to develop a nuclear weapon along with a delivery system.
Iran knows he is a blow bag and a wimp lacking leadership. He is nothing more than an acorn community organizing anti-Semitic.
The world also sits by doing nothing while this new Hitler threatens Israel with destruction.
The last time Hitler was around he attempted to eradicate a human race and the world likewise did nothing, ask 6,000,000 Jews.
We cannot, under no circumstance ever allow that to happen again.
Those who did nothing were as guilty as those who committed the atrocities. Let’s make sure we don’t fall in the same category.
We all can make a difference and by G-d/God we better. We cannot change history, however today and tomorrow belongs to us, how do you want our history to read?
Sarah Palin is a breath of fresh air and along with the Tea Party just might get through to the American Jews, we hope and pray.
Please G-d/God help us.
You have written a well thought out comment on American politics. However, just as Obama and the liberals will never use force to oppose Iran when it tests its bomb or even when it uses it, so also they will never use force against Israel. Obama and the Liberals are all talk and no action. Keep them talking and they will never act.
Of course this is why wars always erupt under Liberal presidents.
Mrs. Palin is an honorable lady,I pray she is afforded enough time to succeed,the facts are not real encouraging,we will get rid of these policymakers who`ve sold the people out,there are a couple stumbleblocks we have to overcome,I have a few idea`s that could, lord willing get us over them.All the negative comments originate from fear and hatred,the fear of loosing power,the hatred of the American way of life.I`ve been paying attention to Sarah`s statements and coverage there of and beleive me its very disheartening to watch the lies and disinformation the media provides to the public,Sarah has the credibility not the media.So if she does run for office,let me say,you`d be foolish not to support her.
Marcel:
“Israeli’s are such easy suckers for power brokers,political con men and hucksters…”
It seems to me that the vast majority of Jewish and Israeli politicians themselves fit this description to a tee. For every truly remarkable and brilliant leader like Jabotinsky, there are thousands of mediocre Weizmann’s (but with lower IQs). How many personally impressive Israeli politicians can you name? In that regard, it looks like Netanyahu is just about the best you’ve got. It just occurred to me that this isn’t only an Israeli or a Jewish problem; the entire West is now afflicted with crappy and unqualified “leaders” who would have been laughed off the stage a hundred years ago, Sarah Palins all.
This is so off the cuff. but I agree a lot with Marcel. I am so weary of the conmen/women, I have a ot of concerns regarding the likes of Sarah Palin. How & why did she get picked to run with McCain/CFR(intent to deastroy our soverignity/NWO)Why is she on the reelection campaign trail with him ow(the campaign that made her appear as a fool)Why has she gone with Fox News,Saudi Prince 2nd lrgst stock holder(Sunni Muslem)Fox being given access to Saudi TV. We are so easily seduced! I worry their is more Socialism and appeasement in Israel rather then Faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob/Israel. They will one day face this at there horrible peril. God is a jealous God(LOVE) and will not tolerate their whoreing for everything but Him for their substance! I pray as many as will, will seek Him first and throw off these phony “peace” redeemers. I pray for the peace of Jerusalem, but there will be no peace till the Prince of Peace comes. 🙁
To those of you who think Palin will never go anywhere in politics.You might be in for a suprise.Palin ran her state resposibly.When the legislators demanded she spend the new billions her big oil tax structure created.She said words along these lines:You want me to spend this money now.What will you say if the price of oil crashes and our state treasury is strapped?Raise the peoples taxes?Why not walk out these doors and ask them if they want their taxes raised one day?Or money saved now for a rainy day?They shut right up.In a budget meeting a legislator asked her to quickly sign off on a million dollar roof for the museum.He did not think she would notice cash had allready being spent on that roof,in a previous budget,a year before she took office.Or that the legislators relitive owned the roofing company that wanted to get the work for the 2nd time.She said:Who is going to pay for this the statue?Palin had allready done the research about his request,he had no idea she was 10 steps ahead of him.She did these things to save over a billion out of 2 budgets.She researched their spending requests before hand.She researched previous budgets & previuos awarded contacts.Of course she did not stop everything,(thats impossible)but she was a budget hawk like her state had never seen.Obama signs 450 billion dollar earmark loaded omnibus bill and a 850 billion dollar stimulus bill without even a glance at either.Palin reads the bills,she writes the legislation with her staff.Palin has 20 years experience at the local and state level.She has seen every legislative trick.Obamas clueless,his congress gets away with banditry right under his nose.It is because he is too busy giving stupid speaches,not paying attention to governing.Palin loves and supports Israel not Hamas and Hizbohla.Great article.I read about many of Palins governing stories at conservatives4palin.com.Theres tons of material about her to read at that site,all documented with links to facts,quotes,interviews,speaches & news articles.
American Jews lost their way decades ago. They hide their heads and hope any issues just go away. In their desire to belong their religion ceased to be Judaism and it became leftist politics. They can’t admit that they made a mistake so they attack those who speak the truth, including conservative Jews.
Some of us do teach our children about Israel, Judaism and what it means to be a zionist. Our children know that being who they are is not about a big house, a mercedes benz, and trips to Europe (but gosh never Israel).
Unfortunately as long as the major Jewish organizations are monied by lefty apologists(and Jewish self-haters) I see no change coming.
It is said that whatever,whoever rules your heart cannot be hidden.
Take a close look at Israel and you can’t miss it ;America is front and center and God has no place in Israeli politics or msm media.
The God of Israel is totally ignored except for a small remnant of Jews whome the elite brand as extremists.
They don’t even call Hamas extremist,they’re called activists by the godless elite of Isrsael.
Don’t mix up vain religion for God which is another substitute for worship of God alone.
Like their ancestors the hearts of God’s people are full of idols ,everything but Him who alone should take precedent in all things.
Surely Israel ignores the Holy 0ne of Israel and are always on their knees to the one they replaced Him with.
This will change.
Israeli’s spend all their time looking to the US for peace and writing about the US in the daily life of their nation.
How vain is Israel’s help in every way.
Her dear friend has become an unbearable,heavy burden.
The Road Map god you served and obeyed religiously now devours you.
That is always the end result of serving idols.
What will the Israeli journalists write about when the US is turned into a heap of rubble and dust ? Will they still worship and look to the pile of rubble ?
Could it be possible that they will finally return to Ha Shem and seek,write about and dwell on Him ?
American Jewry is not changed from when they couldn’t in the slightest pressure Franklin Roosevelt in the midst of a war to bomb Auchwitz. There is more irrational hatred of Conservative friends than rational distrust of Liberal anti-Semites.
This Jew is a Conservative and has been since 1960. Very little has changed in the Jewish community as far as their political persuasion. And, I must say that very few of them actually have had any interest to learn otherwise. They read the same old, same old and, therefore, have no avenue with which to open their minds. Alas! Like a black friend of mine who laments the same of her people, some things never change. Israel will just have to rely on the Christians.
Caroline:
How do you explain Palin’s endorsement of Rand Paul?
Very good post. I’ve found your site via Yahoo and I’m really happy about the information you provide in your articles. Btw your blogs layout is really broken on the Chrome browser. Would be cool if you could fix that. Anyhow keep up the good work!
Great article.
I think that American Jews vote the way they do out of a sense of separation and shame, and a desire to be accepted by the elite political class in the US.
Jews were pilloried and suffered through the history of Europe because they were Jews. In America, where class and ethnicity are generally ignored (unless brought to the fore by style of personal appearance), it’s possible to disengage from ones’ past and live a life unencumbered by the difficulties of history and modern conflict in faraway lands. In essence, it’s a problem of a shallow cultural identity for Jews in the US, and as stated above, a desire not to be identified with those troublesome-and-bellicose-and-unreasonable Jews over there.
The problem is that the Ahmadinejads of the world don’t discriminate between compliant Jews and assimilated Jews. They’re infidels, one and all.
It’s a curious position that Palin finds herself in: a 21st Century Christian woman making a better and louder argument for a pure Jewish identity than most any politician on the stage. And why Jews? Here we are a mere 2 1/2 generations from the Holocaust, and the grandchildren of those who went to the ovens can’t be bothered to cast a vote for their own bloodline?
One could not expect Obama to stand for the Jews– first and foremost, he’s not Christian, and second he’s probably got Islamic sympathies if not outright allegiances. But certainly some patriotic liberal (there must be one left somewhere, Joe Lieberman) could stand up and say, “This should be done. This must be done.”
Sadly, I think that my son’s generation is going to bear the brunt of the coming war; cultural, political, economic and religious forces are aligning for a perfect storm.
I’d want a leader like Churchill, were I to pick one from history. If I had to choose from the current landscape, I’d pick Palin in a heartbeat over Obama. Let’s hope she hones her talent in the meantime.
Davieboy on February 12, 2010 12:10 PM wrote We need a Tea Party movement here in the UK – I vote Daniel Hannan to lead it.
We need a Beer party movement. The “Beer party” will be Europe wide, but may accept members from countries that have a culture of beer making and drinking.
We must remember that European civilisation took off from the pub or the bar, where beer or ale was served. Both of these liquids were instrumental in forming Western civilisation.
First principles.
1. Freedom of expression
2. No taxation on beer or ale without representation.
“They require a seeminly more sophisticated, urbane campaigner. Only then can they be moved from the Pavlovian left more to the center.”
Mike Silver, do you mean men like “Slick Willie” and Obama the Chicago thug? Now there’s 2 silver tongued snakes! Why do they keep picking Socialists? (Funny Michele’s uncle(cousin ?) is a Rabbi in Chicago).
I think God will keep isolating them until they pick Him and do what He intends them to do with her enemies(His enemies) I see Is.17 coming!
Marcel, again I sure agree with your comments, you nailed it. Good work Caroline again you provoked our thoughts! 🙂
Thank you for this article, Caroline. It is very good, and right on target!
You know, I praise God that He has a “mouthpiece” here in America by the name of Sarah Palin. What an honor! Wish I could say the same about myself.
We are all to quick to make judgemental comments about how we don’t like the way things are being run in America right now, however, how many of us are getting up off our duffs and saying and/or doing something about it? Not many! God knows who He can use. Sarah Palin was not only available, she is willing! She’s got GUTS!!!
Regarding our “loser” president, obama. I truly believe, with all my heart, the evil one, he’s called the “cunning serpent” in Genesis, has entered into obama’s person. The things that this president has done in just one short year is astonishing. Things that have hurt America, Israel, and other nations, as well.
Look how long he waited to make a decision on sending more troops to Afghanistan? This gave the enemies over there plenty of time to plant land mines and other types of bombs that are all over the place. Our soldiers can’t take one step withoout stepping on one of them. Thank you, obama!
Also, waiting a year to “think about” putting sanctions on Iran … or not. Then, saying such rediculous things like, “It’s going to take the U.N. s e v e r a l weeks to come up with whatever sanctions they come up with,” is the ramblings of an insane man. Is he spiking his toothpaste or something. This is crazy talk!!!
Not that Iran has EVER been threatened by sanctions. Ha ha ha ha ha! Give us all a break. Whenever the U.N., U.S.A., or anybody threatens Iran with sanctions, they LAUGH!!!!!!!!!!!! Then, get right back to work on their A-Bomb!
Iran has a lot to thank obama for. They have had a solid year of reprieve, from all the nations, who keep bugging them to stop their pursuit of making nuclear weapons. Like the EverReady bunny, they just keep going and going and going! Thanks again, obama.
So, yes, Sarah Palin is a breath of fresh air for all of us, and for Israel, as well. God will bring her to prominence in the eyes of the American Jews, when she turns out to be the “only” one listening to them, and speaking for them, as they sadly watch their beautiful “homeland” begin to perish, and their people run off again by those who couldn’t care less. And, coincidentally, from here in America as well. If obama has his way, his islamic way, the American Jews might just have to board a train one day soon, and perhaps be the “new” residents of Gittmo … now that he has conveniently evacuated it. Hmmmmmmm?
Good day to you and all reading this. May God be with us, bless us, protect us and keep us. He is our only hope and “Salvation” (Yeshua in Hebrew).
Shalom,
jean dean >
American Jews mostly do not relate to Israel
What seems to be missing here is the simple understanding that the world’s largest Jewish community, with NY and LA as the first and third largest Jewish cities in the world, support their liberal ideas and American life styles ABOVE their delight in Israel. It is perhaps sad; but certainly true. Otherwise, more of them would move to Israel and should move to Israel. Surely American and Israeli interests dont always agree, and therefore American Jews cannot vote for Israel and still be authentic, plege of allegiance, Oh say can you see singing, Americans.
In addition, what you fail to recognize or write about here is that there still is a difference, in the minds of Americans, between hating how Israel behaves with hating Jews. As mush as people would love to equate Anti Israel with Anti Jew–it is simply not the intention of many people who can’t relate to Israel–including American Jews. When people protest against Israeli leaders, American Jews do not all feel threatened as they do not yet feel a certain existential threat to their existence or their Jewish existence tied to Israel. Unfortunately, although most American Jews would consider Iran bombing Israel as a major worry, they would still see themselves eating pastrami on rye on Sunday. American Jews are as tethered to the statue of Liberty if not as much, more than they are to the modern state of Israel. And, as Israel has lost more and more of its connection to Torah living, it means less and less to American Jews. If Israel is basically Microsoft, Google, or Hewlett Packard-East, they may as well stay in California or New York. Get it? This is Israel’s identity problem, not Obamas.
While McCain & Palin may have been clearly stronger supporters of Israel, Obama’s personal intelligence and positions re health care and other liberal domestic issues in America, makes him still the much preferred choice to Sarah Palin, who if she is anything like Bush, will not improve America. Look at the state that the Bush adminstration left America in–one can’t say Obama has made things much worse yet. As mostly social justice seekers, American Jews, by in large, want to make America a fairer, and better place to live. This is actually closer to Jewish law than those who Palin Christians who support Israel. It is always more important what we do for each other and most American jews have the good sense to know this. Not communist or even socialist, just making the country a bit better. More guns and ignoring the position as the only western country to lack reasonable health care coverage for its people, will not do it anymore. Even Israel, with all its defense spending per capita, has universal health care.
Most American Jews have never even been to Israel; why would they choose a moose shooting tea party whacko just because she supports Israel? Obama will suffer with the economy like all Presidents, but his fate, at least in the minds of American Jews, is not tied to Israel.
Israel is the Sarah Palin of nations… hated unmercifully and irrationally simply for existing.
Read The Obama Timeline to learn the truth about the thug-in-chief.
Marc – American Jew mostly do not relate to Israel
Marc I find that sad.
If you are Jewish no matter where you reside you are tied to Israel by Faith, Tradition and by G-d.
G-d led His people back to the Holy Land not only physically but likewise faithfully.
I believe and what I read on the Jewish sites by Jews is; liberal American Jews are self-hating Jews, Jews In Name Only (JINO) and or ashamed to be Jewish. All of which I find hard to understand.
For that matter if I were Jewish I would be one angry person with this administration, the so called president and the liberals of this country in the manner they treat Israel.
As a matter of fact as a Catholic I am angry and upset.
I even find it disgusting on how the U.S. is treating Israel, our trusted friend, ally and the only democracy in the ME.
We have a so called president who treats Israel like crap and bows down to the Saudi’s (by the way who finances terrorism).
marc is a good example of the assimilated America Jew who sees nothing wrong with siding with those who are openly hostile enemies of Israel.
This is nothing new in the annals of Jewish history as the hellenized Jews stood with the Grecian empire against their own people.
The same thing happened under the Roman empire’s rule over Israel. The sell outs have convinced themselves that this betrayal is kosher.
The rational that America Jews as mostly social justice seekers who want to make America fairer is shot down by how they deny the rights of unborn babies and sanction the perverse homosexual lifestyle against the warnings of the Jewish torah.They are hypocrites who are only concerned about themselves and their upper status in their America Babylon which has replaced Israel in their hearts.
This is why it is easy for them to betray Israel for their pagan god Hussein Obama.
Rham Emmanuel is their poster child of treachery and evil.
Like their brother Esau they have no part in Israel and are not part of God’s set apart and holy remnant.
They are unclean.You can see it in their actions.They fool themselves but they don’t fool God for a second. Paganized,Hellenized,assimilated Babylonians at heart who will never return home from the diaspora because they have chosen to serve the shiny,glittering idols of America Babylon.
In my very unscientific survey of Jews here in Canada, I have found a really interesting phenomenon. Jews tend to vote for the party which was in power when they immigrated, as if they felt a debt of gratitude. They seem to feel that it would be ungrateful to turf the people who “let them in”. This also seems to continue from one generation to the next, which is why it seems to take literally generations for the Jewish voting pattern to change. I wonder whether some sociologist would have the curiosity to look at that in the US as well. I bet we would find some very interesting results.
Sarah’s mentor is Pat Buchanan. What does that tell you?
She supports the likes of Rand Paul. What does that tell you?
She sounds just as strong in supporting Israel as George Bush did when he ran. Look how he ended up letting Anti-Israel Powell and Rice do their dirty work. What makes anyone think that she would do anything different?
‘Sarah’s mentor is Pat Buchanan. What does that tell you ?’
Yes of course,how right you are(especially on Bush)but she will never rise to the level of betrayal and treachery aganst Israel of Obama and his cadre of Axlerod’s, Emanuels, and assorted red diaper marxists.
Even Joe the Plumber dumped Palin for supporting the establishment fraud McCain along with other inconsistencies.
I found out from him that McCain used Henry Kissing to vet her for V.P.
What does that tell you about her ?
As i said before Israel’s hope does no lie in anything from America.
American politics is thoroughly corrupted by big money.
The once grand lady of the seas ,the unsinkable Titanic of the nations has begun taking on water from the many holes in her hull,(two being Obama and Janet Napolitano) and will soon disappear below the water line.
What will Israel do then ?
Marc here–I am not typical ‘assimilator’–
I don’t even live in the US. I was trying
to explain to you nutcases why over 80
percent of Jews in America would have
voted for Obama and not Palin. Most
have never even been to Israel and Palin
will be horrible for the US. I find it strange
when Canadians and Israelis, all of whom
enjoy universal health care, criticise American
for wanting such decency. American Jews
will vote their own interests, and unfortunately
Israel is not top of the list. If it were
they would move there. Personally,
I love Israel and wish to G-d more Jews
from North America would move there
I am an Orthodox Jew living in the US and I consider myself a political conservative. Although I am impressed with Sarah Palin’s rhetoric, I do not think that she is the answer to turn things around here politically. Although she is very popular with certain segments of the population, at the end of the day I don’t think she is electable as a candidate for President. Personally, to me her tone and presentation don’t seem to have enough depth and authority. She seems like an upstart, without the presence that is required. Having said that, I’m glad she is around and making some noise right now, as I think it is helping to show the country what an alternative viewpoint looks like. I hope that another Republican leader will come to the fore before 2012 though.
I can never quite ‘get’ the concept in US politics of “party over policy”. As it happens, I usually vote for the party that loses but perhaps that’s just because I am not sufficiently venal in my instincts. Sarah Palin sounds good and she sounds successful. I liked George W Bush but I thought he should have given his closest associates a kick in the fundament and gone on from there. Now we have the predictable situation where Iran has made the softest transition to ‘nuclear state’ status and will flag last week as “when the past became reality” just as soon as they need a new and more dire today. Obama won’t pay for his sins and neither does he care. His moment in the light is sufficient.
Next comes the Piper and he shall be paid. As usual I agree with you Caroline but the truth is, so much of global reality has nothing whatsoever to do with US Domestic or International Politics. The US is just one more victim.
The problem for Sarah Palin is that she fails to transcend the hobby of gutting fish and shooting moose, so as not to imbue the overly powerful office of the US Presidency, with the characteristics of a glamorous rube. This is 2010, not 1810, and the US has to present itself accordingly vis-à-vis its international counterparts, even if they are culturally no better than rubes with a degree of institutionalised polish. Usually paid for by international aid money expropriated from US taxpayers. Some have ridiculed Sarah Palin’s lack of knowledge of Pakistani politics, for example. However, as per Hilary Synnott’s ‘Transforming Pakistan’, the Pakistanis are as clueless. So Sarah Palin is not unduly unqualified, in that respect. To be championing Sarah Palin suggests that Israel and the Republicans are not trying hard enough to find a suitable candidate for 2012. And Israel is sufficiently capable of thwarting Iran and its regional proxies by itself. Welcome to wonderful world of statehood.
Caroline, as much as one would like to think that because you are called a Jew that that makes you automatically pro Israel it doesn’t. Is it not the same here in America. People are being dumb down in our Universities, made converts to the religion of evolution and Marxism. With their snobbery they speak of their education and with their wealth they wax strong against God. “There is no God” (Ps 14:1)and they war for disciples. Is it no surprise that there are Americans who are anti American and speak wretchedly of our country and it’s liberty. God hating, self hating and hating their neighbor as themselves. Strongly in the mix are who you are referring to as the American Jews. Not all but many. You tag the name Jew but they are American first and are in truth no different than the rest of the Marxist/Evolutionist/ Atheist Global warming gang. In this vein we can ask did our current POTUS have a father who feared God and was thankful for the liberty found in America? Did he have a step father who loved God and was thankful for the liberty found in America? Did he have a mom who was patiotic that raised him in the nuture and admonition of the LORD. Why wouldn’t he wear an American flag pin at first even if in total political hypocrisy? Why did he fumble perhaps without a teleprompter speaking of 57 states instead of 50? Why did he fumble again and say “my muslim faith” and not blink an eye until the interviewer interceded to correct him to keep the public face. Where is the birth certificate and why is it being sealed away as well as his records from school if not other things. Who is William Ayers? Who is Rashid Khalidi? These as others have close ties with the POTUS and a working together history. You are right, professors but that only adds fuel to the fire about our Universities but horrifically more so to who is seated as POTUS. You failed to intricately connect the dots. Who did he surround himself with? Why are we so surprised at the anti Israel pro dictator stance appalling as it is? Why don’t you understand it’s not naivety but ideology,a religion of a different dark deceiving sort. Are you still expecting such to “see his ways” and really give you the “hopey, changey” you want or are they going to keep pounding away to gain ground at whatever point and strengthen evil. The night Sarah Palin was announced as VP was the night of a million hisses from this collective and the beginning of a campaign against her that still rages today with lots of propaganda. McCain is a RINO but Palin is a conservative and they knew it. The smear shots continue on from the nutty professors. “You need to be better educated!” but from whose mouths, what books and with what religion? Ayers? Khalidi?
Caroline, I fear that your hope of American Jewry ever supporting Sarah Palin because she acknowledges Isreal’s importance to American interests is impossible. Sarah Palin resonates too deeply with the massive and frightening group of evangelical conservative Christians that most Progressive OR liberal OR even remotely Left-Of-Center Jews find completely abhorrent. It will never happen.
Jim Nix
Don’t look now Jim but those along with most conservative Americans support Israel in spite of dealing with wimpy liberal, progressive and left-of-center Jews.
Thank G-d Israel has survived and defended the Holy Land with the brave men and women Jewish Zionist and not depend on progressive liberal American Jews.
If anything is disgusting it’s the liberal leftwing wimpy American Jews who are afraid to stand tall for Israel, they don’t want to be looked upon as being Jewish.
No they stand tall for their acorn community organizing anti-Semitic president who has made a fool of himself throughout the world and bows to Saudis.
Leave it up to the secular progressive who would love to destroy the Judeo-Christian principals this country was founded on.
“The fact of the matter is that Obama came to many of his anti-Israel sensibilities through his professor friends – Rashid Khalidi, John Mearshimer, Samantha Power, William Ayres, Bernadine Dohrn and, of course, the late Edward Said.”
I submit that Obama came to his anti israel sensibilities by being a Muslim, reading the Qur’an and being the recipient of Muslim thinking regarding Jews. He likes his Dhimmi Jews, and abhorrs the sovereign Jews, because Muhamad said so, and he is a Muhamedan, just like Said and Khalidi. As for the others, Ayers, Mearsheimer, Power, well, they are the useful idiots, as Lenin put it. And in this case, useful Dhimmis.
Understanding the unique Islamic antisemitism sheds light on the underpinnings of the Obama presidency, especially his deferrence to Islamic Power as manifest in the King of SA, and the theocracy of Iran.
I really liked Sarah, and only voted for McCain/Palin because of Sarah. That being said, and in light of the viciousness in which the McCain camp savaged Mrs. Palin, then for her to go out and campaign for McCain to get his seat back, makes me take a serious pause in my support for Sarah. But there is another even more serious issue that makes me take another step back from supporting Mrs. Palin, is her support of the 2-state solution to Middle East Peace. I am a Messianite Zionist – a Messiah believing gentile who whole heartedly supports Israel. Anyone with a brain and who has done the most basic of study of all those involved in the Middle East issue, knows it is the Muslims that are the problem, not Israel, in the peace process, and that giving up land in an attempt to appease them, is suicidal on Israel’s part. Hamas and by in large most Palestinians, have vowed to see Israel wiped off the face of the earth, so much so they strap bombs on men and women and walk into markets, schools, buses, any where they can inflict the most death and destruction. Any future land given will only serve to provide new and closer areas to launch rockets, mortars and artillery attacks into Israeli cities, killing civilians: men, women and children. So for Sarah Palin to support this “2-State Solution” proves to me that either she isn’t thinking, and I know Sarah is NOT an idiot, despite what the liberals are saying, about how vulnerable this policy leaves Israel; she doesn’t understand the Arab Muslims surrounding Israel, especially the Palestinians/Hamas/Hezbollah and what their ultimate goal is; or she is just very misguided and deceived by those advising her about the situation between Israel and the surrounding Muslim countries.
I give her credit for seeing the danger in allowing Iran becoming a nuclear weapon owner/user, but if she doesn’t understand the dynamics that drive the Muslims’ hatred of Jews/Israel, then she still is a danger to Israel and to the U.S., for Israel is the little Satan, and we are the Great Satan, and should they ever finish off Israel, then the U.S. is next on their list!
Blessings to all!
Maranatha! Mark
Marc, are you for real or mentally blind?
“As mostly social justice seekers, American Jews, by in large, want to make America a fairer, and better place to live. This is actually closer to Jewish law than those who Palin Christians who support Israel. It is always more important what we do for each other and most American jews have the good sense to know this. Not communist or even socialist, just making the country a bit better. More guns and ignoring the position as the only western country to lack reasonable health care coverage for its people, will not do it anymore. Even Israel, with all its defense spending per capita, has universal health care. ”
Do you actually think the sham, back door dealings Health Care was really an improvement? Do you think it was going to help anyone except unions? Was it going to finally cover everyone? NO! So what was the gain except destroy America/Economy and then finalize our demise with the Fraudulent Global Warming “Cap & Trade” You must be a Socialist follower of the Chicago Mob Administration! Joe the Plumber was right “take from the haves and give to the have nots”…is that your savvy American Jews way of thinking? Keep drinking the kool-aid.
Ron Granndetti, not to be hurtful, but as an “X” Catholic you must be sad at your POPE because he has embraced Islam and all the other false religions and is against Israel also. He also has put pressure on Israel and is pro-Palestinian! We are in an upside down world as prophecied!
Caroline,I`ve also had that terrible feeling as JEAN DEAN mentioned,their will be a very devasting attack,I`m not positive from which direction,as soon as a closer picture is availiable I`ll tell ya,however a few details for sure now,there`s so much crap at once its not easy,coming very soon if not already underway a massive effort to get Israel deemed a risk to global security,thereby opening doors to put so-called peacekeeping force on the ground inside Israel,not a couple hundred thousands,these installers of peace will be a mechanism from which the u.n. will seek to impose its vision of whats fair(catastrophic)as the u.n. is a compromised body.History holds plan most likely to be implemented,I do beleive we might be able to stop it,times getting short,some need accomplishment to stay in power,they`ve none,this will be a driving force,I know there`s an awareness but swift action appears to be hindered,somebody best get their butt in gear.
Risking to draw in ire of the majority of this blog’s audience – I would state that much hated Obama’s “appeasement policies” (I recall Caroline calling him “having tea with Iranian mullahs” – there’s no shortage of harsh and humiliating rhetorics) actually may work out at the end better than unilateral military intervention that is quite transparently is suggested by Caroline (and most of staunch conservatives I know). After very moderate success of US in Iraq war and lack of enthusiasm from Russia and China to join in with the Security Council countries – diplomacy is needed to convince those countries to form a real (not fictitious as in case of Iraq’s war) coalition against Iran’s theocratic regime. Now as this coalition is finally shaping up – progress will be made, whatever measures will be agreed by all interested parties, Israel included. And sanctions are seemingly working:
http://www.njdc.org/blog/post/iran_sanctions_are_working021110
The newly appointed Fox News Uber commentator Sarah Palin may *claim” she is pro-Israel (what does that mean we’ll leave to everyone’s interpretation) and wear star of David on her lapel – but majority of conscious Americans (not necessarily liberal Jews who can’t see forest behind the trees) do not and will not recognize her as real political figure for a large number of reasons – see for example this good non-partisan article in the Forward: http://www.forward.com/articles/14308/
“..So shouldn’t we be running toward Palin, instead of away? You might think so. But Jews of all denominations have grown increasingly distant from the traditional Jewish view of the world. Want proof?
This year’s exhaustive U.S. Religious Landscape Survey asked Americans how they saw the relationship between religion and politics. The study asked respondents if they would rank their religion as the top influence on their political beliefs. Jews were the group least likely to answer in the affirmative. Only 4% credited faith as so profoundly shaping their views on public life, compared, for example, to 28% of evangelicals.
Jews were also the second-most liberal religious group, with 34% identifying with the political left, behind only Buddhists (who include many born-Jews). Many politically conservative Jews I know likewise can’t explain how beliefs about God legitimately shape thoughts about anything broader than one’s own private behavior. Yet the Torah is about much else besides personal ethics.
The flight from what Sarah Palin represents, maximizing the voice we give to God in the world, has become a “core value” of contemporary Jewish life. That Jews would be unnerved by her is no shock.”
Sarah Palin lent her support to McCain out of reciprocation and because she is loyal. She owed it to him and whatever else is thought of McCain there’s no doubt that without his intial support nobody would be talking about Sarah today. People keep underestimating this woman.
To all the American Jews who say Sarah was inelectable because of her “unimpressive” intellect:
PLEASE, STOP IT AND TELL THE REST OF US THE TRUTH!
WHY DO YOU R-E-A-L-L-Y HATE HER?
If the INTELLECT is of such an importance for you, HOW COULD YOU VOTE FOR A
– 57 states
– brethalyser
– seeing the dead people
– “hold on a second, I can’t hear myself”
– etc.etc.etc.
guy??????
What is it that Sarah said that is NEARLY AS RETARDED AS WHAT YOUR INTELLECTUALLY IMPRESSIVE OBAMA SAID?
So, please, STOP IT! If you want to lie to yourselves, go ahead, do it. But stop lying to us! We, the NON-AMERICAN representatives of the same group, are deeply shocked by the IRRATIONAL HATRED American Jews show to Sarah.
What has she ever done to you? (Except for not being DEMOCRAT, o.c.)
AND STOP REFERING TO HER INTELLECT!!!!!
The girl needs to put down 3 KEY WORDS ON HER HAND to hold a speech.
The guy YOU VOTED FOR cannot talk to 6th-GRADERS WITHOUT A TELEPROMPTER OR TWO.
So, you don’t seem to care much about INTELLECT after all.
WHAT IS THE REAL REASON FOR YOU TO HATE HER THAT MUCH????
Is it that she’s a devoted CHRISTIAN?
Then tell me, why do you hate Christians who actually didn’t hurt us a lot in history (persecuted Euro-Christians that had to flee to America) and SELL YOURSELVES TO A PARTY THAT ENDORSES BOTH CHRISTIAN BRANCHES THAT TURNED OUR LIFE TO HELL DURING THE CENTURIES (it’s not a secret that CATHOLICS are Dems and ORTHODOX Greeks, Romanians etc. tend to vote Dem as well).
And let’s not forget about BLACK LIBERATION Christians (you know, Obama’s Church for 20 years?), with “real Jews are black” and “Israel is a dirty word” Jeremiah Wright (you know, Obama’s pastor for 20 years?)
YOU ARE IN THE SAME PARTY WITH THESE PEOPLE!!!!!
You want to escape “Christian Monsters” and land on a planet INHABITED by those your granmas and granpas had fled from.
HIGHLY ILLOGICAL.
So, Sarah’s Christianity mustn’t be a disturbing factor (or it could have been with Jimmah Carter, JFK, f-d-ROOOOOOOSEVELT o.c., etc. – BUT YOU VOTED FOR THOSE GUYS!!!!!!)
WHY DON’T YOU STOP LYING AND TELL US THE REAL REASON WHY YOU WILL NEVER SUPPORT SARAH, NO MATTER WHERE SHE STAYS, WHAT SHE SAYS AND WHAT SHE DOES?
C’mon, American brethren, enlighten us, non-Marxist branch of the People.
Thnx in advance.