Joe Scarborough Put In His Place By Brzezinski

Joe Scarborough is one of my more tolerable conservative hacks, but he is still overly misguided on how the world works. Perhaps because of his years in Congress or just loyalty to the GOP, Joe came to MSNBC to do commentary with heavily distorted glasses on. Sometimes he does alright, but others he needs to be smacked into reality by his elders.

From Crooks and Liars:

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I've always had a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for Zbigniew Brzezinski. And after this epic smackdown of the eminently ignorant and simple-minded Joe Scarborough, I know that affection was well-placed.

Scarborough: "You cannot blame what's going on in Israel on the Bush administration."

Brzezinski: "You know, you have such a stunningly superficial knowledge of what went on that it's almost embarrassing to listen to you."

Who knows if Joe does any research before his shows (not counting the daily downloads of right wing talking points) but when it comes to the I/P conflict he clearly doesn't have a clue. The Bush Administration, while not the pre-eminent reason for the current mess, has done nothing positive in the last eight years in order to diffuse tensions. If anything, they made it much worse.

What Do You Say About The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict?

It was sad news this past weekend to see tensions flare back into brutal violence on and around the Gaza Strip. A few were killed in Ashkelon and Ashdod by rockets, while hundreds were killed by airstrikes in Gaza and near other key militarily strategic sites. The first group were Israelis and the latter Palestinians, but they all live in a land no bigger than the state of New Jersey. It is so tragic to see the death and destruction in what is such a beautiful place.

Back here in America, the verbal conflict is just as bad in many progressive circles. DailyKos was a blaze with diaries sporting thousands of comments over who was worse, Israel or Hamas. The "I'm right and you're wrong mentality is set in their minds like a granite slab in Central Park.

Last night as I was walking through Union Square in NYC I saw a protest out of the corner of my eye and without seeing the signs that were waved, I knew what it was about. My girlfriend and I walked through part of the crowd and within twenty seconds two people were ready to shove informative flyers in my face to tell me how bad Israel is. "Do you know what is happening in Israel?" one asked.

Yeah, I know. I know all too well.

I know from my friends and family in and out in the diaspora of Israel what Hamas has done to Israel and the hate they teach new generations, helping them along to hate the newest generation of Jews there. I know about the suicide bombings, one of which killed my cousin's close friend. I know about the need to wave people to check for explosives when entering a densely packed store or restaurant.

I also know what the state of Israel does to Gaza and the West Bank. I know about the increasing amount of settlers when they weren't supposed to be there in the first place. I know about what happened in Jenin. I know how houses are razed. I know that those "targeted" strikes by the IAF end up killing infants. I know. I know. I know.

Yet, no one on other side is "right" nor are they "wrong" about what is going on. They feel the way they feel. As long as their passionate views are kept boiling on the stove fueled by ignorance and blind hatred, nothing will change.

I will not take a side here, even though some of my family may call me a supporter of terrorists. I will not even if others accuse me of ignoring the domination of Israel over the Palestinians. What they don't get is that taking sides only keeps the hate and the war going. If Israelis stopped settling Palestinian land, if Hamas-run schools stopped preaching hate, if Israel would allow commerce to happen with their immediate neighbor, if Hamas stopped firing rockets into Israel...how different things would be.

As John Lennon once said, "War is over if you want it." That applies to Israel as it does all over the world.

Obama Loves Arabs More Than Jews! Oh My!

That's right, Obama is an anti-semitic bastard, or so the national tabloids might tell you in the near future. For now, we will have to rely on subtle innuendo from the likes of the Los Angeles Times to make it clear that if you don't hate Arabs, you must be against Israel. This type of right wing garbage made its way around the Hillary camp and has been disseminated to her loyal followers. Unfortunately for the rest of us, truth and honesty have been victimized by this absurd wedge issue.

From TPM Cafe:

Mark Penn may be gone but his spirit lives on.

A major piece in today's Los Angeles Times reveals that Obama may face political problems because Arab-Americans "consider him receptive despite his clear support of Israel."

This is all part of the continuing effort (especially in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh these days) to paint Obama as something less than a friend of Israel.

This is nothing new.

But this article hits new lows. It produces no evidence whatsoever other than that Obama has had Arab friends, attended Arab dinners, and is believed by Arabs to feel "empathy" toward Palestinians. In other words, Obama is not to be trusted by Jews because some Arabs like him.

Calling all Jews, Obama hates Israel! He loves Arabs even though he isn't (or is he??) a Muslim. How people believe this crap is beyond me. This talking point of him not being a friend to Israel is old news, but continues to live on in the media and with Hillary's supporters. I still hear this garbage about Obama not being a friend to Israel, but when I ask for proof, all I get is emotional appeal, not actual facts.

See this is the weird thing with Jews being in Israel and the Diaspora. In Israel, every single Israeli argues about what do about peace (and every other issue). People are all over the political spectrum when it comes to dealing with Palestinians. A few fanatics want to kill them all (as is the opinion on the Palestinian side), a few more want to build them out of the West Bank, many more want to reasonably work out a solution and so on and so forth.

However, coming back here to America there are only two options. According to AIPAC (on Google they are called "America's Pro-Israel Lobby") and other well connected Jewish organizatios, either you are "for" Israel or you hate Israel. "For" Israel means agreeing with complete Israeli domination, no reasonable peace deals and continued occupation of the West Bank and Gaza as to create even worse conditions for future Palestinians to hate Israel even more than the previous generation. So if there is even a hint that you may like Palestinian people, you are persona non-grata to them.

Now for a breath of fresh air and a heavy dose of common sense:

If Arab-Americans and Palestinians trust Obama and think he plays fair, he will have considerably more leverage with them than either of the other two candidates who are not perceived that way. As Congressmen Bob Wexler and Steve Rothman, both Obama supporters, like to say, an American President who can speak to and be heard by Arabs can do a much better job in helping Israel and the Palestinians achieve peace and security than a President who is considered utterly unsympathetic to their concerns.

The LA Times is wrong. It is precisely because Obama is considered fair by Arabs that he can actually help Israel. It's that simple.

PS Those who keep using Jews and Israel as a wedge are doing us no favors. A tiny vulnerable minority, the last thing we need is to be used as a battering ram against any candidate, The tactic is as dangerous as it is ugly and cynical.

Exactly! People have used enough battering rams against us (yes, I'm Jewish in case you didn't know...AIPAC must think I'm a scorned anti-semite) throughout the ages. It is ridiculous that in this primary season, pro-Clinton Jews want to pull this flimsy card on the rest of us.