Israel - The 51st State
The recent Democratic debate hosted by ABC spoke volumes. It took an entire hour before a relevant question was asked either candidate – and that was about the economy, which one of the debate’s hosts had the audacity to claim one of the country’s most pressing issues, which it is, but only after an hour had passed.
Commercials, perhaps, got in the way.
Since, Senator Clinton has, for the first time, featured Osama Bin Laden in a campaign commercial, and both candidates have been guilty of placating the US-Israeli lobby, which is not surprising given former President Carter’s recent visit with leaders of Hamas.
Barack Obama, speaking to American-Jewish leaders in Philadelphia recently condemned Carter’s decision claiming…
“Hamas is not a state, Hamas is a terrorist organization. They obviously have developed great influence within the Palestinian territories, but they do not control the apparatus of power.”
Meanwhile, Senator Clinton has gone directly off the deep end, and her comments should be viewed in the speculative context in which they were made.
In a recent interview she claimed that were Iran to strike Israel with nuclear weapons, which they don’t currently possess, the United States, under her command, would be able to “totally obliterate them”. Her rationale, of course, is that by making such a bold statement the Iranians might think twice – as if they were idiotic school children that would actually be stupid enough to attack Israel with nuclear weapons without realizing what the repercussions would be. That is, if they actually possessed nuclear weapons, which, it should be said, Israel does.
It must be fantastic to be the 51st State. You not only have one of the most powerful lobby’s in the United States, but are the recipient of enormous military aid and have the luxury of even your most suspect actions being defended by the world’s foremost power. You also retain the right to possess a nuclear arsenal that you claim doesn’t exist, one which, of course, has never been internationally inspected or monitored.
Oh - and while freedom reigns, the one man that had the guts to come forward and expose the existence of that nuclear program, well, he got thrown in jail for almost two decades and remains, to this very day, under heavy surveillance. Ironically, if an Iranian were to do the same thing, they would be hailed in the West as a hero.
In Addition
Content updated at 1:06 PM, PST.
Want to bookmark or share this entry?
This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008 at 10:59 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
April 22nd, 2008 at 11:20 am
You don’t hold power or get elected unless you have AIPAC in your corner…
Wanna see AIPAC’s influence in action?
Look no further than Joe Lieberman…
April 22nd, 2008 at 11:29 am
Violence must not be tolerated on any front, but it is unconscionable to think that a potential President of the United States may support the “obliteration” of an entire population. Threatening the lives of millions of innocents in such a manner must never be tolerated, especially by those of us with the power to vote against it.
My friends and I are planning to call the Clinton Campaign to argue but I don’t think it will make a huge difference. However, something needs to be done.
April 22nd, 2008 at 11:41 am
All in the name of having a friend in the middle east.
To be fair, while Gibson and Stephanopoulos were horrendous moderators, what Stephanopoulos actually said after finally getting to it is that the economy is the number one issue on American’s minds, which is true.
April 22nd, 2008 at 11:54 am
I wasn’t suggesting that it wasn’t, only that it took him an hour to get to it.
April 22nd, 2008 at 11:55 am
I find Obama’s refusal to support, and in fact condemn, Carter’s efforts in the middle east, to be appalling. That said, it’s sad to say, but if he does support it, he probably loses the election right there.
April 22nd, 2008 at 12:08 pm
[quote comment="50801"]I wasn’t suggesting that it wasn’t, only that it took him an hour to get to it.[/quote]
I missed the “which it is” bit. My bad. I thought that was kind of harsh for you. Sorry.
April 22nd, 2008 at 12:14 pm
The administration claims they told Carter not to go but he says he received no clear communication on it. I’m inclined to believe Carter, but I wonder why they didn’t make it clear to him? Maybe just incompetence.
April 22nd, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Actually you have to move Israel back to 52nd state.
We’ll be taking Canada pretty soon!!! :P
April 22nd, 2008 at 1:01 pm
I presume you all saw this after the 2004 election:
http://homepage.univie.ac.at/horst.prillinger/blog/p3/jesusland.jpg
April 22nd, 2008 at 1:51 pm
The link doesn’t work, but if it’s the Jesusland map, I do remember it.
April 22nd, 2008 at 1:53 pm
That’s weird, it works when I click on it from the post here. Got me. I’m sure everybody’s seen it anyway.
April 22nd, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Indeed - it’s amazing what US “allies” get away with on the International scene. Take a look at Saudi Arabia - they still have stoning arenas. I think many people would be shocked at the number of Christians who are persecuted in these countries by Muslims. At best they are treated as second class citizens. BUT, because they are US strategic allies, a blind eye is quickly turned.
April 22nd, 2008 at 3:08 pm
I have a friend who was convinced that the invasion of Iraq intended to replace Saddam with another strong man thug, just one friendly to the US. Seems awfully hard to get away with after talking up the regime’s brutality so much, but it’s not like the US has shied away from supporting reprehensible governments before.
April 22nd, 2008 at 5:25 pm
When I heard about Obama’s stance on Palestine, I was more than a little appalled and disappointed. But I read Moroccan-American author, Laila Lalami’s, take on it and it did give pause for reflection. Not that it isn’t still disappointing, but it does put it into perspective.
Anyway, please check out her response, which appeared in the Boston Globe: links.
April 22nd, 2008 at 6:29 pm
^the Boston Globe article was very interesting and indeed put things into perspective.
April 22nd, 2008 at 6:33 pm
[quote comment="50798"]You don’t hold power or get elected unless you have AIPAC in your corner…
Wanna see AIPAC’s influence in action?
Look no further than Joe Lieberman…[/quote]
i get my news updates from here pretty much, and from this blog entry, what each candidate said/their position on these specific topics was really disappointing (esp from Obama). along with the Boston Globe article, put things into more perspective.
back to roy’s quote, in the end, it doesnt matter who it is. there really is no real hope or change…
April 22nd, 2008 at 7:59 pm
it is indeed!
April 23rd, 2008 at 5:39 am
[quote comment="50813"]I have a friend who was convinced that the invasion of Iraq intended to replace Saddam with another strong man thug, just one friendly to the US. Seems awfully hard to get away with after talking up the regime’s brutality so much, but it’s not like the US has shied away from supporting reprehensible governments before.[/quote]
You mean just like they did when they installed Saddam? We saw how well that worked…
April 24th, 2008 at 9:53 am
It really is the fault of the media and their lack of desire to identify attrocities in countries that are not allies of the U.S or other Western allies (ie. England)
If it was the U.S and not China that had the strong foothold in Sudan, pumping 2/3rds of its oil, you probably wouldn’t hear anything beyond the usual coverage of Darfur. You probably would never hear of any of the issues in China if it wasn’t for the fact that they are being seen by Western Government officials as a “threat” because of their rapid growth.
Saudia Arabia has stoning arenas and women have absolutely no rights - they need to request the permission of a male guardian (husband, father) to study, marry, even obtain healthcare. But because they are considered a strategic partner, you won’t hear anything.
No one really looks at Pakistan because of its strategic importance to Afghanistan - enough said.
And if you’re not involved with a friend or enemy of the U.S - then you get completely ignored. How many know about the Church in Sharm el-sheik which was burned to the ground while it was filled with Christians (they were locked in), or the man beheaded on the altar during Easter. Folks would be pretty startled if they knew of the killings of Coptic Christians in Egypt.
Take a look at the following site - and you’ll start to see the correlation above.
http://www.hrw.org/
(By the way - this isn’t an attack on the U.S - I have many friends who live there - just enlightenment about the crap we are fed versus what is really out there).