Not only that, Bibi is the worst thing to happen to world-wide Jewry since the end of the Second World War. It's unfair and wrong, but the entire world Jewish community is getting painted with the same brush as Israel, even though the majority of (at least) American Jews disagree with the current government there.
As I have posted in the past, you can be pro-Israel and anti-Netanyahu with his charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity against the civilian population of Gaza by the International Criminal Court. Sucking up to Drumpf and the MAGAtsphere has blown up in his face and Bibi is now learning what countless others have in the past when it comes to the unhinged doddering lunatic: he will stab you in the back and leave you for dead in the alley if it serves his maniacal purposes and you will be a convenient scapegoat when he starts looking for others to blame for the Iran fiasco.
Hamas, with at least some Palestinian support, raped and killed children as well as people of all ages on October 7. Why does the world conveniently forget that?
As a person who supports the idea of a Palestinian state, I don't forget what horrors and suffering Hamas and other terrorists have committed. At the same time, it is easy to see how this began--with the Zionists who already in the 1930s were terrorists themselves, driving out the native Palestinians, burning their olive orchards and taking their homes long before the creation of Israel, determined to have Palestine for their homeland with the claim that it was promised to them by God, with the help of Europeans who needed to find a handy place to solve their "Jewish problem."
The world has not forgotten the diabolical raid by Hamas in Israel. That raid, awful as it was, does not justify Israel’s disproportionate reaction. Thousands of innocent women and children have been killed because of Israeli intelligence revealing the presence of Hamas fighters among them. I think it’s impossible to compute the ratio of of Hamas killed to the number of innocent Palestinians, mostly women and children, killed. Probably over a hundred innocents have been killed to kill 3 or 4 Hamas operatives. Netanyahu should take into account that America tried to eliminate the Taliban in Afghanistan for 20 years at the cost of far more civilians killed as “collateral damage “. Trump’s attack on Iran will probably lead to a strengthening of Iranian proxies in the future. Bibi needs to go.
But Jen's been totally silent in this forum about the threat Iran poses and what should be done to prevent them from producing and using nuclear weapons. Here's just a few examples of what she thought about that in the past:
The issue about spine posited here is ridiculous. She’s looking at the current situation first. Iran was not close to a nuclear weapon. The attack on Iran has disrupted the world economy far more than the launch of an Iranian nuclear weapon. The consequence of a nuclear attack by Iran would certainly lead to the obliteration of Iran and probably a nuclear war. I believe the concept of mutually assured destruction will hold. I think Iran is a destructive force in the world, but I also believe their possession of a nuclear weapon is protection from Israel’s use of a nuclear weapon against Iran.
"The issue about spine posited here is ridiculous."
On the contrary, it's necessary and it's true. Currently, Jen is all about keeping the focus squarely on Trump. There is nothing at all about Iran. As indicated in the previously posted links, Jen has shown she can walk and chew gum at the same time in regard to criticizing our foreign policy and stating the threat from abroad. Not so now. So, yes, she has no spine.
"The consequence of a nuclear attack by Iran would certainly lead to the obliteration of Iran and probably a nuclear war."
That's exactly what they want because for them it's an act of faith. The Iranian regime is not a "rational actor" by Western standards. Even North Korea is smart enough not to use their nukes in an offensive strike. The Iranians have no such guardrails in place. Their stated goal is to wipe Israel off the map and us too, if they can manage it. If it brings about the end of the world, they have no problem with that.
"I think Iran is a destructive force in the world, but I also believe their possession of a nuclear weapon is protection from Israel’s use of a nuclear weapon against Iran."
Said Jen in 2010:
"War is a horrid prospect, as is the potential for massive loss of life — but not as horrid as that of a nuclear-armed Iran. Obama’s willingness to leave Israel to fend for itself or, worse, interfere with its ability to do so is not merely a betrayal of our democratic ally; it is an abdication of American responsibility that will resonate for years to come, signaling that the U.S. is no longer the guarantor of the West’s security."
There's only two reasons why Jen's leaving Iran and the threat they pose out of her rants against Trump's handling of the current situation: she's unable or she's unwilling. My money is on the latter.
As I remember, and it may not have been intended as a reply to Jen, but to someone else on The Bulwark, when I mentioned spine, I was referring to confirming Blanche. I know Jen is focused on Trump. I may have erred on where I posted. Agreed, she didn’t mention Iran, and my comment was not directed at Iran.
Rubin left out the critical corollary in her remark that Netanyahu has come out opposed to US financial assistance. What he is calling for is for the US and Israeli defense production establishments to form more joint ventures! In other words, because financial aid is now under attack, he wants to get Israel's grip more firmly entrenched in the US by merging our defense industries! And guess what, Congressional Republicans have submitted a bill that would do just that! Contrarians, if your representative or Senator is behind that bill, kindly express your opinion to them.
Yes. It's essential to call out Netanyahoo's malicious cunning. He cannot afford to lose US support of his self-serving unending wars and will try whatever he can to retain access to US funding of his military misadventures.
PS: I should have called called it "...US funding of his (Netanhayoo's) GENOCIDE."
"But hysteria about a stolen election now appears unwarranted, especially if Democrats maximize voter engagement and turnout. (The bigger the margin, the harder it is to cheat.)"
These are the keys:
Don't allow yourself to be defeated before the battle. That is what Trump wants, to convince you that resistance is futile and you're already his serf. Instead, keep fighting back.
VOTE, and make sure all your family, friends, and neighbors get out and VOTE. Let's pull a Hungary on that MF.
And make sure NOW that they are properly registered and help others to do that. Don't take it for granted! And plan to help people their votes in however they do it.
Also note: some more WH shenanigans this morning - a new order requiring USPS to refuse to deliver mail-in ballots in states that refuse to share voter data. (I'm not clear on details-too much news to catch up on today.)
ETTD. The Knicks even won when he wasn't in the building. The worst things about Trump's regime, which will have to be corrected by the next Democratic Congress and President, are his assaults on the environment and public health, his cruel and pointless war against Iran, plus his suppression of human rights under the guise of "protecting" the country from immigrants - like his mom, Melania, her family, and on and on.
And don't forget JD's wife and the fact (if true) that Rubio's parents weren't citizens when he was born, something his boss DJT would like citizenship removed for.
Never forget that those who are strongly religious are taught from birth to believe what they are told and to do so without asking for evidence. Evangelicals are among the strongest believers in letting their religious leaders decree what is true and false.
After WW2, teams of scientists researched susceptibility to authoritarianism. They developed testing instruments, tested subjects, compiled their results and published them. Two specific factors were deemed to increase susceptibility: 1) church attendance and 2) rigid parenting styles.
I’m not very religious but always considered Protestants’ direct link with a supreme being an essential element of enlightenment humanitarianism. How Evangelical ministers made themselves local popes is a mystery to me.
I’m not sure about “unwarranted” but rather than be negative I want to emphasize that an appreciation of the historic dangers we face may be paying off with renewed efforts to determine our fate. To fight our best fight. The Contrarian is definitely one of those best fights!!
Trump's only power to shape events is to screw them up. The list is endless, but starting after he inherited millions from his father and continuing to this day, he's left behind a string of bankruptcies, broken promises, failed businesses, stiffed contractors, and worst of all, deaths. His mishandling of COVID cost hundreds of thousands more lives than had to be taken from us. His heartless slashing of USAID funding has killed hundreds of thousands, if not millions, overseas. The court he assembled to end Roe v. Wade has led to the death of so many women that red states with draconian abortion laws have stopped reporting them. Trump was a screwup, is a screwup, and always will be a screwup. His fall will be epic, and I'm doing everything a private citizen can do to aid the cause, including happily paying my monthly Contrarian subscription fee.
The question to ask is a simple one. We asked it here in 2024, published the answer, then saw voters elect a stalwart supporter of the truth as county clerk (elections official). That county clerk in turn helped another elections official in a nearby (very red) county, who in turn got elected over an election-denier. Ask your candidates, and spread their answer far and wide, the simple question: Who Won the 2020 Presidential Election, Biden or Trump?
If the answer is anything but Joe Biden, that's a denier. Out them.
Voters get it, but you have to tell them. They may not understand that Election Denial has become the platform of the Republican Party.
The mainstream media is not pushing back hard enough against Trump's baseless and evidence-free election fraud claims. Substack is doing the heavy lifting, but I think the bulk of the populace has never heard of Substack.
Fraud so bad it can't be proven? Republicans are unable to accept losing a mayoral race in one of the bluest cities in the country. This is the party whose leader attempted to stage a coup & whose capos tampered with voting machines in order to hijack elections.
The point of claiming that election fraud is going on without evidence is obviously to cause voter suppression. The more we encourage people to register to vote and as more show up at the polls it becomes more difficult to cheat. We should not ignore their cries of fraud though. When polling locations are overwhelmed with voters they can’t turn away then they are forced to find more viable solutions for voting such as mail in ballots!
What is left out of all these editorials is that the radical and cruel regime and greatest sponsor of world terrorism, namely Iran, is the main reason Israel is continually waging wars. What would any nation be doing with decades of onslaught from Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran? We can parse the leaders all day long. The people are, as usual, caught in the middle and pay the price in lives.
Who created Iran? We did, starting in the 1950s and earlier, and all for oil. We set up military bases all over the mid-east, mostly to protect our oil interests by intimidating states. (This was at the heart of Osama bin Laden's hatred of the US.) Who created, sold the weapons which are all over the mideast and in the hands of both terrorists and also valid nationalists? Who initiated the so-called war on terror which has inspired the horrible backlash from Muslims? Our Islamophobic foreign policy must change. In times to come, when the US has lost its hegemony and no longer is given a pass for our immoral militarism, maybe our responsibility for world terrorism will be named and we'll be held to account.
"Iran" has been around for thousands of years and has an amazing history of culture. I would like folks to understand that the history and people of Iran are not what their government presents. In fairness, many of us see links to the current regime in part from past interference by the US, both from its oil potential and historical religious divisions.
Yes, Jim, and I hope it didn't sound as if I meant that we actually 'created' what we now called Iran. Persia/Iran does have an incredible, rich culture and proud history which we've tried to subjugate to our oil interests.
Yes, I understood that. I have a lot of sad feelings about Iran. As a child/young adult reading storied of their history and culture, I've always wanted to travel there to experience that. But now, I feel I will never get that opportunity, and it saddens me. Not to mention the many Iranian immigrants I have had the pleasure to meet and know, all truly wonderful folks. it's truly a shame we see the people of a country or region mainly through the lens of their/our governments.
I lived and worked in Iran for a couple of months in 1977. There was definitely a frostiness toward westerners that I hadn't experienced elsewhere. Which was understandable given how the US was plundering their assets and despoiling their beautiful cities with our construction cranes and skyscrapers. But their beautiful artwork and rich culture was everywhere. And their generous people.
Yes, I wasn't prepared for the French attitude toward Americans when I was stationed in Vienna in 1973. Don't mean to date myself, but it does inform me how international relation/perceptions change over time.
Who created Iran? Iran/Persia has been around for thousands of years.
Muslim terrorists were responsible for the war on terror. If radical Muslims used brains instead of hate, they would have had a Palestinian state. If they would have worked with Israel that state would be thriving.
Btw, there is more Jew hatred in this country and the world than Islamophobia.
Actually it was George W. Bush who declared the war on terror and established the Department of Homeland Security. Bush spewed a hatred that seemed uncharacteristic of him before 9/11. He seemed wrong-headed and weak but not cruel.
If there is hatred in the world targeted at Jews today, it's not targeted at their Judaism or their ethnic Jewishness but the Zionism of some Jews.
Khomeini did impose a very extreme, intolerant version of Islam on Iran. (It's not the version of Islam which I experienced while living for ten years in Indonesia (which has the world's largest Muslim population) including over 9/11.) Khomeini didn't obliterate Iran. Before the overthrown of the US-supported Shah and the return of Khomeini, the Shah had adopted some western values which much of the population of Iran resented. That's what precipitated the revolution and the takeover of the US Embassy.
Marilyn, I don't doubt that some anti-Zionism is cover for hatred of Jews, sadly. But some--I'd say most--anti-Zionism is only that: opposition to the extreme Zionism that would deny Palestinians a homeland, a state, and a right to live in peace. Early supporters of Khomeini, like early supporters of Netanyahu and Trump, would, we hope, see how much damage these tyrannical despots went on to do.
As Marilyn pointed out, much of the anti Zionism is hatred of Jews and Israel. There were large Jewish communities in Iran, Iraq, Syria and other Arab nations. They were expelled or murdered when Israel was established. The hatred has been exacerbated by the rise of radical Islamic ideology. The great majority of Iranians do not like radical Islam but unfortunately do not have power to resist the well armed regime. Meanwhile, the hundreds of thousands of expelled Jews were taken in by Israel. There are also very large communities in America. In New York, where I live, there has been a dramatic increase in attacks against Jews, just as Marilyn has described. Zionism has become the fashionable poster child for modern hatred.
I think a corned and desperate Bibi is very dangerous. Cornered at home and more vilified internationally than ever, he will be desperate. Losing the upcoming election means prison. Nukes? Maybe.
Both the US and Israel were founded on valuable principles that have been warped and abused at the hands of wealthy, manipulated oligarchs. The whole world can see the mess and can feel the punishments of income inequality and brash narcissism that we represent. It is a tragedy that narcissistic leaders cannot see reality for what it is. And they never will.
One glaring inaccuracy concerning DJT's passion to eliminate Vote-by-Mail is the fact that he and Melania both vote by mail. What's good for the goose and gander doesn't count for the American public, eh???? Hypocrisy is alive and well at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington D.C.!!!
Thank you for calling out Bibi’s incontinent policies. He has been a disaster for Israel and the entire mideast.
Not only that, Bibi is the worst thing to happen to world-wide Jewry since the end of the Second World War. It's unfair and wrong, but the entire world Jewish community is getting painted with the same brush as Israel, even though the majority of (at least) American Jews disagree with the current government there.
As I have posted in the past, you can be pro-Israel and anti-Netanyahu with his charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity against the civilian population of Gaza by the International Criminal Court. Sucking up to Drumpf and the MAGAtsphere has blown up in his face and Bibi is now learning what countless others have in the past when it comes to the unhinged doddering lunatic: he will stab you in the back and leave you for dead in the alley if it serves his maniacal purposes and you will be a convenient scapegoat when he starts looking for others to blame for the Iran fiasco.
Amen!
Bibi is a disaster for humanity. Think about the dead children and their alive parents both in Iran and Gaza.
Don't forget the million or so Lebanese civilians who have become refugees in their own country--who have also suffered too many casualties.
Yes, absolutely. I am sorry for not mentioning them. Speaking of Lebanon, the Palestinian refugees there as well in horrific conditions.
Think about all the children in Israel who have been brutally murdered and left orphaned by Muslim terrorists.
Hamas, with at least some Palestinian support, raped and killed children as well as people of all ages on October 7. Why does the world conveniently forget that?
As a person who supports the idea of a Palestinian state, I don't forget what horrors and suffering Hamas and other terrorists have committed. At the same time, it is easy to see how this began--with the Zionists who already in the 1930s were terrorists themselves, driving out the native Palestinians, burning their olive orchards and taking their homes long before the creation of Israel, determined to have Palestine for their homeland with the claim that it was promised to them by God, with the help of Europeans who needed to find a handy place to solve their "Jewish problem."
There are no innocents in this ongoing conflict.
The world has not forgotten the diabolical raid by Hamas in Israel. That raid, awful as it was, does not justify Israel’s disproportionate reaction. Thousands of innocent women and children have been killed because of Israeli intelligence revealing the presence of Hamas fighters among them. I think it’s impossible to compute the ratio of of Hamas killed to the number of innocent Palestinians, mostly women and children, killed. Probably over a hundred innocents have been killed to kill 3 or 4 Hamas operatives. Netanyahu should take into account that America tried to eliminate the Taliban in Afghanistan for 20 years at the cost of far more civilians killed as “collateral damage “. Trump’s attack on Iran will probably lead to a strengthening of Iranian proxies in the future. Bibi needs to go.
"Thank you for calling out Bibi’s incontinent policies. He has been a disaster for Israel and the entire mideast."
Jen Rubin's previous view on Bibi:
"Bibi to Biden: Get Real About Iran"
https://www.commentary.org/jennifer-rubin/bibi-to-biden-get-real-about-iran/
But Jen's been totally silent in this forum about the threat Iran poses and what should be done to prevent them from producing and using nuclear weapons. Here's just a few examples of what she thought about that in the past:
"What Is Israel to Do?"
https://www.commentary.org/jennifer-rubin/what-is-israel-to-do/
"RE: UAE Ambassador: The Benefits of Attacking Iran Outweigh the Risks"
https://www.commentary.org/jennifer-rubin/re-uae-ambassador-the-benefits-of-attacking-iran-outweigh-the-risks/
"Iran Doesn’t Just Threaten Israel"
https://www.commentary.org/jennifer-rubin/iran-doesnt-just-threaten-israel/
Perhaps one day Jen Rubin will rediscover her spine and tell her loyal audience if she has changed those earlier views and, more importantly, why.
The issue about spine posited here is ridiculous. She’s looking at the current situation first. Iran was not close to a nuclear weapon. The attack on Iran has disrupted the world economy far more than the launch of an Iranian nuclear weapon. The consequence of a nuclear attack by Iran would certainly lead to the obliteration of Iran and probably a nuclear war. I believe the concept of mutually assured destruction will hold. I think Iran is a destructive force in the world, but I also believe their possession of a nuclear weapon is protection from Israel’s use of a nuclear weapon against Iran.
"The issue about spine posited here is ridiculous."
On the contrary, it's necessary and it's true. Currently, Jen is all about keeping the focus squarely on Trump. There is nothing at all about Iran. As indicated in the previously posted links, Jen has shown she can walk and chew gum at the same time in regard to criticizing our foreign policy and stating the threat from abroad. Not so now. So, yes, she has no spine.
"The consequence of a nuclear attack by Iran would certainly lead to the obliteration of Iran and probably a nuclear war."
That's exactly what they want because for them it's an act of faith. The Iranian regime is not a "rational actor" by Western standards. Even North Korea is smart enough not to use their nukes in an offensive strike. The Iranians have no such guardrails in place. Their stated goal is to wipe Israel off the map and us too, if they can manage it. If it brings about the end of the world, they have no problem with that.
"I think Iran is a destructive force in the world, but I also believe their possession of a nuclear weapon is protection from Israel’s use of a nuclear weapon against Iran."
Said Jen in 2010:
"War is a horrid prospect, as is the potential for massive loss of life — but not as horrid as that of a nuclear-armed Iran. Obama’s willingness to leave Israel to fend for itself or, worse, interfere with its ability to do so is not merely a betrayal of our democratic ally; it is an abdication of American responsibility that will resonate for years to come, signaling that the U.S. is no longer the guarantor of the West’s security."
There's only two reasons why Jen's leaving Iran and the threat they pose out of her rants against Trump's handling of the current situation: she's unable or she's unwilling. My money is on the latter.
https://www.commentary.org/jennifer-rubin/what-is-israel-to-do/
As I remember, and it may not have been intended as a reply to Jen, but to someone else on The Bulwark, when I mentioned spine, I was referring to confirming Blanche. I know Jen is focused on Trump. I may have erred on where I posted. Agreed, she didn’t mention Iran, and my comment was not directed at Iran.
No worries.
I would imagine it is very hard to be Jewish right now, however you feel about Iran, Palestine, or Israel.
For decades!!
Rubin left out the critical corollary in her remark that Netanyahu has come out opposed to US financial assistance. What he is calling for is for the US and Israeli defense production establishments to form more joint ventures! In other words, because financial aid is now under attack, he wants to get Israel's grip more firmly entrenched in the US by merging our defense industries! And guess what, Congressional Republicans have submitted a bill that would do just that! Contrarians, if your representative or Senator is behind that bill, kindly express your opinion to them.
Yes. It's essential to call out Netanyahoo's malicious cunning. He cannot afford to lose US support of his self-serving unending wars and will try whatever he can to retain access to US funding of his military misadventures.
PS: I should have called called it "...US funding of his (Netanhayoo's) GENOCIDE."
Netanyahoo…perfect!
No genocide.
Even somc Jewish groups and scholars have described Netanyahoo's military action in Gaza as a genocide.
Many for say it’s far from a genocide.
I’d suppressed that blood diamond of a gem. Thanks for reminding me.
I do wonder where the CEOs and other magnates of the U.S. defense industry stand on this. And on the current defense secretary while we're at it.
Since I’m already a paid subscriber, I donated to the Democracy Defenders Fund. I really appreciate you, Norm and All the Contrarians!
"But hysteria about a stolen election now appears unwarranted, especially if Democrats maximize voter engagement and turnout. (The bigger the margin, the harder it is to cheat.)"
These are the keys:
Don't allow yourself to be defeated before the battle. That is what Trump wants, to convince you that resistance is futile and you're already his serf. Instead, keep fighting back.
VOTE, and make sure all your family, friends, and neighbors get out and VOTE. Let's pull a Hungary on that MF.
And make sure NOW that they are properly registered and help others to do that. Don't take it for granted! And plan to help people their votes in however they do it.
Please start iterviewing people like Ashley St. Clair.
Did Musk steal Pennsylvanie for Trump in 2024 or what?
https://electiontruthalliance.org/
Also note: some more WH shenanigans this morning - a new order requiring USPS to refuse to deliver mail-in ballots in states that refuse to share voter data. (I'm not clear on details-too much news to catch up on today.)
ETTD. The Knicks even won when he wasn't in the building. The worst things about Trump's regime, which will have to be corrected by the next Democratic Congress and President, are his assaults on the environment and public health, his cruel and pointless war against Iran, plus his suppression of human rights under the guise of "protecting" the country from immigrants - like his mom, Melania, her family, and on and on.
And don't forget JD's wife and the fact (if true) that Rubio's parents weren't citizens when he was born, something his boss DJT would like citizenship removed for.
Never forget that those who are strongly religious are taught from birth to believe what they are told and to do so without asking for evidence. Evangelicals are among the strongest believers in letting their religious leaders decree what is true and false.
After WW2, teams of scientists researched susceptibility to authoritarianism. They developed testing instruments, tested subjects, compiled their results and published them. Two specific factors were deemed to increase susceptibility: 1) church attendance and 2) rigid parenting styles.
Consistent training matters.
very much so. which is why there is so little hope for a two state solution when palestinians are taught to hate jews from birth
yeah, especially now since they blew them all up...
I’m not very religious but always considered Protestants’ direct link with a supreme being an essential element of enlightenment humanitarianism. How Evangelical ministers made themselves local popes is a mystery to me.
money...religion is a very big business. recall jim and tammi baker.
Churches frequently are co-opted by those in power or who want to be in power.
Many of the founders were Deists.
yes, meaning believed in a higher being...and freedom of religion
I’m not sure about “unwarranted” but rather than be negative I want to emphasize that an appreciation of the historic dangers we face may be paying off with renewed efforts to determine our fate. To fight our best fight. The Contrarian is definitely one of those best fights!!
Trump's only power to shape events is to screw them up. The list is endless, but starting after he inherited millions from his father and continuing to this day, he's left behind a string of bankruptcies, broken promises, failed businesses, stiffed contractors, and worst of all, deaths. His mishandling of COVID cost hundreds of thousands more lives than had to be taken from us. His heartless slashing of USAID funding has killed hundreds of thousands, if not millions, overseas. The court he assembled to end Roe v. Wade has led to the death of so many women that red states with draconian abortion laws have stopped reporting them. Trump was a screwup, is a screwup, and always will be a screwup. His fall will be epic, and I'm doing everything a private citizen can do to aid the cause, including happily paying my monthly Contrarian subscription fee.
The question to ask is a simple one. We asked it here in 2024, published the answer, then saw voters elect a stalwart supporter of the truth as county clerk (elections official). That county clerk in turn helped another elections official in a nearby (very red) county, who in turn got elected over an election-denier. Ask your candidates, and spread their answer far and wide, the simple question: Who Won the 2020 Presidential Election, Biden or Trump?
If the answer is anything but Joe Biden, that's a denier. Out them.
Voters get it, but you have to tell them. They may not understand that Election Denial has become the platform of the Republican Party.
The mainstream media is not pushing back hard enough against Trump's baseless and evidence-free election fraud claims. Substack is doing the heavy lifting, but I think the bulk of the populace has never heard of Substack.
Fortunately, that “meet the press“ television interview was a good example of how you do it.
Fraud so bad it can't be proven? Republicans are unable to accept losing a mayoral race in one of the bluest cities in the country. This is the party whose leader attempted to stage a coup & whose capos tampered with voting machines in order to hijack elections.
https://newrepublic.com/post/211544/mike-johnson-california-election-fraud-no-proof? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Or2A-lxT9k
Johnson's comment sounds very much like "we had to destroy the village in order to save it".
The point of claiming that election fraud is going on without evidence is obviously to cause voter suppression. The more we encourage people to register to vote and as more show up at the polls it becomes more difficult to cheat. We should not ignore their cries of fraud though. When polling locations are overwhelmed with voters they can’t turn away then they are forced to find more viable solutions for voting such as mail in ballots!
They are hoping for voter apathy and hopelessness. We cannot give them this!
What is left out of all these editorials is that the radical and cruel regime and greatest sponsor of world terrorism, namely Iran, is the main reason Israel is continually waging wars. What would any nation be doing with decades of onslaught from Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran? We can parse the leaders all day long. The people are, as usual, caught in the middle and pay the price in lives.
Who created Iran? We did, starting in the 1950s and earlier, and all for oil. We set up military bases all over the mid-east, mostly to protect our oil interests by intimidating states. (This was at the heart of Osama bin Laden's hatred of the US.) Who created, sold the weapons which are all over the mideast and in the hands of both terrorists and also valid nationalists? Who initiated the so-called war on terror which has inspired the horrible backlash from Muslims? Our Islamophobic foreign policy must change. In times to come, when the US has lost its hegemony and no longer is given a pass for our immoral militarism, maybe our responsibility for world terrorism will be named and we'll be held to account.
Adding the CIA overthrew a legitimate Iranian government in tht mid-1950's to benefit those Western oil companies and install the Shah.
"Iran" has been around for thousands of years and has an amazing history of culture. I would like folks to understand that the history and people of Iran are not what their government presents. In fairness, many of us see links to the current regime in part from past interference by the US, both from its oil potential and historical religious divisions.
Yes, Jim, and I hope it didn't sound as if I meant that we actually 'created' what we now called Iran. Persia/Iran does have an incredible, rich culture and proud history which we've tried to subjugate to our oil interests.
Yes, I understood that. I have a lot of sad feelings about Iran. As a child/young adult reading storied of their history and culture, I've always wanted to travel there to experience that. But now, I feel I will never get that opportunity, and it saddens me. Not to mention the many Iranian immigrants I have had the pleasure to meet and know, all truly wonderful folks. it's truly a shame we see the people of a country or region mainly through the lens of their/our governments.
I lived and worked in Iran for a couple of months in 1977. There was definitely a frostiness toward westerners that I hadn't experienced elsewhere. Which was understandable given how the US was plundering their assets and despoiling their beautiful cities with our construction cranes and skyscrapers. But their beautiful artwork and rich culture was everywhere. And their generous people.
Yes, I wasn't prepared for the French attitude toward Americans when I was stationed in Vienna in 1973. Don't mean to date myself, but it does inform me how international relation/perceptions change over time.
Actually Ayatollah khomeni came from exile in Paris and obliterated the modern country of Iran.
Who created Iran? Iran/Persia has been around for thousands of years.
Muslim terrorists were responsible for the war on terror. If radical Muslims used brains instead of hate, they would have had a Palestinian state. If they would have worked with Israel that state would be thriving.
Btw, there is more Jew hatred in this country and the world than Islamophobia.
Actually it was George W. Bush who declared the war on terror and established the Department of Homeland Security. Bush spewed a hatred that seemed uncharacteristic of him before 9/11. He seemed wrong-headed and weak but not cruel.
If there is hatred in the world targeted at Jews today, it's not targeted at their Judaism or their ethnic Jewishness but the Zionism of some Jews.
Khomeini did impose a very extreme, intolerant version of Islam on Iran. (It's not the version of Islam which I experienced while living for ten years in Indonesia (which has the world's largest Muslim population) including over 9/11.) Khomeini didn't obliterate Iran. Before the overthrown of the US-supported Shah and the return of Khomeini, the Shah had adopted some western values which much of the population of Iran resented. That's what precipitated the revolution and the takeover of the US Embassy.
Much of the hatred of Jews is couched in “anti Zionism.” Jews have been targeted in synagogues, on the streets and on transportation.
The Iranians who wanted khomeni got what hey wanted to the detriment of their children and grandchildren.
Marilyn, I don't doubt that some anti-Zionism is cover for hatred of Jews, sadly. But some--I'd say most--anti-Zionism is only that: opposition to the extreme Zionism that would deny Palestinians a homeland, a state, and a right to live in peace. Early supporters of Khomeini, like early supporters of Netanyahu and Trump, would, we hope, see how much damage these tyrannical despots went on to do.
As Marilyn pointed out, much of the anti Zionism is hatred of Jews and Israel. There were large Jewish communities in Iran, Iraq, Syria and other Arab nations. They were expelled or murdered when Israel was established. The hatred has been exacerbated by the rise of radical Islamic ideology. The great majority of Iranians do not like radical Islam but unfortunately do not have power to resist the well armed regime. Meanwhile, the hundreds of thousands of expelled Jews were taken in by Israel. There are also very large communities in America. In New York, where I live, there has been a dramatic increase in attacks against Jews, just as Marilyn has described. Zionism has become the fashionable poster child for modern hatred.
I very strongly agree with you on all these points. Glad to see this comment. They seem to be too few and far in between.
I think a corned and desperate Bibi is very dangerous. Cornered at home and more vilified internationally than ever, he will be desperate. Losing the upcoming election means prison. Nukes? Maybe.
I feel cornered and desperate MAGA Republicans will be similarly dangerous. We must be cautious and alert.
Both the US and Israel were founded on valuable principles that have been warped and abused at the hands of wealthy, manipulated oligarchs. The whole world can see the mess and can feel the punishments of income inequality and brash narcissism that we represent. It is a tragedy that narcissistic leaders cannot see reality for what it is. And they never will.
One glaring inaccuracy concerning DJT's passion to eliminate Vote-by-Mail is the fact that he and Melania both vote by mail. What's good for the goose and gander doesn't count for the American public, eh???? Hypocrisy is alive and well at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington D.C.!!!
"Hypocrisy is alive and well..."
It certainly is, and there's enough of it from Dems and Repubs alike to choke a whale.