"So, likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter without adequate inducement or justification. It leads also to concessions to the favorite nation of privileges denied to others, which is apt doubly to injure the nation making the concessions by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained, and by exciting jealousy, ill will, and a disposition to retaliate in the parties from whom equal privileges are withheld; and it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the favorite nation) facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own country without odium, sometimes even with popularity, gilding with the appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commendable deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good the base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation….
"Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government. But that jealousy, to be useful, must be impartial, else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defense against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots who may resist the intrigues of the favorite are liable to become suspected and odious, while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people to surrender their interests."
My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer
Posts
84 comments:
I remember that during the vice presidential debate, Joe Biden actually used the word "passion" to describe his affection for Israel. What I would have given for a sensible third-party candidate on the stage to douse Biden with Washington's words....
Well said. You always have the best guest columnists.
Now let the jewbashing begin in 3,2,1...
Steve, you are one of the most valuable people on the net.
Jane Harman introduced HR1959, "The Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorist Act", which would bring here a Canadian-style "hate speech" regime and destroy the First Amendment. (Who is a "terrorist"?)
If the ideals of people such as George Washington are important, Jane Harman is Public Enemy Number One.
Why do her dirty connections to dirty AIPAC fail to surprise me?
Steve, here is a correction to my earlier post here. Harman introduced HR 1955, which then became S 1959. Thank you.
Was Washington refering to supporters of the French Revolution?
Weeps, we do. "A Republic, Madam" as was putatively attributed to Benjamin Franklin at the Constitutional Convention. "If you can keep it."
What we now know thanks to the NSA leaker:
1/ No Jewish Senators have had any Israel-related NSA communications with anyone that could in any way be considered untoward. (Leaks regarding Senators beat leaks regarding House members any day of the week)
For years people have been complaining that such Senators have some sort of dual-loyalty.
The leaker has proven them completely wrong.
I think a lot of bloggers and commenters owe these people a big apology.
2/ All but one member of the House have never had any Israel-related NSA accessible communications as or more serious than expressing a willingness to lobby the Justice Dept. on behalf of 2 Americans who worked for AIPAC.
Again, it seems we have lots of people unfairly maligned.
Any apologies coming?
What Steve fails to recognize is both the game being played by Obama and Holder (the leaks came from Holder's offices, approved by Obama) AND the larger issue.
Jews voted for Obama, about 70-30, in the same way that Single Women voted for Obama 70-29. Why?
Jews knew well Obama was born and raised a Muslim, had many Muslim relatives, and had pro-Muslim sympathies, policies, associates, and friends. Even including his attendance at the Khalid party in Los Angeles, with both Obamas in attendance, on tape (the LAT won't release it) saying and doing very anti-Jewish, anti-Semitic, and anti-Israel things.
Contrary to Steve's thesis, Israel means nothing to most Jews or rather, they despise it's existence. Sarah Silverman, noted comic, campaigned tirelessly for Obama to get out the Jewish vote. Knowing full well his attitudes towards Jews, Israel, and Muslims ("I must stand with the Muslims!")
Why? Because for Sarah Silverman and most Jews, Israel is "Stuff White People Don't Like." Yuppie attitudes celebrate say, the murder of a wheelchair bound old man, Leon Klinghoffer, by young PLA terrorists, and extoll the virtues in the "edgy/hip" Philip Glass opera.
Most SWPL Yuppies, which describes neatly about 70% of US Jews, would be quite happy to see Israel nuked off the face of the Earth because that's what SWPL want. Israel is too White, too technological, too Western, to generate anything but Yuppie hatred and moralizing.
Meanwhile, Evangelical Christians such as Sarah Palin or Mike Huckabee reflexively support Israel. Palin has an Israeli flag on her desk. How many Jews in Alaska? Maybe five at the most. You won't find many more in Huckabee's native Arkansas.
Why do they support then Israel?
Because Israel is not an emotional attachment, but rather symbolic proxy in the eternal battle between SWPL Yuppies and the populists. Evangelical populists (but I repeat myself) like Palin and Huckabee support Israel because the support is symbolic of how ordinary people, mostly Straight White Working/Middle Class men, gain power in a fight against a Jihadi polygamous enemy.
SWPL Yuppies like Obama or Silverman LOSE power (no needs an International Shaman/Rockstar, or Little Girl Dirty voice comic in time of crisis) if the fight is put in existential terms.
Israel is just then the symbol. If it is wiped out, then they SWPL yuppies win, can impose surrender to Islam with themselves as the ruling class quelching anything Muslims don't like. If Israel survives, then the possibility of fighting back against both Islamization and SWPL Yuppiedom (two faces of the same coin) remains.
Obama is pushing for Iran to get nukes and "take care of the Jewish Problem" and this is his way of both keeping Pelosi (Harman's bitter rival) happy and setting down markers. It's a safe bet since Israel's biggest enemies are Jews who are SWPL (about 70% of all Jews) and the biggest supporters of Israel are Christian Evangelicals who use Israel as a proxy for their own fight for power.
[It's like the reverse of the Spanish in Florida during Jackson's expeditions there: Elites loved the Spanish because their alliance with native Indians and Brits kept ordinary people from settling the Mississippi territories. Populists wanted the Natives, Spanish, and British gone.]
You should've vetted this guy more carefully. Apparently he's some sort of slave owner.
1/ No Jewish Senators have had any Israel-related NSA communications with anyone that could in any way be considered untoward. (an-m they don't have to. They don't need a 'script, or any pushing or convincing.
I remember what the late Richard Estrada of the Dallas Morning News used to worry about.
He worried about Mexico colonizing the US.
No need to worry.
It's an accomplished fact.
And he worried about the "amen corner" for Israel among conservatives.
(He should have narrowed it down to the Likud Party.)
Seems he was amazingly prescient.
Oh yeah, he was also a board member of FAIR, a.k.a. the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
Wonder what he would have thought of George Bush celebrating Cinco de Mayo in the White House, and Bush flying the Mexican flag as well?
I hope this alien witch is going to (very soon, hopefully) be a target of the 'witch-hunts'; a victim of the very Stasi-like commission she (and her foriegn handlers) championed!
Maybe then will there be justice in OUR land!
"Now let the jewbashing begin in 3,2,1..."
A little gratuitous, slick.
"The leaker has proven them completely wrong."
Hmm. Only if you assume that the NSA had a wiretap on the phone of every last Senator and Congressman. Harman got caught because she was on the line with another person who happened to be tapped. It was pure chance she got caught.
Also, she's the case the Obama people chose to leak. You think they'd leak the same story if Schumer was involved? This was very deliberately done.
"...history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government."
Does anyone know what Washington was referring to here?
George Washington was an anti-Semite, who denied the Holocaust and didn't support Israel.
Oh, and all of you guys are crazy and just plain wrong.
As Mencius Moldbug has explained many times, they're not Jews....they're ultra (or was it hyper? uber, maybe?) Calvinist Puritans, doing what, you know, Puritans do, and acting all Protestant and dissenter-ish.
Oh when will we be saved from this scourge of Puritans!!
Don't get your hopes up. These scandals never grow legs.
"anony-mouse said...
"What we now know thanks to the NSA leaker:"
As another poster pointed out, Congressmembers themselves weren't tapped - Harman only showed up on thier surveilance because she was talking to someone whose phone was tapped. Even then, there might be others who were caught on tape, whose names the administration is not leaking.
Then again, perhaps Harman is the Rod Blogojevich of Representatives - the only one stupid enough to discuss corruption and influence peddling on an open line. There are plenty of private booths, parks and living rooms in Washington. What do you think is discussed there?
testing99,
If Obama is so anti-Israel why the appointment of Emmanuel?
Washington's Farewell Address of 1796 was specifically concerned with dissuading Americans from getting roped into the Wars of the French Revolution, which would keep Europe at war for two more decades through Waterloo in 1815. Both France and Britain had sympathizers in high places in America, and Washington wanted very much to keep them working together rather than turning on each other over the French vs. British fighting.
But, Washington intentionally phrased his message for the future as well as the present.
Who is this "George Washington"? Why isn't he supporting our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan? He sounds like one of those "Unpatriotic Conservatives" David Frum warned us about.
According to Wiki, Janet Napolitano's mother's maiden name was Winer.
Steve Sailer might not think that the ethnicity of the Homeland Security Secretary's mother is a relevant fact, but when Harmon and Napolitano get together to discuss Bolshevism, oops, I meant payback, oops I meant victimization and redress or grievances, oops I meant policy...then ethnic heritage just might be part of their personal bonding, and political bonding, such as on the current topic of whether or not terrorism = gun owning white male American citizens with Ron Paul bumper stickers or military experience.
I know...the high minded Citizenists simply cannot conceive of such a crude approach to politics.
Testing99,
I dont think you could be MORE WRONG about why evangelicals support Israel.
Testing99, my mom and dad are very religous Christian people, and are extremely pro-Israel for reasons of Biblical Prophecy. They listen to preachers tell them as often as the day is long that whoever blesses Israel will be blessed by God ("I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you", God-to-Abraham in Genesis whatever verse and chapter). They believe we are in "the latter days" right before "the rapture" where in the prophetic books of Daniel, Isaiah, and Revelation it is prophesized that Israel will be a reborn nation with another Temple and will be "surrounded by enemies" and attacked from the North (Russia) and from the East (Iran and other Muslim Countries), and eventually God personally intervenes and causes confusion amongst the attackers and they simultaneously blow each other up as God supernaturally (fire or lightening from the skies or whatever) destroys most of what is left. Only about 25% or so of the Russians are to survive and burying their dead is supposed to last for six months. Jesus is supposed to "rapture" the Church-christians just prior to or right after this battle.
Thats what Christians hear from pastors all over America. They are told that they must support Israel because they are God's chosen people, and the entire "tribulation" period is for their sake so that they see that Christ was the true messiah, sent as a servant and a lamb and not as a ruler and a lion to reconcile God to man through his sacrafice of himself to take on their sins (like an Old Testament blood sacrafice of a sheep on an altar to put all the sin on so God wouldn't punish you personally), et cetera et cetera.
If it weren't for some of the biblical language, Christians would probably be ambivalent about Israel, but they honestly think that God has blessed America so much because of her "role" in acting as Israel's protector.
......so you see the right's situation with the religious right and middle east foreign policy now a little clearer don't you? Its amazing to me that so many don't get why Christians tend to be so pro-Israel.
I personally am a pragmatic man, and think it would be better if Israel defined her borders, built a large wall around herself, and PAID some country a great deal of money to take in the Palestinians and to build them free housing and infrastructure for a couple of generations, thus halting any eastward expansion of Israel, yet relieving the Gaza West bank questions in a bloodless way. It will never happen though, hence we will always have headaches in that region of the world with cats on one side and dogs on the other. America, prodded by some very pro-Israel political forces who have deep pockets and the Christian backer-votes, will not be able to extricate themselves from this delicate situation in all probability. Rham Emmanuel, second man in the United States right now, is very passionate about Israel, and he is a very smart guy no matter what anyone thinks about him.
I hope Steve doesn't nix this comment, but I understand it if he does. m
A Rahm Bomb for Jane Harman?James Lewis
April 20, 2009
americanthinker.com
Who would have authorized it? If I had to bet, it would be the President or his Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, or the National Security Advisor.
Why was the leak dropped at this moment in time? Because the anti-Israel forces are rising to power in the Obama Administration. They are dropping this Rahm Bomb to discredit pro-Israel members of Congress in general, and Rep. Jane Harman in particular.
OT: second amendment rights got another legal boost today this time from a three member 9th circuit panel. this was reported by lou dobbs tonight but there arent many news organizations linking to the story yet according to google.
9th Circuit Incorporates 2nd AmendmentNinth Circuit Court Extends Second Amendment Rightslook for anderson cooper to do a big segment on this real soon. the constitution means a lot to him.
Perhaps I'm missing something here, but it seems like the real story in this linked article is the part about Alberto Gonzales trying to use the data from the wiretap to get her approval for more warrantless wiretapping. This raises the question of how many other congressmen had embarrassing conversations that were wiretapped.
I mean, we all already knew that AIPAC had too much influence on Congress, right? (The ideal amount of influence for any foreign government is zero.) But the implication in this article is a lot more disturbing.
AIPAC has influence, but only pretty limited influence, and similarly pretty limited interests--they want some of that nice US taxpayer loot sent to their country, either as dollars or as military weapons.
By contrast, the president has a lot more power, and much broader interests. Widespread use of wiretapping to keep congressmen in line has dangers for US democracy that AIPAC can't dream of matching. Similarly, if the president has access to information gathered on journalists, newspaper owners, judges, potential rivals within his party, likely opponents from the other part, media personalities, etc., he can use that to silence opposition, to keep newspapers reporting what he wants reported, to force his own party in Congress to support him even to the point of self destruction, etc. And a hell of a lot of that pattern was present in the post-9/11 Bush administration.
A little information has now started to come out about this, as well as about the whole program of torture we were running. A whole lot more needs to come out. If many congressmen were really targeted for surveillance as a way to keep them in line, those responsible, up to George W Bush, need to spend the rest of their days in prison. They won't, of course. (Prison is for little people.) But they need to, if we're to have anything resembling a democracy by the time my kids are old enough to vote.
What's the fuss about? Israel is the best ally any country ever had.
Getting back to Steve's post ...
George Washington's words were tragically ignored. Had America stayed neutral during WWI, that war would have rightfully ended in a standoff. Instead, we let our pro-British sympathies get the best of us, so we jumped in and crushed Germany, ruining the balance of power in Europe and paving the way for the ugly 1930s and WWII.
Any suggestions on what Obama should have done for the racism conference at the UN?
To my mind he made the right call in boycotting it. I assume Bush would have done the same. I am sure those of you who think he roots for the death of Israel will acknowledge this decision.
Of course, you might acknowledge your own bias against him....
Testing99.......
Are you drunk at the moment?
"Israel means nothing to most Jews."
Right.
Wait, if her phone was tapped then the Israelis would have known. Why did they not warn her?
http://100777.com/usa/israeli_spyring
"So, likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils...Like rude fans at soccer matches -- check out the crowd next time the US plays against Mexico in the US. Or in Mexico -- it's more or less the same.
she's jewish btw -- in case there was some doubt about that
Thats what Christians hear from pastors all over America. They are told that they must support Israel because they are God's chosen people, and the entire "tribulation" period is for their sake so that they see that Christ was the true messiah, sent as a servant and a lamb and not as a ruler and a lion to reconcile God to man through his sacrafice of himself to take on their sins (like an Old Testament blood sacrafice of a sheep on an altar to put all the sin on so God wouldn't punish you personally), et cetera et cetera.Too bad they don't bother reading the Bible themselves, but instead rely on their often poorly-educated and sometimes corrupt preachers to do it for them.
Zionist Christianity is barely a hundred years old, just like Zionism itself. Personally, I think it will die out in time -- probably about when Israel begins to disintegrate (which will happen when America's decline has hit a certain low point).
However, in the meanwhile, I think Jews should be worried about guys like Hagee, who took heresy to a new level by writing "In Defense of Israel," where he claims that Jesus was not really the messiah while still calling himself a "Christian." Now that's just not going to fly with any Christian who bothers to read the bible. Guys like Hagee will do more to discredit Zionism among intelligent Christians than any number of AIPAC spies.
I don't think that testing (Whiskey) is COMPLETELY wrong about conservatives liking Israel to oppose the SWPL types. I think that is part of it. Because it seems that conservative Republicans are almost all pro-israel now, evangelical or not. But most Jews do not hate Israel. That's ridiculous. I'm in NYC and surrounded by many Obama supporters, including Jews. They're all pro-Israel, but as with most jews, they trust Obama has passed the test on Israel (maybe because of Biden, Emanuel, etc.) Now, most very religious Jews may have voted McCain, and more of the liberal sects went Obama. But I do think it is inevitable, even though Jews are traditionally Democratic, that more and more will vote Rep in the future as more and more anti-Semitic minorities gain power in the Democratic party. It is, however, moving slower than I would have thought.
Harman's name might have been leaked to prevent her from gaining an even higher position which would give her access to even higher level secrets.
T99 -- I've got lots of Jewish friends and even the most liberal are constantly making excuses for Israel.
If it weren't for some of the biblical language, Christians would probably be ambivalent about Israel, but they honestly think that God has blessed America so much because of her "role" in acting as Israel's protector.Here's where you go off the tracks. Scripture is broad, and what gets emphasized depends on who's reciting it.
"Testing99, my mom and dad are very religous Christian people, and are extremely pro-Israel for reasons of Biblical Prophecy. They listen to preachers tell them as often as the day is long that whoever blesses Israel will be blessed by God ("I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you", God-to-Abraham in Genesis whatever verse and chapter)...."
And here I though that us Catholics were the loons. We're looking better every day! And our art collection rules too!
Bill, well said. I used to be an avid Christian Zionist myself. Mostly because my pastor taught me. Of course he manipulated my conscience to get me there. Subconsciously, for many Christians it’s a brownie point system to increase their likelihood of being saved.
Its bunk and contradicts the concept of grace (salvation without works). Today I was reading Galatians in the train. Paul is saying things which continually contradict the premises of Christian Zionism. And Paul is very frank about the opponents of Christ. Paul was freaking out at the Galatians and his fellow Jewish Christians for offences against Grace much smaller than the gross violations which Hagee and the other goy Jewish Nationalists are guilty of.
Hagee and his ilk are traitors to Christ, they are jealous of the freedom we have in Christ and want to shackle the Christians with the old chains of Judaism, for which Christ died. Faith aint enough for them, we now have to believe some convoluted theory about how Christ’s return, the rebuilding of the temple, the land issues of the Israeli territories and the utensils to be used in the new temple all add up. Sorry, it aint working for me anymore. The freedom in Christ is not worth any amount of money or human recognition. All we need to be his children is believe that he is our saviour. Nothing more. Everything else we add brings back the law by which NO man was or will ever receive salvation (see Galatians).
What a coincidence that absurd, radical, Judeo-Christian Zionism sprouted at the same time as the television industry.
Get a clue: American pastors are pro-Israel in proportion to their desire for wide exposure in the television and cable industries. Otherwise career roadblocks from upstream will magically appear.
National level American pastors grovel and prostrate themselves before Israel the same as national level American politicians do.
What is this nonsense about Obama authorizing the leaks--and through that notorious anti-semite, Rahm Emmanuel, no less! What a load of crap. It is obvious that Obama would rather co-opt the Neocons than fight them. The leaks are coming from the same people who made them during George Bush's presidency--patriotic career employees at the State Department and intelligence agencies who feel that America's foreign policy should not be determined by secret cabals operating out of the Defense Department.
t99,
Settle down, Beavis.
I have noticed that when someone asks t99 if he was evil neocon he goes away for awhile.
Also, after someone catches him in an easily demonstrable delusion or counterfactual, like a speedboat invasion, or massive disease transfer from the New World to Europe, he goes to ground, at least for a day or so.
So every new post, someone ask if he was evil neocon. Maybe he'll stay quiet.
[M]y mom and dad are very religous Christian people, and are extremely pro-Israel for reasons of Biblical Prophecy. They listen to preachers tell them as often as the day is long that whoever blesses Israel will be blessed by God.... They believe we are in "the latter days" right before "the rapture"....True enough ... and yet oddly (no sarc intended), my own fundamentalist Christian (Mennonite) relatives and ancestors have taken exactly the opposite practical approach to Israel, even though starting from exactly the same eschatology:
"If its enthusiasm for hosting Ahmadinejad is any guide, the Mennonite Church has learned little from this dark chapter [of early support for Hitler] in its past. On the contrary, the church's alliance with the Iranian leader is an extension of its hard-line anti-Israel politics, which find expression in its funding of books advocating the so-called 'right-of-return' for Palestinian Arabs--a policy that, if implemented, would mean the destruction of Israel."
Takes all kinds, I guess.
Joe Biden actually used the word "passion" to describe his affection for Israel.At least he was honest. Bush and his gang of Wahhabi Christians never publicly owned up to their ecstatic passion for Saudi Arabia.
Jack: ...But I do think it is inevitable, even though Jews are traditionally Democratic, that more and more will vote Rep in the future as more and more anti-Semitic minorities gain power in the Democratic party. It is, however, moving slower than I would have thought...I've given up on this idea that the Jews will ever [voluntarily or involuntarily] vote to live in a Free Republic founded upon ideas such as limited government & the rule of law.
If Kerry got about 85% of their vote in 2004 when Dubya was in the process of removing Baathism from Mesopotamia, and if they united en masse in 2008 to send all their shekels to Pritzker & Axelrod in the face of the 13th Imam threatening to wipe Israel off the face of the earth, then, as far as I can tell, they have some sort of a collective nihilistic death wish [which death wish I'd be very grateful they not visit upon me].
I realize that there are a handful of Jews [Mark Levin, maybe Michael Weiner - if you believe he's not a con man] who understand what's at stake in the modern world, but they're so few as to be statistically insignificant - as far as their influence within the larger framework of Jewish affairs is concerned, they might as well not exist.
1/ If the leak came from the NSA it would not have been based on wiretaps. The NSA has far more extensive and advanced listening methods and can listen in on a huge number of conversations from a huge number of places of origin.
If this was an FBI operation that is another matter.
2/ However if I am wrong, there must have been over the years a large number of incriminating recorded conversations from Jewish politicians in the US regarding Israel.
Too bad that except for this instance there have been absolutely no leaks.
Thank goodness the media is all over this treason scandal.
Media such as, uhh, errr, alternet, uh, rawstory and that steve guy...
"Why was the leak dropped at this moment in time? Because the anti-Israel forces are rising to power in the Obama Administration. They are dropping this Rahm Bomb to discredit pro-Israel members of Congress in general, and Rep. Jane Harman in particular."
This is not well thought out. Rahm is a big Zionist, Obama just wants to get along with everyone (and he’ll become frustrated when he finds that he can’t). The intelligence community leaked this because is it rightly concerned about America’s destructive links with Israel.
What Robert Hume said also makes sense:
"Harman's name might have been leaked to prevent her from gaining an even higher position which would give her access to even higher level secrets."
It's easy to like people you've never met and dreamed up some idealized image about from reading a book.
Kind of like the star-struck teenage fan who falls in love with a movie star and imagines how nice and wonderful they must be, and then one day get a chance to meet them in person and find out they are a complete tool and not all that good looking up close.
I don't know who this "guest commentator" is, but he's an obvious anti-semite and isolationist. Pat Buchanan maybe?
Also, he should try to write more directly and be more of patriot - like David Frum.
Anonymous said...
Does anyone want to hazard a guess at the average IQ of Christian Zionists? It's got to be a good deal lower than the white American average.People overestimate average. Did you ever sit in class in grade school and wonder why kids had such a hard time reading out loud? I went to a liberal, exclusive private school before high school (on scholarship), and even there I couldn't figure out why reading was so difficult for most other kids.
The thing is, most people are functionally illiterate. I used to think this made little difference, but I've found otherwise.
Christian Zionists are no dumber than the average anti-Christian "karma" believing left coaster. Of course, most of these people who talk about karma have only the most rudimentary grasp of the concept, and they tend to get it all wrong in many cases, but they believe in something all the same.
Christian Zionists are ordinary people. Most of them think of themselves simply as Christians, have little to no exposure to Zionism or Judaism, and have as their main concerns things that are immediately important to them, such as marital fidelity, respect for the lives of children, and following Jesus Christ. Far be it from me to condemn them for that; I know that it is their barking charlatan preachers who use these folks' faith to lead them into parroting political slogans.
BTW, if Hagee actually wrote that book he is really thick in the head. He's no more than a greasy, ambitious salesman in a pulpit. Typically, Hagee is an unrepentant adulterer who still preaches the Word of the Lord.
Prosecutors Considering Dropping Espionage Charges Against Former AIPAC Lobbyists
Review Comes Amid Reports That Rep. Harman Was Overheard on Wiretaps Agreeing to Seek Lenient Treatment for Them
By Jerry Markon Staff writer Garance Franke-Ruta contributed to this report.
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 21, 2009 5:55 PM
Federal prosecutors are considering whether to drop the charges against two former pro-Israel lobbyists accused of violating the Espionage Act, law enforcement sources and lawyers close to the case said today.
As the review intensifies, both sides are preparing for trial. Defense lawyers recently again subpoenaed a number of prominent former government officials who are expected to testify for the defense. They include former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, former national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley and former high-level Defense Department officials Paul D. Wolfowitz and Douglas J. Feith. Sources said defense lawyers recently interviewed several of these former officials.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/21/AR2009042102602_pf.html
Can I invite everyone to the most important blog in America (sorry, Steve-o):
http://www.philipweiss.org/
Thank You.
PS
What, did you expect me to spam my blog? Perish zee thought!
Anon said: "They are told that they must support Israel because they are God's chosen people"
I won’t bother with your other comments, but for sure this is bunk. Paul clearly states that the church is the Israel of God, i.e. the Christians are now God's chosen people. What's great about that is that anybody, including Jews, who believes in Christ, can join. It’s no longer an exclusive racial club. It would also be moronic to think that Christ died to save the world, but somehow the saved are still second rate spiritual citizens. Christian Zionism is intellectually challenged on many levels. If you want to know the real status of the Jews, go read Paul in Romans, Galatians and Hebrews. It isn’t' pretty, but essentially they are in the same position as those who do not submit to Christ, i.e. those known as pagans and idolaters. He is very explicit about it, and what's good for us, he was a super-Jew prior to turning to Christ, so he knows exactly how they think. Nobody needs to develop any crazy anti-Semitic theories because Paul gives us the status-quo, i.e. the real facts and how to behave w.r.t. those facts.
"Anon said: "They are told that they must support Israel because they are God's chosen people"
Well, for starters, the Israelites are the actual chosen ones of the Old Testament (and before any of you start clamoring that Jew and Israelite always means the 'same thing', it is not).
Israel was composed of twelve tribes, with ONE of them being the tribe of Judah (hence--Jews). Ten tribes were taken into captivity [the Northern kingdom--Israel], effectively 'lost' for much of history.
The Southern kingdom, the 'dual monarchy' of Judah-Benjamin, went on to become Judea, was profoundly affected in its cultural, religious and racial development due to its long captivity in Babylon.
Hence the Babylonian Talmud, which is the authoritative source in Rabbinical 'Juda-ism', much more so than the OT, which so many Fundamentalist Christians venerate and elevate, seemingly [much] more so than the New Testament.
Overall point, selectively reading any major work like the Bible, particularly, is simply wrong--and dangerous.
It's complexity, especially the Old Testament, is something that MUST BE STUDIED, not merely skimmed or perused; looking for [isolated] verse and scripture to back up and buttress whatever the political or social agenda is of the day (which now, unfortunately is "Christian" Zionism).
For one thing, as a Christian be wary of a Scofield text (which is 90% of the one's used in Southern Baptist seminaries), which is an adultered version of the Holy Book. Aside from Cyrus Scofield's dubious background, so much of the 'authority' in it actually comes from the ADDED COMMENTARIES surreptitiously inserted in its text.
James 1:16
"Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren."
YOU MEAN THIS PHIL WEISS…THE ONE WHO THOUGHT GW BUSH WAS AN “ANTI-SEMITE.”
http://www.observer.com/node/43888
By Philip Weiss
January 21, 2001 | 7:00 p.m
George Bush has put every kind of American in his cabinet
except Jews, and no one has complained about this, even though everyone knows it's nuts. Remaking the American power structure without Jews is like remaking sports without blacks. At least when it comes to blacks in sports, you can talk about it; you can say that blacks changed sports. But no one is allowed to speak up about something we all quietly know: Jews changed America. There is hardly an area of public life on which Jews have not had a profound impact in the last generation, as discrimination against them ended and as they gained power. The civil rights movement reflects Jewish values of justice. Feminism is a reflection of liberal Jewish matriarchal values (note the Jewish groups that are talking about Roe v. Wade in opposing John Ashcroft for Attorney General). Ever-more-powerful Jews in the media have ushered in the information age. Psychologically attuned Jews and Hollywood Jews changed the language of popular culture-Seinfeld, Weinstein. And the new emphasis on educational achievement throughout our society reflects the Jewish love of learning. I have not even gotten to finance or the law, though anyone who doubts the Jewish influence here should ask how many white-shoe law firms still keep gentlemen's hours. These trends have made America a fairer and more creative place-and no, it's not as if one or another of them would not have occurred without Jews. But altogether they represent the force of Jewish values coming into public life. In a recent study, Jews and the American Public Square , the Center for Jewish Community Studies argues that Jews have fostered an important legal trend in the last half century, the separation of church and state. I'd go further and argue that the greatly diminished influence of church on public mores wouldn't have happened without secularized Jews gaining cultural power. And no one ever talks about it. The most important change in establishment culture in the last 25 years, and it goes unspoken. Instead, people talk about blacks all the time, as the press did throughout the Florida election struggle, as if blacks and Jews share a political identity, which they don't.
From its beginnings, the Bush campaign represented, in the hearts of many Jews and apparently in the heart of George W. Bush himself (that knower of hearts), an attempt to reverse Jewishness in the establishment. The press has only been able to discuss this power struggle in code. The most perfectly coded statement appeared in The New York Times ' long series last year on George's life, from swaddling to bottling, when The Times' Nicholas Kristof marveled that when Bush went to Yale he directed all his anger at East Coast "elitists." But, Mr. Kristof pointed out, George Bush was in Skull and Bones-wasn't that an elite? Nicholas Kristof knew exactly what George Bush was talking about: the new elite, the ones who could take SAT's. Mr. Kristof knows better because he was himself part of that trend, and so was I, at Harvard
how much self-delusion can conservatives achieve?
people say that jews are nihilistic wqhile others say they will trend republican. Excuse me, but how can jews be self-deluded, having survived so many persecutions for two thousand years? How can anyone doubt that they know what's better for themselves? how can someone say that and administration where Rahm Emanuel in the power behind the throne can be anti-semitic?
Jews vote democratic and will keep voting democratic because they are deeply aware that democrats are good for themselves. Jews know that the worst persecutors were ALWAYS white christians. They will support who harms whites, christians, or both, the more
" If the leak came from the NSA it would not have been based on wiretaps. The NSA has far more extensive and advanced listening methods and can listen in on a huge number of conversations from a huge number of places of origin."
The news storys which have come out say that she "was overheard on an NSA wiretap telling a suspected Israeli agent that she would lobby the Justice Department".
"However if I am wrong, there must have been over the years a large number of incriminating recorded conversations from Jewish politicians in the US regarding Israel."
Why "must" there have been? I can imagine several scenarios in which this does not happen.
"Too bad that except for this instance there have been absolutely no leaks."
You're as stubborn as a mule. This point has already been addressed, you simply ignore the answer because you don't like it.
Some extremely interesting comments from Foreign Minister of Ancient Albannaich nad Celtic People in Haaretz .
Gawker has an interesting piece today on business mogul Haim Saban, and his connection to the Harman/AIPAC spying affair.
http://gawker.com/5222987/meet-suspected-israeli-operative-haim-saban
Some choice quotes from the piece:
"Even in a town of bigger-than-life personalities, media mogul Haim Saban stands out — lion-like in demeanor, furiously determined and unshakably loyal to those people and causes in which he fervently believes.
Those causes: Israel, the Democratic Party and medical philanthropy — in that order. And he has a history of putting his vast fortune behind all three."
"Another way to put it is that Saban decided to buy himself a foreign policy. He has personally paid more money to politicians than any other American—$13 million since 1999, according to Portfolio—all with the avowed intent of insuring that the U.S. will support Israel no matter what Israel does. Saban told Portfolio that his grudging support of Barack Obama in the 2008 election was premised on being reassured that Obama had a "visceral commitment, as opposed to a logical or strategic one," to the Jewish state."
"He is currently an owner and chairman of Univision, the Spanish-language broadcaster."
"In 2002, Saban launched the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, an arm of the Brookings Institution, with a $13 million grant. It served as a sort of left-wing cover operation for proponents of the invasion of Iraq, employing liberal hawks like Kenneth Pollack, whose book The Threatening Storm: The Case for Invading Iraq was influential in bringing Democrats on board with the Bush Adminsitration's plans."
"He applies the same attitude to his political machinations. During the 2008 Democratic primary campaign, when it looked like superdelegates were going to decide the race, Saban reportedly offered the Young Democrats of America—which controlled two superdelegate votes—$1 million if they would support Hillary Clinton. Saban denied it. Nor is his political largesse limited to the U.S.—he reportedly paid $120,000 to Shimon Peres' prime minister campaign in 2006 in exchange for help in purchasing the Israeli communications company Bezeq."
"When he learned in 2000 that a $250,000 donation to the Democratic National Committee had been bested by someone else who gave $500,000, he sent another check for $250,000 plus a $1 bill: "No. 2 doesn't fly for me"
Also, be sure to repeat to yourself out loud, "Kevin Macdonald is crazy and wrong" several times after reading the piece. You know, the usual procedure after reading something like this.
"George Bush has put every kind of American in his cabinet
except Jews, and no one has complained about this, even though everyone knows it's nuts."
Must be the machinations of the WASP-Harvard-Mafia cabal!!!
What's up T99?!!
Here's an interesting potential explanation for the dramatic increase in deluded Zionist Christians. You might not like the link, but you can do further research. Folks who read Steve aren't swayed by allegations of "guilt by association."
http://christianparty.net/scofield.htm
Also, have you ever wondered how and why the term "Judeo-Christian" came into existence?
When you think about it, it's a ridiculous term. The intent behind its coining seems transparently obvious.
And of course they had to have top billing...
"George Bush has put every kind of American in his cabinet
except Jews, and no one has complained about this, even though everyone knows it's nuts."
I always thought this was good cover for the events that were about to come...
"Testing99.......
"Are you drunk at the moment?"
Idea: I think we should all hang out one night with T99, in a club with an OPEN bar (or we buy all the rounds), with plenty of single ladies around, and see what happens...
Watson
As far as I know, the belief in the rapture comes from Puritan England and came to America in the Mayflower. It is not a conspiracy. That card always looses when played against jews.
El Caudillo: I think we should all hang out one night with T99, in a club with an OPEN bar (or we buy all the rounds), with plenty of single ladies around, and see what happens...
Or how about a dinner party with some erudite chicks and some wine and some nice grub and we all sit around and have a civilized conversation and pretend to be human beings - instead of acting like pork bellies hanging from a rack in a meat-packer's warehouse?
"Paul clearly states that the church is the Israel of God, i.e. the Christians are now God's chosen people."
Yes, of course. That's always been the orthodox Christian interpretation of Scripture. Until some stupid, uneducated hicks from the American South decided that "Israel" is to be interpreted literally in the late 19th Century.
Watson
"As far as I know, the belief in the rapture comes from Puritan England and came to America in the Mayflower. It is not a conspiracy.
That card always looses when played against jews."
Nice try.
Where did you possibly get this idea from?
The 'rapture-rupture' distinctly was a product from the nineteenth century; beginning with John Nelson Darby, considered the father of dispen-satan-alism 'dispensationalism'.
It is also popularly attributed to Margaret MacDonald, "who in 1830 had a vision that was published in 1840 (first account--and in 1861-- second account).
The "rapture-religion-in-and-of-itself", as we know it today, is distincly a product of these Southern Baptist preachers--armed with their Scofield COMMENTARY 'Bibles'--largely beginning with the likes of Hal Lindsey and more recently, Tim LaHaye.
So again, nice try.
Paul clearly states that the church is the Israel of God, i.e. the Christians are now God's chosen people.TO Mormons that's always been the case. They consider Jews to be gentiles.
Idea: I think we should all hang out one night with T99, in a club with an OPEN bar (or we buy all the rounds), with plenty of single ladies around, and see what happens..I'm there. Could be a great iSteve fundraiser, though he probably wouldn't wanna meet half of us. NRO has their cruise, iSteve could have his "Cruise for ladies with T99." It would just rock. Where? LA? NYC? Chicago?
George Bush has put every kind of American in his cabinet
except Jews, and no one has complained about thisUm, I remember complaints - by Abe Foxman, I believe. Jews voted 80-20 for Gore/Lieberman, meaning that at most 1.2% of Bush's votes came from Jews, but they expected a cabinet position...
At least when it comes to blacks in sports, you can talk about it; you can say that blacks changed sports. But no one is allowed to speak up about something we all quietly know: Jews changed America. There is hardly an area of public life on which Jews have not had a profound impact in the last generation, as discrimination against them ended and as they gained power. The civil rights movement reflects Jewish values of justice.You're not allowed to talk about it, and if you do you're certainly not allowed to suggest it was negative.
Kronprinz
even wikipedia cites people in New England talking about the Rapture in the XVIII century. I repeat: the conspiracy card always looses against the jews.
And pretending that the Rapture hasn't deep roots in the US is SWPL-style self delusion. People have sticks on their cars where they say if the car is found without a driver and with keys in the ignition is because the driver was raptured!!!!
Belief in the Rapture was the Trojan Horse by which neocons took control of the republican part and how the immigration/sexual policies of the far left (aka the jews, as Kevin MacDonald has shown again and again) became the bipartisan policies in America.
Rapture is to southern baptists as the Trinity is to Catholics. It is a belief that cannot be abandoned without abandoning the denomination.
The 'rapture-rupture' distinctly was a product from the nineteenth century; beginning with John Nelson Darby, considered the father of dispensationalism.
The belief in the Rapture may only be 200 years old but it didn't just fall out of the sky either. There were many other beliefs among English Protestants that, developed over time, led to the belief that the Bible prophesied a rapturing away of the church. The path leading to the belief in the Rapture stretches back through Cromwell all the way to the Lollards of Medieval England who believed that the Roman Church was not putting enough emphasis on the Book of Revelation. Since venturing too far from the mainstream usually brings harsh condemnation or complete ostracization each step was gradual.
anonymous said...
Yes, of course. That's always been the orthodox Christian interpretation of Scripture. Until some stupid, uneducated hicks from the American South decided that "Israel" is to be interpreted literally in the late 19th Century.
It didn't spring up in the nineteenth century, it traces goes back to Oliver Cromwell letting the Jews back into England. Second, you assume that all men with education would support your view, if so then you clearly consider the role of education to teach immutable dogma, and not to teach a person to think for themselves.
LV said
"I do think it is inevitable, even though Jews are traditionally Democratic, that more and more will vote Rep in the future as more and more anti-Semitic minorities gain power in the Democratic party. It is, however, moving slower than I would have thought..."
I've given up on this idea that the Jews will ever [voluntarily or involuntarily] vote to live in a Free Republic founded upon ideas such as limited government & the rule of law.Anyone else get the feeling something awful happened to Jewish psychology over the past 150 years?
Their M.O. doesn't any longer seem to be "What is good for the Jews?"
Instead, it seems to be "What is bad for our enemies?"
This is a distinction with a difference. My enemy's dying in a humanity-killing asteroid strike is bad for him, so hurrah for the asteroid?
The ranking of enemies to wish ill upon is sensibly from most dangerous competitor to least. Thus, for many Jews the Enemies' List begins so:
1. White gentiles
...and far below that:
2. Middle Eastern gentiles
...and far below that:
"all the rest of the gentiles (schwartzes etc.)"
Anything that hurts distinctively white gentile interests always seems to end up as Priority One in Jewish political and cultural activity. Allow a million radical Muslims to immigrate to America? Would it be bad for white gentiles there? Yes? It would be? Then let's start an Open Borders committee, or at least write an enormous check to the one already in place.
Let in 20+ million mestizos and drop the average IQ level of American goyim by x points? Is it bad for the white gentiles? It is? I'm for it!
And if similar policies, such as pushing racial integration, result in Norman Podhoretz getting beaten up, that's a regrettable byproduct or a plus.
Never mind that all this will be bad for Jews as well, in some cases possibly very bad for Jews.
The thinking is: whatever is bad for our enemies = good for us. Bring on the asteroid!
That is self-defeating thinking. (Dare I say "self-hating"?) My question is, did Jews always have this self-defeating thinking, or did something happen to them to change them? The Holocaust? Something earlier, like the Napoleonic liberation? Should we ask a rabbi? Steinlight appears to be an exception...
A political cartoon I would like to draw:
A lantern-jawed white gentile type is holding back a vast flood of NAMs who are drooling antisemites brandishing placards with various Jew-hating slogans scrawled on them, along with various weapons. A slender Jewish man wearing an ADL T-shirt is standing behind the white gentile, pointing at him indignantly and hollering to a nearby cop: "Arrest that Nazi racist!"
David Frum takes on the Jane Harman scandal. He claims that the Harman/Israel scandal is "almost insanely complicated," wich sounds like an attempt to get people to just ignore it. It doesn't sound too complicated to me. He also refers to CIA folks worried about a breach in security by Isaeli spies as "anti-Israel elements."
I actually used to like Frum. But hmm...
The Jewish political machine does not give a damn about the political theory of George Washington. That is not an arguable point because their actions prove it.
This is an acceptable topic for discussion among Jews themselves but it is anti-Semitic for gentiles to discuss the same issue publicly. Their actions are plain, and always have been plain. Avoid foreign entanglements? They can't get enough foreign entanglement.
The Jewish political machine also rejects the core philosophy of the U.S. Constitution by elevating group rights over individual rights where individual rights once were supreme. They also reject the First Amendment in favor of speech controls and the Second Amendment in favor of gun confiscation.
And, yes, the AIPAC, ADL and SPLC are all large Jewish intel operations sprinkled with Mossad operatives. These are private secret police organizations and nothing could be more quintessentially un-American.
"Or how about a dinner party with some erudite chicks and some wine and some nice grub and we all sit around and have a civilized conversation and pretend to be human beings - instead of acting like pork bellies hanging from a rack in a meat-packer's warehouse?"
Couldn't agree with you more Lucius.
I was just kidding around a little with the guys with their ribbing of
T99's social life.
I am sure all of us would behave like gentlemen.
So I guess hanging with Roissy in DC is out then...
"It didn't spring up in the nineteenth century, it traces goes back to Oliver Cromwell letting the Jews back into England. Second, you assume that all men with education would support your view, if so then you clearly consider the role of education to teach immutable dogma, and not to teach a person to think for themselves."
The belief in the rapture was not a widespread feeling amongst Cromwell and his followers, the 'new model army'.
What was interestingly disctinct with the regacide Cromwell and his acolytes was the belief that Britain was the 'lost tribes of Israel', and that it was England's destiny and 'duty' to 'help' the Jews.
Gee, do you think these ideas 'just fell out of the sky'; or maybe does it have anything to do with a Manoel Dias Soeiro--aka "Manasseh ben Israel"-- from "Amsterdam" floating an enormous sum of money to Cromwell?
"The Jewish political machine also rejects the core philosophy of the U.S. Constitution by elevating group rights over individual rights where individual rights once were supreme."
Whoa man, this is America, and in America...
ALL GROUPS [AND INDIVIDUALS]
ARE EQUAL
...just that some are more equal than others.
Who said that?
"ALL GROUPS [AND INDIVIDUALS]
ARE EQUAL
...just that some are more equal than others.
Who said that?"
It was Orwell I believe (or more accurately one of the pigs in Animal Farm).
"And pretending that the Rapture hasn't deep roots in the US is SWPL-style self delusion...
"Belief in the Rapture was the Trojan Horse by which neocons took control of the republican part and how the immigration/sexual policies of the far left (aka the jews, as Kevin MacDonald has shown again and again) became the bipartisan policies in America.
"Rapture is to southern baptists as the Trinity is to Catholics..."
I think I may have misunderstood you in your first posting. My apologies.
What you say, and how you say it, is excellent and is right on target!
"George Washington was an anti-Semite, who denied the Holocaust and didn't support Israel."
"Who is this "George Washington"? Why isn't he supporting our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan? He sounds like one of those "Unpatriotic Conservatives" David Frum warned us about."
Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!
Ha ha!
" Anonymous said...
how much self-delusion can conservatives achieve?
people say that jews are nihilistic wqhile others say they will trend republican. Excuse me, but how can jews be self-deluded, having survived so many persecutions for two thousand years? How can anyone doubt that they know what's better for themselves?"
This is like saying "oh, he knows all about driving safety, he's been in so many accidents I've lost count." Look at the lead-up to the persecutions they've survived over the years, and you generally see a bunch of Jews doing something provocative to the point of idiocy. Like the forced conversions in Seville that led to the Spanish Inquisition - the Jews of Seville were allowed to enforce their own laws amongst themselves, so about a dozen Jews from the ghetto decided to secretly try one of the King's (very rich and powerful) Jewish tax collectors in absentia, sneak into the King's palace one night and behead him. And somehow it got them in trouble - imagine that!
The fact that Jews keep getting persecuted does not necessarily speak well of their collective instinct for self-preservation. If anything they seem a little slow to realize when they're in trouble.
Warrantless wiretapping is just another small domino that is knocked down towards the de-evolution of America into a police state. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I was under the assumption that without a warrant, the government isn’t restricted to charging you with only the specific crimes it was looking for in the scope of the warrant. So basically, by Obama expanding the executive branch’s rights to wiretap without warrants, he’s taking a giant dump on civil rights/our right to privacy. Do you notice all of those “CIA is hiring!” commercials on the radio now? Don’t you think it’s a little odd that the CIA would be trying to recruit with cheesy radio commercials in the first place? Those are because they’re hiring masses of workers to sift through all the information from their increased scope of wiretapping. This reminds me of the NKVD (the Soviet Secret Police) back in the 50s. They’d give rewards to ppl for spying on their neighbors and turning them in, and it rapidly snowballed into a frenzy of paranoid witch hunts and people getting their whole lives ruined because they were “told on” and suspected or mistaken for doing something that was deemed a threat to the Soviet Union. They used fear to turn the country against itself – much in the same way that the Patriot Act is. On a side note, I've been noticing that these home security companies have been using fear to peddle their home video camera systems, too (which can be easily monitored by the government, giving them a direct feed into your own house… just look at the pictures on the adt website). The whole scenario that happened in Russia seems especially plausible, considering the leftist authoritarianism (a la Soviet Union) that Obama is steering this country towards. Now I’m not trying to fear monger here, I’m just saying that we have all the right ingredients here to make a huge mistake that Russia made half a century ago, and all the people on here defending it because it in the name of homeland security should be aware that they’re going down this same route.
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