An interesting question brought up by the Chuck Hagel brouhaha is: "How strong is the military-industrial complex?" Was all that Republican virulence against former Republican Senator Hagel just pork-barrel politics?
As an offshoot of the military-industrial complex (to use the term introduced by Dwight Eisenhower in his farewell address as President), I'd say: Pretty strong! Simply counting the number of my relatives, in-laws, friends, and neighbors who have been employed by the military aerospace industry alone, it's obvious that the military-industrial complex is a major lobby.
As an offshoot of the military-industrial complex (to use the term introduced by Dwight Eisenhower in his farewell address as President), I'd say: Pretty strong! Simply counting the number of my relatives, in-laws, friends, and neighbors who have been employed by the military aerospace industry alone, it's obvious that the military-industrial complex is a major lobby.
On the other hand, it's not invincible. Aerospace spending, for example, was cut way back under Nixon and then again under the elder Bush.
Most notably, you can joke about the military-industrial complex. For example, four decades ago my cousin was a staffer for Senator Henry M. Jackson (D-WA) (working along with the future prominent neocon Ben Wattenberg).
Back then, Sen. Jackson was irreverently known as the "Senator from Boeing" for his staunch support of the military-industrial complex and a hawkish foreign policy. If you enter "Senator from Boeing" into Google in quotes, even though Jackson died way back in 1983, you get 172,000 pages. (Some of them refer to Jackson's state of Washington successors in the U.S. Senate).
Heck, if you enter "whore for Boeing," you get 3,550 pages.
Analogously, I've long thought of a certain current Republican Senator as the "Senator from Mossad" because I assume that the Israeli intelligence agency has a thick dossier on him, and that they've managed to let him know about its existence.
So, I just now tried Googling "Senator from Mossad" to see how many other people have come up with that same joke about him (or, for that matter, any other member of the U.S. Senate):
No results found for "Senator from Mossad".
Certain things are just not a laughing matter!
Posts
45 comments:
Why don't you try "Senator from Tel Aviv". You will get over 4 million results.
Whoopsey Graham?
How about "Senator from B'Nai B'rith," a la Howard Metzenbaum?
http://www.bnaibrith.org/5/post/2013/02/bnai-brith-urges-senators-to-carefully-review-hagel-responses-and-record-before-confirmation-vote-for-defense-secretary.html
"Charles Schumer (D-Israel)" gets a fair number of results.
"How strong is the military-industrial complex?"
EXTREMELY STRONG!
Eisenhower found it neccesarry to warn Americans about it over fifty years ago. The USA spends more on "defense" then all the rest of the whole world combined.
Note how NATO wasn't dissolved after the Berlin wall fell, the iron curtain collapsed, the Warsaw pact was ended and the USSR fell apart. Now it is fighting in Afghanistan, which is nowhere enar the north Atlantic. The USA keeps troops in South Korea and Japan to this day. There was never any "peace" dividend after the USSR collapsed. The USA could cut "defense" spending by 90% and be just as safe as it is now.
I got 116,000 with "senator from israel"
That was a real humiliation for Chuck Hagel when Lindsey Graham put him on the spot, knowing that he couldn't say the unsayable:
But the most uncomfortable moment was definitely when Sen. Lindsey Graham grilled Hagel over a 2006 interview in which he said that the "pro-Israel lobby intimidates a lot of people" in Congress.
"Name one person here who's been intimidated by the Jewish lobby," Graham demanded. "Name one dumb thing we've been goaded into doing due to pressure by the Israeli or Jewish lobby."
"I don't know," Hagel replied. "I didn't have a specific person in mind."
Graham knew that the obvious answer was "You, Senator," but by forcing Hagel to recant he really rubbed his nose in it. Really reminded him who not to mess with.
If you are not careful Mossad will have the LAPD give you the Dorner treatment.
Yeah, this one was so obvious that two Anonymouses already beat me to it. I also searched Google for "senator from the israeli intelligence agency that sailer considers analogous to boeing". Not a single hit! Proves you're just not allowed to joke about this stuff.
Anyway, my other search was "senator from israel" -hagel, to filter out the hits where Hagel said he was not the senator from Israel. Still got 56,000 hits.
No one here denies that Pro-Israel folk of both the scotch-irish and christian varieties punch above their weight in this country but this example was just ludicrous.
There's also a rather large power in the US (and of course elsewhere) that's obsessively anti-israel. They too benefit from scotch-irish support.
As for joking about scotch-irish power and influence, I assume that we'll have to apply the "no true scotsman" fallacy to a few volumes worth of such humor including Ted's performance at the Oscars before a worldwise audience of about a billion.
Isn't Lindsay Graham a closeted homo-sexual as well?
There's also a rather large power in the US (and of course elsewhere) that's obsessively anti-israel. They too benefit from scotch-irish support.
I'm stumped. What the hell are you talking about?
gosh, big anti-israel over there sure sounds like an important and influential institution. look at al the economic and military aid that it has managed to cut to israel and all the pressure it has placed on the u.s government to vote against israel in all those u.n resolutions - big anti-israel is really putting the squeeze on AIPAC and the rest of them!
Yep, putting an awkwardly phrased string with strict delimiters as a search query into a single database has once again proved you a genius way ahead of your time, Steve.
You guys knee-slapping over the laughable notion of Big Israel-Hate are precisely the same as some Manhattanite knee-slapping your "ignorant" notion that blacks be dumb. Recently a minister of my acquaintance laughed at my notion that the universe is billions of years old. That too is analogous.
I won't bother delineating for you the astoundingly ridiculous forces (including smart, passionate, influential and wealthy Jewish ones) allied against Jewish democratic dominion in their ancient homeland. It would be as great a waste of time as disabusing anyone of their irrational religion is.
Oh my God, can you believe how powerful AIPAC is. The pro-Israel lobby has spent... $9.9 million last year. That makes it more powerful than the mighty "Accountants" lobby, and more than 2/3 as powerful as the juggernaut "Electric Utilities" lobby. [Ibis].
How come when I google the "Senator from Con-Edison" nothing comes up? You really can't joke about anything in this country!
Israel really gets a free ride from AIPAC and all the help it gets from the US. It's international support keeps it on easy street. If only Israel had to deal with an actually powerful international organization that was openly hostile to it... Like I don't know the UN.
Whatever though, I'm sure the AIPAC counts for more than the UN. The Elders of Zion are sure crafty.
One simple hypothetical: if tomorrow every country on Earth established Swiss-style neutrality would Israel suffer or benefit? If its the latter than the pro-Israel lobby is simply a small opposition group to a much larger and hostile international anti-Israel coalition.
Here's the simple answer: 50% of Gaza's GDP comes from foreign aid, less than 2% of Israel's does. If all American and EU foreign aid was withdrawn Gaza would collapse and the mafia/government we call Hamas would be strung up on the street.
Here's a second extension of that thought. Assume modern international ultra-restrictive rules of war were converted back to traditional Westphalian rules of war consistent with Swiss-neutrality. No ICC, and Israel is free to pursue its enemies consistent with the same vigor that Britain prosecuted the Boer uprising.
Within a few months Israel's military could conquer every muslim land from Marakesh to Islamabad. It could vaporize Gaza in about 5 minutes. And it would be perfectly within its international legal rights to do so under 19th century international law. Every Middle Eastern Islamic country has engaged in war-provoking aggression against Tel Aviv.
Of course they all know this. And without the shield of the UN and "human rights activists" in the EU and US they'd immediately stop and sue for a sustained peace under nearly any terms. Especially Gaza. Without the protection of their enablers in the West (more Nobel peace prizes for Palestinian terrorists!), Gazans would weep at the feat of Israelis, much the same way that the Gauls wept at the feat of the Romans.
Conflict is only sustained when both sides think they have a chance of winning. Ambiguity is the enemy of peace. Israel is by far the objectively stronger military power. So the fact that Islamic nations and would-be nations keep challenging it can only be explained by the fact that they must have outside international backing.
General Clausewitz would certainly think that the apocalypse must have occurred if he was to witness the perverted travesty we call the "21st century international community."
The pro-Israel lobby in the US is but a tiny counter-vailing force pushing against a vast and true international pro-Palestinian conspiracy.
I'd be happy to withdraw support for the pro-Israel lobby once the pro-Palestinian international community stops interfering with Israel's sovereign independence.
If only we had at least a tiny pro-South African lobby in the 1980s there could have been some chance to save the only civilized country on that continent. As it stands the pro-Israeli lobby is a tiny heroic resistance trying to save the one civilized country in the Middle East.
All this weeping over Hagel's sad, sad ordeal almost obfuscates the fact that he actually IS the Secretary of Defense. Something I, you, Steve Sailer and half a dozen congressmen and military men are not. Must be the Pro-Israel lobby that made that happen. They're that powerful.
I'm pretty sure the most embarassing moment for Hagel was when he was reduced to tears by Senator Schumer's story about how his dad wasn't allowed into the Westchester country club or dorm thing. Say what you want about Rubio but his conquistador blood would never let him get down on his knees for Schumer. But frankly that's what paleocons get for backing a man who voted for both the Iraq war and patriot act. That's really beta. Neocons would never hawk a guy that voted against them twice and them found the light right when the winds turned.
"Senator from AIPAC" does yield over a million results.
If you put quotes around "Senator from AIPAC" it's only 16,900.
And "Senator from Mossad" is awesomer.
It's the immediate shrill defensiveness that gets me. One little observation, and bam! here it comes. The hectoring tone, the special pleading---19th century rules of war? Just for Israel? The---can I say kvetching?
Finally I agree with Chuck Schumer: there is a double standard for the Jewish people.
Here in Massachusetts we have the Treasurer from AIPAC, hideous troll Steve Grossman. He may eventually be the governor.
"military israel complex" gets 16 results.
If only we had at least a tiny pro-South African lobby in the 1980s there could have been some chance to save the only civilized country on that continent.
Reagan,for all faults, apparently did what he could:
http://www.salon.com/2011/02/05/ronald_reagan_apartheid_south_africa/
BTW, wouldn't we find a certain ethnic group to very disproportionately represented in the leadership of the ant-Boer movement of that era?
Gazans would weep at the feat of Israelis, much the same way that the Gauls wept at the feat of the Romans.
I guess that being a supporter of the Jews means that spelling is difficult.
There was never any "peace" dividend after the USSR collapsed. The USA could cut "defense" spending by 90% and be just as safe as it is now.
Oh no, I am sure you are wrong. And also, what about all the new things the defense industry invents? Got you there, haven't I!
"DR said...
Oh my God, can you believe how powerful AIPAC is. The pro-Israel lobby has spent... $9.9 million last year. That makes it more powerful than the mighty "Accountants" lobby, and more than 2/3 as powerful as the juggernaut "Electric Utilities" lobby. [Ibis]."
How many members of AIPAC also donate money to candidates, as well as make virtually unlimited donations to PACS? Probably quite a few. AIPAC doesn't just speak with the force of AIPAC, but with the force of all of it's members.
Every serious contender for President in this country addresses AIPAC's annual meeting. Every one. When the Electric Utilities lobby has such clout, get back to us. Otherwise, stop telling us to ignore things that are past all ignoring, and expect us to think that you are anything more than a shill.
"If only Israel had to deal with an actually powerful international organization that was openly hostile to it... Like I don't know the UN."
The UN Is nothing without the US. It cannot act in any substantive way without our leave. If the US abandoned the UN (and I would like it to do just that), the UN would become a complete irrelevancy.
Exactly, Steve: your sense of humor led you astray, because "Senator from Mossad" is way funnier than all the other versions.
I won't bother delineating for you the astoundingly ridiculous forces (including smart, passionate, influential and wealthy Jewish ones) allied against Jewish democratic dominion in their ancient homeland. It would be as great a waste of time as disabusing anyone of their irrational religion is.
In other words, there is no "rather large power in the US (and of course elsewhere) that's obsessively anti-israel".
Oh my God, can you believe how powerful AIPAC is. The pro-Israel lobby has spent... $9.9 million last year. That makes it more powerful than the mighty "Accountants" lobby, and more than 2/3 as powerful as the juggernaut "Electric Utilities" lobby. [Ibis].
Conflating AIPAC and the Israeli Lobby is outrageously dishonest. Mr. and Mrs. Sheldon Adelson alone spent $10 million for Israel last year. The resources expended in support of Israel come from many places other than AIPAC.
Moreover, power comes largely from the shaping of public opinion. How many mass communications media do supporters of the "Accountants" and "Electric Utuilities" own?
Moreover, power can just as easily come from the amount of money (and other resources) that someone THREATENS to spend. Every Congressmen lives under the threat that all necessary resources will be devoted to removing him from office if he stands up to Israel. Ask Paul Findley, William Fulbright, and Cynthia McKinney how that works.
Ask Paul Findley, William Fulbright, and Cynthia McKinney how that works.
Also Pete McCloskey and Chuck Percy.
In the run-up to the Hagel hearings and before his opposition was widely known, Sen. Wicker (R-Miss) somehow appeared on local Chicago radio. The morning-drive hosts (Conservative, Inc types), if previously asked about Wicker, would likely have named him as founder of Wicker Park (a newly gentrified Chicago neighborhood).
So how did it happen that these ears and voice found each other?
You guys knee-slapping over the laughable notion of Big Israel-Hate are precisely the same as some Manhattanite knee-slapping your "ignorant" notion that blacks be dumb.
Haha. You really want to open that can of worms? You "HBD Jews" turn into libs the second the camera is turned to your tribe. Your arguments and theirs become identical.
It's the immediate shrill defensiveness that gets me.
It's a beautiful thing. Puts the lie to "Jews aren't racist" and "Jews are just like Anglo-Saxons" every time.
"Senator from the Mossad" gets one (from 2007); grammar matters. A bit.
DR,
You seem to be passionately devoted to Israel and apparently wish people on blogs like this were too. You go to great lengths trying to make your point.
Do you expend a similar amount of effort at neocon-type blogs trying to persuade them to change their views on America's immigration policy that is leading to major demographic shifts in our population?
I can't speak for the others, but I would be more willing to provide solidarity to you and your pet issue if you and your fellow travelers did the same for us. I don't wish Israel harm, I just don't think it ranks above the problems I see facing America. Of course if I didn't have to worry about America's impending demographic doom, I might have more time to be concerned about Israel.
Stop fighting us on issues that are important to us, and maybe you'll get some allies on issues that are important to you. Life's not a one-way street.
"Anonymous said...
I have nothing to do with Schumer but church-going Cathies have a lot to do with their priests."
Yeah, I'm sure that Schumer draws most of his support from wealthy southern baptists. Or Mormons. Or something.
i don't care what happens to israel as long as we're running a relationship without even a modicum of a quid pro quo. the jewish diaspora gets its ethnostate while we get mass immigration, sponsored, supported, marked and approved by the same jewish diaspora. also i won't lie, their behavior concerning the palestinians often isn't particularly nice. i may be an ethnonationalist, but i'm not a maniac. i don't support the kind of nasty behavior that the israelis are getting away with to any group of people. it disgusts and frustrates me to no end that myself and many of the other commentators of this blog are seen as the ultimate evil by those who run our countries, while israel on the other hand recieves lavish accolades from them, despite the fact that not one of us would ever behave as nastily as the israelis often have. the whole situation stinks to high heaven.
I won't bother delineating for you the astoundingly ridiculous forces (including smart, passionate, influential and wealthy Jewish ones) allied against Jewish democratic dominion in their ancient homeland.
That is: "I won't bother making the case for the proposition which I want you to accept. And you had better accept my failure to do so as convincing evidence that I am right!"
Jews are smarter than you and yours so they're richer too (I do not believe that they benefit from connections an iota more than any other person would, I believe in fact that they benefit less - id est, their wealth is due to brains and drive)
Then you're a blathering idiot of the sort who denies that water is wet and that fire is hot.
I'd be happy to withdraw support for the pro-Israel lobby once the pro-Palestinian international community stops interfering with Israel's sovereign independence.
Right. And I'll be happy to withdraw support for the pro-Palestinian lobby once the pro-Israel types stop working overtime to destroy America.
Reply to x said..
Nice post. I would add that America also is subject to an annual shakedown by Israel to the tune of 3 billion dollars a year in "foreign aid".
Steve, this post must have set off a veritable klaxon at Hasbara HQ. The deployment of their rapid reaction force is a marvel to behold.
linsey graham?
wtf is this "type in the two words" bs?
Post a Comment