So Ahmadinejad, typical fundamentalist nutball that he is, has declared that Israel will be wiped out. Aside from the fact that this is doubtless so much specious red meat being thrown at his frothing-at-the mouth, jingoistic base, there's a less comfortable, but necessary thought to consider: That this really isn't America's problem.
Frankly, I'm at a loss to understand this notion, which has become ascendant with the American right wing's consolidation of its hold on government, that the Israelis are babes in the woods, incapable of the most rudimentary self-defense. It smacks of condescension. We're talking about a nation possessed of a spectacularly powerful military, which has resoundingly thwarted past aggression of such countries as Egypt, Syria, and Iraq. They don't need our help. Certainly, they don't need us to deploy nuclear weapons on their behalf -- they're more than capable of doing even that themselves. They might require our assistance (and would deservedly receive it, along with that of every other Western power) were the entire Middle East to turn on them at once, but really, how likely is that to happen?
Nor do I get this recent need among modern Republicans to conflate Israel's interests with America's. Certainly, there are overlaps, but Israel is not America. They are an ally. We must accept that at certain points, our paths necessarily diverge. I can't imagine anything more idiotic than allowing AIPAC exclusive rights to draft our foreign policy as it concerns Israel -- except maybe letting said policy be dictated by the thinly veiled apocalyptic wing of the Talibangelical Right.
Whatever. This rant is just an excuse to vent the new anti-Semitism, as the term has been, with some success, redefined to mean any and all criticism of the worst excesses of the hard right segment of the Israeli political scene, and those of their allies among America's republindependeconservatarians. Meaning, of course, if we are to defer to the vast intellects of such luminaries as Daniel Pipes and Jonah Goldberg, that if the recent election results are any indication, Israel has overnight become populated by a large plurality of Nazi sympathizers and self-hating Jews.
Whew, that felt better.
Of course, it might have been better had Mr. Goldberg's most recent tome, Liberals Hate Jews -- Really not featured on the cover the same image -- of a Hitler-moustached happy face -- as was printed even more recently on t-shirts worn by the Mary Kate and Ashley of the White Power music scene. I mean, talk about an awkward reminder of the political heritage one has allied oneself with...
Anyway, on with the hotties... From Israel!
(And of course I cannot neglect my straight male readers...)
