VIM
4d ago
But the West Bank isn't part of Israel proper
The Israelis would certainly disagree, considering they exercise effective sovereignty over the West Bank, their citizens regularly enter the West Bank to steal homes and goats from Palestinians and their military provides overwatch to protect their citizens from any Palestinians attempting to defend themselves. Israel doesn't have defined borders, allowing them to exercise sovereignty over territory without granting the people there the rights that every other state grants to people living under its jurisdiction ie. citizenship.
But turn that back on the US again, and people will talk about all the places we have "occupied" and exerted our will and even allowed bad behavior on the part of American settlers.
What American settlers? America has certainly invaded plenty of countries but unless you go back over a hundred years it hasn't brought settlers along. Can you identify the country where Americans operate like Israeli settlers?
It's that most of these critiques of Israel are essentially isolated demands for legitimacy. They aren't motivated by anything Israel in particular is doing that's worse or more nefarious than what other nation states do.
Quite on the contrary, the Israelis take actions that, performed by other countries, resulted in their obliteration. South Africa tried to create a similar state of affairs to that of the West Bank but their equivalents were called "Bantustans", their state was crushed under sanctions and they were forced to give the black Africans equal voting rights that resulted in their destruction. The Rhodesians tried to justify their state under the principle of "might makes right" only to run out of fighters and ammo under the resulting international blockade.
There is no criticism anti-Israel activists have of Israel's involvement in global and American politics that isn't true of a number of other countries, from Egypt to Qatar to South Korea to Russia.
Let's compare with another country that occasionally is claimed to control American politics, Saudi Arabia. The Saudis received aid prosecuting their invasion of Yemen and they certainly spend more money on lobbying yet as soon as dead kids starting appearing on TV an anti-Saudi coalition assembled in Congress to pressure Trump and Trump forced the Saudis to give up after a year.
In contrast, Biden repeatedly refused to do anything to rein in the Israelis despite the enormous political cost. Then Harris refused to even pretend that she would do anything to rein in the Israelis, costing her the key swing state of Michigan and possibly the Presidency. Trump proceeded to do Israel's dirty work in Iran like a big dumb golem and blew up his entire Presidency as a result. All this and when Netanyahu shows up to visit Congress he receives dozens of comical, Stalinesque standing ovations despite having an approval rating from the American public of something like -50.
What other American ally stole American nuclear secrets to create a nuclear program without American permission and remained an American ally?
VIM
4d ago
Everything you've said about how Israel is an illegitimate colonizing power is also true of the US and Canada. You're surely aware of that. What the Arab revisionists say about "Is-not-real" is what a lot indigenous activists say about "Turtle Island." The only real difference is time and practicality - Arabs still believe if they get enough of the world to sympathize with them, they can destroy Israel, while even the most radical Native groups don't believe in their wildest dreams that they can expel white people from North America.
There are a few other differences. For example, while commie protesters may describe their respective countries as "settler colonial states" the US and Canada do not possess any "settler movement" of white kids moving onto Indian Reservations to steal their houses, let alone a state of affairs where said land thieves are provided with military protection and sniper cover lest any Indians foolishly attempt to defend their property with force. On the contrary, American Indians possess the exact same voting rights as "settlers" plus unique privileges like tax benefits. The right of Canadian Indians to freely travel to and live within the US dates back to the 18th Century whereas West Bank Palestinians possess no such right to freely travel to Israel.
VIM
7d ago
This assumes both sides are about in equal in size whereas in reality the anti-Israel side is demonstrably far larger and growing by the day. What exactly would the cost be of defying Mark Levin, Long Island and a few neighborhoods in southern Florida?
I also don’t think the Iran war is truly about Israel. Trump has said all along it’s about nuclear weapons. I think it is totally reasonable to stop Iran from having nukes.
Netanyahu has been claiming that Iran is weeks away from a nuke for decades and is obviously the primary force dragging Trump towards war with Iran. Marco Rubio quite literally said that the war began because Israel was going to take action and that America would be obligated (for some reason) to protect them from the consequences of their own actions.
VIM
7d ago
And not even over an issue that is actually worthwhile.
I mean, if the issue isn't worthwhile then maybe Republicans should dump Israel
VIM
7d ago
Obviously, Iran is very unpopular. I still accept Trump's judgment that it was the right thing to do and I still believe that the war is (plainly) a military success. (Call me crazy!)
Is it still a military success if Congress defunds the war Vietnam style?
If Republicans had received a "narrowly lose Iowa and Texas" sort of repudiation they might have closed ranks and held Trump's veto but losing Mississippi is enough of a buttblasting to put the fear of God into the hearts of Senators who haven't faced a competitive election in their lives. Even Ted Cruz is calling for an end to the war at this point.
VIM
8d ago
Mike Rogers was a deep state goon and proven loser running on a platform of slavish devotion to a country with the approval rating of AIDS.
The only reason anyone ever thought he was a "legitimately good candidate" is that treacherous foreign agents for said country are disproportionately represented among those who own media outlets. The guy was anti-endorsed by Judge Napolitano of all people
VIM
8d ago
There may be no levers that pull prices down but there are absolutely levers that pull prices up. Starting a pointless war which results in the price of diesel soaring is one such lever.
VIM
9d ago
If Colom wins he'd be the first Democrat elected to statewide office since the '80s and the first black person elected to statewide office in Mississippi ever
Absolutely biblical asswhooping being delivered to Republicans right now
VIM
9d ago
"We tried to change the regime in Iran and voters decided to change the regime in Congress"
- Nancy Mace
VIM
9d ago
Democrat Annie Andrews favored to win South Carolina Senate. Some were predicting that the polls could be off and it looks like they were right: Dems are overperforming the polls.
VIM
10d ago
Presumably they'd impeach him too. Plenty of those squishy moderates would take President Hakeem Jefferies over President Vance on a good day, let alone in the context of a generational blowout followed by Trump being impeached and removed
Thune, Lankford, Wicker, Risch, Moran, Fischer, Rounds, Moore Capito, Young, Cramer, Armstrong, Curtis, McCormick, Justice. If things are really dire he could also lose Kennedy, Paul, Scott and Scott, though they certainly aren't "moderates waiting for an excuse" but rather "conservatives who could flip depending on the circumstances"
VIM
10d ago
People used to argue that what we needed was a serious external threat to put the divisions of the culture war in perspective; after COVID and Iran, I think it's time to recognize that the scale of threat necessary for that logic to work would be on the order of an actual nuclear exchange, and even then I wouldn't bet on it working. We simply hate each other too much to cooperate in any meaningful way, no matter the consequences.
IIRC at the very beginning of COVID (like late Feb-early March 2020) there was a brief period where politicians actually acted like they were unified in facing a serious threat. Only after it became clear that COVID was mostly a threat to the old, fat and unhealthy and that the fatality rate was closer to the flu than smallpox did it became a political football.
Similarly, if you reversed the circumstances of the Iran War so that Iran was the mighty empire that started the war by launching a sneak attack that blows up Trump and also a girl's school while threatening total civilizational annihilation then I'd imagine it would actually be a unifying event. Even the most hardcore TDS sufferers probably wouldn't welcome his replacement by the Jackson Hinkle regime if it came at gunpoint from a foreign occupying army.
VIM
10d ago
If it goes really badly (>D+12, 56+ Senate seats) then Trump could actually get impeached and removed. There are still enough squishy Republican moderates to defect if they think Trump is going the way of Bush '08.
This mostly just illustrates the enormous gap between perceptions of the elite and perceptions of the actual voting public. Abdul runs 7 points ahead of his baseline support with voters who are "focused on Israel". Support for Israel among normies is around 65-35 at this point, on the level of "trans the kids", "open the borders" or "raise my taxes". If the media remotely reflected actual public opinion they'd be asking Rogers why he supports unconditional support to a country with an approval rating comparable to syphilis.
This whole "controversy" kind of reminds me of that time Trump compared MS13 to "animals" and then the media ran with it for a week assuming that it would hurt him somehow.
If the Palestinians were wiped out the Israelis would instantly be in a conflict with their next weakest neighbor (currently Syria) whereas if the Israelis were destroyed the conflict would be solved permanently. Seems to me like destroying Israel would be much simpler and result in a more permanent solution than destroying the Palestinians.
VIM
11d ago
There is a direct line between supporting Israelis killing Palestinians and Americans killing Iranians on Israel's behalf. It never stops with giving the mouse a cookie.
VIM
11d ago
If the goal was to end foreign aide, I’m behind it. But it never is
Tom Massie supported ending all foreign aid and they spent ~30 million on having him replaced and removed.
Regardless, even if they don't, who cares? Why do supporters of this parasitic nation always engage in petty whataboutism instead of saying "Well, I'd rather we end all foreign aid but we can start with Israel"?
VIM
14d ago
Pandering by the Republican Party towards Jewish voters is currently set to produce an absolutely generational drubbing in the Midterms. Going by both polling and prediction markets Democrats are easily winning Texas, narrowly leading Kansas and putting up a strong fight in South Carolina; that is to say, the battle is being fought in the reddest of states and they're somehow still losing. The obvious conclusion to draw if going all out in standing up for Jews and attacking Democratic "antisemitism" results in a crushing defeat is pretty simple: "with Jews you lose".
By 2032 the Republican nominee's position on Israel is likely to sit somewhere between apathy and antipathy.
VIM
17d ago
Agree that the US market is not a good reference, but out of curiosity, can you share any examples? I can't think of a single time when a country stock index collapsed 25% in a day off the top of my head. Which times did you remember in your investing career? I'm sure it's happened.
Argentina 2019
Why would Iran want casualties? The point is to punish the American voting public into voting against Republicans. A 50 cent increase in the price of gas and a dollar increase in the price of diesel hurt Trump more than thousands of dead Indian sailors.
The "October Surprise" is that the price of products Trump is desperately trying to tamp down are actually shooting up at the worst possible time electorally. Even before the "surprise" when said prices were gradually falling the GOP was still on track to lose Texas, now they're on track to lose even safer states like Kansas. These seats will remain occupied until 2032, giving future President AOC a generous buffer in the Senate to pass the "Send Death Squads After Republicans Act".
Fun fact: real average wages are actually net negative since the war began
VIM
1mo ago
Why would this change anything? The Iranian regime obviously wants Nuclear weapons. Until they are completely destroyed or have changed their strategic calculus, every action to destroy or delay their nuclear capability is just mowing the grass.
I brush my teeth twice a day every day. The fact that I have to keep doing it doesn’t mean it’s not important or I don’t actually ‘mean it’.
Not every military action will be decisive. Not even a minority of them.
The term Trump used for the Iranian nuclear program after Midnight Hammer was "obliterated". Not "damaged", "delayed" or "set back": "obliterated". Perhaps English is your second or third language but by using the term "obliterated" Trump indicated that he thought that Midnight Hammer was, in fact, decisive. Unfortunately he left no room for this brand of copium.
VIM
1mo ago
If you convert to Christianity or Islam then you're no longer a Jew but if you become an atheist you still count and can apply for your "Right to Return". Inversely, if a Palestinian converts to Judaism their requests to become Israeli will be rejected and they're just as liable to be gunned down at a checkpoint as any other goy. The only religious requirement is defiance of Christ.
I support a One State Solution in which Jews are free to purchase land in Hebron and Palestinians are free to purchase land in Tel Aviv. Of course, the Israelis don't support such a solution because they don't want the right to live in the West Bank, they want to dominate the West Bank by removing the Palestinians entirely.
But this is kind of a silly post because no Israeli settler is showing up with a legitimate land deed purchased voluntarily, they're showing up with clubs and weapons at olive fields that have been harvested by Palestinians for generations. You can crow about Hebron all you want but the settlers have no such claims of Jewish ownership of Taybeh or any of the other countless villages they're attempting to depopulate. You may as well describe the Holocaust as a defensive act during the German-Jew War that started when the Jews assassinated a German ambassador.
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