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PaperclipPerfector  7d ago (text post)   27055 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of March 2, 2026

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Israel intelligence agencies literally used a sitting US senator as an asset to manipulate the president.

WSJ: To help make the case on Iran, Graham traveled several times to Israel in recent weeks, meeting with members of the country’s intelligence agency. “They’ll tell me things our own government won’t tell me,” he said. He spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, coaching him on how to lobby the president for action.

https://x.com/katiadoyl/status/2030126333636809191

This is in the wall street journal, they don't even try to hide it. And why would they? They make it clear they're the king, Israel speaks and the west listens. Many of our politicians are actively training with foreign spies to control American politics and they're flaunting it.

Every once in a while they go oops and say the quiet part out a little too loud (like Rubio and Johnson admitting that Israel pushed us into the war before now trying to claim the opposite) but it's barely disguised. And if this is what they're public about, just imagine all the things happening in the shadows.

It is truly insane. And it still not enough to satisfy the Israelis. After the campaign against Ms Rachel, a bunch of zionist lawyers in UK are now suing Piers Morgan. As long as every single antizionist voice in the worlds is not silences they cant rest it seems.

As long as every single antizionist voice in the worlds is not silences they cant rest it seems.

Certainly one could similarly argue that as long as Israel exists, there is a subset of the population that will not rest, but instead work to undermine, defame, and ultimately destroy Israel if they can. So for example, those of us who are pro-Israel see a guy like David Duke, a white supremacist who couldn't care less about non-whites, suddenly seeming to care a great deal about Palestinian Arabs. Or we see a group called "queers for Palestine" which seems pretty much okay with the fact that in Hamas-ruled Gaza, homosexual activity was a serious offense.

Moreover, the demands made by these people, generally speaking, point to the destruction of Israel. For example, the Israel-haters want a "State of Palestine," but that State of Palestine would not absorb Palestinian Arab "refugees" from places like Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. (Even though Israel has absorbed all bona fide Jewish refugees from anywhere in the world.) Rather, they want Israel to absorb and offer citizenship to all of these persons, even though it would turn Israel into a majority-Arab state, inevitably resulting in a civil war, mass death and destruction, with a real chance of the Jews being slaughtered or chased out.

One thing that gives the game away was the moment, a few years back, when Israel reached a peace agreement with the UAE. Were progressive "peace activists" overjoyed? Of course not, because it was a step forward for Israel.

The upshot of all this is that anyone who is pro-Israel can see what's going going. There is a war being fought to destroy Israel. Not just on the traditional battlefield, but in courtrooms; in the court of public opinion; within school boards; and so on.

Under such circumstances, it's hardly unreasonable to fight back. Of course, any countermeasures, no matter how legitimate, will be spun as unjustified aggression by Zionists and used to further justify the war to destroy Israel. But at the end of the day, it's better to be feared than to be loved.

But at the end of the day, it's better to be feared than to be loved.

So long as you can avoid being hated, if I recall my Machiavelli. Of course, if you expect to be hated regardless, your options do then devolve to "be not feared, dead, and hopefully eulogised pleasantly and to no longer have your corpse be hated" or "be hated, feared, and have a chance at continuing to live", well, the calculus seems clear.

So long as you can avoid being hated, if I recall my Machiavelli.

I was curious, so I looked it up:

These reflections prompt the question: is it better to be loved rather than feared, or vice versa? The answer is that one would prefer to be both but, since they don’t go together easily, if you have to choose, it’s much safer to be feared than loved.

()()(*)

All the same, while a ruler can’t expect to inspire love when making himself feared, he must avoid arousing hatred.

Of course, if you expect to be hated regardless, your options do then devolve to "be not feared, dead, and hopefully eulogised pleasantly and to no longer have your corpse be hated" or "be hated, feared, and have a chance at continuing to live", well, the calculus seems clear.

Agreed.

Which translation of The Prince is this? I want to know so I can [fedpost] the translator.

Which translation of The Prince is this? I want to know so I can [fedpost] the translator.

I am pretty sure that the translator is Tim Parks. More out of curiosity than anything else, what is your objection to the translation?

Aesthetically, I can't stand it when translators use colloquial English to seem accessible , it reads like a dumbing-down. Specifically to Machiavelli, he is an extremely clear and precise prose stylist; his writing is a succession of syllogisms, whose clarity is heightened by a more formal and precise style. Compare George Bull, I don't know if it's the best but it's the one I happen to have to hand:

From this arises the following question: whether it is better to be loved than feared, or the reverse. The answer is that one would like to be both one and the other; but because it is difficult to combine them, it is far better to be feared than loved if you cannot be both.

One reads like a tossed-off piece of advice in a conversation, one like a carefully considered thought.

Aesthetically, I can't stand it when translators use colloquial English to seem accessible ,

I understand. I tend to agree with you although it doesn't bother me too much either way.

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