Best Argument for Iraq

As usual, Joshua Micah Marshall, from a July 22 post has managed to give a balanced anaylsis of our Iraq situation. While he has been a vocal critic of the government's reasoning and behavior, he give the neo-cons in the kitchen cabinet credit for pursuing the war in Iraq for positive ideological reasons.

That is, instead of claiming that we're in Iraq so that the Bushies could win 2002 & 2004 (which is so obvious that it's not even considered a problem - just being a politician means that you will start foreign entanglements to be re-elected; it's so much part and parcel of politics that it carries no more shame than being a politician itself) he brings some nuance.

Here's Marshall's analysis of the war reasoning:

"But over time after 9/11 one overriding theory of the war did take shape: it was to get America irrevocably on the ground in the center of the Middle East (thus fundamentally reordering the strategic balance in the region), bring to a head the country's simmering conflict with its enemies in the region, and kick off a democratic transformation of the region which would over time dissipate the root causes of anti-American terrorism and violence: autocracy, poverty and fanaticism."

Alas, Marshall overlooks the main reasoning: (a) Bush is a younger and less-accomplished Ronald Reagan, (b) like Reagan, Bush Jr. needs an issue to paint the world black & white, (c) Communism has been succeeded by International Islam as the newest world threat.

We needed to attack Iraq because Bush needed a cause to give gravitas to his otherwise aimless and worthless presidency. Before 9/11 what did Bush stand for? "Not being Clinton." And, honestly, except for the sex, what has Bush done different from Clinton? His administration has been even more underhanded with the truth and we don't even have prosperity to cushion the blow! He has driven our country into an economic free-fall, like his daddy, and has tried to inject right-wing extremists into the judiciary.

Despite the recent destruction of Yogi and Boo-Boo Hussein (whatever their names are), we still have not been able to establish why we attacked Iraq. As Krugman said yesterday:

"By cooking intelligence to promote a war that wasn't urgent, the administration has squandered our military strength. This provides a lot of aid and comfort to Osama bin Laden — who really did attack America — and Kim Jong Il — who really is building nukes."

We must demand accountability from our (ostensibly) elected leaders. At least treat Bush Jr. with the same respect and honor that we gave his predecessor.

We Got 'em!

Well, we finally found and killed Saddam's two sons. Even though there's the ironic element (Saddam tried to kill Bush's father, Bush killed his sons), we have finally seen a real result of the war.

Fast of Tammuz

The preceding dark views are courtesy of the seventeenth of Tammuz.

Iraq-Nam

According to the NYTimes, we are considering having year-long tours for the military in Iraq. Someone should explain to Bush that while he was drinking heavily and flying National Guard jets, the rest of the country was shooting itself in the foot over Vietnam.

The President Lied??!

I can't believe that this is a doubt in anyone's mind. The President needs to actually know what he's saying to be called a liar. Give the guy a break, plunging the country into war on false premises against nearly universal international opposition isn't nearly as bad as what Clinton did. If you recall, Clinton was almost impeached for lying about a heinous act of taste. It's not the same thing, people! You need to be blind and stupid to consider Bush Inc. as bad as Clinton.

Now, had we happened to find a scrap of WMD, or weren't getting our pasty white rumps kicked every single day in Iraq, then maybe we'd cut Bush some slack. As it is, we have descended into

I was all for the war in Iraq. But not for any of the Bush reasons. And good thing too. I supported taking out a tyrant and for showing the world that the U.S. was as crazy as Israel (meaning that just as Israel will go into any place on the world, kick A and take names, so now America will too). Bush was for the war so he could look like a chief executive and not as a plundering, retrogressive misanthrope.

Maybe the tanking economy, the grotesque deficit, the abandoning of the State governments, and now the idiocy of our Iraq policy will show Americans that we need to kick these bums out.

Man Shoots 5 Co-Workers, then Himself

Maybe in Mississippi they don't look askance when someone repeatedly claims that they want to come in and shoot up their coworkers. Repeatedly. Yay for gun ownership! NYTimes story here.

Barry White, 58

What's with all my men dying?!?

Buddy Hackett, 78

Buddy Hackett died. He is one of those comedians that I've always heard was very funny - and whatever material I've read from him confirms that - but I never experienced him in the ways I should. We was supposed to be very dirty (and hence, very funny) and garnered respect from the right people (e.g. my father, Al Franken's father). What a few weeks - Gregory Peck, Leon Uris, Katherine Hepburn, and now Hackett.

Orwell's 100th Birthday

Yay for Orwell. Check out a whole mess of stuff about him (and one of my favorite essays, "Politics and the English Language").

Discuss.

Coolest Mother in the World

I have the coolest mother in the world. She forwards me links to the Onion.

Orthodoxy on Campus

To begin the debate, I recommend you download and read this PDF, Parent's Guide to Orthodox Assimilation on Secular University Campuses

Discuss.

I Blame Hillary's New Book

We have to blame somebody! The New Jersey authorities claim that they were "lured perhaps by the smell of dirty diapers in the trash" -- but we all know what *that* is a code-name for!

Latest Addition to Stupid or Evil Debate

According to the New York Jewish Week, the head of a Russian Jewish newspaper claims that the UJA's "2002 Jewish Community Study of New York" undercounted the Russians by 100,000.

Valery Weinberg of the Novoye Russkoye Slovo states that the undercounting “was done intentionally to diminish the role of the Russian-speaking Jewish community.”

Now, after spending a few years as a public servant, I recognize that when someone says something that idiotic, they are often trying to position themselves for greater power. Either that, or they're nuts.

I guess Valery (if that is his real name) is like every other low-self-esteem minority spokesman. He thinks that everyone else in the world actually *cares* about his rinky-dink organization.

Why on earth would UJA undercount Jews? As far as I know (and I base my knowledge on parlor jokes from the 1950s) the UJA will seek out Jews on desert islands in order to get a donation.

In any case, I just relish the irony that Russians can ever be undercounted.

Do you have enough Fluff in your life

Probably not

Supreme Court Shocker

Clarence Thomas voted against people having sex! I guess when faced with voting against Scalia...

Strom Thurmond, dead

How can they tell?

Leon Uris, Author of 'Exodus,' Dies at 78

Baruch Dayan ha-Emet.

Terrorist Creep

It is inevitable, I guess, once we accept that one terrorist organization (the PLO) can be negotiated with, all organizations are fair game. Either that, or the New York Times - and the Western World - has finally acknowledged the functional equivalency of Hamas and the PLO. See the Story: Israel Seizes Militant Suspects in Mass Raids on West Bank

Cockney Rhyming Slang

Now hear this, now hear this, I have determined that Cockney Rhyming Slang is about as cool (and useful) as speaking Elvish or Klingon. That is all.

In Case You Weren't Scared Enough

According to Debka, Iran will have the bomb next year. Sleep tight.

Kix Has Done a Bad Bad Thing

I received this Kashrut Alert from my kosher hotline:

The following kashrus alert is from the Kosher Overseers of America on June 11, 2003.

Kix Cereal, General Mills, Inc., Golden Valley, MN has been switched to Dairy status and the OU symbol has been removed from the boxes. Boxes of Kix lacking the OU symbol should be regarded as OU-D. Consumers are always urged to carefully check products for changes.

The Times Strikes Again

The circle of violence continues with the New York Times cheapening lives and Jaysoning the truth: Israel Strikes in Gaza Soon After Bus Explodes in Jerusalem

As long as they show balance, eh?

The New York Times makes a mistake?!

Now, we all know that the New York Times sets all the standards for journalism. That's admitted by every journalist. Remember that fact when you complain about the Times because it means that everything else out there is worse.

Anyhoo, after reeling from the "Jayson Blair" incident (where a reporter, named Jason, consistently faked the spelling of his name), the Times is paying closer attention to their other rampant falsehoods (which, again, are the best falsehoods in the whole journalism world).

Today, the offered a noteworthy correction:

An article yesterday about the dismantling of a rusty tower by an Israeli settlement in the West Bank as a gesture of compliance with the American-led peace initiative misstated the origin of Israeli control of the territory. During the 1967 war, Israel seized the West Bank from Jordan and took Gaza from Egypt, not from the Palestinians.

Isn't that wonderful? They are so brainwashed by their fake news that they actually printed yesterday that the Palestinians ever had land! What a day.

Check it out before they eliminate their evidence.

Feldheim Sale

25% Sale at Feldheim Books. G'wan! Git!

Debka

To keep informed (and by that I mean to make yourself feel arrogantly knowledgeable and scared out of your gourd) you must read the Debkafile. Basically, government officials and spooks of all nations give preferred leaks to Debka. One way you know its tippy-top secret and important is by following the color scheme of the news stories. Personally, I have no idea why some stories are blue, green, fuchsia, what-have-you. But *they* know.

Devils Beat Ducks

Regional loyalties notwithstanding, it's scary to say "Devils rule the World!" Poor duckies.

We're Back

From outer-space, na na na na, etc. After a not so nice oodles-hours trip from Ben Gurion airport to JFK through Geneva, we arrived home around 4 pm. My wife went to sleep immediately; I went to get the milk (not like we needed any, but that's the "after trip" ritual I learned from my village elders). Then *I* went to sleep -- just to get the edge off the exhaustion of the trip, dontcha know. Woke up at 1 am. Dee-yamm! Love that jet lag. And I have to be at work tomorrow too.

Going Back

We're on our way... leaving the hotel at 2:15am to make a 6:15am flight - designed to make nobody happy with this. More when we get back to the states. Thanks to the Groners for a wonderful Shabbat send-off replete with good food and cute babies.

Book Store Alert!!

Attention Mr. & Mrs. Israel and all the ships at sea.

A crazy ol' coot in a twilight zonish bookshop gave me the heads-up of the best bookshop in Jerusalem. It's 6 Shatz Street. I was there last Thursday but the store was closed and the only place open was a cruddy little outhouse of a bookshop that I remembered from years ago. The new shop, opened 5 years ago (after I had already left) but expanded only one year ago, is immense. I purchased books I had only dreamt about. Shatz street is near Pomerantz, but don't confuse the two.

The Book Gallery
6 Shatz Street (26 King George), Jerusalem 94267
tel: 02-623-1087, fax: 02-625-5513
info@bookgallery.co.il
http://www.bookgallery.co.il

Israel Diary, Day 2 - Part 2

Our main tasks on this trip are:

(a) to enjoy two weeks away from the daily, minute-to-minute pressures of the synagogue and the City as well as the brutal commute my wife enjoys for most the week to sunny New Haven,

(b) revisit all the nostalgic wonder of my years in Israel [note, most of that wonder is in the Sniper Zones and we may not get to that right now],

(c) eat shwarma, and other delicacies of the Holy Land,

(d) buy books, a whole mess of books,

and (e) shop for thangs that only Israel provides (like tzanua women's clothing and affordable hats).

We also need to (f) visit and see all of our friends in the country. This turns out to be a very heavy agenda.

Every day we set out to a new neighborhood to explore, eat, and shop. On Day 2, we explored Emek Refaiim. I'd never really spent time in the neighborhood and I see why - no book stores. Plenty of restaurants... we had lunch in Kapit with a good friend and dinner at Norman's with about a dozen yeshiva boys who should have been at night seder.

That night we heard the comedic-monologue of Israel Campbell at the Hartman Institute sitting in a room with the student bodies of Pardes and HUC. This guy was very good and I'm going to try to bring him to my shul.

As for the book buying, we started a three-day excavation of Stein's Book Store. Both the Emek Refaiim restaurants and Stein's Books are distinguished by being the closest to our hotel (not "Close" as nothing is close to our hotel except other hotels and the stupid Windmill thing). More on the Stein's adventure later.