Kristol: It's anti-American and anti-Semitic to be anti-Joe

[kurth]

Anti-war, Anti-Israel, Anti-Joe
William Kristol
Mon Aug 7, 12:08 PM ET

Washington (The Weekly Standard) Vol. 011, Issue 45 - 8/14/2006 - You fight the global war against jihadist Islam with the political parties you have. We have two. One is the Republican party, led by George W. Bush. Its heart and mind are mostly in the right place... We have a president who knows we are at war with jihadist Islam. And he is willing to stake his presidency on that fight, and to support others, like Israel, who are in the same fight.

It's become clear, by contrast, that the Democratic party doesn't really want to fight jihadism. It's just too difficult... Last week, the Los Angeles Times asked the following question: "As you may know, Israel has responded to rocket attacks from the Lebanese group Hezbollah by bombing Beirut and other cities in Lebanon. Do you think Israel's actions are justified or not justified?" And these were the results: Among Republicans: 64 percent justified and 17 percent unjustified. Among Democrats: 29 percent justified and 36 percent unjustified.

The Times also asked which of the following statements comes closer to your view: "The United States should continue to align itself with Israel," or "The United States should adopt a more neutral posture." Republicans: 64 percent say align with Israel, 29 percent want a more neutral posture; Democrats: 39 percent say align with Israel, 54 percent want a more neutral posture. So even with a centrist Israeli government that is responding to a direct attack and not defending settlements in the territories, Democrats have adopted a "European" attitude toward Israel. And toward the United States. That is the meaning of Connecticut Democrats' likely repudiation of Joe Lieberman. What drives so many Democrats crazy about Lieberman is not simply his support for the Iraq war. It's that he's unashamedly pro-American.

There is a political opportunity for the Bush administration if the Democrats reject Lieberman. If he's then unable to win as an independent in November, he would make a fine secretary of defense for the remainder of the Bush years. If his independent candidacy succeeds, it will be a message to Bush that he should forge ahead toward victory in Iraq and elsewhere. Either way, the possibility exists for creating a broader and deeper governing party, with Lieberman Democrats welcomed into the Republican fold, just as Scoop Jackson Democrats became Reaganites in the 1980s. Is it too fanciful to speculate about a 2008 GOP ticket of McCain-Lieberman, or Giuliani-Lieberman, or Romney-Lieberman, or Allen-Lieberman, or Gingrich-Lieberman? Perhaps. But a reinvigorated governing and war-fighting Republican party is surely an achievable goal. And a necessary one.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/weeklystandard/20060807/cm_weeklystandard/antiwarantiisraelantijoe

-----------------------------

What a delusional asshole. Welcome to the Pentagon, Joe.

[Fleshdancer]

1. if we don't do what Kristol wants, then the terrorists win.

:eyes:

He needs a new line. This one is old and tired.

[bananarepublican]

58. Kristol is a Faustian bag of lying s*it!!! He's still flogging the New...

...Pearl Harbor for all its worth.

Perhaps we will all live to see the current batch of unelected puppeteers behind the scenes fall victim to a new, peaceful American Revolution.

Kristol, Krauthammer, Barnes et al could then spend their days of confinement picking up soap from the shower floor in cell block A, and discussing where it all went wrong.

[Skidmore]

2. Well, Billy boy, it's definite anti-American to be a

neocon. You freakin' traitor!

[LynzM]

3. Oh, Bull.Shit.

"What drives so many Democrats crazy about Lieberman is not simply his support for the Iraq war. It's that he's unashamedly pro-American."

He's not pro-the-Americans-who-don't-want-war, or pro-the-Americans-who-don't-want-Bush.

Which happens to be a growing majority, thank you very much.

:eyes:

[mmonk]

4. I sure get called alot of things lately.

sticks and stones...

[endarkenment]

5. Of course it is.

Just as it is unamerican to criticise the War of Massive Blunders. From now on perhaps the government can just tell us who will stand for election and we can then just go and register our vote for same.

[DinahMoeHum]

6. Man, I wanna break that chickenshit sissy Kristol's teeth myself. . .

but for now, I hope the voters in Connecticut will do their duty tomorrow.

Joe Gotta Go.

Crush him like a bug.

:kick:

[jpkenny]

51. Actually, I think Kristol just lost a few more votes for Joe. nt

[BooScout]

7. Yer either fer us or agin us

F. O. Kristol

[valerief]

8. I have an Uncle Joe. Never had an Auntie Joe.

Bill Kristol is a POS anyway.

[Avalux]

9. Kristol is clearly delusional.

I almost feel sorry for the guy for embracing Lieberman and placing the hopes of the "war-fighting Republican party" on his shoulders. Defending those PNAC ideals til the bitter end. :rofl:

[Skittles]

55. he's not delusional, just desperate

like all republican whores these days

[grytpype]

10. "at war with jihadist Islam" -- what does that have to do with Iraq?

There was no "jihadist Islam" in Iraq.

[bananarepublican]

59. Right on grytpype! Iraq was run by a secular government! n/t

[rodeodance]

11. he and cheney work out of the war room together (but people will be

nerved up over this--which is the goal)

[gratuitous]

12. So go enlist, Mr. Kristol

You wanna fight global jihadism so much, sign up, get some training, a gun and a uniform, and show all us lazy Democrats how it's done.

[kineneb]

36. Yup. Sign up or shut up. n/t

[MADem]

13. Oh, come ON!!!!!!

You can be for Israel securing their northern border AND be against the Iraq War.

Give me a fucking break. That's a bridge way too far.

But hey, that rumor about HolyJoe taking over for Rummy is looking more likely by the day. Makes you wonder if when this rumor was first floated, that Joe already knew he was in hot water and his internal polls were looking tres sucky.

Well, even if he does get DOD as the token "not the majority party" cabinet member, he will NEVER, EVER be half the SECDEF that Bill (no, not Jewish!!) Cohen was.

[fooj]

23. Great comment...

That's a bridge way too far

No kidding!

[BuyingThyme]

14. What American is more dangerous to Israel than is

William Kristol?

He and his supremacist little gang have given us all of this. They have created a mess for Israel. Why can't the fucking moron followers see this?

[progressoid]

15. Bite. Me. Bill.

[RedStateShame]

16. Here's what kills me:

If he's then unable to win as an independent in November, he would make a fine secretary of defense for the remainder of the Bush years.

You mean a man who can't even get elected into power can get in through the "Bush back door" if so seen fit? Ambassador Bolton, former Attorney General Ashcroft, do you know anything of this? Was Alito and/or Roberts also in the same way?

[Jacobin]

17. Wanna see a funny response to Kristol's 'us or them' vomit?

The New Ali Gees

Bill Kristol has yet another screed posted at the Weekly Standard equating anything less than 1000% enthusiastic support for Israel's war on Lebanon and Joe Lieberman's Senate candidacy as the modern-day equivalent of the blood libel.

Marty Peretz (a.k.a. Mr. Singer Sewing Machine) makes a somewhat similiar point in a Wall Street Journal op-ed today, although Peretz gets by with heavy-handed innuendo where Kristol feels compelled (as always) to unleash his personal brand of "identity politics" in full strength.

It's gotten to the point that when I hear this crap all I can think of is Ali G's moronic catchphrase whenever one of his "interview" subjects gets fed up with his nonsense and tells him to get the hell out of his/her office:

"Is it 'cos I is black?"

:rofl:
:rofl:

Kudos to Billmon:

http://billmon.org/archives/002647.html

[jonnyblitz]

25. that's funny!

:D

[Clark2008]

48. Shouldn't that be "Ali Geezzz?"

:rofl:

[bananarepublican]

60. R-e-spe-c-t Jacobin! n/t

[agingdem]

18. Oh puleeze!

I'm Jewish, my parents were Holocaust survivors, and I can't stand Joe...so, Kristol...Bite Me!

[elehhhhna]

19. That's some funny stuff. lmao.

[cgrindley]

20. I am so pro-Jewish, pro-Israeli, pro-Zionist, anti-Mel and anti-Joe

No one would ever accuse me of anti-semitism, and yet I can't stand Joe. His religion has nothing to do with him being a total fucknard.

[leesa]

21. Awww...he wants to give GOP Joe a job. How Sweet! We KNOW he's

a neocon, Billy, that's the problem.

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

49. That's it in a nutshell~ nt

[liberalmuse]

22. This PNAC piece of shit has his own agenda.

Is anyone else sick to death of these screeds dictating who or who isn't "anti-American" based upon who subscribes to their oh-so-narrow views? This is what facism looks like.

[malaise]

24. Why is Bushco so scared

that Joe will lose? Is it because it is a sign that warmongerers will be kicked out and the day of reckoning awaits these war criminals.

[The Stranger]

26. If Kristol wants war with the jihadists, let's give him to them.

Let them sort it out themselves.

[Touchdown]

27. This is the same loon who thinks...

that if The US bombs iranians, then the iranians will not blame the bombers, but the other iranians being bombed and rise up and overthrow their theocratic government...EDIT...who's also being bombed. :crazy:

[Behind the Aegis]

28. I only see ONE person using the term "anti-Semitism," and...

...that is the OP(oster)!

[Lurking Dem]

34. I couldn't find it either.

How odd.

[TahitiNut]

29. Wow! Bill Kristol must be a DUer! Go figure!

:rofl:

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/TahitiNut/310

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

30. I'm not anti Joe Lieberman, I'm just against Joe Lieberman in the Senate

making decisions that affect the United States.

Personally, I wish Joe Lieberman well in his private life. I wish him a long, prosperous, healthy, and fulfilling life. I have no personal animosity towards him. I just don't share his hawkish attitude towards the Iraq quagmire and I want him out of public office.

I guess that makes me a very bad person in Bill Kristol's opinion.

[JerseygirlCT]

40. Yes. Park me here, too. nt

[acmejack]

31. Kristol is on to me!

I don't like Joe because he is unashamedly Pro American. Now that is really quite a remark. Note to self, if the opportunity ever arises, break Mr. Kristol's nose.

[bloom]

32. If that's all "Anti-American" & "Anti-Semitic" means - doesn't mean much

Kristol - doing his part to make the terms useless.

[davekriss]

33. Is Kristol still on the public scene?

I would have thought this jerk would have retreated into anonymity, along with all the other neocon a**holes that sold the public on non-existent WMD, Saddam Bin Laden, and the false image of conquerors being greeted with flowers. Kristol, you have zero crediblility amongst any thinking person with a heart!

[xkenx]

35. Many Israelis are fed up with the neocons.

Read this from the Israel daily newspaper Haaretz.

Ending the neoconservative nightmare
By Daniel Levy
Witnessing the near-perfect symmetry of Israeli and American policy has been one of the more noteworthy aspects of the latest Lebanon war. A true friend in the White House. No deescalate and stabilize, honest-broker, diplomatic jaw-jaw from this president. Great. Except that Israel was actually in need of an early exit strategy, had its diplomatic options narrowed by American weakness and marginalization in the region, and found itself ratcheting up aerial and ground operations in ways that largely worked to Hezbollah's advantage, the Qana tragedy included. The American ladder had gone AWOL.

More worrying, while everyone here can identify an Israeli interest in securing the northern border and the justification in responding to Hezbollah, the goal of saving Lebanon's fragile Cedar Revolution sounds less distinctly Israeli. Perhaps an agenda invented elsewhere. As hostilities intensified, the phrase "proxy war" gained resonance.

Israelis have grown used to a different kind of American embrace - less instrumental, more emotional, but also responsible. A dependable friend, ready to lend a guiding hand back to the path of stabilization when necessary.

After this crisis will Israel belatedly wake up to the implications of the tectonic shift that has taken place in U.S.-Middle East policy?

In 1996 a group of then opposition U.S. policy agitators, including Richard Perle and Douglas Feith, presented a paper entitled "A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm" to incoming Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The "clean break" was from the prevailing peace process, advocating that Israel pursue a combination of roll-back, destabilization and containment in the region, including striking at Syria and removing Saddam Hussein from power in favor of "Hashemite control in Iraq." The Israeli horse they backed then was not up to the task.

Ten years later, as Netanyahu languishes in the opposition, as head of a small Likud faction, Perle, Feith and their neoconservative friends have justifiably earned a reputation as awesome wielders of foreign-policy influence under George W. Bush.

The key neocon protagonists, their think tanks and publications may be unfamiliar to many Israelis, but they are redefining the region we live in. This tight-knit group of "defense intellectuals" - centered around Bill Kristol, Michael Ledeen, Elliott Abrams, Perle, Feith and others - were considered somewhat off-beat until they teamed up with hawkish well-connected Republicans like Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Newt Gingrich, and with the emerging powerhouse of the Christian right. Their agenda was an aggressive unilateralist U.S. global supremacy, a radical vision of transformative regime-change democratization, with a fixation on the Middle East, an obsession with Iraq and an affinity to "old Likud" politics in Israel. Their extended moment in the sun arrived after 9/11.

Finding themselves somewhat bogged down in the Iraqi quagmire, the neoconservatives are reveling in the latest crisis, displaying their customary hubris in re-seizing the initiative. The U.S. press and blogosphere is awash with neocon-inspired calls for indefinite shooting, no talking and extension of hostilities to Syria and Iran, with Gingrich calling this a third world war to "defend civilization."

Disentangling Israeli interests from the rubble of neocon "creative destruction" in the Middle East has become an urgent challenge for Israeli policy-makers. An America that seeks to reshape the region through an unsophisticated mixture of bombs and ballots, devoid of local contextual understanding, alliance-building or redressing of grievances, ultimately undermines both itself and Israel. The sight this week of Secretary of State Rice homeward bound, unable to touch down in any Arab capital, should have a sobering effect in Washington and Jerusalem.

Afghanistan is yet to be secured, Iraq is an exporter of instability and perhaps terror, too, Iranian hard-liners have been strengthened and encouraged, while the public throughout the region is ever-more radicalized, and in the yet-to-be "transformed" regimes of Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, is certainly more hostile to Israel and America than its leaders. Neither listening nor talking to important, if problematic, actors in the region has only impoverished policy-making capacity.

Israel does have enemies, interests and security imperatives, but there is no logic in the country volunteering itself for the frontline of an ideologically misguided and avoidable war of civilizations.

So what should be done, on both sides of the ocean?

It is admittedly difficult for Israel to have a regional strategy that is out-of-step with the U.S. administration-of-the-day. However, the neocon approach is not unchallenged, and Israel should not be providing its ticket back to the ascendancy. A U.S. return to proactive diplomacy, realism and multilateralism, with sustained and hard engagement that delivers concrete progress, would best serve its own, Israeli and regional interests. Israel should encourage this. Israel may even have to lead, for instance, in rethinking policy on Hamas or Syria, and should certainly work intensely with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in encouraging his efforts to reach a Palestinian national understanding as a basis for stable governance, security quiet and future peace negotiations. A policy that comes with a Jerusalem kosher stamp of approval might be viewed as less of an abomination in Washington.

Beyond that, Israel and its friends in the United States should seriously reconsider their alliances not only with the neocons, but also with the Christian Right. The largest "pro-Israel" lobby day during this crisis was mobilized by Pastor John Hagee and his Christians United For Israel, a believer in Armageddon with all its implications for a rather particular end to the Jewish story. This is just asking to become the mother of all dumb, self-defeating and morally abhorrent alliances.

Internationalist Republicans, Democrats and mainstream Israelis must construct an alternative narrative to the neocon nightmare, identifying shared interests in a policy that reestablishes American leadership, respect and credibility in the region by facilitating security and stability, pursuing conflict resolution and promoting the conditions for more open societies (as opposed to narrow election-worship). The last two years of the Bush presidency can be an opportunity for progress or an exercise in desperate damage limitation. It sounds counter-intuitive, but Israel should reflect on and even help reorient American expectations.

Daniel Levy was a member of the official Israeli negotiating team at the Oslo and Taba talks and the lead Israeli drafter of the Geneva Initiative

[Tesha]

37. Why didn't he just drop the "Anti-Semite!" bomb and get it over with? (NT)

[Vanje]

38. Interestin response to this thread at another site

http://prosemiteundercover.phpbbnow.com/viewtopic.php?t=517

[Name removed]

44. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[jonnyblitz]

70. interesting site. nt

[JerseygirlCT]

39. That just makes me want to pull my hair out

Honest to goodness.

That whole idea of supporting the war being what real Americans do.

The idea that not supporting Lieberman makes you somehow anti-Israel (why? Because he's Jewish? Half my family would find that a strange idea).

And, of course, the never-dying (it seems) idea that what we're doing in Iraq ever had anything to do with fighting terrorism.

How can people BE this stupid? It's got to be willfully stupid, it really does.

[tlsmith1963]

41. Stupid Neocon Kristol...

And with me, neocon doesn't automatically equal Jewish, either. Cheney isn't Jewish, after all. I hate neocons because they are fascists who want to control the world. Forget it--I don't want an empire.

Tammy

[Marr]

42. "Anti-semitism" is quickly losing all meaning.

Thanks to fools like Bill Kristol and David "neocon is short for Jew" Brooks, who casually toss the accusation at anyone who disagrees with their ideology. Their overuse of the phrase is irresponsible, and mocks those who really do suffer from anti-semitic attacks.

[Cocoa]

54. and thanks to their defense of Mel Gibson

I mean, come on. It's like bizarroworld.

[Marr]

57. Yeah, no kidding. It's been like that for decades. Just surreal.

I remember back in the 80's when the Republicans had a fundraiser with some openly antisemitic organization (can't remember the name now, I'm afraid), and even then, people on the right were making the anti-semitism charges against critics of Israeli policy. Actual anti-semites are embraced- just so long as they support the "cause". People who don't support the cause are called anti-semites- even if they're Jewish.

[Nikki Stone 1]

43. Crying wolf hurts the real cause

....

[NewJeffCT]

45. Um, Lamont leads among CT Jews last I heard

So, I guess these Jewish people in CT are anti-semetic, too, by a 50-41 margin/

[Clark2008]

46. Hey Bill - my husband's Jewish and if we lived in CT, we'd

be voting Lamont.

Anti-Semitic, my ass.

:eyes:

[bananarepublican]

61. I used to be very pro-Isreal as a nation and I hate to admit it...

...anti-Arab. The MSM had up until recently done its job on me quite well.

Now I have a much more balanced view of what is really going on in the ME. Civilians on both sides continue to be the meat in the sandwich of the unelected puppet masters...

...and the price of oil continues to soar (with self professed oilmen in the Whitehouse!)

"Nothing new to see here. Move along." (Officer Barbrady, South Park.)

[Swamp Rat]

47. PNACers love Joementum

[DanCa]

50. Omg I can just imagine Lieberman Gibson 08

*shoots self for thinking that*

[RagAss]

52. What an Asshole.....

[Ms. Clio]

53. Glenn Greenwald takes Kristol apart in one of his latest blog entries

Well worth reading: http://www.glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/2006/08/why-do-neoconservative-extremists-love.html

[bananarepublican]

63. Great article Ms. Clio. Thanks for the link. n/t

[Ms. Clio]

67. you're welcome!

glad you liked it.

[Selatius]

72. You know what's really funny about that page?

About half-way down the page on the left panel I see an advertisement for a laser that apparently draws inspiration from the Death Star of Star Wars fame or the light saber.

[Zorra]

56. Lieberman Democrats? ROFLMAO !!! n/t

[Warren DeMontague]

62. Conflate, Lie, Misstate. Conflate, Misstate. Lie. Conflate Some More.

Dipshit.

Does he honestly think that Guiliani, or Joe frikkin' Leiberman for that matter, is getting anywhere NEAR the GOP nomination in 2008? Who the FUCK does he think is running his party?

I've got two words for you, Mr. Kristol- and listen up, because if you think these guys are "friends" of Israel and Jews-in-General you need to find out how those "Left Behind" books END:

CHRISTIAN RIGHT.

Two more words, which will ABSOLUTELY be the limbo bar ANY GOP nominee will have to wedge him-or-herself under to become the anointed one in 2008?

"Pro Life".

The GOP is NOT going to nominate anyone who even smells of being pro-choice, not now, not any time in the forseeable future- at least until someone in that party figures out the truth, namely that the American people are overwhelmingly pro-choice and a fuckload more liberal on social issues than some would have us believe.

"the Democratic Party doesn't really want to fight jihadism" What a steaming pile of poo. The fight against Jihadism starts at home, asshole. It starts by keeping theocrats from wedging their fat little boots into people's personal lives and womens' reproductive systems. It starts by keeping science in public school science classes and fanciful stories about Noah's Ark and the Earth being 6,000 years old in Sunday School.

Kristol wants to pretend that Israel has something to do with the bogus war in Iraq. It doesn't, except that if we had competent leadership in the White House, we might be able to achieve something down there instead of blowing $300 Billion in Iraq making things much, much worse.

What utter bullshit.

[gumby]

64. It's The Media, Stupid.

Can anyone tell me WHY one of the MAJOR architects in this world-wide-death-and-destruction National Policy is ALSO a recognized mouthpiece on such policy in the Main Stream Media???????

This is insanity beyond belief. It's like if Katie Couric urged the nuking of a country and then after the unconscionable and immoral destruction was 'reported,' Couric would call everyone names.

The ONLY response to Kristol is to BLAME him for the current world-wide death and destruction and to BLATANTLY declare that NO ONE cares about his name calling, opinion or "journalism."

Kristol should be run out of town; literally.

[Mr_Spock]

65. Huh?

Kristol has jumped the shark - he's losing what little sense of moderation he ever had lately.

[gumby]

66. Kristol and "moderation"

are complete opposites.

He is dangerous to all living things.

[Occulus]

68. My three-word response is, "Fuck you, Kristol." n/t

[magellan]

69. "Democrats have adopted a "European" attitude

...toward Israel. And toward the United States."

Why, Bill! Are you trying to win us over with compliments? Because I'd SO rather be accused of thinking like a European than like you.

[ikojo]

71. I'm Jewish and would vote for NED LAMONT

except for the fact I live in MISSOURI!!!!

[npincus]

74. Shalom, sistah!

I would too, but I live in New Jersey!

[npincus]

73. Kristol endorses a Democrat!

Now, THAT'S the Dem I'M votin' for!

:sarcasm: