Jonathan Chait has a balanced column in the New Republic on Israel, the J street organization, and academics that claims to support Israel by portraying it “as a force for evil throughout its existence.” J Street has gained quite the following among some lefties who seek an alternative to AIPAC, the Jewish lobby blamed for all evils in the world by the piece of intellectual trash put out by Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer. A reading of their book, (based on an essay rejected by the Atlantic, and completely exposed as ridiculous by Benny Morris and a host of others) reminds of the line from the fictitious Eli Cash, “but the sales are good.”
Chait does a great job mocking the false bravado of some who criticize Israel:
Often such declarations are accompanied by boasts of personal courage. Atlantic blogger Megan McArdle dramatically declared, “It will not do my career much good to say it, but here goes. America has an influential Israel lobby in large part because of ethnic affinity.” And yet the fearful consequences never seem to arrive.
The larger point of the column is that J Street is just as extreme as those who support Israel blindly. What gets under my skin is that being anti-Israel has somehow become trendy among members of the left. Jimmy Carter comparing Israel to South Africa is just one of countless examples of this indulgence. Israel is a democratic state in a bad neighborhood that is sometimes worthy of criticism, but a hardly a force for evil. I suspect the blind pro-Israel stance of some conservative Christians and the fact that the Neo-Conservative school has its roots as a Jewish intellectual movement is more responsible for blind criticism of Israel than any policy of that state.
This advice column caught my eye today. A reader writes to Abby on the topic of being a middle child:
Learn what you can from it. Those lessons will help you more in the long run than being spoiled now will.
A middle child myself, I agree The oldest is going to the be the test case for everything, and the youngest will inevitably become a parent’s hobby once the older ones leave the nest. The one drawback for me was that my first bike was a hand-me-down girls bike. It rode sweet with a banana seat.
On the subject of advice columns, I recommend Jeffrey Goldberg. A reader asked him whether medical school was tougher in France or the U.S., his answer:
France. Because it’s in French.
So I wanted to post video of John Prine singing Dear Abby, but couldn’t find it on Youtube. Instead, I have video of Sweet Tater TeRonde and Thump Monkey Mittermeier performing a John Prine cover at the DesMoines Farmer’s Market
I am very happy to see President Obama close down this embarrassment. No one deserves to be held without trial, such prison camps don’t belong in America. What is this, Cuba?
Oh yeah. On the subject of Cuba, Obama ought to normalize relations ASAP. The embargo is a Cold War relic that was designed to stop Castro. Now that Castro (Fidel at least) is not in charge, end it. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, I suspect the embargo has been more about a political constituency in South Florida that anything else anyways.
First Blago can’t sell the seat, now Kennedy can’t get it by birthright. What is happening to the Senate? I admit not understanding the Kennedy mystique, perhaps I am too young or too far from Massachusetts to give a rip.
The lesson for me from the Kennedy and Burris fiascos is clear, Democracies work best when we hold elections. Nothing good comes from Governors having the power to appoint Senators, kudos to the states that outlaw that sort of thing.
Hua Hsu has an interesting piece called “The End of White America” in the current Atlantic. Aside from invoking Stuff White People Like, which is always exciting, he does a good job laying out a pretty obvious thesis:
By the second half the of century, whites should be a minority
Already, American has embraced non-white cultures as being the authentic ones
This has caused a backlash with people like Sara Palin, Larry the Cable Guy, Jim Webb, and Ron Paul
All children born these days will grow up in a non-white America
The author also pays due deference to the idea that we are not becoming non-white, but actually sort of post-racial because of the mixing of races.
I am fascinated by articles like this, they show how disjointed a nation we are when it comes to race. We have a continuous integration problem and a steady inner-city underclass, yet we also have elected a minority president and patted ourselves on the back for doing so. Perhaps our roots as an immigrant nation are what enable us to wear so many different identities and to feature and bury them so fluidly. I used to think that income matters more than race, but then I see things like proposition 8 in California that seemingly disprove that notion.
One of the more interesting theories on U.S. racial problems comes from William Grimshaw. He argues that machine politics that worked to benefit and integrate immigrant communities were broken up by the progressive movement before migrating African-Americans were able to benefit from them. It makes sense, but as the Atlantic article and my ramblings highlight, we are not post-racial or solely racial. The only thing I am sure of is that yes, race matters.
A tad self-involved perhaps? Why in the hell would anyone want to read a book about this woman? The 500 word article was barely interesting, and only then because of its ridicule value. I am sure Ms. I-Report is a lovely woman and I can’t blame her for bettering herself. And really, finding her way onto CNN.com for no reason is commendable.
Look, it’s obviously true that both sides see the root of the conflict differently. But these two views just are not equally valid. Hamas has a problem with Israel because Hamas believes Israel has no right to exist. Israel has a problem with Hamas because Hamas believes Israel has no right to exist. If Hamas lay down all its weapons, Israel would lift its blockade. If Israel lay down all its weapons, Hamas would kill as many Israelis as it could.
Chances are if you have only heard of them, you would be completely surprised by what they actually sound like. Often labeled as pre-cursors to punk, or alternative, or revolutionary, the truth is far more tame. Lou Reed was very good at creating simple melodies, sometimes catchy, often irritating. No doubt in my mind, the best album they have is the understated self-titled, “The Velvet Underground.” After the Banana album, with its feedback, sloppy guitar, monotonous melodies, and often embarrassingly obvious attempts at being provocative, this album is a simple pleasure. Candy Says, not even sung by Lou Reed, is sweet and quiet, making its provocative lyrics less obvious, and not at all embarrassing. Pale Blue Eyes is my favorite song here, “linger on” Reed tells us, and he sure does. The song lingers into the great and completely unexpected lyric, “the fact that you are married, only proves that you’re my best friend…and it’s truly truly a sin.” That’s the Story of My Life is enjoyable, as is Jesus. After Hours is unexpected, also quiet, and would be sappy if not for its uniqueness in 1969.
So yes, I have no real point to this post, other than to point out that the Velvet Underground was better when understated.
A middle child myself, I agree The oldest is going to the be the test case for everything, and the youngest will inevitably become a parent’s hobby once the older ones leave the nest. The one drawback for me was that my first bike was a hand-me-down girls bike. It rode sweet with a banana seat.