Will the West withstand the Obama presidency?
Into the fray: Will the West withstand the Obama presidency? | JPost | Israel News.
11/28/2013 22:44
I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles – principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings. – Barack Hussein Obama, Cairo, 2009
For anyone who understands that the US Constitution is not a Sharia-compliant document –neither in letter nor in spirit – it should be alarmingly apparent that the Obama-incumbency is a dramatic and disturbing point of inflection in the history of America and its “Western” allies. By “Western” I mean countries whose political practices and societal norms are rooted in Judeo- Christian foundations in a cultural rather than in any religious sense.
The devil is not in the details
One does not have to be an expert in Islamic history or culture, or be familiar with the details of Koranic verse or Hadithic texts to realize that Obama’s characterization of the alleged affinity between America and Islam is entirely detached from any reality on the ground–particularly with regard to the matters he enumerates in the preceding excerpt from his 2009 Cairo speech.
All one has to do is follow the daily news that routinely convey reports of the Hobbesian horrors that flared across Syria, Libya, Egypt and other Arab countries once the Leviathan “cap” of tyranny, holding these bestial impulses in check, was “uncorked.”
Worse, in some parts of the Muslim world, blood curdling atrocities have become so commonplace they hardly make the news at all.
For when it comes to issues such as justice, progress, tolerance and respect for societal and/or religious diversity, a yawning chasm divides America from Islam. Indeed, American society, as a product of the values embodied in the Constitution and the Judeo-Christian values it draws on; and Islamic society as a product of Sharia and the Muslim values it draws on, are irreconcilably exclusive and antithetically opposed to one another.
No amount of convoluted scholarly debate on the intricacies of Islamic scriptures or benign interpretations of their “real” significance, can change the gruesome facts that prevail throughout Muslim-majority societies – from West Africa to East Asia.
Justice? Like stoning of female rape victims for “adultery? Progress? Like fathers slaughtering daughters to preserve their “honor”? Tolerance? Like summary lynching of “gays” because of their sexual preferences? Dignity of all human beings? Like butchery of non- Muslim “infidels” for practicing their faith?
Pervasive and perverse
Neither are these unrepresentative or isolated anecdotal instances of barbarity and bigotry that occur in Islamic societies. Indeed, they– and other manifestations of harsh brutality, totally foreign to American and “Western” ways –pervade much of the Muslim world. Extensive surveys of Muslim majority countries across Africa and Asia show that there is widespread endorsement for making Sharia the law of the land and adopting the severe practices prescribed in it.
A recent 2013 poll by Pew Research Center found that “solid majorities in most of the countries surveyed across the Middle East and North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia favor the establishment of sharia, including 71% of Muslims in Nigeria, 72% in Indonesia, 74% in Egypt and 89% in the Palestinian territories.”
An earlier pre-Arab Spring survey conducted in 2010 across seven major Muslim countries from Nigeria to Indonesia found that in most there were large majorities in favor of stoning for adultery, amputation of limbs for theft and death for apostasy (leaving Islam).
So while there is considerable country-to-country variation in the degree of support for the enforcement of the more brutal Sharia compliant prescriptions, it is clear that in terms of defining societal parameters – individual liberties, gender equality (including equality before the law), religious tolerance and socio-cultural pluralism – a gigantic gulf separates America from Islam.
One would be hard pressed to find any area where they do in fact “overlap and share common principles” in any significant manner.
‘Islam has always been part of America’s story’
In his Cairo “outreach” speech, with the Muslim Brotherhood seated in positions of prominence –much to the chagrin of his host Hosni Mubarak – Obama told his audience: “I know, too, that Islam has always been a part of America’s story.” Then extolling the alleged Muslim contribution to the development of the US he declared, no more than a few years after 9/11, when in the name of Islam, Muslims reduced the Twin Towers to a pile of rubble, he remarked: “Since our founding, American Muslims have enriched the United States. They have… built our tallest building [sic].”
Admittedly, much water has flown under the bridge since Obama’s initial outreach address to the Muslim world in June 2009, shortly after his election. But precisely because it was delivered when he was still unencumbered by domestic constraints and foreign frustrations, it perhaps reflected most accurately the unfiltered essence of the political instincts he brought to the Oval Office and the inputs that have gone into shaping his geopolitical credo.
His interpretation of the international role the US should play, the nature of the country’s interests, and the manner in which they should be pursued; his perception of friend and foe and the attitudes that should be adopted towards them, all seem to entail dramatic and disconcerting departure from that of most of his predecessors.
In this regard, he is the first US president who is explicitly and overtly unmoored, both cognitively and emotionally, from the bollards of America’s founding Judeo-Christian heritage, and who somehow conceives that Islam is not inherently inimical to American values.
It is through this Islamo-philic prism that the Obama-administration’s attitude to, and performance of, its foreign policy must be evaluated–including last weekend’s acquiescence on the Iranian nuclear issue.
The chilling thing
In the course of half a decade, under the stewardship of Obama, the US has had its standing shredded both in the eyes of its allies – and worse – in the eyes of its adversaries.
Debacle has piled upon debacle. Allies have been abandoned and enemies emboldened, worse, empowered. Inappropriate action has been complemented by equally inappropriate inaction. True, in 2009 Obama was handed an unenviable heritage from the preceding administration–a severe financial-turned-economic crisis and two ill-considered ground wars in Asia. But Obama has ensured that the latter will end in futile failure– even demoralizing defeat; while in dealing with the former he has precipitated soaring deficits, crippling debt and chronic and debilitating joblessness, coupled with burgeoning dependence on welfare.
But the really chilling aspect of the Obama incumbency is that it is genuinely difficult to diagnose whether the abysmal results we see represent a crushing failure of his policies or a calculated success; whether they are the product of chronic ineptitude or purposeful foresight; whether they reflect myopic misunderstanding, moronic incompetence or malicious intent.
This general conundrum is particularly pertinent with regard to what transpired in Geneva last Sunday, which appeared to many – including erstwhile Obamaphiles – to be an inexplicable US climb-down from what looked “suspiciously” like positions that heralded emerging success.
Some had little doubt as to what lay behind the move. In a forceful article, Caroline Glick asserted bluntly: “His goal is not to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power…The goal of Obama’s foreign policy is to weaken the State of Israel.”
Undermining allies, underpinning adversaries
Others took a more general, less Israel-centric, perspective on Obama motives.
“Obama has no interest in weakening our adversaries while he does seem to have an interest in weakening our allies”, warned Dinesh D’Souza, adding: “If you were trying to find a consistent way to predict what Obama is doing in the ME it is very simple. He has been undermining our allies and allowed our adversaries to remain in power.”
D’Souza, who directed the 2012 highest grossing documentary, “2016: Obama’s America,” which made a number of troubling predictions as to what to expect in the second term of Barack Obama, has now released a new video, suggesting how the president, driven by his “anti-colonial mindset” he allegedly imbued from his father, plans to “take America down a notch.”
D’Souza warned that Obama would “promiscuously” increase the debt to mortgage the US to foreign interests and would purposely strive to shrink the influence of American foreign policy. He points to what he sees as a “double-standard” in US policy under the current administration in the Mideast, intervening when this seems to advance Islamist interests (as in Egypt in 2010) and refraining to do so when this does not (as in Iran in 2009); engaging in Libya to depose a largely reformed Gaddafi but not in Syria to topple an inimical Assad.
D’Souza concludes that “this is not the unintentional effect of a blundering president,” hinting darkly :” When an intelligent man does something contradictory, it’s not because he is a fool but it is because he is up to something else.”
‘Then, it all makes perfect sense’
Now while I would advise against uncritical acceptance of all D’Souza’s arguments and interpretations of Obama’s conduct, they paint a picture plausible enough to be taken seriously. They certainly provide a cogent context for interpreting the reason for, and the significance of, what longtime Obama supporter Alan Dershowitz dubbed the US’s “Chamberlain moment” in Geneva over the weekend.
The veteran Democratic stalwart condemned the P5+1 pact, forged with the Iranian theocracy, as “a deal which is bad for the United States, for the West, and for Israel…” He railed : “…all reasonable, thinking people should understand that weakening the sanctions against Iran without demanding that they dismantle their nuclear weapons program is a prescription for disaster. Have we learned nothing from North Korea and Neville Chamberlain?”
By contrast, Bashar Assad lauded the accord! Indeed, with the ink barely dry on the agreement, it seems on the verge of falling apart, with Iran rejecting the White House interpretation of central clauses in it–regarding Iran’s right to enrich (with the Russians supporting Tehran’s version), and continued construction as the planned plutonium producing plant at Arak; and uncertainties as to the off-site development of components for its future operation.
Were all these flaws and ambiguities unintentionally overlooked? Or were they intentionally ignored? Was the agreement designed to prevent Iran from attaining weaponized nuclear capabilities? Or was it devised to sow dissension in the international front, assembled with such difficulty, to impose effective sanctions on Iran?
So on the face of it Dershowitz’s exasperated query” Have we learned nothing from North Korea and Neville Chamberlain?” should be perfectly understandable.
Unless of course, one assumes, as do Glick and D’Souza, that Obama’s “ goal is not to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power…[but] to weaken the State of Israel,” and that “Obama has no interest in weakening our adversaries while he does seem to have an interest in weakening our allies.”
Then, it all makes perfect sense!
Fractured foundations?
I do not pretend to know what Barack Obama’s true intentions are. I cannot determine with certainty whether he is a bungling novice or a brilliant strategist. I can only judge from his conduct and draw conclusions from my observations.
Now if I were asked: “How would anyone, who was purposefully aiming to undermine the Western world and bolster its antipodal adversaries, behave?,” I would be compelled to respond: “Much like Obama.” It is difficult to understate the long-term ramifications of the Obama-incumbency on what we have come to call the “West.” However it is becoming increasingly apparent that it will emerge from it severely battered, its spirit emaciated and its foundations fundamentally fractured.
Whether it will withstand the Obama legacy, only time will tell. But the outcome is far from certain.
Martin Sherman (www.martinsherman.net) is founder and executive director of the Israel Institute for Strategic Studies. (www.strategicisrael.org)
WarSclerotic 
November 29, 2013 at 5:30 PM
Reblogged this on BPI reblog and commented:
Will the West withstand the Obama presidency?
Crushing failure for the west, calculated success for Obama’s intentions.
November 29, 2013 at 5:59 PM
I recall that throughout 2008 and 2009 the leftist Israeli press tried to defend Obama despite all his radical supporters and history.
They actually tried to portray him as a friend of Israel!
Now no one in Israel can defend him anymore. At least they aren’t deluding themselves any longer, but I still wonder whether the American Jews will ever wake up and speak out.
If the Geneva betrayal doesn’t do it, nothing will!
November 30, 2013 at 5:31 AM
For you gloomers and doomers out there.
“Everything Is Amazing and Nobody Is Happy”
“Comedian Louis C.K. does a great skit showing how oblivious we can be when complaining about our lives.
We get frustrated when our cell phone reception goes out for 30 seconds without realizing how amazing cell phone technology is. “Can you give it a second?” Louis asks. “It’s going to space. Can you give a second to get back from space?”
“The worst cell phone in the world is a miracle,” he says. “Why are you so mad at it?”
It’s a wise question to ask. When something doesn’t work perfectly but is still much better than it used to be, you are better off. Our perceptions and emotions play an evil trick by convincing us otherwise.
“Everything is amazing and nobody is happy,” Louis says.
This could apply to the U.S. economy, too.
Everywhere you go these days, gloom wins.
“Jump in percentage of those saying things not going well,” reads one headline.
“Americans see more doom and gloom in the economy,” writes another.
“Americans Are Pessimistic, Miserable and Completely Fed Up,” warns another.
A lot of Americans are in bad shape. Their problems are worse than bad cell phone service. They’re unemployed, uninsured, underpaid, underappreciated, overmedicated, and overpromised.
But this is nothing new. It has always been true. And by most measures, most Americans live in a better, safer, more prosperous world today than they could have dreamed of a few decades ago.
These are the good ol’ days
Take income. You’ve probably read about how average household incomes have declined since 2000, adjusted for inflation. It’s a scary statistic.
But it needs perspective.
2000 was a fantasyland bubble where dynastic wealth could be created with fake dot-com companies in your parents’ basements. Same with the ensuing years, when teenagers became overnight real estate tycoons. Those were the aberrations, not today. Benchmarking success to bubble years gives an inflated sense of reality.
If I say the average family earns less today than it did in 2000, it sounds depressing. If I say the average family earns more today than it did in 1995, you get a much different view.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Do you remember 1995? It was awesome. We were in awe of how prosperous the country was. Consumer confidence was near a multi-decade high. “Our economy is the healthiest it has been in three decades,” President Clinton said in his State of the Union address that year. “We have the lowest combined rates of unemployment and inflation in 27 years. We have created nearly 8 million new jobs. America is selling more cars than Japan for the first time since the 1970s. And for three years in a row, we have had a record number of new businesses started in our country.”
Sounds wonderful.
And folks, the average American family earns more today than it did back then, adjusted for inflation.
Go ahead, argue that 18 years of near-stagnant real incomes is a failure. I hear you. Just realize that 2.8 billion people around the world earn less than $2 a day, and you’re upset that we aren’t richer than we were when we were already rich and felt like kings. “First-world problems,” as they say.
And it’s misleading to say the average household only earns a little more than it did in the 1990s. It actually earned quite a bit more in total compensation; it’s just that more of its compensation comes from employers paying for ever-growing health insurance premiums. Total compensation per hour — which includes things like health insurance and 401(k) matches — has done great over the last 40 years:
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
What are we getting in return for rising health insurance costs?
More life.
“Americans have come to view death as optional”
The average American born in 1950 could expect to live to age 68. The average American born in 2010 can expect to live to almost 79.
Source: Centers for Disease Controls actuary tables.
Think about that: In two generations, the average American gained a decade of life expectancy.
Do you know what can happen in a decade? A little more than 10 years ago, AOL dominated the Internet, oil cost $13 a barrel, Fortune magazine named Enron one of America’s “most admired corporations,” and Apple was a joke. Everything can change, in other words. You get an extra one of those now.
Minorities have made even greater progress. African Americans have gained 15 years of life expectancy since 1950.
Odds are this will continue. Biomedical gerontologist Aubrey de Grey thinks the first person to live to see their 150th birthday is already alive. As San Francisco Chronicle columnist Jon Carroll joked, “Americans have come to view death as optional.”
The biggest reason life expectancy has gone up is because childhood mortality has plunged, from 32 per 1,000 in 1950, to 19 in 1970, all the way down to six in 2012.
How often do we have BREAKING NEWS when stocks fall half a percent? Several times a week. But no one ever says, “Breaking news: Far Fewer Children are Dying Than Used To.” We ignore the really important news because it happens slowly, but we obsess over trivial news because it happens all day long. This is another evil trick our minds (and media) play on us.
Not only are fewer children dying, but older Americans are experiencing something they couldn’t dream about a few decades ago: retirement.
You get to wake up and literally do anything you want
We constantly worry about the looming “retirement funding crisis” in America without realizing that the entire concept of retirement is unique to the last five decades.
It wasn’t long ago that the average American man had two stages of life: work and death.
Even in the nostalgic 1960s, more than 40% of men age 65 and over were still working or looking for work:
Source: Economic History Association, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Think of it this way: The average American now retires at age 62. One hundred years ago, the average American died at age 51.
Poverty among the elderly has plunged, too. More than a quarter of those over age 65 were living in poverty in the 1960s, compared with less than 10% today. Medicare has only been around since the 1960s. Before that, as one 1963 Social Security report put it, “paying for necessary health services and providing adequate insurance for non-budgetable expenses remains beyond the economic capabilities of most aged persons.” As Frederick Lewis Allen wrote in his 1950 book The Big Change: “One out of every four families dependent on elderly people and two out of every three single elderly men and women had to get along in 1948 on less than $20 per week [$188 in today’s dollars].”
The job market Americans are retiring from has changed dramatically, too — largely for the better.
Perhaps you’ve heard about the laborforce participation rate falling over the last few years. It’s true — it’s declined, though largely due to demographics.
But a higher percentage of American adults are working or looking for work today than were in the 1950s, 1960s, or 1970s. That’s mostly because more women have entered the laborforce. And why did they enter? Because for the first time in history, they were treated as somewhat equal to men. The economy was excellent for white males in the 1950s and 1960s, but as Stephanie Coontz recently wrote:
In most states, his wife could not have taken out a loan or a credit card in her own name. If she wanted a job, she had to turn to the “Help Wanted — Female” section of the classifieds, where she might learn, as one 1963 ad in this newspaper put it, that “you must be really beautiful” to be hired. In 42 states, a homemaker had no legal claim on the earnings of her husband.
The workplace has become safer, too. In 1975, there were nine cases of occupational injuries or illness per 100 full-time workers per year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. By 2009, it was fewer than four.
Employers now allow their workers to have a life outside of work, which not long ago was a charming but unrealistic concept. Frederick Lewis Allan described working life in the first half of the 20th century:
The average working day was in the neighborhood of 10 hours, 6 days a week. In business offices there was a growing trend toward a Saturday half holiday, but if anyone had suggested a five-day week he would have been considered demented.
According to the Dallas Federal Reserve, the average work week has declined from 61 hours in 1870, to 48 hours in 1930, to 40 hours in 1950, to 39 hours today.
We’re using that extra time to have fun. The average American household now spends three times as much of its income on recreation as it did in the 1950s, according to the Consumer Expenditure Survey. The average employee with five years on the job receives 22 days paid vacation and holiday pay per year, up from 16 days in 1970, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The list goes on and on:
In 1950, the average household spent 30% of its budget on food. Today, less than 13% of an average budget has to be devoted to food.
High school graduation rates are at the highest level in 40 years.
Traffic deaths per 100,000 people have fallen by half since the 1960s.
The median new home today is 34% larger today than it was 25 years ago.
49% of new homes had air conditioning in 1973. Today, 89% do.
Nearly 30% of Americans over age 25 have a bachelor’s degree. In the 1960s, less than 10% did.
“Today,” Matt Ridley writes in his book The Rational Optimist, “of Americans officially designated as ‘poor,’ 99 per cent have electricity, running water, flush toilets, and a refrigerator; 95 per cent have a television, 88 per cent a telephone, 71 per cent a car and 70 percent air conditioning. Cornelius Vanderbilt had none of these.”
I’m not arguing that inefficiencies, injustices, and inequalities don’t exist today. Of course, they do. But they always have, and by comparison, we are living in one of the most prosperous times in the history of this world.
We have a lot to be thankful for.”
November 30, 2013 at 6:26 AM
With energy independence and technological dominance the good old US of A will be a shining beacon leading into the 21st century. Surely hope the rest of you can keep up.
November 30, 2013 at 11:28 AM
What bullcrap. What a pathetic joke of an argument. What a hypocrisy.
You are the one who spells doom and gloom for Israel all the time and you are the one who discounts any arguments against your doom and gloom in this area as wishful thinking and poliana.
You are entitled to grasp at straw and convince yourself that not all things are that bad in the good old US of A but be at least consistent.
It is very fitting that such a pathetic argument comes from a comedian. Only a comedian would resort to that kind of pathetic argument.
If you listen to serious guys like the guys from Wall Street Journal they’ll tell you that the lower labor participation rates are so low because most likely many have given up looking for a job and therefore are no longer part of those participating in the labor market.
Your comedian conveniently forgot that the US has a huge debt problem with trillions of debt, predicted to reach as much as 20 trillions (an alltime high) at the end of Obavez’ term.
From the treasury’s point of view a low inflation rate is bad because it prevents them from paying back the debt with a dollar that has less value. That’s the whole point of printing money to get rid of your debt.
But never mind that this comedian ignores the biggest problems, his argument is beyond pathetic.
It’s the argument most often used by losers and dishonest politicians who try to make the fact that they screwed up look less bad. “Yeah, we screwed up. Yeah, it’s bad. But we are still better off than the others.”
The only difference is, that this time he compares the US of the present with the US of the past. How pathetic.
Right. The guy living in the years of depression could tell himself that he is still better off than the guy living in the stone age.
And when the leader of the stoneage guy screwed up during the hunt for food, he could tell himself:
“Hey, it’s bad but we are still better off than the guys in the pre-stone age. We have stone tools. We create cloths that keep us warm from animal skin. etc. etc. etc.”.
And when the guy from the pre-stoneage was in a bad situation he could tell himself: “Hey, it’s bad but we are still better off than the guys living in the trees. We live in caves, have fire and use wooden spears for hunting. etc. etc. etc.
This should make it clear why this kind of argument is so pathetic.
As for the energy-independence stuff. Give me a break. There are countries which are energy-independend but still they have big structural economic problems like Russia.
Energy-independence is fine and I’m all for it. But while it is good from a geostrategic point of view it is not the silver bullet that can solve all your economic problems.
The problem of US debt has been mitigated greatly by the fact that the US dollar is the world’s reserve currency. If that’s no longer the case you will be in deep shit.
The Chinese and others are working slowly but steadily to end the dollar’s role as the world’s reserve currency.
Do we need to mention how ObavezCare is already hurting US economy?
Do we need to mention how US foreign policy is screwed by the Obavez desastministration?
You often credit Obavez with keeping the US out of costly wars. That is a valid point but it does not compensate for the damage that the team Obavez has done to US foreign policy.
Moreover we have to question then why goverment spending and debt is rising inspite of that.
November 30, 2013 at 11:58 AM
You make good points as always, artaxes….
Just LIGHTEN UP on the hostility please, OK?
November 30, 2013 at 12:37 PM
I’ve nothing against John as person.
I’m not hostile to him personally.
He is really a nice guy. It’s about his argument.
But I see, that’s the impression one can get.
OK. I’ll restrain myself in the tone.
November 30, 2013 at 1:58 PM
Thank you artaxes. The meaning of a message is what’s received, not what’s sent. Gotta be careful when all there is is written words. No tone of voice to clue people in.
Please contact me on the contact form I posted. I want to send you an email and I don’t want your address public.
Cheers!
Joe
November 30, 2013 at 4:47 PM
Good Morning one and all. :0)
Artaxes, ouch! Where do I begin with you?
The history of man is one of struggle and suffering. Man’s inhumanity to man is inconceivable. The Jews are aware of this more than most. Think about the struggle humanity endured and still does in many parts of the globe today. Wars, genocide, famine, I could go on and on. Yet we continue to move forward and try to make it all work. There is good and evil in this world, the struggle to make life good for all is a huge task. I believe at times we tend to focus on just the evil and overlook all the good.
Humanity moves forward in fits and starts, not all peoples enjoy the promises of technology equally or the bounty of a modern economy.
Israel for example is a robust country with a robust economy. The problem israel faces is the neighborhood it lives in. I believe it mismanaged this whole Iranian thing, but that’s just my opinion.
The good old US of A has also had its trials over the years; its Civil War, 1929 finacial collapse and numerous wars, again, I could go on and on. But through it all we’ve persevered.
Bad news sells newspapers, good news does not. We are now living in a world of 24-7-365 instant access due to the internet and the likes of CNN and FOX news to name a couple, and I’ll tell you we’re not being inundated with good news.
From where I sit the future of israel is full of peril due to the evil that surrounds it. If that evil is neutralized Israel’s future would be bright. That’s the genesis of most of our discussions on this site.
America on the other hand has a different story to tell. America has the largest economy and military in the world. America also rules the world vis a vie technology(Apple, Microsoft, Google and Facebook no name just a few) and is now energy independent. So yes, I belive the future of the good old US of A looks bright.
There are glass half full people and half empty people. I added that article to this site because I agree with it. Artaxes you are of course a free to disagree with it.
Merry Chritmass and Happy Hanukkah to one and all.
November 30, 2013 at 4:59 PM
Artaxes…
Please fill out the contact for so I can email you…
https://warsclerotic.wordpress.com/2013/11/30/contact-me/
November 30, 2013 at 5:09 PM
I think you and Artaxes are battling over words.
You approach the question on an absolute level and he on a relativistic level.
You: The US is economically the biggest and militarily the most powerful country in the world. What’s your problem?
Him. Remember the 90s? That was the only good times we’ve had since I was a kid. Other than that, it’s been a continuous downhill slide. Obama is putting the last nail in our coffin.
There’s no real disagreement between those two positions. It’s not even a half full/empty issue.
You speak of what the US has. He speaks of what it could have had.
I agree with both of you….. (What a weasel I am!)
November 30, 2013 at 5:12 PM
Things could always be better, I’d rather focus on the trend.
November 30, 2013 at 5:17 PM
John, damn it! If you don’t want to receive my email, just say so.
November 30, 2013 at 5:18 PM
What do you mean I filled out the form
November 30, 2013 at 5:20 PM
Shit….
I received nothing. My apologies.
Back to the goddamn drawing board….
November 30, 2013 at 11:27 PM
Hi John. Since time does not permit me to give you a sufficient answer I want to keep it very brief.
Based on Israel’s current strength and its ability to overcome the greatest obstacles and odds, proven througout its history I and others are seeing its future not as gloomy as you do.
Of course we cannot prove it. Only future can do that.
Based on America’s current strength and its ability to overcome the greatest obstacles and odds, proven througout its history you and others are seeing its future not as gloomy as I do.
Of course you cannot prove it. Only future can do that.
But while you accuse me and others with similar views of wishful thinking you do exactly the same with regards to America. That’s where I see hypocrisy on your part.
I don’t deny America’s strength but I see also the very real problems and dangers for America.
The same goes for Israel.
Going back to Joseph’s remark, he was almost correct about my view. I say almost, because I speak not only about what America could have but I also see what America could lose. That is a very real danger.
You once said that you are so passionate and sometimes harsh towards Bibi because you are worried about Israel.
Well, the same is true for me with regards to America.
Optimism does not mean denial of reality. Optimism has to be grounded in reality and the opportunities that reality provides.
I’m all for looking for opportunities but it would be foolish to see only the opportunities and ignore the dangers because only if you see the dangers as well you can avoid them and turn the potential reality of an opportunity into an actual reality.
Merry Christmas to you and everybody else.
And to our Jewish friends happy Chanuka.
December 1, 2013 at 3:02 AM
Merry Chritmas to you also Artaxes!
November 30, 2013 at 5:20 PM
Sent it again
November 30, 2013 at 5:21 PM
I’m going to check to see what went wrong….
Hang on.
November 30, 2013 at 6:04 PM
Gmail seems to be down here for 2 days if that’s what you guys are using
November 30, 2013 at 8:06 PM
Gmail is what I use and I’m still getting gmails….
November 30, 2013 at 8:54 PM
Ok cool, my entire google is down now too
November 30, 2013 at 9:42 PM
Hi JW, does your contact form work now?
November 30, 2013 at 11:40 PM
Already in his 2009 Cairo speech Obama was lying about Islam
June 4, 2009
Obama quotes verse 5:32, omits 5:33
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/06/obama_quotes_verse_532_omits_5.html
December 1, 2013 at 3:56 AM
Damn…I took a few days off stuffing myself with turkey and come back to find you guys raising hell. Somehow, I feel I missed something 🙂
December 1, 2013 at 6:31 AM
Hi LS,
Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving! Yup, we’ve had the usual dust ups. There are some here who believe the US is about to go the way of Atlantis. Go figure…..
JP