Not "wild and crazy" Steve Martin? Isn't there a novelist with the same name? Or is that Steve Martini?

Ultimately you end up asking yourself, why in the hell did I just watch that?

australian slang for masturbating.

The Obamessiah is demanding that political critics of his be silenced by the Justice Dept. because they dare publicize his close friendships with unrepentant domestic terrorists. If this is what he's doing now, WTF will happen when an Emperor Obama has control of the government machinery to silence his critics? May as well prepare for Soviet Amerika, folks.

Q: Name one dissident Muslim filmmaker who criticizes his religion's extremist practitioners? Tick...tock...tick...tock...I' m still waiting? [crickets] How many film critics are working under Sharia law, Massa?

Exactly.

More colossal hateful ignorance from AICN comparing heartland Americans to blood thirsty terrorist. Nice.

Calling heartland Americans "catch phrase spouting, fox watching, heartland types who often accidentally confuse the word Muslim with the word Terrorist" is a hateful stereotype.

Ironic, since you are endorsing a movie meant to challenge stereotypes.

That said, love or hate these guys cause of their personal politics...it's all good stuff in the end. Be you Ron Silver or George Clooney...make good stuff and we'll watch! But fuck Streisand. I don't care if I agree or disagree with her...she just seems like such an asswipe or some other ass-based appliance, in place of being a person.

Political theology defends the primacy of action against knowledge, because political theology places everything under the commandment to be obedient. Political theology obtains its justification as a theory by “reviving lively oppositions and grouping the warring opponents as lively enemies,” by forcing people to take sides in the quarrel of faith against faith, and by answering to the “concrete call of history” by joining the battle with a polemical doctrine of the political and maintaining awareness of the inescapability of the political.

The most urgent task of political theology consists in concentrating all forces on the decision “that alone matters.” Regarding when, where, and against whom this decision must be made, however, political theology cannot specify anything. It cannot prescribe any particular taking of sides or give action a “concrete” orientation, for the paths of Providence are unfathomable. The most important decision remains in every respect a matter of faith. One could say: political theology stops here, and the political theologian is wholly in his own realm. Is one to suppose that the decision born of the obedience of faith in the supreme authority cannot, in the end, be distinguished from the decision that bases one’s commitment on nothing?

More burdensome than the weight of the “theoretical” and practical decisions that political theology loads upon the political theologian is the relief if offers him in the very same decisions by means of the certainty that the course of fate is always in order already and that salvation is the meaning of all world history. [T]he battle of decision occurs solely between the mortal enemies. Apparently it has to be waged against the “mass of faith of an antireligious, this-wordly activism”. But in what figure: in the figure of bolshevism or that of liberalism? … In the event that the battle of decision still lies in the distant future and that what matters here and now is, short of the eschatological confrontation, to strengthen the katechon that can subdue the Antichrist for an unknown period, how can the restrainer be distinguished from the hastener, and from the hastener in spite of himself?

-- Meier, The Hidden Dialogue, p. 79-80.

In the words of the greatest political pundit of all time, Krang "Vote third party? Go ahead, throw your vote away!"

BG Archives

Lucilla cautioned herself not to assume too familiar a feeling about this acid-green room and the recurring presence of Great Honored Matre. This was Junction, stronghold of the ones who sought extermination of the Bene Gesserit. This was the enemy. Day seventeen. …

Great Honored Matre entered and sank into her chair.

Lucilla pitched her voice in the merry lilt: “Good morning, Dama.”

“I did not give you permission to call me that.” Low and with beginning flecks of orange in the eyes.

“Futar and I have been having a conversation.”

“I know.” More orange in the eyes. “And if you have spoiled him for me…”

“But Dama—”

“Don’t call me that!” Out of her chair, eyes blazing orange.

“Do sit down,” Lucilla said. “This is no way to conduct an interrogation.” Sarcasm, a dangerous weapon. “You said yesterday you wanted to continue our discussion of politics.”

“How do you know what time it is?” Sinking back in her chair but eyes still flaming.

“All Bene Gesserit have this ability. We can feel the rhythms of any planet after a short time on it.”

“A strange talent.”

“Anyone can do it. A matter of being sensitised.”

“Could I learn this?” Orange fading.

“I said anyone. You’re still human, aren’t you?” A question not yet fully answered.

“Why do you say you witches have no government?”

Wants to change the subject. Our abilities worry her. “That’s not what I said. We have no conventional government.”

“Not even a social code?”

“There’s no such thing as a social code to meet all necessities. A crime in one society can be a moral requirement in another society.”

“People always have government.” Orange completely faded. Why does this interest her so much?

“People have politics. I told you that yesterday. Politics: the art of appearing candid and completely open while concealing as much as possible.”

“So you witches conceal.”

“I did not say that. When we say ‘politics,’ that’s a warning to our Sisters.”

“I don’t believe you. Humans always create some form of …”

“Accord?”

“As good a word as any!” It angers her.

When Lucilla made no further response, Great Honored Matre leaned forward. “You’re concealing!”

“Isn’t it my right to hide from you things that might help you defeat us?” There’s a juicy morsel of bait!

“I thought so!” Leaning back with a look of satisfaction.

“However, why not reveal it? You think the niches of authority are always there for the filling and you don’t see what that says about my Sisterhood.”

“Oh, please tell me.” Heavy-handed with her sarcasm.

“You believe all of this conforms to instincts going back to tribal days and beyond. Chiefs and Elders. Mystery Mother and Council. And before that, the Strong Man (or Woman) who saw to it that everyone was fed, that all were guarded by fire at the cave’s mouth.”

“It makes sense.”

Does it really?

“Oh, I agree. Evolution of the forms is quite clearly laid out.”

“Evolution, witch! One thing piled on another.”

Evolution. See how she snaps at key words?

“It’s a force that can be brought under control by turning it upon itself.”

Control! Look at the interest you’ve aroused. She loves that word.

“So you make laws just like anyone else!”

“Regulations, perhaps, but isn’t everything temporary?”

Intensely interested. “Of course.”

“But your society is administered by bureaucrats who know they cannot apply the slightest imagination to what they do.”

“That’s important?” Really puzzled. Look at her scowl.

“Only to you, Honored Matre.”

“Great Honored Matre!” Isn’t she touchy!

“Why don’t you permit me to call you Dama?”

“We’re not intimates.”

“Is Futar an intimate?”

“Stop changing the subject!”

“Want tooth clean,” the Futar said.

“You shut up!” Really blazing.

The Futar sank to its haunches but it was not cowed.

Great Honoured Matre turned her orange gaze toward Lucilla. “What about bureaucrats?”

“They have no room to maneuver because that’s the way their superiors grow fat. If you don’t see the difference between regulation and law, both have the force of law.”

“I see no difference.” She doesn’t know what she reveals.

“Laws convey the myth of enforced change. A bright new future will come because of this law or that one. Laws enforce the future. Regulations are believed to enforce the past.”

“Believed?” She doesn’t like that word, either.

“In each instance, action is illusory. Like appointing a committee to study a problem. The more people on the committee, the more preconceptions applied to the problem.”

Careful! She’s really thinking about this, applying it to herself.

Lucilla pitched her voice in its most reasonable tones. “You live by a past-magnified and try to understand some unrecognised future.”

“We don’t believe in prescience.” Yes, she does! At last. This is why she keeps us alive.

“Dama, please. There’s always something unbalanced about confining yourself to a tight circle of laws.”

Be careful! She didn’t bridle at your calling her Dama.

Great Honored Matre’s chair creaked as she shifted in it. “But laws are necessary!”

“Necessary? That’s dangerous.”

“How so?”

Softly. She feels threatened.

“Necessary rules and laws keep you from adapting. Inevitably, everything comes crashing down. It’s like bankers thinking they buy the future. ‘Power in my time! To hell with my descendants!’ ”

“What are descendants doing for me?”

Don’t say it! Look at her. She’s reacting out of the common insanity. Give her another small taste.

“Honored Matres originated as terrorists. Bureaucrats first and terror as your chosen weapon.”

“When it’s in your hands, use it. But we were rebels. Terrorists? That’s too chaotic.”

She likes that word “chaos.” It defines everything on the outside. She doesn’t even ask how you know her origins. She accepts our mysterious abilities.

“Isn’t it odd, Dama …” No reaction; continue. “… how rebels all too soon fall into old patterns if they are victorious? It’s not so much a pitfall in the path of all governments as it is a delusion waiting for anyone who gains power.”

“Hah! And I thought you would tell me something new. We know that one: ‘Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.’ ”

“Wrong, Dama. Something more subtle but far more pervasive: Power attracts the corruptible.”

“You dare accuse me of being corrupt?”

Watch the eyes!

“I? Accuse you? The only one who can do that is yourself. I merely give you the Bene Gesserit opinion.”

“And tell me nothing!”

“Yet we believe there’s a morality above any law, which must stand watchdog on all attempts at unchanging regulation.”

You used both words in one sentence and she didn’t notice.

“Power always works, witch. That’s the law.”

“And governments that perpetuate themselves long enough under that belief always become packed with corruption.”

“Morality!”

She’s not very good at sarcasm, especially when she’s on the defensive.

“I’ve really tried to help you, Dama. Laws are dangerous to everyone—innocent and guilty alike. No matter whether you believe yourself powerful or helpless. They have no human understanding in and of themselves.”

“There’s no such thing as human understanding!”

Our question is answered. Not human. Talk to her unconscious side. She’s wide open.

“Laws must always be interpreted. The law-bound want no latitude for compassion. No elbow room. “ ‘The law is the law!’ ”

“It is!” Very defensive.

“That’s a dangerous idea, especially for the innocent. People know this instinctively and resent such laws. Little things are done, often unconsciously, to hamstring ‘the law’ and those who deal in that nonsense.”

“How dare you call it nonsense?” Half rising from her chair and sinking back.

“Oh, yes. And the law, personified by all whose livelihoods depend on it, becomes resentful hearing words such as mine.”

“Rightly so, witch!” But she doesn’t tell you to be silent.

“ ‘More law!’ ” you say. ‘We need more law!’ So you make new instruments of non-compassion and, incidentally, new niches of employment for those who feed on the system.”

“That’s the way it’s always been and always will be.”

“Wrong again. It’s a rondo. It rolls and rolls until it injures the wrong person or the wrong group. Then you get anarchy. Chaos.” See her jump? “Rebels, terrorists, increasing outbursts of raging violence. A jihad! And all because you created something inhuman.”

Hand on her chin. Watch it!

“How did we wander so far away from politics, witch? Was this your intention?”

“We haven’t wandered a fraction of a millimetre!”

“I suppose you’re going to tell me you witches practice a form of democracy.”

“With an alertness you cannot imagine.”

“Try me.” She thinks you’ll tell her a secret. Tell her one.

“Democracy is susceptible to being led astray by having scapegoats paraded in front of the electorate. Get the rich, the greedy, the criminals, the stupid leader and so on ad nauseam.”

“You believe as we do.” My! How desperately she wants us to be like her.

“You said you were bureaucrats who rebelled. You know the flaw. A top-heavy bureaucracy the electorate cannot touch always expands to the system’s limits of energy. Steal it from the aged, from the retired, from anyone. Especially from those we once called middle class because that’s where most of the energy originates.”

“You think of yourselves as … as middle class?”

“We don’t think of ourselves in any fixed way. But Other Memory tells us the flaws of bureaucracy. I presume you have some form of civil service for the ‘lower orders.’ ”

“We take care of our own.” That’s a nasty echo.

“Then you know how that dilutes the vote. Chief symptom: People don’t vote. Instinct tells them it’s useless.”

“Democracy is a stupid idea anyway!”

“We agree. It’s demagogue-prone. That’s a disease to which electoral systems are vulnerable. Yet demagogues are easy to identify. They gesture a lot and speak with pulpit rhythms, using words that ring of religious fervor and god-fearing sincerity.”

She’s chuckling!

“Sincerity with nothing behind it takes so much practice, Dama. The practice can always be detected.”

“By Truthsayers?”

See how she leans forward? We have her again.

“By anyone who learns the signs: Repetition. Great attempts to keep your attention on words. You must pay no attention to words. Watch what the person does. That way you learn the motives.”

“Then you don’t have a democracy.” Tell me more Bene Gesserit secrets.

“But we do.”

“I thought you said …”

“We guard it well, watching for the things I’ve just described. The dangers are great but so are the rewards.”

“Do you know what you’ve told me? That you’re a pack of fools!”

“Nice lady!” the Futar said.

“Shut up or I’ll send you back to the herd!”

“You not nice, Dama.”

“See what you’ve done, witch? You’ve ruined him!”

Ohhhhh. Look at that smile.

Lucilla matched the smile precisely, pacing her own breaths to those of the Great Honored Matre. See how alike we are? Of course I tried to injure you. Wouldn’t you have done the same in my place?”

“So you know how to make a democracy do whatever you want.” A gloating expression.

“The technique is quite subtle but easy. You create a system where most people are dissatisfied, vaguely or deeply.”

That’s how she sees it. Look at her nod in time to your words.

Lucilla held herself to the rhythm of Great Honored Matre’s nodding head. “This builds up widespread feelings of vindictive anger. Then you supply targets for that anger as you need them.”

“A diversionary tactic.”

“I prefer to think of it as distraction. Don’t give them time to question. Bury your mistakes in more laws. You traffic in illusion. Bullring tactics.”

“Oh, yes! That’s very good!” She’s almost gleeful. Give her more bullring.

“Wave the pretty cape. They’ll charge it and be confused when there’s no matador behind the thing. That dulls the electorate just as it dulls the bull. Fewer people use their vote intelligently next time.”

“And that’s why we do it!”

We do it! Does she listen to herself?

“Then you rail against the apathetic electorate. Make them feel guilty. Keep them dull. Feed them. Amuse them. Don’t overdo it!”

“Oh, no! Never overdo it.”

“Let them know hunger awaits them if they don’t fall into line. Give them a look at the boredom imposed on boat rockers.” Thank you, Mother Superior. It’s an appropriate image.

“Don’t you let the bull get an occasional matador?”

“Of course. Thump! Got that one! Then you wait for the laughter to subside.”

“I knew you didn’t allow a democracy!”

“Why won’t you believe me?” You’re tempting fate!

“Because you’d have to permit open voting, juries and judges and …”

“We call them Proctors. A sort of Jury of the Whole.”

Now you’ve confused her.

“And no laws … regulations, whatever you want to call them?”

“Didn’t I say we defined them separately? Regulation—past. Law—future.”

“You limit these … these Proctors, somehow!”

“They can arrive at any decision they desire, the way a jury should function. The law be damned!”

“That’s a very disturbing idea.” She’s disturbed all right. Look at how dull her eye are.

“The first rule of our democracy: no laws restricting juries. Such laws are stupid. It’s astonishing how stupid humans can be when acting in small, self-serving groups.”

“You’re calling me stupid, aren’t you!”

Beware the orange.

“There appears to be a rule of nature that says it’s almost impossible for self-serving groups to act enlightened.”

“Enlightened! I knew it!”

That’s a dangerous smile. Be careful.

“It means flowing with the forces of life, adjusting your actions that life may continue.”

“With the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number, of course.”

Quick! We’ve been too clever! Change the subject! “That was an element the Tyrant left out of his Golden Path. He didn’t consider happiness, only survival of humankind.”

We’ve said change the subject! Look at her! She’s in a rage!

Great Honored Matre dropped her hand away from her chin. “And I was going to invite you into our order, make you one of us. Release you.”

Get her off this! Quick!

“Don’t speak,” Great Honored Matre said. “Don’t even open your mouth.

Now you’ve done it!

“You’d help Logno or one of the others and she’d be in my seat!!” She glanced at the crouching Futar. “Eat, darling?”

“Not eat nice lady.”

“Then I’ll throw her carcass to the herd!”

“Great Honored Matre—”

“I told you not to speak! You dared call me Dama.”

She was out of her chair in a blur. Lucilla’s cage door slammed open with a crash against the wall. Lucilla tried to dodge but the shigawire confined her. She did not see the kick that crushed her temple.

As she died, Lucilla’s awareness was filled with a scream of rage—the horde of Lampadas venting emotions it had confined for many generations.

Chapterhouse: Dune, pp. 149-158.

By the way Massa can bash Fox watching Republicans just like I can bash conspiracy theory spouting liberals. Both sides have some loonies. Of course, most conservatives are more free to spew their lunacy on the airwaves without interference.

I'm eager to see a film that explores the meaning of patriotism and undivided loyalty to the country in which one lives, the country that offers that person a place to call home, and not allow radical influences - religious or otherwise, to cloud that loyalty. certainly this kind of movie would benefit many people whose loyalties are muddled, to say the least.

Maybe some of these people would be lucky enough to catch a free screening, too.

As for Israel, I wouldn't want to see them nuked or otherwise devastated, but that's not exactly at the top of my agenda - nor is it really on it.

My priority happens to be the welfare of my country - which happens to be the United States. Do Italian-Americans support Italy first? No. Do Irish-Americans support Ireland first? No.

Seems to me if you live in America, you ought to put America first. Now our views on what's best for America may, and likely will, differ, but at least our loyalty should be undoubtable.

Which unfortunately is not the case for Morbid. But alas, that's his choice to make - good or bad.

Bill: There's a long history to people like BSB making charges of dual loyalty, and it's not a pretty one. Catholics used to be accused of dual loyalties to the Vatican, as well, although we hear less of that now.

BSB, of course, is being his usual dishonest self when he claims he doesn't give Jews much thought. Most political talkbacks will eventually lead to some comment from him about Jews and their major part in the world's woes. It's BSB's second favorite subject, next to spamming talkbacks with multiple unfunny jokes about things like imaginary movie titles. BSB's delusional about Jews, but it's even sadder that, in his words, he thinks of AICN talkbackers as his "audience."

http://tinyurl.com/5sw6bs

But it's a very good thing that no one buys his linking of NeoConservatism, or Zionism even, to Judaism. Smart people know there's nothing common between the two, and in fact there's an ocean of differences instead. Maybe that explains why the vast majority of Jews are Liberals, to Morbid's neverending dismay.

First, let me just say this: The security of Israel is sacrosanct!

With that out of the way ...

1) I do not believe the Jewish community was behind the attacks of 9/11/01.

2) I like Jews, in general. I also like Fijians in general. Simply said, I tend to like all people. And yes, I do have Jewish friends and would welcome Fijians into my social circle should I ever come across them.

3) I do not believe Jews are less human than anyone, ethnically or religiously. I do think twirly sideburns are funny looking, but in my eyes, that in no way reflects upon the character of that person.

Maybe he's getting the strange feeling that - for lack of a better word - switftboating someone is not exactly effective in a talkback. But it's amusing to us that he's trying so hard.

http://tinyurl.com/6b8c8y

9/19/01:

Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, when asked what the 9/11 attacks means for relations between the US and Israel, replies, “It’s very good ... Well, not very good, but it will generate immediate sympathy ... From national networks to small-town newspapers, the view that America’s terrible taste of terrorism will finally do away with even modest calls for the restraint of Israel’s military attacks on Palestinian towns has become an instant, unshakable axiom. Now, support for Israel in America is officially absolute, and Palestinians are cast once again as players in a global terrorist conspiracy.”

4/16/08:

The Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv on Wednesday reported that Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu told an audience at Bar Ilan university that the September 11, 2001 terror attacks had been beneficial for Israel.

"We are benefiting from one thing, and that is the attack on the Twin Towers and Pentagon, and the American struggle in Iraq,"

With friends like this, we're guaranteed to have enemies.

Oh well. At least it's plainly clear to the rest of us.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/g reenwald/2008/07/20/israel/ind ex.html

http://tinyurl.com/6famdc

But hey enough about me. Let's talk about what a "big fan of abortions" you are.

And Morbid thinks there is "nothing wrong" with this vile sentiment and it's "really fine".

Well, I don't agree. And not only do I not agree, I believe it's absolutely traitorous to support that sentiment.

But in Morbid's case, I'm not really surprised. Because people like him hold loyalties to lands beyond our shores, and only regard America as a tool - no matter the cost to us - to advance their far-away agendas.

I wish this weren't the case, to have such a treasonous mole in our midst, but to know ... is better than not to know.

This stupid "double loyalty" argument is the same as the one Poland used when they expelled thousands of Jews in the 1960s. The irony is that if the Pope had suddenly gone nutzoid and told all good Catholics to overthrow their governments and chop the arms off of their leaders, plenty of zany Poles would have gotten their machetes out.

Extremist left wing asshats and extremist right wing fucktards can go fuck themselves.

Obama 2008!

You're giving Netanyahu far more credit than he warrants. The man views 9/11 - strategically - as a boon to Israel. He said it on 9/19/01, and he said it on 4/16/08. Shit, I'm sure he was thinking it on 9/10/01 too.

As for "double loyalty", we're not talking about Poland and the 60s. We're not even talking about Jews. We're talking about one desperate loner going by the screenname of MorbidObesity.

As you can see from this talkback, I don't project his personal treason upon others by affiliation, unlike his sorry attempt to project any perceived and imagined racism to, well, everyone in this talkback. BSB don't play like that.

I can't stand MorbidFuckface either, but I don't see how supporting a U.S. ally constitutes treason to the United States. The fact is, we'd offer just as much support to the UK, for example, if they were in a similar situation as Israel is. There would be British-American lobbying groups in Washington and everything else that goes along with it.

You know, BSB, Israel used to be an American liberal darling. One of the unfortunate side effects of rabid leftist anti-neoconism (I loathe them, but I'm not an extremist) is that they do everything they can to discredit EVERYTHING the neocons support -- including Israel, to the point where they, like HoboLoad, have gone on record advocating Israel's "dismantling". If neocons said "Breathing is good for you and eating poop is bad", there would be people saying "Breathing is a fascist plot! We must all eat shit!" There are idiots like that on the right too. Those are the ones who, like BraneRobot, refer to Obama as a "racist communist".

I don't think there would be much support for the UK if they were committing democide, bulldozing houses and farms, murdering American peace advocates, shooting missles in refugee camps, spying on us, and leveraging 9/11 and our "American struggle in Iraq" for their benefit.

As for Israel, I believe we need to approach their conflict with the Palestinians with an even hand - or not at all. I am fully aware that there are indeed a majority of Israelis who do not support their government's policies and I back their stand. But my chief concern is for the USA. We were on the cusp of some peace-making breakthroughs with Yitzhak Rabin ... until he was assassinated by the Israeli Right, who the NeoCons are deeply in bed with. That's the kind of poisonous environment that the US does not need to get entangled with.

As for BraneRobot, I give him credit for one thing - he said the US should withdraw all support for Israel and not get involved in their conflict. Yep - he did say that. If Israel should ever come to its senses, I'd be in support of them as an ally. But now, in no way are they acting as any kind of "friend or partner".

As evidenced by this quote of Netanyahu's:

"We are benefiting from one thing, and that is the attack on the Twin Towers and Pentagon, and the American struggle in Iraq."

That place is poison - even for its own people.

Most of the interest groups in the United States who work with maintaining the special bond between the U.S. and Israel have done so for as long as Israel has existed and I believe most of them only do so to maintain that relationship, regardless of the current stringent policies of the Israeli government.

Do I support Israel's policies in the occupied territories? Hell no. Bearing that in mind, there are other, vile countries who are U.S. allies the support of which should be withdrawn long before Israel's. A special sort of pressure should be applied to Israel for two reasons:

1) They're ostensibly within the "family" of democratic states in the world and need to live up to the name a whole lot better than they are.

2) Because they assume -- correctly -- that no matter what they do, America will always support them.

LOADS of pressure should be put on Israel by the U.S. My quarrel is with the pinheaded notion that somehow a vast and ancient cabal of Jews is pulling America's puppet strings, which is about as inane as saying that because America refuses to get rid of its trade embargo with Cuba, Cuban exiles in the U.S. are pulling America's puppet strings. In both cases it comes down to politicians catering to segments of the U.S. population in order to win financial support and/or votes.

Furthermore, you're giving Olmert a lot of credit he doesn't deserve. The guy's a tool.

I don't see the strategic value of Israel to America. If even as a burgeoning democracy-in-name-only whose current state is closer to apartheid, then yes I do think we should use our relationship to encourage better treatment of Arabs within its borders, to give material support to the Israelis who do advocate a true democracy.

If we're their "ally" I expect them to treat us as such. I have yet to see Israel treat America as a valued ally, and in light of Netanyahu's despicable revelation of his (and his cohorts') mindset, I am convinced that they are acting more as a parasite (or worse) than anything else.

As for an "ancient cabal of Jews pulling America's puppet strings", I think you'd admit I never said anything to that effect. In fact, I would agree with you that there is no widespread conspiracy among the Jewish people. Far from it - why else would I point out that the vast majority of Jews are Liberal and oppose Israel's and the NeoCons' policies?

But that reality does not preclude the other awkward reality that there are, indeed, NeoCons of Jewish descent whose loyalties to - and specific policies in support of - Israel have caused harm to America. That's not just a reality that has to be faced by the greater opposition Jewish community, but by America as well.

As you can see from a Salon article cited above by RBatty, the vast majority of American Jews oppose the NeoCons. And it is within that article that the case is made that our politicians, our public servants, should not be catering to any segments of the population but should in fact cater to the nation as a whole. To cater to the moles at AIPAC is not to cater to the American Jewish community at large, and certainly does not cater to the whole of America.

I'm NOT supporting the idea that Israel should enjoy our support no matter what. My point is that the more extreme elements of Israeli politics run rampant BECAUSE they know they'll get support no matter what. I believe wholeheartedly that American no-strings-attached support is in part to blame for Israel's straying from its democratic core tenets.

Also, I'm not supporting the catering to certain segments in American society for the sake of votes and/or financial favors. I mentioned it as a sad fact in American politics, but not something exclusively "Jewish" (or Cuban for that matter) which some conspiracy theorists would have us believe.

As an aside, have you read how Sarah Palin is a Pat Buchanan adherent? Not only will this give MorbidBanality bouts of sweat-drenching anxiety, but it's sure to make things interesting in McCain's camp, which includes a fair number of NeoCon advisors. Should be fun to watch ... from our side, of course.