02/2/14

Dangerous Nonsense

Arlene from Israel

Motzei Shabbat (After Shabbat)

Ah that there would be six more hours in the day. Then I would be posting as often as I ideally would like to. But as this is not the case, in the last several days I’ve had to focus first on the Levy Report/Legal Grounds Campaign that I am so involved with. This situation is likely to persist for a while.

Here I begin by sharing an article of mine that came out in Front Page Magazine on Friday. Please, read it and share it with others. It makes points that need to be heard without further delay.

http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/arlene-kushner/no-time-to-spare-talking-about-israels-legal-grounds/

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As to the dangerous nonsense: Sometimes I assess the situation in this part of the world, as it is reported, and shake my head in bewilderment.

I have in mind, first, a position espoused by Netanyahu just about a week ago. He declared – in what seemed at the time a bid to reassure the political right – that “I have no intention of evacuating any settlement or uprooting any Israelis.”

He said this at the Davos economic conference, in Hebrew, to Israeli journalists he was briefing. Sounded good at the time. There has been so much talk about dismantling of “settlements” as part of an agreement.

http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Netanyahu-I-wont-evacuate-settlements-339353

But then subsequently a statement from an official in the Prime Minister’s office cast a decidedly different light on the matter: “His [Netanyahu’s] consistent position has been that those settlements that will be on the Palestinian side of the border should not be uprooted. Just as Israel has an Arab minority, the prime minister doesn’t see why Palestine can’t have a Jewish minority. The Jews living on their side should have a choice whether they want to stay or not.”

http://www.timesofisrael.com/pm-would-let-settlers-remain-in-west-bank-official-says/

Come again??

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Naftali Bennett, head of Habayit Hayehudi, saw the nonsense implicit in this position.

First on his Facebook page he wrote that:

[It] “reflects the loss of a moral compass. We didn’t experience 2,000 years of yearning for the Land of Israel so that we could live under the government of Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas]. Anyone thinking of placing the lives of Jews in the Land of Israel under Palestinian rule is pulling the rug out from under our presence in Tel Aviv.

“I call on the prime minister to immediately reject this terrible idea.”

And then Bennett further criticized Netanyahu’s position at a conference at the Institute for National Security Studies (emphasis added):

“A new idea has arisen: Jews will live in their lands but under Palestinian sovereignty. This will not happen, nor could it.

“Do you know why? Why Jews can’t live under Palestinian sovereignty? Why can’t Palestinians rule over Israelis? Because they’ll kill them. How do I know? How do I know? Because it has already happened. In Hebron, there were Jews living in peace with their Arab neighbors, but one day in 1929 they got up and killed the Jews. Just like that, those same Arab neighbors killed them…

“The essence of Zionism is sovereignty. Without sovereignty there is no Zionism. Jews under foreign sovereignty is a retreat as far as Zionism is concerned. We already tried that in Europe and it didn’t quite work out. What are the ramifications of even bringing such an idea up? What does that tell us?”

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.571122

Placing Jews under foreign rule would be a U-turn for Zionism, Bennett concluded.

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I don’t know where Netanyahu thought he was going, with this idea. Whether it was a good idea, or (which is the fact of the matter) an atrociously bad, one, it’s hard to believe it was a serious suggestion. For Abbas has made it clear up front, time and again, that there would not be a single Jew in the Palestinian state. And, indeed, PA officials were quick to call Netanyahu’s suggestion ridiculous.

I would like to think that our prime minister was simply attempting to expose the apartheid attitude of Abbas more clearly. But – while there were Israeli government statements regarding what the PA opposition to Jews in “their” proposed state tells us – I do not.

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It is significant that not only Bennett criticized Netanyahu’s idea. For, in fact, there was criticism voiced by several major players in Likud. Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin, for example, said:

“Only someone who suffers from the illusion that ‘the wolf will lie down with the lamb,’ and that one can place the lives of hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens at the mercy of those who conducted the [October 2000] lynch in Ramallah, can truly believe that we can assure the security of the Dan region and the central region if a Palestinian state is established.”

But Netanyahu’s greatest ire was reserved for Bennett, and his office let it be known that if there was not an apology from Bennett forthcoming, the composition of the coalition might change shortly.

This made a great deal of press here.

Matters cooled down after Bennett offered a semblance of an apology that, in my opinion, was nothing of the sort:

“If the prime minister was hurt, I am definitely saddened by that.

“There are sources that are trying to turn a fundamental debate about the future of our country and our safety to a personal attack that wasn’t intended.

“I respect Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his leadership under complicated conditions. I support him when needed and criticize him as needed; this is my duty.

“Imposing Palestinian sovereignty on Israeli citizens is dangerous, and it is my obligation to drop this idea from the agenda, and now the idea is gone.”

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4482409,00.html

Right on, Naftali!

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It is worth noting that a poll taken following this flap between Bennett and Netanyahu indicated that if elections were held today Habayit Hayehudi would go from its current 12 seats to 17 seats.

http://imra.org.il/story.php3?id=63045

This says heartening things about the attitude of our electorate, and perhaps will provide an appropriate signal to Netanyahu.

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The turmoil I’ve described here is indicative of the tensions resulting from the pressures being brought to bear by Kerry, in order to push through his soon-to-be announced framework for continuing “negotiations.” The rumors continue to fly (I will return to further discussion on this), and the pressure grows ever more intense.

Just today the American secretary of state, in Germany, indicated that a failure of the peace talks will lead to global boycotts and delegitimization of Israel.

This sort of threat by Kerry raises my own blood pressure more than a bit. He’s a man without principles who will stoop to anything in an effort to achieve his goals. And here I would like to speak for myself:

I will tighten my belt, figuratively, and do without a good deal, were there to be economic boycotts that reduced the standard of living here, rather than see a deal struck with the PLO in any terms whatsoever. For me, and many many others, this is a no-brainer. We will not be intimidated.

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And this is precisely what Bennett said (and I am pleased to quote him yet again, emphasis added):

I want to clarify to all those giving advice: the country has yet to be born that will give up its land because of economic threats, and we won’t either. Only security will bring financial stability, not a terror state next to the Ben Gurion Airport.

“We expect our friends in the world to stand by our side, against the anti-Semitic boycott attempts against Israel, and not to be the voice of the boycotts. We’ve known in the past and know today how to stay strong.”

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/176967#.Uu2LHZvNvIU

Kerry is likely to find that his tactics are backfiring.

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I’ve only begun to touch upon a multiplicity of subjects waiting to be written about – hopefully I will address others soon. But please, now that you’ve read about the pressures being put upon Israel, go back and read my article, if you have not yet done so. It is urgently and painfully relevant.

02/2/14

The Real Targets of Class Warfare

Blasted Fools

These aren’t the targets of ‘Class Warfare’. The real targets might surprise you.

There has been, as you’ve no doubt noticed, a persistent theme surging back and forth between the polar spectrums of political thought, regarding the question of ‘Class Warfare’. It especially animates many media personalities on the Right, who decry any criticism of the unprecedented rise of the accumulation of wealth within a small statistical segment of the American population. That segment, being the ‘1 percent’. The word is out that the well heeled are shaking in their boots in fear of the consequences of public sentiment turning against them. I find that rather absurd. The rich live in gated, guarded communities and surround themselves with security at work. If or when there is a collapse due to the unsustainability of welfare, both at the social level and the corporate end, the malcontents and the mobs will turn on the most convenient target – those of us with modest means.

I have a nuanced view of this controversy, that places me somewhat at odds with both sides of the argument. First I should put forth my basic premise on the subject of wealth. It has to do with from where it is derived and how it is obtained. If above average prosperity is generated by virtue of creativity, determination, innovation, hard work and producing things that are recognized as of value in a competitive economic environment – I consider that source of wealth and its existence as unassailable – in other words, beyond credible criticism. An example of such, that is front of mind at the moment, is Steve Jobs and the story of the rise of Apple. I personally am not a ‘Mac’ person, mostly for reasons of ingrained habits, but I do understand what people see in the Apple universe of products and I think Steve Jobs is the quintessential example of an entrepreneur who embraced the risk of failure and followed the authentically organic route to success. When Apple started, ‘venture capital’ as we know it today, did not exist. So, when you are talking about classic, traditional Free Enterprise – I will defend it with vigor and vehemence. There are many other examples like that of Apple’s founder.

The problem with the whole political football of ‘income equality’ and the ’1 percenters’ is that the discussion seems to be, on the surface, very clear cut, very black and white, with little to no shadings, or what a Russian might call, ‘chiaroscuro’ – to borrow a phrase from the world of art. In reality, however, the issue is much more complex. You can’t categorize all wealth accumulation in the same fashion, nor can you do so with the individuals that make up the ’1 percent’.

Some of the reflexive defenses of affluence, have to do with an historically ingrained notion, that rich people were, by the very definition of their status – somehow more virtuous than the other classes of society, namely the working class or the poor. If a person possessed wealth, it was considered that it was because they were endowed by fiat of the Almighty. To be rich was to be specially blessed and to be impoverished was an outward signifier of God’s displeasure. Public opinion in this regard, has evolved to a significant degree, but vestiges of this sentiment remain, even if they are subconscious.

In contrast to the example of Steve Jobs, (who righteously could have responded to Obama’s declaration that “you didn’t build that” – with, “I sure as Hell, did!”), there legitimately exists an element of the Über-rich, whose wealth can only be accounted for by their expertise and intense pursuit in leveraging government influence. Or, to state it differently – these individuals cannot properly attribute their status to hard work, innovation or the bringing to market of a ‘better mouse trap’. Instead, they have either individually, or collectively engaged in a fruitful process of skillfully bringing influence to bear with politicians and government agencies – and in so doing, have managed to multiply their assets at the expense of taxpayers and workers. In other instances, the payoff from lobbying and influence peddling, is to manipulate the legislative and regulatory environment of government at all levels, to establish market dominance – and in some cases, outright monopolies. A notable example of this is Obamacare, in which legislative enfranchisement is cynically recast as ‘reform’. Be very wary of anything Congress or the Executive branch proposes as a ‘reform’.

There is another example which I think those of you football fans who are awaiting the onset of the Super Bowl with breathless anticipation, will find incredible and that is the NFL. Did you know that in 1966, the NFL lured Congress with graft, to get them to write a carve out in tax law to classify them as a ‘non-profit organization’? A business that is this year raking in $9 Billion dollars? Don’t believe it? Here’s the summary of the code:

501(c)6 business organizations are defined as “associations of persons having some common business interest, the purpose of which is to promote such common interest and not to engage in a regular business of a kind ordinarily carried on for profit – including, “business leagues, chambers of commerce, real-estate boards, boards of trade and professional football leagues.”

When you really stop to consider it, there really is only one reason for the growth of the size of government at all levels and that is the reality that a great deal of prosperity among the investment class, follows the growth curve of government.

As to the phenomenon of class envy, certainly some of it can be associated with embrace of the tenets of Marxism. That is illogical though, when you consider that the adoption of Marxism by the Bolsheviks and the subsequent Soviet system, did not replace the oligarch class, but simply pushed one set of exploitative rulers out and situated another set in its place, instituting the cover story of Communism as a premise for the coup. The dual track of privilege vs. peasantry continued apace. It could also be observed, that for the Soviet system, as well as Mao’s regime, to function, required the purge of whatever modest middle class (‘Bourgeoisie’) existed. In any such oppressive authoritarian system, the middle class, not the peasant class, represents the greatest political threat. That is true in a nascent Fascist government / economy as well, evidenced by the aggressive destruction of the middle class in America.

So, is there ‘class warfare’ taking place – or is what we are seeing, something else possibly? There is no doubt that envy of rich people exists among some of us. For others though, it is resentment. Resentment that a powerful segment of the banking and investment house establishment on Wall Street, operated in the fashion of a casino operation that would have made the most rapacious mafioso in the boom era of Las Vegas, envious. Resentment that when the whole corrupt scheme centered around sucker bets like derivatives blew up as could be predicted, the working class, the middle class and the taxpaying class, took the hit, while the perpetrators – assisted by their cohorts in Congress, were rescued from the flames of the wreckage they created. Not only rescued and made whole, but rewarded (million dollar bonuses), and catapulted to even greater dimensions of affluence than before, by the infusion of billions of so-called stimulus funds from the Federal Reserve into the closed circuit of the securities markets. Resentment that as new asset bubbles result from non productive financialization in the banking sector, Americans on Main Street still suffer unemployment and wage stagnation. Resentment that the politically connected 1 percenters and multi-nationals have tax attorneys sitting in Congressional staff offices assisting in the creation of tax carve outs that are customized to the particular industry they are in. And resentment that the agents of these locusts, such as the United States Chamber of Commerce, are pushing ‘immigration reform’ as a means of sacrificing American workers and their wages to hoards of illegal aliens, while they profit from the pain of the unemployed.

Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), outlined his definition of “real inequality”, in his response to Obama’s SOTU speech – which he says can be divided into three areas: immobility among the poor, who are trapped by big-government programs; insecurity in the middle class, full of families who can’t get ahead, and cronyist privilege at the top, where insiders are twisting government officials to “profit at the expense of everyone else.”

While Lee said the President’s “lofty rhetoric” ignores poor and middle-class families, he also blamed the GOP. “To be fair, President Obama and his party did not create all of these problems, the Republican Establishment in Washington can be just as out-of-touch as the Democratic Establishment.”

As I see it, there are primarily two capitalistic models. One is predatory capitalism, sometimes referred to as corporatocracy and then there is Free Enterprise capitalism, alternately labeled ‘free market’ capitalism.

Free Enterprise capitalism is a win-win-win equation. It’s good for investors, good for workers and good for consumers, who have access to a wide range of choices in an openly competitive marketplace. Another win, is the win for taxpayers and for folks who prefer smaller, less corrupt, less paternal government. There is no better – in fact, I would say there is no other true answer for income inequality than a seismic shift in government and the economy back to Free Enterprise capitalism. Unfortunately, the heavy hand of the ruling class fears free markets so much that they even employ the emergent Police State to prevent a groundswell of unfettered economic activity.

On the other hand, predatory capitalism is invariably a win-lose equation. When capitalists and government are joined in unholy matrimony, someone – workers, taxpayers, consumers, sometimes all, must be victims in order for the predators to flourish. As one veteran journalist, Bill Moyers, has observed, “It’s no longer possible to tell where the corporate world ends and government begins.” That is the system that is in ascendance and which is reflexively and illogically defended by the NeoCon wing of the Republican party, and covertly by its toadies in the Democrat party, who take the campaign donations, but must maintain a pretense of animosity towards their benefactors.

The Democrats, including Barack Obama, blow a lot of smoke around, alluding to the notion that if possible, they would increase the tax burden on the rich. Nothing could be further from the truth. When it comes time to look for money, they won’t be looking for the plutocracy, they’ll be looking for the low hanging fruit of the middle class small business owner or professional, earning in the $200 to $500K range, because those are the only people who are not protected politically. If that’s you, you will be redefined as ‘wealthy’ and you will have a target painted on your back for the revenue hungry crime syndicate on Capitol Hill.

This 2014 election cycle needs to be a time for resumption of the revolt.

02/2/14

The West Chester OH TEA Party Invites You To Meet Acclaimed Author, Trevor Loudon, Feb 6th at 7pm

Pacific Freedom Foundation

Start: 6 February 2014 7:00 pm

Trevor Loudon will be in the Cincinnati area on a National book tour February 4th, 5th and 6th. Not only will you have the opportunity to hear and meet Trevor, you’ll also be able to purchase a signed copy of his latest book, The Enemies Within: Communists, Socialist and Progressives in the U.S. Congress.

Trevor Loudon is an acclaimed author, political researcher, dynamic speaker and blogger. He has been rated one of the top 50 bloggers for 3 consecutive years.

The Enemies Within exposes the comprehensive communist, socialist and extreme progressive infiltration of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. The book profiles fourteen Senators and more than fifty Representatives and their ties to the Communist Party USA, Democratic Socialists of America, radical anti-American organizations and more.

Ever wonder why the US Congress has moved further and further left over your lifetime, even while much of the electorate has become more and more conservative? Why government regulation and taxes have exponentially increased, even though most Americans still oppose Big Government?

The Enemies Within is designed to show American voters exactly how modern communism works and how it impacts on your life, every single day. Just how do the communists win big on things like Obamacare and immigration “reform”, which go completely against the wishes of the American people?

If you want to know exactly who is tearing down your beloved country… this is a MUST READ.

Tell your family, friends, neighbors and co-workers. Plan to attend — you don’t want to regret missing this incredible opportunity.

This event is free and open to the public.

The West Chester TEA Party
February 6th, Thursday | 7:00 pm

Butler Tech – Auditorium
3603 Hamilton-Middletown Rd.
(Rt. 4), Hamilton, OH 45011

If your TEA Party, 9.12 Project, or patriotic group would like to have Trevor Loudon speak, please contact Regina Thompson.

Check Trevor’s TOUR MAP AND SCHEDULE, constantly being updated with new events and venues.

HURRY! Events are booking up fast.

02/2/14

Trevor Loudon Speaks to the Warren Co. TEA Party Feb 5th, About ‘The Enemies Within…’

Pacific Freedom Foundation

Start: 5 February 2014 7:00 pm
Venue: Administration Bldg.

Trevor Loudon will be in the Cincinnati area on a National book tour February 4th, 5th and 6th. Not only will you have the opportunity to hear and meet Trevor, you’ll also be able to purchase a signed copy of his latest book, The Enemies Within: Communists, Socialist and Progressives in the U.S. Congress.

Trevor Loudon is an acclaimed author, political researcher, dynamic speaker, and blogger. He has been rated one of the top 50 bloggers for 3 consecutive years.

The Enemies Within exposes the comprehensive communist, socialist and extreme progressive infiltration of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. The book profiles fourteen Senators and more than fifty Representatives and their ties to the Communist Party USA, Democratic Socialists of America, radical anti-American organizations and more.

Ever wonder why the US Congress has moved further and further left over your lifetime, even while much of the electorate has become more and more conservative? Why government regulation and taxes have exponentially increased, even though most Americans still oppose Big Government?

The Enemies Within is designed to show American voters exactly how modern communism works and how it impacts on your life, every single day. Just how do the communists win big on things like Obamacare and immigration “reform”, which go completely against the wishes of the American people?

If you want to know exactly who is tearing down your beloved country… this is a MUST READ.

Tell your family, friends, neighbors and co-workers. Plan to attend — you don’t want to regret missing this incredible opportunity.

This event is free and open to the public.

The Warren County OH TEA Party
February 5th, Wednesday | 7:00pm

Administration Building
406 Justice Drive
Lebanon, OH 45036

If your TEA Party, 9.12 Project, or patriotic group would like to have Trevor Loudon speak, please contact Regina Thompson.

Check Trevor’s TOUR MAP AND SCHEDULE, constantly being updated with new events and venues.

HURRY! Events are booking up fast.