James R. MacLean Is A Very Smart Man
I dunno if many of our regulars click through my set of links over there [points], the name of which, ‘Retardo Roll’ belies those sites’ quality. No, it is not a collection of mentally-challenged tubes of TP; it is, rather, a collection of mostly underappreciated (Blog King Atrios is an exception, of course) of mostly political bloggers (Fagistan and SavageMinds being exceptions as they blog overwhelmingly about literature and anthropology, respectively), one of whom is the criminally-overlooked James R. MacLean.
Take his post here, for instance, on the History of Hamas (and so much more). Excerpt:
..[T]he Washington community that favored a permanent global role for the USA would essentially engulf the polity of the Jewish state. The practice of unlimited support for Israel’s expansionism allowed a deviant faction in that country’s politics to capture the state; the one guarantee for survival was not peace, but collusion with a superpower. Rather than Israel controlling the West, as some demagogues would have it, a small group of empire builders have exploited the USA and Israel; neither country has serious democratic accountability for its foreign policy, and both were sucked in by the path of least resistance. Instead of agreeing (through messy, democratic processes) on a general vision of the future, both countries have been seduced into the day-to-day coping strategy of doing what they’ve done before, attacking reformers as unsympathetic or even traitors, and defending useless carnage as “self-defense.”
In this one post MacLean — it’s hard not to call him “Hobson” — makes it plain that Hamas is abominable, that its aims are horrid. Yet he also demonstrates that it is a creation of imperialism. As a sort of bonus, in one footnote he says all that needs to be said about Jews and Communism, a subject whose history has come under much disingenous wingnut revisionism lately, the Right’s new arguments being that a) Communists had always abused Jews (a lie) and b) neatly omit the fact that they, the Right, had insisted until relatively recently that Communism was an almost exclusively Jewish conspiracy (ditto).
Anyway, going back to the quoted passage, a recent subtle change in wingnut talking points puts MacLean’s concerns in stark relief. Here’s Stanley Kurtz:
A seemingly futile and endless occupation of Lebanon once split Israel down the middle, breeding an entire generation of Israeli doves. Now Israel is a united nation of gloomy hawks, transformed by the repeated failure of every gesture of peace, and by the reality of their implacable foe. (See “Praying for Hummus, Getting Hamas.�) I’m betting that someday we’ll all be gloomy hawks, too. As for me, I’m already there.
Kurtz here basically echoes the thrust of this Doughy Pantload column. If the “Israelization” trope has made it to this level of third-tier wingnut, then it’s already been long ago adopted by the top wingnerds as the new, subtley different theme of the Israeli/American relationship — a new way to keep wars already burning, burning hotly, and to hopefully catch new wars afire.
All this war-mongering is basically against the wishes of not only the majority of Americans, but also the majority of Israelis. It takes a lot of manipulation by wingnuts to repeatedly subvert the wishes of one democracy, much less two, but that is what’s happened — and is happening. The imperialist wingnuts who’ve usurped Israel and America undertake, essentially, a structural partnership with the extremist reaction that they want to wipe from the Earth at whatever cost. What an irony, eh? Here’s Immanuel Wallerstein addressing this sicko partnership, and what its future holds:
Israel’s current military campaign is a direct parallel of Bush’s invasion of Iraq. The Israeli generals are already noting that Hizbullah’s military is far more formidable than anticipated, that U.S. allies in the region are already taking wide distance from the United States and Israel (note the Iraqi government’s support of Lebanon and now that of the Saudi government), and soon will discover that the Israeli public’s support is more fragile than expected. Already the Israeli government is reluctant to send land troops into Lebanon, largely because of what it thinks will be the reaction of its own people inside Israel. Israel is heading towards a humiliating truce arrangement.
What the Israeli governments do not realize is that neither Hamas nor Hizbullah needs Israel. It is Israel that needs them, and needs them desperately. If Israel wants not to become a Crusader state that is in the end extinguished, it is only Hamas and Hizbullah that can guarantee the survival of Israel. It is only when Israel is able to come to terms with them, as the deeply-rooted spokespersons of Palestinian and Arab nationalism, that Israel can live in peace.
Achieving a stable peace settlement will be extremely difficult. But the pillars of Israel’s present strategy – its own military strength and the unconditional support of the United States – constitute a very thin reed. Its military advantage is diminishing and will diminish steadily in the years to come.
It’s not Hizbollah (which lacks the power) that will destroy Israel, although they’d certainly like to. Nor is it al-Qaeda (which lacks the power) that will destroy America, although they’d certainly like to. It’s the wingnut war-mongering that will, if it continues unabated, destroy both democracies — yes, destroy them in order to save them.
a small group of empire builders have exploited the USA and Israel; neither country has serious democratic accountability for its foreign policy
This is exactly right. And there’s another factor in play: there are, sadly, plenty of Americans who abhor Bush’s policies and who understand perfectly that there’s a difference between “Americans” and the current U.S. regime, who nevertheless are incapable of seeing that reality in Israel. They rightly condemn Bushco and see themselves as not of his tribe, but then get this worried look and say “But we must support the poor Israelis,” effectively conflating the people and their government and ignoring the existence of Israeli citizens who are appalled by their leaders’ actions . . .
I ordered a Retardo Roll at Kiki Sushi. They brought me a loosely-wrapped unagi and peanut butter creation. Surprisingly tasty.
Sorry, just had to lighten the mood. Anyone wanna buy some “Lieberman ’06” pins?
I think this echoes a post I made a while back that basically argued OBL and al Qaida with twenty suitcase nukes couldn’t destroy America. But George and his wingnut all-stars sure as fuck can.
Kind of like the Soviet Union was destroyed not by any actions the West took, but the idiotic actions of its rulers in trying to continually one-up the West in global interventionism while ignoring its own people.
Boy, THAT sounds familiar.
I’ve long been impressed with the US & Israeli hawks insistence that “peace attempts have repeatedly failed.” It’s like the guy who just dynamited the dam telling you it was “badly engineered.”
Efforts at “peace” have failed because “peace” was & is seen as more dangerous than war.
“meanwhile the wingnuts neatly omit the fact that they had always insisted until relatively recently that Communism was an almost exclusively Jewish conspiracy.”
A self-loathing Jewish conspiracy. Obviously.
“Nor is it al-Qaeda (which lacks the power) that will destroy America, although they’d certainly like to.”
No they wouldn’t. The US’s heavy-handed militarism and support of “apostate” regimes is the biggest recruiting tool they have. They would only want to destroy America after they had toppled all the regimes in Muslim countries.
I look at this in abject horror. Entire populations are being radicalised. Radicalised
Once that happens, there is no hope for peaceful resolution. After that happens, it’s just genocide.
Oh my God.
DocAmazing,
It’s funny that you said that about the Retardo Roll. Last night, I was at a bar and ordered a Retardo Cocktail. All they brought me was a glass full of vinegar and water. Can anyone tell me what that means???
How do you come to terms with islamist groups that want to completely destroy Israel?
How do you come to terms with islamist groups that want to completely destroy Israel?
Take away their tools. Namely, a fertile base of recruits and sympathizers. How do you do that? By the slow, incremental process of good faith negotiating and improving economic realities that increase the stakes individuals have in not joining or allowing the existence of such groups.
The upside of this plan is that it actually works. The downside is that it takes a lot of patience and (if you are a right wing misanthrope) you have to restrain your urge to hit the inevitable setbacks that will occur with limb-rending firepower.
well, if you are a right wing misanthrope, you don’t have patience, and peace is a terrorist weapon.
so your only recourse is more violence.
because more violence is ALWAYS the answer to violence. it works so well!
Retardo:
Perhaps I missed it, but the list of S, N! Links was missing a prime gem in the Internet rough…. Driftglass.
http://driftglass.blogspot.com/2006/08/wretched-mole-rat.html
Note this if you note nothing else: while the “flames� were all coming from Right, while the Left continues to play by the Marquess of Queensberry, you never heard a fucking peep out of slouches like Brooks: It is only when the Left begins to counterfire – and do it effectively, targeting those who have been pouring poison into the well of public discourse year after year – that Bobo suddenly becomes hysterically concerned about the partisanship “on both sides� and then, with great, fake reluctance, pulls an imaginary 3rd party out his rectum and Pronounces It Good.
The day that the GOP stops kicking gays in the teeth, recruiting klansmen, demonizing muslims, lionizing monsters who blame 9/11 of feminists and the ACLU and calling people like me traitor for opposing my government…that’s the day I will be happy to beat my pronouns into plowshares and talk peace and compromise.
But of course, they can’t let the crazies go. First and foremost — as Barry Goldwater prophetically warned — because the crazies now run their fucking party, from crotch to crown. The gargoyles have taken the cathedral, and Falwell and Dobson sits upon the Throne, while the Hagels and the Grahams are now the “fringeâ€?.
One of the best blogs out there for repurposing literary and historical references into verbal tactical nukes.
“How do you come to terms with islamist groups that want to completely destroy Israel?”
Starve them of members. The history of military action in the Middle East is to swell the membership of terrorist groups. Logically, since action can increase the groups’ memberships, there ought to be a way to reduce their memberships. Indiscriminate killing has the opposite effect, so we should stop doing it.
Next you have to ask why the terrorists are dedicated to the destruction of Israel. You will find there is more than one reason. Some will say it is because they feel their land was stolen. Some will say it is because Israelis killed their relatives. Some will say it is because they are forced to live in a state built around someone else’s religion. There are probably dozens of reasons.
But only when you have learned why, and then worked to address the root causes, will you be able to change people’s minds, and only then will you be able to make progress. If you don’t learn why, you will continue to wonder how it is possible to come to term with terrorists, and you will resort to violence as the only solution you can imagine.
People can change. People do change. Terrorism is a disease that is spread afresh in every generation. Spend a few generations not making new terrorists, and you will see terrorism wither on the vine.
squid vicious–
Last time I got that cocktail, they called it a “Summer’s Eve”.
I felt very fresh after partaking of it.
“I look at this in abject horror. Entire populations are being radicalised. Radicalised
Once that happens, there is no hope for peaceful resolution. After that happens, it’s just genocide.”
Kool-Aid, anyone?
And I hear the Rapture is coming.
perhaps we can bribe the conductor to get on board.
shargash pretty much wrote what I wanted to, except much better.
my only addition is, sometimes people are just thugs and assholes. (see current Ireland terror leaders). Then you conduct criminal investigations and arrest them, prosecute them with evidence, and convict them. Then they go to jail.
and if they are just assholes, and not criminals, then you expose their asshole-nature with free speech, better ideas, and they lose followers.
“islamic groups” are made of people. Why these wingnuts cannot seem to understand that really blows my mind.
All they brought me was a glass full of vinegar and water.
I’ve always felt the canonical recipe was piss and vinegar with a stalk of rhubarb.
Thanks so much for your kind comments. I just noticed this on the web. I’ve been taking a reading break from blogging.