The Other Welfare State

They're our allies because...?

Yesterday some whackjob waltzed into the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and started shooting. The whackjob in question was an elderly white supremacist by the name of James von Brunn. One guard named Stephen T. Johns was fatally wounded during the shootout and died later from his injuries. Von Brunn posted to white separatist blogs and websites where he would frequently write his conspiracy-laden vitriol against the Jews, Blacks, and anyone else that he felt was involved in the vast conspiracies to destroy the white man. As a matter of fact, back in 1981 he walked into the Federal Reserve building with a handgun and threatened to take several of the board members as hostages including the chairman. Later a manifesto was discovered that had quotations which referred to an “international bankers’ conspiracy to rule all nations from one central seat of government.” Clearly this individual was an unhinged conspiracy nut who had gone off the reservation a long time ago. Interestingly enough however, von Brunn was no dummy. His IQ scores were high enough to make him a member of Mensa. Some of his writing is actually almost convincing if you ignore all the crazy racist conspiracy bullshit.

Of course the mainstream news media categorized von Brunn as a right wing extremist. This is nothing new. After all anyone who is a racist neo-Nazi is bound to be considered right-wing by most of the popular news outlets. In response to this however, some right wing bloggers have been trying to paint von Bunn as a leftist. As I pointed out in an earlier post, the terms of right-wing or left-wing hold very little actual or permanent meaning. In this instance the bloggers on the right have spun von Bunn’s anti-Semitism as proof of his leftist leanings. Why would anti-Semitism be considered a leftist trait? The answer is probably because many of the left-leaning democrats and other hippies don’t agree with the United States’ unconditional military and financial support of the nation of Israel. Those ungrateful bastards! How dare those unpatriotic traitors question our nation’s support of our allies in Israel! After all that Israel has done for us, you would think these folks would gladly agree with this policy. Wait…

What has Israel done for us exactly? I know the U.S. has given Israel money, guns, fighter planes, and nuclear warheads. Surely Israel has given the U.S. something of equal value right? Right? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? As far as I can tell the only thing of any military significance the U.S. has received from Israel is somewhat dodgy intelligence. Usually these intelligence reports end up prompting the U.S. to invade one of Israel’s sworn enemies. That seems like an amazing coincidence, although I doubt that that Israeli intelligence would have any reason to deceive us, would they? So what good will come from the U.S. offering unconditional support for Israel? No one has adequately explained this to me. I’ve heard the rhetoric about how Israel is a beacon of civilization in an otherwise savage part of the world, but I’m still not sure what that has to do with us. So far they have received more of our tax dollars than General Motors and Chrysler combined, and that’s just the money. The U.S. Government wouldn’t dream of giving fighter planes to the CEOs of Chrysler or GM, let alone nuclear warheads. Israel hit the bailout jackpot long before AIG and GM did.

Why do our Executive and Legislative branches have such a hard-on for Israel? It doesn’t really make sense. The answer is simple. It’s the lobbyists. The Israel lobby is one of the most powerful lobbying groups in America. Think about this for a moment. One of the most powerful lobbying groups in this nation does not even represent the interests of this nation’s people. No wonder these neo-Nazi douchebags believe in vast conspiracies of Jews trying to take over America. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a neo-Nazi, anti-Semite, KKK member, or any other kind of irrational “right-wing” extremist. I have no problems with the Jews or even the nation of Israel. I don’t think Israel should be wiped off the map, I just think we should stop propping them up on the taxpayer’s dime. It’s not doing Americans any perceivable good. I think it’s ironic that self-described conservatives get their knickers in a bunch over government bailouts of American businesses but don’t seem to have a problem with our government propping up a foreign power with our tax dollars.

Israel is a welfare state, pure and simple. Without the support of the U.S. it would have either ceased to exist or it would have much smaller borders today. By catering to Israel’s whims and ambitions the U.S. has earned the hatred of Israel’s enemies. I can say with almost complete certainty that the September 11th attacks would probably not have happened if the U.S. didn’t have such close ties to Israel. Contrary to the spin from the White House, we were not attacked because we’re freer than the miserable towel-heads who orchestrated the attack. We were attacked because we are allied with their enemies plain and simple. We have paid for our alliance with Israel with our money, our technology, and now the blood of our civilians. After all of this what has Israel done for us? Has anything they may have done for us even come close to the sacrifices made by America on their behalf? Is it really worth it? Is pandering to the lobbyists representing a foreign power more important than serving the citizens of this country? Ask your Congressman. The answer he gives you should provide fascinating insights into his character.