And Somehow, They Make Decent Money

The Israeli-Palestinian/Israeli-Lebanon issue is a minefield, no pun intended. I have strong feelings on the matter, which I’m trying to keep repressed because it may be the most volatile issue there is in politics. Most people’s opinions on the matter are strongly entrenched, and not likely to be changed by reasonable debate. Even in the best case scenario, charges of anti-Semitism or anti-Arabism get thrown about wildly. And I’m not really in the mood to be accused of anything like that.

That being said, whenever the issue does flame up, the stupidity that passes for educated analysis by morons is impossible not to comment on.

Exhibit A: David Brooks, who sez:

If you look at the jihadists, they had a victory in ‘79 by pushing the Soviets out of Afghanistan. They pushed the U.S. out of Lebanon. The pushed the Israelis out of Gaza and out of Lebanon. They’re probably pushing the U.S. out of Iraq. They are on the march.

“On the march”? David, do you realize every example you just gave involved the “jihadists” kicking out foreign forces? Is this concept that crazy? No doubt there is a “jihadist” element, but are you saying that Arabs have no sense of nationalism? And are you saying the kicking the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan was unreasonable? Are you saying resistance against an occupying force, whether you politically agree with the resistance or not, is beyond your comprehension? Can I have your salary?

Then we have Exibit B: National Review’s Andy McCarthy, who writes,

We have to kill al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas and the rest. This is harder work than the administration’s rhetoric is preparing the nation for. We are not going to democratize these savages into submission.

Who exactly is “the rest”? Could you mean “Arabs”? Because frankly, you don’t really specify, and “the rest” is pretty vague. Given your worldview, I’m going to assume you mean Arabs, you racist dick. And I hate to break this to you, but Hamas and Hezbollah have political factions which were democratically elected. So, I know this is a long shot for someone as ideologically blinded as you are, but if you really want to weaken radical parties, you may want to look at the causes of the misery in those nations that leads to a radicalization of politics, and try to address that despair. Or, I guess, we could “kill al-Queda, Hezbollah, Hamas, and the rest.” Can I have your salary?

And Exhibit C: Honky Michelle Malkin, who, in order to show you how crazy and evil Hezbollah is, cites the news that Hezbollah “crowed” after, get this, it struck an Israeli warship that had been attacking Beirut! Can you believe the nerve? I mean, to actually attack a ship that was attacking you? Who would do such a thing? Everyone know you’re just supposed to sit there and let it attack you. And then to brag about it? THE NERVE!

Can some remind me again why anyone listens to these idiots and their junior high “analysis”?