Phil – I do hope your wife was doing the driving.

There are obviously aspects of permanent American foreign and domestic policy that make you and me so damn angry as to consider leaving. Permanent war. Redistribution of wealth from working to owning classes. Suppression of civil liberties. Absence of venue of genuinely respectfully open discussion on issues of merit.

Every liberal defender of Zionism experiences similarly. We hate many of Israel's policies, constructed of odd coalitions of neo-religious and nationalist that ignore agreements, invent law, block fully democratic institutions.

And yet, we KNOW that Zionism has been necessary and likely is necessary, and has been and is desirable.

The $3 billion/year given to Israel is not large relative to other permanent military and other aid given to allies on the frontier of conflict.

The invocation of hatred towards Israel, as distinct from anger and rational criticism (you do know the difference?), is repulsive, no matter where it is stated.

Isn't it ironic that before middle America got Zionized by the media, the opposite would have been true.

It seems urbanites are today embracing fundamental hard truths (look at Obama's unapologetic Christianity) and rural whites are now the ones being played for fools by Jewish Zionist charlatans. And it seems like only yesterday that Jews were considered so hip by the cosmopolitan set.

The long-in-tooth chameleon Zionists' eternal search for fresh blood and useful idiots always sends them far and wide.

Are you accurately presenting Trita Parsi's view?

The way you present it sounds like the old CANARD that Israel created Hamas.

You don't believe that radical Islam exists, and is very violent, and conducts terror?

Or, are you just objecting to Israel and the US regarding it as enemy and organized?

Certainly the defense industries WANT (rather than acknowledge) a new enemy. But, what does that matter, so long as their wants are tempered, by other more important objectives that are KEPT in one's face.

I really dislike your anti approach these days. I think it conflicts with your assertion that you want the "truth to be out". I think you've concluded to be a partisan journalist rather than an informative one.

and not only that but, allowing the palestinians a voice in the discussions might be translated as an act of fairness on behalf of the parties involved.

the continnuation of this 60 yr old building project ought to be brought into focus, and to start to take into consideration the human costs in terms of lives lost or taken.
and to look into the not so distant past and seeing a great crime commited against a peoples, the balance between the scales needs to be reset.
Fairness and consideration of quality of life should be part of the settlement.

today being the anniversary of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus the Christ, a heartfelt happy holyday (hag sameach) to the christians in the room. and may peace rule and his name be known on the earth.

So Jewish nationalism is necessary and desirable. Then so to is Christian nationalism, Islamic nationalism, white nationalism, black nationalism, etc, etc,…fine, just don't ask Americans to subsidize any of them.

"The $3 billion/year given to Israel is not large relative to other permanent military and other aid given to allies on the frontier of conflict."

If only that's all it amounted to. But the Iraq war (which would never have been fought but for Israel) has cost America 4,000 lives and a half trillion (so far); the 9/11 attacks, which never would have occurred but for US blind support for Israel cost the US economy at least the same amount; and billions more have been paid due to skyrocketing oil prices, which before the Neocon Bush regime were relatively modest.

All your liberal pleadings for Zionism are very svengali-like, reasonable-sounding and soothing, Witty. Fortunately, they help to demonstrate why no American should ever trust Zionists of any stripe, be they Christian, Jewish, Washington establishment or left-liberal. The vampire-class is attracted to Zionism like flies to sh**.