On June 13th Michelle Bachman announced her presidential run. Today it is all about.... Israel.
This speech of hers could have been written by Israel's Foreign Ministry it is so over the top, such a blatant pandering to Israel interests. We're all used to candidates cementing their Israel bonafides during the election season but this coming directly on the heels of her announcement to run, these declarations-- "Most Americans recognize that Israelis and Americans are two sides of the same coin because we share the same values and the same aspirations... We even share the same exceptional mission -- to be a light to the nations" -- leave no wiggle room, none.
Notice in Bachmann's final segment, she cites Tzipi Livni's code for rising democracies where we get schooled 'democracy is about values before it is about voting'?
President Obama rightly asserted that America's commitment to our values is being tested today but contrary to what he says upholding American values doesn't require us to support the rise to power of those who reject the bedrock notion of liberty of individual rights and freedom of religion that are the foundations of the American creed just because they manage to convince a majority of voters to support their intolerant message, because upholding American values does not involve saying we will support whatever political forces win the most votes. Upholding American values means that we make clear that we have standards of human conduct and if you don't subscribe to them then while we may cooperate with you when we have an interest in doing so we will not consider you a credible ally. Upholding American values means standing shoulder to shoulder with those who share them and first and foremost that means that we must stand with Israel. I stand with Israel.
Our policies in the Middle East must be guided by this very basic imperative, we must insure that israel is strong and gets stronger so that it remains capable of defending itself at all times and under all circumstances.
God bless you and may God bless the State of Israel and certainly the United States of America.
Bring it on Michelle, let's talk more about Israel. Something tells me this will wear very thin with the American public.
Hmmm. I actually think Bachmann doesn’t go nearly far enough with this disgusting, anti-Semitic speech. Shame on her for thinking we should stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel. We should be SUBSERVIENT to Israel.
She is going to have to learn, dammit.
it’s the ‘first and foremost ‘ lingo that makes me choke.
Yup. Remember the famous Palin-Biden debate? Go back and find it on Youtube, and watch her ridiculous, confused remark to him that ‘Well, Joe, I’m glad to know we both love Israel’.
Even my Jewish wife thought that was pretty weird.
I mean, love?
Apparently Israelis have a need to hear how much other people love them. I remember when Bill Clinton was president (or shortly thereafter) he said he would grab a gun, jump in a foxhole and “die for Israel.” I was personally embarrassed to see an American president (or even a former one) acting so cravenly.
I certainly never heard Clinton say he would die for America. Apparently from time to time all American leaders just feel a need to express their love, allegiance and eternal fealty to all things Israel. They must know something that I don’t.
Duscany wrote: “Apparently Israelis have a need to hear how much other people love them”
That’s the trouble with bought ‘friendship’ and ‘love’. It is never sincere and always has to be checked.
RE: “Shame on her for thinking we should stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel. We should be SUBSERVIENT to Israel.” – Gellian’s snark
BACHMAN GROVELLING TO THE REPUBLICAN JEWISH COALITION: “A WORD TO THE WISE” FROM THE CLUELESS!
Bachmann: ‘If We Reject Israel, Then There Is A Curse That Comes Into Play’, By Eric Kleefeld, TPM, 02/09/10
SOURCE – link to tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com
omg, is a curse that comes into play? who thinks up this crap???
Why sure, annie–I see you don’t personally know any avid bible readers, Jesus freaks, from the midwest. They’re all over the place and they don’t live in trailer parks; rather far from them.
Annie, Bachmann is on public record stating the biblical curse is on all who don’t support Israel uber alles. She’s stated that’s the reason she got into politics in the first place.
Cossacks like Bachmann would almost make one sorry for old style Republicans like Gingrich, who was obviously assassinated by the Tea Party because he isn’t insane.
- link to ft.com
His campaign began badly, with many Republicans infuriated by Mr Gingrich criticising the budget plan put forward by Paul Ryan, the House budget chair, and its overhaul of healthcare for the elderly.
He called Mr Ryan’s Medicare plan “rightwing social engineering”. He later apologised to Mr Ryan but did not back away from the substance of his critique.Mr Gingrich also struggled to deal with reports that he had had a revolving line of credit at Tiffany, the high-end jewellery retailer, worth $500,000. He later said he and his wife lived “frugally”.
Exactly, Gellian, or else we will be “left behind.” We need more religion in our politics and stuffed into the head of all US political leaders, the founding fathers would appreciate that, and that’s why they wrote the Bill Of Rights, especially the 1st Amendment. Gott Mit Uns! link to salem-news.com
At first I thought this was typical presidential stuff.
But I just found out Bachmann worked on a Kibbutz the summer after HS.
So her identification with Israel runs deep, like I sensed it did with Huckabee.
This makes her more formitable
as a candidate, and scarier.
“Obama was no doubt mindful of Jewish voters in giving his Middle East speech. He’ll need to work hard to win their backing again in 2012, and many are skeptical of his support for Israel…” LINK
The story predicted he would lose not just Jewish voters, but crucial financial support as well, . LINK
And the list goes on and on.
Yeah, Bachmann will put a crimp on the usual high Jewish vote for a Democratic president. Bibi & Dershie combined can’t do better than Bachmann, and she’s way more pleasant to look at.
“she’s way more pleasant to look at.”
Not with the insanity showing through, she isn’t. Scary.
All that botox is terrorism.
Absolutely ripe for parody. Design a woman by numbers.
She looks like a machine. Maybe the singularity is here already.
And WTF is with those racoon eyes?!
“[U]pholding American values does not involve saying we will support whatever political forces win the most votes.”
Does she include Tea Party vote gains among those political forces?
She actually says the contrary of what she does in that passage. But conviently, she simultaneously is a Christian Zionist of that stripe. I bet she’s totally ignorant of Jewish Zionist ideology. She has stated publically she’s a bible-based supporter of Israel. So there you go.
She’s couldn’t be more out in the open. She will get some big donations from the big Israel First moneybags. The Tea Party’s leaders are in her camp too, although the grass roots that started that party have not a clue about foreign policy and how it affects domestic economic issues, which is the arena for their ardor.
She is right about the US and Israel being 2 sides of the same coin. Ask any Latin American.
SEAFOID- You are quite right. The empire and Israel stood shoulder to shoulder in support of the Latin American death-squad democracies. Perhaps the tens of thousands of victims didn’t share our values? How nice to have a like-minded friend to share the white man’s burden with kindly old Uncle Sam.
And I think we all know who is heads and who is tails on that ever-devaluing coin.
My advice: don’t underestimate Michelle Bachmann. This just shows how serious she is in running for president.
I would hope that this would wear thin with the American people. Unfortunately, it won’t. The vast majority of voters are totally ignorant of foreign policy and I/P.
“I would hope that this would wear thin with the American people. Unfortunately, it won’t. The vast majority of voters are totally ignorant of foreign policy and I/P.”
That’s Phil’s pollyanna streak getting in the way of his analysis. At least he’s not daydreaming of the time when Chris Matthews morphs into a decent human being.
That’s Phil’s pollyanna streak getting in the way of his analysis.
actually it wasn’t phil’s analysis as he didn’t author the post.
Sorry, annie. I would not have put it in that sarcastic way if I had noticed it was you and not Phil. Phil, to my mind, is way too eager to see huge change in American attitudes based on little evidence. He reminds me of the website Common Dreams when I used to read it–very often they’d have some headline that gave the impression that everyone was on the verge of adopting their viewpoint and utopia was about to break out.
As for it wearing thin with Americans, I’d like to believe it, but don’t see it. And actually I’m not sure I’d be glad to see it, as it would not surprise me if Americans do turn against Israel many of them do it for the wrong reasons.
touche
gazacalling, yep. She blows away Palin. A bible-fixated attorney, and super mommy too. And she’s not an old fridge either. That helps her, as it has Palin. I think she could beat Obama. That’s how far this has come, and the economy is not going up for the average American in the next five years, or much longer. Nothing has changed there, the Big Banks and Insurance companies still rule, Wall St still rules, etc. Neither party is going to finger the war & security business, nor the Israel First business. The American Flyer is rolling faster, faster, stuck on the same manipulated fear tracks.
In the next 5 years the US will pull out of Afghanistan and Iraq. 737 bases worldwide but 2 lost causes . Iraq alone cost $3 000 000 000 000 .
So the Israel rhetoric is fine but the time when the US could afford to indulge Israel has passed.
“Iraq alone cost $3 000 000 000 000.”
Iraq cost American tax payers, and their money is no object when it comes to filling the pockets of the few and keeping the military industrial complex running. They will spend $10.00 of your money to protect $1.00 of their money. Hard lesson to learn, especially for those who say we “lost money,” no body lost money but the people. I always wonder who the “we” are –
WHO DO WE THINK WE ARE?
The $ 3 000 000 000 000 is nothing compared to the 4500
dead soldiers and over 100,000 who sustained grievous physical
and mental casualties. We should all remember that the post
combat suicide rate from this war is higher than any other. These
lives represented – in many ways – the brightest, the best and
the most patriotic of our youth. We should also reflect on the
levels of medical, psychological and vocational assistance which they have not received – all while the federal government was
bailing out investment and commerical banks (think Goldman
Sacks; JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America) too big to fail.
We are all the “we” but we should wonder, particularly after the
Citizens United decision, if we are not losing control of the democratic political process.
She’s had a zionist neocon as a foreign policy advisor since before Palin even thought of it, it seems:
Bachmann’s foreign policy makes the US the lap dog of apartheid Israel: link to t.co
What’s with these Germans, Bachmann, Beck? Geez, is Palin of German descent too?
“What’s with these Germans, Bachmann, Beck? Geez, is Palin of German descent too?”
It’s the USA, what do you expect? German is the largest single ancestry in the country, with 15% of the population having German ancestry.
Yep, Woody–that was a joke; since I’m part German I guess it wasn’t very funny. I’m also part Irish, the second largest single ancestry in the country. Yet I do get tired of hearing how each of those ethnic groups contributed so much to make the good ol’ USA. You’d think they’d get some humility and notice other groups’ contributions once in awhile, eh?
No problem, Citizen. I see something like that and my trivia-geek brain kicks in and makes me spout of the font of useless knowledge bouncing in my noggin. It’s kind of tiring, actually…
God, the propaganda is banal. If you want proof that Likud have bought American senators here it is. And on cue, the paid monkeys do their employer’s bidding, reading from the kids’ guide to the Israel storybook. Not an inkling of reality, all pure fantasy. Likud and co. must be laughing uncontrollably at such craven supplication. The delusional nature of such statements won’t even be challenged in MSM. Such is the power of the demagogues in an apartheid little state which has complete control over congress. Pathetic.
I just can’t imagine what Bachmann is thinking when she gives a speech to an American audience placing Israeli interests on the same level as our own. Doesn’t she know that blue collar Americans in Ohio and Pennsylvania and Ohio sit in coffee shops and see these speeches?
If she doesn’t know what they’re thinking, I can tell her right now: “What’s all this talk about Israel? If you’re running for president of the United States tell us what you’re going to do for America. The interests of all other countries are in distant second place.”
Duscany, those blue collar Americans will include her foreign policy take as an afterthought to the views of hers dealing with more direct domestic issues, both social and economic. And they fear Arabs, not Jews–Sharia law will take away baby jesus.
Duscany : “I just can’t imagine what Bachmann is thinking when she gives a speech to an American audience placing Israeli interests on the same level as our own. ”
++++ Sorry to say, but she puts Israel first. I bet she would tell lots of things that need to be fixed in US, but guess would she do the same when Israel has some problems. So there is the mutual level. Seen it before, unfortunately. Nobody can serve two masters, and she would pick Israel first any day.
“Sorry to say, but she puts Israel first.”
No, she puts Jesus first. And that means that she has that ‘God will bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel’ stuff in her head.
“No, she puts Jesus first.”
++++ Which is in her twisted mind same as Israel.
“++++ Which is in her twisted mind same as Israel.”
Only until King Jesus comes back in the Rapture…
Well, yeah, because the word Israel appears in the bible, so of course the 1948 state is one and the same. Not sure how she puts Jesus first when she also knows that Jesus rebelled against the Jewish Establishment of his day…. I guess the logic she learned in law school, and the analytical ability she learned there, falls into some holes in her head. Intellectual integrity stands no chance against faith.
Is it too cheap-a-shot to note, but with absolutely no prejudice, that she invokes the belssing of the deity upon Israel first and the US second? In fact, almost as an afterthought : “… may God bless the State of Israel and certainly the United States of America.” Certainly??? Gee, that’s awffully charitable to your 300 million+ fellow citizens, most of whom will not be voting for you. Getting things a little out of order, are we Michelle?
Yeah, Leper, I noticed that too. Sort of like American Jew v Jewish American.
link to f-ckingc-nts.com
“As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”
Who do you prefer ? Tweedledum Bachman or Tweedledee Clinton ?
That shining city on the hill is lit by white phosphorous.
Greatest strategic asset in the region my ass. If Saudi cut production to 500.000 bpd the Zionists would soon be exposed. Israel doesn’t get anyone in the US to work. Walmart needs Saudi more than it needs the Rapture.
Here’s why the current Rolling Stone hit piece on Bachmann is just what Bachmann wanted to see: link to theawl.com
Thanks for the link citizen. It led to this interesting interview with Matt Taibbi.
link to youtube.com
Imus is so smart–he starts off his interview with Taibbi by asking, “Is she evil?” Later he changes his question to, “Is she a nice person?” He decides then that she’s not after Taibbi says she has no sense of humor.
I’m guessing she has a sense of humor, same as Palin, but the butts of their jokes differs from, say Maher’s or Stewart’s, or any of the nightly talk show hosts for that matter.
“Upholding American values means that we make clear that we have standards of human conduct and if you don’t subscribe to them then while we may cooperate with you when we have an interest in doing so we will not consider you a credible ally.”
This is particularly true since the USA is STILL wearing its colonial dress, and the Israelis are always in dress rehearsal – this must be what she means by “standards of human conduct” which is zero. So there are common values – like death and destruction, colonial settler secrets, theft, and all around terrorism. God bless America, Michele Bachman, and their Zionist companions. My bubbe was right, the company you keep identifies you…
DON’T BE FOOLED! This is the never-ending good cop/bad cop subterfuge. Preposterous candidates like Bachmann are there to make neo-con Obama look good. It is all a spectacle and a farce designed to distract from the financial structural adjustment of the planet. Take care.
Keith, how did Michele Bachman get into office?
VR- I assume with good marketing and a gullible citizenry.
By dissing welfare while getting a giant governmental subsidy for her giant farm?
As far back as the year 2000 Bachmann was telling the local Jewish Republicans how she went to live on a kubbutz upon graduating from high school, and they asked her if she’d run for political office: link to powerlineblog.com
Anti-abortion activism and anti-gay activism is what got Bachman first noticed.
Check out some of her quotes on the subject of gay marriage – scroll down to ‘Bachman on Same-Sex Marriage and Gay Americans’ section:
link to thebachmannrecord.com
This woman is due to be code-pinked. -N49.
That’s exactly what she wants; she will like it even more than Rolling Stone Mag’s hit job on the newstands now: link to powerlineblog.com
“Stephens and other parents soon had confrontational meetings with Bachmann and the rest of the charter school group. ‘One member of Michele’s entourage talked about how he had visions, and that God spoke to him directly,’ Stephens says. ‘He told us that as Christians we had to lay our lives down for it. I remember getting in the car with my husband afterward and telling him, ‘This is a cult.’ ”
Yea it is a cult. What are we going to do about these religous and Israel cults?
Just let them play out to where ever they will go?
Maybe we need a mad person like Bachman to get us into a war with Iran and decimate the US even more economically in order for the necessary blowback to start.
I love Michelle Bachman. She lived on a Kibbutz once. Am Israel Chai!
…and that’s biorabbi in a nutshell, folks.
Isn’t Congress a kibbutz? Or is it a moshav?
Ah, but if you married her, biorabbi, she wouldn’t raise her kids jewish.
I love how she as knowledgable about economics as she is about history and foreign policy.
link to realclearpolitics.com
Obamacare is the crown jewel of socialism but a Kibbutz is not?
If anyone here goes on a Christian Zionist trip make sure you don’t just go to a Kibbutz like Rep. Bachmann but rather insist on going to Nazareth and Bethlehem and that you talk to indigenous Christians. I did and it opened my eyes to the truth.
This is what you will hear. Note this recent letter by indigenous Christians to the Archbishop of Canterbury.
link to kairospalestine.ps
Thank you richb. I’m glad Rifat Kassis and Kairos Palestine responded to the Archbishop’s remarks–I recall being shocked when I read them on the BBC website. As far as I can tell, neither the BBC nor any major newspaper has mentioned Kassis’s rebuke of the Archbishop. So damage was done. (My wife’s family is Christian Palestinian from Ramallah.)
There are only minor differences between the Birthright tours described in The Nation magazine article mentioned here and the Christian Zionist tour I was on down to the same travel agencies and Israeli-trained tour guides. Being Christian, however, meant you really couldn’t skip Nazareth or Bethlehem. There we met Christian Palestinians like your wife’s family. It was from the Christians in Nazareth I found out about the ethnic cleansing in ’48 and the internally displaced Palestinians inside of Israel. From the Christians in Bethlehem I found out that the Christians and Muslims get along and the exodus of them was caused by the Israeli occupation and not their Muslim neighbors.
Because of who runs this site much of the focus has been on the behavior of Jews. The behavior of American and European Christians is also reprehensible. The following quote should cause us to hang our head in shame:
“We are no longer expecting support from Church leaders around the world.”
We end up being a cause of the conflict and not its solution. We try to convert the Jews and Muslims and throw under the bus those who are already Christians. All because our brothers and sisters happen to be brown. Shame on us. God help us if all that is bad about Christianity as exemplified by Michelle Bachmann gains even more power.
You’re by and large right. I’ve been trying for at least two years now to get some fundamental Christians I know (who are not stupid at all, clean up well, are polite, and fairly knowledgeable generally, and make good neighbors in the usual sense) to even make a single comment when I inform them of the plight of ME Christians who have mostly left areas under Israeli control–what are they now, 1%, and originally, a % in double digits? The fundies never even acknowledge what I say or attempt to research it, although they will track down every single incident anywhere on earth to show that the Muslims want to take away their baby Jesus and install Sharia law in the USA. Go figure. After hours and hours of back and forth, what I get is the same thing Bachmann dishes out: Jews are chosen, and anyone not supporting Israel is doomed to hell.
These fundies, btw, also bring up G Soros, but when you bring up, e.g., Koch Brothers, or Karl Rove, they look at you like you’re from Mars–and, again, ignore what you said; moving on to their “thinking.”
Citizen,
It’s been a while since I told you how much I love you and your old mariner’s voice.
Hey Taxi,
I’ll give you I’m old as the hills, and I like your stuff too.
Rich Cizik used to be a policy analyst for the National Association of Evangelicals. He now runs a blog called Uncommon Voices. Here’s part of that commentary:
link to newevangelicalpartnership.org
You can explain to your evangelical friends that evangelicals like myself have their views radically change when we do the following:
Evangelicals who actually meet their Christian counterparts have their views change even if that amount of time is short. For evangelical relief ministries such as World Vision it involves laboring side by side with the indigenous churches both on the West Bank and in Gaza.
Before I start with a quote from their President, note that the director of Jerusalem World Vision, Tom Getman, was specifically asked by Desmond Tutu to look into the Palestinian’s plight BEFORE Nelson Mandela was released from prison. South Africa’s work was done but Palestine’s was just beginning.
link to wrmea.com
Tom Getman is one of the powerful witnesses in the Occupation 101 video:
link to youtube.com
See this for more background on Tom:
link to youtube.com
link to youtube.com
Here’s the director of World Vision when he visited Palestine.
link to worldvision.org
Please pardon my wordiness but I wanted to get you some tools to talk with your evangelical friends from someone on the inside. I also want to show that the existence of people like Michelle Bachmann should not dissuade you from trying to reach out to your evangelical friends.
True. But she’s a 10/10 on the hot-Shiksa meter. If I were single, I’d worship Zeus to date her.
you are so predictable
Yeah, well, we really don’t need more Portnoy’s complaint here, biorabbi–we know you lust after Aryan women. That’s stale.
Zeus heard you, and sent you a false dream.
She’s hot (presumably), she wants to torture Muslims for fun AND she’d give biorabbi’s Jewish mother a coronary. I suppose there wouldn’t be a downside for biorabbi.
she’s hot indeed.. But when she opens her mouth she’s a cold shower.
Over at Salon, they are all riled up by the contra-Bachmann notion two states cannot both be exceptional, so in what way are the respective states exceptional, and is that the same criteria? Bachmann says the values are the same, as if our founding documents contained the phrase “Christian and democratic” nation/country. And are neither tribal in orientation and administration? And so on: link to letters.salon.com
The young & spicy conservatives love Bachmann–is she the all-American contender? link to communities.washingtontimes.com
Apropos Bachmann’s impaired vision, and a hotly contested thread on this blog that’s already lasted a few weeks–they still cannot find any tangible evidence of the jewish version of historic Jerusalem: link to occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com
Is the subject Bachmann video clip another calculated “money blurt?”
link to theblaze.com
Here’s some interesting facts on Bachmann and her passionate beliefs; it’s very clear she is a true believer, and not only opportunistically making “money blurts.” It’s also true she is selectively ignorant a la Glen Beck:
link to americanfreepress.net
Caroline Glick on subject video clip:
“Watch this speech by Congresswoman and Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann on Israel.
I cannot remember EVER hearing a more pro-Israel speech by ANY American presidential candidate in my life.
I cannot remember EVER hearing a more cogent explanation of Israel’s importance to the US by ANY American presidential candidate in my life.
And this speech came out of nowhere. She’s not pandering for votes. No one asked her to say this. She just decided that she had to make a statement.
What a great woman. What a great leader. What a great American.
God bless you Michele Bachmann!”
Glick is the deputy managing editor of JP & player in a typical Israel First US think tank; she grew up in Chicago and when the US went to war in the Gulf, she darted off to Israel and joined the IDF, just another average American-Israeli: link to en.wikipedia.org
Bachmann was very quick to get out an ad & petition attacking Obama for selling out Israel
by his reference to the ’67 border; if you read it you will quickly note she does not let facts get in the way in her fictional characterization of past US official (de jure) position on the illegal Israeli settlements issue: link to politico.com
Facelift is good but the lobotomy is shabby. The surgeon left an “Israel First” chip in their.
http://sajepress.com
“Bachmann will be the next president of the US”: link to prlog.org
She’ll have to duke it out low-down and dirty with Hilary first.
… After she’s duked it out with Sarah ‘The Animal-Slayer’ Palin, that is.
I guess next year we’ll find out who wears a wig and who doesn’t eh.
Something rotten this way comes: link to sabbah.biz
I found this interesting titbit re Philip Giraldi/wiki page:
“In August, 2010 Giraldi wrote that unnamed “sources in the counterintelligence community” had told him that agents of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency were posing as intelligence agents and visiting Arabs and Muslims in New York and New Jersey. This was allegedly done to help agents gain information about Iran, which they believed would not be forthcoming to known Israeli agents. The Israeli embassy, the United States Department of Justice, and Giraldi all declined to comment for an article on the allegations in the biweekly New York Arab-community newspaper Aramica.”
One word for you Bachmann: traitor.
Bachmann’s rhetoric of American exceptionalism is a big sales device and can be heard/echoed by the talking heads on US News TV & by US congress folks nearly every night. Nearly as often, the notion of Israel’s exceptionalism can be heard too, so, as she says, it’s become two sides of the same coin of the realm, which should raise the question: What realm exactly is that? Who benefits? Who pays?
It seems both the US and Israel think they are epic heros, but really they are tragic heros, and the source of their joint downfall is in their respective self. Many comments have been made over the years on this web site about the source and nature of Israel’s fatal flaw, not so much it’s partner, Uncle Sam–here’s an article addressing Sam’s, including the first inkling of it back in the 1930′s: link to counterpunch.org