TC Jewish Folk, a "hip" site for Jewish life in the Twin Cities, is posting diaries from Congressman Erik Paulsen, a Democrat who represents suburban Minneapolis. Note that the website prefaces Paulsen's blogpost with "He is in Israel this week with AIPAC...." Apparently that's hip?
In my short few days here I’ve seen so many situations that demonstrate how Israelis are so resilient in so many ways.
I am also better able to understand the deep, rich history here by spending time in the Old City as well as the smaller City of David by walking through a recently discovered tunnel from only about four and a half months ago.
But look, some commenters are going after Paulsen:
1) peter says: August 23, 2011 at 4:52 PM “I’m looking forward to helping ensure the U.S./Israeli relationship remains strong.” Sir, Can you define “relationship”? I know that the US taxpayers cover lots of Israeli military expenses. Let me ask you, what kind of benefit should an average US taxpayer expect in return? Simple question. You should know the answer. Thank you. Peter
2) pj says: August 23, 2011 at 2:16 PM Representative, While you are on your little junket listening to people whine about a lack of beach access, please consider that many Americans can’t afford to go to the beach this year. Real unemployment is close to 20%, we just lost our credit rating, and our children’s future is being sold to fund wars we were ssuckered into on faulty intelligence. How many American old people died during the recent heat wave because they could not afford air conditioning? How many veterans are homeless and unemployed? How many people in Israel are getting American taxpayer money and protection? How many of them have thanked us, the American People, for the money you and your fellow politicians get them from taxpayers? If you represent Israel, why don’t you stay there forever, and calculate that in American time or Israeli time? You’ll not be missed.
Wow. Just read some of the comments. Good points about the “lack” of a meaningful jewish constituency in Minnesota; 50,000 out of 5.2 million – and a post from a self described orthodox jew who says the “paranoid state of israel is a disgrace to the jewish religion beyond description.”
And this from mid-westerners.
Hophmi is over there as well, offering BS lines straight out of the Israel Press Office.
I noticed that too :D
Hophmi is a man who likes to give value for his salary. Like rust, he never sleeps.
So is Annie, I wonder how many ppl w/ comments there are actually from the twin cities.
I wonder how many …
yes, you wonder . . . but have no idea.
Well, DBG, hophmi certainly isn’t. I don’t recall exactly where he’s indicated he’s lived but I’m reasonably certain it’s not Minneapolis or St. Paul.
There is a commentor there, “UptownJew” whose most forceful rebuttals seem to be, basically, “Are you a Minnesotan?”
He even went so far as to ask me what “temple” I belong to. His point??? Is it that I have to be a Jew to be within my rights to comment about Paulsen’s pandering?
“Day three” is shapin’ up to be pretty interesting in the comment section. It will be enlightening to see what kinda “tone” the comments sustain through the course of the week.
My bet? The site is about to get the concerted attention of the hasbarists and megaphone army. And there is gonna be a whole slew of hasbarists posting, lying through their teeth about being Minnesotans.
And you can bet that, by now, Paulsen is aware of the response he is getting, and he will be very careful about what aspects of the itinerary he comments about.
Well that explains why he’s been almost completely absent over here.
Isn’t this cute: August 24, 2011 at 9:40 AM
Israel is an ally of the United States and our only friend in the Middle East. It is a stable liberal democracy in a sea of unstable dictatorships.
Israel has given us vital assistance in war against terrorism, is an important technological and trading partner of the United States, and is supported by the vast majority of Americans in its fight for existence. Posted there by: hophmi (I cannot imagine someone is abusing the good name hopmi has build here).
So he writes: “a sea of unstable dictatorships.” — clearly stable dictatorships are preferred for others. Meanwhile, let theìr democracy be the only one. They’ve spend a lot in that slogan.
“vital assistance” in the WaT: sure they told US about WMD existence first hand. Sure they told about the attack pre 9/11. How they prevented those stupid wars US is involved in now: let’s be thankful every day. And that is before the war against Iran. Send out the 81 clowns.
Israel’s “fight for existence” — in your mind, hophmi, in your mind.
Hophmi is also a HuffPo regular.
I am?
hopmi lies everywhere.
plus he’s inflammatory, he’s over on another thread saying stupid things like Do you feel threatened by us?
wtf!
Really, hopmi writes “us”? They are Israel Foreign Affairs then.
Since Turkey, like the U.S., is a member of NATO, the U.S. and Turkey have a treaty of alliance. The U.S. and Israel do not.
Turkey, like Israel, is in the Middle East, and, just as Israel is moving away from democracy — especially liberal democracy — Turkey has been transforming itself from a surface democracy with a military deep state that calls the shots into a true parliamentary democracy with a military subject to civilian control.
Now that you mentioned Turkey.
A new batch of Wilkileaks cables has been released..but appears US interference is screwing with it as usual.
link to theatlanticwire.com
Here is one about Israel from the US embassy in Turkey. This shows just what Israel ‘does’ for the US.
As far as I am concerned the ruining of the US reputation and turning us into the same kind of criminals as the Zionist Israel is reason enough to hang them and our collaborating politicians. And people wonder why not just Turkey and others in ME hate us? Everyone in every country in the world who sees what Israel does hates the US because they know we are behind it and allow it.
Viewing cable 06ANKARA5018, SUPER MASONIC PUPPIES AND OTHER INSULTS: ANKARA’S
Text:
UNCLAS ANKARA 05018
SIPDIS
CX:
ACTION: PA
INFO: PMA ECON AMB DCM POL
DISSEMINATION: PAO /1
CHARGE: ICAS
APPROVED: PA:DSREEBNY
DRAFTED: PA:SMORIMURA
CLEARED: PA: KSCHALOW
VZCZCAYI940
RR RUEHC RUEHDA RUEHIT
DE RUEHAK #5018/01 2431450
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 311450Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8299
INFO RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 1049
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 1187UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 005018
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EUR/PPD, EUR/UBI, INFO EUR-DAS C.GRAFFY, INR/R/EUR
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC PREL KPAO TU IS LE
SUBJECT: SUPER MASONIC PUPPIES AND OTHER INSULTS: ANKARA’S
“ASK THE AMBASSADOR” OFFERS A SNAPSHOT OF TURKISH PUBLIC
OPINION DURING THE CONFLICT BETWEEN ISRAEL AND HEZBOLLAH
¶1. Summary: During the course of the July-August conflict
between Hezbollah and Israel, there was a noticeable change
in the nature of comments and questions coming into Embassy
Ankara’s “Ask the Ambassador” website feature. Before the
conflict, most of the approximately 30 messages received per
week involved visa-related questions. During the most
intense days of fighting, the majority of messages contained
condemnations and accusations (sometimes vulgar, often
vitriolic) against perceived U.S. support of Israel’s
“inhuman attacks” and U.S. hypocrisy for defending Israel’s
right to self-defense while telling Turkey it would be
“unwise” to launch cross-border operations against the PKK in
northern Iraq. While submissions to “Ask the Ambassador” are
by no means a scientific survey, they do provide an insight
into at least the short-term effects of the extreme media
images and coverage of the conflict on Turkish perceptions.
End Summary.
¶2. In March 2006, Embassy Ankara added the “Ask the
Ambassador” feature to the Post website to provide a
mechanism by which visitors could communicate with the
Ambassador. Until the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel,
approximately 30 messages per week came in through the
feature. Most of them asked questions about visas or study
in the U.S., while others posed questions on such topics as
Iran policy, the war in Iraq, U.S. interest in the Black Sea
and dealing with the PKK.
¶3. As the conflict heated up, so did the quantity and tone
of messages to “Ask the Ambassador.” We received 65 messages
during the week of July 17, and almost 200 during the
month-long course of the war. Most messages condemned the
U.S. for “double standard” policies, with some asking why the
U.S. did not take action to stop Israel. One message read,
“Stop the Israeli violence in Lebanon. Zionist barbarians
are killing babies. You are not a super power; only a super
Masonic puppy.” Another writer asked, “How can you find
Israel’s actions right when it is responsible for the deaths
of tens of thousands of innocent people?” A third
questioned, “Why are you calling Israel’s cruelty
self-defense and (sic.) while considering all Muslim attacks
as terrorism? Aren’t the U.S. and Israel the biggest
terrorists in the world?” One writer asked, “May I learn
whether you are a human being or not?”
¶4. Complaints that the U.S. defended Israel’s actions
changed into charges of complicity in the wake of the July 30
Qana bombing. Reacting to the graphic images of dead
children in Turkish newspapers and TV, one writer asked,
“Does it give you pleasure to see the pictures?” Another
asked, “When will you stop murdering children?” A third
commented, “The U.S. gave Israel bombs to be used on the
Hezbollah shelters but children’s bodies come out of the
shelters; those children could be yours.” Another writer
asked, “Why is the U.S. allowing Israel to kill innocent
civilians…while pressuring Iran…? Isn’t this sheer
hypocrisy?”
¶5. A number of messages also accused the United States of
practicing a double standard, by accepting/supporting
Israel’s military actions across its border while not
supporting cross-border operations by the Turkish military
against the PKK in northern Iraq. One writer asked, “Israel
has the right to launch a cross-border operation and Turkey
doesn’t?” Another wondered why the U.S. is maintaining a
“double standard” against the PKK and “doing nothing,”
concluding that “with this approach the U.S. is giving a
helping hand to anti-western sentiment and to radicals.”
¶6. When the conflict came to a halt, the easing of the
intense media barrage was accompanied by a sharp decrease in
condemnation messages sent to “Ask the Ambassador.” The
Embassy place an answer on the “Ask the Ambassador” site that
accurately described U.S. policies on Lebanon, while Embassy
officers drew on Washington guidance and speeches to directly
rebut spurious allegations and false accusations.
¶7. COMMENT: It is clear that the conflict between Israel
and Hezbollah stirred and aggravated the feelings of those in
Turkey who hold negative views of the United States. The
daily stream of graphic images and strong commentary from the
Turkish and regional media translated into a burst of anger
directed squarely at the U.S. It remains to be seen whether
the conflict will have a lasting effect on Turkish public
opinion toward the United States. Embassy Ankara will
continue to monitor “Ask the Ambassador” submissions to
provide one quick and direct indicator of Turkish moods in
the coming months.
WILSON
“Israel is an ally of the United States and our only friend in the Middle East.”
As Sheehan is alleged to have said, “Every time anyone says that Israel is our only friend in the Middle East, I can’t help but think that before Israel, we had no enemies in the Middle East.”
Of course, Israel hasn’t actually done anything for the US.
On the other hand, Australia hosts US military installations. Australian troops have fought alongside American troops in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
And we get totally ignored.
(Don’t get me wrong. We don’t want your blasted Senators and Congressmen visiting us. Our own politicians are enough of a pain.)
But it does show the absurdity of the claims that Israel needs attention because Israel is an “ally”.
Ahh…I had a good chuckle when I saw the lone Israel supporter, among 12 commentators was ‘Hophmi’ . Not a bad sign, either.
,
Well, I hope.
If Hophni is all Israeli hasbara can do in the upper midwest, Israel is either broke or no longer able to recruit.
“If Hophni is all Israeli hasbara can do in the upper midwest, Israel is either broke or no longer able to recruit”
Oh, they’re on a roll over there now. They’ve even got Lyne Torgerson drooling all over Paulsen’s knickers.
I’m not alone. There are plenty of supporters of a strong US-Israel relationships who are Minnesotans.
“Israel is an ally of the United States and our only friend in the Middle East. It is a stable liberal democracy in a sea of unstable dictatorships.”
Did any of these “unstable dictatorship” spy on the US?
Did any of them attack anything like the USS Liberty, where 34 crew members were killed and 170 wounded?
Tell us Homphi, you shameful hasbara spewer..
Hopmi: I’m not alone.
Indeed. You are a plural: Do you feel threatened by us. Schizo?
Phil, Erik Paulsen isn’t a democrat.
Is Paulson an American or just another Israel-vassal? we’re just wondering who does he represent exactly and what the price AIPAC is exacting for for the junket?
Democrat or not, what Paulsen and the other 80 so-called representatives are engaged in is corruption. They are being bribed – no other way to put it.
huh? I believe he was elected as a Republican, Phil has him listed as a democrat which is factually wrong and should be changed.
I noticed also a cite of Rep. Bachman, Her style resembles a not particularly accomplished middle school pupil, as in
Oh lord!….Israel must have millions of hasbara on the net or thousand that never sleep because they all say the same dumb things…like Uptown Jew on the thread claiming no one would have a computer if not for Israel.
LOL…tonight should I say thank God for Israel!- or I wouldn’t have these cherry tomaotes in my salad!
Where do they find these idiots?
Maybe this is what Uptown Jew was referring to:
link to seattletimes.nwsource.com
triple yawn
Do you have a dual core processor made by intel in your computer Annie? I wonder how many of you heroes of the BDS movement having intel chips in your computers.
zzzzzzzzz
zzzzzz all you want, Annie. You’re clearly incapable of rebutting the point, and we all know it.
more like bored, uninterested. but chalk it up as a point score for team z, i could care less.
on edit: i think it’s already been debunked many times. israel didn’t invent that chip, it was someone from india. but either way claiming no one would have a computer if not for Israel is..lame.
How many times have we debunked the Israel and intell and computer chips thing.
At least three long post here have dealt with that myth by outlining exactly how Intell has spread out all it’s chip manufacturing and research facilities between 60 countries.
The tech world wouldn’t even hicup if Intell moved it’s plants out of Israel or shut them down.
zzzzzzzzzz
Does the chip have “Excused for Apartheid” printed on it?
Can’t imagine why else you’d bring it up.
You want my advice? By AMD.
Gads, the “uptownjew” clown is damned near as irritating as Hophni or Witty…..
Uptown Jew says:
August 24, 2011 at 1:37 PM
POAmerican, where in Minnesota are you from? which temple do you attend?
PissedOffAmerican says:
August 24, 2011 at 6:26 PM
“POAmerican, where in Minnesota are you from? which temple do you attend?”
Which temple???? I have to be a jew to be qualified or within my rights to comment on Paulsen’s activities??? Tell me, UJ, what percentage of Paulsen’s constituency is jewish? And is he in office to represent jews, or ALL the citizens of Minnesota???
I note the excuse Hophni and you seem to want to bandy forth as a rationale for Paulsen’s presence in Israel has to do with supposed benefits to OUR NATION. Yet, you want the comments to be exclusively from residents of your state.
I’ll bite. What benefits are Minnesotans going to realize by Paulsen’s all expense paid junket to Israel? And where are the POSITIVE comments here from Minnesotans, expressing support for Paulsen’s shameful pandering? I see a known hasbarist, “Hophni”, who IS NOT a Minnesotan, and yourself.
Is it your contention that Paulsen doesn’t need to hear from AMERICANS that are sick and tired of this kind of pandering to lobbyists and special interest groups?
I await your careful, detailed, and specific explanation of how this trip benefits Minnesotans.
Uptown Jew says:
August 24, 2011 at 6:59 PM
POAmerican, you don’t have to be either, just wondering why you are on a website for Jews from the Twin Cities when you are neither Jewish nor from Minnesota. I don’t mind if you troll other political blogs, but please don’t pollute this website with your propaganda.
As I predicted, all the sudden there seems to be an influx of pro-Israel/pro-Paulsen droolers commenting in the last coupla hours.
are you from the third district POA?
Who gives a shit? I don’t see you jackasses asking about the residency of those commentors that are not offering criticism of Paulsen’s trip.
Go buzz around someone else’s ear, DBG.
dbg, i think it is fair to say many americans are disgusted with the idea of 81 congresscritters taking a politically motivated holiday funded by lobbiests. culmatively their votes impact all of us. so, it is natural to complain in blogs covering their trips. it just so happens the format that provides that coverage is this jewish publication. clearly the publication would prefer respondents were jewish and in support of this trip. perhaps if the congressperson had an open forum not affiliated with the jewish community respondents would have expressed their opinions there.
either way, it’s an online forum. it’s sad the rep from the forum thinks people who are pissed ‘hate’ israel. that seems to be the numero uno hasbara crutch. the ol ‘you hate’ thing. lame.
tcjewfolk is just a small startup website trying to united the Jewish community of the twin cities. it disgusts me that it needs to be hijacked by people like you and POA, to spout your stale talking points.
i did not highjack anything.
tcjewfolk is just a small startup website trying to united the Jewish community of the twin cities
yes and it just happens to be the only forum carrying the blog posts of the state congressperson during the traditional time congresspeople stay home and hear from the people they represent. maybe if the congressperson put the blogposts on his own state website these comments wouldn’t be on this small startup website trying to united the Jewish community, but he didn’t.
ROFLMAO!!!!!
One thing about it, offending some jackass like DBG is a side benefit of blogging.
And its comical seeing him natter on about “stale talking points”. Is there ANY narrative that has more “stale talking points” than the day in and day out ad infinitum horseshit we are fed by the hasbarists and the megaphone lemmings?
Its bad enough seeing this daily litany of tales of woe and victimhood from these jackasses, now annie and I are making a poor victim out of this “hip” Jewish website, that only wants to chronicle Paulsen’s shameless pandering in peace and without criticism.
Oh woe , and golly damn alas, the poooor readers of tcjewfolk have been attacked by Mondo terrorists, the mean old POA and that troublesome annie woman.
its comical seeing him natter on about “stale talking points”
computer chips!
Well DBG isn’t that what the hasbara activist have done, doesn’t Israel have a whole department dedicated to sending them forth to hijack sites on the net to spread their propaganda and try to intimidate the blog owners?
And you’re whinning about the tables being turned on your sites now?
“tcjewfolk is just a small startup website trying to united the Jewish community of the twin cities. it disgusts me that it needs to be hijacked by people like you and POA, to spout your stale talking points.”
Then they can password protect it and only permit those who spout the stale Zionist talking points. This isn’t occupied Palestine, where Zios like you can tell everyone where to go and what to do. This is America, land of free speech. And if my free speech that your shitty little ideology is a cancer on the planet doesn’t please you, then stick it in your bum.
occupied Palestine is a lot more free to use the internet than most of it’s Arab neighbors.
But a LOT less free than what their Israeli occupiers enjoy.
What amazes me about this is that so many of you are content to preach to the choir, but when you have an opportunity to reach out and actually INFORM people that are only subjected to the hasbara, YOU WIMP OUT.
POA it’s almost pointless to argue wih the hasbara folks or go to pro Israel sites– you aren’t going to change their minds.
If you want to spread the truth best thing is to comment on pieces in publications like NYT or WP or WSJ and even small town newspapers.
If you search the news on goggle you will come across articles mentioning Israel in a lot of publications that allow comments—recently I commented on several in the Southern Pines NC, and Durham and Raleigh newspapers and several college newspapers. That’s where you can get the facts out to people that don’t search the net for info. and might not know a lot about the Israel issue.
An excellent Giraldi piece apropos to this thread…….
link to original.antiwar.com
Does anyone know where I could find a complete list of the corrupt congress-people now frolicking in Israel?
We should all follow their votes in the future and record what they have been doing for their own constituents, if anything, vs what they are doing for the shadow 51st American state, Israel. One that apparently has more power over American politics than the other 50 states combined.
move over aipac has a partial list
Do they blog?
And hey, Erik Paulsen D-Minneapolis and Pat Meehan D-Pennsylvania missing!
What’s wrong with saying rich pro Israel Jews?—the NYT, the WP and others refer to them like that constantly when writting about political donations.
So ridiculous.
“Uptown Jew says:
August 24, 2011 at 6:59 PM
POAmerican, you don’t have to be either, just wondering why you are on a website for Jews from the Twin Cities when you are neither Jewish nor from Minnesota. I don’t mind if you troll other political blogs, but please don’t pollute this website with your propaganda”
Uptown did you get the memo on the latest existential threat?– that there’s a plot to infiltrate all the Jewish sites and steal the Jews away from the Zionist. Heh, heh,heh.