In the surreal universe of the Republican presidential primaries, some believed that the dramatic standoff at Donald Trump’s chaotic rally in Chicago and its consequent cancelation signified his campaign’s welcome demise. However, the results from the primaries on March 15th proved to the contrary; states continued to fall into his clutches one after another like dominoes. But how is that possible? Currently, corporate media has rendered “The Donald” invincible, as ratings of his vulgar shit-shows of recent weeks soar, including extended coverage of his own inflammatory racist rhetoric, seasoned with his supporters’ sucker punches, Nazi salutes and calls to “go to Auschwitz”. But for many people who are tired of establishment politics the allure of the Trump campaign stems from its unconventional nature. In so doing, Trump supporters are carelessly throwing the baby out with the bathwater: they are indeed ridding themselves of the corruption of “the establishment” and its political correctness by supporting an outsider, but in so doing they are crowning a dangerous buffoon, obliterating civility and making way for racism and proto-Fascism. Decades of corporate-controlled governments in Washington have created a cynical situation whereby a demagogue like Trump simply needs to adopt an approach that is seemingly in opposition to current political practice. This is reminiscent of the comical tactic embraced by George Costanza in the classic Seinfeld episode “The Opposite”. In reality though, Trump’s clown act will not end with a commercial break, but with chaos, the antecedents of which played out in Chicago last week.
Meanwhile, ‘tis the season when American candidates for president submissively grovel for the much sought after “kosher” seal of approval from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), and its accompanying spoils. Donald Trump’s invitation to the AIPAC conference has produced much controversy within the American Jewish community due to Trump’s blatant misogyny and overt racism toward Mexicans, Muslims and other minorities, not to mention the sordid nature of some of his supporters. Though AIPAC is guilty of supporting many, if not all, of Israel’s crimes of aggression, it still tries to maintain a civilized veneer. What’s more, Trump’s statements regarding Israel have strayed from AIPAC’s traditional bulwark of every and any Israeli aggression, promising to remain “neutral” and even implicitly blaming Israel for the breakdown of talks with Palestinians. In contrast, Trump has proved to be a friend of Greater Israel when he promised to transfer the American embassy from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem, a move sought after by Israeli governments as a means to solidify its illegal annexation of East Jerusalem and one that U.S. presidents have thus avoided.
The premise of the formation of Israel as a state for Jews was to serve as a safe haven in response to racist persecution. Israel was accepted as a member by the United Nations at a time when the anti-Semitic genocidal horrors of Nazi Germany were still coming to light. As such, one would expect the Israeli government to condemn Trump’s rhetoric and the shamelessly racist base he has galvanized and empowered, which remind many of Hitler and pre WWII Germany, respectfully. But surprisingly, so far the Israeli government and specifically its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have remained silent regarding Trump and his bigotry. Is this an indication of a newfound noninterventionist respect for American politics by the notoriously disrespectful Netanyahu?
In order to assess Israel’s sentiments regarding foreign policy in general and Trump in particular, it is natural to seek answers from Israel’s representative in Washington, ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer. However, as Netanyahu’s puppet Dermer has obediently maintained radio silence with respect to Trump’s candidacy. Alternatively, in the special case of Israel it is more useful to defer directly to Netanyahu’s puppet master; the billionaire, Republican megadonor, and owner of Israel’s widely circulated and free newspaper “Israel Hayom” Sheldon Adelson. When asked about Trump recently, Adelson simply responded with: “why not support him?” And in light of Adelson’s right-wing political affiliation and support of the notion of Greater Israel, his answer makes perfect sense.
Netanyahu and members of his extremist government have repeatedly asserted that there will be no Palestinian state, making way for the continued entrenchment and expansion of Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands, and the aggression that comes with it. As a master manipulator of Israeli local and international mainstream media, Netanyahu has repeatedly capitalized on tragedy for the purpose of masking direct acts of expansion and aggression against Palestinians (as in the case of the abduction and murder of three Israeli teenagers) and for propaganda purposes (as in the case of the Paris attacks).
Donald Trump is a narcissist who, similar to Netanyahu, has a gift for manipulating the media to serve his purposes. Regardless of his inconsistent views on Israel, which are likely to fall in line with the traditional Republican do-or-die support at the AIPAC convention, his shenanigans and the mounting unrest they produce are the absolute best thing that could happen to Netanyahu and his extremist government. While the people in the United States and the entire world remain dumbfounded and distracted by Trump’s obscene and at times comical vulgarity, Netanyahu and his messianic counterparts can quietly continue to commit further crimes against Palestinians on route toward the fruition of their fantasy of Greater Israel. As such, Trump spells very bad news for Palestinians and their advocates; for when the empire is in chaos, its imperialistic collaborators can run amuck.
Yoav
I don’t think that argument holds water. Whenever it happens that the neocons’ & Israel firster grip on the Republican party is loosened, it’s clear that there will be lot’s of screaming and punching. that can’t be different because the neocons are responsible for this hyper-aggressive fighting style, and it’s clear they would not go down without a fight. Nevertheless, freeing Palestine can’t happen without a victory over the neocons. And, there is more foreign policy speaking for Trump, namely that Trump attacks Israel’s allies like Saudi Arabia, while arguing for partnering with Russia despite Israel’s wishes to the contrary.
Your criticism that AIPAC with the invitation of Trump doesn’t maintain a civilized veneer I would think other way round: it’s good that the humanitarian veil of AIPAC is lifted.
Looks like a bunch of rabbis at AIPAC, inspired by donors, are about to disrespect Trump. I wonder if they realize that they’ll be doing him a favor.
Washington Post: Rabbis organize boycott of Trump’s speech to pro-Israel group:
In reality, there is no one from the GOP that is good for the US, and will keep the nation united.
Right now Lindsay Graham and others are jumping on the Cruz band wagon so that Trump can be defeated, but really will the nation be better off?
The Israel first and anti Muslim bigot, Frank Gaffney, who has caused this country so much of grief with lies and anti Muslim propaganda is one of Ted Cruz’s Advisers.
Look at his ugly record:
Ted Cruz’s New Adviser Is Even More Anti-Muslim Than Donald Trump
Here are some of the more outrageous claims made by Cruz’s new foreign policy adviser:
-In the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq, Gaffney suggested that then-President Saddam Hussein had been involved in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, committed by Timothy McVeigh.
-When President Barack Obama nominated Elena Kagan to serve on the Supreme Court in 2010, Gaffney accused her of being soft on Sharia during her time as dean of Harvard Law School. His group financed an ad that asked, “If Kagan tolerates promoting the injustice of Sharia law on the campus of Harvard, what kind of injustice will she tolerate in America during a lifetime on the Supreme Court?”
-In 2009, Gaffney questioned whether Obama was America’s first Muslim president or simply playing one. “The man now happy to have his Islamic-rooted middle name featured prominently has engaged in the most consequential bait-and-switch since Adolf Hitler duped Neville Chamberlain over Czechoslovakia at Munich,” Gaffney wrote.
-In 2010, Gaffney accused Obama of dismantling American missile defense capability in an act of U.S. submission to Islam. He cited a “new” Missile Defense Agency logo as evidence, suggesting that the logo appeared to be a combination of Obama’s campaign symbol and the Islamic crescent and star. He later corrected that post, acknowledging that the logo was neither new nor produced under Obama’s direction
-Gaffney suggested that Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan at the time, was submitting to Sharia when Petraeus condemnedthe burning of a Quran by a Florida pastor.
-Gaffney has accused a bipartisan array of political elites of being secretly tied to the Islamist organization known as the Muslim Brotherhood, including longtime Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin and conservative heavyweights Grover Norquist and Suhail Khan.
-Gaffney has objected to Reps. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) and Andre Carson (D-Ind.) serving on the House Intelligence Committee because they are Muslim and therefore, he said, likely to leak information to the Muslim Brotherhood.
-While the rest of the world marveled at the ignorance that led authorities in Irving, Texas, to mistake 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed’s homemade clock for a bomb last year, Gaffney wrote that the school did the right thing by suspending Ahmed and calling the police. His group later honored Beth Van Duyne, the mayor of Irving and a Sharia alarmist, with the Freedom Flame Award for her “efforts to protect the Constitution.”
-Gaffney hosted white nationalist Jared Taylor on his radio show last fall and praised Taylor’s American Renaissance website as “wonderful.” During the show, Taylor challenged the idea that the desperate people now flooding into Europe are refugees, calling that description a myth “touted by liberals.” When asked about the consequences of these individuals moving to Europe, Taylor said, “We have unleashed now what would not be an exaggeration to call almost demonic forces.”
-When Trump proposed a ban on Muslims’ entry into the U.S last year, Gaffney quickly jumped to his defense. “Mr. Trump has clearly picked up on a conviction increasingly shared by millions of Americans,” he wrote on his group’s website. “They have begun to see the Obama administration has long been downplaying, misrepresenting and mishandling a threat more and more of us see plainly.”
-When Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) invited Broward County Deputy Sheriff Nazar Hamze to this year’s State of the Union address, Gaffney accusedHamze of being “tied to a group that is directly linked to Hamas.” He was referring to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington-based advocacy group.
-Gaffney accused Pope Francis of having “rabidly anti-American” views after the pope said in February that it’s “not Christian” to urge the deportation of undocumented immigrants and vow to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ted-cruz-frank-gaffney-islamophobia_us_56eb11cbe4b03a640a69fc3b
The US is becoming something unrecognizable and frightening.
Actually, Netanyahu did issue an insincere condemnation of some of Trump’s remarks: http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/262647-netanyahu-condemns-trumps-muslim-ban.
Sick monsters, all! AIPAC and Zionists who murder others thinking their OWN brats are superior to all else. I hate them all. I hate my weak country that ALLOWS IT AND TOLERATES IT AND FEEDS IT.
We wring our hands and justify what we do!!
We have become what we hate!
Except: MY children are NOT better than others. I care about them ALL!