Israel is not acting like America’s friend.

But take a look at Congress. They’re a huge problem on this one. HUGE.

Given that Turkey has been such a good ally of Israel, I do kind of question whether they were trying to invoke genocide but I honestly don’t know. The Turks are notoriously diplomatic and it is clear they are outraged, but I am still having a hard time wrapping my mind around the idea that the Turkish leaders intentionally invoked the Holocaust. But again, I honestly don’t know. I do know that irrespective of their intent, it has allowed people some people to distract everyone from the underlying issues involved in incident- and that certainly doesn’t help Turkey or anyone else who wants to see justice done.

It’s our consumption of hydrocarbons and fear of government that led to this disaster. BP was reckless, but if not them, then someone else.

Pass a decent climate bill now.

Sec. Clinton is the most qualified SoS in decades. Maybe I have too much faith in her, but I am positive she is working on the best solution.

Are we supposed to invade Brazil and Turkey now? Start a war with North Korea. That’s the George W. Bush response. And I’ve seen where that has led.

No question, the phrase “final solution” was unfortunate and offensive, albeit most likely unintentionally.

After a while, after a great long while, one can get tired of always having to tippy-toe regarding the bellicosity of Israel.

What happened to them in the Nazi era was beyond heartbreaking. What is now happening with the Palestinians is breaking my heart.

But the more one knows about many sad bullying stories all over the place, the more one’s heart does break. It is too sad. Ignorance is bliss, it’s said. I can’t choose ignorance, but I’m not equal to the pain of the world.

The U.S. has to come out an forcefully defend the rights of Americans overseas. Peaceful protesters, while perhaps inconvenient for Israeli PR, do not pose a national security threat despite Israel’s claims to the contrary and the US should demand an inquiry into what justified shooting an American in the face at relatively close range.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/naomi-klein/blinding-the-witnesses_b_600773.html

The disturbing trend in Israel is they claim that all those who protest the situation in Gaza/the Occupation are somehow a threat comparable to Hamas rockets and such a claim flies in the face of democratic principles. While Israel faces legitimate security threats, as do all nations, to use “national security” as an excuse to silence any opposition to its policies is unacceptable. The people who have an automatic knee-jerk response in defense of anything Israel does, ignore the fact that often times the issue is not whether Israel faces threats or has a right to national defense. Rather, the issue is whether the means used by Israel comport with any generally accepted view of international law with respect to occupying forces and the use of disproportionate force or collective punishment of those over whom it has TOTAL control.

Increasingly, human rights activists and journalists have faced violence and arbitrary detention, refusing to allow any international oversight or investigation into the disturbing growth in these practices.

One thing I will say- you may be right Taylor, perhaps the U.S. should send a message to both Turkey and Israel by stepping back and essentially saying “when you two decide to get out of the sandbox and act like international powers, give us a call…” but the U.S. will not do that.

Israel has once again put the U.S. in an untenable position. The State Dept. and WH apparently pleaded with Israel prior to the flotilla’s departure for Israel to use restraint, which they did not. The U.S. won’t condemn the disproportionate use of force last weekend by Israel despite the killing of an American on board so we’ve essentially chosen sides without saying as much out loud. In other words, Obama has no real plan to deal with this diplomatic escalation.

“She also was a Hillary supporter.”
As was the entire faux notnews team during the primary.
Youknow, you’re RIGHT! We should just stop reading those pesky independent, liberal or progressive sites and just rely on faux notnews for our disinformation and propaganda!

” Maybe you should sharpen your critical thinking skills and analyze the arguments before spouting your female hating colloquialisms.”
Dahlik, obviously you don’t spend much time round these parts.
She’s a whore just like OLielly’s a whore and Blech’s a whore and Handjobity’s a whore and faux notnews is just a big electronic whore house.

Or reality apparently. Faux notnews and Israel are the ONLY trust worthy information sources for you?

Stop the money
Stop supplying weapons
Step back and let them figure/fight it out and come back in ten years.
Indict whoever is responsable for the murder of an American citizen in international waters in an illegal act hyjacking.

Turkey and Brazil just undermined us in getting watered down sanctions on Iran in the Security Council. Doesn’t that tell you something? How long has he been promising sanctions? And what sanctions for North Koreas unprovoked attack? Turkey has been at cross purposes with us for a while….and we don’t call them on it or take action. Obama took the side of Hugo Chavez in the Honduras situation before he switched course.

But this is the ever wise and ever intervening United States we are talking about. We have commitments to both of these stiff-necked and hypersensitive nations. Now that they are engaged in an epic food-fight there is no way we will not get a pie in our face. This is the down-side of Imperial over-reach.

Political Islam is a very nasty thing to look at close up. The thing is that when you take three steps back you see the even nastier process that created political Islam. This is the end result of epically corrupt governments all over the Middle East and the short sighted U.S. policies that support those kleptocratic regimes.

Hamas is just another example of blow-back from bad policy decisions made in DC and Jerusalem.

Spot on with the rest of the post though. We have to get off oil, and we need to get out of the entangling alliances that oil creates.