Open mic syndrome: Israel beware
The man now occupying the White House seems to be suffering from open mic syndrome. For a man so seasoned with technology, these gaffes are puzzling as well as troubling.
Open mic with Russia
The most recent occurrence of this affliction were remarks to President Medvedev regarding missile defense negotiations. We were all horrified to learn that Obama intended to conduct negotiations that were to be deliberately stalled until after the November elections – when he would have more “flexibility”. Since the United States already has a very well-developed missile strategy in place, the flexibility Obama was referring to logically could only compromise the safety of this nation.
Open mic with Israel
Flag of Israel
Of course this isn’t the only manifestation of open mic syndrome that has afflicted the man now occupying the White House. He was also struck in his talks with French President Sarkozy. At that time Mr. Obama revealed his disdain for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Open mic syndrome may be a curse for the man now occupying the White House but it may be a blessing for the American people who have been able to catch a glimpse of what this man is really thinking. It may also be a warning for Israel.
Rumor now has it that Iran is now willing to negotiate with the US and Israel about their nuclear development. Many think that this is another Iranian stall. It could be. However, it could also be a stall engineered by the White House until after the November elections when Obama has more “flexibility.” Some may say this is paranoia but given his past remarks, I believe it is a logical point to raise. Consider that Obama, out of his own mouth, has made it clear that he is not a friend of Israel – all I can say is: Israel beware!
“Obama revealed his disdain for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”
What’s wrong with that? It’s a disdain shared by many other Americans, almost all Europeans and the 78.4% of the Israeli electorate who didn’t vote for the warmongering buffoon.
Why should I give an unripe fig for the opinions of Europeans? May I remind you of James Garner’s immortal lines from The Americanization of Emily:
And this American will not risk the Abrahamic Curse. (Genesis 12:3)
As to the Israeli electorate who, you say, did not vote for him: well, I’m sure that some of them warmed up to him pretty fast after Obama did everything but call him a kike to his face.
“I’m sure that some of them warmed up to him pretty fast”
Not really. Opinion polls suggest that nearly 80% of Israelis (84% in one recent poll) still don’t intend to vote for him. Meanwhile there is a movement of support from the centrist Kadima to the left-wing Labor Party.
“after Obama did everything but call him a kike to his face.”
As we’ve discussed before, this is something that happened only in your head. So Obama personally dislikes Netanyahu. And? So does almost everyone else.
Where do you read those polls? I would guess that you read that in Ha’aretz, which is their counterpart to The New York Slimes or The Washington (com)Post.
And yes, I’ve discussed your denials before. “Almost everyone else”? No. Just you and the Arabs with whom you jump in bed.
I think I found the polls on the ynet site. I can’t be bothered to check, but it definitely wasn’t Ha’aretz. As good a paper as it is there’s no point citing it here, because it’ll just be dismissed as liberal anti-semitism.
You have no basis at all for the claim that Obama “did everything but call him a kike to his face.” It’s an invention, and a silly one at that. Obama doesn’t like Netanyahu. This is unsurprising: Netanyahu is not a popular man. Even within Israel he barely made it over a fifth of the vote, a Spiegel poll says that 50% of Americans support a tough stance against Netanyahu’s settlement programme and in Europe he’s almost universally despised.
Sure, you don’t care what Europe thinks. However it has both a larger population and a larger GDP than the USA does, and Europe isn’t loathed by most of the rest of the world. The thing is, even the populations of your allies – your real allies, the ones that help you – don’t like the USA. Individual Americans are great people, but your state and government – with its pervasive lobbyists, cash-driven elections and ridiculous obsessions – is detested. And no, it’s not because we’re jealous; who could envy a system where Rick Santorum was a serious candidate for office?
Of course it’s because you’re jealous. You’re jealous of our standard of living, our industrial capacity, everything.
I saw the photo-op, where Obama turned his face away from Netanyahu and sat there, tight-lipped, and almost growling. I understand that afterward he RANTED AND RAVED AND SCREAMED AT THE TOP OF HIS LUNGS to his aides to somehow avoid soiling him with Netanyahu’s presence again.
Why would I be jealous of your standard of living? I have a perfectly good standard of living here. I have comprehensive and affordable health cover, like everyone else in my country; the USA is still struggling to get that over 80% despite spending far more taxpayers’ money on it. I will never, ever be bankrupted or made homeless by medical bills; 46% of US personal bankruptcies happen because of health costs. I have excellent roads to drive on and a trustworthy, professional police force. Food is cheaper than in the USA and the quality is generally better: my diet isn’t loaded with corn syrup and artificial flavourings. I can buy an (excellent, chemical-free) beer without some officious twerp demanding to see my passport.
Your industrial capacity? Germany, with a quarter of your population, exports more manufactured goods and of a higher quality. Yes, higher quality: I’ve driven American cars. When Carroll Shelby wanted a racing car in the 1960s he had to go to a British company, which is why the famous American Shelby Cobra is actually an AC Cobra and was built in Surrey. Last time I hired a car in the USA I’d booked a Cadillac; the guy at the hire office saw my passport, said “Oh, you won’t want that heap” and gave me a BMW instead. Your army uses German and Italian pistols, British light artillery and mortars and Belgian machineguns because US industry can’t come up with adequate designs. Even your rifle is pathetic; all your Special Forces units prefer the HK416, an improved variant made in Oberndorf that actually works.
I’m not denying that Obama dislikes Netanyahu and probably finds him difficult, arrogant, ungrateful and demanding, not to mention downright rude. However where does the “kike” stuff come from? You know, it IS possible to dislike Netanyahu for reasons other than his religion; ask the entire production team and readership of Ha’aretz.
Enjoy what you call a standard of living now, before the entire socialistic scheme collapses of its own weight, as it must.
A few more comments about standards of living:
Every year 4.8 out of every 100,000 Americans will be murdered, by far the highest rate in the developed world; the corresponding figure for Germany is 0.84. Nobody here feels the need to hide in a “gated community.” The street lights in my town get turned off at 1:00am, which is great for amateur astronomy; when I mentioned this to some American officers a couple of years ago they were incredulous and started asking about crime, until a senior Bundeswehr officer assured them that this is normal and crime isn’t an issue. It isn’t; there are over 10,000 people in this town, and in the last six months we’ve had two burglaries and no home invasions. I don’t know when the last murder was, but there certainly hasn’t been one since 2001 at least. The reason for this certainly isn’t our harsh penal system; 0.743% of the US population are in prison at any one time, over twice the figure for Iran and by far the highest in the world; the figure for Germany is 0.084%.
The average American worker has a 42 hour work week and gets 12 days’ paid holidays a year. The average German worker does 36 hours a week and gets 30 days’ paid holidays. Average income in the USA are substantially higher but median disposable income is only slightly higher; the figures are distorted by the USA having the worst income inequality in the developed world, with the highest-paid 10% of the workforce earning 15.9 times as much as the lowest-paid 10%, as against 6.9 times as much here. Of course disposable income in the USA has to pay for health care, whereas in Germany that’s already taken care of (and costs just over half as much anyway.)
The difference in housing costs wipes out all the USA’s remaining lead in disposable income. The average house in the USA costs over $210,000. That’s at the moment, of course; prices fluctuate wildly, either pricing people out of the market or leaving them with homes worth less than the outstanding loan. In Germany the average house costs $102,500 and prices are fairly stable, generally increasing in line with inflation. Inflation’s lower too, of course: the latest estimates (2010) are 1.1%, against the USA’s 1.4%. We do pay more to the unemployed, but that’s OK; we have less of them – 5.4% in 2011 Q4, against 8.3% in the USA.
No Terry, trust me on this: I’m really not jealous.
“Enjoy what you call a standard of living now, before the entire socialistic scheme collapses of its own weight, as it must.”
But this isn’t a socialist country, Terry; it’s a very successful capitalist one with a centre-right government. We have a longer life expectancy than the USA, lower infant mortality, lower rates of teenage pregnancy and lower rates of STD infection. Americans aspire to owning a Mercedes, BMW or Porsche; nobody here thinks a Cadillac is a status symbol. As for what I “call” a standard of living, it is a standard of living, and a very high one at that. There are no trailer parks here.
You don’t get it, do you?
Capitalism = no government intervention at all in the economy.
Communism = total government ownership and control over all means of production, distribution, and exchange.
Socialism = everything in between.
Sadly, even the USA is a socialist country. It’s just that the UK is a more socialist country. Clement Atlee made it that way. Margaret Thatcher moved the bar back, but her successors have gone the Atlee route. (And Maggie never did anything about the NHS.)
Or: ever heard of the Two Cows Joke?
Socialism: you have two cows; the government takes one and gives it to your neighbor.
Communism: the government takes both and gives you the milk.
Fascism (Italian): the government takes both and sells you the milk.
Nazism: the government takes both and shoots you.
New Deal-ism (or Atlee-ism): the government buys both, shoots one, milks the other, and throws the milk away.
Capitalism: you sell one and buy a bull.
My country is back in the New Deal-ism stage.
You are more near the socialism stage: “the government takes one and gives it to your neighbor.”
Enjoy being the neighbor to whom the government gives the cow that it took from someone else. For once no more cows remain for the government to take…!
I just checked the stats. In terms of average quality of life based on health, education and income, Germany ranks 7th in the world (behind five other European countries and Australia.) The USA ranks 23rd.
That probably reflects the teachers’-union-dominated government schools of which I would assume that you would be so overly fond, in concept if not quite in execution.
“Capitalism = no government intervention at all in the economy.”
That’s a rather unconventional definition, don’t you think? The fact is that you have no idea what socialism actually means. You think German manufacturers are run by the government? Well, they’re not. They’re run by their owners. Those owners deal with the workforce via trade unions. The unions are not stroppy nuisances like British or US ones; they want the company to succeed because that’s good for their members. The owners want the company to succeed because that’s good for their profits and share prices. The government want the company to succeed because that’s good for the economy. So everyone wants the company to succeed, everyone works towards helping the company succeed and, more often than not, the company succeeds. That’s why in the USA Mercedes, Audis and BMWs are driven by people who’re successful, and in Germany Chevrolets are driven by people who can’t afford a Skoda.
You do realize, of course, that if your reports are correct, then you have identified key differences between American trade unions and German trade unions. In America, the trade unions want only one thing: for the gravy to flow. They don’t care whether the gravy comes from the company or from the government. They’ll win either way. That is why “General Motors” is part Government Motors and part Union Motors. GM has become the analogue of Volkswagenwerk Aktiengesselschaft during the Nazi regime.
To reply to your other comments: The government has no business “ensuring that schools are giving children the education they need to survive in society.” Government schools have become indoctrination centers. And in Germany, I know for a fact that the government has seized home-schooled children and packed them off to the psychiatric ward, under laws still on the books that Adolf Hitler ordered passed. As to “who’s going to pay for them,” the parents themselves will. And they’ll be in far better case to pay for them when the property-tax burden goes away. Nothing is entirely free-of-charge. Somebody pays for it anyway. And I don’t mean government, either: government never pays for anything without wringing the funds for said payment from citizen or subject somewhere down the line.
“That probably reflects the teachers’-union-dominated government schools”
Well, it really reflects the fact that Germans are better educated. Also that they live longer, are less likely to die as infants and are more likely to have a wage above the poverty line. Like I said, Terry: there are no trailer parks here.
“You are more near the socialism stage: “the government takes one and gives it to your neighbor.””
Here’s how it really works:
You have two cows.
You give part of your milk production to the government, which uses this to feed the poor and to raise more cows.
You buy a third cow at a subsidised price from a government cow dealer. You repay the subsidy with a bit more milk. Meanwhile your increased milk production lets you buy more subsidised cows, until you have eight.
You breed fast, well-equipped cows, polish them and stick a Mercedes badge on their heads. These are sold to Americans for $100,000 each. You buy an even faster cow yourself for $45,000 and ride around on it at any speed you like.
American farmers, proud of their two cows, mutter about socialism as they sell both cows and their house to pay for their wife’s cancer treatment.
“You give part of your milk production to the government, which uses this to feed the poor and to raise more cows.”
Quo warranto? By what authority does the government do this?
I have a word for your package deal of subsidies and government dealers. The word is: racket.
“By what authority does the government do this?”
By the authority of the people who read its party manifesto then chose to elect it.
“I have a word for your package deal of subsidies and government dealers. The word is: racket.”
Why do you think it’s a racket? The result is businesses that are booming while US industry falls apart. If my hypothetical farmer ends up with more cows, and the government ends up with more revenue, who’s losing out?
But of course: the country of your subjecthood has no written Constitution. It’s whatever the House of Commons decides to do, any time it so decides.
Your hypothetical farmer is a creature of the government, just as surely as though he drew a salary from it. That violates half a dozen provisions of our Constitution.
“you have identified key differences between American trade unions and German trade unions.”
Yes, I’m aware of that.
“That is why “General Motors” is part Government Motors and part Union Motors.”
A larger part is the fact that they can’t build decent cars.
“GM has become the analogue of Volkswagenwerk Aktiengesselschaft during the Nazi regime.”
Nope. Volkswagen could – and can – build decent cars.
“The government has no business “ensuring that schools are giving children the education they need to survive in society.””
Of course it does. It’s child abuse to let children be urned loose on the world without the knowledge required to get on in it.
“in Germany, I know for a fact that the government has seized home-schooled children and packed them off to the psychiatric ward”
No, the police have seized illegally home-schooled children and packed them off to school. Home-schooling, like home brain surgery, is perfectly legal if you have the required qualifications and facilities to do it. Some criminals, unfortunately, ignore the law and have to be dealt with. Child abuse is a serious crime here.
“under laws still on the books that Adolf Hitler ordered passed.”
Rubbish.
“the parents themselves will.”
So you think education should be linked to ability to pay? No thanks, we’re not interested in that here. I think we’ll just keep on the way we’re going. When America finally collapses I’m sure the Chinese will be happy to buy our cars and machine tools.
I see. So any mother who decides for herself, apart from any government’s pretended authority to set qualifications, is a criminal.
I told you that you wouldn’t understand what it means to be a free citizen. Because that is exactly what you are not.
“So any mother who decides for herself, apart from any government’s pretended authority to set qualifications, is a criminal.”
Yes. It is a crime for children to be denied a proper education. Parents aren’t allowed to carry out surgery on their children if they’re unqualified; why should they be allowed to educate them?
“I told you that you wouldn’t understand what it means to be a free citizen. Because that is exactly what you are not.”
Sure I am. What freedoms do I lack that a US citizen has?
The Oath of Hippocrates does provide that no physician should practice surgery if he isn’t qualified. But education is another matter altogether. To educate one’s own child is a fundamental right. At least, it is in this country, and several States affirmatively recognize it.
The lists of freedoms you lack that a United States citizen has, would fill a book. You obviously do not know, and cannot conceive, what it means to be free. You do not even appreciate freedom. You’re used to subjecthood, and to having the government take care of you.
“the country of your subjecthood has no written Constitution”
The country of which I am a CITIZEN most certainly does have a written constitution.
Where is the Constitution of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland written? Answer: nowhere. And once again, you are not a citizen. You are a subject. From where I sit, British law calls you a “loyal subject of Her Majesty.” And as charming as I find your Queen, I remind you that I have no King but God.
“The lists of freedoms you lack that a United States citizen has, would fill a book”
Go on then, name some.
“you are not a citizen. You are a subject.”
I am a citizen of the Federal Republic. We have a constitution. Formerly I was a UK subject. The UK also has a constitution. It’s called the Bill of Rights and dates to 1688.
“To educate one’s own child is a fundamental right.”
Education is too important to be left to unqualified people. Adults have the right to hold any beliefs or opinions they want, but they don’t have a right to indoctrinate children with them. In particular children have a right not to be disadvantaged in life by being taught pseudoscience or values and beliefs that are not in line with the law of the Federal Republic.
“I understand that afterward he RANTED AND RAVED AND SCREAMED AT THE TOP OF HIS LUNGS to his aides to somehow avoid soiling him with Netanyahu’s presence again.”
You keep calling yourself a journalist and then you keep posting things like this. Words like “I understand” do not belong in a sensible journalist’s vocabulary. Where’s your sources for the alleged rant? Then again, I can’t say I blame him – who wants to be associated with a thug and a war criminal?
Also, if you want to talk standard of living, just remember that the USA has a higher infant mortality rate than New Caledonia, Hungary, Greece, Cuba, Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Japan. And only slightly better than Croatia, Belarus, Serbia and Poland (link to cia.gov) Makes you think who is doing it right. A country that can’t even look after its most helpless citizens can hardly be called a first world country.
Here’s a question for you – my father just had a quadruple bypass and is home again, right as rain. Guess how much it cost us? Nothing. How much would a bypass operation cost you? Would it be cheaper to die than be bankrupted by the co-payments?
And another thing – I wouldn’t want to live in a country that’s this messed up:
link to freethoughtblogs.com
Let’s hear you condemn this sort of behaviour by your fellow Christians.
Or do you condone threats of rape and violence against a minor?
Actually, they have the wrong target in mind. And their method wouldn’t work even on the right target.
The right target is the whole notion of government schools, and the corrosive notion that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion” now means “Congress shall make no law paying respect to any religion in government buildings or in or on other government assets.” The solutions:
So, you think it’s ok to threaten a girl with rape, because she’s upholding the law as it stands, not as fundies want it to be?
Wow, what a little criminal she is.
Also, if schools do allow religion in, then don’t you think it fair that if they pray to Jesus, they should also pray to Jehovah, Allah, Krishna, Buddha, etc, etc.
Or should we bring back segregation – each to his own? Or just chase all the non-believers out of the country and run it like… well, Iran and Saudi Arabia, I guess.
No. Whoever’s doing that, to judge from the style of that scrawl, needs to have a talk with his or her pastor about things like “do not murder,” “leave your offering on the altar if you’re that angry,” “let every soul be subject to the governing authorities,” and a whole host of issues. But you rather cleverly hid the issue, forgetting for the moment that a simple Google search would reveal that issue. That search, by the way, failed to turn up any tragic police reports.
I notice my previous reply mysteriously vanished. By “hiding the issue” I assume you mean, she fought to uphold the current law of the land, which does not allow prayer in schools?
And for that a minor child is threatened with rape and violence. I’m sure your Google search pulled up many other examples of such threats. And no, luckily nobody’s carried them out yet. That doesn’t make it right.
I ask you again – do you condone or condemn such behaviour by fellow Christians? It’s not a matter of him talking to his preacher… it’s a matter of people like you, who purport to have a voice, saying “No!”
Or “yes” as it were.
I wonder where pastor Bickel stands on this?
“Hiding the issue” means simply this: by concentrating on a “different” schoolgirl who got a threatening letter from the “in-clique,” your source ignored a court and a movement that seeks to banish all religion from the public square, just because it is the public square, though that was never James Madison’s intent when he wrote what became the First Amendment.
If you want to support Jessica Ahlquist, get yourself an “Evil Little Thing” T-shirt. I did.
link to evillittleshirts.com
But if you abolish government schools there’s no way to ensure that schools are giving children the education they need to survive in society. And who’s going to pay for them?
That was going to be my next question to Terry. Who is going to pay for all the private schooling, given that there will be no state funding? Who is going to pay for the upkeep of the buildings, the grounds, the transport to and from school, the school meals? Not to mention the teachers. I’m guessing there’ll be no more teachers’ unions so they can all get minimum wage. Which means that anybody who is a halfway decent teacher will leave the profession to find a better job, leaving America’s future in the hands of those who can’t teach. Still, when you’re dealing with people who want to simplify everything down to “God did it” and probably educate girls just enough so they can be breeding machines, maybe that’s all they need.
Or are we looking at some sort of bizarre utopia where the women all stay home and home school, in between cooking, cleaning and breeding, and the men do manly things like bringing home the bread? Sadly, that fantasy died in the 50s.
Who is going to pay for private schooling, you ask? Are you naturally lacking in imagination, or are you being deliberately obtuse?
A government exists to manage force. Government authority is force, and nothing else. “State funding for public schools” constitutes a taking from some (i.e., those who don’t have school-age children or don’t appreciate the lesson plans in the government schools) for the unearned, unpaid benefit of others. Worse, it constitutes government indoctrination in certain pseudoscientific theories that suit the interests of the Party now in power. Whether evolutionism or “global warming” or simply the whole notion of “the government paying for your welfare from cradle to grave,” the objection of all freedom-loving people is the same.
What would happen if all the deep pockets in town moved out? Well, we know what happens. Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey said it best: if you tax them, they will leave.
You still haven’t answered the question.
Who pays for the education of the children.
From what you’re saying, you think that only those who have children in school should pay for their education.
Thus further reducing the pot of available funds, to be divided amongst the same number of students, thus raising costs exponentially.
Of course, you have no school-age children, so why should you care that parents can’t afford to educate their children?
Who pays? Parents pay. And if they decide to school their children at home, that is their right.
And you’re still dodging the issue.
The law as it stands (regardless of how you feel about it) forbids prayer in school. A young girl is targeted with hate and threats of sexual violence, because she fights to have the law upheld.
So, once again – do you condone or condemn such behaviour against her.
Also, you seem to be of the impression that you can ignore laws you don’t like. Funny, I never took you for an anarchist.
I don’t condone scrawling threatening letters to people.
But I do say that government schools should be abolished, for precisely the boast that you make that “the law as it stands forbids prayer in school.”
So destroy an entire education system, instead of trying to amend a law? Or for that matter, just accepting that hey! We can pray everywhere else, maybe we don’t need to pray in school, or the office, or the park. last time I checked, the world doesn’t revolve around you. And another question you haven’t answered – if the law is changed to allow prayer in school, then it should allow all prayers of all religions equally, yes?
And yes it would destroy the system, because how many parents do you think would be able to afford to pay for their children’s educations… given that it would include the costs of running the schools. How many families can afford to have somebody at home to home school?
What standards are there to ensure that home schooled children can get into a decent college? Show me a financial plan to replace government schooling and you might have a starting point. Until then, it’s pie in the sky.
For that matter – if socialist government schools are so bad, and socialized medicine are so bad, why just stop there. Privatize the police – so only those who can pay get protections. The fire brigade and ambulance won’t come to your house until you make a deposit in their accounts. Close all the libraries. You want a book? Go and buy one, you lazy commie scum?
Sadly, the world doesn’t work that way. And those who can, help those who can’t. What ever happened to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”? Or is the new Christian motto ‘I’m all right Jack, screw the rest.”
Here’s a few more examples of “scrawled messages” to Jessica: link to jesusfetusfajitafishsticks.blogspot.com
Seriously, how about a blog post condemning this behaviour by Christians, calling for cool heads, whilst moaning about government schools? Something topical for once.
There are a lot of topics you can write about – why the most religious states, with abstinence education, also have the highest rate of teen pregnancy. Analyze the problem from a conservative POV. You have a platform – don’t waste it on endless “Obama is a Kenyan Muslim conspiracy theories”
You call this an education system? At best I call it a featherbedding system for unionists. At worst I call it an indoctrination system.
And I intend to show that a free society does not run government schools. That can never be proper.
You also forget that the property taxes would go away under my plan. Maybe that’s your problem.
A free society. Show me one country in the world where there are no state funded schools. Also, how does you plan cater for things like engineers – countries like India and China are churning out more engineers a year, than the US has college students. No wonder their economies are booming.
Also, you said “But I do say that government schools should be abolished, for precisely the boast that you make that “the law as it stands forbids prayer in school.”
Actually the law doesn’t forbid prayer in schools – it forbids prayer in the classroom. There’s a subtle difference.
Correlation does not equal causation. And in the year of the American War for Independence, you did not have “one country in the world” where the people governed themselves, either. That was something new, and without what then passed for modern precedent. (The precedents went back to ancient Athens and Rome.)
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