Crossposted at Musings of a Mad Conservative
As a conservative person of the Jewish faith, I find myself quite often in the minority opinion amongst friends. Discussions are purposefully steered away from all things political, quite honestly because neither side can understand the other’s inability to see clearly what each knows to be true. The truce has kept a tentative peace for several years now, but just like any border dispute, sometimes the tensions are palpable. During the last 3 election cycles, those tensions have become more visible, and have bubbled closer to the surface. With each news day, I see something which makes me say, this event is the event which will make them see. I am certain that the other side notices some other news item which they feel should make me see.
Examples, I once received an e-mail from friends which claimed that President Bush did not have any people of the Jewish faith working in his Administration, (obviously Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Joel Kaplan, Scooter Libby, Elliot Abrams, Josh Bolton, Michael Chertoff, Ari Fleisher, or Douglas Feith did not come to the author’s mind, and all were high ranking members of the Administration at the time. This list is not all inclusive, it merely serves to highlight the larger point of perception not matching reality.) I forwarded an editorial on Jimmy Carter’s slanderous book, “Peace, Not Apartheid.” It was pointed out to me that Prescott Bush’s leanings were somewhat anti-Semitic, and we don’t even need to mention Pat Buchanan. Yassar Arafat was the most oft visitor to the White House during the Clinton Presidency. This literally could go on for quite a while, but is this the end of the debate?
What is more important, personal feelings held, or the results and actions taken? Richard Nixon was perhaps the single most bigoted and anti-Semitic President to ever grace the White House. Everyone who worked with Nixon has confirmed this. His close personal friends have confirmed this. Yet, when it really counted, Nixon was the first President to formally declare Israel an ally. Nixon was the first President to declare our unwavering support for Israel, and to offer U.S. weapons in trade. (Prior to Nixon, Israel bought all of her weapons from France, my how times have changed.) My point here, is that sometimes, people do the right thing, despite the charges of bigotry and racism we attribute to them. Don’t forget, Nixon followed Kennedy and Johnson into that office. Both of those men were considered to be more tolerant and enlightened souls who loved the Jewish people. (Johnson actually ordered/or may not have ordered a U.S. Naval Ship under the command of the NSA to take up a position with the invading Arab Naval Force during the 6 Day War. The Liberty Incident has been the subject of no less than 11 Congressional and Defense Department Investigations since. Captain McGonagle was awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor, but he finished his career from behind a desk in the Pentagon shortly afterwards.) The point being, neither Kennedy nor Johnson saw fit to consider Israel a friend, and Nixon did.
What does that have to do with today? Glad you asked. Sometime in the very near future, President Barak Obama will have a huge decision to make. It seems that the U.N., one of the most vile and evil institutions on Earth, will be attempting to pass a resolution through the Security Council, which will be designed to stop Israel from building apartments in Jerusalem. The apartments are in a Jewish neighborhood, which has been a Jewish neighborhood for the last 4000 years. As with any city, stopping construction, building permits and growth, is the same thing as destroying the economy, and the well being of the entire city. Think of your own town, construction going on is a good sign, it means that employment is growing, business is booming, things are good. Turn the big machines off, and the entire economy stagnates, and those Saturday coffee meetings with friends are a lot less fun to be around. This resolution is designed to dispirit the Jewish people, and to stagnate the economy. The question we are all waiting to see, is will President Obama Veto the resolution.
If Barak Obama fails to veto the resolution, he would be the first American President to fail to protect Israel against the Arab controlled U.N. That would put our President in elite company indeed. He would be in a fraternity of 1. It is actually a little scary to think that this would even be a question. This should be a no-brainer. I would expect our President to not only say, Israel enjoys the full support of the American People, but that he would actually back it up with action. Push is coming to shove, and it is doing so on Barak Obama’s watch. Will he do the right thing? For my liberal friends, I want you to watch this one closely. This is the one event I was talking about in the beginning of this post.
As a side note, Security Council Resolutions come with teeth. These are the ones which approve usually some sort of punitive or military action.
Hat tip Eliana
UPDATE: Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post seems to think President Obama will do the right thing. I hope her analysis is correct. We need him to get this one right.
Tags: United Nations
