In foreign policy as in all areas of American political life it really is all about the Benjamins. It looks increasingly likely that Congress will cut the Ukrainians loose in favor of money for Israel. This is a win-win proposition, even for the Uniparty—although “conservatives” have spearheaded the move:
Mark and others have commented on the apocalyptic dimensions of right wing Israeli politics and certain segments of orthodox Judaism in Israel. Perhaps we’ve also noted islamic apocalyptic elements in the current drama playing out (I can’t remember).
However, I’m pretty sure the topic of Christian Zionism has not come up. I’m increasingly convinced that blame for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict lies primarily with the longstanding apocalyptic Zionism among a large number of British and American evangelicals. I consider Christian Zionism to be not only an eccentric (a.k.a., heretical) reading of the bible, but also a very dangerous political ideology — one which has had surprising influence over British and American foreign policy in the 20th century. In short, the “Israel Lobby” is not merely the voice of American Jews but also (and maybe even more so) the voice of many American Christians.
The following lecture should be a real eye-opener for anyone not already aware of the above-mentioned theological, historical, and political currents. Aside from it’s evident naïveté regarding Islam, it’s an excellent overview without getting too deep into the theological weeds.
I did recently mention Christian Zionism in comments during the past week. You're absolutely correct in your assessment--including that it's a heresy. BTW, for former followers of Spengler/David Goldman, Goldman used to maintain that Protestantism is a "Judaizing heresy." I agreed with him in that regard but disagreed with the main thrust of his Spengler articles, which was to persuade Christians that support of Zionism was required by what he claimed was Christian theology.
Sorry I missed your earlier comment. I’ve long had a vague awareness that Evangelicals’ support for Israel was connected to end-times prophecy, but I never knew until now how deep their investment is. And the ironies abound:
There are no greater boosters of Israel and Jews generally than Christian Zionists, yet Jewish contempt for evangelicals is off the charts.
These same evangelicals excoriate Catholics for supposedly “denying the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross” because we celebrate the un-bloody sacrifice of the Eucharist, all the while they labor for the restoration of animal sacrifices.
I agree that going on Hannity might not be the best look for the Speaker, but Hannity is the highest rated show on Fox now. So, perhaps he thought that he'd reach the most people by going on there. Personally, I LOATHE Hannity and haven't watched any Fox program since they canned Tucker, which was the only Fox show I watched.
I hope that Johnson is just keeping up appearances with his Ukraine talk and Hannity appearance, to keep the wolves at bay, while really doing good and helpful things behind the scenes - a bit like Luongo theorises with Giorgia Meloni. But I guess time will tell. All of these guys rely on donated money so I guess it depends on who is behind Johnson and what they want.
Most of these politicians are on multiple leashes of one sort or another, sometimes tugging different directions. Donors understand. Donors have their own priorities and understand that to buy a legislator they first have to get the legislator elected. Legislators understand that to get elected they need money, so the technique is to avoid issues that are hot button for the donor class. It's a balancing act. The problems arise when the public is sharply divided on issues that are important to the donor class.
Putin having Lavrov visit Iran this week was to support a previous agreement where Russia suggested some time ago to Iran. “Hey see if your allies can mix things up with Israel and see what shakes out. The instability will drive factions of alliance not seen before. Then we’ll do a some photo ops and send messages of support”.
I did read a pleased, if not glowing opinion about new Speaker Johnson, so perhaps instead of judging because of his appearance on Hannity, I should realize that the tv personality has a huge audience and it was a good way to 'meet and greet' a group of voters who might not have seen him otherwise.
I hope Johnson watches Tucker C: "You can say you care about America, but if you’re sending $100 billion to foreign countries right now, you’re lying."
Yes, you are right about that. The open border has always been the number one outrage for me during these past years, but the billions of dollars our politicians send abroad is also infuriating.
Although I am sure he's set himself up exceptionally well, financially, for a retirement from the public eye, Z-man is really between a rock and a hard place, with (x) Neocon freaks like Nuland, Blinken, Sullivan, etc., on the one hand, now needing to throw him under the bus as ineffective and corrupt, and (y) his Mafiosi kingmakers, Kolomoisky and Zlochevsky, on the other hand, unhappy with interruption of the skim. Lie down with dogs...., I guess.
Fear of losing Jewish Contributions as stated in a previous post make up 50% of them Democratic Funding and 25% of Gop, is a higher priority than Ukraine funding.
Ukraine funding was more powerful than Maui funding.
My guess is Speaker Johnson said nice words on Ukraine, while splitting the vote. This way everyone wins.
Some have suggested Biden deliberately asked for an unrealistic amount of money for Ukraine, since he knew this was politically impossible to get passed. This way he could claim he tried.
Per this Ukraine is having major ammo shortages due to being directed to Israel. And it noted Russia is targeting ammo dumps. If true Ukraine could see major territory losses in the Winter.
If Jewish donors contribute twice as much to the campaigns of team D than team R, why is team R twice as supportive of military aid to Israel as team D?
Something doesn't quite add up here. Does the Israel Lobby have team R by their evangelical base who support the Israeli government for eschatological reasons? Just a guess.
GOPers need to be OVER THE TOP Zionists for two reasons--not applicable in all districts:
1. To please Evangelical Zionists who do vote their weird beliefs;
2. To attract Jewish donor money that would not otherwise come to them due to the pro-life positions they need to take to attract Christian voters. 25% is a big deal in a close campaign.
I wouldn't write off the b-word either, as in blackmail. Think the Epstein-Maxwell operation. Some think it should be Maxwell-Epstein, that she was his handler. Their operation could be the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
Christians / church going are more likely to be Gop, and more likely to be pro Israel. My guess visits to Israel to visit the holy land have some influence. The eschatological part puzzles me, but I’ve read that too. I wonder if the anti Christian pogroms in many Muslim countries have an impact.
Democrats want the donations and support from those like Thomas Friedman, a globalist and Jewish, that agree with most of the Democratic beliefs. Abortion, lgbt, Dei stuff, green whatever, etc. But the Democrats don’t want to upset a large portion of their voters that are not probably pro Israel. Nation of Islam is an example.
There is no downside for gop politicians supporting Israel, but there is one for Democrats.
It's true that concern for Palestinian lives is pretty well owned, as an issue, by the left. Until that changes, I think your analysis of the political risks is sound.
Even atheists have their eschatologies. Nuclear war might be less trendy than the climate-change bugaboo these days, but it's perhaps seeing a revival, with all this WWIII talk.
Historically, at least in the past 50 years or so, the GOP has been the dominant party of the military-industrial complex, with Dem support for military spending kept out of the spotlight. Uniparty stuff. It's been interesting watching the reversal of that trend regarding Ukraine. Trump was a game-changer.
In regard to the 'dash of cold water' -- we've been told over and over again that they're all bought and paid for and aren't going to change. I'm aggravated with myself because after reading and hearing about Johnson's conservative bona fides and a few other pluses, I believed for a few hours and hoped we now had a stalwart speaker. It was disappointing to turn on the tv a few minutes early to watch Gutfeld and see Johnson smiling and and nestled there with Hannity. Plus, again Gutfeld's hour was coopted by the excited utterances about the manhunt in Maine, plus continued 'on the scene' reporting by Trace Gallagher. It's not that I'm not sympathetic and troubled by the mass shooting victims or the troubles in Israel, but those are covered practically non-stop throughout the day. At least people on Gutfeld speak their mind and point out the hypocrisy of our politicians and several times a week I get a good laugh. I realize Gutfeld isn't everyone's 'cup of tea', but surely the chance to hear other people's voices, especially when they point out that not all of us are eager to rush into war or don't see racism in every encounter, and also possess the sharp wit and humor to reveal our politicians' constant inadequacies and hypocrisies is worthwhile. I look forward to this hour, sometimes it's silly but so often there are 'gems' as far as truths revealed during this show.
Ms. AJ: I'm with you - I guess the "if it bleeds it leads" thing has almost fully overtaken FOX. I suppose it was to be expected to come w/the liberal/progressive children of FOX's founder taking over. An hour of levity was (is when on) a nice diversion yet with some info still involved. Best-est Regards! (WrH)
I, too reserve judgment on Johnson. You are right, Mark, going on Hannity is a big tell. His comments regarding Russian intentions is archaic cold war thinking and therefore way behind the times and demonstrates ignorance on the bigger picture, but he's no alone in that regard. In addition, why would we expect our political leaders to buck the dual citizen Israel lobby when 75% of all dollars spent on political campaigns are by rich Jews who have bought and paid our politicians. They make make policy for the United States and that policy is to enrich themselves while pretending it's for "our Democracy." Based on the Progressive perspective of what constitutes a well run Democracy then the early years of the Soviet and German governments were their blue print for Democracy.
I don't think just saying the right things to survive is going to cut it any longer. And Meloni might not be a good example. She will likely soon be out of power because she failed to deliver on her promise to cut immigration.
Thanks for your perspective and I see your point quite well. There is a survival instinct that is acquired, often rather quickly, when you first enter into our congress. The pressure to conform is tremendous and these guys, at the end of the day, have to look out for themselves as well as their constituents, but self-survival is paramount and obstacles lie all along the way. The biggest problem for them is to ignore the money and the pressure while trying to be faithful to your principals and many end up saying and acting differently from the person who was elected. We all see it and it's frustrating for us as we begin to feel ever more powerless against such a rigged system.
My likely seemingly whacky fix for everything is God 1st... in a "known" way. I'll stick by that remedy no matter what. Even works when I still have to come up with solutions... Best @ you Cas! (WrH)
I expected it. McCarthy gave off such a false persona and my take on him from the get go was just another politician looking to line his pockets and puff up his own prestige. In politics the organ grinder is king and the monkeys on the leash rattle the tin cup while dancing to their tune.
Mark and others have commented on the apocalyptic dimensions of right wing Israeli politics and certain segments of orthodox Judaism in Israel. Perhaps we’ve also noted islamic apocalyptic elements in the current drama playing out (I can’t remember).
However, I’m pretty sure the topic of Christian Zionism has not come up. I’m increasingly convinced that blame for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict lies primarily with the longstanding apocalyptic Zionism among a large number of British and American evangelicals. I consider Christian Zionism to be not only an eccentric (a.k.a., heretical) reading of the bible, but also a very dangerous political ideology — one which has had surprising influence over British and American foreign policy in the 20th century. In short, the “Israel Lobby” is not merely the voice of American Jews but also (and maybe even more so) the voice of many American Christians.
The following lecture should be a real eye-opener for anyone not already aware of the above-mentioned theological, historical, and political currents. Aside from it’s evident naïveté regarding Islam, it’s an excellent overview without getting too deep into the theological weeds.
https://youtu.be/FPGlgz1zC-4?si=EmJ7ln6351UlfUBV
I forgot to mention that Christian Zionism predates and arguably inspired the emergence of Jewish Zionism.
I did recently mention Christian Zionism in comments during the past week. You're absolutely correct in your assessment--including that it's a heresy. BTW, for former followers of Spengler/David Goldman, Goldman used to maintain that Protestantism is a "Judaizing heresy." I agreed with him in that regard but disagreed with the main thrust of his Spengler articles, which was to persuade Christians that support of Zionism was required by what he claimed was Christian theology.
Sorry I missed your earlier comment. I’ve long had a vague awareness that Evangelicals’ support for Israel was connected to end-times prophecy, but I never knew until now how deep their investment is. And the ironies abound:
There are no greater boosters of Israel and Jews generally than Christian Zionists, yet Jewish contempt for evangelicals is off the charts.
These same evangelicals excoriate Catholics for supposedly “denying the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross” because we celebrate the un-bloody sacrifice of the Eucharist, all the while they labor for the restoration of animal sacrifices.
I agree that going on Hannity might not be the best look for the Speaker, but Hannity is the highest rated show on Fox now. So, perhaps he thought that he'd reach the most people by going on there. Personally, I LOATHE Hannity and haven't watched any Fox program since they canned Tucker, which was the only Fox show I watched.
I hope that Johnson is just keeping up appearances with his Ukraine talk and Hannity appearance, to keep the wolves at bay, while really doing good and helpful things behind the scenes - a bit like Luongo theorises with Giorgia Meloni. But I guess time will tell. All of these guys rely on donated money so I guess it depends on who is behind Johnson and what they want.
Why not, seeing as a metric crap-ton load of UA munitions found their way to Gaza already. And--hey!--free shipping!
Most of these politicians are on multiple leashes of one sort or another, sometimes tugging different directions. Donors understand. Donors have their own priorities and understand that to buy a legislator they first have to get the legislator elected. Legislators understand that to get elected they need money, so the technique is to avoid issues that are hot button for the donor class. It's a balancing act. The problems arise when the public is sharply divided on issues that are important to the donor class.
Putin having Lavrov visit Iran this week was to support a previous agreement where Russia suggested some time ago to Iran. “Hey see if your allies can mix things up with Israel and see what shakes out. The instability will drive factions of alliance not seen before. Then we’ll do a some photo ops and send messages of support”.
Good strategy and not too difficult to plan.
I did read a pleased, if not glowing opinion about new Speaker Johnson, so perhaps instead of judging because of his appearance on Hannity, I should realize that the tv personality has a huge audience and it was a good way to 'meet and greet' a group of voters who might not have seen him otherwise.
I hope Johnson watches Tucker C: "You can say you care about America, but if you’re sending $100 billion to foreign countries right now, you’re lying."
Yes, you are right about that. The open border has always been the number one outrage for me during these past years, but the billions of dollars our politicians send abroad is also infuriating.
Politicians gonna politick. That much is a reliable constant.
Although I am sure he's set himself up exceptionally well, financially, for a retirement from the public eye, Z-man is really between a rock and a hard place, with (x) Neocon freaks like Nuland, Blinken, Sullivan, etc., on the one hand, now needing to throw him under the bus as ineffective and corrupt, and (y) his Mafiosi kingmakers, Kolomoisky and Zlochevsky, on the other hand, unhappy with interruption of the skim. Lie down with dogs...., I guess.
A great meme the other day summed up Z's predicament: "F--- it! I asked for HIMARS and they gave me HAMAS!"
That is brilliant!
Fear of losing Jewish Contributions as stated in a previous post make up 50% of them Democratic Funding and 25% of Gop, is a higher priority than Ukraine funding.
Ukraine funding was more powerful than Maui funding.
My guess is Speaker Johnson said nice words on Ukraine, while splitting the vote. This way everyone wins.
Some have suggested Biden deliberately asked for an unrealistic amount of money for Ukraine, since he knew this was politically impossible to get passed. This way he could claim he tried.
Per this Ukraine is having major ammo shortages due to being directed to Israel. And it noted Russia is targeting ammo dumps. If true Ukraine could see major territory losses in the Winter.
https://robcampbell.substack.com/p/ukraine-weekly-update-940
If Jewish donors contribute twice as much to the campaigns of team D than team R, why is team R twice as supportive of military aid to Israel as team D?
Something doesn't quite add up here. Does the Israel Lobby have team R by their evangelical base who support the Israeli government for eschatological reasons? Just a guess.
GOPers need to be OVER THE TOP Zionists for two reasons--not applicable in all districts:
1. To please Evangelical Zionists who do vote their weird beliefs;
2. To attract Jewish donor money that would not otherwise come to them due to the pro-life positions they need to take to attract Christian voters. 25% is a big deal in a close campaign.
I wouldn't write off the b-word either, as in blackmail. Think the Epstein-Maxwell operation. Some think it should be Maxwell-Epstein, that she was his handler. Their operation could be the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iED4d63GGY
My guess…
Christians / church going are more likely to be Gop, and more likely to be pro Israel. My guess visits to Israel to visit the holy land have some influence. The eschatological part puzzles me, but I’ve read that too. I wonder if the anti Christian pogroms in many Muslim countries have an impact.
Democrats want the donations and support from those like Thomas Friedman, a globalist and Jewish, that agree with most of the Democratic beliefs. Abortion, lgbt, Dei stuff, green whatever, etc. But the Democrats don’t want to upset a large portion of their voters that are not probably pro Israel. Nation of Islam is an example.
There is no downside for gop politicians supporting Israel, but there is one for Democrats.
It's true that concern for Palestinian lives is pretty well owned, as an issue, by the left. Until that changes, I think your analysis of the political risks is sound.
Even atheists have their eschatologies. Nuclear war might be less trendy than the climate-change bugaboo these days, but it's perhaps seeing a revival, with all this WWIII talk.
Historically, at least in the past 50 years or so, the GOP has been the dominant party of the military-industrial complex, with Dem support for military spending kept out of the spotlight. Uniparty stuff. It's been interesting watching the reversal of that trend regarding Ukraine. Trump was a game-changer.
I think the Covid Vax Jab Mandate was a game changer for military support among gop voters.
I wonder how this is going to play out.
And big defense is probably seen as corrupt and building over priced junk by many gop voters with relatives that recently served.
I wonder if this will trickle up to gop politicians ever?
Notice the Army is recruiting? A spate of ads during football games (tv) and not a rainbow in sight, just pull-ups, push-ups and sweat…
In regard to the 'dash of cold water' -- we've been told over and over again that they're all bought and paid for and aren't going to change. I'm aggravated with myself because after reading and hearing about Johnson's conservative bona fides and a few other pluses, I believed for a few hours and hoped we now had a stalwart speaker. It was disappointing to turn on the tv a few minutes early to watch Gutfeld and see Johnson smiling and and nestled there with Hannity. Plus, again Gutfeld's hour was coopted by the excited utterances about the manhunt in Maine, plus continued 'on the scene' reporting by Trace Gallagher. It's not that I'm not sympathetic and troubled by the mass shooting victims or the troubles in Israel, but those are covered practically non-stop throughout the day. At least people on Gutfeld speak their mind and point out the hypocrisy of our politicians and several times a week I get a good laugh. I realize Gutfeld isn't everyone's 'cup of tea', but surely the chance to hear other people's voices, especially when they point out that not all of us are eager to rush into war or don't see racism in every encounter, and also possess the sharp wit and humor to reveal our politicians' constant inadequacies and hypocrisies is worthwhile. I look forward to this hour, sometimes it's silly but so often there are 'gems' as far as truths revealed during this show.
Ms. AJ: I'm with you - I guess the "if it bleeds it leads" thing has almost fully overtaken FOX. I suppose it was to be expected to come w/the liberal/progressive children of FOX's founder taking over. An hour of levity was (is when on) a nice diversion yet with some info still involved. Best-est Regards! (WrH)
I, too reserve judgment on Johnson. You are right, Mark, going on Hannity is a big tell. His comments regarding Russian intentions is archaic cold war thinking and therefore way behind the times and demonstrates ignorance on the bigger picture, but he's no alone in that regard. In addition, why would we expect our political leaders to buck the dual citizen Israel lobby when 75% of all dollars spent on political campaigns are by rich Jews who have bought and paid our politicians. They make make policy for the United States and that policy is to enrich themselves while pretending it's for "our Democracy." Based on the Progressive perspective of what constitutes a well run Democracy then the early years of the Soviet and German governments were their blue print for Democracy.
I don't think just saying the right things to survive is going to cut it any longer. And Meloni might not be a good example. She will likely soon be out of power because she failed to deliver on her promise to cut immigration.
Thanks for your perspective and I see your point quite well. There is a survival instinct that is acquired, often rather quickly, when you first enter into our congress. The pressure to conform is tremendous and these guys, at the end of the day, have to look out for themselves as well as their constituents, but self-survival is paramount and obstacles lie all along the way. The biggest problem for them is to ignore the money and the pressure while trying to be faithful to your principals and many end up saying and acting differently from the person who was elected. We all see it and it's frustrating for us as we begin to feel ever more powerless against such a rigged system.
Maybe, but Mike Pence is a staunch Christian too. It's fine praising God as your remember to pass the ammo too.
My likely seemingly whacky fix for everything is God 1st... in a "known" way. I'll stick by that remedy no matter what. Even works when I still have to come up with solutions... Best @ you Cas! (WrH)
Amen to that, Castelletto!
Agree - it’s a pick winnable fight’s strategy.
I was surprised at ex speaker McCarthy’s duplicity.
I expected it. McCarthy gave off such a false persona and my take on him from the get go was just another politician looking to line his pockets and puff up his own prestige. In politics the organ grinder is king and the monkeys on the leash rattle the tin cup while dancing to their tune.
Too much Lunt in him.