Israel is Not America

A geography lesson for the Swamp

Republicans in Congress think the capital of America is in Tel Aviv. Democrats think it is in Kiev.

Herein lies one of the few real differences between the parties.

Don’t get me wrong, the difference isn’t large: Republicans and Democrats alike love BOTH Israel and Ukraine. The difference exists merely in which country the given party member loves more.

After more than a year of Ukraine cheerleading, the recent attacks launched by Hamas provided an opportunity for the Israel First wing of the uniparty to show its true colors. Here is a mere sampling of hot takes from our “leaders,” both Democrat and Republican, that bolster my thesis that this nation is ruled by people who don’t realize that the borders of America don’t end at the Gaza Strip.

Which flag is your own, Ted?

Did Israel’s representatives sign the Constitution at some point and I just missed it?

Tom Cotton must have forgotten that we’ve given billions in cash and weapons away already to Ukraine over the last two years. Howitzers and machine guns don’t grow on trees, Senator.

The idea that Democrats hate Israel is insane. Nancy Pelosi’s father is so beloved in Israel that he has stadium there named after him.

Israel not only has a right to defend itself but to do so with weapons provided by the American taxpayer!

America doesn’t even have democracy here at home.

Wanting peace means You Are Bad and on the side of Satan and the Devils.

wtf. Just… wtf.

If members of Congress had to register as agents of foreign governments, the whole body would have to do so. The idea that America should stay out of foreign conflicts and concentrate on solving problems here at home is inconceivable to the DC political class. Virtually no one inside the Beltway has any serious loyalty to this country nor any concern for her real interests. America, in the hivemind of the Swamp, is an open air pit they can strip mine to enrich themselves and their friends. That’s it.

Another minor difference: Republican elected officials simply don’t care about America. They mostly don’t hate their constituents, they’re just apathetic. The Democrats, by contrast, actively despise the nation’s founding population and want to politically and culturally destroy it.

When it comes to Israel, by contrast, the ordinary Republican bromides about the “American Dream” disappear in favor of sharp statements and calls for the “total elimination” of Israel’s enemies, etc. That’s because they don’t just have to pretend to care about Israel: they actually do!

From my point of view, this state of affairs is ass backwards. I neither love nor hate Israel, I simply don’t care. It isn’t my country.

I don’t hate Hamas either. Hamas didn’t steal the 2020 election, lock me in my home because of a fake pandemic, or threaten my job if I wouldn’t get vaccinated. I also don’t hate Iran. Iran didn’t get America into the idiotic war in Iraq, cause the 2008 recession by bundling subprime mortgages, or leave the southern border wide open to drug gangs.

As an aside: how many Iranians participated in the 9/11 attack?

The answer is ZERO. 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis, however, which is weird because Saudi Arabia is our ally—or so I am told.

My older readers might point out that Iran once held American embassy personnel hostage. To which I respond: might that international incident have had anything to do with the CIA overthrowing Iran’s anti-communist Prime Minister, Mohammad Mosaddegh, to secure Britian’s special access to Iranian oil? Is it possible that whole thing could have been avoided if America had just minded its own business instead of meddling in other people’s affairs? Just asking.

I understand that Israel is under attack and that several hundred civilians have died. But you know who else is dying? Americans. From drug overdoses. And we aren’t talking about a few a hundred, either, but a few hundred thousand.

I care far more about the chemical warfare being waged against my fellow citizens than I do about the deaths of foreigners overseas. That doesn’t make me an anti-semite or terrorist-lover; it makes me a normal citizen with common sense concerns.

Marco Rubio desperately wants Israel to “permanently eliminate” Hamas. I want the American government to permanently eliminate MS-13. We are not the same.

For myself, I belong to the George Washington school of foreign policy as outlined in his outlined in his Farewell Address. Washington there argues that,

…nothing is more essential than that permanent inveterate antipathies against particular nations and passionate attachments for others should be excluded and that in place of them just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated.

Washington explains why this policy of neutrality and friendship to all nations is so necessary:

The nation which indulges towards another an habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is enough to lead it astray from its duty and its interest.

If Washington were around today he would argue in favor of diplomatic relations with Iran and a cessation of all foreign aid to Israel and Ukraine. That’s what the Farewell Address means when it talks about avoiding entanglements with other countries and promoting “amicable feelings” towards all.

Personally, I do not want to be a slave to Israel any more than I want to be a slave to Mexico, Britain, China, or Russia. I want America to be free to chart her own course in the world without being tied to foreign powers that have their own interests.

The purpose of the American government is to secure the life, liberty, and happiness of the American people. Every time the regime spends that money defending other people’s rights and liberties instead of our own it is stealing from the American people.

American soldiers and taxpayers have a right to their blood and treasure. This is a simple point but one often forgotten in a world of endless foreign wars and mounting taxation.

America became a great power in the 19th century by staying away from Europe and Asia’s conflicts and struggles. We instead charted a course of trade and peace with the whole world. This policy accrued to us enormous material and technological benefits. We should go back to that strategy.

We can start by demanding that our leaders turn off the spigot of cash and weapons that flow into foreign wars and conflicts—specifically to Israel and Ukraine. We should also reduce our military footprint overseas. America has bases on every continent. In fact, I think there is not a single timezone on the planet where we don’t have troops right now. It’s time to draw down that presence.

In terms of our global military empire, the juice simply isn’t worth the squeeze. Americans deserve a peace dividend after the Cold War and the two decades of monkeying around in the Middle East.

Sometimes the best policy is to do… nothing. America isn’t going to solve the problems in Israel (or anywhere else for that matter) and, honestly, the last 80 years of our policy in the region has made virtually everything worse. It is hard enough to have a functioning country here at home (we no longer do). Trying to rule the world is utopian idiocy.

If America’s leaders feel so strongly about Israel’s security and existence then they are welcome to go there and take up arms in her defense. Nothing is stopping them!

As for myself, in the struggle between Israel and Hamas, I will root for America.