thread: 2008-11-07 : Hope & Courage
On 2008-11-12, Ron Edwards wrote:
"... he has the trust of the President-elect. That alone qualifies him for the office of Chief of Staff."
!! I consider that statement insupportable. Astonishing, in fact.
Regarding your main point, there's no way to disprove your charge as it targets an intangible "in my head." The fact is that either the combination of Emanuel's background details sounds the alarm for you, or it doesn't. He is, effectively, a war-mongering neoconservative with specific ties to specific groups in Israel as well as AIPAC, as are a number of the high-ranking Democrats. Whereas a person might be OK with more neoconservatives in power (and "chief of staff" is serious power; we're not talking about who organizes the overheads and secretarial pool), that's not OK with me.
One point, though: I have not seen any example of so-called Israeli exceptionalism anywhere. Rather the opposite: apparently infinite tolerance for actions which would be instantly censured if performed by any other nation.
You're incorrect in referring to my views on *Israel* as a whole. I share great solidarity with the Israeli majority poll results which urge talks with Hamas, for instance, and with those IDF soldiers and officers who have refused to serve in the occupied territories as they consider the military presence there to be atrocious.
