IntenseDebate - Lev1918

9 years ago @ Jewish Daily Forward - Readers Write: Bibi, B... · 0 replies · +13 points

"I remember when Sadam Hussein was one of Israel's most implacable and dangerous enemies."

You remember what Fox News prefers that you remember. Those of us who don't confine our memories to what we're spoonfed by the mainstream media recall that, far from being an irrational lunatic, Saddam had misread signals from the US prior to his invasion of Kuwait; that he was the enemy, not the friend, of Islamic fundamentalists like al-Qaeda, that his WMD program was, according to the best intel available, in shambles, and so forth. He was a brazen tyrant, but he knew his own country and how to play a specifically Iraqi "game". It was horrible, but it kept the country intact.

In stepped the neocons who knew nothing about Iraq and cared even less, making the case that all the US needed to do was unleash massive terror and violence on Iraqis, destroying hundreds of thousands of lives, and all would be hunky dory.

It was THEIR arrogance, ignorance and callousness that created the mess that Daesh has exploited with such chilling and devastating results.

9 years ago @ Jewish Daily Forward - The President and His ... · 0 replies · +6 points

Sounds frustrating. As someone who has also been published in the past, I can only say that, for me, my biggest asset has always been the feedback I received before, not after, publication. The more eyes on my draft, the better the end product.

9 years ago @ Jewish Daily Forward - The President and His ... · 2 replies · +6 points

Okay, I definitely have no problems with autodidacticism. Amateurs bring fresh perspectives, sometimes truly valuable and paradigm-overturning ones. I just want to know if you circulated your ms. among professional historians and got critical feedback from them - and if not, why not?

9 years ago @ Jewish Daily Forward - The President and His ... · 6 replies · +7 points

Why couldn't you find a publisher, Steven? To what professional associations do you belong and which professional historians critiqued your manuscript before you self-published your book?

9 years ago @ Jewish Daily Forward - After Iran Deal, Time ... · 1 reply · +8 points

There are three dozen MAYORS in the world who preside over larger voting constituencies than Bibi does. Yet he persists in strutting across the world stage as if he's part of the G7. A little advice for "Mayor Bibi": When you preside over a country as tiny as Israel, it is worth keeping in mind that a little humility goes a long way. Now's the time for you to dust off that copy of "How to Win Friends and Influence People" and take its lessons to heart.

9 years ago @ Jewish Daily Forward - The Dilemma – Fo... · 0 replies · +9 points

Dear PetahTiqva, who attempts to deceive others by posting as Eddie1927, KokhavShavit, Anuvai and safqan, in addition to PetahTiqva:

Thanks for exposing my nefarious agenda with yet more of your hoary cliches. it affords me the opportunity to shrug you off while at the same time alerting yet more regular commenters here to your sockpuppetry.

9 years ago @ Jewish Daily Forward - The Dilemma – Fo... · 2 replies · +12 points

No sale.

This is a cowardly, evasive editorial that doesn't confront several central questions head on.

1) What are the "deeply grand and humanistic values" of which it speaks (as made manifest in 20th- and 21st century Israeli history, laws, and institutions and in the history of ethnically-cleansed Palestinians) and what evidence do we have that they are strong enough to keep Israel from sliding further to the right?

2) Who benefits from the assertion, presented as self-evident, that "Israel’s tough neighborhood and its existential threats demand that it employ a different set of behaviors"? The Left or the Right?

3) Can the Center or the Left ever prevail unless the premise itself is challenged or, at the very least, not used as a crutch to justify all kinds of curbs on democracy?

Because of the failure of pundits to grapple honestly with these tough, fundamental issues, the divide will grow, not shrink, in the coming months and years.

9 years ago @ Jewish Daily Forward - Monica Lewinsky Finds ... · 0 replies · +7 points

There are other paths to recovery from shame than narcissistic self-promotion.

Face it. She is EXPLOITING her notoriety to SELL HANDBAGS under her own name, to sell a DIET PLAN, and to become a TV PERSONALITY. And to whitewash it all and make herself look more noble, she has adopted a safe cause to champion, the crusade against cyberbullying.

Lewinsky is trying to become master of PR by way of becoming a master of BS.

9 years ago @ Jewish Daily Forward - European Union Join Ar... · 0 replies · +2 points

Same difference. Egypt has enough trouble with domestic instability without also defying Israel and stirring up trouble that would invariably connect the two: diplomatic and domestic turmoil. Israel calls all the shots, not Egypt.

Excellent question, though.

9 years ago @ Jewish Daily Forward - How Can We Support Isr... · 0 replies · +9 points

You're not making this easy for me, Eliav. Are you trolling? lol

What I meant was, founding fathers who had a direct hand in the creation and justification of the Jewish State from the twenties through the forties, at least.. Ha, let's see you wriggle your way out of THAT one, smartypants.

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