Zandar's Thought Of The Day

In all seriousness folks, why is the ultimate litmus test for American patriotism the absolute and unwavering support for a foreign country, in this case Israel?  For the unforgivable crime of even suggesting that Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu might have been disrespectful to President Obama, The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg is being summarily executed by the right:

For whatever reason, I tend to react strongly when a foreign leader disrespects the United States, and its President. I didn't like it when Hugo Chavez of Venezuela insulted President Bush; I don't like listening to Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan lecture the U.S. on its sins, and I'm not happy when certain Pakistani leaders gin-up righteous indignation about American behavior when it was their country that served as a refuge for the greatest mass murderer in American history.

And so I was similarly taken aback when I read a statement from Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday that he "expects to hear a reaffirmation from President Obama of U.S. commitments made to Israel in 2004, which were overwhelmingly supported by both House of Congress."

So Netanyahu "expects" to hear this from the President of the United States? And if President Obama doesn't walk back the speech, what will Netanyahu do? Will he cut off Israeli military aid to the U.S.? Will he cease to fight for the U.S. in the United Nations, and in the many  international forums that treat Israel as a pariah?

Honest questions.  Surely any other foreign leader from any other country who came to Washington to discuss foreign aid and security matters who said that they "expected" the American President and Congress to do would at least be considered undiplomatically rude at best, and depending on the country or leader would get an earful from the press.

But this is Israel we're talking about.  And this is the response.  Col. Mustard:

Goldberg implies that it is not patriotic -- against "my president" -- for supporters of Israel to abide by Netanyahu's expectations.  To the contrary, it is very patriotic for Americans to "expect" that "their president" will honor commitments made by prior presidents to allies.

Obedience to what Israel wants is American patriotism?  Since when are we more worried about what Israel thinks and does as a measure of that?  Questioning Israel is not patriotic.  Red State:

Mr. Obama justified his pre-1967 proposal yesterday by declaring “[t]he dream of a Jewish and democratic state cannot be fulfilled with permanent occupation.” While rhetorically it sounded nice and cleverly recalled Martin Luther King’s iconic speech, the choice of the word “dream” to describe a sovereign state was a curious one. Perhaps for our President Israel is still an abstract phantasm that might or might not exist, but for others it has been a reality for the last 63 years. Israel has the right to all of its history, and all of its territory.

Suggesting that Israel may be occupying Palestinian territory, that Israel has anything less than all rights to all lands, is to suggest that Israel shouldn't be allowed to exist at all.  Questioning Israel is not patriotic.  The "ever-reasonable" Jim Hoft:

Today, Israel-hater Jeffrey Goldberg lashed out at Netanyahu for defending the Jewish homeland. Goldberg compared Netanyahu to anti-American Marxist Hugo Chavez.

To question Israel as an American Jew is to hate Israel and the Jewish homeland.  Questioning Israel is not patriotic.  Can you think of any other country...including America itself, mind you...that if you question anything about it, you are considered unpatriotic here?  What happened to the patriotism of dissent, as the right so fearfully complains that Obama crushes any disagreement with an iron fist?  What happened to "America First!"  Why does this all go out the window when it comes to Israel and the right?

Nobody seems to know.  But you're un-American for even thinking about it.

I leave you with Steve M.'s thoughts on this:

I suppose it's not surprising, but I'm struck by just how delighted right-wingers are these days when the president of the United States is insulted and embarrassed by a foreign leader. A few years go, wasn't it treasonous to root for the president to fail, especially on foreign policy, and to have schadenfreude when another foreign leader rebuffed him?

Obviously, of course, they don't consider Obama the president of the real America, and, in fact, they probably think of Netanyahu as a more patriotic American. Truthfully, if he could enter the GOP primaries, he'd have a serious chance at winning.

Now that's something to think about.  As far as some on the right go, Netanyahu is the rightful leader of the free world...