It's All About Me, Man: [ItsAllAboutMeMan] Re: [progressive] Tea Party Activist urges attack on Gaza Flotilla

I recently left an anti-tea party group on facebook, becuase they focus on the many small (still largely hypothetical) depravities of the tea party, while overlooking the many huge depravities the two branches of the ruling party are engaged in right now.

It doesn't take an Einstein to see that our first string psychopaths (Obama and Clinton) are saying the same thing as the benchwarmers shouting their encouragement from the sidelines, they just use language in a bit more clever way: "the Obama administration is taking a strong stand against the flotilla, even suggesting that Americans on board cannot expect the US to intervene on their behalf if Israel attacks."

In blunt language, he is saying "go ahead."

It reminds me of the ex-CIA guy's explanation for plausible deniability. At the cabinet meeting, the conversation turns to Allende. Everybody agrees it's a worrisome development. Nixon says, "Yes, it's a shame, a real problem. It's too bad that somebody can't just, you know, take him out. BUT THAT WOULD BE WRONG."

The people in the room all understand this to mean "make it happen," but if they are successful in reaching their goals and Allende ends up dead, they can say "it's true that the topic came up in a cabinet meeting, but the president explicitly rejected the idea, because of his love for justice and fair play, and his devotion to the Constitution. We have detailed minutes of the meeting to prove it."

Of course, things have changed. A foolish consistency in the application of the rule of law is no virtue; crimes in the persuit of foreign policy goals are no vice. Obama can publicly urge the Israeli's to "bring it on" - nobody needs to pretend he warned them to lay off the flotilla - he can say "I warned the flotilla they were asking for trouble" and that apparently is enough to quench the American thirst for justice.

On Thu, Jun 30, 2011 at 11:26 PM, Scott Peden wrote:

Yeah, Second string psychopaths would make statements like this, and the Psycho loving Main Stream Media would completely over look it as worthy of letting the general American Public know how we are being represented, and thusly viewed by the rest of the world (as at the very least, third rate psychos).

Opinion Tea party activist urges attack on flotilla
Bush era speech writer says most Americans are 'cool with' Israeli forces
shooting US citizens on Gaza bound aid boats.
MJ Rosenberg<http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/profile/mj-rosenberg.html>Last
Modified: 30
Jun 2011 07:03
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*Those aboard the 2009 Gaza Flotilla (who were not injured or killed)
were imprisoned after being intercepted in international waters by the
Israeli military [GALLO/GETTY] *

This week the second international Freedom Flotilla will embark to Gaza from
several ports in Europe. The flotilla represents an act of non-violent civil
disobedience aimed at ending Israel's four year long illegal blockade of the
tiny strip of land populated by 1.6 million Palestinians.

At least ten ships carrying dignitaries, doctors, professors, artists,
journalists, and activists as well as construction supplies and humanitarian
aid are expected to sail. The *New York Times* and *CNN* are among several
outlets sending
journalists<https://mail.aljazeera.net/owa/redir.aspx?C=348b737ce8424021a8544683903d7ceb&URL=http%3a%2f%2fmediamattersaction.us1.list-manage.com%2ftrack%2fclick%3fu%3d0e7994932b5c293ad6e9e40d8%26id%3d1ca3ace638%26e%3da64676712d>to
cover the event.

Critics of the flotilla contend that it is an unnecessary provocation - more
of a political statement than a relief mission - because Israel has lately
been allowing more goods into Gaza and Egypt has, since the revolution,
intermittently opened its side of the border.

Even if that is true - even if the need is somewhat less urgent - the
blockading of Gaza should be protested as illegal, as are all forms of
collective punishment.

*Israel's rights*

Israel has the right to keep weapons that might be used against Israelis out
of Gaza (assuming that, as is the case, Gaza remains under Israeli
occupation). But it has no right to keep out consumer goods like certain
foodstuffs or the construction material needed to rebuild homes and schools
after the devastation Israel inflicted on Gaza during the 2008-09 onslaught.
That one-sided war took 1400 Palestinians lives (including several hundred
children).

Nonetheless, under pressure from the Israeli government and its lobby, the
Obama administration is taking a strong stand against the flotilla, even
suggesting that Americans on board cannot expect the US to intervene on
their behalf if Israel attacks (in 2009, the IDF killed 9 passengers on a
Turkish relief ship).

The far right is already lining up in support of whatever action Israel
takes against the unarmed civilian relief activists.

Take a look at these tweets from Joshua
Treviño<https://mail.aljazeera.net/owa/redir.aspx?C=348b737ce8424021a8544683903d7ceb&URL=http%3a%2f%2fmediamattersaction.us1.list-manage.com%2ftrack%2fclick%3fu%3d0e7994932b5c293ad6e9e40d8%26id%3d26d7208015%26e%3da64676712d>,
who was formerly a speechwriter in the Bush administration, a staffer for
the failed senatorial campaign of Tea Party candidate Chuck DeVore (R-CA)
and an employee of the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Treviño condemned
Palestinians as morally depraved and deserving of any evil that befalls
them.

However, Treviño went much farther than that. He openly
called<https://mail.aljazeera.net/owa/redir.aspx?C=348b737ce8424021a8544683903d7ceb&URL=http%3a%2f%2fmediamattersaction.us1.list-manage.com%2ftrack%2fclick%3fu%3d0e7994932b5c293ad6e9e40d8%26id%3dbd33637894%26e%3da64676712d>for
the Israelis to kill any of his fellow Americans who get in their way.
"Dear IDF: If you end up shooting any Americans on the new Gaza flotilla -
well, most Americans are cool with that. Including me."

Treviño justified his twisted reasoning by likening the Americans bringing
relief to the Gazans to Americans who served in the German army during World
War II. After Kurt Schlichter, who writes for Andrew Breitbart's Big
Government site, called for the sinking of the flotilla, Treviño
wrote<https://mail.aljazeera.net/owa/redir.aspx?C=348b737ce8424021a8544683903d7ceb&URL=http%3a%2f%2fmediamattersaction.us1.list-manage.com%2ftrack%2fclick%3fu%3d0e7994932b5c293ad6e9e40d8%26id%3d587b248b43%26e%3da64676712d>,
"Not morally different from a Nazi convoy, is it?"

Treviño's words are even more offensive when you consider that a Holocaust
survivor<https://mail.aljazeera.net/owa/redir.aspx?C=348b737ce8424021a8544683903d7ceb&URL=http%3a%2f%2fmediamattersaction.us1.list-manage1.com%2ftrack%2fclick%3fu%3d0e7994932b5c293ad6e9e40d8%26id%3d8e623461cb%26e%3da64676712d>will
be on the flotilla. If she or a
*New York Times *reporter is shot, then Treviño's
words<https://mail.aljazeera.net/owa/redir.aspx?C=348b737ce8424021a8544683903d7ceb&URL=http%3a%2f%2fmediamattersaction.us1.list-manage.com%2ftrack%2fclick%3fu%3d0e7994932b5c293ad6e9e40d8%26id%3db687e0e311%26e%3da64676712d>would
leave one to assume that it's just like the death of a member of the
Wehrmacht or an al Qaeda terrorist.

*Humanitarian combatants?*

Even worse, Treviño sees no difference between people bringing humanitarian
relief and enemy combatants.

In case you ever wondered about the kind of people who would justify opening
fire on the Red Cross, take a look at Treviño's contemptible tweets. The
most amazing thing of all: he thinks he is a good American while calling for
the execution of other Americans by a foreign military force.

Asked if he endorses killing Americans overseas, Treviño
responded<https://mail.aljazeera.net/owa/redir.aspx?C=348b737ce8424021a8544683903d7ceb&URL=http%3a%2f%2fmediamattersaction.us1.list-manage1.com%2ftrack%2fclick%3fu%3d0e7994932b5c293ad6e9e40d8%26id%3d2bf118d7fa%26e%3da64676712d>,
"Sure, if they adhere to our enemies. Flotilla participants do." Another
right-wing columnist, Ben Shapiro, who loves to tout his patriotism, also
said<https://mail.aljazeera.net/owa/redir.aspx?C=348b737ce8424021a8544683903d7ceb&URL=http%3a%2f%2fmediamattersaction.us1.list-manage1.com%2ftrack%2fclick%3fu%3d0e7994932b5c293ad6e9e40d8%26id%3db96fa8ab8f%26e%3da64676712d>he
has "no problem" with Israel "taking out" any and all flotilla
participants. One has to wonder what Israel would do with Israelis who
openly endorsed the killing of their fellow Israelis by a foreign army.

And what does Treviño say to those who might be offended by characterising
Holocaust survivors and Noble laureates as Nazis? Why, they're just part of
the "Israel-hating, pro-Hamas left," he explained.

But for Treviño, *New York Times* reporters or Holocaust survivors are
probably of secondary importance. (His tweets, however, do indicate that he
sees everyone on the flotilla as being equally guilty.) The man's real
enemies are the Arabs and Muslims who dare defy Israel's blockade.

The Americans on the boat, as he sees it, are useful idiots being used for
propaganda purposes. The Arabs, Muslim and other "them"-looking people
taking part in the flotilla are fair game. (Here he is last year showing
displeasure at the news that one Muslim participant in the last flotilla was
not killed. "Oh well. Next
time,"<https://mail.aljazeera.net/owa/redir.aspx?C=348b737ce8424021a8544683903d7ceb&URL=http%3a%2f%2fmediamattersaction.us1.list-manage.com%2ftrack%2fclick%3fu%3d0e7994932b5c293ad6e9e40d8%26id%3dbdd7aae497%26e%3da64676712d>he
chimed in.)

Meanwhile, the *New York Times* reported today that the Israeli government
has been circulating a YouTube video featuring a gay rights activist whose
participation in the flotilla was ostensibly rebuffed by the flotilla's
organisers. The
video<https://mail.aljazeera.net/owa/redir.aspx?C=348b737ce8424021a8544683903d7ceb&URL=http%3a%2f%2fmediamattersaction.us1.list-manage.com%2ftrack%2fclick%3fu%3d0e7994932b5c293ad6e9e40d8%26id%3da8b0cd844d%26e%3da64676712d>uses
the gay man's experience as a jumping-off point for a full-blown
attack
on the flotilla as a Hamas operation, riddled with bigotry and reactionary
politics.

However, the *Times*
reports<https://mail.aljazeera.net/owa/redir.aspx?C=348b737ce8424021a8544683903d7ceb&URL=http%3a%2f%2fmediamattersaction.us1.list-manage.com%2ftrack%2fclick%3fu%3d0e7994932b5c293ad6e9e40d8%26id%3da12a7af800%26e%3da64676712d>that
the video, promoted by the prime minister's office and the foreign
ministry, is a total hoax. The supposed American gay activist is actually an
aspiring Israeli actor. This is from the *Times*.

*Smear campaign*

Ali Abunimah, the Palestinian-American founder of the *Electronic Intifada*,
suggested on Twitter that the video hoax was not a prank but part of a
public relations campaign to support the Israeli government's naval blockade
of Gaza by seeking to tarnish the Gaza flotilla activists as homophobic.

While there is no evidence of homophobia by the activists, and indeed some
of the participants in the new flotilla are gay, the Israeli actor featured
in the video has recently worked with a producer who appears to be opposed
to the flotilla campaign.

The actor, Omer Gershon - who is a minor celebrity in Tel Aviv - recently
directed and appeared in this commercial for Puma, which was produced by
Elad Magdasi. The commercial is currently featured on the home page of Mr
Magdasi's YouTube channel, which also features a link to videos made by "a
nonprofit Israel advocacy organisation" called Stand With Us.

At the very time that New York was passing its historic bill legalising gay
marriage, Israel's right-wing government was exploiting the gay community to
advance its indefensible hysteria about the flotilla. Expect more hoaxes of
this kind as the Netanyahu government sinks deeper into paranoia as
September's UN vote on the establishment of a Palestinian state approaches.

It is important to remember that Binyamin Netanyahu is not Israel. However,
the longer he stays in office, the harder it becomes for Israel's friends to
make people understand that. To put it simply, he is endangering everything
Israel's founders accomplished - not to mention the lives of Palestinians,
Europeans, Americans and others who dare get in the way.

*MJ Rosenberg is a Senior Foreign Policy Fellow at Media Matters Action
network.*

*This article previously appeared in Foreign Policy
Matters<http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=0e7994932b5c293ad6e9e40d8&id=8aae8d03c3&e=a64676712d>,
a part of the Media Matters Action Network.*

*The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not
necessarily represent Al Jazeera's editorial policy.*
Source:
Al Jazeera

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