Author Archives: Soccerdad

About Soccerdad

I'm a government bureaucrat with delusions of literacy.

Why should I CAIR?

In happier times – like two months ago – the FBI considered CAIR a partner in fighting hate crimes. Still, CAIR’s commitment to fighting all manner of hate crime was a little suspect: In Chicago, four synagogues were vandalized on … Continue reading

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Sometimes diplomacy is not enough

Martin Kramer explains why Hamas cannot claim to have won its war with Israel: When Israel launched its operation, Hamas announced a secondary objective: to inflict significant military casualties on the Israelis. For this purpose, it had built up a … Continue reading

Posted in Israel, Israeli Double Standard Time | Tagged | Comments Off on Sometimes diplomacy is not enough

The irony of change

I don’t have many arguments with Roger Cohen’s latest column, After the War on Terror. He’s correct that the President’s interview on Al Arabiya marks the end of the war on terror; that words are important and that President Obama … Continue reading

Posted in Iran | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The no-state solution

Seven years ago, Thomas Friedman took on a second job. His first job was columnist for the New York Times. The second job he took on was as unpaid PR flack for the medieval Saudi kingdom. He wrote a column … Continue reading

Posted in Israel, Israel Derangement Syndrome | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Getting to “no” you

via memeorandum The New York Times reports that Obama sends special envoy to Mideast Mr. Obama reined in expectations for Mr. Mitchell’s maiden trip, saying it was intended mainly as a listening and learning exercise. But Mr. Mitchell will also … Continue reading

Posted in Israel | Tagged | 3 Comments

Ob-eds

President Obama promised that his first trip abroad would be to a Muslim capital. He hasn’t traveled abroad yet, but he chose the Al-Arabiya satellite channel to grant his first interview since assuming office (via memeorandum). For its part here’s … Continue reading

Posted in Anti-Semitism, Israel, Israel Derangement Syndrome | 1 Comment

Jeopardy tryouts

If you want a chance to appear on Jeopardy, there will be online tests starting tonight based on your geographic location in the United States. Register here. Three years ago I think I got about 40 of the 50 questions, … Continue reading

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Lynch-ing Israel

At Foreign Policy Marc Lynch asks, How badly did Gaza poison the well? (via memeorandum) Needless to say, Lynch opposed Israel’s effort to defend its citizens. But here’s one of his conclusions: There’s no question that Gaza has weakened the … Continue reading

Posted in Hamas, Israel, Israel Derangement Syndrome | Tagged | 1 Comment

Ging-ho

A Reuters headline reads War boosted extremists in Gaza, says U.N. official. Quoted is John Ging head of the UNRWA “The extremists here — there are more now at the end of this conflict than there were at the start, … Continue reading

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Israel’s legitimacy is debatable; Hamas’s is not

I already blogged about Muammar Qaddafi’s op-ed in the NYT, but Yaacov Lozowick emphasizes a point that’s well worth remembering: The editors of the paper will trot out the standard boilerplate about giving a platform to all opinions including the … Continue reading

Posted in Hamas, Israel, Israel Derangement Syndrome, Media Bias | Tagged | Comments Off on Israel’s legitimacy is debatable; Hamas’s is not

Giving Friedman the Boot

Thomas Friedman’s “This is not a test,” is a fraudulent exercise in moral equivalence. After making fun of the regular calls for peace in the Middle East over the past two decades or more, claiming that it is absolutely urgent, … Continue reading

Posted in Gaza, Israel, Israeli Double Standard Time, Media Bias | Tagged | 1 Comment

Will President Obama speak out?

Claudia Rosett on the prevalence of antisemitism at the UN: The other hub is the United Nations, which, despite its own sanctions on Iran and its own 1945 charter which aims to avert such horrors as another holocaust, continues to … Continue reading

Posted in Anti-Semitism, Israel, Israel Derangement Syndrome | 2 Comments

An inflated toll?

A number of bloggers have pointed to the story of the Gaza doctor who reported that the death toll claimed by Hamas and swallowed by the MSM was significantly inflated. Elder of Ziyon points out how difficult it would be … Continue reading

Posted in Israel | Tagged | 1 Comment

Evenhanded in an uneven situation

George Mitchell has been appointed an envoy to the Middle East. (via memeorandum) Apparently the conflict of interest in his report on steroid use in baseball has been forgotten. Lefties are of course are hyping the fact that pro-Israel advocates … Continue reading

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Muammar’s second act

The NYT persisting in its misguided principle that debate is always good, today offers an op-ed written by Libyan dictator, Muammar Quaddafi, “The One State Solution.” I had not realized it, but apparently Qaddafi is making a second career out … Continue reading

Posted in Israel, Israel Derangement Syndrome | Tagged , | 3 Comments