dedelste's Blog

dedelste Commented on Is Everybody Disappointed In Obama? by M.J. Rosenberg

2009-11-23T16:37:06Z

It's too early to tell. But I'm starting to fear it may soon be too late.

dedelste Commented on Harry Reid, and What Happened to the Public Option by Robert Reich

2009-11-23T15:27:22Z

In the Netherlands, they do make a profit. The keys are strict regulation, and strong mandatory benefits packages, although whether the U.S. can achieve either is a big question. I don't think "profit" per se is that big an issue. A lot of big U.S. insurance companies are still "non-profits," but they pay their executives 7 figure salaries, and are just as much a part of the problem as their for-profit cousins.

dedelste recommended Picking up the ball by dedelste

2009-11-22T00:06:29Z

dedelste Commented on Landrieu To Reid: No Triggers, No Bill--Negotiating Compromise With Schumer by Brian Beutler

2009-11-21T20:00:25Z

That's exaggerated. Party leaders can be and are replaced all the time. The flip side is that (and this is equally exaggerated) that it only requires a decent party leader to pass decent legislation. I'm convinced that if the U.S. had a parliamentary system, we'd have had universal health care at least 60 years ago. It's not simply about corruption -- no party discipline makes change next to impossible.

dedelste recommended All About the 60 by Josh Marshall

2009-11-21T00:18:23Z

dedelste Commented on Israel Expanding Settlements: Will Obama Finally Apply The Pressure? by M.J. Rosenberg

2009-11-19T19:14:44Z

The smirking little Likudnik is a duplicitous fascist in addition to the above. His father, the "distinguished pioneer and professor," is a lunatic fascist and racist. An interview question and his answer for reference:

Q: You don't like the Arabs, to say the least.

A: The Bible finds no worse image than this of the man from the desert. And why? Because he has no respect for any law. Because in the desert he can do as he pleases. The tendency towards conflict is in the essence of the Arab. He is an enemy by essence. His personality won't allow him any compromise or agreement. It doesn't matter what kind of resistance he will meet, what price he will pay. His existence is one of perpetual war.

Bibi's brother Yonatan died saving innocent people. I know nothing of his politics, and generally don't speak ill of the dead. I also admire physical and moral courage, though the former is orthogonal to both decency and sanity, and the latter to sanity.

Just to be clear, the following is not at all intended to draw an analogy between Israel and Nazi Germany. I despise such comparisons. It is intended to show the worth of Bibi's traits that you seem to think make him admirable.

So, Adolf Hitler, circa 1938:
6 feet tall - No (5'8"-5'9").
Excellent condition - As far as I know.
Fine military record - Check.
Distinguished relatives - No.
Leader of a nation - Check.

Fits at least some of your conditions, possibly the most important?

Out of curiosity, how do you know Johnny and I are cowardly or impotent?

Sincerely,
Daniel Edelstein
Windsor, Ontario
Proud native of New York City
Former armchair Likudnik. Was I braver then?

dedelste Commented on Israel Expanding Settlements: Will Obama Finally Apply The Pressure? by M.J. Rosenberg

2009-11-19T14:05:19Z

Ok, I basically agree, although public opinion on both sides does have some influence.

And when you talk just about elites, Hamas is at least as much of a problem at this point as the Israeli right. I too would love to see Obama kick "that smirking little Likudnik" in the nuts. It's a necessary, but not a sufficient, condition for peace.

dedelste Commented on Israel Expanding Settlements: Will Obama Finally Apply The Pressure? by M.J. Rosenberg

2009-11-19T05:50:32Z

The fact is that there is precious little to negotiate. The lines of a possible settlement are extremely narrow. The Palestinians will never accept less than a return to the '67 borders including in Jerusalem, possibly with minor changes, nor in my opinion should they. The Israelis will never accept less than a guarantee most Palestinian refugees will not be resettled in Israel, and that Palestine will be demilitarized for the foreseeable future, nor in my opinion should they. There are details to negotiate, but that's it. Anyone on either side who insists on major deviations from this settlement is either acting in bad faith, or clueless. Useless "negotiations" have dragged on for almost 20 years now. It's time for the rest of the world to impose a settlement.

dedelste Commented on Israel Expanding Settlements: Will Obama Finally Apply The Pressure? by M.J. Rosenberg

2009-11-19T01:03:50Z

I don't understand what point you're making with this comment or who you're arguing with. I strongly support a peace based on the 1967 lines (or something very close), including dividing Jerusalem and evacuating most if not all of the settlements. I know all the facts you're stating quite well. But these are legal/formal facts, and say nothing about what anyone actually thinks, wants, or will attempt to get. The Israelis have made all sorts of legal/formal commitments too, many they haven't kept. Do you take those as "the facts" too?

There are several problems with your argument. At least three stand out:

1. The statement I consider an open question is "But most Palestinians consider all of Israel to be occupied territory." This is a matter of public opinion. None of the statements or commitments of the PLO demonstrate anything about it.

2. Hamas, which isn't recognized by anyone, but is obviously a major force in Palestinian politics, and actually controls Gaza, has not accepted Israel's right to exist as a state within the 1967 lines.

3. Regardless of formal acceptance, I'm not aware of any clear PLO position on the refugee question. While I'm aware various PLO figures have floated that they would accept practical limits on the right of return, they've made no commitments. Until the possibility that millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants could settle in an Israel defined by the '67 borders is ruled out, PLO recognition of "Israel" is meaningless, since an Israel with a Palestinian majority would no longer be the country it is, a Jewish nation-state.

dedelste Commented on Israel Expanding Settlements: Will Obama Finally Apply The Pressure? by M.J. Rosenberg

2009-11-18T18:15:30Z

spider: "But most Palestinians consider all of Israel to be occupied territory."
No, spider, they don't.

Although I'm on your side of this argument (at least mostly, I think), this is at least an open question, and together with the inseparable refugee question represents the biggest obstacle to peace from the Palestinian side.

dedelste Commented on Israel Expanding Settlements: Will Obama Finally Apply The Pressure? by M.J. Rosenberg

2009-11-18T18:05:15Z

The Sinai passes? You don't know about them and their military importance?

Vaguely, upon reflection. Thanks for the clarification. I had thought "to the passes" referred to "Gaza, the West Bank and Sinai," not just Sinai. Would probably have figured it out otherwise.

dedelste Commented on Israel Expanding Settlements: Will Obama Finally Apply The Pressure? by M.J. Rosenberg

2009-11-18T02:10:51Z

Why are you replying to it?! Do you think your comment makes for interesting reading? It's disgusting that the management allows the amount of trolling here, but feeding them only makes it worse.

dedelste Commented on Israel Expanding Settlements: Will Obama Finally Apply The Pressure? by M.J. Rosenberg

2009-11-18T01:52:33Z

The '48 borders, the '67 borders, a divided Jerusalem never had a chance. Those borders make for a non-viable Jewish state.

This is nonsense if the Palestinian state is demilitarized, as all the peace proposals require, and not true in any case as long as Israel is militarily stronger than its neighbors.

If Muslims were willing to acknowledge Israel's right to exist they would recognize that and agree to a population transfer from Gaza, the West Bank, and Sinai to the passes. If the rest of the world has a real interest in peace they would help finance the move.

I'll ignore the breathtaking moral assumptions here and simply ask what on earth are "the passes"?

dedelste recommended Europe in the world of the "G-2" by David Seaton

2009-11-17T11:20:28Z

dedelste recommended Realists by Bernard Avishai

2009-11-17T12:19:36Z

dedelste Commented on Realists by Bernard Avishai

2009-11-17T17:00:24Z

I cringed at this too, but perhaps we can give Avishai the benefit of the doubt here, as in he admires Friedman for pushing Israeli concessions to Palestinians rather than for his other, especially economic views. In any case, it is sometimes possible to view issues in isolation, and Avishai's post is only about Israel-Palestine. Plus I'm sure he wouldn't profess admiration for various right-wingers who are treated by the powers that be as "mainstream."

dedelste recommended Israeli Leader: Palestinians Should Unilaterally Declare State Now! by M.J. Rosenberg

2009-11-15T18:38:05Z

dedelste Commented on The Birther Argument: Does it make any sense? by waywuwei

2009-11-14T03:35:41Z

While I certainly don't want to defend the birthers in any way, my understanding is that they have one valid argument. Apparently at the time of Obama's birth (1961), the law stated that a child born abroad to an American parent was only a citizen if the parent "was physically present in the United States or its outlying possessions for a period or periods totaling not less than ten years, at least five of which were after attaining the age of fourteen years," which did not apply to Obama's mom, since she was 18 when he was born, and thus had not been in the U.S. for five years after turning 14. Thus Obama would not have been a "natural born citizen" had he been born in Kenya. See this post by UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh. I'm not sure if this is the definitive interpretation.

But of course he was born in Hawaii. And the birthers also make various false claims about the Constitution and laws.

dedelste recommended 11/11--A Friend From Junior High Recalls The Horror of Vietnam by M.J. Rosenberg

2009-11-11T17:10:41Z