To be completely honest I can see the appeal of Rushfoxes. Unfortunately , that glib certainty is seductive. In Point Counterpoint Huxley describes the appeal that the uniformed fascists of the 30s had even for the educated who should have known better.

In addition to many of the same points you make that blog pointed out that the reports of an increase in the Fox audience simply compared two non comparable periods.Only one of the periods contained a weeked end with its drastically dfferent TV-watching characteristics.

I'll take this opportunity to state my position on the Obama administration's action. It's right.

What they've done is call a spade a spade. The alternative was to maintain the pretence that Fox is a news organization. It isn't any more than is The Nation or Rush. Like them Fox's intention is to promote a specific view -which in its case is that the Obama administation should be hindered in every possible ways. It would be craven for Obama to assist them. And , any interview -or question opportunity-the Adminstraton gives Fox does just that. And is a bullet aimed right its own heart. It's time for the Great Ignore.

Coming out of theatre in London , two men were fighting in an alley. The audience , predominently middle aged women circled them, saying Stop That.And You must
go home. By the time they had almost edged between them the men stopped. Backed away.

Not exactly charity but certainly a spontaneous useful private act.

A cop might have had less success.

Not just the commercial interests. All interests will fight not just for survival. Samuel Gompers put it well. When asked But what does Labor want ? ,

More

I used to opt for highly regulated,democratic, free enterprise but I'm slowly coming to accept that that's tautological . The capitalists will as inevitably vitiate democracy as the revolutionary workers. Been there, done that. Bought the T shirt.

China has conclusively demonstrated that democratic free enterprise is not a condition of a rising median standard of living. But not that it's a condition
of a high degree of individual freedom.

It's sufficiently easy not only to envision the downside of the Chinese model but to actually observe it, that I unhappily prefer the devil we know.

Most people need to bond with a particular group and part of bonding is creating some other group to which they can feel hostile. And maybe kill. Young men satisfy that by going to war, old men ,by cheering them on.

That doesn't mean that the cause for which they fight is always unjustified. Just that they're bound to fight irrespective of the ostensible justification on which they seize.

Surely you know that.

Your initial disclaimer makes the rest of your argument harder to dismiss. While it still seems like an over reach- the Nazis were already demonstrating murderous intent at least towards the SA- I grant the similarities.,

A comparison of public opinion between the two countries/eras might be even more valid. With perhaps greater justification for the current Israelis since for all intents and purposes they are at war which has the usual consequence of demonizing the.enemy

What has Obama done that would make him a target for prosecution?

Here is your reply

So just to pull one example out of a mountain of similar examples, Timothy Geithner was guilty of malfeasance in office

In fairness you might feel that you replied when you wrote

"Malfeasance in office" has a slightly antiquated sound, but as grounds for impeachment it also has sound historical precedents

That's certainly true and would be relevant if Obama had committed a malfeasance in office.
Has he?

What has Obama done that would make him a target for prosecution?

Not that they can't defend themselves, they can. Otherwise I wouldn't make that proposal.You should only protect people who can protect themselves, Malaya not Vietnam; South Korea, not Afghanistan.

But any US force should only be there as a symbolic Maginot Line.Not for involvement in Israael's domestic relationship with its Palestinian citizens.

In parallel we should spend the $20 billion or so necessary to finance resettlement from the Palestinian camps.

Will this solve the problem ? No Nothing can. But there's a good chance it would provide a generation of relative peace as most Palestinians do what most people want to do , drink their morning coffee, read the papers and play with their children.

But ultimately there'll be a generation of young men whose testosterone will require them to feel the presence of Israelis on their land is a challenge to their manhood. So it will start all over again.

But take what we can get.

Soon the fighting began. When it was over Oz was able to walk by that house.It was empty. They never returned.

They never will. Nor will the Palestinians and the Israelis ever reconcile. The British defeated the Irish at the Battle of the Boyne. 450 years later the IRA fire bombed a Birmingham Pub killing working class civilians peaceably enjoying themselves. Chances are there were some Irish among them. The first IRA bombing when the Troubles resumed in 1970 was of a British Army installation. The killed several cleaning women. Mostly Irish.

The last was a bank in the City which my daughter occasionally visited. They killed a Lebanese news vendor.

In between was Bloody Sunday.

All people, of all ethnic groups , are capable of kindness to one another. And of doing horrible things. When they cease to see each other as an individual who found their lost wallet but as members of a group . Perhaps one that defeated them 450 years earlier.

I don't take sides.

Sadly, have been and have done. Many times . In fact as many times as they have fought.

On a scale with Siderot at 1 , Coventry at 15 , Dresden at say 25 and Hiroshima a 100, Gaza is about a 2 or 3.

Herod

…Civilization must be saved even if this means sending for the military as I suppose it does. How dreary. Why is it that in the end civilization always has to call in these professional tidiers to whom it is all one whether it be Pythagoras or a homicidal lunatic that they are instructed to exterminate. O dear, why couldn’t this wretched infant be born somewhere else? Why can’t people be sensible…And suppose, just for the sake of argument that this story is true…….it would mean God had given me the power to destroy Himself. I refuse to be taken in. He could not play such a horrible practical joke. Why should He dislike me so ?......How dare he allow me to decide? I’ve tried to be good. I brush my teeth every night. I haven’t had sex for a month. I object. I’m a liberal. I want everyone to be happy. I wish I had never been born.

Auden

Now, what do you really think about A & S?

The PC terminology would be K Street sex worker.

Or K Street wind(no,not bag)sock. They show which way the wind is blowing.