VEGETARIANISM AND HITLER

I thought this was an interesting piece of work by dadaist John Heartfield. Its title is "Have no fear. . .he is a vegetarian." I wonder how this would be spun today in all of the political correctness wars. If Bush was a Nazi (see previous post), does this mean vegetarians are Nazis?

THE EVIL BUSH

Interesting to remember how Bush was perceived. The Tea Party members look remarkably sane after viewing this video

COMING BUDGET CRISIS

I thought this was an interesting column, because Robert Samuelson can't be called some right-wing Republican "scare-mongerer." His father was a famous Keynesian economist.

On March 15, Moody's Investors Service -- the bond rating agency -- published a paper warning that the exploding U.S. government debt could cause a downgrade of Treasury bonds. Just six days later, the House of Representatives passed President Obama's health-care legislation costing $900 billion or so over a decade and worsening an already-bleak budget outlook.

Should the United States someday suffer a budget crisis, it will be hard not to conclude that Obama and his allies sowed the seeds, because they ignored conspicuous warnings. A further irony will not escape historians. For two years, Obama and members of Congress have angrily blamed the shortsightedness and selfishness of bankers and rating agencies for causing the recent financial crisis. The president and his supporters, historians will note, were equally shortsighted and self-centered -- though their quest was for political glory, not financial gain.

LOSS OF CONFIDENCE IN AMERICA

According to Rasmussen, only 27% of Americans believe America will still be a powerful nation by 2099. . .and this has dropped from the previous poll. A lot of pessimism exists that the media is not covering.

AMERICAN JEWS AND ISRAEL

This Sunday I read three articles dealing with the attitude of American Jews toward Israel.

Ron Radosh at Pajamas Media writes about how liberal Jews in the Obama administration are reacting to Netanyahu's policies. Joining those who want Obama to primarily keep up the pressure on Israel is the mainstream of American liberal journalists, most of them Jewish, who evidently see a need to reinforce Obama (not that he needs it) in his decision to get tough on America’s most loyal ally in the Middle East.

Mark Davis wonders why he, as a Christian, is more loyal to Israel than most American Jews are. There is something fundamentally wrong when I care more about Israel than the American Jewish community.

Jacob Weisberg writes on why Israel and liberal American Jews are drifiting apart. If you want numbers, various polls document the disenchantment. The partisan gap in support for Israel has jumped dramatically of late, with 80 percent of Republicans expressing favorable view of Israel, according to Gallup, as compared with only 53 percent of Democrats. One recent study found that only 54 percent of Jews under 35 who aren't Orthodox are "comfortable with the idea of a Jewish state" (as compared to more than 80 percent of those over 65). Among younger Jews, only 20 percent rated as "highly attached" to Israel in another poll.

If you want examples of the shift in sentiment, read just about any Jewish columnist for a major newspaper. Thomas Friedman of The New York Times argued that Biden under-reacted to Israel's housing announcement. Richard Cohen of The Washington Post is writing a book arguing that the founding of Israel was a well-intentioned mistake.

TURKEY

A discussion of Turkey drawing closer to Iran. This is not good.

END OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE

Interesting.

FINDING JESUS AT UNIVERSITIES

Jesus shows up where one does not expect Him to be. I am hoping this article creates some discussion on campus.

OBAMA AT BAT

I have been trying to keep track of political humor/satire since the end of the Bush years. This pajamas media satire on Obama is one of the best produced I have seen.

POLITICAL ICONOGRAPHY

An interesting discussion of Republican and Democrat symbols. Obama's logo is also included.

HIZBALLAH THREATS TO ISRAEL

Ehud Barak states that if Hizballah attacks Israel, Israel will go after its sponsors (which includes Iran among others).

"Israeli cannot accept the artificial differentiations between the Hizballah terrorists, the state of Lebanon and their sponsors," said Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak in a lecture in Washington Friday, Feb. 26.

He responded to the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's prediction of Israel's early disappearance earlier Friday, alongside Syrian president Bashar Assad and Hizballah chief Hassan Nasrallah, by saying he did not expect it will be possible to slide toward 2011 without decisions. This will be a complicated and tough year, he said.