Robert - I always remember that nice piece you had many month ago about the fates of countries who opposed Israel over the millennium.

It's easy to think of time in our feeble terms but it is different from G*d's perspective.

I generalize but I believe that it is generally true that those on the left see people on the right with deeply held religious beliefs, especially Christians, as unsophisticated rubes. It's crazy but a good golf buddy of mine who is a non-denominational Christian believer on the left - even he sees Michele Bachmann as a rube. You just can't connect those dots.

It's simple really, in order to toe the liberal line intellectually most people of normal intelligence have to ignore or even deny certain truths that they "feel"are too harsh and uncomfortable. Oh, things like some people actually have to get hungry before they will put down the block of government cheese, turn off the tv and go out and work- or that feeding them anyway destroys the fabric of their families and culture. They end up having given up so much of their authenticity, spontaneity and natural attractiveness in the bargain that they can't help feeling filled with rage when a Palin, a Bachmann or a Scott Brown (I'm from MA, after all) smiles, acts like a normal person, and points out the pathetically obvious and vitally important truths that they have worked so hard to avoid. Of course they hate them.

Here in the latest election in MA the poor, bitter, desiccated harridan Martha Coakley who has spent her adulte life pretending to be a feminist who can enforce the law and believe in the catechism of the liberal expansion of "human rights to include "welfare with dignity", constitutional rights for terrorists and free automobiles, cell phones and state college tuition for illegal aliens at the same time didn't have a prayer, really. She blew away like an oak leaf in the fall.

Atta boy, Marcus! Way to show your intelligence and command of logic and rhetoric! Here is an obvious and unavoidable truth you need to contemplate- You are exactly what we are talking about. THAT is why you just dissolved in inchoate rage. Tell me what the proper term for that is... I would suggest "hopeless".

Yaacov - you have to remember that Marcus is among the more "tolerant and enlightened" among us..

Here are two links to accounts of Truman's decision to have the United States become the first nation to recognize the State of Israel:

">http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3540812,00.html

We deleted the comment by Marcus. We have a rule, and it is clearly stated, that we do not tolerate foul language. Which means that we delete about 99% of the liberal comments that are posted here.

Dear Robert: You do know that your friend Debbie Schlussel can't stand either Michelle Malkin or Sarah Palin?

Robert, I searched and finally found a picture of Sarah Palin with the Israel/US flags lapel pin. It was even taken by Reuters. Go figure. Enjoy! http://eye-on-the-world.blogspot.com/2010/02/sarah-palin-sports-nice-lapel-pin.html

Dear Robert: Good for you, deleting Marcus's comment, whatever it was. I believe we should cut teenagers some slack in using foul language in conversation, and I believe we should cut people of any age such slack when they are disgusted and furious and fed up, but there's a time and place for everything, and mature people should realize that the Internet is not the place.

I used to laugh when people said that Liberalism was a mental illness. Now, I tend to agree with that position. I look at how Obama constantly lies, how secular Jews love the far Left, yet hate Israel, and even how when an honest liberal should admit they are wrong, they launch every weapon they have upon you.

It's become increasingly clear to me that modern "progressivism" is less a body of coherent ideas than it is an assertion of a claim to social status and a plea for acceptance into a social group whose approval is desired by an individual.

Bill:

Every civilization that threatens to destroy the Jewish people has tried to make good on their threats, and before long they are left on the ash heap of history.

Kae:

I agree. Most Liberals view believing Christians and Jews as rubes. But so-called progressives make an exception for devout Muslims, because, well, they don't want to get beheaded.

Yaakov:

Quite true. My wife, a PH.d psychologist uses the term “cognitive dissonance.”

Beth:

Thanks so much for the links.

Miranda:

Yup, I know that Debbie and I disagree on this. But you know what, the only person I agree with 100% of the time is, um, me.

ELevy:

Thanks so much for the pic. I'll be using it in the future to remind my liberal Jewish readers that voting for Obama, a man who was a faithful member of a Marxist, Jew-hating church, was not exactly all that bright.

PCD:

I'm not sure that liberalism is a mental disease, but I am pretty sure that it is a substitute religion, a pagan religion.

David:

Liberalism demands a degree of dogmatic faith that is only demanded by orthodox religions.

For instance, people rarely ask if global warming/climate change is a fact. You are asked if you believe in global warming/climate change.

Robert,

Let's compromise and call Liberalism a cult. I see such single mindedness in Moonies and Democrats.

PCD:

Cult it is.

Robert, You are welcome! I check your site out everyday and it is a joy to see your pictures and read your posts. I am great lover of Israel and always keep a watchful and affectionate eye on what's going on over in the Promised Land.

Here's a great passage from Jeremiah on God's commitment to Israel:

Jeremiah 31:35-36

Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:

If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.

Truman knew his Bible and believed in the promises the LORD gave to Israel. He was placed into leadership by God, I believe, at the right time and to aid in the fulfillment of prophecy concerning Israel.

Jeremiah 16:15: But, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.

May God bring peace to Jerusalem.

people rarely ask if global warming/climate change is a fact. You are asked if you believe in global warming/climate change.

Same with evolution.

Dear PCD: When you call Liberalism a mental illness, you're calling my father, of blessed memory, and my mother crazy. THANKS!!!!

Dear Kishke: TOUCHE!!!

How dare you profane against the American flag by attaching it to the flag of a lesser nation! All of you here pretend to be conservatives, yet you have professed your loyalty to another nation. Is it not true that in order for one to become a citizen of the United States, one must renounce all loyalty to foreign governments? Ah, but being a naturally born citizen, that is not a requirement. No, you may forsake America, the greatest nation in the history of mankind, whose land has accepted peoples of all races and religions, for that creed is not enough for you. You want instead to engage in a colonial enterprise, to create a nation comprised of one race and one religion. These are not American values, and to profess a support for such an endeavor is to be utterly un-American.

I am sorry if my post upsets your sensitivities, but this is how I feel. I feel that my country is being betrayed as more and more Americans are sent abroad to fight wars that could only possibly benefit Israel. In a few months time I will be in the army because the country that I love has been at war for nearly a decade, and I can no longer stand on the sideline as more and more of my friends are swept up in it. My only hope is that I can be part of bringing a respectful end to two wars fought on false premises. Afterwards, I hope that one day I can stand up to the likes of Michele Bachmann and others like her in the halls of government and preach reason to the face of falsehood. The American people are sensible enough. The only problem is that most are ignorant of foreign affairs. If they only knew about Israel, they would realize, as any reasonable person would, that our support for this tiny nation has caused immense damage to us.

Evolution and climate change are facts, and Republicans have no reason to be threatened by this fact. I am proud to be a Republican who "believes" in both. It's best to keep science and politics separate.

And sorry to disagree with you, but I don't believe that Sarah Palin or Michelle Bachmann are intelligent and wise enough to be President. I would rather prefer John McCain or Charlie Crist. I believe McCain would have won in 2008 if he had played his cards better, and I think he has a good chance again in 2012 if he does not again pick Palin.

Dear Miranda,

I used to be an Umpire. I call 'em as I see 'em.

I'm leaving Richard Grant Stewart's comment up because it affords us an insight into the mind of a classic Jew-hater. Blaming Israel/Jews for the crimes of our terrorist enemies is an old tactic. It's what makes the Arab Muslim world go round. It's much like chopping off a man's leg and then blaming him for limping.

As for Republican's assertion that so-called climate change is a fact, well, in the real world it's called weather. Climate change is just another liberal strategy to grow government and raise taxes. That's why so many so-called scientists falsified data.

Hi Robert, climate change is not weather. Weather is a local phenomenon whereas climate is global. The distinction is very clearly defined; just as a hot day in CA does not equal global warming, a cold day in NY does not equal cooling.

Plus, what scientists falsified data? If you are talking about the University of East Anglia scandal, that refers to a small group of scientists who have been criticized for botching up their language in emails. Also, their results referred to a very limited set of results (from tree rings), whereas climate change has been validated by thousands of independently corroborated results from multiple disciplines. I don't see anyone falsifying all that science yet. Climate change is not a "liberal strategy" because it's based on science. One does not have to be a Democrat to believe in science. I know staunch Republicans who "believe" in climate change and still stand for all Republican ideals.

Republican:

My friend Wolf Howling just posted about this very issue. Take a look:

http://wolfhowling.blogspot.com/2010/02/global-warming-horoscopes.html

Robert, I agree with your friend that it is a fallacy to equate heavy snow with global warming, just as it would be a fallacy to equate it with global cooling. However your friend is mistaken that all the data was not made available. Publication in any good journal almost always needs submission of all the details. Plus there are sites where the raw data *is* available. For instance here:

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/ei/ei_reconsa.html

In any case, as I mentioned before, we are talking about a specific set of readings and a specific study. Even if we assume the worst case scenario that the scientists were being unethical, that does not falsify the work of hundreds of other scientists throughout the world unless there is a serious reason to suspect so.

Republican: My friend Robert has asked me to respond to your comment. I am working on a post to sum up my take on the science of AGW - a subject on which I have done over 35 lengthy posts just since November looking at different aspects of AGW. I find the "settled" science quite unsettled indeed. Global warming is happening - or was until 1998 at least - but it has happened throughout history. The issues are whether it is happening at a historically unseen pace and whether it can be conclusively tied to man-caused carbon emissions.

The link you give to NOAA appears to be Mann's original hockey stick. That has about as much to do with raw data as blackened tuna has to do with raw fish. That said, the point you make about today's weather not equating to "climate change" is correct - but on a much larger scale than I think you realize if you are pointing to the NOAA graphs. Those graphs, which start variously at 1400 and forward, do not go back far enough. If you extend those graphs back to 900 A.D., you get the Medieval Warm Period, in which temperatures, many believe, were at or higher than temperatures are today, and you get the Little Ice Age, when temperatures dropped precipitously. We have been in a warming trend since then - or at least until 1998. So the graphs NOAA uses to show their reconstruction are biased from the start. Indeed, if you go back to 10,000 B.C., you find numerous periods of warming and cooling of the earth on a scale that seems to make the current period of warming appear quite within normal range.

All of that said, I am going to craft a summary post that will hopefully fully elucidate my thinking on the plethora of aspect relating to AGW that raise substantive questions about the theory's validity. I will post it about Sunday - or possibly as late as Monday - will provide a link to it here.

Finally finished my work on the anthropogenic globabl warming post. You can find it at
http://wolfhowling.blogspot.com/2010/02/summary-of-not-so-settled-science-of.html

As to your citation of the raw and meta data regarding Mann's hockey stick - MNB98, do know that he only released that data seven years after publishing his article and then only after Congressional intervention. I deal with that at some length in the above post.

I need better proof of Palin wearing an Israeli flag pin. That rumor went around in 2008 and it was demonstrated that she wore a Blue Star Mother pin, which (from a distance) could be mistaken for the displayed pin.