It's about their liberty to tell you what you can or can't do/say
Tinidril
joined 1 year ago
For me, the difference between nationalism and patriotism is that patriotism is about what a country could be. It's a willingness to sacrifice some portion of one's own prosperity to make a better country for all. That's certainly not what right wingers call patriotism though.
How specifically are US interests served by a genocide of Palestinians? They aren't. The US doesn't care about Palestine at all, but it would be better off if Israel weren't doing the indefensible. The US just wants Israel as an ally to assist in projecting power in the Middle East.
I sympathize with the desire to end what Israel is doing, but the first step is understanding the national interests at play. It's not an excuse for anything, but it's necessary to understand the dynamics at play in order to try and change those dynamics.
Israel is a state actor that has not signed on to the ICC, just like the US. Hamas is a non-state actor over which the ICC claims jurisdiction, just like the Taliban and any number of other terrorist groups. The US is really afraid of setting a precedent here that might impact it in the future.
That's what I meant. For it to take effect he would have to sign it into law. There is no reason for him to do that.
Um, OK, but I was responding to a comment that said something different.
The Republicans voted to pass a bill in the House to send the weapons. It will almost certainly fail in the Senate but, even if it doesn't, Biden would have to sign it into law. I don't see Biden signing a bill to override himself, and there is no way that Congress would get the required 2/3 in each chamber to override. This bill was just a performative stunt.
My experience as a suburban white kid growing up in the Reagan era was that racism was just something to learn about in history class. Part of me really misses being that naive.
Congress has to approve any spending, but they very often give the executive branch some level of discretion to deal with issues that come up in real time. Almost the entire reason for the executive to exist is that some things can't wait for a committee.
It's shameful that Canadian universities can't disentangle anti-Semitism from anti-Zionism.
Not "can't", but "won't". They know the difference, but they are incentivozed not to see it.
I think the US could get by just fine with no presence in the Middle East at all. But if we are going to be in the Middle East, Israel is a far more capable ally than Qatar. And what do we do if Qatar does something horrific tomorrow? Pack up and move to Saudi Arabia? Is there really anyplace in the world we can form serious alliances without unsavoury partners? Could we even ally with ourselves?
I think the US could be a lot more honest about what Israel is doing, and we could put a whole lot more pressure on them to stop doing it. We should be doing more of both, but our alliance is exactly what gives us the leverage to do that. That is, unless we want to get involved militarily. But if we are going to do that, there are plenty of other places in the world that are just as worthy.