Republicans, in Shift, Demand Lockstep Support for Israel

[azurnoir]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by DonViejo (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: NYT

The Republican support coalescing behind Israel, and particularly its hawkish prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has been on display in recent weeks as President Obama has neared a nuclear agreement with Iran that critics call dangerous. The House speaker, John A. Boehner, invited Mr. Netanyahu to address Congress on the matter while 47 Senate Republicans signed an open letter to Iran warning against making a deal with the president.

The shift in the party’s attitude toward Israel stems from several factors, according to Republicans – a greater sense of solidarity in the fight against Islamic extremism since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, increased support for the Jewish state among evangelical Christians and the influence of wealthy donors like Sheldon Adelson, the Las Vegas casino magnate. And the more Mr. Obama feuds with Mr. Netanyahu, the more Republicans feel motivated to come to the Israeli leader’s defense.

“It is remarkable,” said William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard, a conservative magazine and one of the leading voices promoting Israel’s cause in the United States. Mr. Netanyahu, who goes by the nickname Bibi, has become a rallying point for Republicans, he said. “Bibi would probably win the Republican nomination if it were legal,” he said.

Mr. Kristol, emailing from Israel where he was meeting with Mr. Netanyahu, described the shift as a result of broader underlying trends in American politics as the political left grows more “European” and the political right grows more “Reaganite.” He added that “the conservative belief in American exceptionalism is akin to Zionism.” And he said the contrast between Mr. Obama’s friction with Mr. Netanyahu and former President George W. Bush’s strong support for Israel “is pretty dramatic.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/28/us/politics/republicans-criticize-james-baker-for-speech-on-benjamin-netanyahu.html?_r=0

[TwilightGardener]

1. This is a "shift"?

[christx30]

4. In a shift,

turkey and avocado sandwiches turn out to be pretty tasty.
In a shift, concrete hurts when thrown at people's heads.
In a shift, water turns out to be wet.

[TwilightGardener]

9. Bingo.

[geek tragedy]

2. It's Democrats who are the ones behind the curve.

Israel is no longer the "socialist Sparta" of the 1950's and 60's but is rather a rightwing place whose government reflects its population.

Why Democrats think we need to profess affection and love for a rightwing country has never been explained satisfactorily.

[TexasTowelie]

3. Republicans have more loyalty to Bibi

than to our own president.

[Fred Sanders]

5. "Shift", as in the massive money shifting from the pockets of the soulless rich to pockets of pocketed politicians?

When did political corruption become a virtue?

[L0oniX]

6. If they support it ...I don't. n/t

[Roy Rolling]

7. "friction"

And by the term "Mr. Obama's friction" he means lack of complete boot-licking subservience to Tea Party-types from other countries. These same cons were having a boy crush on Vladamir Putin a few years back, too.

[dougolat]

8. A shift to a greater endorsement of war crimes and a war criminal

as if they weren't way out there already.

[justhanginon]

10. Is republican lockstepping anything like the

goosestepping we see in old news reels? Might not be such a good thing!

[FiveGoodMen]

11. EXACTLY like it!

[DonViejo]

12. Locking...

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