Max Black at PrairieFire notes that bloggers from the left have gone relatively silent about the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict ....

Why?  Where are those

"free-speech warriors who bravely tackle the hard truths that mainstream media outlets either ignore or distort"?

Good question.

A few lefties surmise that the silence is due to the complexity of the issue -- that it's a "quagmire" which has not been (and may never be) resolved. 

Complex issues never stopped moonbats before. 
Can you say h-o-m-o-s-e-x-u-a-l-i-t-y? 
A-b-o-r-t-i-o-n? 
D-e-a-t-h   P-e-n-a-l-t-y?
R-e-l-i-g-i-o-n?
I-m-m-i-g-r-a-t-i-o-n?
W-a-r  O-n  T-e-r-r-o-r-i-s-m?
G-E-O-R-G-E   B-U-S-H? 

So why is the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict any different?  Eh? 

Come on.  
Blog it. 
Dare you. 
                                  Coward.

Does the reluctance to blog have anything to do with the reality that demo-god Bill Clinton "worked" on a Middle East peace plan for seven (repeat, 7) years and achieved zilch?

Does it have anything to do with the inability to say t-e-r-r-o-r-i-s-t? 

Are you afraid that if you "tackle [THIS] tough truth," you might be perceived as anti-Israel?  Anti-Jewish?  Pro-terrorist?  Pro- Hezbollah?  Pro-Bush?

Mug-wumps.

Other liberals suggest that the topic is too volatile, one that divides even liberal bloggers. 

So?  What's a little disagreement among friends, eh?

Differences of opinion have never stopped moderates and conservatives from blogging.  

Hasn't cost them an election in a while, either. 
But I digress.

Liberal blogger Josh Marshall summarizes, "... it may be particularly hard for ... peers to stake out nuanced positions on a complex issue that does not cleave along a liberal-conservative axis."

Huh?
Since when do liberals have claims to "nuanced positions?"

Cleave?                                 
CLEAVE?????
So what's it take to get a mug-wump off his axis? 

More cleavage?  [sometimes I slay me]

"I 'touched off the fireworks' in saying that 'Israel has a right to respond strongly when they have a border incursion over the Lebanese border,' Marshall said. 'Some readers think that because I'm critical of our policy in Iraq... I'm going to be reflexively critical of what's going on now, which I'm not.'"

Hey -- being a Fourth of July kinda gal,  I loveeeeee fireworks!  I also have this reflexively critical need to respond strongly when someone incurses my borders.

So, wanna do lunch sometime?

"Marshall — who was raised in a secular Jewish home and considers himself 'in some ways a critic of Israel, but still a Zionist and a supporter of Israel' — said he is uncomfortable with the strange bedfellows he sometimes wins by raising concerns about Israel's conduct."

John Kerry had a similar problem, I recall.  "First I did, then I didn't; then I did, but I didn't mean it."

Bill Clinton had a "bedfellow" problem, but it lacked nuance.  If you know what I mean.

As for being uncomfortable -- did you hear Teddy Kennedy showing his pro-Israeli side?  "I-support-Israel's-right-to-defend-itself-but ...."  

Teddy Kennedy and John Kerry: poster boyz for wimpy moonbat mug-wumps. 

Liberal blogger Max Drum opined: "Most conservatives simply take the uncomplicated stance that Palestinians are terrorists and that Israel should always respond to provocation in the maximal possible way," Drum wrote. "Liberals don't really have a similarly undemanding position for the quick-hit nature of blogging."

Undemanding position???   Quick-hit blogging??? 

And here I thought blogging required a quick-wit ....  and that "most" quick-witted bloggers (including liberal bloggers) were readily cognizant that not all "Palestinians are terrorists" .... Oh, well.

And if Mr. Drum's assessment(s) of liberal bloggers were to be even remotely accurate -- God help us. 

Especially help those arrogant, self-assuming, snooty, priggish, uppity, presumptuous quick-hitting moonbat mug-wump bloggers who lack the wit  to take a position on a complex subject.

"Leon Wieseltier, literary editor of the The New Republic and a general critic of bloggers, rejected the 'complexity' explanation.

'Why would you expect complexity from bloggers, left, right, or Martian?' Wieseltier wrote in an email to the Forward.

'They [liberal bloggers] are not in the complexity business on any issue.

Maybe the problem is not complexity but complication — the way in which sympathy with Israel's campaign against Hezbollah, and therefore with the use of force, might complicate their lives in progressiveland, where they live.'"

Thanks, Mr. Wieseltier. 

You've confirmed what one moderate-who-leans-to-the-right blogger has felt about this "silence of the shams" and the whereabouts of those

"... free-speech warriors who bravely tackle the hard truths that mainstream media outlets either ignore or distort ...." 

There they are .... cleaving to their nuanced positions, waiting for some quick-wit to de-complexify a complicated issue -- so they don't have to risk a quick-hit to their axis.  

:::::: and there, but for the grace of God, go I :::::::::

I'm a Fox News watcher for a few basic reasons.  They don't normally use subliminal words or images to slant stories.  Most FOX reporters appear to try to do the "fair and balanced" thing.  Guest commentators usually provide counter-views.   Fox reporting is not usually presented as "absolutes" or couched in hyperbole -- editorialized.  And they don't blame Bush for everything. 

Know what I mean?  (If you don't, you're probably not reading this blog anyway.)

My patience sometimes wears thin, however.  Like .... I'm becoming a bit skeptical of Fox's main-man Shep's stress level again. 

Oh, he's bright and attractive and articulate.  But remember the Fox Katrina coverage?  Fair and balanced aside -- even Shep and Geraldo bought into (lock, stock and barrel) the hype that was heavy-handedly promoted by the "other" mainstream media: CNN, MSNBC, etc. 

Shep's doing it now from the Lebanon-Israeli border. 

Battle fatigue?  Could be. 

His eyes are starting to bulge (feigning focus to avoid darting?) and his speech is becoming hurried -- as if he has soooo much to report and even more to  journalize ...  He appears on the brink of hyperventilation, at times digressing into a verbal barrage of sketchy innuendo, interspersed with replays of videos shot earlier .... a funeral ... two choppers crashing ... families in transition .... trailing the undisclosed movement of mobile fire teams ... and how it is all inter-related.  Which it is.  But he is trying so hard to pull it together for us.

Know what I mean?

How many times must he remind viewers that he can't tell all he knows (well, duhh), that Israeli security is controlling his coverage because the Hezzies will be listening ... that there is this hill behind him ... that Israelis are shooting across this hill and the Hezzies are behind it shooting back.  Even though he's not crouching or wearing a flak jacket and helmet like field reporters on other networks do ....

And he tells us that a ground war is ultimately probable.  Maybe.  Most likely.  Behind that hill.  And the Israelis will have to fight in unknown territory.  And how dangerous it will be and how high casualties will likely be.  On both sides. 

Then the generals sitting in the studio remind Shep that the Israelis have drones and eyes-in-the-sky to see what's on the other side of the hill.  And they probably know exactly what they are shooting at.  And Ole Shep, as if not to be out-reported or out-journaled, says (as if realizing this for the first time), "Well, yeah... but ...."

And on he rambles .... 

And Condi is on the way and if she doesn't come up with some kind of resolution while she's there, it will be bad ju-ju for the US and it's proxy state ....

Meanwhile -- over at CNN, reporters bearing long titles (Deputy Intern Assistant to the Senior Field Correspondent for CNN's International and Middle-Eastern Affairs and On-Site Reporting Chief) who are embedded (well, if not embedded, let's say "closely aligned") with the Hezbollah, acknowledge that the Hezzies hide among Lebanese civilians because that's the safest place to hide!  

It's presented as a "given."  (Which it is.)  As if unrelated to a subsequent inference that Israelis are killing citizens.  (Which it isn't.  Which they are.)

CNN also announces that several thousand Israelis are strongly rumored to have already crossed the border and are engaging the Hezzies hand-to-hand and hill-to-hill .... (Wonder if Ole Shep knows this.  Probably not.  Or he'd be wearing a flak jacket and helmet and crouching down.)

While on the political front -- Olmert has drawn a line in the proverbial sand, listing the Israeli conditions for a cease fire:

1. Release the kidnapped Israeli soldiers;

2. Cease all rocket attacks;

3. Disarm southern Lebanon according to UN Resolution 1559.

And the leader of Hezbollah counters with his own line in the just-as-proverbial sand, offering a response that is sure to -- war-mongering notwithstanding -- raise network ratings: 

"We will never leave, even if Lebanon is reduced to scorched earth."

Shep stares like a delinquent puppy into the camera, shakes his battle-fatigued head and ponders for us the fate of civilians and combatants on both sides of the border and the unknown calamities that lie ahead ....

And if you're fast enough with the remote and click back to CNN -- you'll know that those calamities are already underway.

-- And you become aware of the role of reporters vs. journalists who file their impassioned stories -- not only from different "sides" of the border, but with different objectives and perspectives -- nonetheless newsworthy ....

 Questions for the *whiny-butt ingrates the US has evacuated from Lebanon and the media outlets that flock to them:

1.  Why the heck would you travel to an unstable region which both your government AND travel agent warned would be dangerous -- without your own "safety net" in the event of problems?

Stupid is as stupid does .... In case you had forgotten -- there is no summer intern program, no graduate degree, no visit with grandma and definitely no business meeting more important than personal safety. 

Much less the well-being of your children. 

Stuck on stupid.

2.  Why are you complaining about the amount of time it has taken/took the US to "safely" remove you from the region?

Arrogant spoiled brat .....  Did poor widdle get-what-I-want-when-I-want-it not get what you wanted when you wanted it? 

And it was allll the fault of the US of A, right?  

And if you were sooooo concerned about your children -- why the hell would you drag them into harms way? 

Hey, whiny-butt, If you can afford multiple tickets to fly your family into harms way --- why couldn't you send the money to mom and dad or whoever and fly them to see YOU????   It would probably have been much, much cheaper and it would sure have been a heckova lot safer.

3.  Why are you so critical of the lack of US intervention and/or the right of Israel to defend its citizens? 

You're not just itching to turn YOUR poor decision-making into a political statement, are you?  

Need to voice a little anti-Israeli sentiment?  Eh? 

Just want to gig the US? 

Wanna blame Bush for this one as well? 

Give it your best shot, dufus.  And be certain to write an irate letter to an MSM editor.

4.  When you get home (assuming you are a US citizen), are you going to voluntarily reimburse the government for your safe return?

Why not?  Evacuated Americans have done this for years. 

OH? 

Your country owes you?  Yeah.  Right. 

<pause>

You're gonna cash in your return ticket and donate it to which political group? 

Nice.  Really nice. 

You ingrate.

5.  After your 15 minutes of fame, courtesy of the main stream media (CNN, MSNBC, NYT, etc.), are you now going to join an anti- US and/or Israeli protest?

Uh huh.   I'll be certain to watch for you on CNN highlights ....  Why not transfer the feed to YouTube?  When the Lebonese infrastructure is rebuilt, all your friends there can see you!  And remember to wave mightily to the US government with that third finger, OK? 

In all honesty, I can't say I'm not totally surprised, however. 

Although, I was hoping you might want to fall to your knees when you landed on American soil -- to thank God that your insolent, self-centered ass wasn't either still honkered in a bunker in downtown Beirut or sweating profusely in a broken down bus along some dusty Syrian back-road.

NOTE:  * This category does not include nor is it direct to the evacuees who have expressed their appreciation for the safe evacuation -- sans the anti-US and/or anti-Israeli comments.

 The scuzballs and C.H.I.T.-heads (Certifiable Hate-Mongering International Terrorists) are posting here again. 

Heck, don't know why they mess wif me.  I'm a small harmless insect in TB's eco-system with a readership consisting mostly of my family (they love me), my staff (required reading) and a few like-minded linkers!

Here's a fix for those spammers and trolls who post their jibber-muck when they "disagree" with a perspective -- such as the one we express, i.e.,  decimating the Huzzies and Hammies (CHIT-HEADS) who are attacking Israel.

-- Clean out your "notification" list.  Especially the "xyz123 at freebie email service dot com" names.  I just removed 5 of the creeps. 

-- Block their IP's. 

-- Keep on posting. 

By all means, keep on posting.  It's the least we can do.

 to Don Singleton for bringing this post to our attention. 

It is a MUST read:  A Silent Arab Speaks

For two days I've read various op-eds and blogs RE: the title above.  The most succinct response I've read to date is Don Singleton's one-word summation:  Sickening.

One of my life-long goals has been to return to the land of my heritage.

As a child, I would sit at my grandfather's knee for hours, listening to stories told to him by his grandfather .... about two brothers who were driven from (what is now) Israel to Germany, and subsequently traveled to America in the mid-1700's. 

From Pennsylvania, they migrated with a Moravian delegation to what would become Salem Colony in North Carolina .... 

My grandfather always believed that the brothers hid their Jewish heritage and claimed the Moravian (or Luthuran) faith to avoid continuous persecution.  It did not matter, he would say. 

What mattered, he espoused, was that many years later, the last surviving brother disowned his children and grandchildren because they refused to honor the language (Yiddish) and traditions of their heritage.  The family argued and split into two factions:  one remained in the southern mountains and the other moved to the higher mountains -- one claiming their ethnic background as German; the other as English -- both denying their Jewish heritage. 

(The surviving brother subsequently died a lonely man -- alienated from family and friends -- to have his land and wealth scattered among survivors ... his only legacy being his name on the road that still traverses his once-prosperous estate.)

------

The young brothers were stone masons by trade (albeit womanizers by night) and earned their keep by laying the foundations and walls of buildings which still stand in historic Old Salem.

In the most socially acceptable of terms, my grandfather would explain how at least one female acquaintance became with-child, precipitating the brothers' expulsion (with two women) from Salem settlement -- highlighted by head-shavings and (for the brothers, at least) a ferried rail-ride across the (once) mighty Yadkin River. 

The disgraced four-some traveled westward toward the Blue Ridge Mountains, likely stopping in settlements developing in (once the Great State of) Wilkes ....

My grandfather always insisted (for the sake of propriety, I'm sure) that the brothers and their trail-mates were properly married (in the old Boone region) long before they settled in the northwest section of Surry County to raise their families.

As evidence of these stories (sans my grandfather's embellishments), I have letters written by my grandfather's grandfather to his cousins and brothers .... in Yiddish ... pleading with them to honor and cherish the traditions of their heritage.

Possibly I or my children will one day be able to honor the traditions of our heritage.  To deny anyone that right -- much less to denigrate that right --  bespeaks a disrespect more base, more despicable than sickening, however.

Godspeed, Israel.  May you find peace and security in the Land and Traditions you honor.

  ROFL ------------ love it.  Love it.  LOVE IT!

President Bush obviously took his cue (in using the C.H.I.T. reference, that is) from a recent Perish the Thought post.

Herd'em up, Cowboy!

OKOKOK .... to appease those who nevah NEVAHHH cuss or those who may be offended by a socially-unacceptable-but-appropriate word, substitute the word "dung" (after all, it is biblical) -- as in camel, donkey, lion, etc. .... or for the poetically inclined -- it rhymes with stung and hung.  As opposed to c.h.i.t. -- which rhymes with snit, fit, hit, bit and QUIT!!!

-----  

ummmmm ... but Mr. President?  I ain't too keen on talking wif your mouth full o butter roll, though, yanno?  I bet Laura lectures you when you get home ....

From PajamasMedia:

Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt says Lebanon has become a proxy battleground for Iran in its resistance to US-led pressure on its nuclear program: "Iran is telling the United States: You want to fight me in the Gulf and destroy my nuclear program? I will hit you at home, in Israel," he told Arab news channel Al Arabiya.

Continuous updates at TruthlaidBear.

Unbelievable.  Truly treasonable.  Unforgivable.

That an American Newspaper, specifically The New York Times' photography staff would refer to the "incredible courage" of a photographer who stood by as a terrorist sniper took aim at American troops.

Beyond belief.

Exactly where are the guidelines that determine WHEN and HOW a response to terrorist aggression is "proportionate?"

Someone forgot to send Israel a copy.

Unperturbed by international criticism, the Government of Israel continued to pound Lebanon's civilian infrastructure, destroying roads, bridges, fuel dumps and mobile telephone installations as well as Hezbollah targets, including a Beirut radio station.

It believes that Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Shia group, badly overplayed his hand on Wednesday by kidnapping two Israeli soldiers in a daring cross-border raid and killing eight others.

Israeli generals and diplomats are now arguing that their attacks are simply a belated effort to achieve what the Lebanese Government and United Nations have consistently failed to do: implement UN Security Council Resolution 1559, which calls for all Lebanese militias to be dismantled.

"As long as Hezbollah is in the south of Lebanon this will lead to a destabilised region," Tzipi Livni, the Israeli Foreign Minister, told The Times.          - www.timesonline.co.uk

* Bold type added for emphasis.

The puppet-states who have allowed Syrian and Iranian terrorist groups to manipulate their policies and "proportion" the massacre of Israeli citizens may have finally awakened the sleeping giant. 

Ahhhhhhh ... here it is. 

Page 16, paragraph 34: when the sleeping giant says "Enough is enough" -- the guidelines state to cry, "Disproportionate!!!"