I’d like to
address a couple of the comments John Kerry made during his speech about the
UN/Israel vote:
John Kerry,
in his remarks about America’s “position” on the UN/Israel vote, said, “…I am compelled to respond today that the
United States did vote in accordance with our values…”.
How pathetic an opinion of the Unites States must he, Kerry,
have, to suggest that abstaining from a critical vote is an American value?
Israel, who remains a target in the Middle East, surrounded by wolves whose
core values include the total destruction of the Jewish state as well as the
annihilation of the Jewish people, who represents the very idea of democracy in
the Middle East, whose very existence is tenuous, guaranteed by The Unites
States, was abandoned by that very protector; not by virtue of a “yes” or “no”
vote, but rather by an “abstain” vote. To me, this is nothing short of
cowardice; gutless, spineless cowardice.
Is gutless, spineless cowardice an American value?
Perhaps I’m just an idealist, but I always thought that
America counted among its values courage, steadfast alliance with our allies, and
bravery in the face of opposition. I thought that America counted among its
values decisiveness. I thought that America was “the cop on the corner”. I
thought America was the best and brightest hope for the future.
Now, it seems, that our (thankfully) outgoing leadership believes
none of this. They prefer a vision of a nation of weak, indecisive cowards.
But, I’m not sure why anyone would be surprised by this; for
the past two of three election cycles, we chose as our leader a man who, in his
brief tenure as a US Senator, recorded more “present” votes than any Senator in
US history. Even then, his core value was cowardice and indecisiveness; the
very picture of a cowering decidophobiac.
The only question, in my mind, is this: is John Kerry’s and
Barack Obama’s vision (and practice) of “United States values” shared by those
who support them? Evidence certainly points to exactly this.
Consider:
Obama, speaking about the 2016, November 8th
election:
“There
are some things that we know are a challenge for Democrats — structural
problems. For example, population distribution, oftentimes younger voters,
minority voters, Democratic voters, are clustered in urban areas. And so as a
consequence you’ve got a situation where there’re not only entire states but
also big chunks of states where, if we’re not showing up, if we’re not in there
making an argument, then we’re going to lose. And we can lose badly, and that’s
what happened in this election.”
Clearly,
in this election, Democrats, overwhelmingly, acted out Kerry’s and Obama’s “vision”:
they abstained from the vote.
On
November 8th, Democrats reaped what had sown.
“…if
we’re not showing up, if we’re not in there making an argument, then we’re
going to lose. And we can lose badly, and that’s what happened in this
election.”
Yes,
Mr. President, if America does not show up, we WILL lose.
Kerry also said, “If the choice is one state, Israel
can either be Jewish or democratic. It cannot be both.”
Mr.
Kerry, does this also apply to the Palestinians? Must they, too, choose between
being Palestinian and being democratic?
Somehow,
I doubt….rather, I am CERTAIN…that it does not. Not in Kerry’s mind. Not in
Obama’s, either.
Hirota
December 2016