Some interesting news out of Israel. And before getting into it, I want everybody to be emphatically clear that no one should expect that Netanyahu will be unable to form a government. But Moshe Kahlon, the ex-Likud centrist candidate, who was touted as the kingmaker for either Netanyahu or Herzog, is putting the the PM through his paces.
Rep. Steve King (R-IA) denounces “Jews in America” who are “Democrats first and Jewish second” when it comes to supporting Benjamin Netanyahu.
It really is true that for conservatives of a certain stripe, like King, Huckabee and others, Jews are little more than a kind of yahwistic lawnjockeys, mascots for a certain type of militant defense policy and museum pieces in the historical imagination of right-wing Christianity.
Far right Congressman Steve King (R-IA) again attacks Jews who support the Democratic party.
All disagreements, I can honestly say that no one is happier than I am to see my one-time college classmate (one year off, but who’s counting) Ted Cruz announce his run for the presidency. One point stuck out for me. As we know, the FEC has created a formal “testing the waters” phase of a presidential run in which the candidate creates a so-called exploratory committee. Admittedly, this is often a nominal effort. But the notional purpose is to create a period of investigation, self-reflection and canvassing for support to see if I, fill-in-the-blank, should really seek the highest office in the land.
In an act of daring act of characterological appropriateness, Cruz has decided this is simply unnecessary. Of course he should run for president. What is there to find out? (I’m not sure any major candidate has ever done this before; though it seems others may follow.)
This will be awesome.
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Back in 2013 I went back and talked to my college classmates about what they remembered about Ted Cruz. Here’s what they told me.
If Obamacare were your friend, it would be your friend with borderline personality disorder with histrionic features. Here’s a brief history of Obamacare’s endless number of near death experiences and crises.
Starbucks ends “Race Together” movement after seven painful days.
There are few people I do not take seriously in politics. Or to put it more specifically, there are few people I fully discount in the context of national elections. Ted Cruz is one of those people. By contrast, I think it is highly unlikely that Rand Paul can make it in the GOP primaries, let alone a national election. There are so many intra-party disputes, so many iffy stories lurking in the background for him and his father and a lot more. But there are enough unexpected and cross cutting aspects to Paul that I can’t be sure. Always important, many people who don’t agree with anything Paul says find him somehow appealing. Cruz is entirely different. It is hard to think of someone who has been accorded such press attention as a presidential contender while being so certain to go down to defeat. It is extremely unlikely that Cruz could ever win the GOP nomination. And as certain as one can ever be in this fallen world that he cannot win a national election.
This is for three reasons.