558 Comments

The right seeks allies, the left seeks traitors.

Expand full comment

What I don't get in all this babble about "colonialist settler" accusations against Israel is that if anyone in this situation is a "colonialist settler" it is the Palestinians. Doesn't anyone of these so-called intellectuals know that the area now called Palestine was once Israel, that the Romans eliminated the Jews from Judea in 135 CE, that in their place non-Jews, some Roman Colonies, some Gentiles from other regions settled in this region, that with the coming of the Arab Conquest of 634, Arabs were given the land by their commanders, and finally the Jewish presence in the Galilee which had been vibrant became to wane with the coming of the Arabs? So who is the colonialist settler really? Who really deserves "restorative justice"?

Expand full comment

“Restorative” justice? That’s new to me.

Proposition: Any modifier before the word “justice” signifies that the real goal is no justice at all.

Expand full comment

Guess Tom Friedman is right about Israel's getting more "radioactive" by the day. How do Jews plan to put this genii unleashed by the Gaza War back in the bottle, given our First Amendment? Good luck in getting Congress to do it. The simple fact is that American opposition to Israel's war is widening and widening every day. It's fine to decry it helplessly, but eventually it may have serious political consequences for Israel, and clearly it makes life less and less pleasant for American Jews. The harsh reality is that large numbers of younger Jews are not reacting to this war, and to Israel's treatment of the Palestinians as older ones do. As more and more Boomer Jews and Evangelicals go to their reward, and are replaced by more progressive younger voters, as Is inevitable, things are only going to get harder for Israel in America, and for its Jewish backers. 20% of Americans are of German descent; 2.5% of Americans are Jewish. Yet German-Americans never expect or demand America to be joined at the hip to Germany, as American Jews demand it must be to Israel. Israel is a nation among nations; it's not our 51st state. We should evaluate our relationship with Israel and Israel's actions 100% in terms of what's best for us, not Israel. If our interests overlap, fine. If they differ, fine.

Expand full comment

If the UAW is going to have all of these anti-Semitic locals, maybe I'll go buy a Toyota.

Expand full comment

Israel does not need Chuck Schumer’s help to determine who is qualified to be President. He should limit his meddling to the US elections and politics where he has experience. He must know that they have six ways from Sunday to get back at you. And that if you release the whirlwind, you will pay the price…History will not look kindly on Schumer ‘s blatant act of unconstitutional partisanship that has targeted an honorable public servant in order to play petty political games…He must be very busy plotting how to keep Trump off the ballot in 2024. He should stick to election interference in the USA, where he knows how to threaten his opponents with, “They won’t know what hit them.” He should NOT treat our ally Israel, and Netanyahu with the same distain that he treats our Supreme Court justices. History will judge Schumer on his actions…

Expand full comment

Ah the lovely insights of Howard Zinn popping up mushrooms everywhere.

Expand full comment

The impact of debt/deficits is complex. If debt/deficits lead to debt monetization / currency devaluation then the impact is inflationary. However, the answer is not so simple. Note that China and Japan have vast debts (over 200% relative to GDP) with little or no inflation in sight. Indeed, in some countries debt/deficits can actually be deflationary. In some countries, debt/deficits can lead to overvalued currencies in the short and/or medium term. Overvalued currencies are associated with lower inflation, not higher inflation.

This is no hypothetical point. Between 1980 and 1985 Reagan’s deficits raised the value of the dollar a lot. Of course, import prices (and goods competitive with imports) fell. So I would argue that Reagan’s deficits were substantively deflationary. The same argument can be made for Argentina before the crash around 2001.

By the way, Rogoff’s book (‘This Time is Different’) is quite dull. However, the argument is important. Government go broke all the time and have for a very long time.

Expand full comment

Restraint? I doubt the folks at Merriam-Webster would agree, based on their understanding of the word. The entire world, outside Israel and DC, are universally condemning the killing. You have several billion to convince on that one.

Expand full comment
Mar 15·edited Mar 15

From one of the AALA texts above, “Thank you for showing just how trumpian Zionism is, because that's all I see now, a small group trying to overturn the will of the people. Congratulations!”

This might be one of the starkest examples of Leftist hive mind thinking I’ve seen in a while.

The discussion, as I understood it was a reaction to reactions to Oct. 7 with many Union members attacking their own membership for supporting Israel.

But this intrepid text feels the need to incorporate Trump.

Logic, reason, and accountability are unnecessary when rage is directed at an approved target (also chosen without logic, reason, or accountability). Both are now on the approved target list and may be used singly or in combination to attack perceived evil actors. They all look alike anyway, right? Why should they have to defend their attacks? They are patently obvious after all.

It is a disturbing, blinkered, and uncritical condemnation of those who are not Leftists. Why should the Leftists respond to those people anyway, they aren’t wrong, they are the four horsemen, they bring evil and doom to everything they touch.

This is the last stand. If Trump is elected the next day the Horsemen will ride. SMFH.

Expand full comment
founding

Builttoill, we should ALL check ourselves when we allow our passionate beliefs to be expressed as “hateful rhetoric” As you say, you have “no dog in the fight”.

One the other hand, Bari, here at TFP, and as a Jew, definitely “has a dog in the fight” and has a much better understanding + more knowledge of the Israeli-Palestinian/Hamas history/wars.

Expand full comment

The debt to GDP ratio has varied (a lot) over the history of the United States. Traditionally, the US only went deeply into debt to pay for major wars (the Civil War, WW1, and WW2). Reagan and Obama “changed” that. In 1980, the debt to GDP ratio (see FRED series GFDEGDQ188S) was around 30%. Now it is over 120%. Trump wasn’t exactly a fiscal conservative (pre-Covid). Biden is considerably worse (see FRED series FYFSGDA188S). Rogoff is right. Perhaps what is most interesting (and alarming) is how little attention is given to his issue.

Expand full comment

My two dollars (used to be two cents):

People are so used to hearing about the national debt explosion, but not actually experiencing any consequences (so far) beyond the possible impact on inflation, that it's not taken seriously. They would rather get free stuff and loan forgiveness and tax cuts, etc., and all manner of government spending. If the saying "that which cannot go on forever won't", then attention will be given, but will be too late. Sort of like climate alarmists. They make so many impending doom claims that don't pan out, that people just don't believe them.

Expand full comment

My guess (and of course it is just a guess) is that China/India will adopt geoengineering at some point. Net zero (for them and probably for us) is just too hard. The US/Europe could implement geoengineering tomorrow, but won’t. The left hates the idea. The right denies global warming. Will the US/Europe eventually benefit from geoengineering? Probably. Will that make any difference? Probably, not.

Expand full comment

The impact of debt/deficits is complex. If debt/deficits lead to debt monetization / currency devaluation then the impact is inflationary. However, the answer is not so simple. Note that China and Japan have vast debts (over 200% relative to GDP) with little or no inflation in sight. Indeed, in some countries debt/deficits can actually be deflationary. In some countries, debt/deficits can lead to overvalued currencies in the short and/or medium term. Overvalued currencies are associated with lower inflation, not higher inflation.

This is no hypothetical point. Between 1980 and 1985 Reagan’s deficits raised the value of the dollar a lot. Of course, import prices (and goods competitive with imports) fell. So I would argue that Reagan’s deficits were substantively deflationary. The same argument can be made for Argentina before the crash around 2001.

By the way, Rogoff’s book (‘This Time is Different’) is quite dull. However, the argument is important. Government go broke all the time and have for a very long time.

Expand full comment

I abhor anti-Semitism

I abhor labor unions wasting time, money and energy on political issues completely unrelated to their core mission.

Having said that, I also abhor grandstanding congressmen looking to score cheap political points. The aggrieved union members need to file a formal complaint with the National Labor Relations Board and let the administrative process run its course. Congress needs to stay out of it at this point. I guess after they collected some scalps from the college presidents they're out for blood again.

Expand full comment

If Congress has oversight in this matter they should investigate it. As antisemites seem proud of themselves, why is exposing it a cheap political point?

Expand full comment

I'm not sure if Congress really has oversight. Their claim to oversight of the colleges was tenuous at best.

My fear is that politicians try to score some quick points without effecting true structural change and they drop the subject as soon as it's time to move on to the next photo opportunity. In this case, it seems the NLRB is the more appropriate route that could lead to substantive changes.

Expand full comment

Maybe a union full of lawyers would know whether it’s within the law for Congress to claim oversight.

Expand full comment

Seems like “peak woke” is actually the basement.

Expand full comment

Well, well, well.....another story for those against "Free Speech." Sad.

There are those that cannot be criticized.

Expand full comment