Supporting a country and identifying with them are two distinct concepts. Glenn assumes America sees Israel just like America. Our "51st State." Jews may see Israel as the self in the self/other binary, but America sure doesn't. Jews are the exoticized Other throughout the codes of our society in so many forms.

When Dan Quayle talked about the "Hollywood Elites corrupting the (Christian) family," who was he talking about?

When Bill O'Reilly rants about the "money changing" George Soros secretly financing anti-American media, who is he talking about?

You have to go back to Henry Ford and Father Coughlin to find literal anti-Semitism, but its coded progeny exists all over our society today. The Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme unleashed a torrent of Jewish financing theories so ugly and vile, it was like the Protocols of Zion just got republished on the internet.

On the left, any of the "PNAC=Jewish Conspiracy to fight wars for Israel" or "AIPAC is the secret key to behind the scenes Washington funding" or "Joe Lieberman has questionable loyalty to America" are all modern manifestations of the same old, same old. It only takes a match to light up these long dormant anti-Semitic paranoid strains, and the people who embrace them usually have no idea why they're so enraged by them, or even that they're talking about Jews at all.

The viral themes never disappear. They just change linguistic form. Sadly, it's usually Jews who tend to recognize them for what they are.

From Glenn:

It's another thing entirely to argue that the U.S. should use all of its resources to support Israel as it does so.

The next person I meets who argues that America should invade Palestine, that American soldiers should die fighting for Israel, will be the first.

Our support for Israel is large, but it is a drop in the bucket of our current global financial entanglements. Glenn's dispassionate interest in this issue, the exact same interest he'd feel if it were any other country, is purely based on our financial commitment to Israel and lack of criticism of their actions. Our support of Rabin and leadership guiding Israel to the negotiating table in the 1990s not still valid, apparently.

You're worse than a reflexive follower. You're a reflexive follower who thinks he thinks for himself. At least the dittoheads on the right acknowledge they sit around and nod to Rush.

You should challenge everything Glenn, or anyone else, writes. I'm sure Glenn would agree with me on this. Glenn's biases are cherrypicking are pretty obvious, and there are numerous other sources that can explain to you what Hamas stands for and what they have put the people of Israel through.

Again, what would you have Israel do to stop the mortar fire? Ask more nicely?

The Palestinians voted violent terrorists into office. They are digging underground mazes to funnel more mortar fires into civilian neighborhoods.

What should Israel do? You think for yourself, so you claim. You tell me.

Israel is responding, as they did in 2003, to a direct attack from terrorists. Understanding this is not "pro-war."

I oppose any war on Iran. I oppose Bush's entire doctrine of pre-emptive war.

I will never oppose the right of a civilization to respond to mortar fire. I will, however, support you in critiquing Israel when they respond indiscriminately, and I hope journalists will be let into Gaza soon so the world can make an honest determination (and not rely on Glenn Greenwald's YouTube links).

Wow, I knew they controlled Hollywood, the banks and the media, but Jews also invented anti-Semitism itself? It's all part of their brilliant methods of covert control -- make the world think that millions of people hate Jews, then abuse that guilt and sympathy to gain global power.

Amazing!!

Hey, wake me when you get to the part where Jews fight Superman.

Israel has been shelled by months of mortar fire from Gaza. If you think their response is "pre-emption," as Bush defines it by invading Iraq because they might someday think about aiding terrorists to attack America, get thee to a dictionary, stat.

I also notice among the rabid Israel haters on this board, who've driven out pretty much everyone who didn't immediately agree that Israel is the Great Satan, how is it you never mention the Second Intifada?

Seriously. I just checked through 10 pages of posts. There was some mild criticism of Arafat's handling of the 1990s when Israel gave back rights and land to the Palestinians, but no one ever mentions the two years of suicide bombings the Palestinians unleashed.

Amazing how that gets lost when the anti-Israel crusaders fire up the self-righteous rage machine.

I mean, I know the Second Intifada was all of seven years ago. But Israel should "get over it" by now.

Because, as Chris Sinnard argues, their response to Gaza mortar fire is "pre-emptive war."

Ridiculous.

Even Glenn's legal mind forced him to admit there are basic, fundamental differences between Israel's response to a direct military attack and America's nonsensical adventures in Iraq.

You, sir, are a fool. The United States of America, which you use as your yardstick to measure Israel's human rights, treated black people as human slaves for the first 80+ years of its existence. Women weren't granted voting rights until the 20th Century.

In the 1940s, with no discernable threat posed by them, Japanese-Americans were interned in camps for years because we were at war with a country halfway around the world.

It has taken this country 200+ years and we are still struggling with equality and rights, and America has never been surrounded by nations that have wished it dead and sent terrorists and suicide bombers into its cities (unless you count the British Army's burning of the White House in 1814).

But you have suceded in proving that Israel is imperfect, and often fails at living up to the standards of true equality.

Congratulations.

You just proved Israel is fallible. So is every other country on earth.