I suppose the obvious answer to this--I haven't read all 105 posts, so forgive me if I'm seconding another's opinion--is that McCain is McPander. He'll say anything. He knows this sort of bullshit stimulates possible Republican voters, so he says it.

In this sense, I differ with those who think of him as in the pocket of a pro-Israeli Lobby. Yeah, in a general sense, no one ignores such lobbies, like they don't ignore the NRA. But I think McCain's is more simply operating on a politician's instinct: he says what he thinks people want to hear.

That this is profoundly unserious, unsober, unpresidential, and unbecoming a candidate for very high office--by any real world metric of what such a person should say--has nothing to do with it.

Josh Marshall has a post on TPM recently that says it all: this is a guy who long ago stopped worrying about consistency. He just says what seems opportune at the time.

In addition to being a winning tactic so far in the electoral marketplace, this has the added advantage of being easier: who needs to bother with headache making distinctions between al-Qaeda, Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, Shiia, Sunni, and the f'ing Shining Path for that matter? They're all bad, we're all good.

This is a man who has fully compartmentalized what he needs to say politically from what he intends to do presidentially--and then he just forgot about that latter part.

In front of the Israeli consulate in San Francisco on Thursday, July 12 "Al Yahud Kelabna"

Nice sentiment. Give them a gold star.

PS those aid figures are several years out of date. Current aid is ~1.9 billion of which 900 is civilian aid in the form of no interest loans. In addition, the US government buys (purchases) ~$4 billion worth of high tech gear from Israel. Israel exports about $9 billion to the US commercially. Aid to Israel is scheduled per an existing act of Congress to unwind to <$200 million a year in the next 4 years, roughly.

If you don't like that level of transfer of wealth, stop buying gasoline. It represents the single largest transfer of wealth, ever.

Also - Egypt receives 2.3 billion in direct military aid each year. The US cost to maintain troops in South Korea is $8-9 billion per year. The US cost to maintain troops in Germany is about $17 billion per year. The US cost to keep Taiwan and China apart is classified but it involves one full carrier group 24/365. The US gave the PA $450 million dollars last year in military aid and training which is more than they gave to the entire nation of Jordan. The countries in the region that do not house any US troops are Syria, Lebanon, Israel.

OT, but it just came into my box ---

Busheviks still trying to legalize the 'Jack Bauer' scenario (also at sig):

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/washington/27intel.html

would at least pretend to be journalist and do some damn research once in a while. He should get a job with WaPo with shoddiness like what these hacks crank out:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/12/AR2008041201969_pf.html

Problem is the person named in the article "Conal Urquhart, a U.N. humanitarian affairs officer based in Gaza" Is in REALITY a reporter for the Guardian (UK) and not a UN officer of anything. Wow, talk about laziness and spin.

Holly, one of the reasons Israel can never be questioned is because they can so often be called into service as the "id" of American militarism in the Middle East. Remember how helpful they were to the Reagan administration during Iran/Contra? For American righties, having a bloated, violent, and unscrupulous military ally here and there in the world is always useful, and if the government in question has a scary "enemy" it lives to nurture by tormenting, so much the better.

And unlike, say, Pinochet, Israel enjoys a substantial, well-funded propaganda arm here to enforce a code of silence amongst American politicians. Try to imagine any other country developing nuclear weapons, defying multiple UN resolutions, and generally treating a large segment of its population the same way South Africa did in its heyday being held up as a sacred cow, to nary a peep of criticism.

Without Israel, our current policies toward the Arab world would lose their vanishingly thin veneer of legitimacy, and we would lose perennially valuable regional provocateur.

We need them more than they need us.

A perfect fit when Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) said that to Wilmer (Elisha Cook, Jr.) in The Maltese Falcon and a perfect fit now for McNightmare.

i think that, as far as gaza is concerned, we deal with the clans like we did in anbar, iraq.

Who is the "we" in this case, sugar? Are you suggesting Gaza should be dealt with by American troops, or were you thinking British? In any case, am I correct in assuming that whatever happened in Anbar, Iraq, you liked it?

-For friendly nations like Canada, the message will be more nuanced. Forget that socialized medical system of yours and turn the business over to fine US companies like Blue Cross and HealthSouth. Forget your tree hugging forestry preservation policies and turn your lumber over to International Paper. Start spending more, a lot more, on defense. Buy your weaponry from fine US companies like Grumman and Lockheed. Bar anyone whose name includes Abu or El from emigrating to your shores. Tell those Quebecois to stop speaking frog. Because if you don’t the OSS will stage an anschluss.-

Where have you been? Those programs have already been implemented or soon will be.

Except for the Quebecois thing...

You know that now-famous photo of McBomb hugging Junior? You can exchange his face with that of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, though Harper would more likely be on his knees with Dubya's Diminutive Dick in his mouth.

If the Palestinians were Jews, would that make nay difference to you?

Because they are. They are the ones who stayed after 70 A. D.

Sure they changed religions - no one has the same religion they had in the first century a.d.

FOr that matter, Islam, Christianity and Modern Judaism, are all derived from first century and earlier Judaism, or Abrahamism and Mosesism. They are all Jewish sects derived from that phony Moses (RaMOSES) story that we see Charleton Heston play. It is all Hokum, except for the burning BUSH which is just a CODE for CANNABIS. Land of CANA anyone?

And we believe this BS and people KILL each other over this BS and people dedicate their lives to this BS and that is all it is, BS.

So god tells Abraham to go and offer his son as a sacrifice and he is ready and willing to do it - NO WONDER THESE FARKING NUTZ LIKE TO SEND THEIR CHILDREN OFF TO WAR TO DIE!

Religion - the best way to con people into killing each other and themselves.

The Palestinians are your brothers and sisters. Gaza is the biggest concentration camp yet.

Three cheers for the GOD OF WRATH and HATE!

Elect WAR! OBAMA, CLINTON or McCAIN - it is GODS WILL!

Religion is the work of the devil. All of them.