The American Shallows

Don Imus is an idiot. He said something stupid, apologized, made a bigger ass of himself and apologized again. Unlike Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson, he apologized immediately.

Al Sharpton made racist comments, defended them and made more racist comments. Al Sharpton has yet to apologize for the Tawana Brawley (now Maryam Muhammad) debacle, nor has apologized to Steven Pagones, a Duchess County Assistant District Attorney who Sharpton publicly accused or rape and assault. With no evidence to substantiate his claim, Sharpton accused the entire NYPD and NY Governor Mario Cuomo of being involved in the ‘coverup.’

Two of Sharpton’s advisers and associates quit, acknowledging that Sharpton knew all along that the case was a hoax. To this day, Sharpton has never apologized for his behavior in the Brawley case.

Nor has he apologized for the racial slurs he made against Jews.

After a tragic car accident in Brooklyn, New York that led to riots, Sharpton’s response to those who wanted to restore calm to the city was,

“If the Jews want to get it on, tell them to pin their yarmulkes back and come over to my house.”

“Talk about how Oppenheimer in South Africa sends diamonds straight to Tel Aviv and deals with the diamond merchants right here in Crown Heights.”

As a result of ongoing riots (fueled in no small measure by Sharpton’s incessant rhetoric a the time), a 29 year old Australian Jewish student was stabbed to death by a mob yelling, “Kill the Jew!.”

From the NRO:

…the United House of Prayer, a large black landlord in Harlem, raises the rent on Freddy’s Fashion Mart, Freddy’s white Jewish owner is forced to raise the rent on his subtenant, a black-owned music store. A landlord-tenant dispute ensues; Sharpton uses it to incite racial hatred. “We will not stand by,” he warns malignantly, “and allow them to move this brother so that some white interloper can expand his business.” Sharpton’s National Action Network sets up picket lines; customers going into Freddy’s are spat on and cursed as “traitors” and “Uncle Toms.” Some protesters shout, “Burn down the Jew store!” and simulate striking a match. “We’re going to see that this cracker suffers,” says Sharpton’s colleague Morris Powell. On Dec. 8, one of the protesters bursts into Freddy’s, shoots four employees point-blank, then sets the store on fire. Seven employees die in the inferno.

Jesse Jackson referred to Jews as ‘Hymies’ and New York City as ‘Hymietown’ to a black reporter from the Washington Post, Milton Coleman. At first, Jackson denied ever making the remarks. His friend and ally, Louis Farrakhan threatened Coleman in a radio broadcast. Farrakhan issued a public warning to Jews, made in Jackson’s presence:

“If you harm this brother [Jackson], it will be the last one you harm.”

Jackson would not repudiate Farrakhan.

Jesse Jackson’s well documented long and public campaign against alcoholism in the black community as well as ‘white liquor store owners’ and Anheuser Busch came to an abrupt end after Anheuser Busch agreed to sell the very profitable and lucrative River North beer distributorship to two nice young men- Yusuf and Jonathan Jackson. These nice young men, in their 20′s and with no real business experience were able to purchase the River North beer distributorship for $7 million dollars- about one third the fair market value.

Reverend Jackson no longer speaks about alcoholism in the black community.

There is enough real racism and discrimination in this country that merits our attention and involvement. Having the likes of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton persecute Don Imus is like the Palestinians talk about Israeli ‘racism.’

Don Imus may be an idiot, but he contributes to society in ways Jackson and Sharpton never will. Imus is well known for his charitable efforts for children and veterans, efforts that are long standing.

We can talk about Bill Cosby being vilified for suggesting people- all people- be held accountable for their behavior or Rap ‘artists’ that have made careers out of denigrating women. We can talk about the marginalization of Black kids that struggle to achieve academic accomplishment.

We can talk about the truth that there are mothers in the poorest of neighborhoods, struggling day to day to do the best they can for their children, who fervently wish to protect their children from the evils that surround them. We can talk about the truth that no matter the heroic efforts, children will be swallowed whole, lives lost because a culture tolerated inertia and came to despise excellence and achievement. We can talk about the broken hearts and lives of generation after generation, lost because a level playing field wasn’t enough.

Athletes, communities and schools that understand the games played on the field or on the court has rules applicable to all, result in better athletes, cannot seem to understand the same rules apply in life.

That Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are frauds and hypocrites of the highest order, is meaningless. That they are thieves and crooks, is meaningless as well.

They have, with that fraud and deceit, drowned an entire community by depriving them of the oxygen they need to breathe. It is if they held a community’s collective head under the water, and forced the life out of them.

They are like an American Arab League, failed and oppressive leaders interested only in maintaining the status quo. Substitute the names of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton and their organizations, with ‘Arab League,’ and see the connection:

The Arab League has not sponsored a single educational, economic or real democratic reform and empowerment program in it’s entire existence. The Arab League is an organization dedicated to maintaining the status quo…

The civilized world is measured by accomplishment and achievement. As we have noted many times, cultures, societies and religions are measured by what they build and not by what they destroy.

The Arab world has proved to be devoid of any meaningful achievements, save for hating Jews and America. In that endeavor, they excel. Manipulated by tyrannical and oppressive leaders, much of the Arab world has chosen to identify themselves by whom and how much they hate, rather than by anything they might accomplish.

The Arab League is complicit in maintaining that status quo in the Arab world. It is after all, a lot easier to hate than it is be productive- and that is just what the sponsors of the Arab League, dysfunctional and corrupt regime leaders, pay for.

Communities that are successful do not need ‘leaders’ to orchestrate the behavior of their community. Communities that are successful demand higher standards of behavior from their citizens. Communities that have a track recored of success understand that their greatness and ability to progress and achieve even more, comes about as the result of each individual free to find his or her own greatness and potential, benefiting that society along the way.

Failed communities need hate and need fear and they need to threaten more stable communities. They are communities that cannot stand and support themselves on their own merits. Instead, they must rely on ever expanding and convoluted fear mongering. It is impossible for communities to succeed if they only things holding those societies together are fear and hate.

Don Imus, however stupid, isn’t the problem.

From Dr Sanity, in The Left’s “Intellectual Racism”,  that peculiar ideology that claim Jackson and Sharpton as fellow adherents:

As a free country we have much less to fear from a legion of unfunny Don Imuses or Ann Coulters [or even, for that matter, the unfunny Al Frankens, the prototype of which is a leftist hero, running for congress in Minnesota!Just like Al Sharpton, his brand of insensitivity and “racism” is politically rewarded) than we do from the “intellectual racists” of the left who ban any speech they don’t like, don’t agree with, or that is “insensitive”.

And, of course, since they answer to a higher moral authority, the left gets a free pass to demean, stereotype and be generally insensitive to any individual or any group they don’t happen to like. What a great scam.

Indeed.

Playing Doctor

Every day, on every television set in America, drug companies market their wares to the public. In commercials designed to highlight the benefits of the latest magic pill, the drug companies hope that consumers will demand their doctor prescribe the new potion that will change their lives for the better, forever.

The drug companies have good reason to market directly to the consumer. The tactic works.

Over decades, demands made by consumers of health care for antibiotics to treat both viral and bacterial infections, have rendered many standard antibiotics useless. Believing that antibiotics were the ‘cure-all,‘ patients demanded the drugs for themselves and their children for whatever ailed them. Many doctors prescribed the drugs, even when the prescriptions were uncalled for. As a result, there are millions upon millions of Americans for whom standard antibiotics are useless, requiring instead more powerful drugs to deal with bacterial infections.

Creating a demand for a particular drug or course of treatment is very different from taking a patient history, working up a diagnosis or authorizing a necessary course of appropriate treatment. Prescribing medicine without a full and proper diagnosis can lead to long term problems result in disaster.

The same applies to the Middle East. Simply ‘marketing’ a drug as the solution to a particular problem does not mean the drug will address the cause of the illness, no matter what the drug companies say or what the ‘patient’s demand.

Peace in the Middle East will not be reached until all the symptoms are diagnosed and dealt with. It matters little that the players insist that certain conditions (read: prescriptions) be imposed. Until each symptom is diagnosed and treated, peace in the region will remain elusive. There are no magic bullets.

Let’s look at some of those symptoms.

As long as the Palestinians insist on violence as an acceptable form of political expression, there can be no peace with Israel. To blame Israel for Palestinian dysfunction and violence is absurd. Every other Arab regime is a testimony to that. The current violence seen within the Palestinian territories today are only a glimpse of what has been going on for decades.

As long as the freely elected Hamas government refuses to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist- and openly call for destruction (usually accompanied by calls to ‘slaughter Jews’), there can be no peace with Israel. Peace agreements come about as the result of negotiations, not necessarily between friends, but always between equal entities. The Hamas leaders have stated they will not recognize Israel. Nor do they believe, are they bound to honor previous agreements or renounce violence. It goes without saying that the vile racism, bigotry and hate that are so much a part of Palestinian culture, education, media and religious instruction will continue unabated.

Nevertheless, after the recent meetings in Mecca side show worthy of Cirque de Soleil, and thge subsequent demand that Israel accept the Arab League peace plan, without precondition (save their own, of course), the Palestinians have announced that despite their rejectionism of Israel, pledge of continued violence toward that nation and a continued anti Jewish and anti Christian agenda, they are now worthy of western aid and recognition. They are demanding a certain drug- money- to fund their stated agendas.

They, and many of their supporters, actually believe that is a reasonable and rational behavior.

That is the equivalent of a mentally deranged person with a history of violence, ask that he be allowed to leave the hospital and live in your neighborhood because he refrained from violent behavior for 15 minutes- despite the promise to engage in more violent behavior.

Israel’s critics commonly refer to Israel in explicitly racist terms. Notwithstanding the absurdity of the charge, those critics subtlety remove reality from the discussion. By highlighting Israel as a significant violator of human rights and ignoring far more egregious violators, questions of motive must be raised.

To be sure, Israel, as a nation, is not above reproach. There are Israeli policies that deserve criticism and reconsideration. Nevertheless, to single Israel out from a huge pool of nations that have for decades and longer, have been far more repressive than Israel is absurd- and telling. The ‘anti-Zionist’ rhetoric becomes patently anti semitic. It is one thing to criticize policies that are offensive. Criticism is one thing. Deliberate demonization is quite another.

Considering the atrocities in Chechnya, where is the criticism of Russia? Why were there no demands for the boycott of Kuwait after the expulsion of 350,000 Palestinians? After Syria, under Hafez Assad, slaughtered up to 30,000 in Hama, why was there no outcry? Are 30,000 Syrian dead less important? Chinese abuses of human rights abuses are legendary. Where is the outrage. How about Castro’s Cuba? What is it about Israel that makes that nation so unique, to be worthy of so much contempt? Over 100 million women have been subjected to FGM. Why is Israel a bigger problem?

One more, Jews are being ‘ghettoized’- this time, in their own country- and are being blamed for their own oppression.

Israel is as legitimate a country as any other (probably more so than some of her neighbors). Here’s the rub: Virtually every country in the world was founded on the basis of conflict. Whatever your country of origin, was as the result of conflict. The criticism of Israel under the guise of ‘outrage’ at the ‘treatment’ of the Palestinians or the ‘violation of human rights’ is a laughable outrage. As we noted earlier, the ‘occupation’ of the Palestinian territories has been the most benign occupation in history.

The old canard of ‘ethnic cleansing’ is often touted as the goal of Israeli policies in the region. That is simply a tired excuse, hauled out, when legitimate argument cannot be made.

Ethnic cleansing is what occurred in East Timor, when the Christians were slaughtered by Muslims, or forced to convert at ‘edge of sword’- and were forcibly circumcised. Ethnic cleansing took place when the GIA in Algeria raped and murdered children as a matter of course- because the GIA wished to instill it’s own version of Islam. Ethnic cleansing has resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands in Darfur and women raped to the music of singing Arab women. The conflict in the Sudan has left over two million dead.

Despite these atrocities, it seems the fact that Israel is a Jewish state is what so many find profoundly offensive. We cannot seem to divine any other reason.

Again, criticism of Israel is one thing- that is, a free exchange of ideas, a back and forth. There is none of that. When it comes to Israel, doors close and there is a cessation of communications.

None of the dysfunctions that are so embedded in Palestinians society and culture will be remedied by supporting current Palestinian demands for money and ‘aid’ (in the Middle East, ‘aid’ to the Palestinians has long meant money that for the most part, will be stolen. The rest is usually spent on weapons and explosives. Sewage treatment facility is testimony of that). In fact, those problems will only be exacerbated. Like the patient that is given antibiotics when they are not called for, acquiescing to Palestinian demands will only result in more dysfunction and inevitable heartbreak. In the end, more and more antibiotics will be demanded and will result in less and less efficacy.

In the Middle East, the Palestinian threat of blackmail is seen for what it is. They are dictating to EU and west. Agree that we are not dysfunctional, they say. Agree that we are just like you, they say. ‘Remember the Paris riots, committed in our name?’ is the less than subtle threat.

It is also a truth there are some things that just cannot be fixed, no matter how much we want them to be fixed. There has been too much Palestinian dysfunction for too long and there is too much water of hate under the bridges of the West Bank and Gaza. When you smoke for almost 60 years, with no intention of stopping, all the wishing in the world won’t make the cancer of hate go away.

In All I Am Saying, Is Give Reality A Chance, Dr Sanity won’t prescribe without a real and clear diagnosis. In speaking of those who support certain ideologies, her diagnosis is clear:

…at the risk of catastrophically cracking that wondrous shell of narcissism they live in, I must point out that they desperately need to do a great deal of soul-searching and open their eyes to reality and get a grip.

For once in their pathetic and delusional lives–before it is too late for all of us– they need to face the truth: that beneath the priggish self-righteousness; beneath that romantic and suffering image off moral superiority that they cultivate religiously, they have become nothing more than the appeasers and enablers of those who represent the very opposite of peace…

It would seems obvious to even a child that the biggest impediment to any real or lasting peace is not conservative or neocon ideas; not capitalism; not America or Israel; not, in short, any of the strawmen so carefully set up by the cowardly left just so that they can feel good about themselves.If they care to demonstrate real courage, then I suggest the leftist antiwar clowns speak their peaceful truth to the real warmongers and barbarians. Of course, they should then bravely prepare themselves for the real persecution and oppression they will likely suffer as a result.

Come on, guys. All I am saying is give reality a chance….

Simply parroting noble words is not enough, anymore than is coming to the defense of a homicidal maniac who says he’s sorry, and that indeed, all life is precious- even as he plots even more brutality and mayhem. That the Palestinians ‘say the right thing’ on camera is irrelevant as long as their media, educational system and religious instruction prove otherwise.

Some say the supporters of the Palestinians are ‘enablers,’ that allow the Palestinian dysfunctions to perpetuate themselves. In truth, they are more than enablers. They aren’t just putting the poison drugs of hate and dysfunction into the hands of the Palestinians- they are putting weapons into their hands and saying ‘go out and kill, for yourselves and for us.’ The Palestinians put children in front of them, to be fodder if necessary. Their supporters use the Palestinians as fodder for their agenda.

Unless and until there is a real diagnosis of Palestinian dysfunction, there will be no peace in the region. That has nothing to do with Israel- indeed, the democracy that is Israel is not the equivalent, moral or otherwise, of the dysfunctional and bigoted Palestinian regime. The objective of a real diagnosis is not to be ‘equivocal’ or ‘proportionate’ with Israel. The objective of a diagnosis is to find the problem and then to fix it. We do the Palestinians no favors if the diagnosis is incomplete and by extension, do not treat and eradicate the disease.

To proffer a real diagnosis is not always easy, but in the end, if we want to effect a cure, we cannot stand on ceremony. There will be some that will take offense at the diagnosis. Dr Sanity noted in Malignant Grandiosity And The Shame Culture,

…These kind of personality characteristics certainly can occur in any type of society; but appear to be more easily cultivated in shame cultures, which by their very nature are usually collectivist-oriented. Thus, it is not unusual to find the toxic combination of individual narcissistic personality traits with those behavioral attributes encouraged within a shame culture; specifically, preserving honor and avoiding shame at all costs.

For both the grandiose and shame-avoidant person, reality itself must be distorted in order to protect the self from feeling low self-esteem or shame. Blaming other individuals or groups for one’s own behavior becomes second nature, and this transfer of blame to someone else is an indicator to the observer that such individuals are experiencing internal shame…

The Palestinians have been easily manipulated by the left that cares little about them.

In a typical shame culture, what other people believe has a far more powerful impact on one’s behavior than even what the individual himself believes. These powerful, preening dictators, who hold complete power over people and who present themselves as little gods, are totally wrapped up in what other people think of them. Humiliation and shame are to be avoided at all costs; and this cultural imperative is only emphasized by the individual grandiosity of the near-omnipotent “great” or “dear” leaders.

From a psychological perspective, it is ridiculous to maintain that it is America’s –or any other country’s– “fault” when such leaders behave badly. This distorted view arises from a perverted notion of what self-esteem is really all about.

In the case of South Korea and Japan, for example, the ‘shame culture’ has integrated responsibility and accountability in their culture, a direct result of democratic and ‘east meets west’ sensibilities. The import of democratic values to a culture/society and their leaders cannot be overestimated.

One of the most important expressions of the shame culture, as well as shame-avoidant and grandiose persons in general, is the rampant psychological projection and refusal to accept responsibility for any inappropriate behavior–up to and including the most disgusting of atrocities. It is always someone else’s fault. In this way the shame-avoidant person can successfully avoid the shame that is inevitable when a mature individual takes responsibility for their own malignant behavior…

The Palestinians are in no position to diagnose themselves and they are certainly in no postion to dictate to the community of civilized nations the prescriptions they say will result in peace in the Middle East.

The perpetuation of violence and dysfunction in the Middle East is a result our refusal to demand a thorough diagnosis. If we want to see peace in the Middle East, we must speak their language, in terms they understand. Our diagnosis must be made crystal clear and without obfuscation. We cannot rely on their speaking our language, because the Palestinians (and most of the Arab world, for that matter) do not respect us or our values. The continued hate and bigotry is evidence of that.

As the post Mecca, Palestinian behavior indicates, they believe they have the right to manipulate at will and extract from us whatever they want- and they believe they are not obligated to pay any kind of price.

As long as we are satisfied with what we hear in our own language and predicate our policies based on what they say in those languages, the status quo will remain. More importantly, by allowing ourselves to be deceived, we are reinforcing the racial and cultural bigotry, because we never appear to address that hate. We look foolish, because we are perceived to accept and welcome what everyone in those nations understand is deceit. We appear and weak and servile. We respond to bluster by wanting to make ‘nice.’

In ‘shame cultures,’ sometimes a ‘Yes’ really does mean ‘No,’ because as a rule, open conflict is to be avoided. It is culturally acceptable to acquiesce or appease, because that avoids conflict. Positions have not changed, but the appearance of conflict is dissipated. In ‘shame cultures,’ appearances are as important as substance. All too often, western diplomats are satisfied with getting the ‘Yes’ that means ‘No.’

‘Making nice’ is not a part of the diagnostic process.

Every administration since Truman’s have been betrayed by the Arab world. There have never been real negotiations because we weren’t ever really negotiating. To use a sports analogy, we were playing golf and the Arab world were wrestling. We always assumed they were playing golf because they too, were wearing funny pants and hats and sitting at the same table.

Is at any wonder we are so poorly regarded in the Middle East? It is extraordinary to note that our diplomats take seriously the charge, leveled by some of the most hateful, bigoted and racist regimes, that we must adjust our way of thinking, so as to be perceived as ‘fair.’ With a straight face, we are told that we must accept their hate, racism and dysfunction as an equal and ‘alternative’ form of political expression. That is like saying we must be able to accept the that the Ku Klux Klan has an acceptable idelogy, even if that ideology differs from our own.

Allowing the Palestinians to dictate the prescriptions for peace in the Middle East is like saying a prescription for Viagra will mend a marriage plagued by violence, dysfunction, hate and adultery.

*UPDATE*

Reader Expat directed our attention to a fascinating Frontpage Symposium, Apes, Pigs And Antisemitism. The latter half of the discussion is particularly insightful.

Portions of this post have been previously published.