Print
Return to online version

February 17, 2009

Two Explanations for Mark Patinkin

Justin Katz

Mark Patinkin's bullet-list-style column, today, makes two quips that, helpful soul that I am, I'll try to answer:

Someone will have to explain to me why Palestinian militants feel it's productive to keep firing rockets into Israel.

Because, receiving no substantial international backlash against the practice, the terrorists wish to provoke Israel into military action, with invariably causes international backlash. Thus do the random rockets ultimately isolate Israel from the spinless West even as they wear down the confidence and comfort of the Israeli people.

Obama may fail yet, but it's impressive how readily conservative radio hosts who for eight years championed policies that led to a big mess abroad and at home have piled on the new administration for attempting to change course.

Conservatives fall into several categories on this. Some don't believe that the policies that they supported were ultimately the cause of our current predicament. Others believe that the necessary change to prior policies is being made in the wrong direction. Of course, it's unfair to lump conservatives together as Patinkin does (specificity, Mark!), although the world certainly doesn't lack for partisans who will offer support to the convenient cause.

Comments

And a third:

" All I know is Babe Ruth didn’t need steroids to hit 60 home runs."

Nor did he have to bat against non-whites or face a split fingered fastball.

And statistically, even though there were fewer teams, baseball was more watered down then than today, when compared for population.

Posted by: Patrick at February 17, 2009 2:00 PM

A big mess overseas? Perhaps Pinky missed the news that Iraq just held another election and there was no violence. And 400 parties. And high turnout, both Shia and Sunni.

Meh. Dog bites man story. Nothing to see. Move along.

Posted by: chuckR at February 17, 2009 4:42 PM

One of the many abominadable crimes of Bush/Cheney was its support of the Jewish apartheid and supremacism in the middle east.
As with so many of Bush's failed policies, Baracka Zulu will, on this issue, give us Bush's third term.

Posted by: Mike at February 17, 2009 7:04 PM