20 years ago, I said, paraphrasing Lord Buckley's comment about Jonah "You keep ringing that 'anti-semite' bell, you're gonna bend that bell and it won't work when you need it."

I was also INCREDIBLY tired, being a Jew myself, of the snotty "self-hating" tag that the pathologically embarrassing moronic pitbulls like Abraham Foxman throw at any of us who disagree with him and his official talking point (just one: "Anyone who criticizes anything Jewish is to be marginalized, ostracized, and defined as an anti-semite." -- this is the Jewish version of "THERE'S A CONSPIRACY AGAINST CHRISTMAS, i.e., stupid over-the top alarmist nonsense). His angry overuse of that word devalues it, ultimately making it a cliché without meaning. 

Of course, I must admit, long before that, I had had it with visiting Sabras who threw down on me saying "You're not a real Jew if you live in the USA."

To which I could only respond, "Well, you wouldn't be a LIVING Jew if the USA wasn't backing your play with weapons, UN vetos, and all the rest. In other words, buddy, you only get to swagger like an arrogant prick because your big brother is standing behind you."

Of course that answer pretty soon edited itself down to "Go fuck yourself." (I'm not the most diplomatic person in the world.)

So it's a major step into civilized debate if we can get off the automatic "anti-semite" response to criticism of anything from shooting 12 year olds who are throwing rocks to having violently vomitous repulsion at people like Meier Kahane (there's a real difference between a guard dog and a mad dog, and Kahane fit into the latter category -- sort of a Jewish Rambo).

Of course, to enter into actual discussion involves examining some fear- and greed-motivated things done that were really inexcusable, and that takes some serious doing whether it's an Israeli looking at what they've done to the Palestinians or an American who has to look at what we've done to Native Americans, Latin Americans, and pretty much everyone else.

THAT takes some courage.

But that phony "Well should we do NOTHING at all?" red herring  is pure crap in cream sauce and has to end.

No -- since what you're doing doesn't work, has NEVER worked, didn't work when the Germans or the Dutch or the English or the French or the Mongol Hordes did it -- TRY DOING SOMETHING ELSE.

I'm just sayin'