Rachel's Mime

The Left and much of MSM is correct when it criticizes many of the hyperbolic comments that right-wing talk radio hosts make about important social issues. However, left-wing talk radio is equally hyperbolic, but at the moment, its hyperbole (some would call it deranged thinking) focuses on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Rachel Maddow of left-wing Air America comments:

But while we're on the wild wide world of scary tour, of course, Israel has started another war. A third straight day of airstrikes on Gaza, the death toll now more than 300 people. Israel says they are doing this to prevent Palestinians from firing rockets into southern Israel. First of all, there's the question of proportionality as to how many people those rockets have killed versus how many people the Israeli bombing has now killed. There's also the issue of effectiveness. In the midst of this massive air assault killing hundreds of civilians in Gaza, a rocket fired from Gaza today killed a man and wounded seven in the Israeli town of Ashkelon. Effectiveness. Three Israelis were also stabbed by a Palestinian in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank today. Is there a military solution to this problem?

Let me take her comments one at a time:

But while we're on the wild wide world of scary tour, of course, Israel has started another war. One thing that happens all too often is that people like Rachel conveniently forget VERY important facts. Hamas launched 3,000 missiles and mortars into Israel since January, 2008 specifically targeting Israeli civilians. I'm sure if Rachel knew this she’d understand that each of those missile attacks is an act of war. 3,000 of them (300 in the last two weeks) is reasonable provocation for a defensive move on Israel's part. Only a deluded imbecile would term a country’s legitimate right to defend itself from attack as “starting a war.”

A third straight day of airstrikes on Gaza, the death toll now more than 300 people. There's an ugly implication, completely incorrect, that these “People” are all innocent bystanders. By UN count, at least 250 of them are Hamas terrorists and the others are civilians who have been killed because Hamas places missile batteries and operation headquarters in civilian areas, using civilians as human shields. You'd think a human rights activist like Rachel would note this clear violation of international law.

Israel says they are doing this to prevent Palestinians from firing rockets into southern Israel. First of all, there's the question of proportionality as to how many people those rockets have killed versus how many people the Israeli bombing has now killed. Ahhh, the “proportionality” mime, a favorite of terrorist apologists. I suppose Rachel would advocate Israel launching 3,000 rockets into Gaza’s civilian neighborhoods – that’s proportional, isn’t it? The reality, which is obviously too difficult for Maddow to grasp, is that Israel has both the right and the obligation to stop Hamas from launching its attacks on Israeli civilians. It has no obligation under international law or any other law to be “proportional.”

There's also the issue of effectiveness. In the midst of this massive air assault killing hundreds of civilians in Gaza, a rocket fired from Gaza today killed a man and wounded seven in the Israeli town of Ashkelon. Effectiveness. I wonder if Maddow would feel better if a Hamas rocket hit a nursery school classroom in Ashkelon and killed, oh, let's say, 40 children under the age of 5. Would that make her feel better about her contrived "effectivess" equation? More importantly, there are no data whatsoever to suggest that “hundreds of civilians” have been killed (facts, Rachel, they’re supposed to form the basis of your commentary). The highest UN (no friend of Israel) estimate is 60 civilian deaths– very regrettable but hardly avoidable given Hamas’ tactics.

Rachel Maddow is representative of many left-leaning commentators in the media. They have decided that Israel is the villain in this drama and as a consequence, they reject facts that do not fit their mime.

They argue the legitimate right to defense is somehow “starting a war.” They suggest that the barbarians who purposely target innocents are somehow morally equivalent to a nation that does everything possible to avoid civilians casualties. I wonder, for example, why Rachel or her compatriots never mention that Israel dropped pamphlets from the air and sent text messages to Gazans prior to air assaults asking them to vacate the areas under assault, all in an attempt to spare civilians the carnage of war. Can’t report that, it doesn’t fit the Left’s mime.