Ted Cruz finding new ways to win friends and influence people

[Brittain33]

Tells an Arab-American Christian group that they should stand with Israel.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/ted-cruz-angers-arab-christians-stand-with-israel

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Booed off stage, of course.

[Mopsus]

The headline coming out of this incident should be that Ted Cruz told a gathering of Christians that he "will not stand with [them]".

[Indy Texas]

Had Israel been any less hateful and spiteful toward Christians than it has been to Muslims throughout its existence, Ted Cruz might have had a valid point. But that ship sailed 60+ years ago.

I'm not going to "stand with" a country that oppresses people like me on a regular basis just because they're threatened by a group of people who also oppress people like me on a daily basis.

[pendragon]

The whole thing was calculated by Cruz from the beginning for the John Hagee and Sheldon Adelson primaries. He wanted to be the defender of Israel from the mean old swarthy Ay-rabs, and he got exactly what he came for. That's why the story broke first, nearly identically written, on about 10 neocon blogs at once, several hours before it was reported on by the mainstream media. Most likely one of his staffers sent them talking points before he even set foot on that stage.

[Vosem]

He's right about the issue at hand, but he's just doing this in an attempt to get the right people offended and sympathetic.

[Indy Texas]

He's right about the issue at hand, but he's just doing this in an attempt to get the right people offended and sympathetic.

Has Israel done anything to ease the suffering of Christians being persecuted by ISIS?

[Vosem]

He's right about the issue at hand, but he's just doing this in an attempt to get the right people offended and sympathetic.

Has Israel done anything to ease the suffering of Christians being persecuted by ISIS?

No, because Israel isn't in a position to. They can hinder ISIS with airstrikes, but because of their unpopularity that might turn Arab public opinion in ISIS's favor, so they're holding off on doing that unless it becomes absolutely necessary; they can't get land troops there without either being invited by (fat chance) or invading (would just cause more needless suffering) Jordan or Syria. So there isn't anything Israel can do, unfortunately.

[Indy Texas]

He's right about the issue at hand, but he's just doing this in an attempt to get the right people offended and sympathetic.

Has Israel done anything to ease the suffering of Christians being persecuted by ISIS?

No, because Israel isn't in a position to. They can hinder ISIS with airstrikes, but because of their unpopularity that might turn Arab public opinion in ISIS's favor, so they're holding off on doing that unless it becomes absolutely necessary; they can't get land troops there without either being invited by (fat chance) or invading (would just cause more needless suffering) Jordan or Syria. So there isn't anything Israel can do, unfortunately.

Then what is the rationale for Ted Cruz's exhortation for Christian Arabs to stand with Israel when the sum of Israel's involvement with Arab Christians has been invading their countries (Lebanon) or impeding their ability to have a country (Palestinians)? Israeli bullets and bombs don't come equipped with "Kill Muslims Only" chips built into them.

[pendragon]

He's right about the issue at hand, but he's just doing this in an attempt to get the right people offended and sympathetic.

Has Israel done anything to ease the suffering of Christians being persecuted by ISIS?

No, because Israel isn't in a position to. They can hinder ISIS with airstrikes, but because of their unpopularity that might turn Arab public opinion in ISIS's favor, so they're holding off on doing that unless it becomes absolutely necessary; they can't get land troops there without either being invited by (fat chance) or invading (would just cause more needless suffering) Jordan or Syria. So there isn't anything Israel can do, unfortunately.

Then what is the rationale for Ted Cruz's exhortation for Christian Arabs to stand with Israel when the sum of Israel's involvement with Arab Christians has been invading their countries (Lebanon) or impeding their ability to have a country (Palestinians)? Israeli bullets and bombs don't come equipped with "Kill Muslims Only" chips built into them.

TBF they did invade Lebanon in part to aid the Christian groups in the civil war.

[Vosem]

He's right about the issue at hand, but he's just doing this in an attempt to get the right people offended and sympathetic.

Has Israel done anything to ease the suffering of Christians being persecuted by ISIS?

No, because Israel isn't in a position to. They can hinder ISIS with airstrikes, but because of their unpopularity that might turn Arab public opinion in ISIS's favor, so they're holding off on doing that unless it becomes absolutely necessary; they can't get land troops there without either being invited by (fat chance) or invading (would just cause more needless suffering) Jordan or Syria. So there isn't anything Israel can do, unfortunately.

Then what is the rationale for Ted Cruz's exhortation for Christian Arabs to stand with Israel when the sum of Israel's involvement with Arab Christians has been invading their countries (Lebanon) or impeding their ability to have a country (Palestinians)? Israeli bullets and bombs don't come equipped with "Kill Muslims Only" chips built into them.

The rationale is the same reason all other people should support Israel -- that it is a free, democratic state that has suffered series of unprovoked attacks, historically by dictatorships, and more recently by terrorist groups, for reasons no greater than bigotry against the populace; and that these groups aspire to become (and have been in the past) existential threats to the Israeli state.

[Indy Texas]

He's right about the issue at hand, but he's just doing this in an attempt to get the right people offended and sympathetic.

Has Israel done anything to ease the suffering of Christians being persecuted by ISIS?

No, because Israel isn't in a position to. They can hinder ISIS with airstrikes, but because of their unpopularity that might turn Arab public opinion in ISIS's favor, so they're holding off on doing that unless it becomes absolutely necessary; they can't get land troops there without either being invited by (fat chance) or invading (would just cause more needless suffering) Jordan or Syria. So there isn't anything Israel can do, unfortunately.

Then what is the rationale for Ted Cruz's exhortation for Christian Arabs to stand with Israel when the sum of Israel's involvement with Arab Christians has been invading their countries (Lebanon) or impeding their ability to have a country (Palestinians)? Israeli bullets and bombs don't come equipped with "Kill Muslims Only" chips built into them.

The rationale is the same reason all other people should support Israel -- that it is a free, democratic state that has suffered series of unprovoked attacks, historically by dictatorships, and more recently by terrorist groups, for reasons no greater than bigotry against the populace; and that these groups aspire to become (and have been in the past) existential threats to the Israeli state.

They can call themselves democratic when they leave "Judaea and Samaria." Of course ISIS is an existential threat to Israel - they're an existential threat to pretty much everybody and every state in that region.

[Indy Texas]

He's right about the issue at hand, but he's just doing this in an attempt to get the right people offended and sympathetic.

Has Israel done anything to ease the suffering of Christians being persecuted by ISIS?

No, because Israel isn't in a position to. They can hinder ISIS with airstrikes, but because of their unpopularity that might turn Arab public opinion in ISIS's favor, so they're holding off on doing that unless it becomes absolutely necessary; they can't get land troops there without either being invited by (fat chance) or invading (would just cause more needless suffering) Jordan or Syria. So there isn't anything Israel can do, unfortunately.

Then what is the rationale for Ted Cruz's exhortation for Christian Arabs to stand with Israel when the sum of Israel's involvement with Arab Christians has been invading their countries (Lebanon) or impeding their ability to have a country (Palestinians)? Israeli bullets and bombs don't come equipped with "Kill Muslims Only" chips built into them.

TBF they did invade Lebanon in part to aid the Christian groups in the civil war.

They invaded Lebanon to stop the PLO from using it as a staging ground to attack them. The Phalangists (a right-wing fascist Christian political party) wanted the PLO out, not because they were attacking Israel, but because they were a non-Lebanese presence in Lebanon and thus had to be eliminated. The Phalangists didn't particularly like Israel or Jews either, but liked the fact that they could bond over their shared love of killing Palestinians. It was a marriage of convenience.

[pendragon]

I'm aware of the history of the Lebanese Civil War (as my previous post implied). But saying Israel never did anything for Lebanese Christians besides invade their country is like saying America never did anything for Iraqi Shi'ites besides invade their country.

[Indy Texas]

I'm aware of the history of the Lebanese Civil War (as my previous post implied). But saying Israel never did anything for Lebanese Christians besides invade their country is like saying America never did anything for Iraqi Shi'ites besides invade their country.

We didn't invade Iraq out of moral outrage at the marginalization of Shia Muslims. Israel didn't invade Lebanon out of concern for the Christian community.

[pendragon]

I'm aware of the history of the Lebanese Civil War (as my previous post implied). But saying Israel never did anything for Lebanese Christians besides invade their country is like saying America never did anything for Iraqi Shi'ites besides invade their country.

We didn't invade Iraq out of moral outrage at the marginalization of Shia Muslims. Israel didn't invade Lebanon out of concern for the Christian community.

But nevertheless, in both cases Israel and the United States deliberately acted to increase the political power of the Christian and the Shi'ite communities in those two countries, respectively. So it would not be an accurate statement to say that Israel never did anything for Lebanese Christians. You could say that Israel was wrong to back the Phalangists, or that they shouldn't have involved themselves at all, but you can't say they didn't do anything for them.

[Indy Texas]

I'm aware of the history of the Lebanese Civil War (as my previous post implied). But saying Israel never did anything for Lebanese Christians besides invade their country is like saying America never did anything for Iraqi Shi'ites besides invade their country.

We didn't invade Iraq out of moral outrage at the marginalization of Shia Muslims. Israel didn't invade Lebanon out of concern for the Christian community.

But nevertheless, in both cases Israel and the United States deliberately acted to increase the political power of the Christian and the Shi'ite communities in those two countries, respectively. So it would not be an accurate statement to say that Israel never did anything for Lebanese Christians. You could say that Israel was wrong to back the Phalangists, or that they shouldn't have involved themselves at all, but you can't say they didn't do anything for them.

The fact that they were seen as "collaborating" with Israel sparked a backlash and their leader, Bashir Gemayel, ended up getting assassinated. The Maronite Catholics' political power in Lebanon has been on a steady decline ever since. So, no, on the whole it really wasn't much help.

Israel went into Lebanon to attack the PLO, which the Phalangists also happened not to like. That doesn't make Israel an "ally" of Lebanese Christians or any other Arabic-speaking Christian group. We don't regard Hitler and Nazi Germany as an ally just because they sought to destroy the Soviet Union at one point.

[courts]

this guy might actually be dumber than gohmert. quite an accomplishment!