The American Spectator

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Senses of Proportion

7.24.06 @ 12:01AM

MEASURING BEN
Re: Ben Stein's Out of Disproportion and Ben Stein's A Precious Morning:

I hope this little letter reaches you. In light of everything, I am sure everyone is busy these dark days.

There was a time not that long ago when preachers used to say the Lord does not hear the prayer of the Jews. I didn't believe that then and I don't believe that now. I am sure your prayers have reached the ears of God and have moved His hands on more than one occasion.

I am just a little man who moves papers from one end of his desk to the other. There is little chance I will ever meet the great people you have. Yet I am sure God listens to us both as evil men work to wipe our respective faiths from the face of the earth. I confess I am afraid for my family and especially for my sons. (I cried on 9/11 for all those poor people who lost their lives. But I also cried because I knew 9/11 meant war and my little sons could be sucked up into the maelstrom.) In spite of all this, I am sure God will prevail for us both. Bless be our Lord of Moses and all the prophets. Blessed be you, Ben Stein.
-- Michael Wm. Dooley
Indianapolis, Indiana

Well, a new cliche has attached itself to the throat of political discourse. "Proportionate" is another manifestation of political correctness, a sort of "play fair" argument foisted upon the Israelis by their haters. Apparently even the most vile and unprovoked attack requires the victim to somehow moderate its response. It's kinda like a handicap in golf, allowing me to play with Tiger Woods as a perceived equal, but kidding no one. The stupidity of this philosophy allows for a likely more protracted and costly struggle, resulting in a ritualistic display of a gladiatorial contest for the amusement of the "statesmen" to get airtime and seek the next Peace Prize nomination. For those who may wish to agonize over Israel's response to aggression, consider the answers to two questions: 1) Who has nukes? and 2) Who has not used them?
-- William J. Dye, Esq.
Edwardsville, Illinois

Great points, Ben Stein. Israel is showing extreme restraint. Personally I think they need to go take care of business and the U.S. and all freedom loving Nations need to assist Israel. The U.S. needs to remember what Hezbollah has done to us -- death of our Marines to name one instance. Israel has been suffering so long by these terrorists. Iran is calling for Israel to be wiped off the face of the earth -- thru whom? Hezbollah and Hamas. Hezbollah is taking over Lebanon -- her citizens and surrounding countries will reap their wrath when they acquire full power. May God bless Israel and give her leaders His wisdom and strength.
-- Kathy
Arizona

Israel is doing what it takes to protect itself. Israel should be doing whatever it takes to destroy its enemies.

Let's a say a group of Muslim folks get on a bus in any Israeli city. At the next stop, a group of Jewish kids with over stuffed backpacks get on the same bus. Who's more likely to have bombs strapped to them? Who is more likely to be relieved that it's Jewish folks with stuffed backpacks riding on that bus? Both groups of people are.

I seemed to have missed the story about those stockbrokers on the upper-west side hijacking planes and crashing them into mosques protesting the "death tax" or high oil prices? Yet we pat down "Grandma Smith" at our airports.

To call Israel's response "disproportionate" when defending them selves simply means that people hate rules when they are equally applied. Especially it seems rules of one's right to exist and one's right of self-protection! It seems the "nice" world hates it when the 2nd Amendment is applied internationally. Terrorists are pretty brave when shooting rockets from behind the skirts of their women, or when killing those that are bound and defenseless. But they are gutless cowards who can't defeat a real army, except maybe the French.

I don't recall the press corps saying during WWII that, "…for every Nazi or Japanese soldier we killed, 3 more would spring up in its place." Why are we listening to these idiots today?
-- P. Aaron Jones
Huntington Woods, Michigan

Mr. Stein's column to day contains a viewpoint not much expressed in editorials and opinions in the media. The Palm Beach Pravda runs front page pictures each day of the poor, displaced, Muslims who are victims of "Israel's disproportionate reaction" to a few decades of having its citizens murdered by brave Muslim warriors who assault school buses and shopping malls. The Pravda propagandizes for Arabs even though it has a large proportion of Jews in its area of circulation. But this reaction should hardly be surprising. Look at how the media reacts to the forcible removal from power of a murderous, genocidal, thug as the ruler of Iraq. Look at how the media cowers before Iran and North Korea. The MSM is the mouthpiece for the democrat party and will always follow their Neville Chamberlain "peace at any cost" path. Democrats have prevailed on this point since Korea. So speaking Arabic is almost certainly in our future.

I think Newt Gingrich was correct when he said World War Three has begun. I'm teaching my grandson to bow to Mecca and say "Inshalla." I'm trying to insure his survival. The Muslim religion is a guy thing anyway. Women are just sex slaves, and slaves generally, so in the "new America" he won't have to worry about women's rights at all. Teaching him well. Got to keep the old genes in the mix, you know, and we do that by survival.
-- Jay W. Molyneaux

The war on terrorism is definitely not being won if all this rubbish about disproportionate responses is any guide. Wars are won by disproportionate responses and always have been -- attack me and I will hurt you much more, I will destroy you and everything you hold dear, so don't try it in the first place if you know what's good for you. It used to be called "massive retaliation" and military intellectuals and international lawyers were quite enamored with the idea for some considerable time, but that seems to be very much forgotten now. Massive retaliation was the official policy of the U.S. Government during the whole of the Cold War. It worked, so what is the problem? Sherman's March to the Sea was a classic example of a disproportionate response, and an extremely effective one -- ripping the guts out of the Confederacy won a peace that still prevails, 150 years later. Name me the idiot who wants to complain about that! There is nothing in Europe or in Asia that can compare to that achievement, as far as I am aware.

Letting all this nonsense about disproportionate responses get a hold, especially with Israel, where it really can do nothing but bad, is a very unhealthy sign of moral cowardice, retreat and defeat, in my book. 6 million Israelis and 100 million Arabs -- instead of requiring a proportionate response from Israel, it would be much more honest to simply tell them to commit suicide. Expecting Jews to stop defending themselves and die is a long standing intellectual and moral tradition in Europe, regardless of the squealing denials, so it is no surprise that proportionate response is being promoted now. Anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel has a lot of ugly faces, and the idea of a requiring a proportionate response by Israel is just a new ugly face in an old, hideous crowd.

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