When Does a Threat Cross the Line?

I was intrigued with the conversation between the SUFA members around the shooting of the 15 year on the Mexican border. Our esteemed antagonist, Black Flag, took many of us to task for our positions. As is always the case for me, I do not fall into the category of someone who has a knee jerk reaction to things. I tend to think them out and try to eliminate my biases. This situation was no different. And listening to BF’s arguments was important, because I like to analyze my positions and see if I have come to an incorrect conclusion. In doing so I found that what I need to do is define, for myself, when a person is justified in using deadly force in self defense. This article is not meant to further debate the Israeli flotilla incident or the border incident. I will touch on those, but I am more interested in the general answer than I am in an answer for a specific case or two. The question becomes: How do we determine when it is justified to use deadly force in self defense?

The Reality Around Israel

I know as I begin to write this that I am opening a can worms that I will struggle to keep contained as the discussion unfolds. But the reality for me is that it is a can that I am simply unable to ignore. I watched the debates and discussions last week as we talked about the incident between the activists who were looking for trouble and the defiant country more than willing to play its part in providing some. I will talk a little bit about that below, but I am am more interested in simply having an honest discussion around Israel. These days, it has become one of two mindsets in America. There are those that despise Israel. And on the other side, those that consider it pure blasphemy to say anything negative about them. I am one of those folks that simply don’t fall into either of those two camps. I am not a giant fan of Israel, but I certainly don’t dislike them either. I see them as an ally, but one that continues to push the bounds of what is acceptable behavior. The question for me, and I think for a growing segment of Americans, is when do we simply say we have had enough?

Tuesday Night Open Mic for March 16, 2010

As I begin to write for Tuesday night’s open mic topics, I look back over the last couple of weeks and realize that there was little to challenge the brain offered by me. We did the unemployment fix stuff and then kind of sat on simmer for a bit. Tonight I offer quite a few different topics and one that follows a recent trend. For the trend, we have Israel and the treatment from the Obama administration they get. With so much different Israel stuff in the news lately, there is little doubt why we are talking about them again. I think that I see a shift in our policy with Israel going forward though. Elsewhere we have a suppression of religious rights in Arizona along with the official numbers showing that the promise of more transparency in Washington DC was nothing more than campaign rhetoric.

Racism Claim Goes International, Israel Trumps Biden for Jerk Status

I have a guest commentary submitted but I haven’t taken the time to take a look at it as of tonight. So I figured I would touch on this topic and see what people have to say. If you weren’t aware, Vice President Joe “foot in mouth” Biden has been in the middle east this week on a trip meant to jumpstart peace talks between Israel and Palestine. Unfortunately for anyone who thought that such a trip could be a positive, they chose Biden to be the American dignitary of record. That never ends well. But the administration made an even more baffling choice when deciding what “news” personality they were going to take with them to the middle east. They chose to take along MSNBC’s Chris Matthews. Now, I don’t want to be critical, but what exactly spurred that decision? Matthews hasn’t participated in anything that resembles news in quite some time. He is little more than a partisan hack from a highly partisan network. Or maybe they just wanted to find out if Matthews got a tingle up his leg over Benjamin Netanyahu. But I gotta tell ya…. Matthews didn’t disappoint.

Some Thoughts on Obama’s Muslim Outreach Program

I must admit that as I write this, I have a brain that has been a bit taxed this evening in some introspective thought as well as some challenging dialogue on philosophy and government. But I am bouncing back long enough to offer some thoughts on President Obama’s speech from Cairo. I have to admit that there were things that I liked and things that I did not like. I applaud that the President feels that the right thing to do is to go out and kiss and make up with the entire world. He is doing so in gripping fashion. I think it is a waste of time, and I further think that the time has come for a Democrat to man up. But I don’t imagine that is going to happen anytime soon, so let’s stick to the speech shall we?