Jewish Group
Related: About this forumCROSSING A LINE TO SELL A DEAL
...So, what about the Iran deal itself? Some of us support the deal, becauselike a majority of American Jewswe support the president, and we sympathize with his aims of ending Irans pursuit of nuclear weapons while keeping America out of another Middle Eastern war. Some of us oppose the deal because we believe that it falls very short of the criteria for meaningful limits on and inspections of Irans nuclear research programs that the Administration itself repeatedly promised to America and the world. Some of us are less concerned with the specifics of the deal than with the prospect of an American alliance with the theocratic Iranian regime, which the deal appears to be designed to cement.
As heated as the arguments between us can get, we can all agree that all of these positions, and their many variants, are entirely within the bounds of legitimate political debateand that none of them are evidence of anyones intent either to rush America to war or to obliterate the State of Israel.
What we increasingly cant stomachand feel obliged to speak out about right nowis the use of Jew-baiting and other blatant and retrograde forms of racial and ethnic prejudice as tools to sell a political deal, or to smear those who oppose it. Accusing Senator Schumer of loyalty to a foreign government is bigotry, pure and simple. Accusing Senators and Congressmen whose misgivings about the Iran deal are shared by a majority of the U.S. electorate of being agents of a foreign power, or of selling their votes to shadowy lobbyists, or of acting contrary to the best interests of the United States, is the kind of naked appeal to bigotry and prejudice that would be familiar in the politics of the pre-Civil Rights Era South.
This use of anti-Jewish incitement as a political tool is a sickening new development in American political discourse, and we have heard too much of it latelysome coming, ominously, from our own White House and its representatives. Lets not mince words: Murmuring about money and lobbying and foreign interests who seek to drag America into war is a direct attempt to play the dual-loyalty card. Its the kind of dark, nasty stuff we might expect to hear at a white power rally, not from the President of the United Statesand its gotten so blatant that even many of us who are generally sympathetic to the administration, and even this deal, have been shaken by it.
We do not accept the idea that Senator Schumer or anyone else is a fair target for racist incitement, anymore than we accept the idea that the basic norms of political discourse in this country do not apply to Jews. Whatever one feels about the merits of the Iran deal, sales techniques that call into question the patriotism of American Jews are examples of bigotryno matter who does it. On this question, we should all stand in defense of Senator Schumer.
http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/192751/crossing-a-line-to-sell-a-deal
MosheFeingold
(3,051 posts)I think Kerry got spanked and no deal is better than a really bad deal. I'm not saying I blame him, but sometimes you just have to walk away from the table.
I mean, Iran is sitting on so much natural gas that it BURNS it to get it out of the way of oil production. One can differ about the long term future of fossil fuels, but natural gas is, by far, the cheapest and cleanest of the lot. The ONLY reason Iran is pursuing nuclear work is to create nuclear bombs, which they WILL USE on the USA and Israel.
We ignored a mad man in the 1930s because we didn't take his crap seriously. Well, we're making the same mistake now. They have said they intend to destroy the USA and Israel, and they will.
(Go ahead everyone. Accuse me of dual loyalties, etc. The truth is my family exists in NYC and Tel Aviv and will probably be killed by this decision.)
question everything
(47,538 posts)The other countries really want it. They commerce and foreign ministers could not wait to visit Tehran.
This agreement at least buys us some time. One approach is that the ayatollah are in their 80s, and ill, and the younger generations are sick and tired of hostility. Sometime buying time is the best choice.
And, yes, it does bother me that, certainly here on DU, some took advantage of Schumer's decision to disparage a "double loyalty."
MosheFeingold
(3,051 posts)I agree it's a done deal, but it doesn't really matter if the other countries want it.
The sanctions are such that if a corporation does business with Iran, that corporation can't do business in the USA. The international oil services companies and oil producers (who are the ones pushing the Iran deal) like Halliburton, Schlumburger, Royal Dutch Shell, etc., would be forced to choose between doing business in the USA or doing business in Iran.
In such a situation, the big boys would chose the USA, leaving Iran much more expensive (and not as good) service and production options.
Same with the shippers/tankers/pipelines (e.g., Koch Bros).