Kudos to Rick Albin and WOOD-TV

[moldyoldie]

So we're just going to completely ignore the attacks of October 7, 2023?

Anybody who argues that it is Israel who has destabilized the Middle East must also give a free pass to the Muslim terrorists who live in and perpetually terrorize that region.

If you want to argue that Israel's response was disproportionate, that's one thing (I would disagree, but at least there's a debate to be had there). But to outright suggest that it is Israel that is ultimately responsible for the instability in that part of the world is utter insanity to me.

I don't think ANYONE would disagree that October 7 was horrendous! Israel had every right to respond. The issue is the extent of American involvement.

[bmw]

I don't think ANYONE would disagree that October 7 was horrendous!

TCT publicly in here supported the terrorists (specifically the paragliders) when that happened, and when called out on it and given multiple opportunities to retract, he refused. So that's not entirely true. Him aside, I would wager that upwards of 20 of Americans believe that Israel deserved those attacks, or are at least totally indifferent towards it.

Israel had every right to respond. The issue is the extent of American involvement.

But in context, the question here (and last night during the debate) was whether Israel poses a threat to the US. They're an ally of ours, not an enemy. El Sayed's answer was long the lines of what you just said, that the threat to us is that it gets us involved in wars. But to me that's a silly argument as we SIDED WITH Israel. That was our choice.

There's certainly plenty of criticism to go around regarding how Trump handled (and continues to handle this situation), but to me that's an entirely separate issue from whether Israel poses a threat to us (which, they don't).

[MWmetalhead]

What was so hard about answering the question Israel or Iran? Israel is democracy and doesn't have stated death wish on other countries.

We certainly can debate if their responses have went too far, but they are certainly not spreading terrorism through proxies like Iran does.

Easy answer: Israel is a better nation than Iran.

Actions speak louder than words. The Israeli military killed tens of thousands of innocent civilians in Gaza, and they have a blockade around Gaza preventing most food, medicine and supplies from reaching the populace. A blockade, by the way, that Bibi lied about repeatedly.

That said, I do agree the power structure in Iran is more inherently evil than Israel, and that Iran poses a much greater direct security threat to the U.S.

That said, our federal government's strong support of Israel has definitely fomented resentment among many, mostly Muslim, nations.

[bmw]

...Iran poses a much greater direct security threat to the U.S...

That was the precise question asked last night - which country posed the greater threat to the US. El-Sayed repeatedly claimed that this was a "hypothetical" question. The answer should have been simple: Iran poses a much greater threat to the US. But El-Sayed either can't bring himself to say that out loud or outright doesn't believe it.

There's room for nuance here, but neither side will take it. The left treats Israel as one of our direct enemies, and the right treats them as angels. People like El Sayed will never acknowledge that Iran is a state sponsor of terror or that Israel has a right to exist and defend itself. People like Rogers will never acknowledge the civilian casualties. Although I would suggest that Israel is in a tough spot and that civilian casualties are an unavoidable result of Israel ensuring its long-term existence.

[TonySpaghetti]

...Iran poses a much greater direct security threat to the U.S...

That was the precise question asked last night - which country posed the greater threat to the US. El-Sayed repeatedly claimed that this was a "hypothetical" question. The answer should have been simple: Iran poses a much greater threat to the US. But El-Sayed either can't bring himself to say that out loud or outright doesn't believe it.

There's room for nuance here, but neither side will take it. The left treats Israel as one of our direct enemies, and the right treats them as angels. People like El Sayed will never acknowledge that Iran is a state sponsor of terror or that Israel has a right to exist and defend itself. People like Rogers will never acknowledge the civilian casualties. Although I would suggest that Israel is in a tough spot and that civilian casualties are an unavoidable result of Israel ensuring its long-term existence.

I keep hearing on NPR that bb was told the attack was gonna happen 3 days before it did and he did nothing. Interesting.