3. I am from CT. Spent a lot of time talking to people who knew him waay back.

I know this, and that you worked for the Lamont campaign here, so I’m a little sheepish about having this argument in light of your efforts, for which you deserve my thanks.

That said, you are “bristling” when you address arguments about “Jews in general” that I never made. I sincerely didn’t make that argument, and don’t hold that point of view. We’re all in the same boat, all galley slaves in the hold of our pirate ship of state.

2. Hagee can potentially help McCain get elected. McCain will presumably attack Iran and occupy Iraq for 100 years. Is it unreasonable to consider those things a “benefit” to Israeli security, even if you are opposed to them? I suspect that some of the reasons you oppose them, as with me, have nothing to do with questions of Israel’s security. Am I wrong?

3. Neither of us can look into Lieberman’s black heart. So what are your grounds for saying he is “looking for political survival, numero uno”? In fact, his extremist behavior only antagonizes his constituents and makes it harder to play both sides in the Senate. My basis for saying he’s working for Israel (I didn’t say exclusively)? Objective fact: the group is “Christians United for Israel“.

4. You bristle at criticism of Israel, jump to conclusions, and ratchet up the argument to a level that’s more emotional than I care to go. I was making a limited point: what’s crazy, repellent, extremist to most people here is rationally considered a “benefit” by the Israeli government. That should be an illustration of how vastly our two nations interests diverge, and food for thought as our next president makes the obligatory obeisances, and threats, in Israel.

2. I never said anything of the kind, simply because I know it would be false, as I’m familiar with the same polls you are. You’re imputing an argument to me I never made.

Immoral, destructive, costly to the United States — these are not necessarily synonyms for “dangerous to Israel”; sometimes they’re even opposites.

Any sensible person would say its a dangerous alliance, wouldn’t you say.

No, I wouldn’t say. That’s my point. Where, exactly, is the danger to Israel in supporting whack jobs like Hagee? There is none, unless you believe Hagee’s vision of the End Times a possibility.

But the Israelis obviously don’t.

Is Hagee inspiring anti-Semitism? Arguably not. Aside from making some American Jews “uneasy” (and hardly only American Jews), is he contributing to any anti-Semitic acts? Arguably not (about as many as “The Passion” was supposed to have incited…*crickets*), and definitely not in any way that immediately affects Israelis.

The only “danger” to the Israelis from an association with Hagee would come from an electoral or financial reaction to Hagee (something FDL, in its small way, works toward). There is not, however, any current counterweight to these extremists, so there’s no electoral, money or media downside to endorsing them.