Substance beyond the Humor: Analyzing the Jones Address
Robert Satloff, Washington Institute of Near East Studies
The tempest in a teapot about Gen. James L. Jones’s opening joke in his address to The Washington Institute’s twenty-fifth anniversary symposium last week diverted attention from the truly newsworthy aspects of the national security advisor’s remarks. On five key issues, he made important, substantive, and at times innovative statements of policy. Given the political and strategic timing of his remarks, they should be viewed as one of the most significant statements of administration policy on Middle East issues this year.
National Security Strategy
In a passage totally overlooked by the media, General Jones gave the first glimpse into the new National Security Strategy (NSS) that he said will be unveiled in the coming weeks. This document, which transcends Middle East issues, concretizes the overall foreign policy approach of an administration and usually reflects the thrust of a president’s approach to international security. In his remarks, General Jones said the new NSS would be based on four pillars:
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* Security — “We have an enduring interest in the security of the United States, our citizens, and U.S. allies and partners.”
* Prosperity — “We have an enduring interest in a strong, innovative, and growing U.S. economy in an open international economic system that promotes opportunity and prosperity.”
* Values — “We have an enduring interest is upholding universal values, at home and around the world.”
* International order — “We have an enduring interest in an international order advanced by U.S. leadership that promotes peace, security, and opportunity through stronger cooperation to meet global challenges.”
A detailed assessment of these pillars and the policies they represent is beyond the scope of this article. But it is important to point out that enunciation of these pillars alone marks a significant shift from the key principles of the final George W. Bush and Bill Clinton NSSs. For example, there is no reference in the Jones statement to democracy, freedom, or liberty, terms that dominated the Bush NSS. Democracy promotion, not specifically mentioned in General Jones’s remarks, was also a stated pillar of Bill Clinton’s final NSS.
Interestingly, there was in the general’s statement an echo from a doctrine advanced by an earlier president — the reference to “international order” sounds eerily similar to the post-Gulf War call by President George H. W. Bush for the creation of a “new world order.” How the new NSS fleshes out these principles into a full strategy will provide a fascinating window into the administration’s deepest thoughts about the direction of foreign policy.
CONTINUE
Who needs American values when you can uphold universal values?
What exactly are “universal values”?
There are just a couple:
“Universal values” is a euphemism for “multiculturalism”, which is a euphemism for “Fuck Judeo Christian values”.
A bird that you set free may be caught again, but a word that escapes your lips will not return.
Jewish Proverb
A mother understands what a child does not say.
Jewish Proverb
A pessimist, confronted with two bad choices, chooses both.
Jewish Proverb
As he thinks in his heart, so he is.
Jewish Proverb
As you teach, you learn.
Jewish Proverb
Ask about your neighbors, then buy the house.
Jewish Proverb
Do not be wise in words – be wise in deeds.
Jewish Proverb
Don’t be sweet, lest you be eaten up; don’t be bitter, lest you be spewed out.
Jewish Proverb
Don’t live in a town where there are no doctors.
Jewish Proverb
Don’t look for more honor than your learning merits.
Jewish Proverb
First mend yourself, and then mend others.
Jewish Proverb
He that can’t endure the bad, will not live to see the good.
Jewish Proverb
If charity cost nothing, the world would be full of philanthropists.
Jewish Proverb
If God lived on earth, people would break his windows.
Jewish Proverb
If not for fear, sin would be sweet.
Jewish Proverb
If the rich could hire the poor to die for them, the poor would make a very nice living.
Jewish Proverb
Make sure to be in with your equals if you’re going to fall out with your superiors.
Jewish Proverb
Not to have felt pain is not to have been human.
Jewish Proverb
Rejoice not at thine enemy’s fall – but don’t rush to pick him up either.
Jewish Proverb
What you don’t see with your eyes, don’t invent with your mouth.
Jewish Proverb
Worries go down better with soup than without.
Jewish Proverb
Jewish Proverbs (from the Xinjiang province of Israel)
A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song.
A bit of fragrance clings to the hand that gives flowers.
A book holds a house of gold.
A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.
A book tightly shut is but a block of paper.
A child’s life is like a piece of paper on which every person leaves a mark.
A diamond with a flaw is worth more than a pebble without imperfections.
A filthy mouth will not utter decent language.
A fool judges people by the presents they give him.
A gem is not polished without rubbing, nor a man perfected without trials.
A nation’s treasure is in its scholars.
A rat who gnaws at a cat’s tail invites destruction.
Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.
Be the first to the field and the last to the couch.
Deep doubts, deep wisdom; small doubts, little wisdom.
Dig the well before you are thirsty.
Do good, reap good; do evil, reap evil.
Do not employ handsome servants.
Do not fear going forward slowly; fear only to stand still.
Do not remove a fly from your friend’s forehead with a hatchet.
Don’t open a shop unless you like to smile.
Each generation will reap what the former generation has sown.
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.
He who is drowned is not troubled by the rain.
He who strikes the first blow admits he’s lost the argument.
If heaven made him, earth can find some use for him.
If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow.
If you don’t want anyone to know, don’t do it.
American Indian proverbs
“Only when the last tree has been cut down; Only when the last river has been poisoned; Only when the last fish has been caught; Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten.”
“Never criticize a man until you’ve walked a mile in his moccasins.”
Hopi WeavingDon’t be afraid to cry. It will free your mind of sorrowful thoughts. – Hopi
Day and night cannot dwell together. – Duwamish
It is better to have less thunder in the mouth and more lightning in the hand. – Apache
They are not dead who live in the hearts they leave behind. – Tuscarora
All plants are our brothers and sisters. They talk to us and if we listen, we can hear them. – Arapaho
Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me, and I may not remember. Involve me, and I’ll understand. – Tribe Unknown.
Before eating, always take time to thank the food. – Arapaho
When we show our respect for other living things, they respond with respect for us. – Arapaho
If we wonder often, the gift of knowledge will come. – Arapaho
Most of us do not look as handsome to others as we do to ourselves. – Assiniboine
Those that lie down with dogs, get up with fleas. – Blackfoot
In age, talk; in childhood, tears. – Hopi
We always return to our first loves. – Tribe Unknown
What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset. – Blackfoot
When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice. – Cherokee
Those who have one foot in the canoe, and one foot in the boat, are going to fall into the river. – Tuscarora
The weakness of the enemy makes our strength. – Cherokee
When the white man discovered this country Indians were running it. No taxes, no debt, women did all the work. White man thought he could improve on a system like this. – Cherokee
A good soldier is a poor scout. – Cheyenne
Poverty is a noose that strangles humility and breeds disrespect for God and man. – Sioux
We will be known forever by the tracks we leave. – Dakota
Do not judge your neighbor until you walk two moons in his moccasins. – Cheyenne
There is nothing as eloquent as a rattlesnakes tail. – Navajo
Force, no matter how concealed, begets resistance. – Lakota
Our first teacher is our own heart. – Cheyenne
Everyone who is successful must have dreamed of something. – Maricopa
All who have died are equal. – Comanche
Remember that your children are not your own, but are lent to you by the Creator. – Mohawk
One rain does not make a crop. – Creole
Man’s law changes with his understanding of man. Only the laws of the spirit remain always the same. – Crow
What the people believe is true. – Anishinabe
You already possess everything necessary to become great. – Crow
There is no death, only a change of worlds. – Duwamish
Life is not separate from death. It only looks that way. – Blackfoot
You can’t wake a person who is pretending to be asleep. – Navajo
It is less of a problem to be poor, than to be dishonest. – Anishinabe
One finger cannot lift a pebble. – Hopi
Beware of the man who does not talk, and the dog that does not bark. – Cheyenne
All dreams spin out from the same web. – Hopi
He who would do great things should not attempt them all alone. – Seneca
Even a small mouse has anger. – Tribe Unknown
If a man is as wise as a serpent, he can afford to be as harmless as a dove. – Cheyenne
Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children. – Tribe Unknown
The rainbow is a sign from Him who is in all things. – Hopi
Walk lightly in the spring; Mother Earth is pregnant. – Kiowa
When a man moves away from nature his heart becomes hard. – Lakota
Old age is not as honorable as death, but most people want it. – Crow
Many have fallen with the bottle in their hand. – Lakota
Sioux IndiansEverything the power does, it does in a circle. – Lakota
A brave man dies but once, a coward many times. – Tribe Unknown.
A man or woman with many children has many homes. – Lakota Sioux
Seek wisdom, not knowledge. Knowledge is of the past, Wisdom is of the future. – Lumbee
If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies in yourself. – Minquass
A good chief gives, he does not take. – Mohawk
Coyote is always out there waiting, and Coyote is always hungry. – Navajo
Listening to a liar is like drinking warm water. – Tribe Unknown
Every animal knows more than you do. – Nez Perce
To touch the earth is to have harmony with nature. – Oglala Sioux
When a fox walks lame, the old rabbit jumps. – Oklahoma
A starving man will eat with the wolf. – Oklahoma
A danger foreseen is half-avoided. – Cheyenne
The coward shoots with shut eyes. – Oklahoma
It is easy to be brave from a distance. – Omaha
The bird who has eaten cannot fly with the bird that is hungry. – Omaha
Ask questions from you heart and you will be answered from the heart. – Omaha
A hungry stomach makes a short prayer. – Paiute
Do not wrong or hate your neighbor for it is not he that you wrong but yourself. – Pima
Make my enemy brave and strong, so that if defeated, I will not be ashamed. – Plains
Cherish youth, but trust old age. – Pueblo
Sharing and giving are the ways of God. – Sauk
We are all one child spinning through Mother Sky. – Shawnee
Each person is his own judge. – Shawnee
We are made from Mother Earth and we go back to Mother Earth. – Shenandoah
It is no longer good enough to cry peace, we must act peace, live peace and live in peace. – Shenandoah
There are many good moccasin tracks along the trail of a straight arrow. – Sioux
A rocky vineyard does not need a prayer, but a pick ax. – Navajo
With all things and in all things, we are relatives. – Sioux
The one who tells the stories rules the world. – Hopi
The frog does not drink up the pond in which he lives. – Sioux
A people without a history is like the wind over buffalo grass. – Sioux
The moon is not shamed by the barking of dogs. – Southwest
Regard Heaven as your father, Earth as your Mother and all things as your Brothers and Sisters. – Tribe Unknown
Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me, and I may not remember. Involve me, and I’ll understand. – Tribe Unknown
White men have too many chiefs. – Nez Perce
If a man is to do something more than human, he must have more than human powers. – Tribe Unknown
The soul would have no rainbow if the eye had no tears. – Tribe Unknown
Wisdom comes only when you stop looking for it and start living the life the Creator intended for you. – Hopi
Not every sweet root give birth to sweet grass. – Tribe Unknown
Take only what you need and leave the land as you found it. – Arapaho
It takes a thousand voices to tell a single story. – Tribe Unknown
Don’t let yesterday use up too much of today. – Cherokee
No river can return to its source, yet all rivers must have a beginning. – Tribe Unknown
Listen, or your tongue will make you deaf. – Tribe Unknown
Man has responsibility, not power. – Tuscarora
The rain falls on the just and the unjust. – Hopi
Each bird loves to hear himself sing. – Arapaho
The way of the troublemaker is thorny. – Umpqua
God gives us each a song. – Ute
A man must make his own arrows. – Winnebago
After dark all cats are leopards. – Zuni
When you die, you will be spoken of as those in the sky, like the stars. – Yurok
When Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs was a conservative, his blog was filled with stories condemning anti-Semitism.
Now that he is a liberal, apparently anti-Semitism no longer exists.
Or more likely, anti-Semitism is no longer objectionable.
Case study #448,279,385,109 of Liberalism = Jew Hatred.
Unemployment rate is now 5% announced today.
Israel Is Costing the US In Blood and Treasure
This is the most despicably inane allegation ever made against Israel, both in content and intent. It demonstrates that Europhile Obama does not hesitate to embrace the classic European style anti-Semitic demagoguery that historically has been used to rally the masses against Jews. There exists no evidence that Israel is responsible for damaging America directly or indirectly; to the contrary, Israel has been an invaluable bulwark against anti-Americanism in the Middle East. The absurdly cynical contention that Muslims hate America because of America’s support for Israel is effortlessly disproven with the fact that those same Muslims aggress against anti-Semitic Russia and anti-Semitic France.
Demonizing Jews has always been the province of humankind’s most conniving element, and Obama certainly qualifies to be classified among those dregs of history. It is the Israeli prime minister’s role to confront the slander of Jews made by degenerates, but the current prime minister lacks the guts. It is therefore left to the rest of us to challenge this outrageous blood libel that scapegoats the Jewish people to facilitate Obama’s goal of eliminating the Jewish state.
Any Jew who continues to support Obama is aiding and abetting anti-Semitism, and deserves to be treated with the same level of contempt that should be accorded to all Jew haters. The J Streeters and their self-hating brethren are the amoral equivalent of Nazi collaborators. They do not seek peace through negotiation. Like the kapos, they seek to ingratiate themselves through collaboration.
Obama and his pseudo Jewish supporters are the enemies of every ethical Jew. There is no common ground to be achieved with such reprobates. People who love Judaism and Israel must realize that the Obamites hate both. Decency dictates that they must be defeated.
That defeat begins with the debunking of their many lies. The next time some ignorant slob claims that Israel is costing America in blood and treasure, it is incumbent upon decent people to challenge aggressively the deceitful propagandist who makes this factually unsupportable claim. Once having proven that statement to be false, the important next step is to question the motivation of the liar.
Of course, we already know the motivation.
Let us make sure that all people of goodwill know as well.
Summary of DEBKA Exclusives in the Week Ending April 23, 2010
Ahmadinejad: Iran is Obama’s only way to stay in power
16 April: With typical provocative arrogance, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad revealed he had told the US president in a letter that Barack Obama’s power and success depends on Iran and “he should start cooperating with us in practice.”
DEBKAfile reveals that the Obama administration is already engaged in behind-the-scenes cooperation with Tehran in arrangements that have begun to acknowledge Iran’s regional supremacy – at Israel’s expense.
Israeli leaders have failed so far to initiate assertive steps to counter-balance this unspoken process.
Ahmadinejad is clearly encouraged by the anti-Israeli rhetoric he hears from President Obama.
US-Iranian cooperation is already well in progress in Beirut, where Tehran’s surrogate, Hizballah, has been co-opted to government and parliament; and in Baghdad, where Iyad Allawi, whose Al Iraqiya part won the general elections, was left no choice but to travel to Tehran to obtain Iran’s blessing for his government coalition.
Meanwhile, Israeli leaders insanely expect that by capitulating time and again they will convince Obama to disarm Iran’s nuclear capacity.
Netanyahu and Barak are criminally negligent in their responsibilities to protect Israel.
Their cowardice is truly vomit-inducing.
“Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t come to yours.”
“Even Napoleon had his Watergate.”
“If people don’t want to come out to the ball park, nobody’s gonna stop ‘em.”
“If the world was perfect, it wouldn’t be.”
“If you ask me anything I don’t know, I’m not going to answer.”
“If you come to a fork in the road, take it.”
“If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.”
“In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.”
“It ain’t over till it’s over.”
“The future ain’t what it used to be.”
“There are some people who, if they don’t already know, you can’t tell ‘em.”
“You can observe a lot by just watching.”
– Yogi Berra