"Throwing The Jews Under The Bus"

That's the title of a must-read article at Tech Central Station by Arnold Kling; written in anticipation of the '08 elections. (All emphases are mine.)

I wish I could be confident that both parties will nominate candidates with a serious outlook on the war against militant Islam. As I see it, there is still a large segment of the Democratic Party that wants a crusading anti-war candidate, in the mold of George McGovern. That wing of the Democratic Party does not look very attractive to those of us who have voted Democratic in recent Presidential elections but who believe that militant Islam poses an existential threat to the values we hold dear.

For what the anti-war view entails, consider a recent "academic" paper by John J. Mearshimer and Steven M. Walt, of the University of Chicago and Harvard University, respectively.

"The U.S. national interest should be the primary object of American foreign policy. For the past several decades, however, and especially since the Six Day War in 1967, the centerpiece of US Middle East policy has been its relationship with Israel. The combination of unwavering US support for Israel and the related effort to spread democracy throughout the region has inflamed Arab and Islamic opinion and jeopardized US security."

This is where I believe the leftist view of foreign policy ultimately leads: throw the Jews under the bus to appease the Islamic radicals, because the Jews have "jeopardized U.S. security." To which I say, fine: go ahead and try to throw us under the bus. It won't be the first time the elites decided that anti-Semitism is the fault of the Jews -- that was the conventional wisdom among the elite opinion in the 1930's, also. But I would warn you that this time a lot of us are going to fight before we get thrown under the bus again. (Dave Kopel reminds us that there were fighters in the 1930's.)
I see myself as an American, first and foremost. I value America for its folk beliefs in liberty. Militant Islam is the enemy of everything that I value about America.

True, it is a fact that militant Islam threatens Europe more than it threatens America. And it is a fact that militant Islam threatens Israel more than Europe. But those facts do not imply that the destruction of Israel or the conquest of Europe by militant Islam would serve the U.S. national interest. Those facts do not imply that for America a passive, defensive approach to militant Islam will be less costly in terms of American lives than an aggressive, offensive approach.

When you throw someone in front of a bus, you have to practically be in front of the bus to do so.

And a body won't stop a bus. So that means you're next. If you don't get flattened while doing the deed, you will on the next pass.