Marco Rubio: Defender of Israel

By Brandon K. Thorp Fri., Apr. 8 2011 at 12:04 AM

Rubio

"As we work to reduce wasteful government spending," wrote Sen. Marco Rubio in a letter to Mitch McConnell on Thursday, "we recognize that providing for the national defense is a constitutional responsibility of the federal government. Therefore, we must continue to prioritize the security of our nation and the security of our allies, including Israel."

In other words: Slash, slash, slash the budget, but hands off our $3 billion in Israeli military aid.

There are approximately four reasons that a given politician might support our outsized aid to Israel, and sometimes it's fun to figure out which politician supports it for which reason. The reasons are, in no particular order:

A love of Israel's democratic, tolerant, and secular character.
A desire to see Jerusalem reclaimed by Jews, the Third Temple constructed, and the Christian End Times hastened.
A general dislike of Palestinians and/or Islam.
A desire to get re-elected.

I'd like to think Marco Rubio is in love with Israel for reason number one, but I don't know if there's anybody left in American politics who sees tolerance and secularism as anything other than buzzwords for Nazi/commie/fasco/uterusianism. Marco's a nice guy, so I'm guessing number three's out, and he doesn't seem crazy, so number two's a nonstarter. Which leaves us with number four. What do you think?

It's worth noting, per the above-linked article, that Rand Paul has announced his desire to see all foreign aid eliminated, including that to Israel. Which just goes to show you: Sometimes, honest-to-goodness idealism is way the hell scarier than old-fashioned political cynicism.

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Tags:

Israel, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul

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Jewishmarksman

Tel Aviv has hosted gay pride parades. Mr. Thorp, please name one Muslim country that has done the same, or will do the same within a decade. How many openly gay CAIR members are there?

Never understood why the New Times is so pro-Muslim and anti-Israel, but then again, I am a rational person.

Csharplaw

I saw Marco give his campaign stump speech a few times and to paraphrase Shakespeare, it was a lot of sound and fury that signified nothing. He always started out by reminding his audience that although we get lots of Cubans who come her on rafts, he has never heard of an American going to Cuba on a raft, which usually managed to get a good laugh and some cheers from the Tea Party folks that were always in attandance. Then he launches into a bunch of silly platitudes about how great America is, how his dad worked his way up from a bartender when he came here from Cuba, etc......In the three speeches I saw him give, he did not make one substantive policy statement and when he was asked any substantive questions, he simply ignored them and when back to his stump points about what a great country we have and how the Dems are destroying it (thugh he never said how). I finally managed to get him to answer a question I had about a limited public health care option for the disabled (my wife is disabled) and his response was that I should trust the private insurance market to take care of her, and he was sure they would do a better job than the government. That's kind of like saying we should trust Cuba to alow free speech.

After hearing this empty suit speak on several occasions wothout saying anything even remotely relevant to the issues in the campaign, I am amazed that he got elected but then again, this is the Banana Republic. Now he shows his true colors as just another pandering boot-licking politician looking to get relected, before he has actually accomplished anything in D.C. for the state that elected him. It's nice to know he is fighting so hard for the $3 billion handout to Israel when most average Americans can't even pay their mortgage. Maybe he should just move there if he likes it so much. I'll pay for the raft.

Randi Krotch

G*d bless Mario Rubio.He may be a short Cuban dude, but he's total Tea Party, real cute and also a True friend of Israel!What's more, since G*d gave the Holy Land to His Chosen People the Jews 3,000 years ago, it's time the G*dless arabs stopped fouling our sacred soil and got the hell out there!!!

KennyPowersSays

Definitely #4. An empire builder in the making. He is setting up as a Veep candidate and the newly registered hispanics will slam the ballot box for him for him. 2 more elections and the huge hispanic demographic could swing the Presidential run.