Trooper Amy Barath
The writer is a retired NYS Trooper; presently working with therapy dogsRemember when the kid from down the block was hailed as a hero for saving the little boy he had pushed into the pool himself just seconds earlier, after he looked around to make sure nobody was watching him?
Remember when the same kid scored 100 on the math exam the rest of the class failed and how he was promoted to the Honors program the following marking period, even though he was heard bragging about how he stole a copy of the math test the night before the exam?
Remember that kid? I’m sure you didn’t forget when he rode his shiny new bicycle to your house to show it off to your parents and your siblings, the day after you were punished for leaving your bike in the driveway where your Dad ran over it with the car and destroyed it. That’s right, you remember, that kid; there was one like him on every block.
Fast forward to 2013, what if that type of kid was beginning his second term as the American President, and what if he was going to visit Israel?
While the American President refused to sell the Democratic Israel F-16 fighter jets, he cut a deal with the sharia-law based Muslim brotherhood, whose sole purpose is to exterminate the Jews, giving them 200 Abrams battle tanks and a squadron of F-16 Falcon fighter jets; very conniving.
Back on the home front, he made large promises to elderly American Jews regarding their beloved healthcare. “If you like your plan, you can keep it,” he said. “If you like your Dr., you can keep your Dr.,” he proclaimed. However, he neglected to tell America’s elderly Jews who adore him that they may not be able to afford to keep their plan or their Dr.; again, a real conniver.
The conniving kid from down the block yearns to be a hero; but he will always take what he believes is the easy way out. It’s easier to anger your friends (Israel) than to face the wrath of your country's enemies (Muslim Brotherhood). It’s easier to blame a terrorist attack on a video and imprison the videographer than to confront the actual terrorists who perpetrated the attack (Benghazi). It’s easier to blame a legal handgun and all NRA members for a crime committed by a mentally ill person than to confront the policies which allowed such a crime to occur.
The problem with the conniving kid from down the block is that he has never been challenged. He has never been frightened; he has never feared for his life, nor has he had the lives of others part of his responsibility in the trenches. Life has been too easy, and America is suffering; Israel should not have to suffer his inadequacies.
Remember, Israel, the conniving kid from down the block is no match for your kid; the kid from Philly. The kid from Philly is no political novice, but he has a long resume of bravery and heroism. He is the first Prime Minister to serve a third term since David Ben-Gurion, so the American President has nothing to brag about being in his second term—Netanyahu is in his third.
The kid from Philly has been in the trenches, he has been wounded, he has saved lives, he has lost those dear to him; he is a warrior and a scholar. He will not let Israel down. Amidst the misguided screeching of the voices from the Left, both American and Israeli, the kid from Philly will not allow the American President to destroy all that he and his fellow warriors have worked for all their lives.
The American President is coming to Israel; Prime Minister Netanyahu will receive him and politely listen to his naiveté; his opinions on Iran, Syria, Egypt, the Settlements, blah, blah, blah. Israel is alone. A majority of American Jews bow to this American President. Israel has its own problems with its left-wing Jews and who they choose to bow to as well.
What will become of us, as Jews? Have we broached a point of no return? Is our extinction once again very easy to imagine?
The answers might be buried in the way in which the kid from Philly schmoozes with the kid from down the block.