E Pluribus Unum

Some of my conservative friends are urging me to re-assess my sympathies to the Democratic Party in light of their rather lackluster support for Israel. Dean Esmay says:

Dunno where you've been, Ara. Bush is polling higher in the Jewish community than any Republican president in at least a generation. And why not? He's the most pro-Israel, anti-Arafat President in history. Not to mention the fact that most of the anti-Israeli crowd is in the Democratic caucus in Congress. There's been quite a wave of Jews changing their registrations to Republican this summer. There have been a number of stories about this trend, and I'm surprised if you've missed them. How deep or lasting is it? Hard to say.

I'm familiar with the phenomenon. I'm Jewish. And ideologically, I am really disappointed in the liberals' weasly stance of "moral equivalency." Nothing makes my blood boil faster than to hear someone say that "we have to hear both sides" or we have to be "an honest broker." But my problem with Bush is slightly different; in my opinion, he hasn't gone far enough. For example, when Bush leaves it to Powell, Powell screws it up. Or when the military command (6000 miles away in Florida!) trusts the Northern Alliance to slam the front door on al-Qaeda, but they let them escape out the back exit...well, I'm mighty disappointed indeed. So you might say, on selected days, I'm to the right of this administration in assessing the war on terror. I know, I know, conservatives keep telling me that Bush is 90% of the way there.... ...but understand that Israel has NO margin for error. One mistake, and they are wiped off the map. So if there is a 10% chance for a mistake, then dead still means dead. Hence my hard-line demands on BOTH sides.