Liberal M.P. Irwing Cotler Twists Himself Into a Veritable Pretzel As He Tries to Account For--and Dismiss--P.M. Harper's Staunch Support for Israel

These days it's tough to be a Jewish leftist and a strong supporter of Israel; leftist ideology pretty much requires one to cast aspersions on the Jewish State because it supposedly represents everything leftists supposedly despise (which is to say that it's supposedly "colonialist," "imperialist," an "occupier," a follower of "apartheid," etc.). And then there's the fact that, when it comes to Israel, leftist idol Barack Hussein Obama is an untrustworthy putz while the hated Stephen Harper is anything but.

Here's Liberal M.P. Irwin Cotler trying--and failing miserably--to wrap his big brain around it all:

What is distinguishable about Harper, says Cotler – a member of the Canadian Parliament since 1999, who served as Justice Minister and Attorney General from 2003 until the Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost the 2006 election to Harper – “is not his support for Israel, but his mainstreaming of that support as a Canadian foreign-policy principle. So he is seen as more pro-Israel.” 

Cotler takes issue with what he considers Harper’s attempt to make this a wedge issue. 

“Part of Harper’s campaign is to assert that anyone who cares about Israel should vote for him. But both the liberal and conservative parties support Israel. In fact, while [Liberal Party leader Justin] Trudeau has publicly backed Harper’s position on Israel, Harper claims to head the ‘pro-Israel’ party.”

Cotler agrees that this situation in particular, and the Canadian zeitgeist in general, is different from that of the U.S., where he said it was the left-leaning Democrats who were turning Israel into a partisan issue. 

This, coupled with the U.S.-led nuclear agreement with the Islamic Republic, is a source of disappointment to Cotler, who was initially pleased with the election of President Barack Obama. ...

No, Irwin, what distinguishes Harper is his vocal and consistent support for Israel, something the Liberals never could or would muster (because they are Liberals). That's a big problem for Libs like Cotler, who, though strong supporters of Israel, cannot bring themselves to praise this prime minister for taking this stand because they know it is not to their political advantage to do so. Thus, they play the "wedge" card (the reddest of red herrings) and damn Harper with the faintest of praise--"so he is seen as more pro-Israel"--even as they purvey falsehoods/fictions about what their own leader and party stand for. And when you look at his background and who his closest advisors are, there is no doubt that Justin Trudeau is nowhere near as pro-Israel as Harper is. It is also clear that what Trudeau stands for is what the Liberals have long stood for--being an "honest broker"/fence-sitter who salutes almost every nutty, malevolent anti-Israel resolution the U.N. runs up the flagpole. Just as bad, Justin is hot for Obama's "brilliant" idea of reaching out to Iran--the worst and potentially the most deadly policy decision of our time.

Should he somehow prevail and be elected to the top job, Trudeau is bound to be every bit as much a disappointment as Obama has shown himself to be--and then some. And Cotler? As a good little Liberal soldier, he has to toe the party line, both out loud and to himself, even if it's full of holes and a load of crapola. If he doesn't, he'll be a party pariah and may even be forced to admit to himself that, in terms of ideology and worldview, he and his beloved party are fundamentally and, yes, even fatally, flawed.


Not a good look, Irwin.