Alan Zweibel

Right-wing pundit Tucker Carlson, the most prominent critic of the U.S.-Israel war against Iran within U.S. President Donald Trump's base, accused the Jewish Chabad Lubavitch movement of attempting to foment a religious war over the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Carlson has been increasingly accused across the political spectrum of mainstreaming neo-Nazis and peddling antisemitic conspiracy theories on his talk show – including during his recent episode featuring U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, in which Carlson suggested Israelis should be genetically tested to determine any ties to the land of Israel. In an episode of "The Tucker Carlson Show" published Thursday, the host alleged that Israel started a war with Iran last week as cover to destroy Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, referred to by Jews as the Temple Mount, in order to rebuild the holy Jewish temple. "This has been going on a long time in public through, in part, the efforts of a group called Chabad. C-H-A-B-A-D," Carlson said. https://archive.ph/ePkYr#selection-947.0-979.129 If anyone ever needed any more evidence that Carlson is an anti-Semite, here it is. The Lubavitchers, as members of this cult are called, revere their deceased rabbi, Menachem Schneerson. Not only do they revere him, but they don't believe he is entirely dead. In fact, they believe he's the Messiah and he's coming back soon. So, they may be nuts, but they're not a serious political force in Israel. They are mainly concerned with Jewish outreach. Trying to bring secular Jews back into the fold, They're even located in Thailand where they hold Shabbas dinners and special holiday events. But as for them being some kind of sinister force, that's just nuts. It should be noted that this article appears in Haaretz, a left wing publication and a very harsh critic of the way Israel treats Arabs in both the West Bank and Gaza. So, it's not like they're carrying water for the Israeli government's agenda.

As usual, making it personal. You have no factual response to the fact the Trump made a threat and then retracted it. And to date, he has nothing to show for it except a vague promise.

Deflecting much? The fact is Trump threatened 8 European nations with punitive tariffs over Greenland and backed down. And what did he get in return? A promise of future discussions. That's diplomat speech for Bubkis.

Backed down from what? Really? President Donald Trump on Wednesday scrapped the tariffs that he threatened to impose on eight European nations to press for U.S. control over Greenland, pulling a dramatic reversal shortly after insisting he wanted to get the island “including right, title and ownership.” In a post on his social media site, Trump said he had agreed with the head of NATO on a “framework of a future deal” on Arctic security, potentially defusing tension that had far-reaching geopolitical implications. He said “additional discussions” on Greenland were being held concerning the Golden Dome missile defense program, a multilayered, $175 billion system that for the first time will put U.S. weapons in space. https://archive.ph/OecmP

There are plenty, and I mean PLENTY of valid reasons to criticize Hegseth. Criticizing him for the fact that none of his children serve in the military is ridiculous https://people.com/all-about-pete-hegseth-kids-11861945

Nothing more lame than using a prediction as some sort of argument. What we do know, because it happened in a thing called The Past, is that Trump backed down.

Good luck in using force against a market where the demand is so strong and the profits so high. It takes the mentality of a Marxist to believe that might work.

I remember when that was said about the EU vs Trump in the little matter of Greenland. How did that turn out?

How is that going to work? They're not an army. They're widely distributed. There is a huge and inelastic demand for their product. In the past cartels have been destroyed. As observers have pointed out, when the original cartels were destroyed multiple cartels popped up out of the ruins of the old ones and generated even more instability.

What exactly does your generalization have to do with the unemployment situation? What exactly is the United States doing wrong that is hurting employment?

The solution is obvious but still politically unpalatable. Actually, I think the knee-jerk reaction here is yours. Tell me why is my reaction knee-jerk? You approve of Hegseth's approach?

Dismay as Hegseth urges Latin American allies to join ‘offense’ against cartels In his speech, Hegseth said that “for too long, leaders in Washington abandoned the simple wisdom of the Monroe doctrine”, referring to the “America for Americans” foreign policy set out in 1823 by the US president James Monroe and later invoked to justify US-backed military coups in Latin America. The defence secretary urged countries to remain “Christian nations, under God, proud of our shared heritage with strong borders” and not be led astray by “radical narco-communism, anarcho-tyranny … and uncontrolled mass migration”. https://archive.ph/BrLXV#selection-1505.0-1513.231 Invoking the Monroe Doctrine in front of the leaders our America's neighbors to the south? The guy really knows how to read the room. What makes this even funnier is that right wingers now invoke America's shared heritage with Europe to justify why Europeans should be preferred as candidates for naturalization. Apparently Hegseth takes a more inclusive view. Good for you, Pete!

See the facts about the ad campaign. For one, But I guess we should be grateful for the fact that ICE is now underwater as far as public opinion goes thanks to such gaffes as Noem calling the 2 people killed by ice terrorists...

Stop exaggerating! It wasn't a $20 million campaign. It was a $220 million ad campaign... And the contract for the campaign was was done through open competitive bidding...oh wait a minute And the group that won the contract wasn't created 11 days before it was awarded the contract...oh wait a minute And the group wasn't headed by the husband of Noem's spokesperson...oh wait a minute...

Can a decision be called correct when it's long overdue? How much damage did it take for Noem to inflict before Trump finally decided her time was up?

The simplest way to show that that EU has kept pace with the US is to show GDP in terms Purchasing Power Parity as the gauge. Here are a couple of charts from Paul Krugman, a winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics: https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/europe-v-america-whos-really-winning https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/europe-v-america-whos-really-winning You might also want to compare life expectancy in the EU vs. the USA. Even the richest Americans face shorter lifespans than their European counterparts, study finds "The researchers also highlighted a “survivor effect” in the U.S., where poorer individuals with worse health outcomes were more likely to die earlier, leaving behind a population that is healthier and wealthier as age groups progress. This creates the illusion that wealth inequality decreases over time, when in reality it’s partly due to the early deaths of the poorest Americans. “Our previous work has shown that while wealth inequality narrows after 65 across the U.S. and Europe, in the U.S. it narrows because the poorest Americans die sooner and in greater proportion,” Papanicolas said." https://www.brown.edu/news/2025-04-02/wealth-mortality-gap

That is irrelevant. Hears what and wrote and the comment you replied to: Clearly, your comment was an assertion that the EU mainly traded with Canada and Mexico.

Making things up much? In fact, European exports to the USA were over 5 times the combines exports to canada https://tradingeconomics.com/european-union/exports/united-states https://tradingeconomics.com/european-union/exports/canada https://tradingeconomics.com/european-union/exports/mexico In 2025, the EU exported €554.0 billion worth of goods to the United States and imported €354.4 billion, resulting in a €199.6 billion trade surplus. Compared with 2024, both exports and imports increased by 3.4% and 4.8%, respectively.

Making it personal is a sure sign that you've got nothing.

Whatever the truth about your feelings, the fact is you dropped your defense.

Stop tying me to your claims.

Thanks for the non-sequitur.

If the mods let this stand tomorrow I will engage you on your foolish caricature of the EU.

This topic is about what the iran war means for ukraine. If you want to start a new topic about the EY. then do so.

Just a silly statement. If the EU were to vanish tomorrow, the effects on the US economy would be catastrophic. The world's major economies are intertwined in a way that they haven't been before, and tariffs aren't going to undo that.