Beyond the Rhetorical Sleight of Hand of JD Vance v Israel Lurks Sinister NDAA
While JD Vance and Trump publicly fight with Israeli leaders, behind the scenes in Congress lurks a very sinister provision that would "integrate/synchronize the U.S. and Israeli militaries."
While JD Vance struggle-cosplays defense for his Boss’s “Iran deal” , behind the scenes in Congress is a very different story.
Just yesterday, Reps. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) moved to try to remove a provision from the NDAA that would significantly expand defense technology cooperation between the United States and Israel.
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Meanwhile, Vance is very publicly trying to use rhetoric to appear strong, and as you’d expect with anyone associated with the man Vance once compared to America’s Hitler, this involves insults and rhetorical jabs.
So we had Trump’s VP attacking Israeli ministers who were urging Prime Minister Netanyahu to disregard the Iran accord, telling Israel, “You can’t just kill your way out of solving every problem.”
Can you just hear the cheering as Israel has become vastly unpopular in the United States?
News outlets ran with Vance scolding Israel. The team that let Netanyahu lead them into an illegal war are finally standing up to him!
But this could be yet another rhetorical sleight of hand.
Panem et Circenses
By keeping the plebeian masses fed and entertained, Roman emperors maintained social control and minimized the risk of riots and uprisings, even as the government faltered. This concept became the political metaphor of panem et circenses (bread and circuses).
Donald Trump excels at very few things, but one of them is putting on a big show to misdirect. So while it’s true Trump’s MOU has enraged many leaders in Israel, it’s also true that Trump’s MOU is just that, a “memorandum of understanding”. The nuclear part of the deal has yet to even be agreed upon. It merely lays the groundwork for talks on Iran's nuclear weapons program.
The BBC noted, “US officials briefed that the deal "sets a minimum standard where… the enriched stockpile will be destroyed". But the MoU actually makes no mention of this happening.”
Knowing Donald Trump’s TACO track record, much of the MOU isn’t worth the paper it was written on.
Think of how Trump puts on battles with controlled opposition media members in order to make it look like someone is pushing back and he is taking hard questions - only for that person to still have access, unlike anyone who asks questions Trump actually won’t tolerate.
It’s a show. It deflects. It distracts. It feeds the media. It feeds the public.
It’s panem et circenses. Bread and circuses used by a government to distract and pacify a population by providing spectacles rather than addressing actual civic or structural issues.
What might they be distracting from?
NDAA = More Involvement with Israel Than Before
