Jeffrey Goldberg writes about how horrified Israel's American Christian right supporters would be if they actually knew anything the country as it actually exists: I’ve met evangelical leaders who share an unpleasant tic with Israel’s critics on the far left: They all hold Israel to an impossible standard of moral and political behavior. To much of the Christian right, Israel isn’t a real nation-state facing a series of painful choices. It is, instead, a biblical fantasyland, and an instrument of Christian salvation. In Bachmann’s case, it’s a living test of America’s fealty to God. For Israel’s sake then, if not for America’s, perhaps it’s best that she remain ignorant of Israeli reality. Including the reality of all those sweaty gays. We needn't stick to gay rights here. Conservatives panicking over a supposedly "socialist" president might reconsider their affection for a country founded by socialists , those opposed to universal healthcare might want to avert their eyes from Israel...

J.M. Berger notes that when terrorist plotters team up, they usually fail, but the social nature of Islamic extremism makes lone wolves hard to come by: Every single homegrown plot against the U.S. since September 11 that involved more than one person has failed, most often because law enforcement caught wind of it. Nevertheless, homegrown jihadists keep talking about their plans, and keep getting caught. Although there are rare individuals who are capable of acting in complete isolation, jihad is ultimately a social and political activity. By its very definition, it is tied to an overwhelming sense of community with the global Muslim Ummah. Being a solitary jihadist is like being a solitary majorette. It's certainly possible, but you're likely to feel foolish marching around your basement in uniform. The problem with individual jihad is, ironically, its individuality. Although loose lips are probably the most operationally significant manifestation of this failure to conform, it...

Right-wing Israelis are protesting the arrest of two rabbis who supported the King's Torah, a book that seeks to exempt nonbelievers from religious prohibitions against killing: Rabbis Dov Lior and Yacob Yousef had endorsed a highly controversial book, the King's Torah - written by two lesser-known settler rabbis. It justifies killing non-Jews, including those not involved in violence, under certain circumstances. The fifth chapter, entitled "Murder of non-Jews in a time of war" has been widely quoted in the Israeli media. The summary states that "you can kill those who are not supporting or encouraging murder in order to save the lives of Jews". At one point it suggests that babies can justifiably be killed if it is clear they will grow up to pose a threat. If this sounds a bit familiar, it's because al-Qaeda's "moral philosophers" did something similar back in the mid-1990s in order to provide a religious justification for the killing of civilians and thus a moral basis for...

Matthew Yglesias deputizes Ta-Nehisi Coates as a member of the Republican Party: That makes perfect sense. But I do think it’s worth saying that the alternative being put on the table here is a conservative one, and the mere fact that the successful investor who doesn’t like high property tax rates is black doesn’t change that fact. After all, what concrete policy steps could the DC government take to avoid more people being stuck with the problem of rising property values that lead to higher property taxes. Well, I see two: 1. The city could stop investing in improved public services and public safety. 2. The city could reduce property taxes, especially on well-heeled property owners. That’s not a wild-eyed or insane policy agenda by any means. Indeed, it’s the fiscal agenda of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo . And I think it’s good for progressives to pay attention to things like Johnson’s story, since she can perhaps help people to better understand...

Over at Greg 's I take on Michele Bachmann 's attack on the Pigford Settlement in light of the subsidies her own family farm has received. Dana Goldstein rebuts a story in the Daily Caller that implies Bachmann's migraines might stop her from being an effective president. >Many famous, high-achieving people have been migraine sufferers, including Ulysses Grant and Thomas Jefferson . (At Appomattox in 1865, Grant reportedly had a migraine that miraculously lifted upon receiving a letter from Robert E. Lee arranging their first ceasefire meeting.) Among athletes, Dwyane Wade and Monica Seles are migraineurs; Seles missed just two matches due to migraine in her entire career, and Wade is well-known for practicing and playing through his pain. I could go on and on: Charles Darwin . Sigmeund Freud. Claude Monet . Virginia Woolf . Of course, the modern presidency is a uniquely stressful and fast-paced job. But modern medicine is also uniquely able to respond to chronic pain. Other...

Ta-Nehisi Coates responds to Matthew Yglesias : Her contention that the city is "driving us out of here." is very much debatable. But it's worth noting that a class of owners with a commitment to something more than a naked financial return is a good thing. When Matt asserts that the city is trying to make H Street a "desirable place to live," I am compelled to ask "desirable for whom?" I'm not being obtuse here--I understand, in the aggregate, his larger point. But very often people find a kind of value in their living condition that eludes socioeconomic data. You could look at the stats of black people in this country and conclude that it absolutely sucks to black. But very few black people I know actually feel that way. They don't wake up thinking about the HIV rate, or go to bed thinking about the incarceration rate. They process their lives with those greater realities, but more so in terms of details, in terms of specific places, specific people, and specific experiences that...

Mutants . The life and logic of an anti-abortion protester. First openly gay judge confirmed to the federal bench. But judges are retiring at twice the rate they're being confirmed.