I just caught the opening congressional applause for the Prime Minister of Israel. Wow. That was a lot of clapping. Honestly, I can't say that I've seen clapping like that since the State of the Union address.
I wish nothing but the best for Israel. I wish them the best in much the same way I do for all of world's citizens. But our foreign policy treats Israel as something much more precious than 99% of other countries. As such, I think Israel just an extension of our country... like Alaska. So, lets just make it official and go ahead with the annex.
I understand the strategic importance of having a friend like Israel in the volatile Middle East. But why do we treat them as closely as we do? I think as a country, we have become so close to Israel that we would accept an attack on Puerto Rico (a U.S. Territory) before accepting one on on Israel.
Let me just throw this out there as a question: Is Israel deserving of such high status? Why? If so, shouldn't we just make it a state?
Here are a few points to consider:
We already support Israel with billions of our tax dollars and offer military protection (like Alaska).
Israel has less oil than Alaska.
Populations: Alaska: @630k Israel: @6.2M
Area: Alaska: 570374 sq. miles Israel: 7992 Sq. miles (before or after giving back gaza?)
Lastly....
Bears: Alaska has many more bears than Israel. As Colbert would probably argue, this is a huge a plus note for our middle eastern friend.
So, given the lack of bears, I vote yes. And with that, I give you a completely irrelevant (yet important) poll question: