Clifford D. May is a Jew, and like most Jews who are engaged in
the business of giving advice, he is incapable of thinking in terms of complex
concepts or elaborate ideas. Instead, he thinks in terms of single words, smart
aleck cracks, one-liners, bumper sticker quotes and the like.
This is why when Clifford May hears the word “imperialism,” his
brain conjures up images of nineteenth century armies equipped with bayonets,
and going to plunder the resources of defenseless societies in Africa, Asia and
Latin America. This is what happened to Clifford May when he heard Ilhan Omar
pronounce the word “imperialism” in a speech she gave at a rally set-up to
support the Bernie Sanders Campaign.
Clifford May wrote about the event in a column that came under the
title: “Sanders, Omar not concerned about world's most oppressive empires,”
published on November 5, 2019 in The Washington Times. Instead of thinking in
terms of modern imperialism such as the one that’s imposed by sanctions, by
occupying someone else's land and then annexing it, as well as by threatening
sovereign nations with “all options being on the table,”––Clifford May started
thinking in the following terms, as if instigated by a thoughtless automatic
reflex: “Last I looked, Italian Somaliland and the Belgian Congo were long
gone”.
But the reality is that the people who approach questions of this
nature with modern sophistication, do not think only in terms of imperialism as
one nation exploiting another at gun point. They also think in terms of very
wealthy individuals and corporations exploiting the countries out of which they
operate, as well as the countries that clamor to have them come in and set-up
an operation or two where unemployment is high … whether these are poor
countries of the Third World, or rich countries plagued by regional
disparities.
Another reality that is beyond the ability of the Clifford Mays of
this world to grasp, is that candidates campaigning to be President of the
United States, do not usually make a big deal about Human Rights issues in
foreign lands. What the electors of all kind want to hear at a time like this,
are solutions to their pocketbook issues, such as the domestic economy. They
also want to hear the views of the candidates on other kitchen table issues,
such as those pertaining to cultural matters that can affect them and their
families.
Imagine Bernie Sanders standing in front of an audience that's
made mostly of workers who were laid off from a nearby plant, of women who are
interested in the issue of abortion, and of students who are in debt to their
eyeballs –– and he (Sanders) telling them what Clifford May, sitting behind his
computer keyboard in a cushy office in New York or Washington DC, has dreamed
up for him to say. In fact, this is what Clifford May has come up with: “Right
now, people in Hong Kong, Iraq and Lebanon are putting their lives on line in
struggles against oppressive empire builders … [I hereby show] more than the slightest
concern for them”.
Do you think this will cause the audience to clap during that part
of the speech? No, it wouldn't. On the other hand, Bernie Sanders, among the
other candidates who are running to be President, did mention something that
runs along that line. It was a subject that interested the audience because the
public had a moral and financial stake in the matter. And this was in contrast
with Clifford May who did not even mention the subject.
Here is what it's all about: Given that America is spending
billions of dollars year after year after year propping up Israel, which uses
the money to make America hated around the world year after year after year,
Bernie Sanders declared that unless Israel cleans up its act, America will put
the money it sends it to better use under his presidency; and the audience
clapped. Clifford May didn't clap of course, because if it were up to him, he
would send to Israel the entire American gross domestic product year after year
after year.
And in keeping with the tradition established by the
Tel-Aviv/New-York crime syndicate of calling Israeli aggression –– be it
ongoing or intended –– “Israel's right to defend itself,” Clifford May went on
to say the following: “In 2006, Hezbollah started a war with Israel. Since
then, Hezbollah and its weapons have spread throughout the country. If
Hezbollah ignites another war, it will be between Israel and Hezbollah-ruled
Lebanon”.
In fact, the Israeli wars on Lebanon––being a continuation of the
Judeo-Israeli old scheme to rob Israel’s neighbors of their waters and the
sources thereof––are no different from what Israel has been doing to maintain
the occupation of the West Bank of the Jordan River with the declared intention
to eventually annex it all or annex parts of it. As a matter of fact, this is
one kind of imperialism, from among the many, that Bernie Sanders and Ilhan Omar
have been talking about.
Finally, Clifford May has asked the question: Is there no reporter
willing to ask Ms. Omar and Mr. Sanders what they mean by Western Imperialism?