Ending on a note of "agreement"

Submitted by J. Sheff (United States), Sep 7, 2009 at 00:33

Sara, This time I have to say that I agree with most of what you say.

Thank you for identifying me as a liberal. Although I have always believed this to be the case, I think that most of my "progressive" acquaintances would disagree.

I also think that you are on firmer ground when you base your case on security than on societal cohesiveness. It is undeniably true that we sacrifice some freedoms for the sake of security, the question is whether the result is worth the price paid in liberty. I understand that people whose reality was shaped by experiences in Israel have a different opinion about this than those whose notion of realism comes from having lived in this country. Let's hope, for both our sakes, that my realism is "realer" than yours.

Finally, I agree that neither of us is likely to change his/her opinion. I have spent some time in Israel and do not recall ever having convinced an Israeli of anything -- oh, and that goes doubly for my wife, who is also Israeli.

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