Take back "disproportionate" & use it properly

As has been pointed out by Ben Stein, the Left seems to have co-opted the word "disproportionate" and applied it to Israel's response to Hizballah's continued terrorism and kidnapping:

So, now I see that some commentators are saying that Israel's bombing of Lebanese Hezbollah strong points and neighborhoods is "disproportionate." The Israeli campaign, so this story goes, is bullying and terrorizing the Lebanese populace, and this is (so the argument goes) typical Israeli thug behavior.

Hmmm.

Let's see. In World War II, the Germans bombed exactly no United States cities or towns. We bombed the hell out of them, day and night, for more than two years, including helping the British with firebombing Dresden, one of the most appalling civilian killings by a free people of all time.

Was it disproportionate? Well, no. The Nazis had bombed our allies, the British, in terror raids for years. They had started a world war. They had created a genocide unspeakable in human history. So, yes, there was horrible killing, but is anyone now saying it was disproportionate? Maybe a few, but not many.

Read the whole thing, then come back & see if you're still with me. I'm in favor of reclaiming the word "disproportionate", and using it appropriately, thus:

"The problem is that Israel has spent the past decade showing disproportionate restraint towards the terrorists of Hizballah, Hamas, etc."


HT: Laura Lee Donohoe at The Wide Awake Cafe