Nearly true conversations: Israel and Palestine edition

Here's how most conversations go when one speaks up for the human rights of the oppressed Palestinians in Gaza:

Human rights defender: It's horrible how Israel is bombing the shit out of Gaza, it's almost as if they're purposely bombing the people of Gaza into the stone age so they can keep them under their thumb.

Israel defender: So you think all Jews every where should die.  How nice.

HR defender: No, I do not think that.  But I do think Israel is bombing and killing Gazans simply because they can.

Israel defender: Oh, I see, according to you Israel has no right to exist and you support all terrorists groups and people who want to wipe Israel off the face of the earth.

HR defender: No.  I do not support any such thing.  Israel exists, that's a fact and nothing is going to change that.  I simply want to see Israel stop killing innocent civilians, to stop bombing the infrastructure of Gaza, and to make peace with the Palestinian people.

Israel defender: The Holocaust wasn't enough for you Mr. Hitler?  Not enough Jews died in that to suit you and your Nazi buddies?

HR defender: Wow.  Now you're just spouting crazy shit.  I did not support the Holocaust, I wasn't alive back then.  I'm just saying that Israel, backed by the USA and most all other western powers, looks and acts like a bully when it comes to Gaza.  They've blockaded it with an eye to choke off any businesses that operate there, they bomb it on the slightest pretext, they've built a wall to keep people from escaping, and they won't let the Palestinians move freely inside their own territory.  And the Israelis keep building settlements on Palestinian land in order to annex that land to Israel.  It's a horrible situation and we need to put a stop to it.

Israel defender: How do you live with yourself you shitbag anti Semite?  I'll pray that you see the light and start supporting the brave Israelis in their struggle to stay free and hold that land until Jesus comes back to earth and gives it to us good Christians.   Now, aren't you late for a KKK rally you Nazi Commie?

Your logics are faulty

I've been remiss in not commenting on some events that have been going on in the world lately, so I'll use this post to catch up on some of that. Ready? Here goes:

• I'm not on board with the bombing of Libya. It's not that I don't agree that Ga-Daffy should be gone, he should, I don't agree with how we're getting rid of him. If you tell me you're going to go after him because he's mistreating his own people and that the mission is therefore humanitarian, then why are we not helping the people of Syria, Saudi Arabia, the women of Egypt, the Palestinians in Gaza, the Catholics in Northern Ireland like we're helping the people of Libya. Obama wants to prove he's got balls and that he's not afraid to attack brown skinned people, so that's what he's doing.
• Newt Gingrich, the man who justifies his affairs by saying he had them because he felt passionately about the USA, chided Obama for not attacking Libya. Then when he did attack Libya, he chided him for doing so. Which is it asshole? Which side of that flip flop are you on Mr. Extra Marital Affair? Why anyone pays the slightest bit of attention to that gas bag is beyond me.
  
• If you're one of the people who doesn't want to help the people of Japan, then fuck you. Stop reading this blog and go blow your brains out. You don't deserve to draw breath on the same planet that I live on you slimy selfish bastard.
• When you cut the salaries of working people, attempt to legislate away their labor unions, and outsource their jobs, you shouldn't be surprised that no one is buying the products or services you're selling. You can make your widgets cheaply in China but you can't expect anyone to buy them if they have no money.
• I never thought I'd live to see the day when teachers, cops, garbage men, and other public employees were made out to be villains for simply asking that the terms of their employment be honored. We have to honor our contracts, why the hell do conservative politicians not want to honor the contracts we have with our public servants? I'd love to see the big business boosters work a garbage route, put out fires, help keep the peace, and or teach a class for a month. If they did then they'd all change their tunes and they'd push for raises for teachers, cops, firemen, and garbage men.
• If your god is so powerful and awesome, why do you not believe that he made gay people? Why do you find the idea that your god made some people gay and some people straight so outlandish? Perhaps it's because your god didn't make them at all because he doesn't exist.
  

That's about all I can stand to say right now, if I go deeper into any of those points my head might explode or I might go postal on the next idiot who tells me that our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are fighting for my rights. (They can't fight for my rights in Iraq and Afghanistan because I have no rights over there and neither does any other American, Canadian, or Brit.)

Now I leave you with this artsy edited photo of mine. Even in a world gone mad, one needs to appreciate art when one can.

Decisions have consequences

Historically the only time Israel makes any move towards peace is when Democratic administrations are in power in Washington DC, cases in point are the Camp David peace accords signed during the Carter years and the Arafat/Rabin peace accords signed during the Clinton years.
Why, you might be asking, is there nothing done when a Republican is in the White House? It's because the Republicans must placate their Christian base by allowing Israel to do anything it pleases because Jesus will get mad at them if they don't. Over simplification, sure, but not by much. Conservatives want to look like they are strong on the issues important to Bible humpers so they allow Israel to bring the big time crazy and oppress the Palestinians like there's no tomorrow when Republicans are in power. Reagan and Bush the Elder did nothing to reign in the excesses of abuse the Israelis heaped on the Palestinians in the 1980's and early '90's. And Falwell and Pat Robertson smiled and egged Israel on. A proxy war raged on in Beirut for years as a result and the first Intifada came to life during this time as well.

And then came the Bush the Idiot years when Israel was given carte blanche to do what ever they wanted and the chance to build on what President Clinton had accomplished. Being the idiot he was, Bush the Idiot turned his back on the diplomatic gains made in the Clinton years because, well, they were gains made by a Democrat and therefore they were to be repudiated. Israel also faced a choice during the early dark days of the Presidency of Bush the Idiot, they had the choice to make peace with the Palestinians and build on what Rabin and Arafat agreed to or they could pull back and put all their time and energy into turning their country into 'Fortress Israel,' a secure haven for Israelis, security related corporations, defense companies, and any Arab willing to accept being second class in what used to be an independent Arab country.

With more than a little persuasion from deep pocketed corporations, the Bush administration, and almost every member of Congress, Israel chose to stop building the road to peace and instead they hit the on ramp to the superhighway that led to Bat Shit Crazy Land. Defense contractors, along with companies that dealt with security and computers wept with joy when Israel made their decision because they knew that they'd be getting a huge chunk of the foreign aid that the USA shells out to Israel every year. Many of those companies already had their claws into the Pentagon budget and now they'd have their claws into the budget of Israel as well. All this is laid out much better in Naomi Klein's great book The Shock Doctrine.

So through the rest of the Bush years Israel treated the Palestinians with disdain and actively looked for ways to start using all the high tech weapons we'd been selling them and to use all the fancy defense and security related stuff they'd bought from our friendly corporations. They bombed Lebanon with the tacit approval of Dick Cheney, and the evangelicals over here cheered hoping that this would trigger their god into starting the Rapture and sending Jesus back. Instead it had the opposite effect, the bombings didn't cow Hezbollah or Hamas into rolling over and giving in to the combined might of the US and Jesus backed Israeli army. It instead made those organizations stronger.

And that of course pissed off Israel, Dick Cheney, and Pat Robertson and the rest of the wingnut evangelicals. So since shit rolls down hill Israel took their frustration out on the people living in the Gaza Strip. They cried that it was full of terrorists who needed to be dealt with harshly. Their solution for doing so was to try to starve the whole place out in hopes that the Palestinians who gained some measure of autonomy for the Gaza Strip under the Arafat Rabin accords would give up what little control they had and go running into the arms of their tormentors, the Israelis.

But it didn't work. So the Israeli government ordered a naval blockade. And things took a turn for the worse when food, medicine, and other essential became scarce. People started dying and those that didn't die were forced to live as if they were animals. And Bush the Idiot, then Obama, along with his war loving Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, all looked the other way and they shoved more and more aid money at Israel.

Thankfully though, not every country did what ours did. Not every religious group followed the bad example of the Christian evangelicals who blindly supported what ever Israel did. Some people decided that enough was enough and that it was time to stop Israel's apartheid and genocide against the Palestinians. So they organized a flotilla to bring aid to the people of the Gaza Strip.

And of course Israel attacked it. And of course Obama, Clinton, and all the right wing pundits support Israel's massacre and their decision to keep depriving people of their basic human rights. And Israel is becoming more isolated as a result of their decision to forgo peace making.

Israel is like the school yard bully who beats up everyone and then demands to know why no one wants to be their friend. And our government is the bad parent of that bully who chooses to look away while their kid terrorizes every one else.

I'm glad that Turkey, so far, is standing up to Israel and has said it will send ships from it's navy to protect the next flotilla. This whole issues of how badly the Israelis are treating the Palestinian people isn't a religious issue, it's a human rights issue. It's a question decency and if the so called civilized world is going to stand up to bullies who abuse others simply because they can. The Turks so far have said they won't let Israel get away with their bad behavior, too bad our country is too afraid to join them in doing the right thing.

This week in blame

It's time to check in and see who's blaming who for what this week!

The Roman Catholic Church is blaming the media, the gays, gay marriage, and young hot sweet super fine hairless smooth boys for all the sex scandals they're currently embroiled in.

Timmy Vanderhoufflen is blaming the scary Closet Monster for making him poop in his pants during his afternoon nap. If the monster hadn't scared him so bad he wouldn't have done it and that would have shown his step mommy that he was indeed a 'big boy' and that he deserved to go to McDonald's for supper. If he'd have remained poopy pants free then maybe she'd lay off the drinking and stop being mean to him and daddy all the god damned time. But no, that damn monster had to go and fuck things up for everybody.

Don Blankenship blamed the lazy good for nothing miners for fucking up his mine and causing that explosion in West Virginia. If those bastards hadn't insisted on well ventilated air shafts, then this whole tragedy could have been prevented.

These two hot Swedish women blame you for not stopping them from making out. If you had asked them to dance or bought them a drink then they would have totally gone back to your place and did what ever you wanted in bed.

The Israeli government is blaming the Palestinian people for not being nicer to them while they oppress them and force a 21st century version of Apartheid on them.

Dr. Steindler blames you for forgetting him.

Kate Winslet blames movie piracy for breaking up her marriage. If only you hadn't bought that pirated version of Titanic, then maybe she'd still be happily married today.

This tuna salad sandwich places the blame on the liberal media, permissive parenting, and mini skirts.

And that's this week in blame!

No nukes

So it turns out Iran is working on a nuclear bomb after all. And the pundits and the press are claiming it's President Obama's fault even though he's been in office for less than a year, which proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that nobody brings the crazy like the pundits and the press in this country.

For the eight years the preceded President Obama's ascension to the highest office in our land this country's policy was to not talk to countries we didn't like. And those countries were North Korea, Iran, and our former Reagan/Bush era ally Iraq. How'd that Bush era diplomacy work out for us? Oh yeah, it didn't. As we now know, they lied to us about Iraq so they could start a war to finish the one they didn't get right the first time and to subdue and force the Iraqis to bend to the will of our corporate overlords, North Korea is still a threat and is testing more missiles than it produces food for it's citizens, and Iran is developing a nuclear bomb.

So now everybody is up in arms because Bush once again was too busy deregulating markets, ignoring the needs of disaster victims, and screwing the poor and middle class to do what should have been done on the world stage. The heads of the G20 are sternly warning Iran that they'll face more sanctions unless they start behaving and drop their bomb making. And Israel has jumped in to the fray as well, their blowhard Prime Minister, who never met a Palestinian he didn't want to imprison, says that Iran must be subjected to severe sanctions. Crazy, huh.

First of all I'm all for Iran not having a nuclear bomb. I'm all for India and Pakistan not having any either. Same for Israel, France, Germany, Russia, and the USA. I want no country on the face of this earth to have a nuclear bomb because history has shown us that if we make one, we'll use one. We're fucking up this place fast enough without some jack ass country getting it's nose out of joint and nuking someone else over some bronze age religion disagreement.

Secondly, I'm all for severe sanctions on Iran but only if Israel faces the same sanctions over their treatment of the Palestinian people. What they are doing to the people of Palestine is genocide and those in power in Washington DC know it and they condone it.

Thirdly, any country caught making nukes again after complete disarmament will be forced to pack up and move to North Dakota during the dead of winter. A few months of life in that desolate hell hole will teach them to play nice and not build nukes again.

I know none of these things will ever be done but maybe, just maybe we can come to an agreement on the world stage using diplomacy instead of bluster. Maybe we can just laugh at the ass-hats like John Bolton and John McCain when they call for bombing instead of talking. Maybe we can have a Secretary of State who will step up and do some good for all of us and not just Blackwater, Haliburton, Wal Mart, Microsoft, and Pepsi/Coke for a change. And I say all that knowing that even that may be too much to ask of our corporate beholden leaders.

Playin' the Blame Game, or It's not mea culpa, it's youra culpa

There are world leaders who refuse to listen to their citizens.

There are world leaders who recklessly take their nation to war based on lies.

There are world leaders who have no compunction about sending male and female soldiers to their deaths and ruthlessly bombing innocent men, women, and children.

There are world leaders whose actions are so repugnant and despised by their citizens that many call for their impeachment and resignation.

There are world leaders who refuse to take responsibility for their warmongering. They blame others for the lousy way the wars are prosecuted. They hold themselves unaccountable to the citizens of their country.

And today, another world leader joins ours in the "I Took My Country To War Based On Lies, Sent Soldiers To Their Deaths For Nothing, Bombed And Maimed Thousands of Innocent People, But I Am Not Stepping Down Because It's Not My Fault The War Is Going Badly" club.

Ladies and Gentlemen, joining our idiot President in the Hall of Shame is:

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert!!!!!

Olmert blames his disastrous and unpopular war squarely on the Israeli Army. Maybe our President can learn a thing or two from this guy.