By John Ballard
I have to agree with Dave and Steve about swmming in an ocean of stupidity. It does make blogging seem like banging your head on the wall.
If I had a sharper sense of humor I would try to be funny but that takes gifts I don't have. Writers like Art Buchwald and Molly Ivins are treasures at times like these.
If either of them were alive they would jump at a story like this.
Congress Moves To Punish Palestinians, But Even Israel Objects
Lawmakers Falling Over One Another to Prove Pro-Israel CredentialsWASHINGTON � A congressional drive to punish the Palestinian Authority for its statehood bid by cutting American aid is being greeted with enthusiasm by lawmakers of both parties.
But the White House is giving the move a cold shoulder, and even Israel itself and its strongest supporters have serious reservations. The legislation being discussed in Congress would cut all or part of the nearly $600 million annual aid package if Palestinians move ahead with their plan to seek statehood at the United Nations.
Lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle are falling over one another to show their support for Israel. Most observers, however, believe the move is more about political grandstanding than serious policymaking.
�Everybody knows the U.S. Congress is the most pro-Israel parliamentary body in the world,� former president Bill Clinton told ABC News. �They don�t have to demonstrate that.�
In a remarkable incident, The New York Times reported that the White House even turned to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to help keep aid flowing to the Palestinians.
Netanyahu, described by the newspaper as a �singularly influential lobbyist,� recently interceded with one pro-Israel representative to convince Congress to complete a $50 million aid transfer to the Palestinian Authority, the Times reported.
I can't count the number of times I have posted about Palestinian issues, but nearly every time I have included a sad aside that most Americans haven't a clue about the facts or personalities involved.
Former NY Mayor Ed Koch put his finger exactly on the challenge...
�Jews are only 2 percent of the American population,� Koch acknowledged (warned?), �but God put them in Florida and Pennsylvania�where their votes are extremely important.�
When the Prime Minister of Israel lobbies for the Palestinian Authority you can be sure something important is happening and Congress hasn't a clue.
Anyone who has followed the president since his campaign is not shocked. He has been diplomatically cool toward Israel while remaining within the bounds of protocol. And by finding a way to justify a US veto of a Palestinian effort for official recognition at the United Nations (it would mean one member state occupying another sovereign member state, or some such nonsense...nothing like having Libya chair the human rights council, though) the president is once more trying to thread a diplomatic needle.
One would think he could expect the support of Congress in this international matter, at least the support of his own party, but one would be wrong.
The problem is a lot of Americans elect people who are just as dumb as they are!
ReplyDelete>> ...nothing like having Libya chair the [UN] human rights council, though
ReplyDeleteIs this the Libya the US paid untold millions to, so they could fly suspected terrorists there for torture, or the Libya the US and Europe just spent several months bombing, supposedly to prevent them from committing atrocities on their fellow Libyans?
/snark