Oh boy....

It’s been a while since I’ve posted. My only excuse is that I’m a bit overwhelmed by current events. We’re in the middle of a long, hot week here in Chi-Town and, as John Stewart so aptly put it, World War 3 has started. It’s a stunning situation in the Middle East, as the US stands by as Israel pummels two of its neighbors into submission, hoping to… well, what really? Apparently the way you tamp down extremism in neighboring nations is to absolutely destroy everything that keeps those nations viable and hope that moderate, quiet, sane voices pop out of the rubble. Good idea! Because that’s exactly what happened in Russia and Germany after the destruction of World War One. When even the sickeningly pro-Israel New York Times even admits there’s no “end game” for Israel, you know something’s up. Check out this opinion piece on salon.com. http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2006/07/15/fourpairs/.

I’m also noticing, perhaps for the first time on my own, how Israel routinely destroys the Palestinians and other Arab states in the propaganda war. Consistently, pictures out of Lebanon and the Gaza Strip are off things blowing up: bridges, roads or airports. Pictures out of Israel, where the human and infrastructure toll is much lower, routinely are of people injured or emergency workers. This gives pro-Israel forces a people-less, faceless template on which to protect “terrorist” or militant onto, while at the same time lamenting the woes of the Israeli public. The contrast between Israeli soldier being kidnapped and Hamas “militants” being “arrested” by Israel (even though many were/are cabinet members, bureaucrats, or parliamentarians is another example of Israel’s ability to win the message war.

But thank God our President is on it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/17/world/middleeast/17cnd-prexy.html?hp&ex=1153195200&en=a7e3c497aacdb9ec&ei=5094&partner=homepage

We’re doomed.