Category: Politics

Netanyahu: Where was he on Holocaust Remembrance Day?


For a man who has made a career out of reminding the world that Jews are victims, he was unconscionably silent on the Trump Holocaust Remembrance Day statement.

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Remember that statement? The one that didn’t mention the 6 million Jews that were systematically murdered by the Third Reich? The one that dog-whistled to neonazis, white supremacists, and anti-Semites all over the nation? The one that Weasel Kushner was also unimaginably mute about?

I’m not sure Netanyahu has taken it to heart that most American Jews can’t stand Trump. That 76% of professed Jews, including Zionist Jews such as myself, voted against the nascent dictator.

I wonder how Bibi’s feeling today, now that, seemingly on whim, Trump has reversed himself on the matter of Israeli settlements.Maybe Trump’s getting back at the American Jewish community for opposing him.

I hope that the hawkish Jews who voted for Trump finally realize that they can’t count on his support of Israel’s right. After the events of recent days, I can’t see why any of our allies would feel that they can count on Der GropenFuehrer. He has no core principles, other than his narcissism, and toadying to that is not even a guarantee of a good outcome. Just ask Chris Christie.

Feeling betrayed, Mr. Prime Minister?

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Trump’s remarks on Black History Month


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Official transcript of remarks:

“I’d like to think about some black people that were very, very  important in my life.

“Michael Jackson, maybe my favorite black person, he was a big, big fan of Trump and the Trump empire, we were going to work on some projects when he was tragically killed by his doctor. His doctor, do you know, graduated magna cum laude and was the son of poor farmers? You see what black people can do when they’re not getting handouts from lying Hillary and her friends?

“Then there’s Sheriff David Clarke, who predicted I would get more of the black vote than Romney, he was right, I got 8% while loser Romney only got 6%. That’s a 33% increase! He’s not politically correct. We’re tired of politically correct. David, great guy, he says things not politically correct about the black community, which in Wisconsin, let me tell you, takes a tremendous amount of guts. Tremendous amount. Clarke likes me, a terrific guy. I wanted to make him National Sheriff. I might still.

“But, hey,  this is about history.

“Who can remember childhood without Aunt Jemima? I can’t! Best pancakes, teriffic syrup, ever. Bigly . I was so happy to have those pancakes in the morning. I even called the black women who served me “Aunt Jemima”. It also made it easy because I could use one name for all of them. Those ladies were terrific, they really loved me.

“And entertainment? When Americans started having talking movies, what was the first one? The Jazz Singer. We had Al Jolson, who by the way was Caucasian and Jewish, I also like Jews, I hired my Jewish son-in-law Jared to be an advisor, I really wanted him for treasurer, but .. Anyway, when Al Jolson sang in the movies what did he do? That’s right, he put on blackface. That’s how much we admire black people, that when the first person sings in movies, that person should be black, even if they’re not.

“Bill Cosby. Who has done more to make Black people look like real Americans than the Huxtables? Except for Omorosa who I think actually had more TV viewers than Cosby, I know I read that somewhere.

“Look around. There are African-Americans everywhere. They have been at the forefront of sports. They have worked for Trump organizations. They even worked at my casinos, which means I was able to teach them to count money almost as well as Jews, as well as helping them not be lazy, and it’s really sad that they’re born with that laziness trait, but I’m willing to help them with this disability and do I ever get credit? No, the fake news stations just try to make it look like I have a bad relationship with the blacks.

“And peanuts! Would peanuts exist if George Washington Carver hadn’t invented them? What would American kids eat for lunch ? He does great work, that Professor Carver. Lots of people say so. I think we will be seeing more and more of him.  And it shows that Black people can overcome their laziness and make something of themselves. Entertainers, sports figures. Boxers. But not tenants. They don’t make good tenants. Don’t rent to them. Unless the court forces you to. Then do it. But don’t admit wrongdoing.

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tRump Makes Good on Campaign Promise to Commit War Crimes


“The other thing with the terrorists is you have to take out their families, when you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families.They care about their lives, don’t kid yourself. When they say they don’t care about their lives, you have to take out their families.”

— Drumpf on Fox and Friends on Dec. 2, 2015.

In his first military action, Twittler managed to both keep his promise to violate the Geneva Convention and to screw up bigly.  According to a senior military source in contact with NBC, “almost everything went wrong.”

Once again, our new president was firing from the hip, shooting without thinking first. Only this time, they were real guns, and at least two Americans were killed, one sailor and one 8-year old child. William Owens will be mourned and honored, as he should be. However, as the daughter of a American-borne,  radicalized jihadist, there may be few in this country that mourn the death of Nawar al-Awlaki. I hope that we, with all of our power, remember that no child chooses the circumstances of his or her birth.

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Navy Seal William “Ryan” Owens, 36, and Nawar al-Awlaki, an American citizen.

Article 51.2 of the Geneva Convention states: “The civilian population as such, as well as individual civilians, shall not be the object of attack. Acts or threats of violence the primary purpose of which is to spread terror among the civilian population are prohibited.” The article does not say that collateral deaths are a war crime. It says that you can’t target civilians. Reasonable precautions have to be taken, and a small, even important target cannot justify, purposeful slaughter of non-combatants.

The Founding Fathers were against having a standing army, in the belief that its existence encourages its use. I think we no longer have the luxury of not having one, but if we are going to follow the intent of the Framers, as many suggest we do, we’d be far more in tune with their vision by being substantially less bellicose. And until the burden currently borne by military families is spread evenly among the population, the desire to flex our muscle should be tempered with much greater empathy and foresight than have been shown in the last 16 years

I confess without shame that I am tired & sick of war. Its glory is all moonshine. Even success, the most brilliant is over dead and mangled bodies […] It is only those who have not heard a shot, nor heard the shrills & groans of the wounded & lacerated (friend or foe) that cry aloud for more blood & more vengeance, more desolation & so help me God as a man & soldier I will not strike a foe who stands unarmed & submissive before me but will say ‘Go sin no more.’

–William Tecumseh Sherman

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Jews We Wish Were Gentile: Jared Kushner


First of all, I want to explain the title of this and similar posts.

As Jews, we are instinctively defensive. History has given us plenty of cause to be wary. Current events, such as the President Drumpf’s failure to mention Jews in the Holocaust are not very reassuring. We have a general feeling of  being exposed and vulnerable. Remember the scene in “Annie Hall” where Woody Allen’s character goes to visit Diane Keaton’s family? If you don’t. . .

 

 

 

The corollary to this is the collective belief that, ultimately, that we are  responsible for our own survival and well-being. Assimilation with the dominant culture will not protect us. Institutions and laws will protect us, but only up to a limit.

Add to that the tendency of a minority to either feel collective guilt or feel that collective guilt is being put upon the entire minority. Do you worry whether or not your state was on the right side of the Civil War, even though your great-great grandparents were still stuck in European ghettos? When Bernie Madoff was arrested, did part of you say, “Aw shit, did he have to be Jewish?”

So no, it’s not my responsibility, it’s not my fault, it shouldn’t reflect anything on me or any other Jew that Jared Kushner is one of Drumpf’s closest advisors. It shouldn’t reflect on me that his multi-millionaire father engaged in fraud and witness intimidation. It shouldn’t say anything bad about any of us that Kushner had Chris Christie sacked for doing his job as New Jersey Attorney General and sending his dad to prison.

But we feel like it does. And in the minds of many others, it does. When a member of a minority does something we don’t like, there is a tendency of too many in the population to attribute collective blame to the entire group.

In any case, Kushner’s sycophantic silence on Drumpf’s Holocaust Memorial Day statement, a statement that purposefully fails to mention the Jewish victims of the “Final Solution,” shows how little he has learned from being Jewish, in spite of purportedly being Orthodox and observant. He is an embarrassment, and his presence in the White House should be upsetting to Jews who take seriously the commandment to improve the world.

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How long till he grows a conscience, if ever? Does he have Bannon over for dinner?
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POSSIBLE DNC HACKER DETAINED IN PRAGUE: WHY ISN’T THIS STORY GETTING MORE PRESS IN THE US?


An cyber attacker wanted by both the FBI and the Kremlin: Is it the Cold War all over again? Will Drumpf do his good friend Vlad a solid and let Yevgeny Nikulin escape the American justice system?

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A casual reader of La Repubblica, one of Italy’s biggest newspapers, might have come across this article,

imagining that the possible DNC Election Hacker would be of great interest in the US. However, I wasn’t able to find much at all, just a scattering of articles around the globe. The only news items an American would have been likely to find were from the Washington Times (NOT the Washington Post, but the much smaller and definitely right-leaning newspaper that was founded in the 80s by Reverend Sun Myung Moon) and  from the Guardian. The story broke in October, that is, before the election, and has remained more or less out of the news until yesterday’s article in La Repubblica.

But while Nikulin is suspected in major cyber attacks in the US, Russia says that he is also wanted there for cyber theft of about 1500 Euros. There is clearly a great difference in the severity of the crimes. The article in La Repubblica hints that the crime in Russia is so insignificant  in comparison with the one in the US, that one can’t help but wonder if the Russian claim is real, or merely a bogus claim from his employers or enablers, charged to keep him from falling into American hands. The Czechs are puzzling over a charge would give Nikulin a slap on the wrist versus a possible 30-year jail sentence in the US:  are Putin’s efforts to draw Hungary away from Europe and towards Moscow are being duplicated in Prague? (Both the Czech Republic and Hungary are former Warsaw Pact nations that have since joined NATO.)

We probably won’t know how forcefully Drumpf will try and prevail in this case, or if he’ll even try at all. Pray for some reliable leaks to major US newspapers. Without them we won’t know how much the FBI and CIA were willing to go along with the new president,  should he decide to let the Russians have Mr Nikulin. I imagine, James Comey’s perfidious actions notwithstanding, that there are many in our own intelligence community that would like to see him brought to court in the US.

Stay tuned, stay vigilant.

 

 

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Off Wisconsin: Fighting Drumpf at the State Level


So many boycott targets. . .

I really hate to take things out on the employees of companies and residents of states. Who gets hurt? Do the boycotts make any difference?

I don’t have the answers to these questions, and I’d like my behavior to be based on facts rather than feelings. I also believe that engagement is better than stand-off, but I also have decreasing faith in the ability of certain fellow Americans to substantively engage in political discourse. The unshakable belief that Obama is a Muslim traitor, that FEMA has concentration camps, that Cheetolini is a good businessman don’t augur well for enlightenment.

So what to do? Unfortunately, we’re in that position, where in addition to the rational stuff–peaceful protest followed by actions that impede the growth of the plutocrcay–has to be supplemented by those actions, which is successful, can bring about consequences to those who would rather smite us than compromise us. By “us” I mean the left, the liberals, the progressives, the patriots who repudiate nationalism, those of us who see that we have often failed to live up to our ideals and that to be great we must continually strive to be great.

Who should we target? The list  of states I don’t want to spend my money in grows ever longer. North Carolina seems particularly deserving of being shunned, in light of the recent legislative coup attempt by losers who refuse to accept the outcome of an election. Mississippi? A perennial target, and as long as it continues to glorify the Confederacy, it’s certainly worth avoiding on my list of potential convention sites. (On the other hand, I’ve never been to Mississippi, and I hardly know anyone who has ever visited there, so it’s not like they’ll notice my absence.)

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North Dakota, for the governor’s fascist response to peaceful, unarmed protest? Wyoming, for choosing Lucifer’s spawn for their one congressperson?

Naaah, I’m going for the Big Cheese. Yup, Wisconsin. America’s Former Dairyland.

I am picking Wisconsin as the state to avoid, boycott, shun, shame and otherwise put to the bottom of the list.

In a later post, I’ll explain why. But you can guess at one of the reasons…markymunster210

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Back From Haiti


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Vibrio cholerae bacterium

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American Aid Worker Kate Bartow addresses a crowd following the recent unrest.

Was I safe?

The week before I arrived, Guy Philippe, a leader in the 2004 coup to overthrow the government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, was arrested on drug trafficking charges and extradited to the United States. Seen by some as an affront to the nation’s sovereignty, there were protests in Haiti, and several groups felt it necessary to evacuate their missionaries or aid workers, or else had them seek shelter among United Nations forces. The arrest was also seen as a last-chance effort to apprehend Philippe, as he was days away from being sworn in as a Senator, which would have rendered him immune to prosecution (senators in Haiti have passed a law which places them above the law.)

I was blissfully unaware of all of this before I left.  My family was even more unaware. If they had read this account from the NY Times they would have been driving me crazy with phone calls and warning me not to go. My cousin Nettie would have said, “Are you CRAZY?” and my older sister would have been yelling at me on the phone. The article wasn’t published until the day after I left  ( a week after the event), highlighting its relative lack of importance in the American mind, especially in the run-up to the Disastrous Inauguration. The arrest was reported a week earlier by the BBC and the Miami Herald.

Haiti is a small country, only slightly larger than Vermont. However, distances are much greater than they would be in the US due to the conditions of the roads. The problems that occurred were far from where I spent my time. My presence in Haiti was relatively cloistered, and if I hadn’t been told about these events I would not have learned of them otherwise in the course of my visit.

Haiti disbanded its military in 1995, partially in response to military coups, partially out of financial necessity. There is a national police force, and the United Nations peacekeeping forces have been in the country for over a decade for police and stability operations. The UN forces are viewed by some as occupiers, and they are responsible as well for the current cholera epidemic. UN soldiers reintroduced cholera to Haiti following the 2010 earthquake, and though on the decline, the disease continues to cause morbidity and mortality.

 

The term “basket case” arose during WWI as a rather cruel way to refer to a quadruple amputee. It now refers to something or someone that is such a mess that it is unable to help itself, most often a person who is suffering from a mental or emotional problem that renders him or her less than functional. 

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Stupid GropenFuehrer Supporter Quote of the Day:


From Dick Hotopp via Facebook Page “Donald Trump for President”:

The bozo in chief has all our carriers in port. Pre planned war before Trump takes over? You Americans who support that black bastard you call president need to have your heads examined.

And by the way:

We love you, Meryl Streep.

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News Blackout, Day 4, 16 left.


I’m trying to avoid the annoying, and I realize that for the moment the best thing I can do is concentrate on my home and kids, and get ready for the onslaught. Living in MA, my vote doesn’t make a whole lot of difference, so I need to figure out what I can do that will keep the next 4 years from being normalized.

In the meantime, it’s more music. I’ve been reexamining the Prelude and Fugue in F minor from Book II of JS Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier. I’d recommend a performance, but I can’t find one online that I really like.

Here’s Bernie Sanders conducting the choral works (not really).

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And it’s only 39 days until pitchers and catchers report.

 

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