Saturday, January 31, 2009

Political Notes

Frank Kratovil voted against (that's right, against) the stimulus bill in the House. You may recall that Krtovil is the freshman Democratic congressman from MD-District 1 whose victory over GOP candidate Andy Harris can in large part be attributed to the endorsement by incumbent Republican Wayne Gilchrest, himself endorsed by former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, House Minority leader John Boehner, and former MD Lt. Gov. and now Chairman of the RNC, Michael Steele.

And that's not even the funniest thing. The funniest thing is that had Wayne Gilchrest defeated Andy Harris (thanks again to Gingrich, et. al.), he would have voted FOR the stimulus package.

So Kratovil, a Democrat representing a district of so-called Republicans, takes one issue off the table when he faces his next challenger in 2010. He was able to do so because idiot Republicans across the country worked hard to defeat themselves either by being transparently opportunistic, or just plain liberal. And they were replaced by Democrats, and DNC machines. The Democratic leadership whether in the majority or not coldly calculates which members of the party may vote against the party. And it makes sense that Kratovil would have been given this pass.

But what does Kratovil have to worry about? He's got the entire Libertarian vote and most of the Eastern Shore "Republicans" to see him through the next election!

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Israeli Children?

Letter to the Editor of the Annapolis Kapital (Sunday, 1-25-09):

I must take issue with Saul Friedman's taking issue with his rabbi's letter in defense of Israel's right to self-defense, a right Mr. Friedman would deny Israel and her brave people. Why? Because "there's no excuse for killing children." Except, of course, if you are a Palestinian. Now Mr. Friedman's position is hardly new nor is the use of children and other innocents to attack Israel and defend Hamas. But I have been looking for an excuse to write about this subject and this letter seemed to fill the bill.

I read his letter while dipping what my Lebanese grandmother called Syrian bread and butter into a cup of coffee (if Mr. Friedman can invoke his heritage, so can I). I find it inconceivable that anyone who has "covered" the Arab-Israeli conflict since the Yom Kippor War would remain under the illusion that Israel is somehow to blame. I have never been to Israel but I somehow understand the concept of self-defense. I don't know whether Mr. Friedman would allow someone to store missiles, rockets, guns and ammunition in his house, and use his house to attack his neighbor. Apparently he believes it is OK for the Palestinians to do this.

At the same time, we should thank Mr. Friedman for revealing to the hundreds of Kapital readers what his "journalism" really means. With this letter he formally joins the ranks of the "fake-but-accurate" gang in the main stream media. Teachers will no longer be able to pass his stuff off as objective reporting, not with a straight face anyway.

More Journalists of his era should follow his lead and simply declare themselves raving advocates of the liberal agenda. Maybe Mr. Friedman will be honored by the repressive and radical Hamas regime, like Herbert L. Matthews of the New York Times by Castro, with a small monument on a hill overlooking what used to be Israel: "For his vital role in convincing Western opinion that the Holy Land was infested by the Jew, making it easier for the forces of Islam to cleanse the land of this infestation and return it to the people of Mohammed."

For the liberals in the West the destruction of the state of Israel is the only alternative. Only then will Hamas and Hezbolla have no targets for their missiles and suicide bombers, save themselves. And who will really care if Palestinians and Lebanese shoot, burn and hack each other to death? Mr. Friedman? No. Suddenly then, the children won't really matter much.