Random insights from the stoop

Did you see where our FM Joly made a surprise kissy-face visit to China? All of a sudden we’re trying to forge better relations? Looks to me like the commies aren’t content to meddle in our politics at the local constituency level; no, they’re trying to manipulate the upper echelon of the Liberal Party! How does that jibe with the gird-your-loins-for-war-with-China mantra that’s been coming out of Official Ottawa for about the last ten years? It doesn’t! That’s just one of the many puzzles I try to puzzle out as I while away the hours on the stoop. It was a good day for watching the buzzards soar. Just the right combination of sunshine and breeze that these amazing creatures could literally soar for hours without flapping their wings. The Zen of buzzard watching. Last night I watched the closing ceremonies of the RNC convention in Milwaukee. That’s when they bring out the heavy hitters. Kid Rock. Dana White. Hulk Hogan. The Orange Ogre himself for the grand finale. The entire spectacle proved yet again my theory that the more remote actual democracy becomes, the greater the importance of Democracy Theatre! And next week will provide a bonanza of food for thought; the Greatest Leader since Moses will arrive in Washington to address the US congress, where he will be treated to multiple standing ovations. That’s hilarious, considering everybody from the far right to the far left hates his guts in Israel. Democracy is a bitch! But I digress… back to the stoop. Once in awhile there’s some traffic passing by. Sometimes it’s a $750,000 John Deere towing another half-million combo of seed-drill and chemical tanks. The big cash-croppers like to bathe their crops in chemicals from seeding to harvest. What freaks me out is how often the kid piloting that train is looking at his cellphone. Other times it just the local youngsters, driving solo to their jobs at the stone quarries in their V8 pickup trucks. You’d think they’d at least car pool. Here’s another mystery. Why do some people who ride Harleys insist on having loud stereos? I’ve always loved the Harley sound. It’s music in its own right. Tonight a guy comes roaring along with CCR blasting so loud coming around the bend I heard John Fogarty before I heard the bike! That’s just not right! Some things just shouldn’t go together. I like getting mellow with a doobie and a beer. I like scenic drives in the countryside. But putting them together wrecks both experiences… and possibly wrecks your car too. So, keep life simple, is my advice. Count your blessings, not your grievances.

Netanyahu wanted another war and he got it

Anyone who follows Israeli politics is well acquainted with a recurring theme in the career of The Greatest Leader Since Moses; when his political fortunes are on the down-tick, Netanyahu turns up the dial on violence so he can pose as the strongman who can teach the Palestinians a sharp lesson and bring security to the Holy Land. Works like a charm… or at least it has till now. At this point, there is no reason to assume this time is different. Bibi’s desperation to form a government after the last election resulted in him forming alliances with the most racist and extremist settler factions. The shocking deterioration of Palestinian living conditions since the current coalition took power has been obvious to everyone. Settler extremists have had a green light to terrorize Palestinians across the occupied territories. Hardly a day goes by without Palestinians dying at the hands of settler extremists and/or their IDF protectors. The repeated violations of long-standing protocols around access to Al Aqsa has inflamed Palestinian rage, and is cited by Hamas spokespersons as the rationale for launching the current attack. Supposedly, the Hamas offensive took Israel by complete surprise. I find that hard to believe. Every Palestinian resistance entity since the creation of Israel has been thoroughly riddled with spies and collaborators. Israel has enormous advantages in technical surveillance capabilities. It is far more plausible that Israeli intelligence was fully aware this attack was coming, and chose to let it happen. Why? Within 18 hours of the attack, opposition leaders Lapid and Gantz have already agreed to participate in an “Emergency Government.” Just imagine; full support across the entirety of the political spectrum for Netanyahu! You can bet those massive anti-government protests we’ve been seeing for months are over for the foreseeable future. So what happens next? For the moment, Netanyahu has a mandate to unleash extreme vengeance against the Palestinian resistance. But the “what-ifs” are ominous. What if Hezbollah enters the war? There’s been numerous senior IDF officials over the years warning that Hezbollah has a missile stockpile of hundreds of thousands capable of striking anywhere in Israel. What if Iran enters the war? Iran is but the most vocal state supporter of both Hamas and Hezbollah. There are others, and if push comes to shove, even Arab states that have been working at normalizing relations with Israel will be forced to take sides. And let’s not forget that both Russia and China have been stitching up mutual defense agreements with Iran. What if Israel needs to call on its ultimate enabler, the United States, to make good on its promise to ensure Israel will get everything it needs to prevail? Isn’t that the same promise they’ve been making to Ukraine for over a year and a half? And how’s that going? Netanyahu has upped the ante as never before. We live in interesting times.

Bye-bye Bibi

I've been waiting to write those words for quite some time, so this should be a happy day. While I'll miss mocking The Greatest Leader Since Moses, there are storm clouds on the horizon.

First of all, I don't see Bennett and the Arab list co-existing in the same coalition more than a few weeks, or at least till Netanyahu is safely out of the picture. Then there'll be another election.

What I said a few years ago, that in the current climate Bibi is a moderate, is going to be proven true.  The next new government after the new government forming today will shed the Arabs and the "centrists," bind with the post-Bibi Likud, and take Israel even further right, if such a thing can be imagined.

Secondly, we're in the midst of a sea-change in US public opinion. Last week I saw a headline on MSNBC that read, "Israel needs to address the Palestinians in a new way. We need to address Israel in a new way."

That's MSNBC, folks.

There are words going into the Congressional Record these days that could not even have been imagined before the Biden government came in. Those in denial will say that's just because he's pandering to the radical wing of the party.

He is! But that's what should be cause for second thoughts among the Israeli political class. Traditionally, the party pandered to its Jewish wing.

A further tilt to the extreme right, just as American support is wavering, is a disaster waiting to happen.

Brou-ha-ha in Holy Land

Long time Bibiphiles are sporting arched eyebrows over this story.

The Greatest Leader Since Moses has been in court testifying in the libel case he launched against journalist Yigal Sarna.

According to Sarna, the Netanyahu motorcade was travelling at high speed late at night between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv when it suddenly screeched to a halt.

The leader of the only democracy in the Middle East was unceremoniously kicked out of his armoured limousine in a hail of verbal abuse.

By his wife!

Luckily for the future of the only democracy in the Middle East, he was picked up by one of the following SUVs in the motorcade.

Sorry Bibi. Anyone who has followed your life and times will recognize that this story has the ring of truth about it, and your vehement denials just make it ring truer!

Al Qaeda terrorists discovered in Israeli ambulance

Here's a confusing story out of occupied Golan in Syria.

Seems a Druze mob ransacked an IDF ambulance that was ferrying wounded al-Nusra fighters to an Israeli medical facility for treatment. Also inside the ambulance were two IDF soldiers, presumably there to protect the terrorists from the Druze mob.

Here's what the Greatest Leader Since Moses had to say about it;

"This is a very grave incident. We will not permit anybody to take the law into their own hands, and we will not allow anyone to hamper Israeli soldiers in the course of their duty," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
"I call on Druze leaders to act immediately to calm tensions."

Isn't that rich! The Golan Druze, under illegal Israeli occupation since 1967, are expected to stand by while the IDF supports the al Qaeda franchise in Syria!

At least the PM inadvertently confirmed something many have suspected; that it is part of an IDF soldiers duty to support al- Nusra Front. 

Bibi feints right, goes left

Oh, he's a sly one, that Netanyahu!

When the IDF took out that Hezbollah convoy in Syria on 18 January, we thought, "here we go!" It's Netanyahu with his predictable pre-election escalation. It's the time-tested Netanyahu strategy of shaping the landscape in such a way that he makes himself look like the indispensable "strong hand."

Even Israelis who loathe Netanyahu fall for that one again and again.

But the wily fox seems to be taking a different tack. After the 100% predictable Hezbollah retaliation of the past week, we expected Southern Lebanon to be consumed in fire and brimstone. Instead, we get some vaguely conciliatory verbiage about how back-channel messages from Nasrallah indicate that Hezbollah is not wanting an escalation...

What the hell is that all about? Has the Greatest Leader Since Moses gone soft?

So aside from the immediate bombardment of a few Lebanese border villages, there has been no retaliation for the Hezbollah attack, and for the moment at least, it appears that the PM is treating this as a balanced ledger.

Not only that, but today we learn that Israel is cooperating in an investigation into the death of that Spanish peace-keeper who died in that initial retaliation.

Bibi cooperating in an international investigation of Israel?

There you have it! Bibi the "strong hand" is yesterday's man...

He has remade himself as a man of peace, moderation, and reconciliation, just in time for the election!