Wednesday, June 28, 2017

TRUMP VERSUS MUELLER


It seems odd that the new President of the United States, the Commander in Chief of our military, is a man who dodged the draft during the Vietnam War. He was a rich kid with a rich influential father who managed to get out of the draft. It was typical Trumpism. Why do what you can get others to do for you? It was supposedly because he had bone spurs in his feet. Really? There was no mention of bone spurs in the glowing health report that he got from his doctor during the election. He did not serve. He did not run away to Canada (at least those guys had a cause). Donald’s cause was running out to make money with questionable business practices, a precursor to fake Trump University and stiffing employees and small business contractors.

Now Trump’s people are starting to malign Robert Mueller who is heading the investigation into Putin’s attack on the American election process to favor his preferred candidate, Trump. Unlike Donald, Mueller enlisted in the Marines during the Vietnam War, risked his life, was wounded, returned to service when his wound healed, and was decorated for bravery.

Mueller has a strong reputation for honesty, integrity, and impartiality. Trump on the other hand blatantly lies which is obvious to anyone who listens to what he says and tweets.

Yet a certain group of loyal Trumpers continue to believe his BS. Abraham Lincoln said you can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time. It seems Trump’s loyal followers are the some of the people.

 

Sunday, June 4, 2017

BDS


I am opposed to BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions). I am critical of the extreme Right in Israel (as well as among Jews here in America and the Diaspora), but BDS does nothing to improve the problem between Israel and Palestine. In fact, it aggravates the problem. Also, it assumes that the Palestinian Arabs are innocent victims, and Israelis are aggressors which is not true. In spite of their conflicting interests, Israelis and Palestinians also have interests in common which I believe actually outweigh their differences. BDS works against those common interests and often targets academic and artistic Israelis who are most interested in promoting peace while giving the most far Right ammunition to promote the idea that peace and fairness are impossible. Although I do not look with favor at the Settlement movement because of its negative effect on Israel, there have been instances where BDS has caused Palestinian unemployment by boycotting combined Settlement/Palestinian businesses and Settlement businesses that employ Palestinians. BDS is not a movement to promote peace or fairness but rather a movement that seeks to destroy Israel and in the process does nothing for the real interests of the average Palestinian.