You can't make this stuff up; read all about Mel Gibson's drunken, anti-semetic tirade here.

(Thanks SLT for post heading.)

I don't mean to go all Jew on you. I just think this is hysterically funny. I used to really like Mel Gibson. I mean, Lethal Weapon? Come on! Great movie! I'd like to also reference Mad Max, except I'd be lying if I said I'd seen the Mad Max films, but hey, I hear they're great too. I even liked him in the M. Night Shyamalan movie where he wore the tin foil hat.

But he lost me with the Passion of the Christ, a film predicated on the premise that one should take the bible literally. Even occasional readers of APW know how we feel about that (Annie provides this quote, from a sign out front of a church local to her: "We take the bible seriously, not literally.")

I guess the moral here is twofold: (1) stupid is as stupid does; and (2) Actors should not be allowed to speak their own words.

"What other country, when attacked in an unprovoked aggression across a recognized international frontier, is then put on a countdown clock by the world, given a limited time window in which to fight back, regardless of whether it has restored its own security?"

That's the first paragraph of a finely articulated piece yesterday from Charles Krauthammer, a conservative with whom I generally vociferously disagree. But he's right on the money, and you can read the rest of it, among other places, here.

********

By the way, I'm thinking of repositioning this blog, and moving away from most everything but music, which is the most fun for me. Opinions?

Labels: The politics

If there are 72 virgins waiting for me when I die, I'm going to feel really stupid.

Labels: The politics

The current conflict with Israel and Hezbollah has left Israelis in a profound state of depression. My friend David, who's aunt lives there and reported back to him, calls this the end of hope.

See, all along, so many Israelis bought into the myth. If only there could be a Palestinian state. If only Israel withdrew from Gaza, from southern Lebanon. If only Israel adhered to a set of conditions; if Israel did A, B, and C, there would be peace. So said the Nation of Islam.

So Israel did A, did B, did C. But still there is no peace. Because, to the profound sadness of millions of Israelis, and Jews and good people the world over, all the Israelis did was call the bluff of the Nation of Islam. The kidnapping of these Israeli soldiers-- thugs coming across the border and into Israel, then retreating back-- was designed to send a clear message to the Jews. You are not safe here. Not now, not ever. Not as long as there is an Israel.

See, the bojive about a Palestinian state was all just a crock. This has never been about a Palastinian State. (What is a Palestinian, anyway? An Arab Muslim. Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, all fine Palestinian states right now.) No, this has always been about the Jewish state. The Nation of Islam will not be satisfied until there is no Jewish state, until Israel has been subsumed by the Nation of Islam. If you don't believe that, read the Hezbollah charter (or the Hamas charter, or the Al Qaeda charter.) Fundamentalist Islam believes that the entire world must be part of the nation of Islam. This is why there is conflict every place in the world that the NoI abuts a non-Islamic nation; and it is why the existence of Israel in the heart of the Middle East is so particularly repellent to them.

(Note: I have a copy of the Hezbollah charter in an anthology of writings on Islam. Oddly, I can't seem to find a copy of the charter anywhere on the internet; if you can, shoot me the link. I looked here, at the official English language version of the hezbollah website. Even they don't publish it (but you can order some cool t-shirts from them!) But I'll bottom line it: non-Islam infidels, elimination, blah blah blah.)

If you visit the Hezbollah website, you'll see that they always put quotation marks around the word "Israel" (like I just did.) The implications of that could not be any clearer.

There will never be peace in the Middle East, not ever, as long as there is an Israel.

This has never been more true: If the NoI stopped fighting, there would be no war. If Israel stopped fighting, there would be no Israel. The truth has been laid bare for all the world to see, and it is a sad time for the Israelis.

American media couldn't be more clueless about this (or, really, anything.) To even ask if Israeli response was justified, is to miss the point. It doesn't matter what the Israelis do. The Muslims will keep coming until Israel is gone.

Labels: The politics