No in Thunder!

I’m sure Leslie Fiedler will forgive me using one of his titles for a good cause. Now is a good time for that famous line, “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.” I sincerely hope President Obama is listening, I’m sure that out of the apparent 156 million blogs in the world he follows this one religiously. Israel, once again, is threatening to illegally attack Iran to prevent them from developing a nuclear bomb they are most probably not developing. At least there is no solid evidence they are, they deny they are, but they continue stubbornly to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes which they are legally entitled to do. They may be enriching uranium in such a way as to make it possible for them to make a bomb in the future, something they will almost surely do if they are attacked by Israel. Even if they did develop a bomb they are not going to use it against Israel or the United States. Israel knows this, of course, but they claim Iran is an existential threat to them anyway. This is little more than Israeli paranoia based, I believe, on their self-understanding they fully deserve it as a result of their years of blatantly criminal acts against the Palestinians. Be that as it may, now is the time for President Obama to tell them emphatically, NO, NO, NO, the United States will not aid them in any way whatsoever if they commit this crime. It is not in the best interest of the United States to be embroiled in another Middle East war, certainly not with Iran, and it will be the United States that will suffer the most if the Israelis pursue this unbelievably stupid act. Obama should make it completely clear that if Israel attacks Iran they, and they alone will suffer the consequences. For years the Israelis have attempted to link their national interests to those of the United States, but our interests are not, in fact, the same, nor should they be. Of course there are those fundamentalist religious loons waiting for Armageddon who no doubt think an attack on Iran would be a good thing. But interestingly enough, it seems a majority of American Jews are opposed to an Israeli attack. Thus there would be some all in favor of another crime against humanity, the remaining Neocons and the religious right, but a clear majority will be opposed to it. This situation will continue to be the case, as it has for years, until someone with sufficient authority acts to change the situation. President Obama has the unique ability to finally bring an end to this festering problem by making it clear the United States will no longer blindly follow Israeli dictates, will not engage in military action against Iran, will, to the contrary, engage Iran diplomatically and fairly, and settle this dispute amicably. This would, of course, also signal an end to American and European attempts at hegemony in that area of the world, but, it seems to me, about time the last vestiges of colonialism finally died once and for all. Naturally I don’t expect this to happen, the lure of the black gold is too great, the continued “wars” are far too profitable for the military/industrial/political complex, and humans seem to have an unquenchable and permanent desire to steal from and kill each other. Even so I raise my tiny voice in protest! I do not believe an Israeli attack on Iran is in anyone’s best interest, including even Israel itself.

It appears the amazing stranger from the planet Opulence is going to win big time in the Nevada caucus tomorrow, thus almost insuring he will eventually become the Republican nominee. I find this truly remarkable. Here is a candidate the vast majority of the party has indicated they do not want, and have tried desperately to find a satisfactory alternative for, whose only real competition at the moment is another candidate that virtually no one wants. But barring some kind of last minute miracle this will be their choice. I interpret this to mean the Republican Party this year is not serious about the election and has chosen to wait until 2016 when, presumably, more important and more serious candidates may become available. They seem to have done this even while they claim Obama is vulnerable, so either they do not believe he’s vulnerable or for some unfathomable reason they are just not interested this year. The way things are going at the moment leads me to believe this year’s election is apt to be a repeat of the terrible Goldwater fiasco, or at least it should be. However flawed a candidate Obama may be he will surely standout against Mr. One Percent, the very epitome of what it is the American electorate is not going to want. But perhaps the Supreme Court will get their wishes fulfilled and corporations will, in fact, be able to buy the election however they choose. Obama might well be better for the middle class and the poor, Romney might be better for the 1%, but the actual difference between the two will be inconsequential, life at the top will continue on as usual, the rich will get richer, the poor, poorer, but perhaps just not as fast.

It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you would lie if you were in his place.

H. L. Mencken