Nancy Horn reports from central Pennsylvania:
Yesterday, on the
front page of the Daily Item, in the far right column, right
under the name of the paper and with the largest-size
headline,
there appeared a piece entitled: "Prof: Israel
using too much force." The professor was "a Middle
East expert" at Bucknell named Tansa Massoud. The other person
quoted in the piece was a rabbi who'd lived over there and
among other things claimed to value Israel highly but value
peace more. The piece continued for two more
columns on p. 2 where the rabbi made a real claim for
decent living conditions for the Palestinians.
Etc.
The sea-change has
happened... everywhere except
Washington. Now we've got to put the fear of,
well, job security deep in the heart of every single Democrat.
Up to and including Barack
Obama.
Now we've got to put the fear of, well, job security deep in the heart of every single Democrat. Up to and including Barack Obama.
HOw do we do that? I'm ready to help, but God knows the progressive blogs and HuffPo are too terrified to recognize where this country's sentiments are going when the outrage is within their own community and they are afraid of the antisemitism-conspiracy-theory-fringe-element label. And these blogs are run by people who are now too over-worked managing their sites to do their reading homework, or even verify the links in comments.
The neat thing that's happened is that the white supremacist sites are now coming out as virulently pro-Israel, so that oughta help Israel a lot.
… every Democrat? What does any of this have to with party labels?
Dubya Bush, Dubya Obama, Dubya Reid. Ya seen one, ya seen 'em all.
There is only one War Party, and it's buh-buh-buh-buh-bi-bi-bi-BIPARTISAN.
Good news:
CAIRO (AFP)–A team of foreign doctors entered the war-torn Gaza Strip from Egypt on Monday on a mission to help treat victims of the continuing Israeli military onslaught on the Palestinian territory.
"We finally managed to cross over after a long day of waiting," said one of them, Christophe Oberlin from France.
"Israeli shells fell near our ambulance on the Palestinian side of the border," Oberlin told AFP.
Once inside the Gaza Strip, the medical crew, which also includes German and Greek doctors, set off for a Red Crescent hospital in the southern town of Khan Yunis.
Despite an Israeli blockade, several humanitarian teams and European parliamentarians have entered Gaza in recent days via the Rafah crossing, with the agreement of Egypt.
Hope they will survive to tell the tale.
A sea change is a good thing.
We're also waiting for the Islamic sea change, Palestinian and global.
"HOw do we do that?"
Every Congressperson and Senator has a website through which every constituent can send emails. My experience is these get responded to. I assume they get reviewed, and at least a summary gets through to the official. Send your Congressperson and Senators an email that expresses your views on Congress's knee-jerk recital of AIPAC talking points. Send links to wonderful alternative viewpoints expressed by so many that this website brings to us. Express yourself, without hostility and without Anti-Semitism, and call for Congress to do its job better to protect American interests in the Middle East.
And then do it again, every time the news justifies it.
Posted by: Doppler | January 12, 2009 at 05:31 PM
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I can tell you from experience that doesn't work..depending on how old you are you should have noticed that by now.
I have had three cousins as staffers in the senate going as far back as Sen Everett …your politican gets maybe one message out of a hundred passed on to him and none of the polite ones and usually he doesn't give a rats ass's what you say unless there is a big check attached to it.
Let me tell what they understand..it's not politeness…it's fear and loathing from the public… their fear of losing their power potty seats.
You can kiss their ass and pretend they are some kind of royalty or you can kick their ass and get their attention.
Sad, but true.
The Friends of National Seashore Parks I belong to once mailed out 15,000 post cards dennouncing, in terms so strong it would make your toes curl, our congresman and senator for an issue they were on the wrong side of..THAT and only THAT saved our coastal wild ponies from extinction. At the last minute they couldn't get us on the phone fast enough and hustle fast enough to pass a bill for the wild ponies protection…after they had turned us down for months and months.
Fear and love are the two most powerful motivators in the world. And I can assure you your politican doesn't love you.
I agree. But although they won't read your fax (don't bother emailing — and phone calls are always best), their staffers at least have to tally yes and nays before sending out their self-serving form-letter responses.
But also, this calls for true political activism, i.e., getting sufficiently involved in local or state-level politics, and/or primary campaigns. And rousing everyone else you know to do likewise. Right now it's just holding that sword of unemployment over their heads — later on, if they behave as usual, it's making sure it happens.
Stevenson and Charles Percy both lost their Senate seats on the one side and that lesson has not been lost on anyone since. It's time to turn the tables — and yes, it's the Dems I'm talking about: name one besides Kucinich who's stood up to Israel. AIPAC owns them lock, stock and barrel, and bought most of them cheap, too.