Best to you.

And bozh, I just have to thank you for that devastating (and at moments hilariously phrased: “or were pals shooting back at israelis thru thick walls?”) rebuttal of the BS posted by that fool.

were gazans civilians evacuated from gaza leaving some civilians as cooks, medical people, et al?
if most civilians and especially children weren’t evacuated was it because gazans had no free territory as russians had to evacuate civs to?

‘god’ knows, pals need future fighters; by saving a few hundred children they wld have obtained that many fighters/martyrs in less than a decade.
are palestinians and arabs that stupid; stupid to aid israel by losing needlessly future soldiers; oops, militants?
but there was that darn fence that even mice cldn’t find a safe place. or am i wrong? i think i better ask israeli army about this before i make up my mind.
about those resistance fighters? isn’t a better to fight from tunnels, trenches and not from a kitchen windows with screaming, crying, hysterical children dangling in the open windows to protect the fighters?
or were pals shooting back at israelis thru thick walls?

as i said i know nothing about urban warfare or raids like the one against gaza. so let’s have a military analyst who knows
a lot about shooting froms ky, warships, tanks, artillery against resistance fighters armed with machine guns, knives, etc.? thnx

I wonder what the reader above was searching for when he/she happened on your article. Perhaps they thought it was some sort of GLB chatsite! But never missing an opportunity, they stopped by to plant a few of their usual lies and smears which you cast aside so ably. I am getting very tired of the Israel rah-rah brigade’s attempts to defend the indefensible.

They would not be pleased to hear that Olmert’s spokeman, Regev, lost his cool tonight in a television interview. His statements became more and more preposterous so that in the end he was cut off. I think it is now accepted that their game is up and I wish ex Senator Mitchell the best of luck in his dealings with them.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1184614595?bctid=8795440001

The tiny chinks of light hardly visible three weeks ago are getting brighter and brighter.

You are aware that gay men have profited lavishly off of the subjugation/eradication of “Others” living in the Third World?

You are aware that many in the U.S. would kill a gay man for theocratic reasons?

What is the point of your statement? Do you wish to suggest that this justifies the denial of Palestinians to basic rights?

Do you call suggest their is no “heirarchy” to oppression, and that until Palestinians have an Arab version of “QUeer eye” it would be unacceptable for them to regain their land, to cease being bombarded, etc.?

They may be more friendly to gays if more gays were standing up for their rights, instead of profiting off of their suffering. As is, gays (mostly from white backgrounds) have made significant inroads in North American politics, media, culture, and yet been unconcerned/or ignorant of the denial of other people’s rights in which they engage everyday.

thanks.

In this world of slogans, bumper stickers and sound bytes, we’ve not only lost sight of what “history” is, but, what courage and truth are.

I didn’t want to get into the subject of “cowardice” in this article. It’s a huge subject and requires a book like “The Red Badge of Courage” to do it justice. But, this tawdriness about using “children as shields” elicits a counter-comment.

Men under attack will seek shelter where they can find it–whether it’s in forts or foxholes. That’s military doctrine. I knew it as a kid: “He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day.”

There is no evidence that Hamas fighters were hiding behind children or women during the recent slaughter in Gaza. The Israelis severely restricted journalists’ entry into Gaza. But, the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) recorded much of the action. If there were even one instance of a Hamas insurgent behaving in a cowardly manner, would we not have seen it plastered all over the complicit Western mainstream media?

What we have seen–because it could not be hidden–was the cowardly IDF’s use of White Phosphorous–a weapon of mass destruction used to terrorize a subjugated population. We did see the cowardly IDF using American paid-for F-16′s, tanks and warships to pummel unarmed men, women and children. We did see Israel, during the 6-month “truce” that preceded the Gaza slaughter, closing borders, and using “checkpoints” as choke-holds to restrict the flow of food, water, fuel and medicines into the beseiged territory of Gaza. We did see Israel break the “truce” back in November when they killed 6 Hamas insurgents. We did see a relentless propaganda campaign conducted by and in the US mainstream media to constantly villify the democratically elected government of Hamas and dismiss their leaders and members as “terrorists.” We did see the so-called “rules of war” torn to shreds by the IDF, and any sense of proportionality of response totally ignored.

A question to ponder in this season of silliness, hype and blood-letting: Were the Jews who boarded the boxcars to Auschwitz cowardly because they did not resist the armed German soldiers herding them like animals?

What is truth, what is courage, what is morality?

It’s funny, I’ve got all these Swiss, German and Colombian colleagues who keep asking me what I think about Obama…foreigners tend to believe all they hype. I just smile and ask them, “Well, don’t you already feel the huge change, the world is completely different now!” But really, they all know where I stand on US politics.

Thanks as always, Gary, keep crankin’ em out.

Best to you.

That inherent problem of only that which is recorded being history, and the fact that it’s predominantly the winner who writes it, certainly throws a wrench in the wheel of reality.

We all witnessed history being made yesterday though, as you mark, at least we get a hybrid in the office instead of another privileged white guy who we always knew would f**k things up. Godd*mn if he didn’t outdo Clinton in the fading art of articulation. The whole event captured all the drama and emotion of a meniecal

You could have tried recovering your money by betting on expected clichés in Obama’s first Presidential address:

8/1 Change has come
12/1 As I stand here today
12/1 Fundamental belief
12/1 Defining moment
12/1 God Bless America
14/1 Let me be clear
14/1 War on terror
14/1 Politics of hope
14/1 Common purpose
16/1 Crossroads of history
16/1 I have a dream
16/1 Pursuit of happiness
16/1 I’m fired up
16/1 Building a better America
18/1 My civil liberties
18/1 Same old politics
18/1 Core Values
18/1 Hungry for change
18/1 It won’t be easy
20/1 Honour for me
20/1 Safe from harm
20/1 Don’t get me wrong
20/1 Decent shot at life
20/1 They said this day would never come
25/1 There are better days ahead
25/1 Challenges that face us
25/1 Make Washington work
25/1 Hard to believe
25/1 We cannot lose hope
25/1 We can be one people
25/1 We’ll have to make hard choices
25/1 Make college more affordable
33/1 For far too long
33/1 Beacon of freedom
33/1 All men are created equal
33/1 Faith in simple Dreams
33/1 Jobs to the jobless
33/1 In the words of JF Kennedy
33/1 All of them with a story to tell
33/1 Divided, we are bound to fail
33/1 Where North, South, East and West come together
33/1 Washington has a long way to go
33/1 Reshapes our economy
33/1 Let us transform this nation
40/1 Homes to the homeless
40/1 A new direction
40/1 Deepest Gratitude
40/1 We all made this journey for a reason
40/1 There is power in words.
40/1 There is power in conviction.
40/1 Willing to listen to each other
40/1 We can work together to keep our country safe
50/1 Abiding Faith
50/1 Possibilities of this Nation
50/1 Greatness of our nation
50/1 Believe in what this country can be
50/1 In the face of despair, you believe there can be hope
50/1 Unity is the great need of the hour
50/1 Serve as a model for the world
50/1 The vehicle, of your hopes, and your dreams
66/1 Legacy of our forbearers
66/1 Doors of opportunity
66/1 Brighter day will come
66/1 Where I learned the meaning of my Christian faith
66/1 Disagree without being disagreeable
66/1 Let us be the generation that begins that work
80/1 Diversity if my heritage
80/1 Promise of future generations
80/1 Overcome the adversity
80/1 We have more work to do
100/1 Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.
100/1 An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind
250/1 Let’s get ready to rumble
250/1 Life is like a box of chocolates
500/1 Always bet on black!

It’s called Pecksniffery. Rachel Maddow, “this election season’s breakout star“, not to mention a “ballsy gremlin of the left”, exhibited it in spades during the latest Israeli festival of slaughter and butchery.