I want to write about politics today, but I don’t know where to begin. Henry Kissinger is dead. I don’t want to say anything mean about the dead so I won’t. There are some strong opinion pieces out today about him, one by Ben Rhodes whom I respect. I grew up on Kissinger, he was symbolic of what American foreign policy was… and somehow even at a young age, I knew it wasn’t right.
Truthfully, I cannot wrap my head around antisemitism! I’m not Jewish but have many many friends that are. My first real girlfriend was Jewish and my biggest regret is that we never
When I was young I aspired to BE Henry Kissinger. I went to Harvard for one year, taking a lot of history and government courses. I wanted to end up with the kind of influence Kissinger had, but thought I could use it better that he did. When I dropped out of school it was in part because I knew I could not answer there the most important question I had: What should I do with my life? I focused on that for 4 years, and realized I did not want to be Henry Kissinger, or anyone else in particular, and I adopted a fairly primitive morality: we have evolved as a social species, so we have an ingrained inclination to do well by others -- that seemed like something to build a life around, and a non-Kissingerian foreign policy. Anti-Semitism and all other racial and ethnic "anti's" do not fit this philosophy, and I (gently) oppose them all. Also, tribalism is another ingrained inclination, but it's a dangerous one that often produces violence. The Middle East has always been very tribal, so far as I know, and it has led to disaster after disaster. Kissinger seemed comfortable with that reality, but I'm not. I think all groups of people should be treated as people, and not as fundamentally different from ourselves. This can be hard in practice, but I think it's the only thing that will work (and good news: humanity has made a lot of progress in that direction in recent centuries).
What a rather optimistic comment, Chuck. I am in agreement with you on much of what you say. Particularly the equality of all people. Tribalism is not good, and even nationalism in the strick sense if not. I grew up a Quaker, and the feeling was nationalism is problematic. I am proud of my country and its faults, don't get me wrong. We have made progress, haven't we? It's a struggle with the internet now in the mix, but we are working it out.
I love the cartoon what an antidote for these complex times.
Will respect your moral objection to speaking ill of the dead. I don’t follow it myself, mostly since I became a mother I wanted no ambiguity cast in their young minds. There are some people who deserve as brutal an assessment of their brutal lives.
Thanks, Liza. And I agree about nationalism -- it's basically tribalism on a bigger scale, though that arguably is an improvement. But it's that same us-vs.-them and WE're better instinct, which we all need to overcome. I do think that the progress we've made tends to get lost in the current mess. Messes in history come and go, things get better and worse in cycles, and the cycles can last a generation or more, so they're hard to perceive. That's one reason history is important. If you think of where our country is, where the world is, compared to 100 years ago, things are way better. More so if you compare to 500 years ago or 3000 years ago. I fully agree with "The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice."
"I envision a new Gaza with leadership that wants Israel to exist and is good for Palestinians."
Liza, you're a person of goodwill. But the Gaza leadership you envision simply does not exist. The Palestinian Arabs of Gaza and the West Bank (but not those who live in Israel proper) are corrupted by a genocidal variation of nationalism: "From the River to the Sea." That means no Jews. Think about that. The word "genocide" is often abused, but in the context of Palestinian nationalism it's relevant.
I refuse to not hope. Why can't such leadership exist? It makes no sense to think that it can't. Not all Palestinians and Arabs believe the same things.
Among the first Jews to be massacred in Hamas's October 7 pogrom were the inhabitants of Kfar Aza, a kibbutz hard by the border with Gaza. Some 760 Jews lived there; 65 were killed and 20 were taken hostage by the monsters of evil whom so many progressives in this country are pleased to call "freedom fighters."
Kfar Aza was a community of progressive Israeli Jews, dedicated to peace and reconciliation between the Jews and the Arabs. The people who lived there put their lives on the line for the sake of their beliefs. They modeled the hope you profess. What did they get in exchange for their earnest efforts to build a bridge between the Jews and Arabs? Massacre, rape, bestial atrocities from which even Hitler's SS shrank. And those atrocities were applauded, cheered, glorified, by Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
That's why the leadership you hope to see cannot exist. It's not wanted by the people who need it most.
Truthfully, I cannot wrap my head around antisemitism! I’m not Jewish but have many many friends that are. My first real girlfriend was Jewish and my biggest regret is that we never
Talked about her religion or mine. As a senior in high school it didn’t really
That's fascinating and telling.
Matter. Disjointed because I’m typing with phone balanced on one knee while eating breakfast.
PEACE, y’all.
😂😆
What a lovely cartoon! Wheeeee!
And I will follow your lead and not comment on K’s passing. 😑
When I was young I aspired to BE Henry Kissinger. I went to Harvard for one year, taking a lot of history and government courses. I wanted to end up with the kind of influence Kissinger had, but thought I could use it better that he did. When I dropped out of school it was in part because I knew I could not answer there the most important question I had: What should I do with my life? I focused on that for 4 years, and realized I did not want to be Henry Kissinger, or anyone else in particular, and I adopted a fairly primitive morality: we have evolved as a social species, so we have an ingrained inclination to do well by others -- that seemed like something to build a life around, and a non-Kissingerian foreign policy. Anti-Semitism and all other racial and ethnic "anti's" do not fit this philosophy, and I (gently) oppose them all. Also, tribalism is another ingrained inclination, but it's a dangerous one that often produces violence. The Middle East has always been very tribal, so far as I know, and it has led to disaster after disaster. Kissinger seemed comfortable with that reality, but I'm not. I think all groups of people should be treated as people, and not as fundamentally different from ourselves. This can be hard in practice, but I think it's the only thing that will work (and good news: humanity has made a lot of progress in that direction in recent centuries).
What a rather optimistic comment, Chuck. I am in agreement with you on much of what you say. Particularly the equality of all people. Tribalism is not good, and even nationalism in the strick sense if not. I grew up a Quaker, and the feeling was nationalism is problematic. I am proud of my country and its faults, don't get me wrong. We have made progress, haven't we? It's a struggle with the internet now in the mix, but we are working it out.
I love the cartoon what an antidote for these complex times.
Will respect your moral objection to speaking ill of the dead. I don’t follow it myself, mostly since I became a mother I wanted no ambiguity cast in their young minds. There are some people who deserve as brutal an assessment of their brutal lives.
I do agree, Patris. I just didn't want to get into it, nor read his obit to try to remember all that he did that I disliked!
Liza thanks - you were correct to take the high road.
(plus in retrospect I regret sounding like I was an unequivocal jackass on the subject) so my apologies.
I don't think you sounded that way at all! Please don't think that way, Patris!
You’re very gracious - but I got carried away
Easy to do with him.
Sometimes, it's just better not to try to figure it out but just to say "Wheeee!" and be done with it.
Don't you miss those rare occasions when most people are right? Thank you for this apt slice of life Liza Donnelly.
So diplomatic you are. No, Yoda I am not.
I agree with everything you said. Thanks for the cartoon. "Whee" from me!
Thanks, Liza. And I agree about nationalism -- it's basically tribalism on a bigger scale, though that arguably is an improvement. But it's that same us-vs.-them and WE're better instinct, which we all need to overcome. I do think that the progress we've made tends to get lost in the current mess. Messes in history come and go, things get better and worse in cycles, and the cycles can last a generation or more, so they're hard to perceive. That's one reason history is important. If you think of where our country is, where the world is, compared to 100 years ago, things are way better. More so if you compare to 500 years ago or 3000 years ago. I fully agree with "The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice."
Such a good way to view it. The arc of history does seem to bend that way.
"I envision a new Gaza with leadership that wants Israel to exist and is good for Palestinians."
Liza, you're a person of goodwill. But the Gaza leadership you envision simply does not exist. The Palestinian Arabs of Gaza and the West Bank (but not those who live in Israel proper) are corrupted by a genocidal variation of nationalism: "From the River to the Sea." That means no Jews. Think about that. The word "genocide" is often abused, but in the context of Palestinian nationalism it's relevant.
I refuse to not hope. Why can't such leadership exist? It makes no sense to think that it can't. Not all Palestinians and Arabs believe the same things.
Among the first Jews to be massacred in Hamas's October 7 pogrom were the inhabitants of Kfar Aza, a kibbutz hard by the border with Gaza. Some 760 Jews lived there; 65 were killed and 20 were taken hostage by the monsters of evil whom so many progressives in this country are pleased to call "freedom fighters."
Kfar Aza was a community of progressive Israeli Jews, dedicated to peace and reconciliation between the Jews and the Arabs. The people who lived there put their lives on the line for the sake of their beliefs. They modeled the hope you profess. What did they get in exchange for their earnest efforts to build a bridge between the Jews and Arabs? Massacre, rape, bestial atrocities from which even Hitler's SS shrank. And those atrocities were applauded, cheered, glorified, by Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
That's why the leadership you hope to see cannot exist. It's not wanted by the people who need it most.
https://www.commentary.org/john-podhoretz/kfar-aza-must-live/