Tikun Olam-תקון עולם: Make the World a Better Place

Chayim Yavin filming
Yoman Masa on location
in the West Bank
(credit: Channel 2)

The Walter Cronkite of Israeli TV news is about to deliver a bombshell to his listeners who’re used to his being the very picture of objectivity as he delivers the evening news each night.  Chaim Yavin has been the cool, calm, dispassionate voice of broadcast news for every Israeli for forty years.

The New York Times reports that Yavin has written, directed, produced and filmed his own documentary on the impact of of the Occupied Territories on Israeli politics and society.  And it’s not a pretty picture.  Steven Erlanger writes:

Now 72, Mr. Yavin, known here as "Mr. TV," is about to deliver a documentary about Israel’s settlements in the West Bank that is pessimistic, angry and intensely personal.

"Since 1967, we have
been brutal conquerors, occupiers, suppressing another people," he says in the documentary, Yoman Masa, ("Diary of a Journey")…

In talking of the headlong Israeli rush (by both Labor and Likud) to build settlements and infrastructure to support them, Yavin notes sardonically: "This merrymaking will never be stopped."

Erlanger describes a scene from the film:

He films a soldier who complains that the settlers keep pressing him to shoot Palestinian children. When a settler tells him that if the army can keep the peace, "Muhammad" will make the Israelis coffee, Mr. Yavin retorts, "I’m not willing to rule another people, not willing for ‘Muhammad’ to make me coffee."

"I call it a Greek tragedy, because I don’t see any solution," he said. "The settlers are so strong. In a way, they run the country, or run the agenda of the country."

"I don’t see anyone undoing what they’ve done…"

Tom Segev in Haaretz probes Yavin’s personal motives in making the film:

"I cannot really do anything to relieve this misery,
other than to document it, so that neither I nor those like me will be able to say that we saw nothing, heard nothing, knew nothing," he says in the film, and in response to a question asserts: "I did not move left. The country moved right."

Segev then makes this powerful and astonishing statement about Yoman Masa:

Yavin portrays the settlers as members of a fanatic, insane, racist, despicable, violent and dangerous sect - more infuriating and despairing than they have ever been seen in an Israeli film.

When The Times’s Erlanger asks Yavin if he sees himself as a successor to Walter Cronkite, whose famous turning against the Vietnam War before the eyes of the American listening public helped seal Lyndon Johnson’s fate–Yavin waves off the analogy perhaps a bit too energetically:

"Who am I?" he asked. "I don’t think I can move things. I don’t
pretend to have solutions. It takes more than another book or film or series to make this change. You need something more cataclysmic. I hate to say ‘Yom Kippur’ " - the surprise attack by Arab armies against
Israel in 1973 - "but some trauma to hammer this into the minds of people, to gather ourselves and take ourselves in our own hands and decide the boundaries of Israeli power."

With the Gaza pullout, he feels some change in the air. But he is not optimistic. "If the Israeli citizen knows he’ll really get peace with the Palestinians -like the U.S. and Canada - he’d give up half of Jerusalem," he said.
"But there is such an abyss between Israelis and Palestinians, and this distrust is so big, on both sides." Mr. Yavin trailed off, then asked, "Is Israel really and sincerely doing its best to compromise?"

Yavin is so pessimistic and fatalistic about Israel’s ability to free itself from the morass into which it has sunk–that he’s admitting that only a deep internal tragedy or powerful external force can shake Israelis out of this stupor.  This is deeply depressing stuff.

Meet the [Right-Wing]
Babe of your dreams!
(credit: GOP Bloggers)

Thanks to a trackback from UnPartisan.com, a liberal-conservative Crossfire-type blog, I made the acquaintance of GOP Bloggers, the conservative blog that was thrown into the ideological mix.  What compelled me to visit was the rather remarkable headline: Pa’s [sic] Abbas: Terror Is A Palestinian Right.  One of the more moronic and patently false post titles I’ve seen in blogs.

When I arrived at the site I found another object that was far more compelling and no less slimy (though in a different way): the blond haired Aryan babe who will be yours if you share her politics.  In fact, just look at her shining ponim ("face") looking up at your glorious right-wing he-manliness.  Enough to make one’s heart quiver.

And have you ever heard such pathetic, simpering ad copy in your life:

Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh & Ann Coulter all talked about the difficulties of dating for people with conservative values.  We decided to do something about it!

Yeah, good for you!

Before I wrote this I had to ask myself: what would I think of a Left blog that advertised in the same way?  After all, what’s wrong with wanting your future mate to share your ideas about the world?

But Nah…this is ridiculous.  Do I wish my mate would share my politics?  Sure.  Is that the only or deciding factor in choosing a mate?  No way.  But then again if I were a right winger (we Jews say: Chas v’halila) and could marry right-wing Rita in this photo, well could you blame me?  Hey right-wingers, that was a joke so don’t go saying I endorse your stupid ad campaign.

By the way, the dating service is offered by ConservativeMatch.com.  Anyone with some time on their hands might want to try to register and see if they’ll accept a flaming left wing radical match.

George Bush exploiting babies
(credit: Gerald Herbert/AP)

I was so pleased to hear that Nancy Reagan became actively involved in lobbying legislators on behalf of the new legislation.  It’s heartening to know that the Gipper’s wife, Mrs. Republican, understands that saving lives is the issue, not hurting potential babies.  Now, what we need to do is write to our Senators telling them we want embryonic stem cell research.  If, like me, your baby was created through fertility treatment that involved embryo transfer it’s even more incumbent on you to get involved to counter the disgusting image of George Bush using innocent babies to grandstand politically on this nuanced issue.

As with most Bush political theater, the underlying theme of yesterday’s baby circus was totally specious and an utter distortion of the truth of the issue.

"The children here today remind us that there is no such thing as a
spare embryo," Mr. Bush said, amid the squeals and coos of babies
cradled in their mothers’ arms. "Every embryo is unique and genetically
complete, like every other human being. And each of us started out our
life this way. These lives are not raw material to be exploited, but
gifts."

When Mr. Bush said that "every human life is a precious gift of
matchless love," a mother behind him on stage mouthed the word "Amen."

If you plumb the depths of this lunacy you will see that George Bush doesn’t favor allowing parent’s who’ve produced embryos to control them.  When we did our two procedures, we told our clinic that we wished any unused embryos (not "spare" or "raw material to be exploited") to be donated for medical research.  Apparently, George doesn’t even approve of allowing us to make that decision.  Once you produce the embryo they are life and not yours to "harm" (their term not mine) or cause to die (again their term).  Does anyone see the train crash of a political issue this would entail?

Bush too displays his utter disregard (or perhaps a stronger word like animosity or mistrust is appropriate) for scientific research when he warns that these  unused embryos "are not raw material to be exploited."  Since when is scientific research for the betterment of human health "exploitation?"  Only in the eyes of someone who profoundly mistrusts science and the benefits it provides to humanity is this so.

"Former embryos" (their words, not mine)
(credit: Susan Walsh/AP)

And George, no one considers embryos used to find cures for currently incurable diseases "spare."  They are indeed precious because though I no longer want them because my procreative days are over, I cherish the idea that that embryo could preserve or prolong the life of another human being.  I embrace the idea of their use for this purpose.

Talk about exploitation!  Look at these baby pictures and tell me who’s exploiting whom here.  The parents are allowing their children to be exploited and Bush is aiding and abetting the exploitation.  I’m absolutely disgusted by the effrontery of this circus.  Shades of Terry Schiavo.  The only difference is that they’re not exploiting a terminally ill woman this time; they’re exploiting little babies.

Speaking of Terry Schiavo, not one to allow himself to be upstaged by George Bush, Tom DeLay displayed his own utter ignorance of human biology with this comment:

"An embryo is a person, a distinct internally directed,
self-integrating human organism," Mr. DeLay said, adding, "We were all
at one time embryos ourselves. So was Abraham. So was Muhammad. So was
Jesus of Nazareth."

Please, someone tell me what "internally directed, self-integrating human organism" means in scientific–or any terms.  It’s all gobbledy-gook passing for pseudo-science.  Notice how despite the fact that he’s advocating a purely evangelical interpretation of this issue, he attempts to mask this in the cloak of inter-faith dialogue with his references to Abraham, Mohammed and Jesus.  Will no one rid of us of this meddlesome priest of the evangelical Right?

If anyone from organizations supporting the new legislation is reading this, I’m prepared to do anything I can to help in combating this perfidious abuse of children for tendentious religious purposes.

The fateful 14 (credit: Doug Mills/NYT)

The fateful 14 senators themselves were proud of their statesmanship in a battle that potentially could have meant disaster for both parties and the Senate itself.  Harry Byrd, in his typically pompous (but lovable) way said: ""We have kept the Republic."  Sorry, Harry, but I’m afraid you’ve done nothing of the sort.  You’ve merely stitched together a temporary compromise that could unravel at any time, including during the current session.  The language of the compromise is terribly vague.  And even language that is fairly clear doesn’t appear to hold much hope that it will be honored:

We encourage the executive branch of government to consult with members
of the Senate, both Democratic and Republican, prior to submitting a
judicial nomination to the Senate for consideration.

First, George Bush doesn’t want to compromise.  He wants to tear Democrats limb from limb.  He will certainly never honor the spirit or letter of this request from the senators.  Furthermore, Bill Frist and Senate Republican leaders aren’t really bound by the compromise or its language either.  Why would the Senate Majority Leader want to seek advice and consent of Democrats when–till his chair was pulled out from under him yesterday by his fellow Republican moderates–he was steaming full speed ahead toward nuclear war?

No, this is but a respite in the Armageddon like struggle that lies ahead.  While I’m no political seer or prognosticator, I believe that, like House Republicans in the Age of Newt who overreached in their budget battle with Bill Clinton, Senate Republicans will eventually strip the filibuster from Democrats.  Then, they will proceed to confirm every single last one of those extremist judicial nominees.  All Democrats have to do is keep the issue before the American people through the next election.  They will see that a grave injustice has been done not just to Democrats, but to the institution of Congress and, yes Harry, to the Republic itself.  And those judges will be tarnished because their confirmation will have been rammed through the Senate like a steamroller.  The American people don’t like bullies and that’s how they’ll see Congressional Republicans.

Is this a high stakes game which could backfire on Democrats?  You bet.  That’s why those 7 Democrats blinked.  They were afraid that passage of the nuclear option will cause Democrats to lose what little power they have to determine the shape of the federal judiciary.  But the way I see it is that this compromise only allows the Senate to live to fight another day.  And the day of nuclear reckoning will come.