Inconceivable

I have been meaning to post for a while but the truth is that everything has been so depressing lately. I don't like to always be a downer and I was waiting for something good or funny to write about, unfortunately nothing has come up. It is actually getting more depressing as time goes on.

Let's start with the USA. I was not shocked that the DEMS took the senate. It also doesn't scare me as much as it did before it happened. My feeling is that the most radical of programs won't pass as there are still some moderate democratic senators from purple states that will make sure we don't get new states, extra justices on the Supreme Court, or removal of the filibuster.

The riot in the Capitol was appalling. It was good to see the universal condemnation from both side of the aisle. It is just the hypocrisy of the media of picking and choosing what the threats to democracy are, that gets me depressed.

Some people say that the attack on the capital is not similar to what had ( and is still happening) this summer because one was an attack on democracy itself.

Well what do you call a 6 month riot in which almost no one gets prosecuted, but the Vice President of the country raises money for the defense of the few that do. I agree that the attempted assault on our lawmakers was horrible, but to call it a coup?

I find it more horrible when there is a blatant disregard for the law as the government leadership sits back and does nothing. How is this not an attack on democracy? Either a riot is an acceptable form of protest or it isn't.

This should not even be a discussion.

Oh, and I am not trying to justify one by mentioning the other. I just think it is nuts that Portland and Seattle are still under siege and yet no one is talking about it anymore.

Yet, as bad as this issue is it is not the one that scares me.

Although I do not really use social media, I am surprised more people aren't freaking out about the silencing of conservative voices. I always felt that freedom of speech was the most important of our guaranteed freedoms. That sometimes means we are going to hear things we don't like.

Whatever happened to sticks and stones. How did everyone get so sensitive.

I am not making light of this. I am aware there are some very vile things out there but silencing the political rhetoric from one side while giving the other a pass is a bad idea.

It should scare everyone.

Just my opinion

On to Covid

I am lucky that I live in the country that has the highest per capita rates of inoculation ( or as they say in England, jabs) in the world. It is a cool thing but a few weeks ago I said that  throwing this fact into everyone's face would bite us in the butt.

Low and behold members of WHO have recently expressed that it was unfair for Israel to be jabbing 40 year old's while health care workers in other countries don't have any vaccine.

Are they wrong? Truthfully I don't know.

Of course it then  became our fault that the Palestinians don't have any vaccine. Even though the Oslo Accords specifically say that they are responsible for vaccinations on their own.

This is proof that Israel is racist as it is not sharing the vaccine that they overpaid for, to insure delivery, with the neighbors whom have vowed to kill them.

Why can't we just turn the other cheek?

Oh, wrong religion.

The cynical part of me ( yes there is one) thinks that the Palestinians purposely made no move whatsoever to order vaccines knowing that they could shame Israel into providing it to them or otherwise making us look like monsters for withholding vaccines from our peace-loving neighbors.

Well I have the solution.

I think as a show of good faith we should give a few 100,000 vaccines to the Palestinian's. We should have plenty left over as the Haredim are rejecting the vaccine and super spreading Covid to the whole country.

While we have all been locked down ( 3 weeks but who's counting) at least 15% of the Haredi schools remain open. Having weddings with hundreds of people in attendance is still happening. I just got invited to two such events to my horror. ( I will not be attending)

As the death rates ( especially among Haredim) are soaring and the hospitals are at their breaking points, the Haredim are having violent protests against the police trying to enforce the lockdown.

Luckily the Haredi leadership had a meeting to discuss this.

They determined it was all the fault of the police and that the whole world is against them.

I am in such shock.

I really don't know what to say ( or don't want to say it) I can only compare it to the Bizzaro world in Superman or maybe the upside down in Stranger Things.

OK I do know what to say.

There was a very good analysis in the Times of Israel yesterday. I wanted to post a comment but it seems you can't if you don't use Facebook. I already wrote it so I don't think I should waste it.

Here it is:

We have a community that not only sees itself separate from the rest of the country but superior. That is why they think it is ok to flout the rules.

They claim that closing schools impacts them more than other communities. How about the closing of businesses? The Haredim are still getting their government checks while small business owners are losing everything.

We are all suffering and we all need to try to end this as soon as possible.

There must  be some perverse, twisted thinking for them to claim victimhood here. As mentioned in the article, they chose to live the way they do  and they should continue to do so if they wish but they do not have the right to expect that the rest of society will be OK with their arrogance and lack of solidarity.

This thinking can only be justified if they do not see the rest of us as important. Our livelihoods are not important. Our lives are not important. Only the Haredi world matters.

It is heartening to see that some of my fellow Dati Leumi are finally waking up to this issue which in some ways is the largest threat facing this country. The latest outbreaks of violence and the lack of condemnation by the Hardei leadership, other than against the police, should make it clear to everyone that this is a community that only cares about itself at the expense of all others. They should be treated accordingly.

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A grafitti painted against Police Chief Kobi Shabtai written "Kobi Shabtai Hitler 2021" seen on a wall in Zikhron Moshe Neighborhood in Jerusalem on January 27, 2021.

Next up our fourth election . Stay tuned