Meanwhile on the International front....

Hell, sometimes I'm not even sure what being Jewish means. Many Orthodox Jews would tell you I'm not Jewish. (I've had one say it to my face.) Is it about the organized religion? Personal faith? Birth? Culture? The answer will likely change depending on who you ask.

The current Hamas threat to murder their hostages is truly disturbing, but I have a damn difficult time believing those people are going to be released unharmed anyway.

Am I sitting here hoping the Israelis will take bloody revenge? Honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about that. I want justice, but I know much of that blood will be innocent.

I am certain that bloody revenge is what is happening right now and more is coming. I know the face I'm going to see in my mind every time I hear about it, whether it be stories about what Israeli soldiers do or what is done to them. Does he think it's go-time? Yeah, I'm sure he does. He did a hell of a job hiding his anger today. I know I couldn't have done it nearly as well.

 

Damn. Netanyahu's rhetoric feels like pure rage.

 

What percentage of the world's borders have been decided by, "We want this and will fight to acquire it, and whether we succeed will determine the border"?

We tried and failed to acquire Quebec Province in 1775. Fucked around and found out, I guess.

 

Except who was the aggressor? It could be considered the British since they were trying to impose their will on the colonies.

 

If the answer isn't 100 percent, then it's in the high 90s. And that's not just current borders, either. Every empire, nation or tribe that has ever existed has done the same thing to another empire, nation or tribe. It's human nature, unfortunately. Anyone who has ever cracked a history book should realize that the relatively stable world borders that have existed since WWII are kind of an aberration.

 

And led me to falsely believe that maybe we had advanced past that tendency as a species.

My mom said to me, “I remember once you telling me that you were scared that you’d someday have to fight in a war about religion.”

Yeah, Mom, I remember that too, vaguely. How old was I when I said that?

“Nine.”

And here we are, nearly 50 years later.

 

Could be. Then again, Russia considers Ukraine the aggressor for their "actions" before the invasion.

In war, the aggressor is always "against whom I'm fighting."

The Atomic Age may have as much to do with it as species enlightenment.

With Proxy Wars coming in a close second.

 

Boy… I wonder if Donald was a little lose with Israel intel with the wrong people?

 

I'd hoped so, too, but there are plenty of assholes, idiots and assorted nutjobs out there who apparently don't feel the same way.
Unfortunately, there's one other thing that history has taught us — that when those kinds of folks get it in them to act the fool, you sometimes have to break those sumbitches in two. That might mean being a bigger asshole, idiot or nutjob than they are, or than they think you're capable of being. For positive or negative effect, that's generally how wars are won and a lasting peace is achieved, is by breaking the other side's will to fight.
In the case of Israel v. Hamas, it seems clear that Israel is now willing to do that. The question, even fear, is how far it'll push to make it happen.

 

No president did more for Israel than Trump. Just ask him.

 

The unhappy thought that keeps churning in my head: If Israeli intelligence was useless at preventing this attack, why should we expect it to be precise in knowing who to target for revenge?

 

I hate to say it, but I'm not sure they are even going to try to be precise about that. The only precision I can see coming is in their attempts to rescue the hostages.