Happening In Tandem

I was born three years before the creation of the nation-state of Israel, in 1945. I have fewer days ahead than behind, by decades. Just as individual life is impermanent, so also are the lives of nation-states. It is a little more obvious with Israel, an awarded state, granted to assuage international guilt for the Nazi Holocaust, and also for European governments to get rid of their Jewish citizens without killing them. 

It was O.K. with these governments that the existing residents were evicted from their homes and land. It was a matter of expediency, and also of a kind of ethno-pomposity, an arrogance towards the formerly subjugated peoples of the colonial era. The well-known atrocities of the British Empire precurse the awarding of their former protectorate of Palestine to the Jews of Europe.

Israel has inherited the colonial atrocities of the British Empire, and has been practicing them to an increasing degree since 1948, and indeed even before, with terrorism being the method of stateless Zionists to displace Palestinians from their land. This makes Israel not only an awarded state, but a nation of thieves and murderers. Small wonder that the Palestinians would disagree. Now the theft and murder campaign is almost complete. Various officials of the Israeli government have publicly stated their intention to kill and/or remove all the Palestinians from the occupied lands.

This, as has become clear, could not have happened without help – our help. The U.S. government has been more than willing from the beginning to fund and arm Israel, and in our case it had little to do with assuaging guilt or getting rid of Jews. Relative to European countries, Jews are reasonably well-integrated in "America," itself a nation of immigrants - settlers and genocidal removers of existing populations. 

Jews blended in with immigrants in a comparatively seamless manner, and have had great success in every sector of the population. Not without resistance. "White" "Christians," blaming Jews for killing their mythical savior "Jesus," have expressed their resentment in a variety of ways, including mass homicide. Not mass to the degree Israel is practicing with the Palestinians, but mass enough to be called mass killing.

It is pretty common knowledge why the U.S. government is so complicit with the genocide practiced by Israel. The "Israeli lobby," personified by the American-Israeli Political Affairs Committee (AIPAC), can make or break the careers of politicians. It can provide or withdraw campaign funding, "primary" office-holders who don’t toe the line with Israel, and of course feed information and disinformation to our compromised commercial news media.

Then there is the military-industrial-political lobby. It isn’t enough for weapons manufacturers to sell their wares to the U.S. “Defense” Department. These gun-runners need new markets. Here in Madison, Wisconsin, where I live, the nearby Air National Guard base has been "gifted" with a fleet of Lockheed Martin F-35s. 

The gift was actually to Lockheed Martin, who didn’t have enough customers within the normal active duty system, but needed the money. The noise from these planes is beyond deafening, and far beyond any requirement to defend the State of Wisconsin. The weapons manufacturers, dependent on profits for their existence, need an annual increase in revenues in order to stay in business. In Capitalist reality, profits either go up or down, and constant profits have the same meaning as declining profits.

So, absent the opportunities provided by endless war, the weapons industry needs to sell more weaponry in various ways outside the U.S. The U.S. government fills the gap. We sell guns, bombs, missiles, artillery and military technology to countries like the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, various African governments, South and Central American regimes, Taiwan, South Korea, the Philippines, and really anywhere we can find a compliant regime. We armed Iran to the proverbial hilt in the Shah era, and the current government still has those weapons.

This worked for decades, also largely during my lifetime, since 1945. It is now running out of time. We have a corrupt political system, and our corruption in arming the world is done by the same corrupt people who inhabit our various branches of government within the U.S. As elsewhere, so here.

As we are seeing on a daily basis, this corruption has changed over time. It has descended into chaos in the House of Representatives, the Senate has insurrectionists holding office, and the Supreme Court is 2/3 political hacks. This is not a formula for a functional civilization.

Just in time for climate change to kick into high-gear, and for our unsustainable infinite-growth economic system to reach its growth limit. My early childhood was spent in Chicago, and I can remember at about age five saying to my parents when they were driving somewhere in the city for what seemed like forever, "Are we still in Chicago?" That would have been 1950, seventy-four years ago. 

We left Chicago two years later, and every time I go back there I am dumbfounded at how monstrously big the metropolitan area is. It is a world unto itself. Really numerous worlds. We lived on the South Side of Chicago, in the 63d Street area, a city unto itself even then, with its own downtown, larger than in most cities. It had its own Illinois Central train station, a hub of activity in the days when people still rode in trains. Our neighborhood was known as Woodlawn.

Now Madison is a growth-destination. Developers seem to run this city, putting up one ugly building after another. Or really ten ugly buildings after another ten. It used to be at the University of Wisconsin campus where there were building cranes all over the place, but now that "Republicans" in the state legislature have declared war on higher education ("liberals"), the cranes are spread out across the city in every direction.

Multiply this around the country, and we have an obliviousness to the folly of infinite growth. Even Genocide Joe Biden uses the success of infinite growth as reason enough to vote for him again. America beware. Genocide Joe in one place is Genocide Joe everywhere. You can’t be a purveyor of genocide in just one place. You are either a genocidist or not a genocidist. In the grandest scheme he is no better than Donald Trump. Maybe worse. Trump, international criminal and troublemaker, wasn't complicit with genocide, but it was not because he wouldn't if the opportunity arose. His actions towards Israel and Palestine set the stage for what is going on now. 

We will see this summer just how "successful" infinite growth has been for the world. It is February 23. The temperature yesterday in Madison was 59 degrees, almost 30 degrees above normal. On February 8 Wisconsin had its first tornado in recorded history. This coming July, 30 degrees above normal will be about 110 to 120 degrees. I, for one, will be lucky to live through this, even with air conditioning. Many more won’t be so lucky. 

It won’t be so much fun in Israel either, facing the aftermath of its genocide campaign. The timing couldn’t have been worse. Planetary political, economic and ecological breakdown all happening in tandem, a genocidal settler state and its sponsor reaping the whirlwind. It’s the stuff of blockbuster movies, except live, real and without the entertainment. We will all be in our own blockbusters.
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Chris Hedges explains the situation with great insight and eloquence. 

A "pundit" on PBS's Amanpour & Company interviewed a Palestinian-American doctor Tariq Haddad, who had 100 members of his family killed in Israeli bombing raids. He refused to meet with Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The pundit in question, Michel Martin, used the Fox News technique of creating imaginary "others," who might see his refusal as "grandstanding." 100 relatives murdered in Gaza, and the suggestion he was grandstanding. I responded thusly. You can see the sequence starting at 9:03.

Here's my reply:

I watched this segment on TV, turned the set off and went to bed when Michel Martin suggested Dr. Haddad might seem to some as grandstanding when he refused to meet with Antony Blinken. Before this she made a quizzical look, and the gestalt of her questioning was arrogant, performative and disrespectful. This is typical of mainstream media. Ego-centered, above the news, more than a little microaggressive, about themselves, deciders of who is worthy and who isn't, establishmentarian, herd mentality and conformist to the herd, which in "America" is that Israelis are the ones who matter. In the words of her colleague New York Times "journalist" Thomas Friedman, people in the Mideast are parasitoid wasps and caterpillars - reminiscent of World War II Germany. This carnage will not end well for anyone.

I, three year veteran of the U.S. Army, will not be voting for Genocide Joe. I won't be voting for a "Republican" either, but might write-in Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who will be 35 on October 13, just in time for the election. November 5 is a long time off. I don't believe either criminal sociopath Trump or Genocide Joe will be their party's nominees. If I had my way, Genocide Joe would be in the dock at the International Criminal Court at the Hague. That of course won't happen, because the "U.S." has pronounced itself above the law.

Meanwhile, I won't be watching this show anymore, which I don't like much anyway. Michel Martin isn't the only arrogant one there. Heh, I won't meet with Antony Blinken either. Or Genocide Joe. Not that they would want to meet with me, but I still can set standards. I sort of met Genocide Joe once, before he was Genocide Joe. It was after a speech in 2015. I waited as his limo passed by. The windows were tinted, and all I could see was teeth. I gave him my biggest grin, but even behind a tinted window he outgrinned me. Maybe it really was only teeth. He is a 100% politician, not much better than a row of teeth.

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For some perspective on Thomas Friedman's dehumanization of people in the Mideast, click here.

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 Let's shout goodbye Genocide Joe. There is more than one wasteland of the free in this world. A newer take on an old song. In an even newer take, Ed Sheeran. The original. Of course, both the U.S. and Israel have God on their side. Steve Miller. John Prine. Life is far, far stronger than genocide. Here's a song celebrating life after genocide. This of course will be abundantly clear when the truth finally comes.

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Here's a fun Chicago story.
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I made a second attempt to send an email to the German government about their contention that the genocide in Gaza was not a genocide, and got through. Here's a transcript:

To: poststelle@bundesregierung.de-mail.de poststelle@bundesregierung.de-mail.de

Sent: Sunday, January 14, 2024 at 04:08:37 PM CST

Subject: A Suggestion

Greetings

I served in FRG decades ago, part of the U.S. force in NATO (OTAN). Back then I attended a rock fest at the Heidelberg Thingstätte. Times change. Now the Deutsche government is proclaiming to the world that Israel is not committing genocide in Gaza. One would think a lesson had bean learned over the past 80 years-or-so. The track record of Germany in euphemizing and/or denying genocide is a bit flawed and lacking credibility. It is not for you to say what is and what is not genocide. You will not erase the past by supporting a new genocide. 

Worthy of mention is that during my time in Germany I went on a three-day pass to Paris. It was great, but when I returned to Germany it felt like home. A Germany that supports genocide wouldn't feel like home to me now. 

John Hamilton  

Madison, Wisconsin

Sent: Thu, 15.February 2024 00:42:05 

To: poststelle@bundesregierung.de (poststelle@bundesregierung.de) 

Subject: Fw: A Suggestion

I thought I would try this again. Given that the genocide in Gaza is about to intensify, you might be having second thoughts about your carte blanche of Israel, and your presumption that you are in a position to say what is and what isn't genocide. 

John HamiltonMadison, WI internetpost

From:internetpost@bundesregierung.de

To:John Hamilton 

Sehr geehrter Herr Hamilton, vielen Dank für Ihre E-Mail. Ihre Ausführungen wurden aufmerksam zur Kenntnis genommen. 

Ich darf Ihnen versichern, dass die Bundesregierung großen Wert darauf legt, über die Meinungsäußerungen der Bürgerinnen und Bürger regelmäßig unterrichtet zu werden. Anregungen, Empfehlungen und auch kritische Beiträge werden sehr ernst genommen und fließen in den Meinungsbildungsprozess der Bundesregierung mit ein. 

Zusätzlich möchte ich Sie auf das Internetangebot der Bundesregierung aufmerksam machen, auf dem Sie umfangreiche Informationen zur aktuellen Regierungspolitik finden. Sie erreichen die Seite unter www.bundesregierung.de . 

Über die Umsetzung wichtiger Maßnahmen der Bundesregierung können Sie sich im Regierungsmonitor informieren. Entdecken Sie, woran die Bundesregierung aktuell arbeitet, was bereits vom Bundeskabinett beschlossen wurde und welche Gesetze schon in Kraft getreten sind. Der Regierungsmonitor wird einmal im Monat aktualisiert: https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/bundesregierung/regierungsmonitor 

Kind Regards 

Im Auftrag 

Inga Seeliger 

Dear Mr Hamilton,

Thank you very much for your email. Your comments were listened to carefully. 

I can assure you that the Federal Government attaches great importance to being regularly informed about citizens' opinions. Suggestions, recommendations and critical contributions are taken very seriously and are incorporated into the Federal Government's opinion-forming process. 

I would also like to draw your attention to the Federal Government's website, where you can find extensive information on current government policy. You can access the site at www.bundesregierung.de. 

You can find out about the implementation of important measures by the federal government in the government monitor. Discover what the federal government is currently working on, what has already been decided by the federal cabinet and which laws have already come into force. The government monitor is updated once a month: https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/bundesregierung/regierungsmonitor 

Kind regards 

On behalf 

Inga Seeliger

Bürgerservice Presse- und Informationsamt der Bundesregierung Wussten Sie schon, dass Ihre Gruppen uns jetzt auch außerhalb Ihrer BPA-Fahrt online besuchen können? Ein Blick hinter die Kulissen des Bundespresseamts lohnt sich auch im digitalen Raum! Weitere Informationen zu den Online-Besuchervorträgen finden Sie hier: https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/bundesregierung/bundespresseamt/digitaler-besuch-bpa-1962378 Hinweis: Informationen zum Datenschutz finden Sie auf der Internetseite der Bundesregierung unter https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/service/datenschutzhinweis/datenschutzerklaerung-1532494 Citizen service Press and Information Office the federal government

Did you know that your groups can now visit us online outside of your BPA trip? It's also worth taking a look behind the scenes at the Federal Press Office in digital space! Further information about the online visitor lectures can be found here: https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/bundesregierung/bundespresseamt/digitaler-visit-bpa-1962378 

A notice: Information on data protection can be found on the Federal Government's website at https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/service/datenschutztipp/datenschutzerklaerung-1532494

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In other words, a nothing answer, passive-aggressive bureaucratese, in German. It gave me something to practice German with, should the whim occur to me. Meanwhile, Oh das macht nichts! (mox nix!)

Genocide Joe Gets Treated Unfairly

The "special" counsel investigating Joe Biden's possession of classified documents completed his probe Thursday, and found the president to be innocent of wrongdoing. Part of his reasoning was that Biden is an elderly man who is sometimes confused and forgetful. As an example of his memory problems it was mentioned that he couldn't remember the year his son Beau died (2015), not that long ago. He also confused the president of Egypt with the Mexican president.

Biden’s response was to show outrage, saying "How in the hell dare he raise that?" His vice-president and numerous other Democrats are exhibiting similar outrage, claiming it was "political."

Of course it was political. He’s the president running for reelection. The special counsel, Robert K. Hur, is a Republican operative. We have a corrupt system. Both parties are corrupt.

So now Joe Biden has to spend the entire campaign denying he is feeble-minded. It is reminiscent of Richard Nixon saying "I am not a crook." His likely opponent, Donald Trump, IS a crook, and worse. He is a dangerous and deranged criminal sociopath, and if "elected" will unleash the power of the Federal government in a tirade of vengeance against not just his political opponents, but the rest of the country – and the world. I believe he will crash and burn well-before the election comes around, but as of now he is the "front-runner." 

In the most surreal set of options in our nation's history we have the feeble-minded versus the sociopath. In the grand scheme of choosing the lesser of two evils, the choice should be simple: pick the feeble-minded one. Take up his argument that he is not feeble-minded, but the other guy is a criminal sociopath. A true path to victory.

Except for a couple of things. Joe Biden caved to "Republican" pressure to propose legislation to make the southern border criminally restrictive. It failed, not because it was criminally restrictive, but because Donald Trump said it would give Biden an election-year "victory," and Republicans should vote against it.

Then there is Gaza. Biden is complicit in genocide. He should be in the dock at the International Criminal Court at the Hague. Our mainstream media give him support for this, parroting his weak criticism of Israel while turning a blind eye to the genocide he – and almost the entire Congress – are funding. His latest weak criticism of Israel is that its indiscriminate bombing campaign against the people of Gaza is "over the top." 

Over the top of what? Over the top of what Muslim and Arab voters in the U.S. accept – in his mind. It is a political problem for him. He needs to get these people to vote for him, and Genocide Joe, not knowing his elbow from a hole in the ground ethically and morally, thinks saying "over the top" will work for him. Proof that he is feeble-minded, likely has been for a long time. It has little to do with age.

Should we feel sympathy for Genocide Joe? Many will, in the reductionist way of thinking that is our tradition. Isolate this one thing – a prosecutor saying he is feeble-minded – from everything else in the Universe, and focus on that. Never mind that he is fomenting genocide. He is being treated unfairly, and the alternative is Donald Trump.

I have a better idea. Genocide Joe should resign immediately and surrender himself to the ICC for criminal prosecution. The Democratic candidate should be Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She is not corrupt, is smart, and opposes genocide. In addition to being smart, she is not feeble-minded, and is young and energetic, and won’t cave to pressure to go along with the criminal Republicans in their various and relentless schemes. 

As a bonus she could be our fist female president and the first not of European descent, of which we have had more than more than enough. She will be thirty-five years old on October 13, the minimum age requirement for being president. 

In our corrupt system this is of course unrealistic, but the realistic choice is between a fomenter of genocide and a deranged criminal sociopath who means only harm. Maybe it is time to forget about being "realistic" and go for the best.
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Here's one of AOC's favorite songs. Here's her playlist. 

Here's a song for Genocide Joe. Here's another, celebrating his departure.

Proxy Revenge

In today's news it  was  revealed that 800 officials in 12 countries, including the U.S., Great Britain and the EU, have signed a letter protesting their governments' policies regarding Israel's war in Gaza. The governments of these various countries have been either passive or in full support of the genocide the settler state Israel is perpetrating in its occupied territory.

It is a curious thing, official backing  for genocide, though not  unprecedented.  When the Nazi Holocaust was going on countries looked the other way, refused entry to fleeing Jews (the U.S.), and in some cases helped the Nazis round up Jewish citizens (Holland and France come to mind.) Now European countries are constrained by their history, and need to assuage their guilt by supporting the Jewish state that they helped create.

I don't buy it for a second. It's all politics. The "leaders" of these governments are following the path of least resistance. Though their citizens may no be so genocide-friendly, presidents, prime ministers, kings and other government officials risk being accused of  being antisemitic if they support  a cease-fire or  basic human  rights  for the Palestinians.

When I heard that the government of Germany announced plans to intervene in support of Israel in South Africa's allegation of genocide in Gaza I sent an email to the German government suggesting Deutsch government officials might not be the most credible arbiters of what constitutes genocide. It came back undeliverable, though I sent it to the address they provide. I can post it here, though:

From: John Hamilton 

To: poststelle@bundesregierung.de-mail.de
Sun, Jan 14, 2024 at 4:08 PM

Greetings

I served in FRG decades ago, part of the U.S. force in NATO (OTAN). Back then I attended a rock fest at the Heidelberg Thingstätte. Times change. Now the Deutsche government is proclaiming to the world that Israel is not committing genocide in Gaza. 

One would think a lesson had bean learned over the past 80 years-or-so. The track record of Germany in euphemizing and/or denying genocide is a bit flawed and lacking credibility. It is not for you to say what is and what is not genocide. You will not erase the past by supporting a new genocide.

Worthy of mention is that during my time in Germany I went on a three-day pass to Paris. It was great, but when I returned to Germany it felt like home. A Germany that supports genocide wouldn't feel like home to me now.

John Hamilton

Madison, Wisconsin

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I wasn't expecting much anyway in the way of a response, but I thought I would register my dissent. I lived in Germany for 2 1/2 years when I was indentured to the U.S. Army, from February 1969 to July 1971, and I still have some affinity for the country. I got to know some students towards the end of my time there, and crossed paths with a few young radicals, who, in retrospect were likely early members of the Baader-Meinhof Gang. I didn't have anything to do with the radicals - they were friends with some G.I.s I knew casually. I didn't like their vibe. An exchange group between my Army unit and some German students, though, was a positive experience. The upcoming generation of Germans held great promise, and I was encouraged for the country's future.

I'm still encouraged, for Germany and many other countries around the world, where massive demonstrations are being held against the Gaza  genocide on a continuing basis, and they are making their "leaders" very embarrassed and uncomfortable.

That includes the United States, though our "leader," Joe Biden, is likely neither embarrassed nor uncomfortable. He, the 100% politician, is concerned only about how his support for genocide might affect his reelection chances. Morally and ethically he doesn't know his elbow from a hole in the ground, and by extension everything in between. He is latest example of the proverbial "lesser of two evils" in the  upcoming presidential election, but not by much.

Meanwhile, Israel has announced its plans to attack Rafah, the last refuge for Palestinians fleeing the siege. Israel, begun as an imposed settler state displacing the existing citizens of Palestine, is now a genocide state, supported by Genocide Joe and U.S. money.

Something should be mentioned, though, about Germany's support for Israel's genocide. Given the rage and zeal for revenge that is being expressed by Israelis almost universally, I wonder why they never directed their rage towards the country that tried to do what they are attempting with the Palestinians: Deutschland, the perpetrator of the greatest genocide in human history. Could it be that German leaders fear that Israel, a nuclear power, could turn its eyes towards the land of the death camps, crematoriums, gas chambers and medical experiments. They surely haven't forgotten. Maybe it's just to easy to kill all the Palestinians, who live right next door. They will do as a proxy. And we pay the bills.

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Here's a song. Here's another. Creedence. Jefferson Airplane.