Defenders of President Biden argue that he has no culpability for Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank because Netanyahu, not he, makes policy. But he provides the weapons and the intel and the running interference in the UN.
Accomplice During the Fact
Ted Rall
Ted Rall is a syndicated political cartoonist for Andrews McMeel Syndication and WhoWhatWhy.org and Counterpoint. He is a contributor to Centerclip and co-host of "The Final Countdown" talk show on Radio Sputnik. He is a graphic novelist and author of many books of art and prose, and an occasional war correspondent. He is, recently, the author of the graphic novel "2024: Revisited."
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I’m reminded of Ted’s point about Afghanistan, made several years back: As a result of decades of war, all the naive people are gone.
Israel does not produce naive politicians. Netanyahu has been playing Biden (and Dr. Jill’s Ph.D. in edutainmental achievement) handily. The Biden crowd thinks that, somehow, all these goings-on in Gaza will result in a net-positive vote outcome, a highly unrealistic assessment. Biden’s heading toward a loss in at least five of the six swing states.
That Biden hasn’t solved the conflict in Israel-Palestine puts him in the same sorry category with EVERYONE else on this sorry planet. The only way out of this mess that I see is a two-state solution — or three states, or somehow one state — it doesn’t matter so long as it delivers peace and security to all the people of the area. It was hell, but peace and security were eventually achieved in India-Pakistan, South Africa, Northern Ireland, Israel-Egypt … and these can be achieved in Israel-Palestine. But it requires that people work on it… now… despite the seventy-five-plus years of ongoing atrocities. Where is the Gandhi, Tutu, Mitchell, Carter?
Oh, I agree. It’s an unsolvable problem. But even unsolvable problems have better non-answers. Handing Israel all the weapons it needs to extirpate Palestinian civilians? Pretending you’re doing “something” when all the things you’re doing are being attempted only after the hearse has left the compound? Trump’s son-in-law is Jewish. Unless Biden has a sudden conversion to Islam, he’s going to lose Michigan for sure. Arizona might swing over to him due to the abortion thing, but Biden’s PR team has used up pretty much all the traction they could get from “No, really! He’s very effective!”
To paraphrase one of my favorite television characters, there are faster ways to lose the White House, but none as certain.
Alas, there are many people (on all sides of many issues) who think the best solution is to shoot someone. Many of these people will choose Biden over Trump. The shooting thing is not my cup of tea — generally I prefer the approach of Bishop Tutu et al. — but I’ll end up choosing Biden over Trump because of abortion, climate change, and Trump’s tax cuts for the rich. We all want a better choice of candidates, but I am not seeing the certainty of a Trump victory.