At the same time the U.S. is supplying weapons and cash to Israel to arm and fund its war against Gaza, it is dropping food supplies to the Gazans who are starving as a result.
Mixed Messages
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 see that some people were crushed to death by the food drops. That happened in WWII as well. I would like to think (like to think) that some pamphlets were dropped an hour before the food (“Get under cover. We are dropping food. Occasionally, a chute malfunctions, get somewhere safe if you can. Please watch overhead”). But I suspect it was just as un-coordinated as our evacuation from Afghanistan.
I’m surprised Joe Biden hasn’t been handed a Nobel Peace Prize. Too bad Nobel-recipient Henry Kissinger (a doctor, just like Jill Biden) isn’t still alive to hand it to Joe. The irony would be perfect.
After all this in Gaza, there’s no way on Earth I can vote for Biden. I may have to give Trump a favourable reference if I address the House of Commons.
What a shitshow. The US could tell Israel to allow the truckloads of food that I hear are held up on the Israeli side of the border to go in, but that ain’t happening. Instead, the US is grandstanding with airdrop-in-the-bucket pittances and talking about building a pier that will be ready in a month or two, after thousands more have starved.
On another subject, in case you hadn’t noticed, alex, Turnip is totally on board with this genocide. Not sure why you are referencing the House of Commons, but if you are an American voter, you will probably have the option (ballot access varies by state!) of voting for Dr. Jill Stein, and I hope you will consider that. The bipartisan horror show taking place shows clearly that there is no “lesser evil” to take into account when judging the D’s and R’s. I could not possibly condone either by voting for them or their minions.
Brother Martin,
The reference to the House of Commons comes from Winston Churchill (a horrible racist, but a tremendous example of how you can’t get paragons in politics; in order to climb to the top, you have to be vulpine, immoral, and obscene — but charismatic), who stated that if Hitler invaded Hell, he’d have to give the Devil a positive reference in the House of Commons.
As to Trump being onboard with the genocide. I do not, in any way, dispute it. But I point out the following: Every single president in my lifetime has either actively contributed to something (at least) approaching genocide, openly supported it, influenced conditions behind the scenes for it to prosper, or looked the other way while it was going on and afterward as well.
I see a whole lot of people suddenly coming to Jesus about how Trump is an existential threat and I shake my head. Trump’s the symptom. The existential threat isn’t him; it’s the easily tricked, easily controlled left-of-center semi-literates of the past 40-odd years — the Hold Your Nose Party — who compromised away everything: the manufacturing base, the unions, the social safety net, pensions, etc., etc.
And here we are. Like the cattle in the chute being herded to the killing floor. The democrats? Look who they have. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Why? Because all the competent people who might have had a few flaws but were otherwise highly effective have been chased out of the party. There’s no one left. Trump’s going to win, and he’s already got it all set up: the RNC’s been purged of the disloyal (the Clintons did it first with the dnc IIRC). The odds are pretty good that the Republicans will hold both houses after the election … but even if the dems get 90% in both, they’ll hand Trump whatever he wants.
But even if the dems win? They won’t get anything done. It’s their nature.
Thanks for the “House of Commons” story, which I hadn’t heard, and thanks for laying out your view of things. I largely concur. Sometimes I wish I were young enough that I might live long enough to get a better idea of how this is going to work out. Other times, I’m glad my ticket out of here will be coming up relatively soon, though maybe not soon enough to avoid some serious domestic nastiness.