Monday Moanin'

Twice last week I started to take surveys by pollsters.  Both were about the upcoming elections, the primary and the general elections.  I was asked questions about candidates.  One poll was online and one was on the phone.  Each time, after one of my answers, my participation in the survey was ended.  I actually have studied both major party candidates for this office and my opinions are made, I think, with knowledge and some reason.  Finally I gave an answer that wasn't welcome--and I wasn't asked why this was my answer--and I was cut off.  So much for taking a representative sample of the population.

Nolan Finley (Oh-Oh, that guy?) had an interesting op-ed piece in yesterday's newspaper.  He wrote that, this time, the powers-that-be should let Israel "finish the job" and get rid of Hamas once and for all.  Right now that isn't the point here.  He also raised an interesting question, one that is never addressed by the LameStream Media.  Why, when the Israelis launch rockets into Gaza, Lebanon, or wherever, is there such outrage among the rest of the world?  Why do the condemnations flow almost immediately?  The joke called the United Nations quickly rushes into the criticism of Israel.  Surely it's tragic that innocent people are killed.  We should all lament that.  But, I wonder often, when the rockets from Hamas, when the suicide bombers, when school buses and restaurants, etc. are attacked and Israelis are killed, where is a similar outrage?  The UN sits arrogantly and says nothing.  The US, at least recently, says nothing.  The rest of the world says nothing--or worse, seeks legitimacy for the attacking terrorist groups.  Hamas and the other terrorist groups launch their attacks from the midst of civilian populations because they know the US government and others throughout the world will react with horror when Israel responds.  After all, to stop the attacks, where else would the Israelis send their missiles?  And the Israelis are merely responding to terrorist attacks.  Wouldn't any or all of the condemning nations do the same, respond to terrorist attacks with violence>  (Well, OK, some wouldn't, but we won't mention any names.)  Again I think it's a case of selective outrage and people who don't think about things giving moral (if that's the right term) equivalence to acts of terrorism and retaliatory responses to acts of terrorism.  How can anyone take this lightweight thinkers seriously?  But, alas, a lot of people, maybe most, even here in the US (esp in our government), do.