From the “Why I Write” page on this blog: “Writing helps me to think through issues that I don’t fully understand yet; writing prompts me to research background information and divergent points of view.” You’d think I’d be writing even more this year as so many things are happening that I don’t understand. But perhaps it’s the overload of too many incomprehensible things happening that is holding me back. In any event, I’ve found it hard to write blog posts this year. Here are a few hurdles.

Congress: I don’t get it. Why do people who run for office simply walk away from their responsibilities once they win an election? I used to think that legislators at all levels of government might do well to take a break from legislating periodically in order to assess the effects of their work before embarking on new legislation. But I didn’t envision people who would just not pass a budget or not fund support for allies in the midst of a war for their survival or not fund border security measures just so they could bitch about the lack of border security. What gives here?

Protests: I don’t get this either. I’ve engaged in protests. Some I regret because once I learned more about an issue, my opinions veered off in a different direction. But the protests I’ve participated in didn’t prevent people from catching their flight or getting to the hospital. My protest activity always had openings for people to get through and didn’t involve camping. I also didn’t support terrorists. 

I guess I just can’t figure out why Israel drives people nuts in the way it does. Muslims kill other Muslims. China sterilizes and imprisons Muslims. Russia demolishes Muslim cities. But when Muslims commit atrocities against Israel, people chant, “We support Hamas! We support your rockets!” This is not support for Palestinians. This is support for terrorists. Hamas wants to destroy the state of Israel. Hamas is antisemitic. Hamas teaches children to hate Jews. How do they deserve anyone’s support? 

IMHO, these protests are a direct result of DEI preaching the tropes of settler-colonialism and white supremacy (including Jews, half of whom are POC), indoctrinating people with victim status – which strips them of all agency and responsibility for their actions. Once again, I support the right of Israel to exist. I would support a Palestinian state if the Palestinians would accept the right of Israel to exist and agree to live along side the Israeli state in peace and cooperation. But for now, I support the right of Israel to defend itself against an opponent who steals aid intended for regular people; builds tunnels under schools, hospitals, and mosques; violated the cease fire that existed prior to October 7 by firing rockets into civilian targets so often that Israeli houses were all built with safe rooms, and holds hostages to this day while demanding that Israel stop it’s campaign to defeat it. Once again, why is anyone supporting Hamas?

Pretending Iran can be reasoned with: I remember back to a time when I supported the JCPOA. (I had to look it up. It stands for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.) If Barack Obama did it, I was for it. If Trump undid it, I was for it. But I have listened to and read a variety of opinions on the thing in the last couple of years, and I now think it is just naive for us to think Iran is an enemy that we could reason with. Iran intends to rid the world of Israel. (Yes, I know, not all Iranians.)  See this article in The Atlantic. Iran has not wavered from this position since the clerics took over after 1979. Iran supports anyone who will advance this goal, and is playing the long game. Yes, it will obliterate Israel once it gets nukes, and yes it will get nukes. Yet the US continues to try to reason with the regime. I don’t get it. 

Assimilation: I support immigration. I support immigrants who are willing to respect democratic traditions, laws, women’s rights, cultural appropriation (I love making tacos), and showing their faces in public. I’m not fond of immigrants who refuse to assimilate. I don’t expect immigrants to abandon all of their cultural traditions. (I once supported our neighbors who found a way to roast a whole lamb outdoors for their Easter festivities.) Keep your foods, keep your holidays, but know that we intend to keep America safe for Jews. Don’t demand that we accept all comers however they find their way across our border. In fact, just don’t demand anything. It’s not polite to move to a new place and start making demands. 

Well: Well, that’s a load off my chest. Will this enable me to get back to blogging again? Time will tell.