"As governor I am required to make this appointment."

I listen to NPR everyday. I wish everyone would take at least a couple hours of their day, and instead of listening to their Ipod, talk radio, or the drivel that constitutes today's music radio, and instead listen to NPR. The stories, news, and information that a person could learn in just a short period of time, is immeasurable. But, most people do not want to make that effort. It is easier to go through life, uninformed and ignorant to the world situation.

I am for some reason, extremely upset by the situation in Gaza. I am not Jewish. I have no links to that area. Unlike Iraq, there are no American troops involved. And yet I am disgusted to the point of anger with the actions taken by Israel. I will certainly state that I do not have a deep understanding of the whole issue, but on the surface, the action of bombing entire blocks, killing innocents left and right, in response to rocket attacks that have killed less than a dozen, seems extreme.

Some think that Israel has the right to defend themselves. But what is happening is equivalent to taking a machine gun to a bunch of kids throwing snowballs. Yeah, that last slushy ice ball hurt. It stung like hell! But would I be justified in mowing them all down with my machine gun? No!! Hell no!! But for some reason, there is support for Israel to get in their US provided planes and bomb the ever loving shit out of Gaza and the people living there. A little to much response. The spokesperson today for Israel could not complete a sentence without saying "uh, uh, uh" at least 10 times. All he kept saying and referring to was the rocket attacks. The same rocket attacks that the entire world knows, did not do much damage and loss of life. And when asked about Israel's role in breaking the cease-fire, how they have been quietly assassinating Hamas figures, inside the borders of Gaza, he hemmed and hawed and went right back to the "rocket attacks."

There is no justification for this kind of force. Israel, for too long, has been coddled and allowed to grow into a mighty military force. Yes, the history of the Jewish people is long and sad. Yes, the lands in question may have belonged to the Jews at some point in time. Yes, there was a holocaust. But how long can we allow that to be the excuse for their behavior? How much leeway do we give? After all, the land we all sit on was once inhabited by Indians of many tribes. But they were swept up and away over the last few centuries. Would anyone accept it, without question, if they armed themselves and started bombing the crap out of those they felt responsible for taking their land? No way!! No one would think that to be acceptable. But when it comes to Israel, and the Jewish people, so many stand by them, applaud them, accept that they are entitled to their actions. That makes no sense. At least to me.

I really hope that the incoming president and his politics will not just rubber stamp Israel's actions as being acceptable. We all knew that Bush would applaud them. After all, he would look like a bigger hypocrite if he did anything but. I know I will continue to think the way I do, and I hope that others will stand up and speak out. We don't need to be involved with other countries and their affairs, but we do need to speak out when bully nations use their power and might to overrun those that have little means to protect themselves. We all should speak out of these atrocities. But, that is just me....