The Controversy
I received an e-mail from Claudio as some of you may also have regarding this article.
Netanyahu, a former soldier in an elite unit, and his government are pushing forward on a plan to weaken the Supreme Court and limit the independence of the judiciary. His allies say the changes are meant to streamline governance, while critics say the plan will upend Israel’s system of checks and balances and slide the country toward authoritarianism. They also say Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, is motivated by a personal grudge and has a conflict of interest.
The overhaul, which is moving ahead in parliament, has sparked an outcry from business leaders and legal officials. Tens of thousands of protesters have been taking to the streets each week.
What do YOU think?
Bullet Points:
** Ukraine and its supporters say Western fighter jets are now necessary to tip the balance in Ukraine’s favor while allowing for close air support and air interdiction missions.
You don’t just have to train the pilots; you have to train the mechanics, you have to have airfields that can accommodate the F-16 (or whichever aircraft) and you have to have the spare parts to make it work.
** The first and third aspects of today’s maritime century have direct relevance to undersea security. Maritime connectivity is both a function of and a key driver behind, contemporary prosperity. It is a well-known fact that some 90% of global trade is carried by sea, yet it is a less well-known fact that some 99% of the world’s communications are delivered by 1.4 million kilometers of submarine cables. Of no less significance, a substantial part of gas and electricity resources is delivered through a series of undersea connectors. More at Commander Salamander’s Blog.
** Political Prisoners
** GDP – PPP – Africa
** Trouble in Arizona – The situation along the southwest border has deteriorated so badly under President Joe Biden that in the last two years, an Arizona county about an hour’s drive from Mexico has seen a breathtaking 377% increase in human smuggling and trafficking incidents and a shocking 610% rise in fentanyl pills seized by local law enforcement officers. Closer to the southern border a small Arizona town a stone’s throw from Los Algodones, Mexico saw three times its population cross into its municipality illegally last year, overwhelming the city’s only hospital.
** BRM’s Blog: With the release of the security (and other) video from the January 6th, 2021 so-called “insurrection”, a number of things have become very clear. First of all, the allegations that it was an “insurrection” a “revolution” or an “uprising” are completely false. It never was and attempts to portray it as such is partisan political propaganda. Second, that propaganda was spread by both sides of the political aisle, Republican as well as Democrat. It’s a perfect illustration of the Uniparty at work. The politicians involved may represent different parties, but they have the same interests, and they protect each other as well as themselves.
A Cheeseburger Quesadilla?
Would it be helped by a dip into the guacamole?
Identify the Aircraft
Curtiss SC-1 Seahawk ?
-Kle.
Yes, it’s a Seahawk.
Israel: I’ll give you the same reply I gave Claudio, I’m afraid it just boils down to “I don’t really know enough to be sure”.
I don’t know enough about how Israel’s government works, or what’s being done in the legislature to be certain of where I stand.
I think an independent judiciary and checks and balances are important things. They appear not to have saved us, however.
Netanyahu is imperfect, and does seem to desire greater personal decision power. However, the alternatives to him always seem to be surrenderists, at best. Not a very good choice. Netanyahu seems to want Israel to win, which is good. I am also always suspicious of negative reporting about Netanyahu and his actions, because it always seems to come from Marxists and anti-civilizational Jihadi fans. Thus, IDK if the current thing is being misrepresented, or not.
I think militaries should be under civilian control, and should abstain from politics. I also think that insubordination / desertion / mutiny are serious actions. If the military has a veto over civilian rule, then you are in a military dictatorship, which seems quite similar to the creeping autocracy they are protesting.
-Kle.
I’m thinking of Marbury and the power it gave the SCOTUS, probably more than the founders imagined.
A Supreme Court that can and does dictate.
Maybe that is Bebe’s concern.
Israel is Israel. For all of its quirks, it is still the beacon of freedom and tolerance surrounded by a pile of vicious, totalitarian, intolerant and often evil regimes and puppet states.
As to our judiciary, it ended when the Rule of Law became less important than ‘Appoint me and I’ll rule your way.’ Fortunately, starting in 2017, we had a string of pretty good Rule of Law judges appointed. And then we went back to the evil status quo in 2021. Bah. And the Rule of Law ended when the Supremes wouldn’t touch the rampant cheating in 2020, and the illegal restrictions of 2020, and the following years.
Bah.
Just rather have a cheeseburger. If I want a quesadilla, I want it actually to taste somewhat Mexican.
I thought it was a kingfisher first, but some pictures comparisons it is a Seahawk.
NYC is spending $10,000 per month on each illegal? That’s a lot of graft money to spread around! I wonder where is all goes… which specific pockets does it end up in?
There are lots of pockets, and naturally, 10% to the Big Guy (Adams), who complains the loudest.
So Netanyahu’s party doesn’t have an antifa group to “peacefully ” protest outside of the homes of supreme court justices so they know who is really in charge? Africa. No wonder Somalians love their colony in Minnesota. A little welfare fraud will keep the entire clan living in style back home.
They have the Palestinians and the MSM. They don’t need Antifa.
Guacamole is Gods gift….use it wisely, pilgrim. So sayeth the lord.
Exactly!!
EdB disagrees…apparently.
Maybe it’s an acquired taste?
Or not available up his way. Visiting family in PA years back, could not find green chili in a jar.
I hadn’t yet, but you read my mind:
“Would it be helped by a dip into the guacamole?”
No.
Incipient Caesarism in Israel? Well, THAT should shut up the cynics and naysayers. This is proof, Proof I say! that Israel really IS like the US.
Good luck to them, I really hope it works out (seriously, not sarcasm). But I hope they can get to a good (or at least acceptable to most) place without the US getting dragged into it. (Fat chance. While I’m at it, I’d also like a magic flying pony that eats scrap cardboard and poops out Krugerrands.)
Can’t say I’m a fan of Netanyahu personally, but he probably IS being targeted unjustly by exactly the same kinds of shitheaded high-IQ domestic enemies and outright traitors that plague the US. Only there those people can’t play their major defensive card. (Hah!) So on the balance, go get ‘em Bibi. You’re a bit of an asshole, but you’re a competent asshole (who seems to NOT hate his own people) that I can live with. Better you in charge than a lot of other persons.
… the problem of course is, what happens AFTER Bibi, if this power is vested in another executive.
Yes, that is the problem. Bibi is a patriot.
My take as well, at least from what I see and hear from his public commentary.
I like Bibi, he has street creds and has been down range, lost family in combat, walked the walk.
Like his brother did.
Sounds like Trump.
I’m gonna test the spring/catch on the mousetrap, not that I’m interested in the cheese/bait in the slightest. IM(very)HO, the Israeli Supreme Court is so far left that it would make Karl Heinrich blush (and only getting moreso with time). It appears to be the ruling body in Israel: not the President, not the Prime Minister, and not the Knesset. Netanyahu et al would like to correct this imbalance; those holding the power (or deriving benefits therefrom) are opposed. There are many non-religious Jewish Israelis, strongly draft-averse, living abroad who would be (at least momentarily) happy to see the entire country as Palestine.
I have to admit I am dismayed to find quite a few editors/bloggers, whom I hold in high regard, still using the term: “our Southern border” meaning the one abutting Mexico. The only comparison I can find is trying to drink water from a sieve.
Question: is the problem more with the specific people currently sitting on Israel’s Supreme Court, or is the balance of power as laid out by statute, intent, and custom inherently wrong?
If the former situation (shitheads on the SC), does the short-term fix (greater executive power for Netanyahu) justify the longer-term harms when some leftist shithead becomes PM?
I’m genuinely keen to understand this, because I don’t know enough about the governance of Israel. That said, the “Caesarism” issue applies to all democracies.
I’m just an interested observer: as I also closely watch Hungarian politics.
I’m not all that certain that Netanyahu wants more power to the executive (it’s a nice distraction) as much as he wants more power to reside in the Knesset, particularly with the current makeup of the Israeli Supreme Court.
When your enemy sees you are fighting amongst yourselves, well, leave them to it. I do not know enough about Israel’s internal political mess, but they need to get their damn act together.
AZ Border- I heard it was closed…solid. So much so the Not-A-P or VP never felt it important to go there, that’s how confident they are about how well they are doing. But hey, they really clamped down on our our Northern border the other day…don’t want those folks coming here and interfering with the freebies given to the new Democrat’s waltzing across in the South. There’s only so many bus and plane tickets available.
@ Paul M
I find your first sentence more than interesting.
When Israel proclaimed its establishment, I was already past my 7th birthday. Politics might mean very little to the typical 7 year-old, but I had highly vocal uncles ranging from far left falling-off-the-bench to far right falling-off-the-bench. Israeli politics from the outset was quite similar to our family politics.
Points to consider:
What (money) groups are supporting the Right in Israel? What (money) groups are supporting the Left? Are these the same groups that support each end in our country?
Please note that Tia Goldenberg is only slightly biased (review her adjectives, particularly when describing the Right). Is her reportage part of another psyop – again?
Poorly worded…should have been, “When you see your enemy fighting amongst themselves, leave them to it.”
Your comment is intriguing, as well as JW’s below. For us in the cheap seats, far from that particular fray, it is very difficult to ascertain the truth of the matter gleaned from “reports”. Everybody has their inherent bias and/or an axe to grind.
I support Israel, yet the parties involved have been fighting over that patch of dirt for so long one wonders what the heck is the point? (yes, we know what it is, but, geez, move on.)
God ordained them, which is why I said they need to get their act together and figure out what they want to be. Enough already. (Sure, Americans can’t agree either, especially when the foibles of human nature get promoted instead of clamped down. But at least our Constitution and Bill of Rights lines it out..it’s only the political criminals and cheats who screw it up for the rest of us.)
The protestors are largely funded by the US. Began back in 2012 as a State Department funded campaign to unseat PM Netanyahu. The administration was angered by his opposition to the Iran Treaty and the two state solution.
Interfering in the internal politics of other nations appears to be an accepted part of our foreign policy. In the interim, we have messed about in the Ukraine and Great Britain. Samanatha Power is, at present, aiding political opposition to Viktor Orban in Hungary.
All this stuff is available OS. You don’t have to read many pages in to the NYT, WAPO or WSJ to find accounts.
Despite our best efforts, the pesky Israelis keep voting Netanyahu back in office. Apparently they have an unwarranted interest in national survival.
V/R JWest
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Israel
I don’t have a dog in that fight. What I do have is an admiration for the people and what they have accomplished. Good luck to them!
Don’t know enough to comment on the Israel situation. Re the Seahawk, it and the Helldiver were the last two Curtiss-Wright aircraft delivered to the military. They did the C-46 Commando, and shifted more to engine, propeller production after that.
That cartoon with Schumer could have included the War Turtle singing a duet with him.
Who are we to tell the Israeli’s how to run anything?
So it seems the cartels control our border. Of course not a single one of our elite and beloved rulers would benefit from such a thing.
It’s a curious thing to watch a nation commit suicide. But what am I saying, raised in the UK.