The core cancer of planet Earth is STILL the Israeli/Palestinian "conflict".

[wcepler]

It's easy to forget that the lose/lose for all concerned Israeli/Palestinian horror show has been THE social cancer that has metastasized to the entire planet.

Basically everything negative and destructive that has been happening all over the planet for several decades is either directly or indirectly related to this archetypal failure of civilized human existence.

However, at least by now the entire planet understands the ONLY way to deal with this cancer is with diplomacy and compromise.

Remember those words: "diplomacy" & "compromise"? Unfortunately they were banished to another galaxy by the neocon cabal which was the dog that wagged the tail of American foreign policy for at least the last eight years.

Indeed, they disappeared down the same toilet as "accountably" and "justice".

Now President Elect Obama promised over and over again that his administration would "even handedly" deal the stinking mess of the Middle East.

However, so far he hasn't even thrown a bone to the Palestinians and the Muslim world in general. Thus, by default, the only implication is that his approach to the Middle East will be "recycling the old" militant approach, which his mandate emphatically VOTED AGAINST.

Mr Obama (you're not President yet), did you or did you not promise a dramatically different approach to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict ("conflict" -- such a disgusting euphemism)? Did we or did we not hear you talk about diplomacy and justice?

And speaking of which, what's the deal about the walking filth of Joe Lieberman? Does the DLC machine the pukes out right wing dems really think progressive Americans are duped into thinking this traitor to the Democratic Party and the United States of America is being "supported" because of the magic 60 number?

Good Lord, even barnyard animals know Lieberman will vote against dem programs more than any random pugs; thus, he is being supported for profoundly different reasons. Gee, I wonder what they could be? Couldn't have anything to do with some hard core deal making Obama made during the presidential campaign with the hard core ANTI diplomacy folks when it comes to the Middle East, could it?

A couple of weeks ago, in spite of some key appointments, it was still possible to think (pray!) that Obama would rise to the moral/rational challenge to start promoting a diplomacy approach to the Israeli/Palestinian cancer -- and the Middle East sewer in general.

But those days are past. Too many appointments are just recycled neocons. Too many appointments and comments, etc. are just party line DLC dems (remember 2006 Congress of DLC dem traitors?).

So long as Obama doesn't find the moral stature to be true to his campaign promises about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and an even handed approach to the Middle East in general, we are big time back in samo samo land.

And here we thought it was going to be John McCain who chained us to the dead and rotting past.

The tragedy is that virtually everything Obama has done to date is telling the world that nothing fundamentally will change about America's involvement in the Middle East.

And THAT means the militant cancer will just keep metastasizing and metastasizing and dragging the rest of the world (especially our profoundly damaged country) into this toilet straight to hell.

Will America EVER AGAIN honor words like diplomacy, justice, and accountably? Alas, so far the DLC/Obama Administration doesn’t seem to even know how to spell such words.

The heart breaking tragedy is so long as the healing oils of diplomacy and compromise are not poured on these lose/lose and limitlessly anguished troubled waters, the ENTIRE PLANET will never stop being held hostage to the putrescent Middle East.

Samo, samo.

Samo, samo.
**********************************************************************

W. Christopher Epler (Bill)

<http://theliberationofrealism.blogspot.com/>

[aquart]

1. Oh, that isn't the "core cancer," dear.

That ugly festering thing in you, however....

[Jim Sagle]

2. I can smell it clear across the web. I think it has a name...

[wcepler]

3. Diplomacy is what America voted for

All this hateful knee jerk arrogance because someone suggests "diplomacy" instead of warfare? Boy, that word must have power. However don't be too sure this time you can hate it away. Obama may be vacillating but he may turn out to be more committed to diplomacy than you would wish. And save the sick innuendos and "Dear" talk for your cats.

[Jim Sagle]

5. Believe me, I AM being diplomatic. You should try it sometime.

[tomreedtoon]

4. The core cancer of Earth is Humanity.

If we could just get rid of Humanity, everything would be perfect. And DU message boards would be much more polite.

To support this great idea, please contact Lord Darkseid on the planet Apokalyps in the Fourth World sector of space.

[anonymous171]

6. lol Screw the economy! This is way more important!

:sarcasm:

[Behind the Aegis]

7. What an incredible load of shit.

This has to be one of the most pathetic "editorials" I have ever seen penned by someone at DU. It lacks basic logic and history. Hell, you even show your own lack of logic with this statement:

"Mr Obama (you're not President yet), did you or did you not promise a dramatically different approach to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict ("conflict" -- such a disgusting euphemism)? Did we or did we not hear you talk about diplomacy and justice?"

See the issue? No? Read again:

"Mr Obama (you're not President yet), did you or did you not promise a dramatically different approach to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict ("conflict" -- such a disgusting euphemism)? Did we or did we not hear you talk about diplomacy and justice?"

Yet, in your "infinite" 'wisdom' :eyes:, we are headed to "Samo, Samo."

Seriously, if you want to comment on I/P, learn about the situation, including the propaganda, including the shit you just flung all over this board.

[MicaelS]

8. Bullshit...

The Arab nations and their Palestinian lackeys have been trying to destroy Israel since Israel was formed. If they wanted peace at any time all they had to do was quit attacking Israel. If the Arab nations, especially Saudi Arabia, are so desirous of seeing "justice" for the Palestinians they could, and should, give them citizenship and land in their own countries. The fact they have not chosen to do so after 60 years, shows two things. One they would rather keep the hatred alive and going. Two, they don't consider the Palestinians "brothers" and equals.

[wcepler]

9. extremist hate is always counter productive

No one says this isn't a lose/lose can of worms. They question is how best to deal with it. And since genuine diplomacy hasn't been given a chance during the toilet Bush years, Obama's election was a tremendous mandate to try a REAL commitment to diplomacy.

Also, the scam with these righteously vitriolic responses is that they try to give the view that they speak for the entire Jewish community and/or the entire state of Israel, but this is pure b.s. The extremist right wing Israeli's no more speak for the entire State of Israel than extremist right wing American speak for the entire country of America. Indeed, extremist American right wingers are increasingly regarded as nut cases who contribute NOTHING but counter productive hate -- always "righteously" manifested, of course.

Strident arrogance and tediously recycled sarcasm doesn't mean quantity -- neither in America, nor in Israel.

In point of fact there are quantities of sites on the web which express a VERY different view on this matter. I won't list them (do a search), but here's just one that expresses a passionately opposite counter view: Jews for a just peace.

Check it out. And then check out many, many similar sites.

Your beliefs are what they are, but you're speaking only for yourselves, just as infinitely self righteous extremist right wing Americans are speaking only for themselves.

One wonders how you DARE to presume that you are the voice of an entire country or the voice of the ENTIRE Jewish community, since the facts are blatantly otherwise. Lastly, the polls in Israel do not support your extremist beliefs.

A little lightening up would be nice, since no one can dialog with hate.

And oh yes, not to know these things shows a lack of erudition; so it's win/win for all of us (certainly myself included) to do our homework.

[wcepler]

12. So diplomacy means get the Palestinians our of Palestine?

How astounding and revealing. So now the Palestinians have been reduced to a beach ball to bounce around Arab countries. One can be empathetic to both sides of this terrible conflict and that's all this piece was trying to do, but your definition of "diplomacy" is to forget that Palestine once upon a time (only a few decades ago!) was ONLY a Palestine state. And please, please don't justify the magic creation of Israel on "religious" grounds. Trust me, no one give a rat's derriere about such governmentally irrelevant claims. Imagine what Germany or France would have done if they was told, "Guess what? This part of your country is now a "different" country."

However, what's been done is what's been done (by the English aristocracy, by the way)and we have to begin where we are. But to think the Arab world (what a generalization -- I thought you didn't like such generalizations) can only be diplomatic if they allow the Palestinians to take over parts of their countries, is beyond comprehension. It seems you're saying the only real solution to this conflict is if the Palestinians abandon en mass what was once upon a time ONLY their country and be adopted by other "Arab" countries.

So, first the English surprise to Palestine that huge quantities of their country is now, abracadbra, a DIFFERENT country. And then then the inevitable conflict between these "two" countries. And the "final solution" (that has a familiar ring to it) is that the Palestinians get the hell OUT of what is TOTALLY no longer their country and find pieces of an exported Palestine in other Arab countries. Wow, that was fast! And this is what you call a "diplomatic solution" to this mess? You're talking about the Palestinians like they're dogs and cats.

Hopefully, Obama will ultimately have a radically different sense of diplomacy.

And once again we should all keep in mind that there are several sites such as "Jews for a just peace" that would be just a horrified by your "final solution" as this author.

[LeftishBrit]

10. It's an important problem - but hardly 'the core cancer of planet earth'

There are millions of people on planet earth who are suffering from grinding, debilitating, often fatal poverty.

There are wars all over the globe - some of them involving far more deaths and suffering than that of the I/P conflict.

Racism, sexism, religious bigotry, various forms of discrimination and prejudice are crushing people all over the world in enormous numbers.

Planet earth itself is at risk from global warming and environmental devastations of all sorts.

The cause of Israeli-Palestinian peace is one of my own causes; and I support organizations dedicated to the issue; but treating it as THE core cancer on the planet is a hyperbolic distortion, which readily leads to exceptionalism against either side, and the whipping up of hostility toward Jews, Arabs, Muslims or any or all of thesse groups.

'the ONLY way to deal with this cancer is with diplomacy and compromise'

I wholeheartedly agree!!! But calling it a 'cancer' interferes with doing so.

'the ENTIRE PLANET will never stop being held hostage to the putrescent Middle East.'

Putrescent Middle East? I find that expression pretty offensive. To ALL concerned.

[wcepler]

11. good advice

The "putrescent" word is arbitrary. The point is this region of the world is ENDLESSLY in militant conflict and that conflict keeps dragging the rest of the world willy nilly into what is NOT the world's problem. And the cancer analogy is a shoe that fits perfectly since when a cancer metastasizes it spreads to, let's say, regions of innocence. However, perhaps it would have more politically correct to say "conflict" (which I did several times) instead of cancer.

I will tell you, however, that your feedback I'm taking to heart, because talking about complex and sensitive matters is hard enough without buzz words that may be distracting. I will probably take your advice in the future and I thank you for it.

peace, Bill

[wcepler]

13. friends and foes

I should add that your semantic remarks are disappointing. You say you are dealing with this conflict, and I respect you for it, but you should realize that this subject has been "too hot to handle" for years and years. And to take shots at a submission that openly dares to directly confront these Middle Eastern conflicts and wars, for cherry picking semantic reasons,is being blindsided (for me) by unexpected criticism.

Granted, the core conflict business is inappropriate when compared to the various and unimaginable sufferings of humanity, but there's also the matter of context (implied or otherwise) and in the contex of the political/social world, it's acceptable to call this the core cancer, since it is the squeaking wheel the world has been pouring incalculable time, creativity, and wealth into for decades.

And ENOUGH already.

I knew this submission would make me a target of pain in the ass extremists, but I didn't anticipate the criticism of arbitrary images, since that misses what should be the self evident big picture of the piece. Indeed, it seems that talking specifically about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict simply makes you a target from all directions -- even very unexpected ones.

Perhaps this all falls into the category of its a dirty job but someone has to do it, but swimming up this stream of lose/lose tragedy is perhaps just not worth the effort. Which, alas, is exactly the goal of these toxic criticisms.

I confess, the only other subject which resembles the fire storm of hatred evoked by suggesting that election mandated diplomacy should be applied to the Middle East in general and the Israel/Palestinian conflict in particular is the hundreds of fire walls the pugs have buried 9/11 in. Indeed these are two subjects the human race MUST confront as the risk of permanently losing its soul, but being attacked by hate machines (and "friends) alike gives one pause.

In the future I'll probably be more circumspect about choosing attention stimulating images, but to me it's just different variation of the rants of fanatics to single out a couple of images and totally miss the VERY DIFFICULT TO TALK ABOUT big picture. All of these images had a context, and not to know the the rest of the world is SICK TO DEATH of the chaotic mess that is the Middle East, is to be naive in extreme.

And so long as we keep nationally/internationally repressing the reality dynamics of this part of the world, they will certainly drag us all to hell.

That's what repressed and un dealt with cancer does. It kills you.

But to talk about these things, publicly, on sites, is probably still the number one taboo on the web.

Pitiful.

[LeftishBrit]

14. I am afraid that this last post comes across as a typical justification for hate-speech

It sounds like 'I should have the right to blame those evil Others/ Blacks/ Jews/ Arabs/ Gays/ Leftists/ Other group of choice for all the troubles of the world, and to call them whatever names I wish, and if anyone protests against it they are cherrypicking/ bringing up irrelevancies/ trying to restrict my freedom of speech'.

I am not attempting to restrict your freedom of speech, but merely exercising my own to point out that calling groups of human beings 'a cancer' and 'putrescent', and implying that the entire world is 'sick to death of' them and that they will 'bring us all to hell' is inimical to the very cause of peace that you claim to support. Words and images do matter when seeking to resolve problems - or what would be the point of posting at all?

I suspect that you don't know any Middle Easterners on either side of the conflict, and are regarding them as scapegoats for conflicts elsewhere. A real solution to conflict in the Middle East (or anywhere) needs to bring the parties together, and address their direct concerns 'and problems - not to treat either or both/all parties as devils who are out to destroy the entire world.

suggesting that election mandated diplomacy should be applied to the Middle East in general and the Israel/Palestinian conflict in particular' is a very good thing and I ardently support it! But diplomacy and hate-speech don't mix too well.

[MicaelS]

15. The real truth of the matter is Oil

If the Middle East was not the source of the world's oil supply and the OPEC nations had not held a sword over the world's neck, OR we had an alternative source of energy, then the ME would not be a concern to the world at large. Israel would have "dealt with" their problems and most of the rest of the world would not give a damn.