progressive

(this is cross-posted from my old, dormant blog, the terminal velocity of sausage, because that blog is a progressive bloggers affiliate site and i wanted this to be available on that site)

i've left this space dark for some time now. for the last month or two i've been posting at canadian cynic. cc has been one of my biggest supporters in blogville. much of the traffic i ever received here, at the terminal velocity of sausage, came through links from his site and his recommendations, for which i am most grateful. when i got the invitation to join canadian cynic i was more than flattered and i hope my snark-fu lives up to the standards that fans of the site are used to. again my gratitude to cc for his continued support and for the opportunity to reach a far larger audience.

recently there has been a tempest in a piss pot. i won't go into details, as i'm sure most readers of the progressive bent will have had their fill of the robert mclelland saga. as an affiliate of the progressive bloggers i wanted to express my distaste for the handling of this shmozzle. while absolute power corrupts absolutley (hi george!), a little power will happily corrupt little people (hi warren and jason!). mclelland is an abrasive character and his comments were uncalled for. he has since apologized. i don't believe that he's an anti-semite but i am troubled by the ban of his site from prog-blogs, it smacks of politically correct conformism. and that ain't too progressive.

i have certainly said some very offensive things about people, i've just been lucky enough to say awful things about folks that are safe to lay into, o'reilly, bush, harper etc. i am not comfortable with israel being the great western sacred cow. not that i care if i get tossed from an aggregator, but let me make myself perfectly clear:

i support israel's right to exist, always have done.
i deplore israel's ultra-militaristic stance.
i am disgusted by israel's recent actions against lebanon and ongoing crimes in palestine.
i fear for the good citizens of israel as their leaders continue abusive policies that feed into the cycle of violence.

the notion that israel should be immune from all criticism is a disservice to israel. under the veto umbrella of america, israel has had a free hand in dealing with her neighbours without fear of repercussions. israel has become the ultimate international welfare state. as america's citadel in the desert they have been funded and armed to the teeth and have too often used force indiscriminately. there will never be peace in the region until all sides agree to make peace. those sides will not come together without conciliation and compromise. peace for israel will not be achieved through continual violence. that isn't anti-semitism, it's common sense.

to be honest i don't hold out a lot of hope. there are larger agendas at work, power and money and influence. just as in america, the will of the people is forfeit to the will of the powerful. israel deserves a great deal of criticism, as do her enablers (hi measured stephen!). my heart goes out to israelis of good conscience, you are ill served by your government and their friends in high places.