Dispatches From Exile Weekly Mind Dump, 10/8-10/14, 2023: Looking for Light at the End of the Middle East Tunnel? Forget About It.
And let's not forget about corruption in the Parliament of Whores.
Middle East Blood Wrath
Three years ago, in a piece in the Washington Monthly, I wrote:
Early in my career as a U.S. diplomat in the 1980s, I was assigned the thankless task of carrying water for Israel. The mission: to lobby other nations not to vote for a number of UN General Assembly resolutions criticizing Israel for its treatment of the Palestinians. Typically, these kinds of measures are passed by hugely lopsided margins. The only “No’s” generally came from Israel and the United States. If we were lucky, we might get some help from Canada or an obscure island nation we could essentially bribe with development aid.
But there were at least some glimmers of light then for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. Israel had just reached a settlement with Egypt at the 1978 Camp David Accords. There was a real sense of possibility that the Middle East’s most intractable conflict could eventually be solved. That made our job much easier; we could tell other governments that there was a serious process in place. I can’t imagine what it would be like to have that job now.
Over the last 10 years, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has done virtually everything in his power to destroy the chances of a realistic peace agreement based on two states for two peoples — from expanding settlements and strengthening Israeli society’s most reactionary elements, to scuttling the Obama administration’s peace efforts and embracing Trump’s thinly-veiled attempts to crush the Palestinian cause and appeal to his evangelical base.
It is written in the Hebrew Bible’s Book of Proverbs that “Whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.” Benjamin Netanyahu’s unrelenting policies of sabotaging any prospects for a peaceful resolution of his country’s conflict with the Palestinians have now reached a climax. And, for a variety of reasons, Washington, ever passive, has allowed it to come to this point. As of this writing, the body count comes to some 1300 Israelis and 1500 Palestinians, with around 300,000 of the latter rendered homeless. These figures will surely rise in the coming weeks and many more innocents will lose their lives. But rest assured. The USS Gerald R. Ford is now in the eastern Mediterranean.
After the fighting subsides and the investigations get into full swing, I predict Benjamin Netanyahu will reap the full consequences of his actions. The Torah admonishes: “Tzedek, tzedek tirdof!”— “Justice, justice shall you pursue!”
Will then the path toward a fair and balanced settlement be restored? I sincerely hope so. But I would trade nothing to return to my old State Department job. I witnessed too many colleagues spend their entire diplomatic careers futilely pursuing a “two-state solution.” For what? Many now are in retirement, disillusioned and bitter.
Beltway Bandits: What Do Trump, Menendez and Santos Have in Common?
“When they call the roll in the Senate, the Senators do not know whether to answer ‘Present’ or ‘Not guilty’,” quipped Theodore Roosevelt. So true. Senator Robert Menendez is racking up corruption charges like there’s no tomorrow. The FBI found half a million bucks in cash and a bunch of gold bars, valued at $100,000, stuffed in clothing in Bob’s closet. Oh! And add one gleaming Mercedes in the garage.
“Congratulations mon amour de la vie, we are the proud owners of a 2019 Mercedes,” Nadine Mendendez, Bob’s wife, texted him upon taking possession of the vehicle four years ago. A day earlier, according to prosecutors, a New Jersey businessman, who had previously been convicted for fraud, handed Nadine $15,000 in cash toward the car’s purchase, the balance of which he paid later.
“For thirty years, I have withdrawn thousands of dollars in cash from my personal savings account, which I have kept for emergencies and because of the emergency of my family facing confiscation in Cuba,” Bob helpfully explained.
U.S. senators get paid $174,000 a year. Let’s see, six hundred grand in the senator’s closet plus a new Mercedes, valued at, say, fifty G’s. Do the math. Um. Something doesn’t add up.
Add to these charges, his now being accused by prosecutors of acting as a foreign agent on behalf of Egypt, of all countries. Personally, were I so inclined, I’d go for a non-shithole country like, say, France. But that’s just me.
Sorry, Bob. Let me recommend some useful reading relevant to your future: “The Prison Manual: The Complete Guide to Surviving the American Prison System,” available for $24.99 in paperback on Amazon. You appear to have enough saved up for this small but valuable purchase.
This is the esteemed senator’s second go-around at corruption charges. A hung jury got him off the first time. I spent many years inside the Washington Beltway, having rubbed shoulders with politicians, plutocrats and the morally compromised of all stripes. And I’ve never ceased to be amazed at the hubris of people in power. They really do think the rules do not apply to them and appear shocked when the cuffs are slapped on.
Donald Trump, facing 91 felony counts, fits into this category. He’s skated his entire adult life, managing to stiff contractors, “Trump University” rubes, philanthropists and MAGA morons of millions. Why, Roy Cohn told him that all it takes is the Three B’s: bluff, bluster and bullshit to get away with fraud and larceny. But Jack Smith, Letitia James and Fani Willis have other ideas.
The schadenfreude millions will experience once justice finally catches up with 45 will border on the orgasmic. Sic semper corrupto, Prince of Orange.
Which gets us to Rep. George Santos. He’s racking up so many criminal charges that one almost needs an AI-equipped computer to keep up. The latest involve identity theft of his relatives and others. He’s facing close to two dozen federal criminal charges, ranging from wire fraud to money laundering. These, of course, are in addition to the many over-the-top lies he spewed to win office. He doesn’t hold a candle to Trump, but, at half the latter’s age, his felonious record is impressive nonetheless.
So, in the face of seemingly incontrovertible evidence of malfeasance, why do Menendez and Santos hold on?
The Washington Post’s Philip Bump says, “To an outsider, the idea that these legislators would stay in office might seem baffling.” But, as a Columbia University professor explains, “So if you were the defendant, why would you ever resign and then lose the ability to try to say, ‘Well, hey, listen, I’m willing to resign. Let’s talk about what kind of deal you can offer me, given that that’s the case’.”
Clever or stupid?
Mark Twain nailed it:
“Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.”
The opinions and characterizations in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily represent official positions of the U.S. government.