RUTHFULLY YOURS

One of the most harrowing incidents in the Athenian historian Thucydides’ history of the Peloponnesian War is the democratic debate over the rebellious subject state of Mytilene on the distant island of Lesbos. Thucydides uses his riveting account of the Athenian argument over the islanders’ fate to warn his readers of the fickle nature of democracy.

Outraged by the revolt of the Mytileneans, the frenzied Athenians suddenly assemble and vote to condemn all the adult males on the island, regardless of the role any of them may have played in the revolt. They are to be executed en masse for rebellion, on grounds of collective guilt. The next day, however, cooler heads in Athens narrowly prevail. The radical demos just as abruptly takes a second vote and withdraws its blanket death sentence of the day before, voting instead to execute only 1,000 of the ringleaders of the rebellion.

It is no secret that several senior Palestinian officials see themselves as potential successors to Abbas. Like his predecessor, Yasser Arafat, Abbas has stubbornly refused to share power with anyone. And like Arafat, he continues to run the Palestinian Authority as if it were his private fiefdom.

In Palestinian culture, it is more important if one graduates from an Israeli prison than from the University of Texas in Austin. A Palestinian who carries out an attack on Israel has more credentials among his people than one who studied at Harvard or Oxford universities.

“Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah pledged on Saturday that the Palestinian Authority would continue to provide the children of terrorists killed in attacks on Israel with free education and healthcare, regardless of the PA’s economic status.

Hamdallah’s remarks were made at a rally in Ramallah which was held for the families of terrorists, Israel’s NRG reported.

Saturday’s special event included the participation of the Secretary General of the International Martyr Family Fund, Mohammad Sebihat, as well as Leilah Ghnaim, in addition to Hamdallah.

Hamdallah said that the Palestinians must “set aside differences of opinion.” He added that “in the holy month of Ramadan, we have a a national responsibility obligating us to work for the sake of our people and to advance the culture of cooperation and love.”

The Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 imposed sanctions on Iran, not only to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons, but also to drain Iran’s financial support for Hezbollah, Hamas, and other terrorist groups that threaten the U.S. and its allies.

Visiting Israel in March 2013, Obama declared that “every country that values justice should call Hizbollah what it truly is–a terrorist organization…Because, the world cannot tolerate an organization that murders innocent civilians, stockpiles rockets to shoot at cities, and supports the massacre of men.”

While various international media outlets have been reporting on growing Iranian involvement in terrorism in the Middle East and beyond, the Government Accountability Office revealed on June 17 that the State Department reports to Congress on Iran’s terrorist activities are “three years out of date.“

Michael Oren, Israel’s former ambassador to the United States, has written the smartest and juiciest diplomatic memoir that I’ve read in years, and I’ve read my share. The book, called “Ally,” has the added virtues of being politically relevant and historically important. This has the Obama administration—which doesn’t come out looking too good in Mr. Oren’s account—in an epic snit.

The tantrum began two weeks ago, when Mr. Oren penned an op-ed in this newspaper undiplomatically titled “How Obama Abandoned Israel.” The article did not acquit Israel of making mistakes in its relations with the White House, but pointed out that most of those mistakes were bungles of execution. The administration’s slights toward Israel were usually premeditated.
Like, for instance, keeping Jerusalem in the dark about Washington’s back-channel negotiations with Tehran, which is why Israel appears to be spying on the nuclear talks in Switzerland. Or leaking news of secret Israeli military operations against Hezbollah in Syria.

Margaret Thatcher once said: “The problem with Socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.” We may not be a Socialist country, but we are an aging welfare state. And we are running out of money. We are not yet France, but Social Security and healthcare spending consume an ever-increasing portion of our tax dollars. Economic growth is necessary for ever-expanding government budgets. Yet government regulation and tax complexity have a deleterious effect on small businesses, the main source of hiring and economic growth. The consequence is reduced revenue, increased borrowing and more pressure on discretionary parts of the budget.

Desmond Tutu was once a hero in the eyes of freedom fighters around the world. But talk about a tragic flaw: he’s now best known for having fallen in with the bigotry amongst bigotries — irrational hatred of the Jewish State of Israel. It keeps getting worse. Someone should pray for his soul

It is always a moment of amusement to read the latest fulmination of the venerable archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu. On June 17, 2015, he beguiled us again with his message to his dear sisters and brothers in the United Church of Christ, which is holding its general synod in Cleveland June 26-30, 2015.

He assured the congregation of his support for its divestment resolution targeting the “Israeli occupation.” He fully endorsed the proposal to use the powerful nonviolent tools of economic leverage against the State of Israel.

We’re going to keep this simple and short, because the message just doesn’t seem to get through.

In the wake of the horrific massacre by an Islamic terrorist of (mainly British) holiday-makers on a beach in Tunisia, UK Prime Minister David Cameron came out with a line we have heard from him, Barack Obama, France’s Francois Hollande, Australia’s Tony Abbott, and so many others in the wake of Islamist mass murder.

This is what Cameron said just after news of the massacre broke: “This is not in the name of Islam; it’s a perverted ideology and we must fight it,”.

We have made the point many times about Mr. Cameron’s qualifications to speak about Islamic theology — he doesn’t have any. In any case, it’s idiotic to say it’s not in “the name” of Islam, because the people who do such things are quite explicit that they are doing it precisely in “the name” of Islam.

Last week’s decision in King vs. Burwell, in which Chief Justice John Roberts magically conjured ambiguity out of straightforward language, has troubling implications beyond the further erosion of the separation of powers. From ancient Athens to George Orwell, the violation of the integrity of language by sophistical legerdemain has been recognized as the eternal enabler of political tyranny.

The 6-3 decision, which legitimized giving federal subsidies to people living in states without an exchange, obviously contradicts the law as written. What the majority of the Court did was to rewrite legislation in clear violation of the Constitution’s separation of powers, which gives the law-making power to Congress. As Justice Scalia wrote in dissent, the majority “ignores the American people’s decision to give Congress ‘[a]ll legislative Powers’ enumerated in the Constitution. They made Congress, not this Court, responsible for both making laws and mending them.”

These days Obama following the law would be news. Obama not following the law is just business as usual. So this is another case of Obama doing what he can to help terrorists while ignoring the limits on his powers.No wonder he likes the PLO. It too is run by an unelected dictator.

Here’s what the issue is…

Two lawmakers are warning the Palestinian Authority (PA) that its economic assistance from the United States could be suspended because of its decision to initiate charges against Israel at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“By formally submitting allegations against Israeli forces to the ICC Chief Prosecutor, President [Mahmoud] Abbas has triggered a provision in U.S. law that suspends all economic assistance to the PA,” Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said in a statement.