Deliberations on the Confederate Flag

This is an article of mine which appeared in the Times of Israel:

With all of the discussion of the Confederate flag that I see on the internet, I would like to point out a few things:

1. I think that the most cogent comment about the Confederate Flag issue that I have heard was, surprisingly, made by a politician! It was when Jeb Bush said that in Florida the Confederate Flag had been taken out of government buildings quite a few years ago, and put in "a museum where it belonged."

2. While I agree that dealing with the Confederate flag appropriately may hurt the feelings of certain people who have their own private legitimate interpretations of that flag that are not racist or desirous of the disintegration of the United States of America or the like, and I want to be considerate of those people and to be tolerant of their right to such interpretations, one must be cognizant that the historical entity (the Confederacy) represented by the symbol of the Confederate flag is NOT in accordance with such interpretations, and pretending otherwise is just another form of Political Correctness!

3. Not being a fan of Political Correctness, and not identifying politically as either left-wing or right-wing (I like to think of myself, humorously, as sort of "middle of the bird", as comedian Pat Paulsen used to put it), I want to encourage people to abandon this particular form of Political Correctness (which is more identified with the right-wing) as well as other forms of Political Correctness (more often than not, identified with the left-wing).

4. Let us be frank with ourselves, the Confederate flag is, objectively, and historically, a symbol of at least acquiescence in the disintegration of that great union of territory and people called "The United States of America", as well as a symbol of the legitimization of slavery.

The information to prove this is available to anyone who wants it.

If the Confederacy had remained, it is quite likely that Texas (and possibly other states) would have broken off to form its own independent country (see: here, and here, among others), and that the threats to world freedom which the United States helped fight would have been much more difficult to defeat.

As far as slavery goes, from the mention of "an increasing hostility on the part of the non-slaveholding States to the institution of slavery" in the South Carolina Declaration of Secession (the very first such declaration - see: here) as a major part of the justification for leaving the Union, to the secession declarations of other states such as Mississippi (see: here), and Georgia (see: here), among others, which relate to their attitude toward slavery (that it must be preserved) as a major reason for secession, one can see that upholding slavery was a major aim of the Confederacy.

5. The above, it seems quite clear to me, demonstrates quite definitively that the Confederate flag does NOT belong in any USA federal, state, or municipal government edifice. The symbolism of that flag intended by the founders of the Confederacy makes it an object which does NOT honor any government edifice in which it might be placed.

Of course, private people are free to do as they please (including inventing new interpretations of the Confederate flag that do not support racism, etc.), but I see no room for governments in the USA to display this symbol, and every reason for them to reject its display.

In summary, I think that Jeb Bush put it quite well, and that the Confederate flag should be put in museums where it belongs.

Clint Eastwood’s Speech at the Republican National Convention, Summer, 2012

After hearing so much about it, I just viewed the video of Clint Eastwood’s speech at the Republican National Convention:

http://video.foxnews.com/v/1815326420001/eastwood-time-for-somebody-else-to-solve-problem

Since most left-wingers had expressed harsh criticism of Eastwood’s speech and most right-wingers had expressed strong support for the speech, I had strongly suspected that opinions expressed about the speech were more influenced by one’s political persuasion than by the quality of the speech! Being a “middle of the bird” man, myself, I have decided to present my opinion about the speech in the hope that it is a more balanced and objective opinion than those which I mentioned above.

Indeed, in my opinion, it was definitely NOT Clint Eastwood’s greatest speech ever! Eastwood is an 82 year old actor-director whose true “glory days” were 30 to 50 years ago, and he speaks slowly and sometimes appears to lose track of what he wants to say next. I am also definitely NOT a fan of foul language (like the “f-word” which was hinted at a few times in Eastwood’s speech), especially when it does not add anything, as, in my opinion, it did not add anything to the satiric speech that Eastwood was giving; but, of course, an actor in modern times using foul language is hardly unusual, and Eastwood didn’t even actually state the words, he just hinted (very strongly) at them. So, on the whole, the speech definitely did not “make my day”.

On the other hand, for an 82 year old, he presented a remarkably coherent satire of Barack Obama and his policies. Even when he stumbled, as he did several times, Clint Eastwood got back on track reasonably well and continued in a comprehensible manner! His speech definitely did not appear to me to be a “disgrace”, spoken by a sad and pathetic old-timer who has “lost it”, as those who oppose his political views seemed to think.

I  am certain that someone else could have put together a better satire, but that is true about almost every satire, or speech (or anything else in the world): someone else with a little more intelligence, a bit cleverer humor, or a little more pizzazz, could have done it better!

Regarding the complaints about Clint Eastwood’s use of an empty chair to represent Barack Obama, I found them kind of amusing. The empty chair, like Doonesbury comic strip’s use of an empty cowboy hat to represent George W. Bush, was simply a satiric method of emphasizing how little actual content there is to the “satiree” (i.e., the person being satirized)! You can agree or disagree with that assessment of the “satiree”, but it is certainly not an illegitimate or crazy manner of making that point. Indeed, I would not be surprised if the person who prepared Eastwood’s “right-wing” speech got the idea from the Doonesbury “left-wing” comic strip.

So, all in all, I found Clint Eastwood’s speech to be a reasonable effort satirizing Barack Obama, and indicating his support for Mitt Romney, even though it was not really to my taste.

And, once again, with regard to the extreme criticism (and some of the extreme praise) of Eastwood’s speech, it seems we have an example of commentators’ political views affecting their assessment of the quality of someone’s performance.

Great Video about All of Am Yisrael Singing Hatikvah

Here is a link to a great video about all of Am Yisrael singing Hatikvah, with a beautiful surprise ending, which I saw on my friend Rafi's blogsite:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT7iabmnvY8&feature=player_embedded#!

Rafi's blogsite address is: http://lifeinisrael.blogspot.co.il/

Analysis of the Challenges of Orthodox Judaism in the Modern World

I just saw a very good blog post on the challenges of Orthdox Judaism in the modern world. Here is a link to it:

http://finkorswim.com/2012/05/16/judaism-of-the-future-my-response-to-klal-perspectives-spring-2012/

Serious Corruption Charges Against Bet Shemesh Mayor Abutbul

Bet Shemesh Mayor Moshe Abutbul from the Shas party has been accused of serious political corruption, including pressuring a Yeshivah to fire a teacher who was also a political activist in opposition to the Mayor! The political activist, Dov Lipman, filed a Police complaint, and a complaint to the National Auditor of Israel (Mevaker HaMedinah), charging that the Mayor had interfered in the decision making process of the Yeshivah leading to Lipman's contract as a teacher at the Yeshivah where he has been teaching for five years being terminated as of the coming school year!

I have uploaded the article (in Hebrew) about this from a local Bet Shemesh newspaper (Tmura), and it can be viewed here:

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B-l0FBF9cFPvNGNmMGQwYmMtMmZjNS00ZjNiLTllZmUtZmY1OWU0MmM5YjM3&sort=name&layout=list&num=50

I must add, as I noted in the comments, that, unfortunately, this type of behavior is not new to Bet Shemesh and is known to have been exhibited by a former Bet Shemesh Mayor. Certain Yeshivot warned members of their staffs not to appear at political rallies and the like, for fear that that the Mayor would not grant permits needed by the Yeshivah if staff members were seen at events held in opposition to that Mayor!

It is time to stop the corruption, no matter who is the Mayor. Our public figures must perform in accordance with basic ethical standards!

We can only hope that these efforts to stamp out corruption in our city government will be successful.

A Clearly-Stated, Well-Explained Condemnation of the Rabbi Who Encourages Jews to Shoot Jewish Soldiers with Plastic Bullets

Thanks to a link on Rafi G.'s "Life in Israel" blog (http://lifeinisrael.blogspot.com/), I saw this well-phrased, and well-explained, clear condemnation of the Rabbi who encouraged Jews to shoot Jewish soldiers with plastic bullets:

http://www.crossingtheyarden.com/2011/03/right-wing-lunatics/

Bravo to someone who is from the "right wing" side for issuing a clear condemnation of this dangerous phenomenon!

Gilad Shalit Solidarity Event; He has Spent Almost Five Years in Captivity!

On Tuesday, the 15^th of March, at 11 AM, there will be a Gilad Shalit solidarity event to remind us all that it has been almost five years since Gilad Shalit was taken captive by the Hamas (on June 25^th, 2006).

UPDATE ADDED ON Wednesday, the 9^th of March: This morning I spoke to Kobi Sidi (050-222-2622) the initiator of this entire Solidarity Event, and I asked him the BIG question (which is also alluded to in my discussion in the comments with my friend and neighbor Shaul Behr from RBS-Alef): Is the aim of this Event to demonstrate against the government and to pressure it to accede to Hamas demands, or is the aim to express solidarity with Gilad and to ensure that he is not forgotten? Kobi answered me that the sole aim is to express solidarity with Gilad and to ensure that he is not forgotten. He said that this event does not aim to tell the government HOW to free Gilad, but just to ensure that his situation doesn't fade from the public awareness, and also said that the Police have been informed of the five minute possible stoppage of traffic. He said that another idea which he had was a similar solidarity event for Jonathan Pollard.

It, of course, may be suggested that even if Kobi, who leads this event, is sincere, the event may, nevertheless, be hijacked to put pressure on the government. While I am concerned about this aspect of things, I decided to participate and to try to ensure that this event remains a purely solidarity event, with one of my reasons being that I feel that we have to try to do something for solidarity with Gilad and also to unite on our common ground of that solidarity.

While it appears that some of the organizers of this solidarity event feel that the activities are supposed to pressure the government to "work harder" for Gilad's release (apparently by complying with more of the demands presented by the Hamas); I do not feel that this event must be interpreted in that manner.

This solidarity event appears to me to be commemoration of the fact that a Jewish soldier has not yet been freed from his captivity, and we must not forget to do our best (without sacrificing our country's overriding interests) to achieve his freedom. As such, I expect to do my small part in participating in these activities according to my perception of what they mean.

The original initiator of these activities is an Israeli named Kobi Sidi, who requests that people who are able to distribute fliers/posters (unlike me) about this Gilad Shalit solidarity event contact him at 050-222-2622.

The main symbolic action suggested by the organizers of these activities is to stop whatever we are doing at 11 AM on Tuesday, 15/3/11, and to go outside for 5 minutes to show solidarity with Gilad. The organizers suggest stopping traffic, if possible, at the nearest intersection in a careful manner (they emphasize taking care in a flier that I have seen; so this is not a group of wild-eyed crazies) for 5 minutes; but the main point seems to be to focus the attention of all of Am Yisrael on solidarity with Gilad's plight, which is something that I am very much in favor of.

I hope and pray that we will see Gilad Shalit free and healthy among us very soon (perhaps even as a result of a military action based upon intelligence information which could liberate him)!