Hamas War

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Now The Masks Will Come Off

This is a quick post, because I'll be traveling soon.  But how could I miss this last opportunity for who knows how long to give some post-election information?

I hope that we all know how fake political campaigns are.  They are salesmanship to the most extreme.  Politicians and political parties, as elections go in Israel, must market themselves to win elections.

Yes, just like hand creams, cars, sports shoes and discount supermarkets.  It's a business, a hype and mostly lies.

Many times I've read that most cosmetics are the same.  The only difference is in the packaging, the price and the hype.  The same can be said for politicians.  They want your vote and will say and do most anything to get it.  Yes, as much as I enjoy observing politics, it's a show.

A good politician is a good actor/salesman.  The difference is that an actor markets his persona and a politician markets himself as a "savior."  Politicians tell us that they can save us from all sorts of dangerous and unpleasant situations.  They have the solution and we vote because we are convinced that some are better than others.  That is true, even though most are the same.  They'll change their minds and words according to the audience.

Now yesterday we had Knesset Elections in Israel.  We voted for lists of people who will then get together and try to make deals to form a government.

No doubt the new government will be similar to the old one, too many ministers, because Netanyahu will have to sweeten the package so that the other parties' MKs will be willing to sit together and support him.

This new government may not last very long.  Or it may last the full or almost full term.  There is a dangerously high percentage of new, inexperienced MKs.  That may be bad, since being an MK requires some knowledge of how the Knesset works.  Or it may be a lot of fun to watch if some begin to publicly chafe at the rules and restrictions.

So, we have a front seat to watch.  Let's pray that we don't find ourselves in trouble...

5 comments:

Yoni said...

I voted for Otzma LeIsrael and have no regrets. Ben Ari and Eldad are not actors /salesmen, they are the real thing. It's a pity that all of the religious press (including Arutz 7 and the synagogue Shabbat leaflets) decided to boycott them right from the beginning, echoing the Jewish Home's campaign mantra "that they won't get in", which is a self-fulfilling prophesy. This missing half mandate would have easily been obtained if people had not been frightened away.

Shy Guy said...

Yoni, what if they would have gotten in? Then what? They are men of integrity who would have been screaming to high heaven but accomplishing zilch.

Even if you would not have entirely wasted your vote - because that's what you and Batya did - your vote would have not benefited Israel as much as had you cast your ballot for the Likud, whose current leader I disdain, in case you have any doubts.

Alan said...

>> if people had not been frightened away.


If... If.... If...

If my grandmother had had wheels, she would have been a Harley-Davison.

Disclaimer: I was not/am not opposed to any political stance of Otzma Israel. I am in the 0.01% of Anglo followers-of-the-Hebrew-political-scene who gave SERIOUS CASH money to the nationalist direct-action makhers, not just whined and blogged.

Having said that, may I direct your attention to a quote attributed to Albert Einstein: the saddest form of mental illness is when a person continues to repeat the same action, but expects that THIS TIME, there will be a different result.

Let's speak frankly here: the (faux) "Torah Judaism" camp's actions are DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE for the absence of Otzma in the next knesset.

You can deny it all you want. I will refer back to my prediction that Batya's Cheerleaders will not be able to deliver any votes.

Whether she will listen to my - and Dr Einstein's - advice, is another question. Some people say that old dogs cannot learn new tricks.

Yoni said...

To Alan. If you give up that easily, there is no future for Israel, because the whole Israeli existence for 3000 years has been paved with more failures than successes. Next time we must tell people right from the beginning: "The price of being frightened is that you cause others to lose their votes". And besides, if the Jewish Home sits it out in the Bibi-Lapid government and swallows all the frogs without leaving their seats, then Otzma will get the 12 mandates next time round.

Batya said...

gang, this is democracy
we have to accept this result and do better next time