Kadima

Kadima means "onwards," or "forward" and that's the name Ariel Sharon and public relations staff chose for the new political party. Somehow it creates an image in my mind of his rather obese figure, clothed in armor, topped with a helmet, tiny holes near his eyes, brandishing a long sword, posed on a skinny horse, which he's whipping enthusiastically as he gaily gallops over a cliff.

The crowds, led by the UN's Kofi Anan, US's Bushes and Cheney, Europeans of all languages and colors cheer wildly!! What a great show for them.

If I was a Yaakov Kirschen, I'd draw it, but I'm not. I have to trust that my words create the image in your mind that is prancing around mine, like a psychotic in a manic episode.

Being a Gemini, it's pictured more than one way in my active mind. My "youthful, techie side" sees Sharon taking the Likud and punching "save as...Kadima" into his computer, giving him two intrinsically identical parties with two different names. He can then use the Likud template on Kadima, fine-tweaking any changes and adjustments to suit his desires. And of course, in actuality, he still controls the Likud.

A new paragraph should give you time to breathe and think about what I just wrote. I have absolutely no doubt that Sharon, and when I write "Sharon" I mean his "political machine," is still in control of the Likud. We saw how he bull-dozed, or hypnotized once "nationalist, pro-Land of Israel" politicians and army officers until they performed, not like trained seals, but like well-oiled robots.

Sharon succeeded in implementing Disengagement without the Likud breaking up. Considering how long he must have had been planning his breakaway party, I am certain that he was just putting it together as a backup, to protect and promote himself if and when the Likud fell apart. He is a master tactician, and so is Olmert, who as I've been saying for awhile is poised to take over when Sharon is either dead or incapacitated. Omri (son of Ariel) Sharon's talents and loyalty are in the "back room" of politics, and at least at this time, wouldn't be acceptable as Prime Minister, even to those loyal to the machine.

Do you remember the surprises in the last Likud list for the Knesset? Do you remember how totally unknown to the general public figures got safe numbers, while those who had been working their way through the political ranks were left in the cold? These neophyte politicians are the products of the Sharon factory, a machine being too small an image. Remember that they were voted in by the Central Committee, and the Central Committee is still there in the Likud. So are all of the clerks and secretaries, whom we all know are a lot more powerful than their salaries and titles indicate.

The "real Likud" of pro-Land of Israel loyalty is dead. It is like a brain dead patient being kept alive by machinery. It's time to pull the plug.

If Uzi Landau and Moshe Feiglin really think themselves as national leaders, if they really want to save our country, they should give the Likud the dignity of a natural death. They should join the National Union and unite for the good of our Land, Nation and People!