Well, actually, even though it's the same "even-handed" UN (thanks Boris for the cartoon), which is supposed to be keeping the Hezbollah from "endangering" us, I did find something else new.
Last night I was very pleasantly surprised by Bibi Netanyahu's performance on the Israeli Channel One "Populitika" TV Talk Show, or should I call it "Shout Show."
The general format is a "round table" discussion on various issues. Being the 21st century, sometimes the table is "virtual," and the participants are in more than one studio, though that doesn't stop them from simultaneously shouting at each other. Neither the director, the moderator, nor the sound technicians have found a solution to the problem.
New? Nu? Bibi was given a "one on one" with the "moderator," Oded Shachar. He was officially labeled, Leader of the Opposition, and on the whole he was treated with some respect. Just the fact that Bibi was given such a format was good.
Oded Shachar tried to bait him and trip him up, but he's a rank amateur compared to Bibi. First of all, Bibi's speaking voice is far superior. He has a deep, calm, confident voice, while Shachar tended to get high and shrill, especially when he tried asking his "tough questions." And the "tougher" the questions, the better Bibi's answers were. He was well-prepared for sure.
And I don't know if my passive verb, "well-prepared" is the right one. Watching and listening to Bibi, I was reminded of the vast difference between him and Olmert in their perspectives. Bibi was raised by one of the world's top historians, and he was educated in the most competitive American universities. Olmert is no more than a slimy Israeli politician, mired in corruption charges.
Bibi's knowledge of World History and Economics is first class, and his answers reflected it. He totally played down "ego," stressing the needs of the country.
Look, I honestly wish there was somebody better, with a more reliable political history. But considering the pathetic showing of even the party I voted for, I'm enough of a pragmatist to know that Bibi is the only realistic candidate for Prime Minister. I hope that the Likud will reject any of the politicians who dumped it to join Kadima, now that the present coalition is cracking.
Never dull.
There was just a notice on the beeper not to leave the yishuv because of delays on the roads. I planned on going out and will try. Maybe by the time I do things will be "normal."
5 comments:
Many Blessings for one and all
Bli neder: I wouldn't vote for Bibi even if he was running against Olmert or Beillin one on one, unless he did real tshuva.
It doesn't matter who's leading us unless it is a God-fearing Jew. I do not believe in voting for the lesser of evils, that's something relegated to diaspora politics.
It doesn't matter for whom we personally vote, but Bibi is the leading candidate for PM.
I share everyone's misgivings with Bibi, although he is less awful than Olmert. The percentage of voting in the elections will continue to fall because people realize that the courts and the Americans control Israel's government and not the voters. We need a complete change of regime headed by a leader with emuna, yirat shamayim, faith in G-d. Some of my kids didn't vote in the last election. I doubt whether I will unless someone like Feiglin is running. Someone who is a serious Torah Jew who fears only Hashem will either be fooled, corrupted, banned or killed. We will only get the right kind of leader when we all do teshuva. Don't go out and do political panim-el-panim (face-to-face). Go out and do kiruv, bringing Jews back to Torah. Lazer Brody at http://lazerbrody.typepad.com/lazer_beams/ says that the only religious Jews who have it right are a few baal teshuva rabbis. If you look at the pitiful performance of both the national-religious and hareidi public in the past year, I would say he is basically right, although there are bright spots such as the hilltop youth, the Bostoner Rebbe, Rav Tal of Torat Hachaim in Yad Binyamin, and a few others here and there. Let's all work on doing a better job spiritually ourselves before pointing fingers.
I still can't give up on voting; though I'm glad elections aren't tomorrow, since I don't know for whom...
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