Hamas War

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Worrying Antidemocratic Phenomenon

Yitzhak Rabin (photo credit: Flash90)
Over twenty years ago, when Yitzchak Rabin was Prime Minister of Israel and complaining against the growing popular protests against his approval/acceptance of the rogue Oslo Accords, he was recorded as saying* that he's "the Prime Minister of 98%**  of the people."

This statement of Rabin spooked me out then, and that unpleasant, worried feeling hasn't lightened one iota ever since I first heard it.

We all know that politicians in office do feel more kindly to their supporters than those who didn't vote for them, but they are supposed to their best to at least give the impression that they will serve all the people of the country or district they represent.

Awkward handshake as Trump and Obama meet face to face
for the first time. Photo: AAP
No doubt it wasn't easy for American President-Elect Donald Trump to meet POTUS Barack Hussein Obama the first time after all of the nasty hate-mongering things Obama had said about him. But they both did and said the proper things, literally gritting their teeth, (maybe holding in the bile,) as they posed before the cameras praising each other and promising a smooth transition for the good of the United States of America.

In Israel, Right, Left or Center, we're pretty used to the reality of finding ourselves with a Prime Minister we abhor, but we accept it as a fact of life and don't riot in protest.

I find the anti-Trump "not my president" riots, protests etc., which is even supported by schools and universities, not just the media, worse than disturbing. It's the protests and lack of acceptance that portends dangerous undermining of the Constitution and democracy in the USA.

The United States proudly claims itself to be one of the oldest democracies in the world, but it isn't behaving as one. This has me worried. I hope that Hillary and Obama will quickly and very publicly send everyone home for a good night's sleep and request that they do the proper thing and recognize rule of law that Donald Trump will be their next President.

**thanks to a friend who found this reference, indirect quote
"...Rabin, the man who proclaimed as prime minister that his opponents could continue to "spin like propellers" as far as he was concerned, and said openly that he was Prime Minister of 98% of the nation, not the 2% who so strongly opposed him.  (Another version of his remarks has it that he said his job was to provide security to 98% of Israel's population.) Either way, one could see why he was not loved by lovers of the Land of Israel."
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Blogs/Message.aspx/2390#.WC3ypJAvDrc
*I couldn't find any reference in English, but a friend found all of these including the English above. The percentage Rabin gave was 98%. He considered the opposition to be very marginal in Israeli society, although many more than 2% opposed Oslo. Here are links and quotations in Hebrew:

בהתנחלויות הייתה אווירה קשה והרגשה שהממשלה מזניחה אותם (בעקבות התבטאויות של רבין כמו "לי אכפת מ-98% מאזרחי המדינה", "פרופלורים" ו"הם לא מזיזים לי").
https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%9E%D7%9E%D7%A9%D7%9C%D7%AA_%D7%99%D7%A9%D7%A8%D7%90%D7%9C_%D7%94%D7%A2%D7%A9%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%9D_%D7%95%D7%97%D7%9E%D7%A9

('אני ראש הממשלה של 98% אחוז מהיהודים.' 
http://www.inn.co.il/Forum/Forum.aspx/t8447


"אני ראש ממשלה של 98% ולא של שני אחוז" ( אחרי פיצוץ אוטובוס בתל אביב. 2% - המתנחלים . שימוש ברצח כמכשיר הסתה נגד היהודים החושבים אחרת.( הציטטה הוזכרה בהצעת אי האמון בכנסת 27 פב. 95 - דברי הכנסת )
http://www.bhol.co.il/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=2837454&forum_id=5824

אדוני היושב-ראש, חברי הכנסת, לראש ממשלה יש קצת יותר אחריות משיש לכל אדם אחר בשאלות של ביטחון. לכן אסור לראש ממשלה שהוא גם שר הביטחון, להפריד ביטחונית בין ‎98% מהישראלים לבין ‎2% מהם. גם אם הוא אינו מסוגל לתת ‎100% ביטחון, אסור לה להפריד בין דם לדם. חובתו לדאוג לכל העם. אסור שישתמע שלא כל כך אכפת לו מהיפגעות של ‎2% מהעם. גם האמירה, שירידה מ-‎98% מהגולן לא נחשבת לירידה מהגולן, איננה נכונה. להישאר רק על המורדות פירושו לרדת.
http://knesset.gov.il/.../19950227@19950227002@002.html

7 comments:

Shtrudel said...

"The United States proudly claims itself to be one of the oldest democracies in the world, but it isn't behaving as one."

Maybe that's because the US is NOT a democracy but rather a republic?!...

If the US did NOT have the Electoral College the politicians could concentrate all their attention on some very limited areas in order to try and win the national elections... Thereby disfranchising large swatches of the population...

Shiloh said...

Correct Shtrudel, in a "true" democracy, two wolves vs the lamb is a dangerous thing.

Batya said...

Shtrudel, Yes, I now fully understand the republic thing and the Electoral College every time I look at the color-coded map showing the results, but having been educated in NY I remember being told that it's still a "democracy."

Sharbano said...

I believe you posted a picture of the states according to the vote. That is quite telling but look at a map that shows the county level. THAT is even More astounding.

A great deal of the issue regarding those who protest is laid at the foot of the education system. David Horowitz has, for decades, exposed the radical left that are ensconced in the universities. His book "Radical Son" exposed how the Communist Left infiltrated the Democrat party, surprisingly even the Black community. This is when the University take-over began. I know this from person experience as a teenager in the 60's. Our school was going to have a "May Day" celebration. I wasn't aware of the significance of that day. My mother raised one heck of a ruckus and exposed it for what it really was, a Communist holiday, and subsequently got it cancelled.

It IS unfortunate how ignorant the public is. It's unbelievable the scope of this ignorance. When I was in grade school we had to learn much of this. This is no longer the case.

I'll make a statement that will surely draw a firestorm among some. These protests are called democracy at its best and their right etc. If this were about some policy enacted or some action taken then I would agree with those statements. But, if its demonstrations simply because on side won this is Not democratic. What they are protesting is a statement against the system of government. Many times this is perpetrated by the Anarchist Left, or as I will call them, the Alt-Left.

Batya said...

IMHO the protests are best described as fascist.

Anonymous said...

No doubt, the public is extremely ignorant. This has been purposely orchestrated all over and in Israel too so that the left can easily win that way because they work on the emotions of the uninformed because they never have real answers to actual facts. Also, the US is a 'democratic Republic'. That is how it was formed and why it is actually much fairer than a democracy. For the last hundred years or so, much has been corrupted and for the last 50 or more years, for sure. Another point is that the ignorant public, many of which are being paid to protest (and probably don't even understand what they are protesting) is being funded by the likes of Soros and others who want the global agenda. The constitutional Americans won out and hope that the president-elect will be able to prevail. As we here commenting on this blog understand that "lev melachim v'sarim b'yad H'"!

Batya said...

Thanks for the comment.
Gd willing this will be good for America and the world.