|
IF YOU ARE INSUFFICIENTLY AWARE OF DEPRRESSING NEWS, CONSIDER.....
Irwin Stelzer
The opposition British Labour Party, now led by a leftist who favors Hamas, wants Britain to withdraw from NATO because its expansion has antagonized Vladimir Putin, give up its nuclear deterrent, and declare an arms embargo against Israel, has appointed as his shadow chancellor, one John McDonnell. This worthy lists his hobby in Who's Who as "generally fomenting the overthrow of capitalism", joked (so he says) that if he had an opportunity to relive the 1980s he would have assassinated Margaret Thatcher, and wants murderous IRA terrorists "honored" for securing a political settlement in Ireland.
Meanwhile, back here in the U.S. some members of the circular firing squad that passes for the Republican slate of candidates for their party's presidential nomination are planning to make certain its defeat in 2016 by closing down the government unless President Obama surrenders to their drive to defund Planned Parenthood, which he will not do, especially if that prompts the loony wing of the Republican Party to carry out its threat.
Obama, by the way, is eagerly awaiting Pope Francis' visit to America. He is in debt to Francis for supporting his detente with Cuba. That must have been a difficult move for the Pontiff since it will make it possible for American mutinationals he has accused of plundering the planet to interfere with the Castro regime's efforts to preserve 1950s vintage automobiles, keep the island's Internet closed to Cuban "citizens", and protect the living standards of the Cuban people. The President also owes the Pontiff for giving moral support to the position the administration will be taking on climate change at the upcoming Paris summit. But Obama has never been keen to pay debts of any kind, fiscal or political, and saw no reason not to invite transgender activists, the first openly gay Episcopal bishop (now divorced from his same-sex partner), and a nun "criticized by the Vatican for [her] silence on abortion and euthanasia", according to The Wall Street Journal, to join the White House celebration of the Pope's visit. The Vatican let it be known that this is an embarrassment to Francis, who fears he will photographed with these guests. With Obama for a friend, Israel's Netanyahu would have advised the Pope ....
Speaking of the Pope, that inarguably good man has urged "every parish, every religious community, every monastery, every sanctuary in Europe" to take in a migrant family. Among the sovereign states that have so far declined to accept a single refugee are the Arab Gulf states and Vatican City, the lavish and spacious nature of the apartments occupied by some of the Church's resident bishops described in a recent article in The New Yorker. It may well be that the Pontiff is having difficulty bending the entrenched Vatican bureaucracy to his will. The Financial Times notes that "the Roman 'Curia' - as the holy See's bureaucratic establishment is known - for being narcissistic, rigid and inward looking, and desperately requiring a change of attitude...". If that is his problem he might pull Obama aside during his Washington visit and ask for some tips from the President, who has a special genius for getting previously independent, non-political agencies to hew the White House line.
Faisal bin Hassan Trad, Saudi Arabia's ambassador at the UN in Geneva, was appointed to chair a panel of the Human Rights Council. He promises to be a hands-on chairman, unless he crosses his monarch and becomes hands-off. Our former Secretary of State, familiar of course with Saudi attitudes towards women, has at this writing declined to accuse the Kingdom and, now the UN, of waging a war on women - and a highly successful one at that.
|
