Today, Israel will return Samir Kuntar and 4 additional Hezbollah terrorists  in return for the dead bodies of  Ehud Godlwasser and Eldad Regev. Caroline Glick at the Jerusalem Post wrote an article calling today's events "the most humiliating step" by any Israeli government.

I think that this was actually a wise strategic choice on Israel's part:

After hearing about this, ones emotions are two fold. First, you feel confused and like Ms. Glick mentions, this will seemingly be an impetus for future capturing of Israeli soldiers as a terrorist ploy to bring pack some of their major terrorist operatives from Israeli jails (some of which have multiple life sentences - Israel does not believe in the Death Penalty. In their 60 year existence they have put one person to death, Adolf Eichmann, a Nazi who was known as the architect of the Holocaust) .

Soon after however, one comes to realize  Israel's situation in the greater world scheme. Due to Israel's tiny population, every Israeli citizen at the age of 18 must serve in the army. Israel realizes that if they do not make an effort to attain the remains of these dead soldiers every mother in the country would do everything they could to prevent their child from going to war. It would lead to a civil war (not a physical one but an ideological one). ( "Ask not what your country can do for you" - definitely comes to mind). Nevertheless, their comes a point when the country has to step back and say, what is best for our people. After surveying the situation Israel decided that national unity is essential if they want to maintain their nationhood. This can only be accomplished by bringing their young back from war dead of alive.

Ms. Glick might be right, terrorists probably will continue kidnapping IDF soldiers but Israel figures that they would rather have an Army with a strong national identity then one who wont fight for them at all.

My apologies for not posting for a while. I hope to regain my readership and take over the Political Blogosphere once again by posting interesting and well thought out pieces on Politics and the world around us.

As a short recap of the most recent events since we have last spoken, Barack Obama has claimed the Democratic Nomination to be President of the United States (thus making his resume even more impressive ~ I'm just mentioning that because that is all that seems to matter to him - his resume). Gen. Wes Clark (a sorry specimen of a Presidential Candidate back in 04') publicly made an attempt to belittle Sen. John McCain's Military accomplishments.

Most recently, Rev. Jesse Jackson mistakenly muttered an insane and inappropriate remark about Sen Barack Obama into a supposed "hot mike."

What was he thinking?!

 Besides the fact that he was in a television studio (a National outlet often used to relay information), rule #1 of being a public figure (at least a religeous and reputable one) is to treat others with respect. This calls to memory one of many happenings. In 1984,  Rev. Jackson  called NYC "Hymietown" ~ referring to their large Jewish population.

Looking back at Jackson's long "illustrious" career it seems as if he has made an attempt to help and save the world. Sometimes however, he sounds more like Don Imus than MLK.

Much typing has taken place (the modern day "ink has been spilled") in the blogosphere discussing potential vice-presidential candidates on both sides of the proverbial political fence (Democrat/Republican). check out what the NYPost had to say regarding what gamblers think.

This morning on the Drudge Report there was a very interesting article featuring .....Matt Drudge. (I wonder who posted it?)

To be honest, I have spent years tuning into MSNBC, FOXNews, CNN, and various other news outlets as an attempt at getting the latest information but the Drudge Report was something that was foreign to me. It wasn't until I was on a long drive up to New York with a good friend of mine that he brought the Drudge Report to my attention.

Before checking out the Drudge Report I did what I always do, I Wikipedia'd Mr. Drudge and found out something that both him, Ben Stein, Jim Henson and I have in common...we all grew up in the same area (I bet you thought that I was going to say that we all make 800K...I wish). I soon thereafter visited the site and was surprised to see that his layout is simple and somewhat organized. There are very few advertisements and a plethora of news information which links to a variety of other News outlets. Nevertheless myriads (yes, thousands) of people in search of the NOW visit his site looking for the best and latest news. Interestingly, on the list of 30 online current events and global news destinations the DrudgeReport is ranked #1 averaging 19.9 sessions per person (explains why he has such big pockets).

In Short, Drudge is a tactician who in a sense has the the online political audience at his finger tips. He is somewhat responsible for the downfall of H.Clinton, the success of Obama and the image of a man we call McCain.

Although he has recently shown signs of being a liberal (Have you seen the way that he portrays Obama? You would think that he was a god...) I admire Drudge's ability to grab the attention of the greater online community and sway their political beliefs through his power of images and a simple layout.

Kudos Matt.

Today Presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain spoke at the annual AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee)
Conference in Washington D.C.

He began his address by expressing the importance of a continued relationship with the only democracy in the Middle East. Stating that "when we join in saying 'never again,' that is not a wish, a request, or a plea to the enemies of Israel.  It is a promise that the United States and Israel will honor, against any enemy who cares to test us." His remarks were beautiful and reassuring that the US has Israel's best interests in mind at all times

Importantly, he followed by raising the essentialness of disarming Iran and the America's current state while in Iraq.

His speech was refreshing to hear and it very much left the impression that he is a valued ally to Israel. In a sense it reminded me of when President Bush addressed the Knesset a few weeks ago at Israel's 60th anniversary celebration.

I think that McCain would be great for Israel. He would definately be a lot better than Obama.

There comes a point when even after months of expressing disdain for Sen. Hillary Clinton, you start to feel bad for her. 

Today Clinton won the Puerto Rican primary but the media is still hounding her. Many are expecting her to gracefully drop out of the race this week, in hopes of securing a higher position in the Democratic Party come January.

The former first woman was victorious in many of the "main States" (New York, Pennslyvania, California, West Virginia, Texas, Ohio and Florida to name a few) but she continuous to get thrown under the bus by her own party who tell her that she just isn't good enough.

Conclusion: She would be a terrible President but she is a better States(wo)man than Obama. If Obama can't win the voters confidence in those states against Hillary then there is no way in H-E-double hockey stick that hes going to be victorious against McCain.

Today I had the opportunity to go to a book signing by Arthur C. Brooks, a Professor of business and government policy at Syracuse University. He discussed the topic of happiness in America. His book answers questions like, "why happiness matters for America?" and "How we can get more of it?"

A captivating speaker which is odd for a Professor and gregarious as a socialite. I started reading his book and I found the content to be valuable and interesting. So check it out.

Current Event: Israeli PM Ehud Olmert has been plagued by a corruption scandal. American businessman Morris Talansky has testified that he gave Olmert up to $150,000 in cash filled envelopes that were used for Olmert's first class traveling expenses.

If indicted, Olmert has vowed that he will step down from his post as Premier. Most recently Defense Minister Ehud Barak has called for Olmert's resignation. If he steps down who will take over?

One possibility is the Foreign Minister...Tzipi Livni

In recent events, former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan has published a "tell all" book expressing his displeasure while he was employed by the Bush administration. Expectedly, both Barnes and Noble and Borders books have reported that McClellan's book, comes in at the top of their best sellers list.

The Synopsis on Barnes and Noble's website reads:

"In this refreshingly clear-eyed book, written with no agenda other than to record his experiences and insights for the benefit of history."

As a Press Secretary it was McClellan's responsibility to represent President Bush in the best light possible. Part of this entailed veering away possible detractors and of course using his suave public relations abilities to foresee all of the President's possible mistakes and misnomers and fix them before they occur. It seems that Mr. Mclellan had hypothesized a possible backlash after the release of his book and therefore took the proper measures to make sure that his synopsis stated his genuine "agenda."

Ladies and gentleman, as a public relations specialist Mr. McClellan knew the truism, "there is no such a thing as bad publicity." He knew that as a result of his actions he would be resented by his former employers. His book will remain at the top of the best sellers list for a few weeks and then the spot will be reclaimed by a truly sincere book,  The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, a book that honestly "records experiences and insights for the benefit of history."

After switching party lines it seems that Sen. Joe Lieberman is a new person. So much so that the ex-Democratic vice-presidential candidate is regarded as McCains, "boy" and once again is on the docket to be a vice presidential candidate...on the Republican ticket!

Current Event- Even after McCain has turned down Rev. John Hagee's support (because of his Anti-Semitic remarks), Sen. Lieberman has decided to speak at an event which Hagee is hosting. If anyone in Congress has the right to rectify or forgive Hagee's remarks after Rep. Lantos's death, it's Lieberman, an Orthodox Jew. In addition his wife Hadassah's parents are survivors of the Holocaust.

For my entire life (thus far) I have heard interesting stories on how people have utilized the world wide web in order to calm their capitalist needs. Most recently however their have been reports that some people have abused this by selling their relatives on eBay and Craigslist.
Interesting...

I have started this forum so that it can be "my window unto the west." Granted, that line was famously said by Peter the Great, a giant Russian leader,  (literally, ask Raisonovsky....rumor has it that Pete was documented at 7'1 [wow]) but there is a lot to be gained by getting to know it. Contrary to Big Pete, I live in the west and I've had the opporotunity to see it in action. Unfortunately however, I dont know how it works...

I intend on musing on an assortment of topics. Politics, Current Events, and the World...etc. In addition, I'll take suggestions from the readership in hopes that I can grab your attention and "blog-ON" about whatever you want to read!

Lastly, on November 19, 1863 many men gathered to inaugriate  Soldiers National Cemetery in Gettysburg, PA. The keynote speaker spoke for 2 hours.....President Lincoln spoke for 7 minutes. No one remembers the keynote speech but they sure as heck remember the "other" speech or should I say the the Gettysburg Address. In short....I'm going to keep my posts ASAP (as short as possible), just so you remember them.

Enjoy and buckle up for the ride.