Voila! The Hamas attack has wider implications. Who could have seen that coming…?

The US sends two aircraft carrier groups to the region, and Israel is accused of blowing up a working hospital in Gaza, with at least 500 deaths? All this just ahead of a visit by Joe Biden, who, sadly, got to visit only with Bibi, and not other key players in the region– PLO head Abbas and officials in Jordan. Nothing like ammunition for Israel’s enemies– Iran among them.

Putin and others have to have something to do with this (what were Putin and Xi talking about in their little summit of recent days?). This is all playing nicely into Putin’s hands—taking attention away from the Ukraine invasion, and opening a window of opportunity to stretch us thin, which makes us vulnerable, which in turn creates fertile ground for some sort of attack or at least turning the tide of public opinion against us and Israel.

Some of the key players aren’t really interested in working things out, anyway. There’s too much potential for lining pockets and rearranging deck chairs. To hell with the billions who prefer their leaders talk to each other and settle things down. There’s no money in that, though there could be- it’s just that it would be a more equitable distribution, taking more time and effort, which wouldn’t sit well with the mega-rich bastards who feel they aren’t rich enough.

All most of us want is to live our lives in relative peace. Life is challenging enough without having to worry about a small group of power-hungry “leaders” with their own massively warped and self-serving agendas.

It’s obviously not about finding ways to bridge differences, or taking care of the planet, or valuing life. It’s simply about money and power. And keeping God happy.

Let us not forget the role God plays in all of this.

Turns out that the frontier mentality, every woman and man for themselves, is killing us here in America. Enough of us choose to bite the hand that could be feeding us. Blinded by a shallow, unformed patriotism, stressed out, fearful, too proud to seek help, convinced that accepting the occasional free service is a sign of weakness, or worse– laziness.

A whole host of things that could be addressed are actually killing us younger than in other countries. Of course, those other countries have it all wrong when they actually invest in healthcare for all, and mental illness treatments and legitimate social safety nets.

We can’t have one of those damn nanny states here, though. No, we’ll just keep dying younger because no one can tell us to take care of ourselves and each other.

We’re the ones who have it wrong.  

Jim Jordan as Speaker of the House. There it is.

Wow.

I’m sure the pursuit has taken on a life of its own. Jordan seemed pretty chill about the whole thing until Scalise bowed out and his name moved to the fore, but of course the backroom discussions were happening and he saw things falling into place and said, “Oh yeah. Let’s do this.”

What a freaking nightmare.

May he also come up short. If the less radical Republicans decide to put their support behind Jordan, then we can kiss our collective ass goodbye. And all we can do is watch the dirigible go down in flames, lamenting what’s happened to humanity.

One might think that the average person who calls Israel home would have to engage in some serious self-talk, bordering on self-deception, when it comes to accepting a way of life that, from an outsider’s perspective, appears akin to learning to sleep with one eye open.

I’ve been there, I’ve walked in Silwan, the Old City and New, and many other places south, north, east and west in the country, and there were few moments when I wasn’t reminded of the burden that every Israeli shoulders on a daily basis. It’s the burden of a fragile peace, of carrying on daily life despite never being fully convinced that that peace will hold through midday.

Their homeland is only 75 years old, though their ancestors have lived there for millennia, but their history since 1948 has been peppered with skirmishes and wars and loss and constant arguments over boundaries and borders and who’s allowed to live where. They seem cursed, in a way, yet they must carry on as if they are home at last.

I deeply admire them. They have to be strong. Yet I can’t help but wonder, from time to time, if they yearn for life to be different– in a more mundane, far less consequential way.

When I watch football, college or pro, I seldom turn off the dehumidifier so I can hear the play-by-play. I just watch the action, when I’m not being distracted by my iPad.

Football is more of a show than it’s ever been. Just give me the game and not the hour-plus pregame where there’s way too much contrived discussion and breathless analysis, including, now, over-and-unders and parlays? Holy shit.

The highlights are tantalizingly sporadic, and we don’t need the seizure-inducing graphics and dramatic theme music, the balls-to-the-wall intros. That’s the most over-the-top part of the whole thing.

I guess the reality is that it is a sporting event on networks with huge advertising revenue, so one is liable to get big productions, and commentators for whom football is life. Still, it’s just too much anymore.

CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN/ABC—they all do the same thing. Four, five or six people taking turns offering their insights and opinions, with an occasional anchor who never played the game but stands or sits there in the role of cliched pretty face.

Don’t get me started on the sideline reporters, and that guy who dishes on the inside scoop. It’s Entertainment Tonight– NFL Edition.

Spoken like a true dinosaur. I’ll stop now.

How can anyone in their right mind think that the consumer lifestyle is at all sustainable? It is all about striking while the iron is hot, gettin’ while the gettin’ is good.

Now China is said to be on the downside of their 30-year ride on the bubble, their power and riches grab, and the U.S. is gonna feel the effects, I guess, along with the rest of the world.

Sure, why not? It’s what happens, because such economic expansion comes with a huge downside—what goes up will eventually come crashing down. It’s all built on sand and greed and short-sightedness.

One network posted video of a wagonload of Gazan refugees heading to safety and then a split screen of the supposed aftermath of the same wagon after being decimated by what was assumed to be an Israeli airstrike. The question, of course, is whether or not the acquired video was legitimate, or just propaganda.

The fog of war, hearts and minds and all that.

Disproportionate response. Escalation. Demands that are likely to go unmet because they’re the product of burning anger and the attendant blindness.

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres wrote a heartfelt response to Israeli demands to evacuate the north of Gaza. It’s doubtful Israel will listen.

ELCA Bishop Eaton’s response will probably not sit well with Israelis, either, but is at least an acknowledgement that we need to separate the actions of Hamas from the plight of many Palestinians whose lives have been upended and deprived of bare necessities, and who want no part of the terroristic behavior or mindset, who are caught in the middle between Hamas and a relentless Israel.

They just want to live in peace in a place they can call home, with running water and food and the means to earn a living and provide for their families and have some sense of sovereignty over their choices—like the dreams and desires of most everyone else on earth. It’s already a humanitarian nightmare, and it’s going to get worse.

And maybe they should keep God out of it. Put the holy books aside and just listen to each other.

Steve Scalise is no longer in consideration for Speaker of the House. The media is all pants-on-fire about this, but couldn’t it also indicate that the rational core(?) of Republicans are simply taking their time and holding out for someone capable who can fill the position?

Maybe it doesn’t indicate this at all, and there are probably a lot of back room discussions going on, but the media aren’t helping. They dramatize and intensify, they armchair quarterback, jump on the worst-case-scenario bandwagon, call the Republican Party rudderless and in disarray– and they certainly are to a great extent. But maybe in this instance they’re actually trying to get it right?

And Kevin—don’t get any ideas!

In response to Israel’s threat to invade Gaza, Hamas says, “Bring it on.”

Of course they do, because that is the testosterone-fueled thing to say, the proper hate-filled response. It doesn’t consider the thousands of Gazans who want nothing to do with Hamas and are caught in the middle—the ones who face the relentless bombardment and scarcity of essentials that will keep them alive.

Hamas, it appears, doesn’t really care about all those people. They just hate Israel and want them to “bring it on.”

I so love my morning coffee and a quiet start to my day. It seems the simplest of pleasures. Somehow, lately, a guilty pleasure.