Chaos in DC. War in Israel, Week 3

After the withdrawal of Rep. Steve Scalese from the House Speaker’s race, Rep Jim Jordan stepped up for the position. He lost the first two open floor votes. Needing 217 votes, he had fewer than 200 on the second try, which was less than he got during the first go-round. Reporters noted that some of his detractors were receiving threats and menacing messages after they refused to endorse his MAGA-supported bid. Some members of the House, pushing for Jordan to win selected him as the Speaker-designate. Eventually, after Jordan continued to lose votes, the Republican caucus held a secret ballot. To the surprise of few, once the members could vote in private, Jordan mustered only 84 votes. He then withdrew and threw the nomination back to the House members.

Currently, up to twelve men (and there have been no women who stepped up) have either said they are running or considering running for the office of Speaker. Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy endorsed Rep. Tom Emmer from Minnesota, who has been serving as the GOP Minority Whip. Many in the Party dislike him because he voted to certify the 2020 election after the assault on the Capitol on January 6^th. Unlike Jordan, he is not a member of the Freedom Caucus but is more of a moderate given to constructive governing. He is a member of the mainstream leadership team, which makes him suspicious to the outliers. As Jordan and Gaetz are from the part of the Party that proposes few constructive measures and are more content with creating destructive forces; if Emmer can overcome their objections, this could be a more hopeful move toward settling this long-drawn-out process. For the sake of our country and its standing in the world, I hope this mess can be resolved soon.

The country has seen this chaos for almost three full weeks now. For the past three weeks, they have neglected to hold any hearings on important legislation, failed to present or pass any bills, and made no progress on the Continuing Resolution (CR) that needs to be decided in a few short weeks. President Biden, in a major Oval Office speech last week, stated that he would send Congress a request for emergency legislation for 105 Billion dollars for aid to Ukraine and Israel. He needs a functioning Congress to consider this request. The CR contained no Ukraine funding, as that was considered too divisive at the time. Then Speaker McCarthy promised to bring it up in the interim and find common ground. But, after the Republicans deposed him for working with Democrats to pass the CR, he cannot fulfill this promise. In the void of the last three weeks, the members have not addressed or assessed this. Some Republican Senators are saying they do not wish these two funding streams to be linked. President Biden linked them, in my opinion, to ensure the passage of both funding streams.

The President’s speech from the Oval Office was historic and important. He said: “that when terrorists don’t pay a price for their terror and dictators don’t pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos, death, and destruction.” (This was his way of linking both the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the surprise horrific attacks by Hamas on Israeli civilians.)

As discussed by Heather Cox Richardson: ( <heathercoxrichardson@substack.com>) “Biden explained that he was sending to Congress “an urgent budget request to fund America’s national security needs, to support our critical partners, including Israel and Ukraine. It’s a smart investment that’s going to pay dividends for American security for generations, help us keep American troops out of harm’s way, help us build a world that is safer, more peaceful, and more prosperous for our children and grandchildren,” he said.  That money, he said, would harden the Iron Dome that protects Israel’s skies after the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas that took more than 1,300 lives. But he also said that the U.S. “remains committed to the Palestinian people’s right to dignity and to self-determination. The actions of Hamas terrorists don’t take that right away” 

On Friday, “the administration asked Congress for a little over $105 billion in funding for national security. The package would devote $61.4 billion to support Ukraine (some of it to replenish U.S. stockpiles after sending weapons to Ukraine); $14.3 billion to Israel for air and missile defense systems; $9.15 billion for humanitarian aid to Ukraine, Gaza, and other places; $7.4 billion for initiatives in the Indo-Pacific; and $14 billion for more agents at the southwestern border, new machines to detect fentanyl, and more courts to process asylum cases. “

After the bombing of the Hospital in Gaza, now shown by multiple intelligence forces to be an explosion from an Islamic Jihad group misfired rocket, tensions erupted across the Middle East. Authorities canceled meetings that President Biden had scheduled with other leaders in the area and the propaganda machines went wild. Protests were held throughout the Moslem world as photos of dead children were shown across the region.

Military people speak of civilian casualties as “collateral damage.” But these civilian deaths are real, not just numbers. Deaths in Gaza and Israel reflect lives that were lost through no fault of their own. I believe no parents bring children into the world only to have them blown up by bombs, missiles, or other destructive forces. Does a Palestinian mother love her child less than an Israeli mother? I doubt that premise; every life has worth. So as Israel lines up troops on the border with Gaza and Hamas, places its rocket launchers on top of schools and shelters, I only wish that someone could impose a truce.

The United Nations seems powerless here, but it helped to find donations of aid for the trucks that have just now started flowing in from Egypt. Supplies have been limited and are now only a trickle. Truckloads are being inspected to determine if contraband, such as weapons or ammunition, is hidden aboard. Israel denied the transport of fuel, suspicious that the armies would confiscate it, but hospitals need fuel to run. So, an impasse persists. Impasses exist also with the number of hostages. Arab nations have urged Hamas to release women and children, to no avail. Last week, they suddenly released two Americans, a mother, and daughter from Illinois with help from Qatar and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. There remain hundreds more who need to be released. Hamas claimed they would start killing hostages if Israel invaded. So, there is another impasse.

We have two forces armed and ready to destroy each other. Hamas has as its mission the destruction of a Jewish state. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas so her people can never again be attacked in this manner. But there are two million people living in the battleground and they cannot leave. Unlike in Ukraine, when Russia attacked, no nations opened their borders to Palestinian refugees.

President Biden, and other world leaders, have urged caution on the Israeli military; just because they can reduce Gaza cities to rubble does not mean they should. Revenge is not a sane military plan. As the number of civilian casualties increases, world opinions will change and Israel risks becoming isolated. Hamas claims to have miles and miles of tunnels throughout the area. Destroying those will not be easy. It seems to it instead diverted me such a shame that resources that could have bettered the lives of those in the Gaza Strip to build tunnels, equip a military, and purchase weapons.

Since 1947, no one has provided a solution for these troubled lands. I agree that after the horrors of the concentration camps, Jewish people needed a homeland. Their history evolved in towns such as Jerusalem and Bethlehem. But then, so did the history of the Palestinians and the early Christians. Both Jewish and Palestinian people need a homeland. The sticky questions remain: where should that homeland be? Currently, about 20% of the population within the state borders is Arab. Although most are Muslim, some are Christian Arabs, and others belong to the Druze religion or other sects. Some live in Arab towns, others live in mixed areas. The majority are Israeli citizens, although others have temporary cards and more restrictions.

One thing is for sure, the settlements in the West Bank have to stop. The government of Israel has to cease allowing the ultra-right (which has helped keep Netanyahu in power) to have free rein. Many pundits noted that after this critical period, they expect the country to have new leadership. As Netanyahu moved toward a more authoritarian leadership, more people took to protesting in the streets. It seems that form of governance will not persist because people do not want what it represents. If the U.S. tied any strings to its aid, I hope humanitarian considerations were part of it.

I, sadly, have no answers to this dilemma. Far too much enmity has been created over the years to make co-existence possible; far too many entities, such as Iran and others, have moved to keep warring factions in place. Could there be a UN-protected zone somewhere, maybe?

So again, another week with no suitable answers.

‘Til next week–peace.