The Most Untrustworthy Politician, by Mike Gold – Brainiac On Banjo #392 | @MDWorld

March 23, 2015 Victor El-Khouri 0 Comments

Those of you who are regular readers of Brainiac On Banjo know that I enjoy the history of political corruption, particularly as it applies to larger-than-life personalities: Anton Cermak in Chicago, Jim and Tom Pendergast in Kansas City, Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall in New York, Huey Long in Louisiana, Boss Crump in Memphis, Tennessee… the list is quite, quite long.

This is probably due to my having grown up in Chicago. We can argue whose machine was the biggest or the strongest, but Tammany wins the prize on longevity alone: founded in 1786, disbanded in 1967, they get extra points for having been incorporated in 1798 under the leadership of Aaron Burr. Boss Pendergast might have gotten a Ku Klux Klan president as World War II was winding down, Chicago’s Boss Daley might have given the city’s finances away to the labor unions that provided the pillars of support for his Machine, but Tammany Hall’s Aaron Burr shot and killed the man whose face is on the ten dollar bill.

I am understanding of, but not a supporter of, the concept that what we consider “corruption” is what politicians consider “the way things get done.” But I have never, ever seen such a naked act of political hucksterism as I saw this past week. Mind you, I grew up as a politically aware punk in Chicago.

Faced with the real possibility of losing office, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu issued two truly disgusting statements. The first declared he was now opposed to the “two-state” solution: those who want to drive Israel into the sea have to give that up and recognize Israel’s right to exist, and Israel will stop fighting the establishment of a Palestine nation. Bibi was on record as supporting the concept as a means to bring peace, as long as that quid pro quo was maintained. That shouldn’t be hard, given that Israel has had the ability to start a nuclear since 1967, and since 2008 has had the ability to drop their nukes over extremely long distances. Further, Israel is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

And we wonder why Iran wants its own nukes. As Ronald Reagan proved, “MAD” (mutual assured destruction) works.

So Bibi changed his mind a couple days before he likely would have been voted out of office. As the election was starting, he underlined his proclamation by running around shouting the Arab-Israelis were voting in droves, so all the Jewish Israelis had better vote for his Likud Party.

This immediately turned it around for Netanyahu. His party – meaning Netanyahu – was handily reelected in one of the fastest polling turnarounds in history. Are those Israelis stupid? More like frightened.

And what did Bibi do after he won? He renounced his flip-flop on the two state solution! “Only kidding, you stupid jerks! Can’t you take a joke? Besides, we need America’s money!”

No spin control. No waiting until circumstances change (as they do every day) to justify abandoning his newfound position. Nope. He won, and he told everybody he was the most naked liar since O.J. Simpson.

Last Friday, Speaker of the House John Boehner announced he and a cadre of his comrades will go to Israel on or around March 31 to participate in Netanyahu’s “victory celebration” and to conduct discussions with the lying bastard, as though Boehner has any legal or moral right to do so. In fact, misrepresenting the United States government is a crime.

It is not a crime for Netanyahu and Boehner to announce the merger of the Likud and the Republican parties, even though such an announcement would seem redundant.

People who maintain a strong Israel über alles attitude love to refer to Jewish people who do not share their right-wing opinions as “self-hating Jews.” That’s okay, I can take that. After all, I use the phrase “Israel über alles” fully knowing it drives them completely batshit. But, for the record, I am not a self-hating Jew. I actually love myself. Like most professional communicators, I probably love myself too much. I am constantly aware of my cultural roots, and I am indeed one proud li’l Ashkenazi.

And I firmly believe that, right now, Bibi Netanyahu is the world’s greatest threat to peace.

Mike Gold performs the weekly two-hour Weird Sounds Inside The Gold Mind ass-kicking rock, blues and blather radio show on The Point, www.getthepointradio.com and on iNetRadio, www.iNetRadio.com as part of “Hit Oldies” every Sunday at 7:00 PM Eastern, rebroadcast three times during the week – check www.getthepointradio.com above for times and on-demand streaming information. Gold also joins MDW’s Michael Davis and Martha Thomases as a weekly columnist at www.comicmix.com where he pontificates on matters of four-color.