Israel recently had elections for the second time. The previous round let the country in a dealock between the the two leading parties. Neither could get a parliamentary majority in order to form a coalition government. This time the results seem to be the same. Neither of the two major parties can get enough help for a majority. And the two of them are totally unwilling to work together. No one wants another election. After all, one indication of insanity is to repeat the same behavior and expect a different result.
Then there is America. The Democrats are on a witch hunt to impeach President Trump. Even if they get a majority in the House of Representatives, the trial will take place before the Senate where the Republican party has a clear majority. So why keep on with the farce? One commentator pointed out that the Democrats in the House have issued more subpoenas than ideas for new legislation. How sad! And the icing on that cake is that there seems to be no real legal support for the entire exercise. The President has not been given some of the most basic legal rights that are guaranteed by the US Constitution to ALL citizens.
Is the picture any better when we look to Europe? Britain voted in a referendum to leave the European Union, but the British Parliament continues to refuse to pass legislation that will enable that to happen. Spain looks almost on the verge of civil war over Catalonian Separatism. Turkey has invaded neighboring Syria, but “only” for a few kilometers. Iran continues to interfere in the affairs of all neighboring states, and even some that are quite distant. It might not be so scary if they were not pushing to assemble a nuclear weapon and build missiles to deliver it to almost anywhere in the world.
Asia is hardly any better. North Korea already has nuclear bombs, and negotiations to get rid of them are going nowhere. Hong Kong has been torn by rioting for weeks over the possibility of losing their privileged status. And finally, China is deep in a fierce trade and tariff war with America.
I can only wonder if any of these problems will be resolved by next year when I will try to write about them again (If I’m still able to do so).
Wetherhorn 