Friday, January 28, 2005

Bush's Mentor (oh, and Bush has read a book, according to his aides). The mentor is none other than the fanatical right-wing Israeli demagogic leader, Natan Sharansky. He has a new silly book that apparently (and according to press accounts) influenced Bush's "thinking" and discourse. He met with Cheney and Bush, and others. His book (read it and judge for yourself) has deep thoughts: he says that dictators have to oppress their people; that oppressive governments do not allow people to criticize the government (I am not making this up), and that water boils when heated. He also believes that democracies are peaceful. Well, his country refutes that thesis. Certainly, North Korea has been more peaceful than "democratic" Israel. Sharansky was on Al-Jazeera's From Washington program. The able host (Hafidh Mirazi) asked him whether his "democracy test" applies to Palestinians in Israel or in the West Bank and Gaza. He reminded him that 13 Arab citizens of Israel were shot dead by the Israeli police when they peacefully demonstrated in 2001. He responded by talking about his years of captivity in the Soviet Union.