by Colin Hyde
All things are possible under the sun. Of course, you and I can’t become prime minister if we don’t throw our hat into the ring, as a member of a party with at least 16 candidates. If we did, somebody who knows some math would forecast our chances. It wouldn’t be zero. There are betting houses in betting nations that would give odds on our chances, and sell tickets. Bah, if we were the leader of a third party that is as poorly financed as ALL of our third parties have been through the years, the odds of a victory would be extremely low.
There are long shots in this world that have won. It is not the longest shot that the leader of the UDP could become the PM after the ballots are counted on election night 2024 or 2025. “Dumb luck” is always a factor in surprising outcomes. Die-haad followers of the UDP are emboldened by their surprise victory in 1993; and the PUP, when they are down and out, can look to 1989. The betting houses, if they had stuck with early forecasts right through to election night in 1989 and 1993, would have suffered substantial losses. About those elections, I will just say that in 1989 PM Esquivel moved to relegate the UDP’s first leader, Dean Lindo, and a shoo-in victory ended up in a squeaker loss. A number of times we’ve gone over what happened in 1993, but one factor we haven’t/or have not frequently mentioned is that the UDP still had some residual strength in 1993, their losing in 1989 being mainly because Esquivel wanted to be unchallenged king.
How S Barrow ended up in the saddle of the UDP with at least a 20% chance of being our next PM is, as far as I can see, a story of opportunism, nepotism, wild ambition, money, and a vicious streak. In my view, in a runoff in the UDP, he is no better than number 6 on the list. John had to take money from unsavory sorts to sponsor his sports clubs, Faber had to pull his girlfriend out of a car, Tracy had to be undecided, Pehreh had to get blocked by his own party, and Darrell had to fail at getting the support of Santino.
Skipping a lot of things, the story coming out of BelChina when the party declared that S Barrow would not be challenged again before the next general election, was that the party didn’t have much of a chance at the polls, and basically having him, with his money and all, really wasn’t causing any harm. Everyone knows S Barrow’s desperation to hold on is directly linked to his personal business fortunes. And he gets to hobnob with leaders around the world. And he gets to hold onto the dumb luck card.
Bully for the core UDP; they don’t like the idea of S Barrow holding onto that card. It is good that there are some people in the UDP who come outright and declare that he doesn’t command their admiration, that while he holds that card the party suffers. Shyne has a right to sing what he wants; it is his right to support that murderous Netanyahu; it is his right to sneer at Fidel and express love to Miami Cubans; and it is his right to walk free after serving time for his crime. I have a right to say he doesn’t have the credentials to lead any political party that I belong to. But thanks to the UDP, he holds the dumb luck card.
Netanyahu is absolutely murdering Christianity
When Moses came from behind the burning bush, he said that the 6th commandment was thou shalt not kill. But just as George Orwell’s line in Animal Farm, “No animal shall sleep in a bed” isn’t complete if you don’t add, “with sheets”, the 6th, based on Moses’ intent, is only complete if we add, “a Jew who is in good standing”. Some Jews can be very vicious. Jesus the Christ wasn’t in good standing with the keepers of the Jewish faith. He said He had not come to change the law, and then He pulled out the whip on their barbarism and false selves. We don’t complain with Moses for murdering an Egyptian overseer who had his boot on his people’s neck. An honest court would have called that self-defense or provocation. What the Jews did to Jesus was cold-blooded murder. They killed Him because He challenged the keepers of the faith.
There was no remorse after crucifying Jesus. They were about protecting their agenda, and woe to ehnihoo got in their way. Acts 12, verses 1 to 3, says: “About that time King Herod laid hands upon some members of the church to harm them. He had James, the brother of John, killed by the sword, and when he saw that this was pleasing to the Jews he proceeded to arrest Peter also.” This was months, years after Jesus was killed.
A story in The Conversation entitled, “Most Israelis dislike Netanyahu, but support the war in Gaza – an Israeli scholar explains what’s driving public opinion”, says “the attacks [recent Hamas attack on Israel] reminded Israelis that the country faces existential threats, which they believe need to be eliminated in any way possible”, that “the global response to Oct. 7 is another important factor that pushed many Israelis to retreat to old feelings of persecution and a perceived need for self-defense”, and that “most Israelis see these allegations of genocide as an example of global bias against Israel and as a new form of antisemitism.”
The Conversation says “most Israelis blame Netanyahu’s government for Oct. 7″ and see him “as primarily responsible for the fact that Israel did not address Hamas’ strengthening military capabilities in the past decade, including its creation of underground tunnels in Gaza.” Internally, there are reports of Netanyahu trying “to undermine the independence of the country’s judicial branch”, and they say his “approach to the war – and inability to reach a hostage deal or agree to some kind of cease-fire – may be affected by his desire to stay in power.” There are also charges that he was involved in some corrupt deals.
I believe that it is for fear of being labeled antisemitic, why media worldwide haven’t wondered out loud whether Netanyahu and his crowd baited Hamas into that attack, so that they had an excuse to unleash their murderous arsenal. Remember that many of the people who were killed in the October 7 attack weren’t Jewish mainstream. They might not have contemplated the scale, but there are reports that many who were killed died by friendly fire.
The world knows that Israel has been cruel to the Palestinians since our former colonial masters, the British, agreed to partition Palestine in 1947/48, giving Israel a homeland. We understand US support of Israel despite its atrocities, that beyond a strong Zionist movement in the US, they are majorly concerned about their business interests, the oil and the Suez Canal. It’s understandable that a country will protect its business interests. For the Netanyahu crowd, it’s about business too. But it is also about obliterating philistines.
Yes, I read in the news that some hostages held by Hamas as a bargaining chip were found dead in a tunnel. I’m not an island; of course I bleed for that tragedy. But that won’t make me forget that Hamas killed a thousand, and Netanyahu killed tens of thousands.
The world has condemned Israel for its genocidal war in Gaza. Our government can’t do much, but to show our disappointment with Israel’s behavior we broke off relations with them. Maybe it is good for our mental state that we don’t see all the pictures of the horror in Gaza. Over a million people have been displaced, over 40,000 are dead, thousands and thousands are physically maimed, and they and an entire population are mentally scarred. There is widespread disease and hunger in Gaza, and the country’s infrastructure has been destroyed.
Not all of us are reading of the horrors in Gaza, but the television is sufficient to make those who have ears that want to hear and eyes that want to see, know that Israel is perpetrating a terrible crime. At home, the fallout from the genocidal war will be a massive decrease of followers of the Christian faith. If Christian leaders here don’t call out Israel’s atrocities I believe that in 20 years we will no longer be a Christian nation.
Christians believe in the teachings of Jesus, but because the Christ was a Jew, the Christian faith is also deeply rooted in Judaism. It isn’t lost on anyone that religion is also about business. People of a faith flock together; there is a brotherhood/sisterhood. Christian brothers and sisters naturally will reach out to each other first. I suspect many Christian leaders here are silent for business reasons. That might be good business short term, but the core of the Christian faith is being assaulted here, and a tremendous cost will be exacted down the road.
While the Judeans are doing what Judeans do: kill philistines, people whom they consider to be less than people; Christianity, the religion of a far more tolerant people, a turn-the-other-cheek people, is being savaged to its moorings. Could the Christ of love, could the Christ who said He would put a millstone around the neck of anyone who assaulted the little ones, endorse Netanyahu and his gang? Old people are set in their ways, and so they will go through all kinds of contortions to find a fit for their beliefs. But can young people find something good in a religion that endorses genocide?
Our Christian leaders have to get on their knees and beg Israel to stop its hatred and its expansionist ambitions. Judaism isn’t being hurt in this war. Christianity is.