The point went so far over Marcotte’s big fat head, even a BUK missile couldn’t bring it down.

 

Why do I read this woman?  It’s a form of torture, I swear.  Her level of stupid seems to know no bounds.  Yes, I am of course referring to Amanda Marcotte of the “we don’t need no babies” and “giving up your baby is the same as abortion” school of dumbassery.  Here she is today wedging her panties further up her ass by complaining about Bill Maher tweeting that even if a woman is trying to kill him, he will do no more than give her a slap.

 

Slap a woman?  Violent misogynist beast!  Women are never to be slapped.  Not ever!  Here is the tweet that got Mandy’s blood boiling.  I also included a rather clever response, and I will explain why in a moment.

 

 

Bill Maher reminded everyone Thursday evening that no matter how progressive he claims to be, when it comes to women, he’s an old school misogynist.

 

According to Marcotte, with this one tweet, Maher achieved the following:

• Made light of domestic violence
• Suggested women are irrational children
• Reminded women of their proper place
• Turned domestic violence into self-defence
• Claimed men are more stable

Wow!  Impressive!  Except no.  Hamas is like a crazy woman trying to kill you and even under circumstances that dire, the response is to hold her by the wrists and then resort to slapping her.  If Maher is making light of domestic violence, he is making light of violent women who are actively trying to kill their male partners!  A woman trying to kill you is probably irrational, although the way Amanda phrases it, attempting to kill a man is a perfectly rational thing to do.  Guess he was asking for it, huh?

 

The whole point of the tweet is that when Hamas decides to go up against Israel by firing a few hundred rockets at them (no biggie, right?), Israel being the stronger of the two by far shows an enormous amount of restraint until it just can’t any more.  The Israeli Army takes extraordinary measures to warn civilians of strikes, and no matter what you think of that particular conflict, the civilian death rate is very low.

I just finished a book by Peter Beaumont, a reporter for the Observer, called The Secret Life of War, and he has some interesting theories about what is going on in this conflict.  Peter has decades of experience reporting on more than 24 different conflicts, and I am inclined to believe his interpretations – he has based them on deep personal experience.  Peter’s argument is that when there were Israeli settlements in the Gaza strip, the Palestinians were able to unite against a common enemy, but once the Israelis pulled out, they were back to faction fighting based on family dynamics of power and control. The death of Arafat and the incredible rise of Hamas to power over Fatah created an even deeper divide within Palestine.  With no common enemy to fight, they fought each other in a war of incredible brutality and retribution.

 

 

Here’s part two of Peter’s theory:  the young men (and some young women) living in the Gaza have lost all hope and faith in their parents to solve this conflict.  They have lost all respect for their fathers and are taking the fight into their own hands, with a predictable response from Israel.  While the adults engage in endless internecine battles for power, the young men are firing rockets into a very big opponent who has some, but not inexhaustible patience.  I think there is probably a lot of merit to this argument.  It’s the same one playing out in Afghanistan – the Taliban versus everyone else.  In Iraq where Sunni and Shiite battle for control with the terrifying ISIS making large gains in a very short period of time.  It’s the same battle that played out in Ireland with Catholics against Protestants.

 

What comes to mind is the famous quote from Homeboy Industries:

Nothing stops a bullet like a job.

 

That is essentially what happened in Ireland:  economic growth ended their centuries old battle over which version of Christianity was the right one.

Now that the Irish economy is floundering, one wonders if those old wounds will reopen as people feel increasingly powerless, competing for fewer and fewer resources.

 

The response to Maher’s tweets about women not liking it when their children are killed is what maddens me the most about Marcotte’s indefatigable narcissism and self-absorption.  More than 300 people are dead, many of them children.  There are many sides and positions to take when it comes to Israel and Palestine, but at the end of the day, people are dying and we need to find some way to resolve this.  Economic development would be my personal argument, but there are others worth considering.

 

The streets are running with blood in Gaza.

 

But Bill Maher tweeting a sarcastic comment about slapping a homicidal woman?

 

Yeah, Amanda, that’s the problem.  Is there ever a time, just one single time, when it’s not about you, you selfish bitch?

 

Apparently not.

 

Lots of love,

 

JB