General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDan Rather: "It is possible to ache for those on both sides of the divide."

To mention both and feel pain for all is not false equivalence; it is an acknowledgment that human suffering will be the most enduring legacy of this conflict, as it is of all wars.
There is a pit deep in the stomach that comes from trying to reconcile the irreconcilable. We should be wary of absolutes. We can hate Hamas and recognize Israels need to protect its people while still feeling for the Palestinian people who face their own unimaginable terror as an invasion looms. It is possible to ache for those on both sides of the divide.
................
MORE:
https://steady.substack.com/p/anger-and-sadness?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=247881&post_id=137941682&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=ezrq&utm_medium=email

hlthe2b
(111,691 posts)Thank you, Dan.
Alexander Of Assyria
(7,839 posts)Are you with Biden or against him on this?
hlthe2b
(111,691 posts)and they can quite readily find my viewpoints with a simple search if that is their desire. And it is a handful that continues to do so on every thread.
I'm done with the divisiveness and what appears to be trolling, (though I get that you are seemingly being ironic/sarcastic, rather than the former). Time for admins to step in, IMHO.
LakeArenal
(29,949 posts)MiHale
(12,240 posts)At times we waver.
ismnotwasm
(42,652 posts)I think most people are here.

madashelltoo
(1,819 posts)This incredible mess simply hurts.
mzmolly
(52,482 posts)
Heartbreaking.
LostOne4Ever
(9,720 posts)I wish he was still the Anchor of CBS news so much.
ratchiweenie
(8,137 posts)Quixote1818
(31,094 posts)marmar
(78,935 posts)Uncle Joe
(63,399 posts)Thanks for the thread kpete.
Hamas doing this - they had to know they would simply draw retaliation. So it's hard to see what "good" their attack even did for their own side.
AlexSFCA
(6,319 posts)dugog55
(352 posts)immoral war in Iraq, our media was culpably silent about the loss of life of Iraqi citizens. 9/11 was perpetrated by 19 Mid-East terrorists, none of which were even from Iraq. However, the US military and allies killed over 420,000 Iraqi citizens over the years. That is horrifying and almost unbelievable. How as a nation could we not have sympathy for all those deaths of people who probably did not even know why they were being bombed. Ordinary people just living their lives bothering no one. Same goes for the Palestinians that are being brutalized by the Israelis right now.
ananda
(33,599 posts)This all makes me so sad.
H2O Man
(78,085 posts)burrowowl
(18,439 posts)mentalsolstice
(4,620 posts)Grasswire2
(13,847 posts)Snackshack
(2,569 posts)While the US dollar still dominates the world economy is put on our big boy and girl pants, call Iran, get agreement / promise from them mainly and the rest of the dogmatically challenged globe, tell them with the world watching, if they cheat it will be the end of them because the whole world will freeze them out till they wither on a fucking vine, Russia too. Make an agreement, one we commit too as well and if the gop tries to interfere like that dim witted Cotton did yrs ago they will be charged with treason and throw in fucking jail, do not pass go enough w/ the GOPs bullshit in affairs outside our border. Both Nixon (for sure) and Reagan should have been thrown in jail for interfering with peace/hostage negotiations.
Tell both That not another dollar or even a fucking penny period goes to Israel or Hamas if they do not sit down and agree on a peace and stick to it. Enough with the god gave me this land bullshit. The simple fucking fact is the physical environment we live in dictates two masses cannot occupy the same fucking space so everyone needs at least 1-5 sq ft to simply exist and a few more feet to survive in and that is not going away fuckheads so get your shit together and start living with one another because neither has another fucking planet they can go to and that gwd that both seem to think want a both to live on top of each other is an idiotic product of their imaginations and if they dont grow up shit is going to really get difficult
Especially for Israel and the Jewish religion that because of a horrid a book the Bible would not stand a snowballs chance in hell (pun intended) to get published today written 1000s of yrs ago that has an ill advised 3-way that started all this 💩 to begin with.
It is certainly not fair nor right that one religion or people to get blamed for any of the idiocy in that book
but as I have been told we are 99% animal and 1% human and it is that 1% the phucks us up. That 1% is holding back the other 99%. Its that 1% that gives us civilization, empathy, knowing right from wrong. An inherent knowledge that each of us has a preferred way to be treated, loved or respected and that you get what you give.
Seriously the Bible is a print version of everything any authoritarian wanna be censor like Tipper Gore, Bill Bennett and Falwell railed against. I have read it (cant P&M about if not) and between Leviticus, Story of Lot and Numbers it is clear it is primitive mans version of a law enforcement system. When you cannot afford to have police patrolling streets and helicopters over head an invisible police force that is EVERYWHERE, SEES EVERYTHING, KNOWS ALL, even what you are thinking and will not hesitate to drop your ass in a lake of 🔥 for ETERNITY is a very compelling reason not to steal that bread roll or horse.
If we do not deal w/ the root of this issue which is again that misguided book and all the violence, chaos, death and destruction its wrought over the years this never stops.
Backup
Its usefulness now goes no further then providing underange boys/girls for lascivious exploitation, generating money, and to keep an outdated, myopic mindset relevant after it has been proven time and again to be incorrect and hold zero or questionable value. Clearly demonstrated by mans decision to simply ignore 50% of the book.
After a catastrophic loss of life of someone I loved and was caring for (Mom) I was devastated. I had hated her down to her marrow until I got out on my own at 16-17. It was then I realized she was not waking up everyday thinking How can I phuck up RJ today., no. She was simply doing what she had learned and her mom had learned before that. There was no nefarious motives or hate just didnt know or want better. In looking for answer about life/loss and having already tried the drug route knowing that would only = death and was not gonna work again a peer at work told me to look to the Bible all the answers Ill ever need are right there, turn the page. So I did.
I was on. CWW shift and had next 4 days off. 1st day got coffee and the new KJV version my friend gave me. I had an NIV version but according to him I shouldnt read that one
its was the devils version of the Bible.
He was a bit high strung but a decent enough human far as I knew.
I got through Genesis then it was on too Leviticus
and oh boy
what a chapter. Its insane, I remember thinking growing up in foster care and going to church every Sunday and Bible school
why had I never heard about the clean/un-clean thing or the two different crops side by side no, no as well as two different threads being worn. I mean they did tell us there was really bad boo, boos we would get if we talked back or were disrespectful to the adults but not 1 phuckin syllable about footballs e.g. Pig Skin.
When my shift came back around I went to the guy who gave me the KJV Bible and asked about Leviticus and the pure whack job insanity the words in the chapter describe and his answer
.Oh I forgot to tell ya just go straight to the New Testament do not waste time on the Old Testament. I knew instantly same as I had years before when after peer pressure in the foster ward to be saved I went up on a stage after the preacher said anyone in the audience who wants to be saved in the name of jesus come up to the stage. I did, he and a couple more took like 10-15 of us backstage and started having us pair up. Then the preacher or an assistant came up and looking me straight in the eye told me to speak in tongues.
. I was like what, what is tongues? I had never heard of that. Im not gonna explain beyond saying it is gibberish and 10-15 people all doing that at same time in a back dressing room is
an experience Ive never forgot nor heard again.
It was self evident that religion was a dead end for me. However losing my mom after she and I had become so close. She became my best friend 1st then she became my mom, accepting/loving/wanting her to be my mom after having such a difficult past that I blamed squarely on her simply was so nice other kids I was roomed during foster years had one and now I did and it was so cool and lasted so terribly short. 10yrs was all I had. Sounds like a lot but it is not. We reconciled in the early 90s and on 4/28/ 2004 at 0930 I lost her again. I remember driving away from the house after her death. I pulled up to an intersection and on the corner there were two people talking, laughing and carrying on and at 1st got just livid, how dare they they be happy the world just stopped and they have the phucking gall to be laughing
OMG I wanted beat them down but then
that voice we all have up there in our grey matter interrupted me with a quick Hey AH stop, you are only causing your BP to increase, your temperature to increase its not their fault your mom died
the world did not stop only your world and you better get it together because now the real work starts. Which was so true caring for her till she starved to death was hard but not as hard as settling all the open issue she had, getting her body back for cremation
all of it was in me.
Ive gone on wayyyy toooo long if you are still reading.
Thank you for listening. Last part of this post was just me writing to me I think
if anyone out there read this and you are part of what I have heard call the sand which generation, people taking care of kids on 1 side and parents on the other
You have my upmost respect, love and empathy. Know that no matter how tough it is right now it is going to get tougher but it will also get easier
it never gets better but it does get cooler / easier to touch mentally, the memories do not stay red hot forever.
Skittles
(168,096 posts)
Cha
(315,010 posts)


Magoo48
(6,646 posts)The entire population of the area is at the mercy of power hungry maniacs and their financial backers.
No one is asking the regular folks how they feel about any of this shit before hand.
And, thanks to Dan Rather for his message.