The Israeli-Palestinian tug of war has long fascinated me…and not just because there’s always a new intifada book at Border’s, I dated half of the activist Jewish South or that the latest kibbutz security solutions always represent the utmost au courant in the architectural vanguard of barbed and dangerous.

Every epic struggle needs a protagonist and one of the most legendary has left our world today, Yasser Arafat. The master PLO’er caught my eye as a teen, not due to his fiery rhetoric but because of his unique headgarb. Common sight in the outdoor Midwestern shopping plazas of the Debbie Gibson era? In a word, no. As my politco fascinations grew, I followed his ups and downs and Phoenix-like resurections for the better part of two decades right on through the Oslo accords.

Cunning, elusive, dangerous and wildly unpredictable, this man had one hell of life. And likely, one hell of an afterlife. Bets on how long it will take for the Ramallah compound to become a musee de liberation and key stop on the pilgramage trail? The contrast between the fates of Arafat and Sharon (master general in the Six Days War) is striking, is it not? Given their similarities in time of war and in deed? I leave you with this to ponder, as well as the interesting riff-raff the Arafat gift shop might carry. Security Wall bracelets, anyone? My sincere wishes for Arafat and the Middle East to finally rest in peace.

Signed,
TLRG, Agent of Global Diplomacy

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I may have lived in the swamp through two Marion Barry mayorships AND his post-crackhead Council seat victory but as you, my faithful readers know, I’m a Buckeye girl through and through. My crimson and gray colors do not fade. And I will never lose my ability to make a kick-ass hamloaf!

We Ohioans are taught from our very first bites of cheesy potato casserole that our state is special and as citizens we are a chosen lot. Not ones to dwell on our cornfield obscurity, facts, figures, mottos and the state bird are engrained in our collective memories through years of mandated state history classes. Who needs to know about the Vietnam War when you can memorize all of the native tribes settled in Tuscarawas County? And why take a field trip to the zoo (yawn, yawn) when you can trek on over to the Harding and McKinley cyrpts?:cheer:

Ohio has grand political traditions dating back way before the creation of Howard Taft’s 3X bathtub. Electing more Presidents than any other principality and having a notable record in the Supreme court, it is no surpise that we are at the center of the Deja Vote storm. And may I add… proud of it! Our people are simple, sturdy, smart and strong and those years of early cold mornings spent in the driver’s seat of the farm tractors or combines were good training for standing on line in the pouring rain waiting to cast a ballot for Decision 2004.

The pundits are apt to say “So goes Ohio, so goes the Presidency.” Today we of Stark and Summit and Mahoning County and all others lit up on the maps of CNN and the icerink of NBC are living that reality. God bless the Buckeyes, Timken Steel AND America!

Signed,
TLRG:redhead:

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