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October 1998
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MER EDITORIAL:

A   W O R L D   G O N E   C R A Z Y

STANDING OVATION FOR BILL;
RESTRAINED APPLAUSE FOR YASSER


"[this shows] the love and respect the international 
community feels for you."
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, 9/20/98

"[Yitzhak Rabin]...My partner in the 'Peace Process', My partner in the 'Peace Process"... The peace of the brave, The peace of the brave, The peace of the brave... We have not lost hope in the 'Peace Process', We have not lost hope in the 'Peace Process'... There is no alternative to peace, Help us to achieve it, Help us to achieve it...." 
                         Yasser Arafat, U.N. General Assembly, 9/28/98
 
 

MER - Washington - 2 October:

On 20 September, on the very day and at the very time Bill's "sex is not sex" video was being broadcast far and wide, the diplomats assembled at the U.N. General Assembly gave the badly wounded American President a standing ovation! Apparently seeking more aid for his country and still hoping for a Presidential visit in November, since canceled, that's when Pakistani Prime Minister Sharif said what he said about Bill Clinton. Ugh.

Whether they were applauding American might or the President's affair, it was clearly the opposite of what should have been done; especially as what Clinton is really in the dock about isn't an affair with an intern or whether "oral" is "sex". It's really all about what took place before and after, not during.

Whatever Bill's situation, this is the same America that has hijacked the U.N. on so many occasions, continues to be the greatest debtor refusing to even pay its bills, continually vetos Security Council resolutions dealing with Israel, kills thousands monthly in Iraq, however indirectly, and is readying the bombers once more, and most recently unilaterally sent cruise missiles crashing into Sudan and Afghanistan.

A week later the tarnished, imbalanced, corrupted, head of the "Palestinian Authority", Yasser Arafat, addressed the same U.N. General Assembly, greeted only with polite applause and not even close to a full house.

Whatever, Arafat was there before the world body as the representative of the Palestinian people and the Palestinian cause, an issue the U.N. has badly mishandled ever since its creation, yet now claims to champion. And for that reason, the persona of Yasser aside, there should have been a standing ovation for the Palestinian representative instead of the meager applause and partly empty hall that greeted him.During Yasser's entire speech, there was not not even one time applause could be heard. Juxtapose that against Bill's appearance the week before. 

All this said, it needs also to be noted that this entire situation is also another sign of how badly Arafat has handled any and everything and should long ago have resigned -- or been kicked out -- for far far worse offenses against his people than Bill has committed against his.

The world is oftentime upside down these days. Indeed much of the world has gone crazy...or is it dumb? And the corporate/government controlled mass media leaves few effective voices to speak up about all this madness and hypocrisy.
 



 
 
 
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