A BOLT OF LIGHTNING

How to write, what to write, of two events that are seemingly unrelated, with one of far more importance and gravity than the other. Yet both were of importance in my life. I could not decide for each time I thought about it, and decided on one, thoughts of the other invaded my mind and refused to let go so we will do both today. Both sad, one ridiculously so simply for the phenomenally vicious reactions and statements of one David Israel and his few rabid supporters and the other a sad litany of oft repeated killings, of tears and fears, of cries to the Heavens and wondering, when will this ever end?
     "Over the past five months, 33 Israelis have been murdered and 311 wounded in the wave of Palestinian violence. Twenty-nine of those sustained serious injuries, eight were moderately to seriously wounded, and 214 lightly injured."
     And the awful thing is that the bloody total will rise as more brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, children will be buried and as more heart rending cries crash open the Gates of Heaven. How much more we all wonder and why, dear Lord, why?
     Yesterday's funeral of Eliav Gelman and a video that was made of three young women slaughtered in this "knife intifada" just broke the heart and then inspired it for it spoke of sacrifice as a mother gave her life to save her children in the house and a young girl of 19, a cadet, gave her life to stop bombers and a terrible loss of life and one young lady was simply picking up items in a grocery store for an aged grandmother. As for Eliav, who left two young boys and a pregnant wife, this is what his father, a man of amazing strength said this at the funeral: “You join today the long line of people who sanctified themselves in God’s name without thinking of the moment after. Our forefather Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son for God. Aaron, the priest, lost two of his sons. With great pain, we accept the decree that we were selected to make a sacrifice to sanctify God.”
     Before there was modern day Israel there were attacks on Jews living in their homeland. There were bloody riots with the 1929 Hebron slaughter coming to mind. There were attacks on small settlements set up in the marshes of Huleh Valley and why? No one ever lived there within memory! Before there were "occupied territories" - well, actually, they were occupied  -by Jordan and Egypt, there were raids and bombs and attacks and invasions into homes and then into a country, six, sometimes seven countries invading and the money of the oil rich countries funding it all. Before there was much of anything, the Arabs were screaming in the tones of a religious war - which is what it is and it has been going on for oh so long and believe as you wish, but we here in the
USA and the entire western civilization are engaged in that same religious war - Islam over all, not really different from the other "uber alles" that we can all still remember. Are all Moslems or believers in Islam bad? NO, but it would be ever so much more powerful a statement and belief were there to be a great many of them willing to speak up and out and against this violence and hatred.
    If only wishes could come true and we could wish away all this hatred, this bloodshed and learn, all the peoples of the world, to live together on this small orb of ours in the vast universe. But it seems that man has many obstacles in its path towards peace and understanding and when one looks down, into a smaller arena of this hatred and refusal to accept others, it is perhaps then that one can fathom the harm that this intransigence causes.
     So here we are in the smaller arena of CVWPB. Here we have a group of people, a coterie of sycophants who tie their fortunes and validations of life to the coattails of one man, David Israel. He, in turn, has let his ego grow to a staggering size and fallen into mistaken ways and beliefs, so much so that he has forgotten his humanity, left it by the wayside and turned back the clock on decency, on compromise, on mature behavior. He has come to believe his own lies and false and vicious statements and then wonders why he has generated so much passionate dislike, shall we say?
      Over and over again we have proven his lies, outed the truth, exposed his consistent incompetence and constant appropriations of the achievements of others as his own. We have printed the letter wherein he had to retract his vicious attack on Dan Gladstone or else face serious civil and criminal matters. We walk on the crumbling roads that he has endowed us with at a great multi million dollar cost and we suffer under his abrogation of the term limits that we had and feel the onus of his oppression and yes, even mental deficiencies as he parades his paranoia and megalomania for all to see. And yet this man, this dictator, this fascist of belief and actions, persists in his madness and has now ventured out on to another fragile limb and has decided that he must attack me as if he understands me. But bring it on, for you simply prove the truth of what I said yesterday and as people laughed at you. I said, in so many words, "My name is Esther Sutofsky and David Israel hates me. I have "exposed him on the world wide web to 200,000,000 people." The words might have been a bit different but that is the gist of what I said and the gales of laughter followed at the whole stupidity of it.
    So here is today's nonsense. "Since Esther lost in her attempt to win the UCO Presidency, she has been engaged in a frenetic vendetta. Her diatribe being driven by pure hatred at the idea of being denied her goal." Oy, David, oy indeed. I AM NOT AFRAID OF YOU. I COULD CARE LESS ABOUT THE NAMES YOU CALL ME OR WHAT YOU SAY ABOUT ME. I am happy in my life. I never missed the so called presidency. I never really wanted it but had to show the people here that you are not all powerful and you can hurt no one, there being no need to be afraid of you. Now we have a wonderful candidate opposing you, a large and ever growing opposition that will continue to oppose you should the worst happen and you maintain the ability to use your zombie delegates ripped from dead and dying associations to vote you in once more. But we know that time and despair at what you have wrought and continue to do so to the Village will bring you down, so no, dear boy, such a silly boy you are - no, there is no goal that I have been denied, for all goals are ongoing. There is no vendetta. My life is too full and blessed and does not provide me with the leisure time necessary to carry on a vendetta and no, I do not hide away in a back room so as to carry on with nefarious plans, paranoid fantasies and simply just to hide away from humanity. That is all on you, dear boy. Nor do I see any frenetic activity unless it is the actions that you take, the rants that you make in your venom and determination to keep your power and rule as a petty tyrant.
     Like a bolt of lightning, as I listened to people of the Village talk with each other yesterday, no screaming, no shouts of "out of order', all orderly and mature, it hit me. As in a school, a company, a doctor's office - and in UCO - it all comes down from the top. The cues comes from there. If the head person is a good and fine, caring individual, then so too will be the subordinates and colleagues. But if the head person is a nasty old curmudgeon or a young one, for age is not  a real factor in this, then so too will the subordinates and colleagues. You, David Israel, have infested and infected the Village with nastiness, with sniping - ooohhhh, - at each other, with childlike and even brutal behavior, with a litany of lies and nastiness, with an atmosphere rife with your muttered threats and schemes of intimidation. It is all on you so.... Mr. David Israel, please to go back into your little old room and hide away from all that is good in life - people, friendship, family and love. And if that is not enough, well, then BITE ME!!!