The Siege of Gaza

Put it into perspective. Israel bombing Gaza is like New Jersey launching airstrikes against Baltimore. That's the scale of things.

For months, New Jersey has embargoed commerce into or out of Baltimore — no cash transfers, no food except basic stuff like pigfat and falafel flour, no oil or gas imports or exports, no electricity, no running water, no medical supplies. Some Baltimore hotheads decide to launch shortrange rockets toward the truck farms surrounding Trenton. A few cabbages get mussed up^†.

"Aha!" shrieks New Jersey. "So it's war you want? It's war you get!" F-16s! 253 Baltimorvians bite the dust. Yes! Yes! Was it good for you?

Down in Washington, folks have been paying attention to what happens in Baltimore. On the other side of the world, from the vantage point of King Kamehameha's statue, the past, especially the recent past, may seem even clearer from a distance.

^†Ok, ok, it was two cabbagepatch kids — I can be sensitive, too. The going rate of exchange for helpless civilian targets including women and children is about 120 to 1, apparently. New Jersey sniffs, "Unfair. Our targets are Baltimorvian terrorists. Their puny rockets do not strike military targets." Baltimore snorts, "Stand closer then."

Personally, I think selling F16s to the Israelis is probably a good idea, considering the state of the U.S. economy. Let's sell them to the Palestinians, too, and get those lines of credit moving again!