Jumblatt versus Peres

Israel's president Shimon Peres fainted the other day and was soon after released from the hospital after having been checked out by doctors.

Jumblatt had this to say about the incident:

حتى إبليس بالأمس رفض إستقبال شمعون بيريس بعدما إستدعاه للحظات في غيبوبة لو أتاح القدر أن تكون نهائية لكان العالم تخلص من تلك الاكذوبة التاريخية التي مثلها ذلك الرجل على مر عقود من الصراع العربي- الاسرائيلي، وهو الذي لعب أدورا عديدة خلال كل محاور هذا الصراع. ونتمنى على إبليس في المرة المقبلة ألا يخطئ في حساباته ويدعوه اليه لمرة واحدة وأخيرة، عله بذلك يفيد البشرية في مكان ما

A quick and rough translation: even Satan has refused to welcome Peres after fainting and if fate had willed it to be final, the world would have gotten rid of this historic lie that this guy has embodied for decades during the Arab-Israeli conflict . . . and we hope (or rather wish) that the next time around, for Satan to calculate correctly and invite Peres to him one final time, maybe this way, he (Satan that is) would benefit humanity in some way.

Whether you like Jumblatt or not, you have to agree that he is sometimes very theatrical and amusing!


BG

Politics as a hobby?

Can somebody please explain to me how a Prime Minister-designate tasked with the almost impossible job of forming a Lebanese government decides to take a family vacation to France??

For crying out loud, should he not be trying to form a government as soon as possible that can tackle the multiple issues that are plaguing the Lebanese people, most importantly pressing economic needs and minimum bare standards of living, rather than vacationing with his family?

I don't know about the rest of the Lebanese people, but the official reason and statement issued by his parliamentary block was definitely not making sense to me:

"Hariri wanted to distance himself from the heated rhetoric regarding the cabinet’s formation and the political make-up of the March 14 coalition."

Well, taking a break every once in a while is fine, but the timing could not have been any worse. The need to form a government in Lebanon that will actually try to handle the multiple problems we have is and should be of paramount importance to all politicians, and especially so the politician tasked with putting that government together.

Oh, and if every politician in Lebanon were to take a break and leave to blow some steam every time Walid Jumblat maneuvers or takes a new position, then I think politicians will spend more time outside than inside Lebanon and we'd only be left with Jumblat as the sole politician in Lebanon.

Accountability people!

These guys need to be held accountable. If they were, I don't think Hariri would take the issue of premiership lightly and Jumblat would definitely stick to a position for longer than 24 hrs.

BG