Let Them Eat Maqluba

They have more in common then fuzzy hair, Marie and DJT.

I was horrified, yesterday, when I saw the split screen image of two surreal spectacles, just miles apart -- the carnage in Gaza, and opening day ceremonies at Mar-a-lago Mideast. There's never an excuse for brutality or ignorance or arrogance -- much less a repulsive combination of all three -- but at least Marie lived at a time when the whole concept of enlightenment was still relatively new.

There is, quite frankly, no excuse for a person (and I use the term loosely) like DJT (I still find it difficult to speak his name). There is no excuse for the likes of Ivanka and Jared -- other than bad genes. Yet here we are, almost a year and a half into the unforeseen disaster that we should have foreseen had the rest of us not had our heads buried up our behinds, and there is no end in sight. There is still a possibility, indeed a probability, DJ will survive to run again in 2020. And don't get me started on the unctuous Mike Pence. That man just needs to get laid (though someone would need to get paid royally to make it happen).

For the most part, we seem to have learned nothing from history, even though I always thought the whole point of history is to teach us lessons. Ask any college history major; the point is certainly not to find gainful employment. Hate and "us and them-ism" and needless provocation never end well, or, if they do, a lot of blood is shed in the process. Nobody really wins except the folks we hire to drive the bus. It all kind of reminds me of divorce. The lawyers tend to do pretty well, but for everyone else, the damage is profound.

I may not be all that complicated -- certainly not anywhere near as complicated as geo-political relations -- but I am certainly as multi-dimensional as the next gal, and can see more than one point of view. Except when it comes to DJT and his minions, which would include many prominent Republicans who seem to have lost their way. At the beginning, I was chastised, occasionally, for seeming so appalled by the 2016 election outcome. I was chastised for my gloom and doom attitude, and I was chastised for being unable to accept that there is, out there, another point of view.

Some of my favorite people, over the years, have voted for Republicans. I even married one of them, and our divorce had nothing to do with that, or even the fact that he is Catholic and I am a Jew. Somebody seemed horrified, the other day, when I admitted I can no longer enjoy the music of a talented artist who supports our current president (no, not Kanye), much less have a close friendship with somebody who does. It has nothing to do with my political views or elite liberalism. It has to do with my zero tolerance for hate, and "us and them-ism" and needless provocation (the blip of my divorce proceedings notwithstanding). It has to do with my yearning for dignity and decency, and my hope that those qualities will one day return to Washington.

Maybe the end of this nightmare will come when there is nobody left to provoke. I learned the refrain early, back in Sunday School in the sixties. Am Yisrael Chai. The people of Israel live! Who are the people of Israel, and at what price? L'Shana Haba'ah B'Yerushalayim. Next year in Jerusalem! Again, at what price. Does anybody out there have a plan, much less an end game?

Let them eat cake, let them eat maqluba. The parallels are astounding, and the irony is anything but funny.