So, John Kerry claims, "If I was president, this wouldn't have happened", referring to the current war between Israel and Hizbollah.  I actually saw a Democrat pundit on one of ther major cable news stations yesterday trying to defend this by letting us know how Bush didn't keep his eye on the ball in the Middle East, etc.  However, one would think that in order to have done things differently, one would have had to have a different outlook on the situation, and tried to focus national attention on the issue.

I don't remember John Kerry mentioning Hizbollah or Lebanon in the 2004 Presidential Debates or any other time for that matter.  Do you? 

Besides what kind of diplomacy was there to be done with Hizbollah? Israel already withdrew to it's border in 2000.  What was israel supposed to offer Hizbollah to get them to disarm?  And is it anything but laughable that Kerry would have had some kind of tougher policy on Iran when he wasn't even willing to do anything more than continue with WMD inspections in Iraq, a much weaker country?

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I saw two movies over the weekend.  "Duma" is the story of a South African teen's adventure in trying to find a home in the wilderness for a domesticated, grown cheetah after events force his family to move from a farm to the big city.  Great story, beautiful scenery.   The kind of film that made great family TV on Sunday nights when I was growing up.  The other is "Fateless" a semi-autibiogrpahical story written by  Nobel Prize winning author, Imre Kertesz.  The story tells of a Hungarian Jewish teen who finds himself suddenly caught up in a deportation to Auschwitz and how his.  The move is very European, meaning lots of beautiful cinematography in muted colors and silent or near-silent scenes which make you think about what it means to be a human being.  The acting of the main character is so understated that it's not until the end that you say to yourself - how did that kid do such a great job without having been in such a terrible situation himself.  Wow.

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When Israeli author and peace activist Amoz Oz speaks up on behalf of Israel's actions in Lebanon, there can be no doubt that Israeli society is united.

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A really detailed map of southern Lebanon for those keeping track of what's going on.  From Pajamas Media which has one of the best roundups of news on the conflict.