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domgab1914@comcast.net

Dear President Ahmadinejad:

O Tempora! O Mores!

Look hard at where the fates have placed you! You are the President of a truly respected but a currently very unstable and dangerous modern nation. Its roots reach honorably and deeply into ancient history. But who can forget that during its early stages of unwarranted voracity, destiny chose instead to give it Alexander the Great. To subdue and dominate other nations is to be like a lecherous siren whose interests are generally and exclusively her own. Thankfully, true humanity serves understanding and compassionate divinities who dwell on a more celestial plane.

If like Don Quixote, you continue to see mortal enemies everywhere you look, it is inevitable that you will someday be sucked up by a windmill and thrust irretrievably into the darkest oblivion. But though your time is now short, be reminded that you still have a glorious and God willed opportunity to do more world wide good than you have ever imagined.

My advice to you is to cease maliciously taunting those nations and peoples you personally regard as your enemies and begin to do your earnest best to bring Iran and its confused and weary people into a community of nations that has long been ready to welcome and embrace it. Your place in the Pantheon of true leaders will be assured and Satan will no longer warmly await you.

A tie is not a cruciate symbol. Start wearing one again and be Presidential! (And let's spend more time in the library)

Comments:

Genesis Re-revisited

Because most of my readers may have missed this posting (originally published on 8/30/2005) in view of what currently transpireth worldwide, I felt a particular urge to reprint it today. Had God been routinely required to submit any of his contemplated proposals to a Holy Operations Committee, His human genesis plan would almost certainly have been given “cross glanced” short shrift.

A Truly Fateful Day

I read the bible with somewhat looser scrutiny than most people and I tend to generate weird fantasies and interpretations. Had I been asked [perish the thought] to write the story about Eve sprouting from one of Adam’s ribs, this would have been my version. It envisions an imaginary encounter between God and the Archangel Gabriel, immediately following the creation of Eve:

When God finished extracting Eve from one of Adam’s ribs, he felt really bushed. He sat under a nearby shade tree with Archangel Gabriel and together they uncapped a cool bottle of Jack Daniels.

"Phew . . . What do you think, Gabe?" God asked, after taking a long and godly swallow.
After sipping deeply from the same bottle, Archangel Gabriel responded, "Great job, old man. But you know what? I think you’ve got this whole human creation thing bass-ackwards."
"What do you mean," God angrily retorted?
"No disrespect intended, Lord. I simply mean you should have created Eve first, not Adam."
"Why so" God asked?
Gabriel hastened to explain. "It would make more sense if the woman, who you have already fully equipped with all the organs of reproduction would be central in this birthing process. Think of it, your Supreme Holiness, most men won't be like Adam. They are not going to be so gung-ho to have their ribs cracked, just to reproduce children."
"Hmm! Go on," said God

"Look," Gabriel replied, "Had you created Eve first, you could have instilled your divine spirits into her and pretty soon baby Adam would have slid out nice and easy from her womb and not herky-jerky, crunchy-crushy from one of her ribs. Isn’t the womb thing what we plan to do with the Virgin Mary when her time comes to deliver Jesus?"
"By George! By the way Gabe, who the hell is George? Never mind! You've nailed it, Gabe. The man is only an accessory. In fact, except for the few sperm he squirts on the egg, after that he’s no longer necessary. Yeah, you’re right! We should make the woman the central figure, the prime mover. Why didn’t I think of that?"
"Reverend Paterfamilias, you have more important things on your mind. The universe depends on you. It’s your patrimony, as Latin speaking people will soon be saying."
"Thanks, Gabe. You’re a good consigliere, as Italian speaking people will soon be saying. Now that we know better, let's call this motherhood and marriage thing, Holy Matrimony!
"By all that’s holy and true, you are now making the omelette without cracking the shells! You're really cooking now, your omniscience!"
God continued, "And while the women are birthing, nursing and really caring for their children, we won't have their men interfering. We'll make them create statues, build bridges, play sports, fight wars, distill liquor and whatever else, to keep them from brooding about being only accessories to human genesis!"
"Most divinely declaimed!" exclaimed Archangel Gabriel and with the bottle at his lips, he drained the remainder of the Tennessee Sour Mash.

If all of the above sounds a bit irreverent, maybe that's because it is. But think of it for a minute, the Adam and Eve part of the bible must surely have been composed by a man. No fully gendered woman would ever have written Genesis the way it now reads. May I place an Amen to that (?)

Comments:

President Obama, whither now?

Half-white, half-black, Barack Obama was sired by a Kenyan Muslim. Later, but still in his early childhood, he was raised in Indonesia as a Muslim by his Muslim stepfather. As a young adult, residing in Chicago, he developed political aspirations and when it became tactically expedient to do so he turned to the Reverend Wright and utilized that preacher's spirited assistance to adopt a generic Christian facade. What he now really feels to be his true religious affiliation he keeps mostly to himself, but he does draw the line at praising God and reciting our Pledge of Allegiance, in public.

Supported and hyped by an intensely sycophantic media, he was elected by an electorate that was obsessed with denigrating Bush. But what those voters failed to foresee, is what now so perilously besets us. Against an Islam that remains unswervingly committed to exterminating Jews and all their American supporters, paradoxy was pushed to a dangerous limit. Not fully aware that jihadists are at war with us, the voters chose for the USA to be commanded by a Muslim Commander-in-Chief. Please God, where in your divine name does this ominous charade go from here?

While I don't believe Obama is about to hand over our keys to his co-religionists, deep in his unconscious may lie a complex messianic desire to forge some kind of transcendent union between us and Islam. But I suspect he must often wonder if his Islamic core can keep him from also being an uncompromising American patriot. Is God confused? Does Allah have answers? Do you?

Comment:

Please, President Obama, Sir . . .

If the TV Icon we know, as Colombo,
were to opine on these matters,
this is the way it might go (?)

This is based on a forwarded,
multi-addressed, e-mail
that I just received

Excuse me President Obama, I'll only take a minute - OK, Sir? Can you help me out with a few loose ends and things that have been bothering me. I can't seem to get some information I need, to wrap this up. What I'm looking for are either "not released" or "not available."

Could you please help me find:

1. Occidental College records - Not released
2. Columbia College records -Not released
3. Columbia Thesis paper - Not available
4. Harvard College records - Not released
5. Selective Service Registration - Not released
6. Medical records - Not released
7. Illinois State Senate schedule - Not available
8. Your Illinois State Senate records - Not available
9. Law practice client list - Not released
10. Certified Copy of your original Birth Certificate - Not released
11. Embossed, signed paper Certification of Live Birth - Not released
12. Record of your baptism and religious affiliation - Not available
13. Why Michelle no longer practices law? (Insurance Prob?)
14. Why she has 22 assistants, when other First Ladies usually had only one
15. Why were you getting "foreign student aid" as a college student?
16. Which "passport" did you use when you visited Pakistan in 1981?

* Oh and one more thing Mr. President, - I can't seem to find any articles you published as editor of the Harvard Law Review, or as a Professor at the University of Chicago. Can you explain that to me, Sir?

** If you're too busy right now, I'll come back later. I'll give you some time to get these things together. What's that Mr. President? Who wants to know these things? We the people of the United States of America! You know, the ones who vote!

*** Does the fact that you were sired by a Muslim father, and that during your early childhood you were raised as a Muslim in Indonesia by a Muslim stepfather, have any effect on how you view and interpret attacks by Muslims on Americans and Israelis? (Colombo was prompted by The Horn to ask Obama this question)

Comment:

Dom: Thanks for the post in the Horn. Yes, there are a number of unanswered questions about Obama that will probably only be answered when he is out of office. The Dems and media are too busy praising him. Well, he has been very successful in awakening the sleeping conservative giant - the true silent majority. I only hope that the pressure continues because I do believe your accurate narcissism diagnosis of Obama will never allow him to change. ~ Bill S.

Bill: Do you think that the additional question I want Colombo to ask President Obama is appropriate? ~ The Horn

Dom: It is very appropriate. As I have aged I can recognize the influence my parents had on me. The Neil Young song says it with eloquence, "Old man, look at me now, I'm a lot like you were." He should also be asked how he got to Harvard and how he rose so quickly to his Senate seat. Who mentored him? And why is he so eager to repudiate our country's immediate past and degrade it unmercifully before the world? ~ Bill S.

The 10th Crusade?

Join me on a brief excursion into Medieval History (and a tad beyond)

In the year 1076, Muslims captured Jerusalem, the holy city in Israel where the religions of Jews, Christians and Muslims, were latterly spawned. For Jews, Jerusalem takes them back to the days before David, Solomon et al. For Christians, Christ spent most of His life there and was crucified on nearby Mount Calvary. For Muslims, Muhammad, who founded the Islamic faith, is memorialized by the Dome of the Rock. It is believed that he prayed there and was lifted to heaven from the Rock. Abraham too, the beloved patriarch of Jews and Muslims, spent much time on the Rock - indeed, it was exactly there, where he almost sacrificed his son, Isaac.

From 1096 to the latter days of the 13th century, the Christians of Europe mounted nine major military campaigns (The Crusades) in valiant attempts to restore their place in Jerusalem. Meanwhile, the Middle East became densely populated by Muslims and to such an extent that the burgeoning land trade routes from Europe to China and the Indies became blocked, a major setback to the then prospering European economy.

To emerge from Islam's stranglehold, naval explorers from Italy, Spain, Portugal and England took to the seas to search for maritime routes to the Indies. But as intrepid as they were, it was by accident that they discovered the "New" World, a serendipitous find that forged a lead for the "Infidels" with which Islam could no longer compete. May I point out, that like on the uniforms of their armies, most of these European vessels carried sails on which the Crusader's Cross was very conspicuously emblazoned! One might call this "Infidel" age of discovery and incredible growth, the 10th Crusade! Noteworthy about this staggering triumph over Islam, it didn't require a single Muslim casualty!

Please draw from the above some added perspectives to what you may already know about this centuries old war between Islam and its "Infidel" enemies. How much more time and prescient resolution will it take to bring the dehumanizing, immolating aspect of this conflict to an end? Hopefully, the democracies that we are currently endeavoring to establish in the heart of Islam will make it possible for voices of moderation and prudence to be propagated and heard. Conceivably, we are also helping to create an environment in which Muslim women (like women of the West) will find the strength to fully assert themselves!

Comments:

I can distinctly remember . . .

I can still distinctly remember that when my Unit, the 816 Aviation Engineer Battalion, landed on Omaha Beach on the 2nd day of our WWII invasion of France, we ranged up and down and across those Normandy sands, corralling all the German captives we could find. And what do you suppose we proceeded to do with our bloodied and shell-shocked prisoners? Yes, you’ve got it - we took each one of them aside and very carefully read them their Miranda rights. And we assured each of them that we had boatloads of attorneys in our invading armada who would soon meet with them to help them. We did this at the insistence of General Eisenhower and General Patton and with the blessings of President Roosevelt and the Congress of the USA.

What a startling and unprecedented effect this had on our enemy! The German military, all over Europe, surrendered abruptly and Hitler hurriedly retired to his basement cell in Berlin and committed suicide. Rainbows arched across the skies of Europe and all you could hear from the heavens were holy psalms extolling the virtues of Universal Civil Rights (Lefts?). Flitting among those joined in singing the praises of God and man was my divine ancestor, the Archangel Gabriel.

A few days ago, I was told by my primary care physician that I have Schlemiel’s Disease, a rare form of Senile Dementia in which the patient distinctly remembers many things that never happened.

Comments:

Jan 9: Dad, I seem to recall that in some of my history classes that the allies did indeed provide Miranda warnings to captured axis soldiers. It was only fitting, since captured American and British were treated so well. It would be wonderful if we could provide new Quarans to all muslims, with a preface that included the Miranda statement and the phone number of the ACLU ~ Tom G.

Jan 11: Schlemiel, schlemihl, shlemiel [ʃləˈmiːl] in US slang, an awkward or unlucky person whose endeavors usually fail [Yiddish, from German, after the hero of a novel by Chamisso (1781-1838)] I think, obviously, your doctor has it wrong. It seems most, if not all, of your endeavors have been highly successful. I would argue that such an experience made such a deep mark on your memory that it would be difficult to recall it incorrectly. I agree with Tom. . . ~ Julia G.

Feb 14: A very nice dispatch. It helped me a lot with my current college assignments. Thank you very much ~ Anonymous

Who Is Our Enemy?

It's been nearly a year since I posted to The Horn, but that lapse was not because I had nothing significant to say. My family and friends know that I am providing unceasing personal care to my Alzheimer afflicted spouse. More about that, at another time! Right now, however, I feel strongly motivated to make some critical comments about the thwarted attempt by a 23 year old Muslim “terrorist” to commit catastrophic disaster while in flight from Yemen to the United States.

In retrospect, by failing to read Miranda to Umar Abdulmutallab while he was being forcibly apprehended in the act of blowing up the plane on which he, the crew and all of its passengers were destined to die in a fiery crash, we have already willfully violated his civil rights. Evidently, he was not told that he could refrain from submitting himself to any self-indicting interrogation, absent his attorney. Moreover, since the aircraft was crossing over several state borders on its way to Detroit, it remains to be seen which of those several states will eventually seek judicial jurisdiction over him. But in the meantime, where do we safely sequester him? Now that Guantanamo is about to pass into limbo this might be an appropriate time for us to establish a USA operated, properly monitored, off shore prison. Let us design it to contain what has now become an unending stream of captive jihadists, each of them eager to kill "infidels" in Israel and Israel's chief and most dependable supporter, the USA.

Until we and our political leaders make a genuine and intelligent effort to understand the core nature of our centuries long conflict with Islam, we will remain deluded about the true identity of our current attackers. It is crucial for us to be aware that Muslim attackers are jihadists who believe that Allah is beseeching them to exterminate American and Israeli infidels. While their attack methods are indisputably terroristic, make no mistake, their motivation is rabidly religious!

Our survival demands that we keep our surveillance and retaliatory defenses at their highest possible level, but we should not fail to assiduously pursue every possible means to ameliorate the deplorable relationship between Muslims and the West. To continue to urge Islam to welcome true democracy into its heartland is undisputably prudent. Bringing Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan (and yes, even Iran) into the fold should be looked upon as a doable, rational and fundamentally sound policy. But it requires that we stay committed for as long as it takes. To be politically naive and demagogic at this critical time will insure our ultimate demise!

Indeed, this could be a propitious time for Islam (and we Infidels) to come together and seriously address all of those ancient and now no longer really understood whys and wherefores that have perpetuated our centuries old conflict? How much better it would now be for all of us to cease expending our energy and resources in meaningless and destructive fighting and join together to find ways to resurrect those glorious days when Jews, Christians and Mohammedans enjoyed nearly two centuries of true harmony, prosperity and cultural stimulation. May God help us to once again love and respect each other! Hallelujah!

Comments:

Dec 27: You're spot on! And the longer we avoid profiling based upon behavior, the more our citizens are in jeapardy. It's time to move beyond 'offending' these criminals. In addition, I keep wondering where the outrage from Islam is. There needs to be leadership from the Imams and their communities. Until the good Muslims take a real leadership role (and there are many, many good Muslims), this activity will continue, unfortunately, to be tolerated. - Julia G.

Jan 5: Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones. You have a lot more creativity and originality. Now keep it up! - Anonymous (bona fide e-mail)

Jan 6: Many thanks. Perhaps by 2014 when I turn 100, I'll be eligible for the Nobel Peace Prize. - Dom Gabriele

Deja vu, All Over Again

Shades of Reverend Wright

Once again, as has so frequently happened in the past, Barack Obama is being drawn into the orbit of a powerful, knowledgeable, but sometimes erratically oriented man. How will it go and how will it end?

In a feature article published in today’s NY Times, Mark Leibovich has submitted a very penetrating, and surprisingly negative, report about the man Obama has chosen to be his White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emmanuel.

The sub headings to this article read “Partisan, Profane Confidant.” Rahm Emmanuel, who has played a crucial role in the selection of nearly every cabinet and White House Staff member is looked upon by some pundits as a bombastic, impulse driven man who is not above thumbing his nose at his adversaries. Spawned from that same notorious circle of volatile Illinois politicians that also produced Obama, he has quickly risen to be the "second" most powerful politico in the country.

It is no secret that our newly inaugurated President has come to rely heavily upon Rahm Emmanuel. He is his pillar of strength and fountain of wisdom. But there are foreboding observations in this report which imply that on occasion, the lines that should always sharply demarcate the borders of presidential authority, get somewhat blurred.

Comments: mailto:domgab1914@comcast.net

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Chiaroscuro!

O Tempora! O Mores!

Whereas we have whitening agents that some people use to lighten their complexions, now we may see sales of darkening agents for white people in Washington to darken their complexions.

Who has not noticed that Vice-President Joe Biden is now sporting a Grade 4 facial suntan? And coincidentally, is that unusual redness we have been seeing recently on Nancy Pelosi’s face the result of excessive use of a sun lamp? I find it entertainingly puzzling, that not a single reporter has made any reference to what is becoming so conspicuously evident. How can the media have failed to report these contrived excursions into post-inaugural sycophancy?

By the way, it was particularly jarring to hear President Obama address the world with these surprisingly undiplomatic words, “you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you!” One doesn’t need to be a psychoanalyst to see that Muslims, who until now have been courted by him with such effective and subtle grace, will take very strong exception to those “crusading” words. How much better it might have been for him to have said, “we will do everything possible to resolve and overcome the hostilty of our adversaries.” Where was Obama’s oversight and sensitivity when that badly conceived, jingoistic phrase was hammered out by his speech writers?

Comment: mailto:domgab1914@comcast.net
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Stay Connected

How good it can be . . . at Il Forno's

Though the sun shone brightly, today was frigid - 23 degrees and heading lower. But we needed groceries - so, we drove to the A&P. In anticipation of heavy snow, there were more shoppers than usual and the checkout lanes were clogged. But with all the milling about, it was really a good time to strike up conversations with fellow shoppers.

On our way home, we decided to dine at our favorite restaurant, Il Forno. When we were served our Chianti, I toasted a woman who was dining alone at a nearby table and she warmly reciprocated by raising her glass. While we munched on our pizza and drank our wine, we had occasion to exchange warm glances with other friendly diners at adjacent tables.

As we prepared to leave, the waitress advised me that our tab had been paid by another diner. What a delightful and heart throbbing surprise! I walked over to him, identified myself, and expressed our gratitude. In response to my curiosity, he said that he, his wife and his two daughters were simply pleased to notice that Lenore and I created a very warm impression upon them. At the next table to them, a diner identified himself as Gino and his wife as Ella. He too had gone to the cashier to pay my bill. In the conversation that ensued with him and his wife, a remarkable coincidence was uncovered. Like my mother, Gino’s parents were from Sicily and like my father, Ella’s had come from Abruzzi.

Isn’t it amazing how with such little effort, we can generate so much good will? We can do so simply by being open and friendly and it helps to be in the kind of congenial environment that Il Forno has so graciously cultivated. Unfortunately, however, when we are disinclined to break through our cocoon, we risk ambling through life in depressing solitude.

Comments: mailto:domgab1914@comcast.net

Hi Dommie ~ I loved your story about Il Forno. It just goes to show you that people inherently respond to pleasant sightings. You and Nan have a warmth and a love that radiates and people respond in kind. More people should do kind gestures like that. Believe me - it gives just as much pleasure to the giver as to the receiver. Good Stuff ~ Love, Chrissy

Dad ~ I loved this story on your blog about your dinner at Il Forno. I can almost envision you and Mom sitting there, and people observing the two of you, like a scene from a movie. You both are truly memorable ~ Loretta

Israel's Ordeal

The Promised Land ?

When David slew Goliath, with a single shot from his sling, Israel’s determination to defend itself was everlastingly punctuated.

That event is purported to have occurred about 1,500 years before the birth of Christ. When the Jews escaped from bondage in Egypt, Moses led them to the Promised Land, where by happenstance, the Philistines were also endeavoring to establish themselves.

What defies credence is the enormity of suffering that Israelis have undergone since their tribal origin along the Euphrates river. No matter where Jews settle, they are ostracized, persecuted and even massacred. And since 1948, when with U.N. approval they re-established themselves in Israel, they have been under constant attack by the Islamists who surround them. Worse, they are now threatened with nuclear extinction, by Iran. While Jews ask for nothing but human understanding, except for the United States, the world keeps its back turned on them.

But now that the newly elected President of the United States is Barack Hussein Obama, an Afro American, sired in Hawaii by an itinerant, Kenyan Muslim, what new fate has destiny prepared for Israel? While we ponder that question, let us not forget that for the past several decades, Israel has depended almost exclusively on America for its continuing survival!

Comment: mailto:domgab1914@comcast.net

Obama's Flaw Revisited

Please re-read my December 11th Post
“Obama’s Fatal Flaw”

In it, you will discover that I have clearly discerned Barack Obama’s pathological propensity to be drawn to (and manipulated by) strong, impulse driven people. Though not yet in office, he is showing once again how vulnerable he is to such people. Sadly, unless he can correct this flaw, the initiative he plans to exercise as president, will be seriously attenuated.

Look closely at the Governor Blagojehvich travesty. Here, with what should have been a routine transfer of his own senate seat to an appointee, Obama has allowed himself to become helplessly, and perhaps hopelessly, entangled in an ongoing fiasco that is still wildly unfolding. Isn’t it past time for him to see that the “CHANGE” he keeps proclaiming for us, needs to start with himself?

Comment: mailto:domgab1914@comcast.net

SPQR

Senatus Populusque ? ? ?

With Obama’s vacant Illinois Senate seat being offered to the highest bidder and Clinton’s New York seat being token-tendered, to the dynastic, multi-millionaire Caroline Kennedy, we have cause to be more than just a little concerned. Although we must depend on a bi-cameral Congress for our legislation, it seems that of the two, only the House of Representatives shows any semblance of political relevance. Our "House of Lords" Senate continues to prosper and fester in a chronic state of irrelevance.

States with diverse political views, often reflect their divergence by the composition of the delegations they elect. And because Representatives are elected for two year terms, they do tend to have a more actively current orientation than those posturing Senators who use their chamber to grow rich, old and hoary. But it is particularly disturbing when both senators are from the same party, because when that happens the opposing views in that state get short shrift by the Senate.

Bogged down by counter-productive disparities, Congress ought to think seriously about abolishing its perpetually divisive political aisles and start generating inspired ideas that do not have to carry a party label. Especially now, during these critical but astonishingly fertile times, our Senate should be able to tolerate more than just two political viewpoints at a time?

If the U.S. Senate appears to have become functionally redundant, don’t let’s blame it on our founding fathers!

Comment: mailto:domgab1914@comcast.net

Obama's Fatal Flaw!

Is denouement setting in?

In two of my previous postings, Hail to Obama and Enter the Jackass, I clearly described what may be Obama’s fatal flaw; his injudiciousness in his choice of unsavory, scheming, impulse driven associates and his reluctance to repudiate them until he is compelled to do so by a groundswell of public disapproval. I am referring, of course to his attachment to people like Reverend Wright, Father Pfleger, Terrorist Ayers, Unscrupulous Rezko and others. And let’s not leave out his wife, whom he never publicly admonished for repeatedly declaring how ashamed she is to be an American.

And now begins to unfold the saga of Blagojehvich, the Illinois Governor who has been so avidly and so surreptitiously seeking for the highest remunerator, to sit in Obama’s now vacant Senate seat. Although Obama has not (yet) been singled out by the U.S. Attorney for complicity in this matter, is it possible that while everyone in Chicago’s political circles was aware of the Governor’s outrageous quest for high magnitude reimbursement, Obama knew nothing about it? Indeed, as a serious disclaimer, isn’t it really even worse for him to say, he didn’t know what everyone else knew?

Let’s face it, Obama has been propped, prepped, prompted, protected and promoted by nearly all of our ubiquitous, liberal oriented media. Faced with that reality, his political opponents have had to walk a tightrope of restraint to avoid being accused of racism. That left him unchallenged and essentially unexamined. And having had no serious competition, he is now our President to be.

>|< Pschodynamics >|<

I see a basically passive Obama with an undeniably strong and imprudent proclivity to attach himself to unscrupulous, aggressive, impulse driven people. Perhaps timorous about acting out himself, he may be drawing vicarious satisfaction from the behavior of his chosen associates. If he remains insensitive to this critical vulnerability, high level schemers and plotters can be expected to cozy up to him from every direction. His administration will almost certainly reflect their aberrant, self-serving influences.

Comment: mailto:domgab1914@comcast.net