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Big Daddy Cain says the liberal media is paying too much attention to the dog stories. He may have a point. Where he gets his bread is more important than where he stores his meat.
Democracy Now has a report on his siblings, the Koch brothers. It seems as though his buddy Mark Block has been working for the Kochs for a while now. A complaint has been filed with the IRS, alleging that Koch money has been funnelled into the Cain campaign. With the Supreme Court ruling that corporations can contribute to campaigns, Big Daddy Cain should be able to upgrade lots of hotel rooms into suites.
The same edition of Democracy Now had a lengthy report on a Gaza aid flotilla. The Israeli government intercepted it, and took the people on board into custody. The Democracy Now reporter, Jihan Hafiz, was strip searched, had her equipment stolen, and generally was not treated very well.
Two quotes stand out in the transcript. The first is a statement by Israeli army spokesperson Ari Shalikar. “ARI SHALIKAR: A short while ago, the Israeli navy boarded the two vessels which were on their way to break the maritime security blockade which was imposed by Israel on the Gaza Strip. We are talking about a very clear case of provocation, and we maintain our right to defend our borders. ” Is he saying that Gaza is a part of Israel? If this is the case, then Israel has annexed land which it does not own. In addition, they are treating the people that live in this territory very poorly.
The other quote was about the reaction of the American government. Remember, these are American citizens being held by a foreign government.
AMY GOODMAN: What was the U.S. response as you were in jail for the three days you were there?
JIHAN HAFIZ: I was very shocked by the U.S. response, by their involvement in—in our case. Kit Kittredge and I are both Americans. We were—
AMY GOODMAN: Kit Kittredge was the American activist.
JIHAN HAFIZ: Yes, she was actually the only American activist on the trip. And we were shocked that it took—it took a while for them to come to our—to come to our aid. And while the Irish delegations and the Australian and Canadian delegations had their representatives and the Irish ambassador come three days of the three days we were detained, the Americans came twice. And they came at the very end of the day, with barely any kind of helpful information, other than what the Israelis were telling us to do, which was sign away that you entered illegally. And I found it somewhat astonishing that the U.S. representative from the U.S. embassy said to us—he admitted that they are powerless in Israel. They’re powerless over our cases, that they’re in a foreign country, and that they can’t do anything, and that they’re being given the runaround.
And I just—I was wondering why they came the second day so late. Kit and I said to them, “Where the hell have you guys been? We’ve been rotting away in this detention facility. No information. We keep watching the Irish and the Canadians go out speaking to their people, coming back with substantial information that pertains to their release. And meanwhile, we’re rotting away, wondering what happened to our government and wondering how they will—why they can’t get us out, given the close connection and the close relationship, financially, militarily, between Israel and the United States.”
Pictures are from The Library of Congress.