Palin vs. Persia

There's a pretty weird story floating around, again, about Sarah Palin. Here it goes:

Mrs. Palin asked her pastor for some guidance after she was elected governor of Alaska. She needed a good biblical role model. Her meshugener pastor, and this comes supposedly directly from him, suggested Esther (Hebrew name Hadassah). Esther was, of course, Queen of the Jews. And like Sarah Palin she too was a beauty queen, though unlike Sarah she finished first in her contest. As you may know, Esther is credited with persuading the Persian king to save the Jews from annihilation. The Jewish people celebrate Purim in her honor.

Ancient Persia is today called...IRAN! Oy vey.

Esther is also considered by Jewish scholars to be one of the most beautiful women EVER! Even more beautiful than Joan Rivers or Sophie Tucker! A real looker you should know. And such a nice girl, and smart, too. Kept Kosher. Great personality. A shayna ponem.

I suppose some folks will see this as the coming of a Queen to save the Israelites from the Persian Iranians. I hope you don't take this too seriously Mrs. Palin, should you indeed become VP. You know, because the Jews wound up slaughtering the Persians. I mean like 75,000-0. But thank you for noting the beauty and majesty of the Story of Esther.

And what's with the moose? Esther probably never saw a moose. Or snow. Or nosh a nice bisele ham sandwich for lunch.

Have we learned anything from Iraq?

Take a look at a world map in order to understand why Iran is a bit worried. They are practically surrounded by American troops. I don't think the Iranian people have anything against us as Americans. What I do think is that with American troops so close, it might be best to wave a saber like nuclear power to at least make them feel more substantial in our eyes.

And also keep in mind that their president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was elected by the people of Iran. But he is mostly a figurehead and the country, a theocracy, is ruled by the Supreme Leader. The president shares some degree of power with the Supreme Leader, but does not have the range of influence that presidents have in more democratic societies. So when Ahmadinejad shoots off his mouth, take it with a grain of salt.

That doesn't mean that Iran is any less of a threat, especially when it comes to influencing neighboring countries like Iraq.

But I certainly don't think threatening Iran serves them or us or the world any good. We should learn a lesson from the Iraq fiasco.