WHY?

I can't even articulate how completely senseless this is.

again, and again, and again and again and again and again....

what is happening to me? all of this is making me become VERY right wing... and that is VERY scary...because I have always been VERY left wing.

I made the stupidest argument ever today about this. I couldn't believe that I was shrugging aside the "palestinian plight" because of this continuing insanity.

whatever. it should be completely obvious to people that there is absolutely no justification WHATSOEVER for blowing up INNOCENT civilians ON PURPOSE and especially FOR NO OTHER PURPOSE.

alleged purpose for blowing up the bus: avenging death??? Puh-lease!

avenge = to exact satisfaction for (a wrong) by punishing the injurer, or to take vengeance for or on behalf of oneself or another (Webster's)

vengeance = the taking of revenge, (or (my fave) ... harm, mischief, evil (obs.) ) (Webster's)

revenge = an act or instance of revenging or returning evil for evil. (again, Webster's).

okay, I think I'm getting the logic here.

so avenging one man's death allows one to jump past all the normal things that a civil society has in place to determine the extent of a wrong and the applicable punishment, and justifies utilizing another more terrible evil, which results in 20 (or more) deaths.

I seem to recall something Thomas Friedman often writes...I wonder, is this an example of palestinian math???

We have a notion in our legal system that the punishment must fit the crime. if avenging a death is one way of shortcutting the legal system in order to exact a sense of justice (or correction of a wrong), then shouldn't the punishments be based on a similar principle of avenging act must fit the original evil? I'm thinking along the lines of the 'eye for an eye' doctrine (thanks, Hammurabi). But Hammurabi's code wasn't '20 eyes for an eye.'

blowing up busses is prima facie WRONG.

people are suffering. lots of people. on both sides.

there are a few bad guys and a lot of innocent people. on both sides.

Can't we all just get along? (Rodney King)