Fractured Reflections on Kissability

Tuesday morning, 8:53 a.m., MAN PRESIDENT kisses Woman President and begins: “Thank you all very much. Finally, AIPAC elected a President I can kiss. (Laughter and applause.)” Mornings all should be like this–thanking crowds for electing kissable presidents. MAN PRESIDENT does not explain why he was previously unable to kiss AIPAC presidents. Nor does his audience require an explanation. MAN PRESIDENT only kisses women.

Study Question: what does MAN PRESIDENT mean when he says he “can” kiss this president? How does his threshold of kissability illuminate the freedom-loving central nervous system of the Judeo-Christian West? What fears and taboos are intuitively connected to their laughter and applause? How does MAN PRESIDENT propose to federalize these barriers into Constitutional Law?

“I’m honored to be here at AIPAC, thank you for such a warm welcome. It’s good to be with so many friends — friends of mine and friends of Israel. (Applause.)” This is the second sentence of MAN PRESIDENT’S speech and the second applause mark. There will be 66 applause marks yet to come in the next 38 minutes. If you want to spend time applauding MAN PRESIDENT, hang out with AIPAC.

Tuesday afternoon local time, but simultaneous with Tuesday morning’s appearance by MAN PRESIDENT, Israeli helicopters, tanks, missiles, and bulldozers attack the Palestinian reservation at Rafah. Wasteland between Palestine and Egypt is widened, flattened, and scoured for tunnels. One missile hits a mosque. An “unknown number of worshippers were killed.”

Meanwhile, Israeli troops, clashing Monday against Israeli settlers at the West Bank, were reported to have used some tear gas after settlers dug trenches, piled sand on roads, set fire to fields, and wounded “in both hands” the deputy commander of police for Judea and Samaria.

One photograph shows a young man, well scrubbed and closely groomed, dressed in bright white t-shirt, blue pants, watch, and glasses. As he is carried by two soldiers who grip his feet and armpits, he is able to raise both fists to the camera, without losing his yarmulke. Want to clash with Israeli troops? Dress like settler. Worship not at mosque.

In Wednesday morning video, a Palestinian boy with blood flowing from his mouth raises his head, bouncing away as the man carrying him runs. Would MAN PRESIDENT kiss that dying boy?

GREG MOSES writes for the Texas Civil Rights Review. He can be reached at: gmosesx@prodigy.net

 

Greg Moses writes about peace and Texas, but not always at the same time. He is author of Revolution of Conscience: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Philosophy of Nonviolence. As editor of the Texas Civil Rights Review he has written about racism faced by Black agriculturalists in Texas. Moses is a member of the Texas Civil Rights Collaborative. He can be reached at gmosesx@gmail.com