The Knucklehead of the Day award

Today's winner is Washington Times columnist Frank Gaffney. He gets the award for the following.

It is fitting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice chose the U.S. Naval Academy for the venue of today's so-called Mideast peace conference. The reputation of that extraordinary institution in Annapolis has been sullied in recent years by a succession of rapes of young women.

Despite official efforts to low-ball its significance, Miss Rice's conclave is shaping up to be a gang-rape of a nation on a scale not seen since Munich in 1938, when the British and French allowed Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini to have their violent way with Czechoslovakia.

This time, the intended victim is Israel. As with the effort to appease the Nazis and Fascists nearly 70 years ago, however, the damage will not be confined to the rapee. The interests of the Free World in general and the United States in particular will suffer from what the Saudis and most of the other attendees have in mind for the Jewish State — namely, its dismemberment and ultimate destruction.

First someone give Gaffney a valium. These kind of diatribes are seen on the internet all the time. Heck I write them from time to time. A middle East conference or some golf writer forgetting a Hall of Famer isn't the end of the world, nor is it gang rape either.

Secondly, Israel isn't going to let itself be dismembered, nor would the United States permit it. Steps towards any kind of peace in the Middle East as James Joyner at OTB noted 'this is the Middle East. Progress is almost always made in baby steps, often followed by steps in the other direction.' It is absurb to correlate the lack of justice for a 19-year-old rape victim in Saudi Arabia, with the events of a regional peace conference. Yes I know the attitudes of many in that arab kingdom, but saying Israel is about to suffer gang rape is rhetorical excess, besides being far off the mark in regards to likely outcome of any peace talks. That's why I name Washington Times columnist Frank Gaffney. Get yourself a blog Frank.

Hat tip- Dr. Taylor at Poliblog
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It was torture

From Ynetnews-

An IDF soldier fled an interrogation room by exposing her breasts to a stunned officer.

The soldier was interrogated at the Biranit army base on the northern border after she refused to undergo a drugs test. A short while after her questioning began the soldier was seen walking out of the interrogation room and heading toward the main gate.

An officer at the base told her she was under arrest and demanded that she return to the interrogation room, at which point the soldier took her shirt off and told the officer: "Let's see if you can arrest me."

The soldier took advantage of the officer's momentary lack of concentration and quickly left the base. She was caught a short while later.

During a hearing at the military court in Jaffa the prosecutor demanded that the soldier, who was discharged from the army due to psychological disorders, receive jail time for her actions, but the judges ordered her to pay a NIS 1,000 ($250) fine

I don't know about you, but maybe the interrogator should be the one made to pay. He or she is the one who got flashed.(Cue the sarcastic laughter)

Hat tip- James Joyner at OTB who wonders 'Hamas and Hezbollah are going to incorporate this into their interrogation resistance training somehow.' Maybe Israel should videotaping their interrogations if they aren't already.

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Security Stipend

From AP-

JERUSALEM - Former Israeli President Moshe Katsav, who left office in disgrace after admitting to sexual misconduct charges, was granted $250,000 a year for bodyguards and other security measures, a parliament spokesman said Thursday.

Parliament's finance committee approved the outlay on Thursday, spokesman Giora Pordes said.

"This is a travesty. He shouldn't be rewarded for what he did," lawmaker Zehava Galon told The Associated Press.

Katsav stepped down in late June after four former female employees accused him of a series of sex crimes, including rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment. Facing indictment, he agreed to a plea bargain that allowed him to escape the most serious charges and avoid jail.

Let me remind you why Katsav won one of my Knucklehead awards.

JERUSALEM, June 29 — Israel’s disgraced president, Moshe Katsav, submitted his resignation to Parliament on Friday morning amid fierce public criticism over the deal by which rape charges against him were dropped in exchange for an admission of guilt for lesser offenses.

Emphasis mine.

Katsav's plea deal was an outrage. So is his getting assistance once out of office. If this disgraced politician wants to feel safe, let him check into prison. That's where Moshe Katsav truly belongs.

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The Knuckleheads of the Day award

Today's winners are former President of Israel Moshe Katsav and the country's Attorney General, Menachem Mazuz. They get the award for the following.

JERUSALEM, June 29 — Israel’s disgraced president, Moshe Katsav, submitted his resignation to Parliament on Friday morning amid fierce public criticism over the deal by which rape charges against him were dropped in exchange for an admission of guilt for lesser offenses.

Mr. Katsav’s resignation will take effect on Monday, when he will be charged with committing an indecent act without consent, sexual harassing two women and harassing a witness, the attorney general, Menachem Mazuz, said Thursday. Mr. Katsav will serve no jail time.

The deal and Mr. Mazuz came under harsh attack. Yediot Aharonot, the largest newspaper in the country, headlined the arrangement “A Deal of Shame” on the front page. Mordechai Kremnitzer of Hebrew University, one of Israel’s pre-eminent legal scholars, told Israel Radio that Mr. Mazuz had “sinned” and had “damaged the principle of equality before the law.”

Ordinarily, just one offense of indecent assault would warrant seven years in prison, according to Emmanuel Gross, a law professor at Haifa University, and in this case probably more, because the charge is aggravated by an abuse of power. But Mr. Katsav will receive a one-year suspended sentence and pay less than $12,000 in compensation to the two women.

Mr. Katsav had taken a leave of absence from his presidential duties, which are largely ceremonial, in January, because of the investigation. His seven-year presidential term was to end July 14.

This is disgraceful. A politician charged with rape and he gets off with a suspended sentence. Katsav assaulted women and Mazuz did an assault on the law and the trust Israeli citizens' have in their elected officials. Former President of Israel Moshe Katsav and Israel's Attorney General, Menachem Mazuz are today's Knuckleheads of the Day.

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From the Silly News Desk

Some news from Israel. I wonder if this couple will have attachment issues now.

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JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli woman accidentally bit off part of her boyfriend's tongue during a heated French kiss, an Israeli hospital that reattached the tongue said Thursday.

Nahariya Hospital said in a statement the man, injured while "passionately kissing his girlfriend," was discharged after the operation and advised to sip iced drinks and "avoid wet kisses" until the stitched wound healed.

The Middle East's big stink

From AP-

JERUSALEM - Jordanian King Abdullah II has complained of bovine odors coming from the Israeli side of the frontier along the countries' shared southern border, Israel's environment minister said Monday.

Speaking to Israel Radio, Gideon Ezra said the smells, from a livestock quarantine facility, were blown across the frontier toward the king's palace in the town of Aqaba, on the Red Sea next to the Israeli town of Eilat. Jordanian officials contacted Israel last week and requested the odors be neutralized, Ezra said.

Jordan and Israel, enemies for decades, signed a peace agreement in 1994 and now enjoy close ties.

In response to the Jordanian complaint, Israel has ordered the owners of the facility — where imported livestock is held in quarantine before being released to farmers — to clean up large amounts of animal waste that had built up at the site, Environment Ministry spokesman Sharon Achdut said.

Ezra said that upon receiving the complaint, Israeli officials immediately spread "deodorants" around the site to offset the smell affecting Abdullah's palace, and that a thorough clean-up would begin within days.

And TFM only thought stories like this came out of Florida. Is Henry Kissinger available to thwart this brewing diplomatic crisis?

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