Pope Francis Tours The Middle East - No Surprises

Some Jews are annoyed with stops made by the Pope in the course of his visits to the West Bank and Israel.  They couldn't understand why he'd want to focus on the wall of separation which has saved so many Israeli lives.  And, why was he effusive with Peres and essentially gave a cold shoulder to Netanyahu?  And, why did he refer to the "State of Palestine," when clearly the West Bank has not yet achieved statehood?

Should any of this surprise an observer with the slightest bit of sophistication?  Of course not.  Pope Francis did what can be expected of any pope.  He did whatever he felt he could to sustain and support the Christians in the Middle East.  The Christians in Israel are of little concern to him.  They're doing just fine.  It's the Christians living under the rule of the Palestinian Authority.  They've had their land stolen from them.  They and their families have been subject to assault.  Pope Francis is aware of how their numbers in Bethlehem and other places on the West Bank, where they were once numerous, are now in decline.

I have no idea what understandings the Pope arrived at with Abbas, but would it be any surprise if he let Abbas know that if he protected Christians in the West Bank and Christian holy sites,  he'd do whatever he could for Abbas to swing advantageous publicity in his direction?

Don't get angry at the Pope.  If you were Pope, you'd probably do the same thing.

Eeny, Meeny, Meiny, Moe . . . . .

Eeny, meeny, meiny, Moe . . .  watch the bird, now where'd he go . . .  flew to where the roses grow . . . grab him quick, then let him go . . .  that's my bit and now you're it.

Ever hear that said.  Of course not.  Except, perhaps, for the first four words.  The original version of that childish doggerel comes from a time best forgotten.  But, of course, there was such a time.

There was also a time when little back Sambo met a tiger and ......    It ends happily, however.  The tiger turns to butter, little black Sambo gets his clothes back, and moma, daddy, and little, black Sambo all get to eat stacks and stacks of pancakes.  Was that a racist story?  Don't know.  Possibly.

Then there was big, heavy, Aunt Jemima smiling broadly as she was pictured on a box of powdered pancake mix holding a plate piled high with pancakes.  Since then, she's been redrawn as a svelte African-American, who, in real life, would probably avoid pancakes.

What I'm saying is that when some big, British TV celebrity was caught mouthing the Eeny, meeny, meiny, Moe bit, as he stood there on the sidewalk seeing which taxi was most likely to pick him up, he came within a hair's width of getting fired by BBC.

Old men aren't necessarily racist; they're just old and can sometimes be caught mumbling weird shit.