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Tuesday, August 27, 2024

Clive Bibby: “You will know them by their fruits”

It would be a mistake to assume my use of scripture in this column is an indication of a wide knowledge of biblical texts. Sadly, that is not the case in this instance. I wish it were. 

In fact l had to look it up in order to make sure l had the right verse.

However, l am pleased that l did because, as l suspected, the quote uses only a few wise words to describe the appalling behaviour of people who are abusing the position of influence they occupy throughout the western world. They need to be exposed!

 Much has been written about the US main stream media’s naked determination to do whatever it takes in order to support the Democrat nominee (whoever it is) in the run up to the next Presidential election. 

Here in New Zealand, the same MSM have made little effort to hide their bias towards the Palestinian cause - so much so it could easily be described as antisemitic. Unfortunately, these are not new developments but they do show how far we have come from the days when our media were in lock step showing no favour for any particular group or political movement - just concentrated on reporting the facts.

But not so today. 

In the US the MSM, with only a few exceptions, have virtually become the promotional wing of the DNC (Democrat National Committee). 

They were probably the main factor in Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory - not so much because of what they published but more to do with crucial damning evidence about Democrat corrupt behaviour that was withheld from the voters weeks before polling day. This time around, the same media are up to their old tricks unashamedly presenting news that is favourable to the Democrats and unfavourable to the Republicans. It will be interesting to see if their tactics work again in a few months time. 

Back here in Godzone, you don’t have to be a psychoanalyst to work out where the MSM political loyalties lie in this country. 

Sunday night’s TV One news was almost 20 minutes old before it mentioned what should have been the number one news item in the bulletin - the dramatic preemptive IDF (Israeli Defence Force) strike to eliminate the real threat of a Hezbollah 6,000 missile strike designed to extend the war to the Lebanese front and by so doing, destroy any chance of a peace deal with Hamas. 

The implications of this Middle East event for, amongst other things, the US Presidential Election in November can’t be overstated. But hopefully it will also force our MSM to confront their own antisemitic  attitude towards  the people of Israel and particularly its democratically elected government. 

Time will tell but, in the meantime, l refer readers to the heading of this column. 

It should be obvious to any impartial observer that the MSM in this country and those in many other western democracies need to re-examine their own code of ethics before condemning those they consider ideologically inferior and a threat politically because their current actions are in conflict with their own  rules of engagement. 

Go figure.

Clive Bibby is a commentator, consultant, farmer and community leader, who lives in Tolaga Bay.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

“Our society is now a strange hybrid of the Middle Ages, the Third Reich, and Brave New World. We have two classes — lords and peasants; we are in the midst of a very profitable genocide; and it’s all infused with surveillance technology, mind-altering drugs, and wall-to-wall propaganda.” — Dr. Toby Rogers

Anonymous said...

"You shall know them by their fruits" please apply this to Israel Mr Bibby.

Anonymous said...

So clearly Anonymous 9.23 considers Israel is culpable of some wrong-doing by acting preemptively against Hezbollah in self-defense. Sad how easily the Islamic aggressors can persuade the world they are really the victims. Islamic bodies from the Republic of Iran to HAMAS have repeatedly announced they intend wiping the Israel off the map, and the Quran and Hadith make it clear what the fate of its non-Muslim inhabitants will be if that is allowed to happen. Yet the world seems to think it's Israel that is in the wrong. Not since Mein Kampf has Jewry had its proposed fate so clearly spelled out. But nobody believed Hitler in 1925, and 6 million died in the Holocaust as a result. The Jews are not making that mistake again. October 7 graphically demonstrated how Islam intends to implement its version of world peace, and those atrocities represent the proverbial fruits that allow us to know them. Anything done by Israel to stave off that fate is simply an act of self-preservation.

Barend Vlaardingerbroek said...

Clive implies that it is Hezbollah's desire to bring the Israel-Gaza war to Lebanon. Not so. News editors have been creating sensationalist storylines about an all-out war between those two for months now and it hasn't happened, and my guess is that it won't. Such a war would result in a lose-lose situation. Hezbollah showed in 2006 that it is able and willing to take the IDF on and beat it back, and their weaponry is now much better. But any 2006-like victory now would be a Pyrrhic one as it would seriously weaken Hezbollah and thereby the Shia Crescent. So the breast-beating will continue, as will the tit-for-tat strikes, but both sides will be hoping for Israel to announce that its Gaza mission is over as they can then both desist from further hostile acts without loss of face.

Clive Bibby said...

Sounds good Barend but you are assuming that Hezbollah are deciding for themselves how they will manage their involvement with Israel .
The truth is that Hezbollah, Hamas and all the other terrorist organisations wanting a piece of Israel are simply responding to Iran who will ultimately decide when they can no longer afford to fund the war or that it is no longer in their best interests to do so.
In response to your guess that this war will peter out rather than exploding into an all out regional conflict, my view is that the only thing that will forstall a regional escalation is if Trump wins another term as US President.
The only reason why these wars have occurred in the first place is because the aggressors have been emboldened to chance their arm while a weak US administration is in charge.
Why do you think China, Russia, Iran and North Korea have been operating unrestrained all over the globe during the last 4 years?
The only thing they respect is military strength and a President willing to use it.
Simple really.

Barend Vlaardingerbroek said...

Clive, Hezbollah are not a 'terrorist organisation' as I understand the term. They wear uniforms and field candidates for national elections, to mention just two things. Neither is Hezbollah a puppet of Teheran. Nobody takes Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah for granted and nobody tries pushing him around.
Hezbollah has been a stabilising force in Lebanon, now widely regarded as a failed state but not going the way of Libya largely because of Hezbollah and its alliance with the main Christian militia (I can hear an incredulous shriek - but this is the Middle East we're talking about and the main dictum regarding alliances is "My enemy's enemy is my friend.") It was Hezbollah that took on and evicted ISIS from Lebanon when the Lebanese Army was barely holding its own against them. (Do remember I was there 17 years.)
All this has to be contextualised with reference to the competition between Sunni Saudi and Shia Iran and the Shia Crescent of which Hezbollah is a kingpin.
I won't get into the rights and wrongs of the existence of the State of Israel - it's a fait accompli - but will point out that the continuing presence of illegal extraterritorial settlements in violation of international law is largely responsible for most of the strife.
As for the geopolitical backdrop, we have been moving away from a playground dominated by one big bully (the US) to a more balanced bipolar world as it was before the downfall of the USSR. Well, it could have been tripolar, had Western Europe not insisted on being Washington's lapdog in relation to Russia. Unfortunately, continuing provocations such as feeding arms and munitions into the Ukraine conflict and expanding NATO have driven Moscow into the open arms of Beijing - something we will be bitterly regretting sometime in the next couple of decades.

Clive Bibby said...

Your opinions based on personal experiences suggest that not all is what it might first appear Barend
However your promotion of Hezbollah as a responsible force committed to a peaceful solution simply just doesnt stack up with their repeated provocation of Israel.
If the firing of 6000 missiles aimed at lsraeli civilian targets
isn't a terrorist act, l don't know what is.

Barend Vlaardingerbroek said...

A little bit more - or rather a great deal more - than personal experience goes into my reasoning, Clive.
'Repeated provocation' applies at least as well to Israeli illegal settlements as it does to anything 'the Resistance' (as they call themselves) has done. And that's 'illegal' not just by their standards but by those espoused by inter alia the International Court of Justice.
I didn't say 'Hezbollah is committed to a peaceful solution' but Sheikh Nasrallah has said that Hezbollah will cease its hostilities against Israel once Israel declares the Gaza campaign to be over.