News Vérité

As I surfed the news channels last night for reports on the Israeli election, the only two channels that seemed focused were BBC World News and France 24. Both reveled in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “crushing defeat.” Exit polls, they claimed, showed Bibi’s opponent — Gadi Eisenkot –– and his party topping Likud, Bibi’s party, 52 seats to 50 (hardly crushing). This morning, when I tuned into both channels once again, the only news I could find was a floating headline on BBC that said Netanyahu and his party had pulled ahead. The gushing joy in his “crushing defeat” was nowhere to be found. France 24 was virtually silent. Anyway, nice to know that Europe has its “fake news” outlets as well as we do. Here, the coverage of the Israeli election, pre-voting, was all focused on the tens of thousands of American Israelis who were flying home to vote against Netanyahu. Israeli politics are a bit complicated, but it appears that Netanyahu will have to form another coalition to remain in office. That might be harder to do this time around since the Arab-Israeli parties gained seats last night. It seems unlikely that they would throw their support behind

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva just won a fourth term as president of Brazil in another of his rigged elections. Recall that his opponent, Flavio Bolsonaro, won the first round of the election cycle and was expected to win this just-concluded, decisive second round. Lula would have none of it, and he took steps to ensure he would sail into office once again. The first time he won, he made sure his opponent and predecessor — Flavio’s father Jair Bolsonaro — was brought up on charges and jailed for 27 years so he could never become president again. Lula is now moving to get Flavio to join his father in prison. He has had his passport revoked to make sure he can’t flee “justice.” Meanwhile, Flavio’s whereabouts are unknown. Smart guy; hopefully he fled the country before Lula could get what Lula wants — unrestricted power and no opposition candidate anywhere on jailcell-free soil. Meanwhile, President Trump has issued Flavio a visa. Let’s hope he’s on soil somewhere where he can actually use it. UPDATE: Bolsonaro has landed safely in Florida on a flight from Argentina. Smart man.

A hideaway in the Bavarian Alps for Hitler and his cronies went up in flames on Friday. Known as the Eagle’s Nest, the site has been a tourist attraction since 1950, operated by a charitable organization under the auspices of the German State of Bavaria. The lair was completed in 1938 just as Hitler and his troops began their assault on European nations. A suspect was arrested Friday in connection with the blaze, which is believed to have been arson. Hitler also used the site for propaganda films portraying himself as a lover of animals and nature. The building is about 6,000 feet up in the Kehlstein mountain, and visitors had to access it via a long tunnel leading to an elevator that travels up about 40 stories.  As a tourist attraction, the Eagle’s Nest offered not only history but also stunning views, along with a restaurant. UPDATE: The Bavarian government has vowed to restore the historic structure.