Comedian Jackie Mason's specialty is analyzing the commonplace with an amusing twist; fearlessly stating the unstatable while getting laughs telling the truth.  But he has a serious side also.  Using his comedy pattern —— boldly saying what polite people think but never publicly utter out loud —— but without the comedy, he dares to bring to the forefront some probing, uncomfortable questions about helping the countries hard hit by the tsunami tragedy.

I had thought about the points raised here —— especially the twisted nonsense from some reporters that by helping Muslims and Muslim nations, other Muslims will now like the US.  (Indonesia is an overwhelmingly Islamic country; Sri Lanka and India have significant Muslim minorities.)  And of course, all the money converging on the devastated areas means the greedy and the corrupt will follow; particularly now that the UN, with its oil for food scandal personnel, demands the right to supervise.

Whether you agree with Mason or not, his questions require reassuring answers.  And they're not forthcoming.

Ethel C. Fenig   1 07 05