A few days ago, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called for surprise elections in Israel in order to replace their government leadership, arguing that the Israelis have lost confidence in their own government. The irony is thick, because it is coming from a member of a political body which only has 12% confidence to begin with:
Foreign policy is the hardest to understand, perhaps even harder than understanding the Book of Revelation. You can’t tell if you are right. But the speech helps put things into light, and, in the part paraphrased below, a twist is made leaving out key parts — so that your imagination can fill them (hint: think about COVID when reading it):
[ ______ ] is a democracy.
Five months into this [ ______ ], it is clear that [ ______ ] need to take stock of the situation and ask: must we change course?
At this critical juncture, I believe a new election is the only way to allow for a healthy and open decision-making process about the future of [ ______ ], at a time when so many [ ______ ] have lost their confidence in the vision and direction of their government.
I also believe a majority of the [ ______ ] public will recognize the need for change, and I believe that holding a new election once the [ ______ ] starts to wind down would give [ ______ ] an opportunity to express their vision for the post-[ ______ ] future.
Of course, [ ______ ] cannot dictate the outcome of an election, nor should we try. That is for the [ ______ ] public to decide — a public that I believe understands better than anybody that [ ______ ] cannot hope to succeed as a pariah opposed by the rest of the world.
As a democracy, [ ______ ] has the right to choose its own leaders, and we should let the chips fall where they may. But the important thing is that [ ______ ] are given a choice. There needs to be a fresh debate about the future of [ ______ ] after October 7.
In my opinion, that is best accomplished by holding an election.
When viewed without the particulars, the speech looks like a general call for people to stop being duped by their own governments.