Snerk. An Israeli paper published a list of the 33 most embarrassing moments at the Knesset. [link] Things like

August 1999: Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg states in the Knesset plenum that veteran MK Amnon Rubinstein has died. The MKs rise and honor him with a minute of silence; Burg delivers a moving eulogy which is broadcast on television. One of those moved is Rubinstein himself, watching the event from his sickbed in Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem. It later turns out that Zalman Shoshi, a transgender celebrity, posed as a doctor and announced Rubinstein?s death. Burg had not checked the facts.

and

March 2003: After being suspected of voting twice on the state budget - once in his name and once in the name of MK Inbal Gavrieli (Likud) - MK Yehiel Hazan (Likud) takes the electronic voting panel out of the Knesset storeroom, stuffs it into a plastic bag and hightails it out of the building.

The first comment on the article is:

In the year 033

1.Mistrial of a just man.

2.This man deserves and should ungergo a fair retrial.

3.Charge: is He really the Son of God?

4.Only a fair retrial can bring permanent peace to the Middle East.

5.Fair Retrial is the Divine Formula for Peace.

Two comments later, the response:

Since Israeli law does not permit trials in abstentia, the defendant will be required to make a personal appearance at his retrial.

Should he choose to make an appearance at some point in the future, his claims will be reconsidered in a whole new light.

I think this is the first time I've ever seen anything remotely interesting in Haaretz comments, which are generally filled with "All you leftists are killing the state! It'll be your fault when the Arabs take over!"

Am I missing something cultural here? Whence the inevitability?

I think the joke is that pretty much everything in American pop culture has a really cheap Jewish version, too. Things like versions of Candy Land where all the candy has kosher labels, the Power Beads fad begat Jewish Power Beads, and so on. At least, I think that's the joke. Every time there's some new product, someone somewhere tries to sell a version with a Jewish twist. (Generally, they don't do too well -- I think the only people who ever bought the Kosher Candy Land were Jewish nursery schools, and the Jewish Power Beads fad lasted about a week.)

Mona went to school today, and she did a really great job!

We practiced HEEL! And SIT! Although, while the other dogs sit next to their people facing forward, Mona sits backward. Every. Single. Time. We ran around the square, I got yelled at by the teacher for not paying attention, and Mona had her first ever ride in the convertible with the top down, which she LURVED.

I'm glad you guys did so well today, Allyson.

Guess which one is me!

I pick the one on the right, because she has bigger eyes.

I vote on the right, too,.

For future reference, try not to be caught driving crosstown if Larry the Cable Guy is doing a Valentine's Day show in your city. Every half-conscious redneck with a jacked-up pickup in the tri-state area is currently clogging the streets of Jonesboro.

I'm actually the on the left. Lori and I have the same eyes, but I have plumper lips (which she still envies).

Oh, nothing says Valentines Day to me like Larry the Cable Guy.

Damn, I was so sure.... from not much evidence, but still.

It gets better. Due to a radio promotion for "Redneck Valentine" in conjunction with his show, every BBQ joint in town that was open after 8 sold out of food.