Cincinnatus and Drybones

Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus was a Roman Senator and General ca. 500 bce
who was reputed to be a most honest citizen. On two occasions he was
called from his farm and made dictator to take up the defense of Rome, once
against the barbarians and once from a plebeian uprising. On each occasion he
defeated the enemy and then resigned his dictatorship and retired back to his
farm, taking nothing for himself.
This selfless patriotism earned him the reputation of an honest politician and
a model citizen. An organization of American officers and patriots was
founded in 1783 named The Society of the Cincinnati. The city of Cincinnati
was named after them.
I mention this example when confronted by the agonizing choice that we here
are faced with now. A few days ago we heard Yaakov Kirschen, the humorist
who draws the "Drybones" cartoons in the Jerusalem Post, speak at the AACI.
He said that if Ariel Sharon woke up from his coma today he would have a
heart attack, seeing Olmert in his place. He said Kadima is like a tail
without the dog.
He didn't like the other choices either, he made some derogatory comments
about Peretz and Netanyahu. So he accepted an invitation to lecture in the
US on Election day, so that he won't have to make the difficult choice and
vote for someone he doesn't like.
He told some amusing stories about travel in the US, how he once flew on an
airline called Kiwi, and how the plane backed into a truck. They fixed the
damage with a screwdriver and then took off. He said that now that he has
lived in Israel since 1971 he no longer can communicate with American Jews.
He finds it impossible to understand them, first they complain about how the
IDF mistreats poor Palestinians at checkpoints, and then about building this
terrible apartheid separation wall, and if he mentions suicide bombers they
seem to have a block at understanding him. So he's stuck, he can't go back,
but he can't vote for a good leader here either.
The juxtaposition of Cincinnatus and Drybones is a very unlikely one, but if
only we had an Israeli equivalent so that Kirschen would want to stay here to
vote.
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Correction: About my message entitled "Finding lost Jews" on 15/3/6:
1. Gloria Mound, Director of the Center for Marrano-Anusim Studies,
Gan Yavne, wishes me to make clear that she did not give me permission
to describe the AGM that I attended there.
2. She was never in Puerto Rico, but met the couple from there in Israel.
3. She initially presented their case at the Chief Rabbinate.