Mohamad Chatah

A Ride Across the River

Good  to be back after a a few weeks hiatus. Observing current developments from Beirut, there are many things to talk about. Mostly bad. Some are awful, such as yesterday's  reckless vote by the joint committees of the Lebanese parliament in favor of an election law that pushes the country further down the slippery slope of sectarian disintegration.
The Speaker's decision to push for a quick vote on the draft law surprised some of the uneasy supporters of the draft law in parliament. It shouldn't have:

A scorpion once wanted to cross the river.  Unable to swim, he asked a frog to carry him over to the opposite bank.  “No way!” said the frog. “You’ll sting me and I’ll drown!”  “Of course I won’t sting you,” said the scorpion.  “I’d end up drowning myself too.”  So the reluctant frog let the scorpion climb onto his back and started to swim across the river.  Half-way across the scorpion stung him.  “Whoa!” cried the frog.  “You said you wouldn't sting me!  Now we’ll both drown.  What did you do that for?”  And the scorpion replied: “But that’s my nature.”