A bitter mouse's cry for attention

The big news in comic animal cartoon characters this week was Mickey Mouse getting caught encouraging -- on behalf of Hamas -- Palestinian children to fight Israel and to work for the global domination of Islam.

While most news reports are using words such as "imitation" and knockoff" to describe the mouse, I'm not so sure about that. Some will argue Hamas's Mickey is a little rounder in the face, but aren't we all?

Because, really, how much do we know about this mouse who has been a symbol of our nation for so long?

Mickey worked hard between 1928 and 1953, knocking out shorts for Walt Disney with great regularity. Then came his long current period of quasi-retirement. Sure they trot Mickey out for a parade or the odd cameo and affix his image to clubs and all sorts of merchandise but, basically, Mickey has been spending most of the last 70 years wandering his luxurious Burbank studio, watching as the snark of hated rival Bugs Bunny takes the day while Mickey's own very name has become synonymous with worthless currency and all things incompetent.

Is it really a surprise that a mouse so idle and mocked, while at the same time so rich and successful, would resort to radicalism to give his life a sense of purpose and to lash out at those who callously dismiss him?

Remember Mickey Mouse's greatest life influence was Walt Disney, a man who, legend has it, fostered a deep resentment towards Jews and their control of Hollywood -- the land Disney loved and coveted most.

Given Mickey's previous failure to complete such rudimentary tasks as steering a boat or firing a gun, a Hamas/Mickey partnership shouldn't prove disruptive to the world order. But it still represents a dark chapter in the long life of a beloved American icon.