Imagine if you will the days leading up to the assault several years ago on Sadr City.
You are general Tommy Franks and Paul Bremer, the administrator of Iraq.
You are prepping President Bush for the assault but you are concerned that Moqtada al Sadr has hidden most of his arms in the mosque and his fighters in homes throughout the city.
You are imagining the world's headlines... "Americans slaughter thousands of innocent civilians..."
Even though you know that these civilians are really militants dressed in civilian garb, and using civilian shields.
So, you use the same type of civilian warning systems that you have in the past.
You leaflet the entire city warning residents to leave and/or take cover.
You broadcast this same message on radio and television.
You announce it over loud speakers.
Than you discover that you have the ability to reach most of the residents by phone.
So, you make more than 500,000 phone calls to residents of the city, warning them that an attack is imminent. That if there are militants hiding among them, to leave their homes, or not allow them to take cover.
During the offensive, you have managed to keep civilian casualties to a shockingly low number.
Oh, the Sadrites leak absurdly inflated numbers, but when the red cross gets into the city, they set the record straight. Civilian casualties have, in fact, been kept to a shocking minimum.
Even after you suffered through the criticism from military experts and your own defense department for revealing your plans to likely collaborators in the city, and anguished over the loss of any civilian lives, you are gratified that the extraordinary effort you engaged in saved thousands of lives.
Then, to your utter disbelief, Amnesty International releases a report declaring that your phone calls of warning, were, in fact, a terrorist act. Designed only to frighten civilians!!!!!
Incredible you say?
Well, it is. This would never happen to the US. But in fact, this is what the Israelis, and the IDF, already the world's most moral army, did to reduce civilian casualties.
And yes, Amnesty International released just such a report. How could they possibly construe things this way?
Anti semitism. Plain and simple. It's time to call it what it is.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
The peoples Republic of America, or the United States of Ameristan
No, not for the reason you might think.
Yes, I am violently worried about this stimulus plan which is no more stimulus than an end around the normal budget procedures (150 million dollars for the Smithsonian is stimulus? Family planning is stimulus? c'mon!!).
Here's the rub. Back home in NY, everywhere I went there was Obama memorabilia. Late night informercials with commemorative coins, plates, etc. Walk into stores and there were posters, plates, stamps, etc.
OK, I live in a highly democratic, left wing part of the country. Fine.
It was frightening but I wrote it off as not what I really believed it to be, but merely misplaced enthusiasm.
But I have spent the last three days down south in McCain country, and it is even worse here!! Every grocery, drug store, beach store, you name it!!
And what I don't get is that everyone I have spoken to feels the same disgusted creepiness about it.
Why? Well, for those of you who have never travelled overseas to authoritarian, dictatorships, this is what you see there.
The cult of personality. Name any current dictator for life and that is the hallmark of their country. Postering, pictures, etc everywhere.
Remember the statue of Sadaam?
When you are in Israel, one of the most telling things is when you cross over into Jordan or Egypt, the first thing you notice are immense wall posters of King Hussein and President Mubarak.
And I mean immediately, on the border!!
This is no longer just a sort of pathetic joke, but I am desperately scared.
I will talk about my real fears soon, but this man has so hoodwinked this country... I simply cannot believe the way the press and the nation itself has simply shut down their critical eyes and forgiven sign after sign.
Even this most ridiculous thing, Timothy Geitner. have we forgotten the literally handful of folks from the Clinton and first Bush administrations who were forced to withdraw nominations b/c they didn't pay social security taxes on nannies?
And This is the guy that is RUNNING the IRS!!! But hey, it's King Obama, speak out and you may be beheaded.
All hail the glorious leader!!!
Yes, I am violently worried about this stimulus plan which is no more stimulus than an end around the normal budget procedures (150 million dollars for the Smithsonian is stimulus? Family planning is stimulus? c'mon!!).
Here's the rub. Back home in NY, everywhere I went there was Obama memorabilia. Late night informercials with commemorative coins, plates, etc. Walk into stores and there were posters, plates, stamps, etc.
OK, I live in a highly democratic, left wing part of the country. Fine.
It was frightening but I wrote it off as not what I really believed it to be, but merely misplaced enthusiasm.
But I have spent the last three days down south in McCain country, and it is even worse here!! Every grocery, drug store, beach store, you name it!!
And what I don't get is that everyone I have spoken to feels the same disgusted creepiness about it.
Why? Well, for those of you who have never travelled overseas to authoritarian, dictatorships, this is what you see there.
The cult of personality. Name any current dictator for life and that is the hallmark of their country. Postering, pictures, etc everywhere.
Remember the statue of Sadaam?
When you are in Israel, one of the most telling things is when you cross over into Jordan or Egypt, the first thing you notice are immense wall posters of King Hussein and President Mubarak.
And I mean immediately, on the border!!
This is no longer just a sort of pathetic joke, but I am desperately scared.
I will talk about my real fears soon, but this man has so hoodwinked this country... I simply cannot believe the way the press and the nation itself has simply shut down their critical eyes and forgiven sign after sign.
Even this most ridiculous thing, Timothy Geitner. have we forgotten the literally handful of folks from the Clinton and first Bush administrations who were forced to withdraw nominations b/c they didn't pay social security taxes on nannies?
And This is the guy that is RUNNING the IRS!!! But hey, it's King Obama, speak out and you may be beheaded.
All hail the glorious leader!!!
Who isn't indicted and the trial you'll never see...
Despite ALL the media coverage, are you aware that Rod Blagojevich has not been indicted for anything?
Patrick Fitagerald, the special prosecutor in the case, requested an additional 3 months to file charges.
With Blago due to be impeached tomorrow or Thursday, here's odds on the fact that he will NEVER be indicted.
Why? Ask the President.
Patrick Fitagerald, the special prosecutor in the case, requested an additional 3 months to file charges.
With Blago due to be impeached tomorrow or Thursday, here's odds on the fact that he will NEVER be indicted.
Why? Ask the President.
Rendering Gitmo...
Not surprising that Obama once again fooled everyone with the supposed closing of Gitmo.
Why? Well, he specifically exempted the practice of rendition. If you don't know what that is, rent the movie "Rendition".
It is, simply put, the practice of sending our suspects to other countries and allowing them to be interrogated there. Of course, nations like Egypt and Saudi Arabia don't pay much attention to things like habeas corpus, much less no torture.
It was this practice that really caused most of the anger around the world.
Campaign promises? Change? OK, right.
Why? Well, he specifically exempted the practice of rendition. If you don't know what that is, rent the movie "Rendition".
It is, simply put, the practice of sending our suspects to other countries and allowing them to be interrogated there. Of course, nations like Egypt and Saudi Arabia don't pay much attention to things like habeas corpus, much less no torture.
It was this practice that really caused most of the anger around the world.
Campaign promises? Change? OK, right.
Goodbye Hillary, we hardly knew ya.... Post a comment
As I had predicted, Obama's appointed of Hillary clinton is looking more and more like a brilliant political move to eliminate what would have been a formidable enemy.
What he did, was simply out politic her again, as he did in the primaries.
First, he made sure that she would get no chariwomanships in the Senate, and had those who were the leaders of her favorite causes, principally Ted Kennedy telling her that she would have no standing on health care as it was his issue.
This was so patently obvious, but like everything with Obama, no one paid attention, or connected the dots that were already connected. What were those? Well who was the first big name heavyweight to support Obama? Um... right, Ted Kennedy. And who (and this is truly sad) won't last the year? Ted Kennedy.
So why prevent Hillary from working on this issue (and not give her chair positions of other committees she had served on, foreign affairs, etc)?
Next, after she accepts the nomination as Secretary of State, Obama than appoints EVERY other diplomatic and national security position with folks who are not only in opposition to her, but are avowed enemies.
But even more than that, he has systematically removed the authority of the Secretary of State position.
He installs Donna Rice, a truly dangerous woman, as the UN Representative, and declares his intent to make this a cabinet position. So, Hillary will no longer have authority of our actions at the UN.
He than puts James Jones, as National Security Advisor, a man whose claim to fame is taking credit for reduced terrorism in Jenin, when in point of fact it is the fence that has done it, and nothing to do with his "advising" as the Israelis would be happy to tell you.
And like Rice, he advocates "protecting" Palestinians from Israelis by putting US Troops in Israel AGAINST the Israelis.
And now the coup de grace. Obama appoints George Mitchell as special Mideast envoy, and Richard Holbrooke as special Pakistan and Afghanistan envoy.
In case you don't know. Special envoys are common. Except that always in the past they were appointed near the END of a process, when agreements were close and constant diplomacy was needed.
But what Obama is saying is "hey, I've got this Secretary of State but she's not good enough to do the really important stuff."
[As an aside, I'd really like the idea of Obama as an underdog or outsider to go away. In the Democratic party, it has always been about the intellectual elite.
The simple fact of the Clintons is that they were tolerated when Bill was winning. But they were always viewed as redneck scum by the coastal elites. Uncouth, uneducated (yes despite Yale and Oxford) and an embarassment.]
This plays it's part in the party dumping Hillary from the Senate and now putting her, the 5th most powerful person in the Country, as invisible as can be....
What he did, was simply out politic her again, as he did in the primaries.
First, he made sure that she would get no chariwomanships in the Senate, and had those who were the leaders of her favorite causes, principally Ted Kennedy telling her that she would have no standing on health care as it was his issue.
This was so patently obvious, but like everything with Obama, no one paid attention, or connected the dots that were already connected. What were those? Well who was the first big name heavyweight to support Obama? Um... right, Ted Kennedy. And who (and this is truly sad) won't last the year? Ted Kennedy.
So why prevent Hillary from working on this issue (and not give her chair positions of other committees she had served on, foreign affairs, etc)?
Next, after she accepts the nomination as Secretary of State, Obama than appoints EVERY other diplomatic and national security position with folks who are not only in opposition to her, but are avowed enemies.
But even more than that, he has systematically removed the authority of the Secretary of State position.
He installs Donna Rice, a truly dangerous woman, as the UN Representative, and declares his intent to make this a cabinet position. So, Hillary will no longer have authority of our actions at the UN.
He than puts James Jones, as National Security Advisor, a man whose claim to fame is taking credit for reduced terrorism in Jenin, when in point of fact it is the fence that has done it, and nothing to do with his "advising" as the Israelis would be happy to tell you.
And like Rice, he advocates "protecting" Palestinians from Israelis by putting US Troops in Israel AGAINST the Israelis.
And now the coup de grace. Obama appoints George Mitchell as special Mideast envoy, and Richard Holbrooke as special Pakistan and Afghanistan envoy.
In case you don't know. Special envoys are common. Except that always in the past they were appointed near the END of a process, when agreements were close and constant diplomacy was needed.
But what Obama is saying is "hey, I've got this Secretary of State but she's not good enough to do the really important stuff."
[As an aside, I'd really like the idea of Obama as an underdog or outsider to go away. In the Democratic party, it has always been about the intellectual elite.
The simple fact of the Clintons is that they were tolerated when Bill was winning. But they were always viewed as redneck scum by the coastal elites. Uncouth, uneducated (yes despite Yale and Oxford) and an embarassment.]
This plays it's part in the party dumping Hillary from the Senate and now putting her, the 5th most powerful person in the Country, as invisible as can be....
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Rooster's Roosted and now they sqauwk
So, President Obama's first call as President was to Mahmoud Abbas.
Just in case you didn't get the message, guess where his first interview as President was. CNN?
No
MSNBC the official Obama network?
No
CNN International?
No
The Washington Post
No
The official paper of the Obama Administration, the New Obama Times?
No
Where?
Al Arabiya.
That's right. Not even Al Jazeera. He had to go to the More radical of the Arab world's networks.
As I call him the Rubberband man, here for your benefit, the lyrics....
"Hey ya'll prepare yourself for the rubberband man
You've never heard a sound
Like the rubberband man
You're bound to lose control
When the rubberband starts to jam
Oh, this dude is outta sight!
Everything he does seems to come out right"
Just in case you didn't get the message, guess where his first interview as President was. CNN?
No
MSNBC the official Obama network?
No
CNN International?
No
The Washington Post
No
The official paper of the Obama Administration, the New Obama Times?
No
Where?
Al Arabiya.
That's right. Not even Al Jazeera. He had to go to the More radical of the Arab world's networks.
As I call him the Rubberband man, here for your benefit, the lyrics....
"Hey ya'll prepare yourself for the rubberband man
You've never heard a sound
Like the rubberband man
You're bound to lose control
When the rubberband starts to jam
Oh, this dude is outta sight!
Everything he does seems to come out right"
You reap what you sow.... or...... the reincarnation of Sarah Palin
Those of you who have not paid attention to the farce of Governor David Paterson trying to fill Hillary Clinton's Senate seat here in NY, you missed quite a show.
What really happened will come out, I guess, in the future, although Caroline Kennedy's "camp" (whoever that is) is claiming they are going to destroy Paterson.
Be that as it may. We now have as our Senator, Kirsten Gillebrand.
All I can say is watch out world!!
This woman is a dynamo. An incredibly accomplished corporate attorney, a conservative Democrat. She took the Sarah Palin, get on the plane and fly hours to get home just to give birth story a step farther but working in the house until the day she gave birth!!
Not only that, but she rode the Metro to work at the Congress with her older son, dropping him off at day care on the way.
She told friends years ago that she would be President someday.
And with the connections she has, and the precedent that Obama has set, I would not be surprised to see her run in 4 or 8 years.
She is incredibly well connected. She was a partner in David Boies' law firm (remember, he was the attorney for Al Gore in the Bush v Gore suit over the 2000 election) but she is also incredibly well connected in Republican circles. Her father is a powerful Republican lobbyist. She interned with former Republican Senator Alphonse D'Amato, who was present at her announcement, and she was also an assistant to Andrew Cuomo in the Clinton Administration (Head of HUD).
No less than former Clinton advisor, and now Obama acolyte Paul Begala has declared her likely to be the first female President.
What is really fascinating is that she managed to win election in very conservative upstate NY, so she holds some very conservative views, most notably about gun control.
Watch out for this woman, and expect to see her at the 2012 Democratic Convention.
What really happened will come out, I guess, in the future, although Caroline Kennedy's "camp" (whoever that is) is claiming they are going to destroy Paterson.
Be that as it may. We now have as our Senator, Kirsten Gillebrand.
All I can say is watch out world!!
This woman is a dynamo. An incredibly accomplished corporate attorney, a conservative Democrat. She took the Sarah Palin, get on the plane and fly hours to get home just to give birth story a step farther but working in the house until the day she gave birth!!
Not only that, but she rode the Metro to work at the Congress with her older son, dropping him off at day care on the way.
She told friends years ago that she would be President someday.
And with the connections she has, and the precedent that Obama has set, I would not be surprised to see her run in 4 or 8 years.
She is incredibly well connected. She was a partner in David Boies' law firm (remember, he was the attorney for Al Gore in the Bush v Gore suit over the 2000 election) but she is also incredibly well connected in Republican circles. Her father is a powerful Republican lobbyist. She interned with former Republican Senator Alphonse D'Amato, who was present at her announcement, and she was also an assistant to Andrew Cuomo in the Clinton Administration (Head of HUD).
No less than former Clinton advisor, and now Obama acolyte Paul Begala has declared her likely to be the first female President.
What is really fascinating is that she managed to win election in very conservative upstate NY, so she holds some very conservative views, most notably about gun control.
Watch out for this woman, and expect to see her at the 2012 Democratic Convention.
Friday, January 23, 2009
When Roosters Roost....
You're the new President.
So much to do. So many people to talk to.
So, what is the first call you make now that you have been invested with unimaginable power, the authority of an overwhelming mandate from the public and the most obsequious fawning press this side of Stalin's Pravda?
Our historic ancestors and critical ally Gordon Brown of England?
No.
Vladimir Putin, the man that controls vast oil reserves and is rattling his swords to reestablish the Soviet Empire?
No
Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq, the country in which 100,000+ of your troops are stationed and whose government (under President Bush) has established the time table that you said you wanted?
No
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao who controls the nation that most consider the next real superpower, with unimaginable economic might based on it's sheer mass of humanity?
No
President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan, whose leadership will be so vital in the supposed redirection of the war on terrorism?
No.
Ehud Ohlmert, the outgoing Prime Minister of Israel, who just accepted a US brokered peace and represents the last line of defense against terrorism?
No
Who you ask?
None other than Mahmoud Abbas, head of the PLO. Who, btw, is claiming these days that it was actually HIS Al Aqsa Martyr's brigades that fired over 175 of the missiles that hit Israeli schools and day care centers during the recent skirmish.
And the result of that call?
The same day, Abbas announced that ALL agreements and negotiating points from the last 8 years are GONE.
That for any negotiation to proceed, Israel must first relocate 500,000 Israelis. That is 8% of the entire population.
Oh, and that doesn't just include supposed Arab East Jerusalem, but the Gallilee, South and West Jerusalem and other thriving cities all over the country.
Nice choice Barack. And to the Jews that supported him. SHAME ON YOU!
So much to do. So many people to talk to.
So, what is the first call you make now that you have been invested with unimaginable power, the authority of an overwhelming mandate from the public and the most obsequious fawning press this side of Stalin's Pravda?
Our historic ancestors and critical ally Gordon Brown of England?
No.
Vladimir Putin, the man that controls vast oil reserves and is rattling his swords to reestablish the Soviet Empire?
No
Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq, the country in which 100,000+ of your troops are stationed and whose government (under President Bush) has established the time table that you said you wanted?
No
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao who controls the nation that most consider the next real superpower, with unimaginable economic might based on it's sheer mass of humanity?
No
President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan, whose leadership will be so vital in the supposed redirection of the war on terrorism?
No.
Ehud Ohlmert, the outgoing Prime Minister of Israel, who just accepted a US brokered peace and represents the last line of defense against terrorism?
No
Who you ask?
None other than Mahmoud Abbas, head of the PLO. Who, btw, is claiming these days that it was actually HIS Al Aqsa Martyr's brigades that fired over 175 of the missiles that hit Israeli schools and day care centers during the recent skirmish.
And the result of that call?
The same day, Abbas announced that ALL agreements and negotiating points from the last 8 years are GONE.
That for any negotiation to proceed, Israel must first relocate 500,000 Israelis. That is 8% of the entire population.
Oh, and that doesn't just include supposed Arab East Jerusalem, but the Gallilee, South and West Jerusalem and other thriving cities all over the country.
Nice choice Barack. And to the Jews that supported him. SHAME ON YOU!
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