All Posts Tagged With: "Just"
Georgian Fighting Over But Consequences Have Just Begun
“…(T)he collapse of the Soviet Union was “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the [20th] century, ” Russian Prime Minister Putin.
Last week, South Ossetian separatists - supported by Moscow - poured machine gun and mortar fire into neighboring Georgian villages. Georgia retaliated by attacking the separatist capital Tskhinvali with artillery, providing the pretext for Moscow’s invasion of Georgia.
Stanford University’s Russia scholar Michael McFaul sums up the use of overwhelming force by Russia in Georgia this week as nothing less than “a signal to everyone that Russia is back - and Russia is going to try and dominate this region of the world,” according to a report in The Los Angeles Times.
Fighting has ended, for now, in the Russo-Georgian War but scholars and pundits alike are resurrecting such iconic terms as “Cold War,” “Iron Curtain,” and “spheres of influence.” Make no mistake that Putin’s Russia has no intention of allowing a pro-western government within what he views as Russia’s domain, and is more than willing to kill a few thousand people to prove it.
“Historians will come to view Aug. 8, 2008, as a turning point no less significant than Nov. 9, 1989, when the Berlin Wall fell. Russia’s attack on sovereign Georgian territory marked the official return of history, indeed to an almost 19th-century style of great-power competition, complete with virulent nationalisms, battles for resources, struggles over spheres of influence and territory…,” says Robert Kagan, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, in a Washington Post column.
Burnishing his enormous egotism and ambition t be greater than even Stalin Russian Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin, who raced back from the Bejing Olympics to take command, charged that the U.S. has displayed a “Cold War mentality” in its friendship with leaders in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, according to The Times. Left wing sources chimed in to blame the U. S. even claiming it actually started the conflict.
Polemics aside, think-tankers has been burning the midnight oil analyzing just what Mr. Putin is up to. It seems to me simplistically easy given Putin decree that the collapse of the Soviet Union was “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the [20th] century.” Sensing an opportunity with a potential new liberal, Eurocentric naïve, inexperienced U. S. administration the last few days then are the beginning of what Putin is designing as a Russian renaissance.
“Armed with wealth from oil and gas; holding a near-monopoly over the energy supply to Europe; with a million soldiers, thousands of nuclear warheads and the world’s third-largest military budget, Vladimir Putin believes that now is the time to make his move,” Kagan says.
Ariel Cohen, senior research fellow in Russian and Eurasian Studies and International Energy Security at The Heritage Foundation, has ferreted out what he believes to be the Putin strategy including:
- expulsion of Georgian troops and termination of Georgian sovereignty in South Ossetia and Abkhazia;
- “regime change” by bringing down President Mikheil Saakashvili and installing a more pro-Russian leadership in Tbilisi;
- preventing Georgia from joining NATO and sending a strong message to Ukraine that its insistence on NATO membership may lead to war and/or its dismemberment;
- Shifting control of the Caucasus, and especially over strategic energy pipelines, by controlling Georgia; and
- recreating a 19th-century-style sphere of influence in the former Soviet Union, by the use of force if necessary.
More importantly, in my opinion, Putin wants to demonstrate that he can sabotage at will American and European Union (EU) declarations about integrating Commonwealth of Independent States members into Western structures such as NATO.
We just don’t get it
If you’ve been paying attention to the world news lately, you know that Pervez Musharaff is about to be impeached. Yes, you heard the “I” word; the word nobody in America wants to say. In order to impeach Musharaff, the coalition government must prove that he has subverted the constitution or is guilty of gross misconduct. Sound familiar? The basis for Musharaff’s impeachment may very well lie in the dismissal of the judiciary last November and the six-week suspension of the constitution. Seems rational to me.
In Israel, Ehud Olmert was subjected to four rounds of intensive questioning by police as part of a corruption inquiry. Due to strong political and public pressure, Mr. Olmert has announced that he will not seek re-election and that he will resign as soon as his party elects a new leader in September. Tony Blair’s blind allegiance to George Bush and his participation in the deception surrounding the Iraq war outlined in the now-famous Downing Street Memo led to the downfall of his administration and the unraveling of his political career.
Back in America, George Bush is still running the show. He has installed himself as an imperial leader and we’ve allowed him to do so. He has relegated the nation’s system of checks and balances on the presidency to an irrelevant historical footnote. He has assaulted the Constitution with impunity in his quest to expand the powers of the presidency. We’ve spent nearly eight years laughing at his sometimes unintelligible Bushisms and seemingly ridiculous statements. I remember when everyone laughed as Bush stated that leading the country would be a lot easier if it were a dictatorship. From where I’m sitting today, I don’t think he was kidding. The joke’s on us. We’re supposed to be the most advanced Democracy in the world, but we refuse to hold our leaders accountable for their actions.
Instead, we have lame-brained elected officials like Nancy Pelosi appearing on The View and making the most absurd statement that I’ve heard yet regarding President Bush and the “I” word. I’m paraphrasing here, but the gist of it is that she’d be happy to advance Articles of Impeachment against George Bush if someone can tell her the law he has broken. Where do you want us to start, Nancy? Is there a more obvious reason why our spineless Congress’ approval rating is hovering around the 9% mark? Let’s just get real here. I have a hard time imagining the American public not being outraged over that foolish statement. You know, we don’t need all 35 articles that were originally presented. We only need one.
I’ve been down this road before, but I’ll travel it again to make my point. President Bill Clinton was impeached because he had consensual adult sex with someone other than his wife and lied about it to Congress and the American people. I’m not going to tee off on this one. We’ll stop here because that’s all that’s relevant to this article. Richard Nixon’s impeachment, on the other hand, came about because he and his top aides covered up the Watergate break-in and other White House-sanctioned illegal activities, and then lied about covering them up. Based on these precedents, we have our impeachable offense against George W. Bush: He deliberately misled Congress and the American people on the justification for invading Iraq.
Let’s get past the absurd belief that he made a mistake or was fed bad intelligence. Neither is the case. Even Colin Powell participated in this colossal Bushwhacking, although he now says he was misled and that the war in Iraq is unjustified. The mythological bioweapon labs on wheels and rails portion of the speech is just priceless. The only problem is that they never existed and the Bush administration knew it. This is not the only piece of bogus intelligence that the administration knowingly used to justify the war. This may be the only impeachable offense of the lot (although one or two others may stand up to the test), but there are so many other instances where George Bush has shown such blatant disregard for the law of the land that at least an investigation is warranted.
Do you think the DC Police would ever have the opportunity to question George W. Bush even once about corruption in his administration? Nope. Not in a million years. In a country that considers itself far and away the most advanced Democracy, corruption is simply a way of political life. It has long been alleged that Halliburton’s no-bid contracts to rebuild Iraq’s oil industry were arranged through Vice President Dick Cheney’s office. This is an obvious conflict of interest and would definitely meet the standard for “corruption” should we ever choose to investigate our imperial leaders. On those few occasions when the administration is called into question, Bush and company are either allowed to stonewall or claim Executive Privilege.
In one of the most egregious offenses, President Bush advised former top aides Karl Rove, Harriet Miers and Josh Bolton to either ignore Congressional subpoenas or requests for files pertinent to Congressional investigations. They have dutifully complied with the President’s directives and have been cited for contempt by the Judiciary Committee. Yet, they are still walking around free, as the impasse continues. A federal judge recently ruled that Bush’s top aides are not immune from subpoenas and must appear to answer questions relating to the firing of nine federal prosecutors as well as turn over all pertinent files. The Bush administration is expected to appeal this ruling in an effort to drag this out to the end of his presidency. We treat this behavior nonchalantly because as a nation we just don’t ‘get’ what other nations do.
There is a level of integrity that we should expect from our elected leaders, the very least of which is a sworn duty to uphold the basic principles of the U.S. Constitution. We should expect our elected leaders to obey the law of the land, as well as all agreed-upon international laws. Because the Constitution stipulates that no man is above the law, every citizen must be held to the same set of legal standards, including the president. We should expect our president and his administration to act with the best interest of the people in mind, and we should expect the Congress to accept its responsibility to ensure that happens.
At this point, removing George Bush from office may not be possible. The allegations must still be proven. What the “I” word will do is force the administration’s behavior into the light of day where it belongs. It will prevent George Bush from claiming Executive Privilege and force him and high-level administration officials to account for their actions. We should move forward without delay. Our unwillingness as a nation to go after this lawless administration is setting a dangerous precedent for future presidents and lowering the bar on what we should expect of our elected leaders.
Michael Savage just got personal
I’m considering this a rant and I think I’m entitled to it. Michael Savage, the hate-spewing, bigoted, radio shock jock pig just sunk to new lows on the crap pile of conservative commentators polluting the airways. This time he got personal when he said, “I’ll tell you what autism is. In 99 percent of the cases it’s a brat who hasn’t been told to cut the act out.” He went on to further say that they don’t have a father to say, “Don’t act like a moron. You’ll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don’t sit there crying and screaming, you idiot.” I have been so incensed that it has taken me this long to be able to write.
I am the parent of an autistic child. My son was diagnosed prior to his third birthday. He wasn’t a brat then and he isn’t a brat now. In fact, he is now seven and one of the sweetest kids you could ever meet. Even thought we call him our “miracle boy,” there was nothing miraculous about how he got where he is. It took four long, hard years getting him to where he is now. He has made great progress and we still have a long way to go.
I can remember the days when I’d leave him at school, being held by teachers and aides while he screamed and cried and tried to bang his head on the floor. I can remember picking him up later as he sat in a corner, cut off from his classmates and teachers because that is where he felt comfortable and safe. I remember the days of trying to make eye contact with him.
Today, he is seven years old and going into the second grade. He has many challenges. He academics are not at second grade level, but he is making progress. He can sit and read to me and he likes to write. He is in a multi-level classroom because of peer modeling and continuity of teachers. Today he goes to school willingly, although he is still unable to participate with the group on a consistent basis and still seeks time alone.
I don’t remember when America became so enamored with and tolerant of hate because that is what the likes of Michael Savage, Don Imus, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh spew. They spew it constantly so that it is almost like brainwashing. Michael Savage is heard by 8 million people on 350 radio stations across this nation. Only in America can someone be as revolting as Michael Savage and keep his job. He should be unemployed today, and he should stay unemployed. His show continues on today because it’s all about the money. We’ve truly lost our way as a nation when we can simply let this roll off our backs.
These people are not harmless. These people are harmful. If they have a point, it’s lost in all the garbage that comes out of their mouths. They rarely deal in facts and their lack of moral character makes outright lies a part of their rationale.
As for Mr. Savage’s advice to the autistic to stop acting like a moron or you’ll get nowhere in life, he is living proof that it isn’t true. He’s a moron and a millionaire. He’s a putz and is heard by millions of people every day. And he’s anything but a man.
Don’t People Think Whites Vote For Obama Just Because He is Black.
I am so sick of everyone talking about racism and how people won’t vote for Obama because he is black. Who is winning the race right now? What race are the majority of people voting, WHITE. It’s crazy talk that I just can’t listen too any more. It doesn’t get any more Hypocritical than that.
I noticed this Associated Press Article on Yohoo.com today. Here is a brief clip of the article:
Exit poll: Whites help Clinton in KY, not OR
By ALAN FRAM, Associated Press Writer Wed May 21, 12:32 AM ET
WASHINGTON - White voters played a decisive role in Hillary Rodham Clinton’s lopsided victory Tuesday in Kentucky’s Democratic presidential primary. Barack Obama got the victory in more liberal Oregon, where race and the hard-edged rivalry between the two embattled candidates were muted.
Nearly nine in 10 of each state’s voters were white, surveys of voters showed, but there the similarities ceased. Kentucky’s less educated, less liberal, poorer and more rural population fit the profile of states where Clinton has done well, while Oregon’s better schooled, more affluent and urban residents more resembled those that have delivered for him all year.
You can read the full article here - Hypocrisy at it’s Finetst!
Doesn’t everybody see the hypocrisy. 9 an 10 voters in each state are white yet one of the states voted for Obama.
The Title of the article should read: Whites help Obama in Or, not Ky
Maybe the media should quit trying to convince us all that everyone is predjudice against blacks. It’s been my experience with nearly every body that I know, who is going to vote for Obama, is that they are doing so because he is black.
I just wish the media and extreme minority rights groups would talk about all of the positive gains with race relations that we experience in the U.S. If they just quit seperating us and classified us as people then perhaps as a society it would be easier to see us that way.
The Economy Is Just Fine
The democrats and mass media keep saying how bad the economy is but I just don’t get it. Maybe because 20+ years ago the economy really was awful. In comparison to today’s prices, gas was a bargain back then at $1.19 on average in 1980. But just two years earlier it had been fifty-nine cents. So gas doubled in price in only a couple of years and crossed the psychologically important barrier of $1.00. During the same two-year time period the unemployment rate jumped from 5.8% to 7.1% and by 1983 was at a high of 9.7%. Recently the unemployment rate has been increasing but it still has a way to go before it reaches the highs of 20 plus years ago.The major economic indicator that I remember was the interest rate. Pretty hard to forget it when the year-end 1980 Federal Reserve interest rate was a whopping 21.50%! On the other hand, the prime rate was recently lowered to just 2.0%. That’s nearly a 20 percentage point difference. You can imagine the interest payments on houses and cars not to mention the rates on credit cards back then!
I graduated from college in 1980 just when the unemployment rate was heading toward nearly 10%, gas had doubled and my credit card company was charging me unfathomable rates. So when the politicians today get all upset over the economy I simply have to laugh.
I think that the media is making a mountain out of a molehill and handing the Democratic politicians a topic to use against the Republicans. Yes, I know that voters said that the economy was a major factor when they voted. But if you are told over and over again that the economy is tanking by people who are supposed to be reliable and trustworthy then you. too, will eventually believe that the economy is down. I just wonder how many people would say that yes the economy is bad for other people, but they are doing just fine.
Flash: Just in on Iowa Caucauses
This report just submitted by an unnamed undercover Hypocritical Mole deep, deep inside the Iowa caucauses:
JohnWords is leading in the Democratic race and Mitty on the Republican side although Huckleberry Gov of the Ark is surging out of nowhere. No one knows who he is but they like him, so….
There are two kinds of Iowans today in this Feb 29th kind of event.
Those who are incredibly serious about what is going on and on the other end those who ignor it or think it will make no difference whatsoever so do not participate. There is no middle ground in Iowa as to participation. They go to the meetings or they avoid them.
Democrats in Iowa have not traditionally held this state overall but last time did elect a Democratic governor. In the race there so far, Hillary came out of the starting gates strong, then O’bomer closed ranks and it looks like JohnWords is going to surge ahead.
Stay tuned.