Internet muse.
Daring, bold, never sold.
My daily weblog of politics, humor, philosophy...and a constant and nagging reminder of the existence of universal love....
The Bush administration hasn't directly accused Syria of being responsible for the thousand-pound car bomb that ripped a dozen armor plated cars to shreds. But, nothing dramatic happens in Beirut without the Syrian government's knowledge or approval.
This afternoon, one of our military analysts suggested the Lebanese bombing may not have necessarily been the work of Syria..[..]..However, most analysts still subscribe to the idea that Hariri wouldn't have been assassinated without Syria's acquiescence.
That is, the Maronite, Druze and Sunni Muslim leadership has largely decided to blame President Lahoud and his Syrian backers for the assassination. In a sense, it does not any longer matter who precisely was behind the blast. The political opposition in Lebanon has made up its mind whom to blame. It is not that they are necessarily wrong. On any list of suspects in the killing of Hariri, the Syrians would have to rank high. They had means, motive and opportunity-- which does not, however, establish that they murdered Hariri.
The other angle, of al-Qaeda-like groups hitting out at Saudi-related targets (Hariri had Saudi citizenship), cannot in my view be dismissed. (If, as is now being reported, the blast was in part the work of a suicide bomber, that would rule out a mafia-type business dispute). Given the 250,000 tons of missing munitions in Iraq, there are lots of very high-powered explosives on the market in the Middle East. This proliferation of explosives may be among the major ways in which the Iraq war ends up destabilizing the Middle East, since the explosions are unlikely to remain only in Iraq. Already, some Iraq-related violence has spread to Saudi Arabia.
But the Lebanese opposition and most of the outside world have decided that Syria is guilty because it is guilty.
"One child sits outside with the cats and dogs, his 12-year-old sister beside him. They lost their parents and four brothers in the flood. Terribly devoted to one another, they share one plate of food between them and make sure each carefully has his or her proper share.
Most of the parents are in shock. Many live in the displaced persons camps. All have lost someone and hope for their return. The great horror of the tsunami is not knowing what happened to a loved one.
Stressed, a mother delivers prematurely, a 30-week-old preemie, 4 pounds. We likely would save this child in Boston; here, she dies slowly, quietly, in front of our eyes."
"At this time of year, we take time to remember the importance of humility and love for our brothers and sisters, even in the face of hate or contempt. We think about Jesus' radical command to turn the other cheek, his rejection of the old law of "an eye for an eye."
Americans are citizens of a nation created with Saint Augustine's distrust of human government foremost in mind. This time of year, we should thankfully recall the primitive Christian message that one's devoted public service to the state is not the same as one's quiet individual service to God.
The American invasion of Iraq was based on lies, as has been the continued American occupation of her major cities. The lies put forth by the administration ought to remind Christians of those lies the Devil told Jesus up on that mountain in the wilderness. Promises of peace, whispers of wealth, visions of total control of the earth.
At this time of year, we also look for answers. It is truly difficult to know what to do in Iraq, whether you are the President, the Secretary of Defense, his military leaders, the soldiers and Marines in the field, their families or just a single individual who cares.
Something tells me we should leave Iraq to the Iraqis, and try to help that country by first demilitarizing it. Such a solution would require great humility, a turning of the other cheek, and a re-examination of the correct level of American devotion to the state and its propaganda."
Even Guckert's ties to several sex Web sites and allegations that he worked as a male prostitute should not necessarily keep him or any other reporter out, Fleischer said. "The last thing our nation needs is for anyone in the White House to concern themselves with the private lives of reporters," he said. "What right does the White House have to decide who gets to be a reporter based on private lives?"A bit?! Yathink??!?
If allegations that Guckert ran Web ads offering his services as a male escort prove true, however, this would represent more than a “private life” issue. Asked what he thought about the recent revelations about Guckert's past, Fleischer said only, "It is all a bit odd."
"The United States believes that Syria is on the wrong of the side of the war on terrorism. We believe it is in Syria's interest, and in the broader interest of Middle East peace, for Syria to stop harboring and supporting the groups that perpetrate acts such as the one that occurred yesterday."
- U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Negroponte
"Lebanon ... calls on the international community and the United Nations to restrain Israel and the Sharon government, which alone poses a danger to international security and peace by attacking a sovereign state and an effective member of the Security Council and the United Nations."These are things that can't help but make you go hmmmmmmmm....
- The late and former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri
"It might seem incredible that young Bashar Assad, if it was Assad, would choose the path of confrontation with the United States. And yet this is a choice he seems already to have made, by for example sheltering leaders of the Iraqi insurgency. And if he did give the order for the Hariri killing...."This type of soft accusation is not only utterly irresponsible, but it falls in with the tried and true method that led us to unjust war with Iraq.
"At last month's press conference, Jeff Gannon asked Mr. Bush how he could work with Democrats "who seem to have divorced themselves from reality." But Bush officials have divorced themselves from reality.
They flipped TV's in the West Wing and Air Force One to Fox News. They paid conservative columnists handsomely to promote administration programs. Federal agencies distributed packaged "news" video releases with faux anchors so local news outlets would run them. As CNN reported, the Pentagon produces Web sites with "news" articles intended to influence opinion abroad and at home, but you have to look hard for the disclaimer: "Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense." The agencies spent a whopping $88 million spinning reality in 2004, splurging on P.R. contracts.
Even the Nixon White House didn't do anything this creepy. It's worse than hating the press. It's an attempt to reinvent it."
LINK- MoDo
"Negroponte speaks no Arabic and has no background in the Middle East or the Islamic world. What he does have is a good deal of experience with counterinsurgency. Bad experience."And who looked the other way while Jordan and Turkey were granted embargo-breaking oil sales throughout the course of the Oil-For-Food scandal?
--Matthew Yglesias
"A bit of patience is sometimes wise--and now may be one of those times."
- Joseph Braude, from his article at TNR
Liberals are exceedingly weak and radical nationalists and Islamists are strong. This is a mess of Mubarak's making. But ironically, for reasons unique to Egyptian politics, Mubarak may also be the person best suited to clean up this mess, paving the way for liberal democracy in Cairo. And strange though it may seem, the longtime foe of liberal reform could soon have every incentive to do just that.
Mubarak has long used the strength of the Brotherhood as an excuse for his authoritarian rule. But he has done more than merely talk up this threat--he has done his best to make it real by working to undermine Egypt's liberal movement and outdo his Islamist rivals on religious matters.
Where does "Scoop" Jackson come in? Feith's mentor was former Pentagon official and influential conservative policy advisor Richard Perle. And from 1969 to 1980 Perle was a member of Jackson's staff and at times his most influential advisor, dubbed by some "the Prince of Darkness" during that era. Perle is so close to the Jackson legacy that he remains a member of the Henry M. Jackson Foundation that the senator established.Background:
from Campaign Extra
When Perle was working for Senator Scoop Jackson, he was investigated by the Justice Department and found to have violated US policies relating to unlawful transmission of sensitive classified US information to Israel.
"Jackson's influence is more powerful now than when he was alive," said Charles Horner, who worked beside Mr Perle on the senator's staff, in his "bunker" - Room 135 in the Senate office building, from where they fought against detente and the peaceniks in their own party."It's interesting to consider that Robert Novak (who outed Valerie Plame) found "common cause" with someone suspected of espionage.
"He [Scoop Jackson] was in the senate from 1953 until his death in 1983. Towards the end he was on the committee for Energy and Natural Resources - would this include Atomic Energy Commission / DOE type stuff? Maybe he knew something about nuclear technology transfer? Tie in with North Korea/Iran/Pakistan? I'm just making wild ass guesses - but why now? It might tie in with something that just happened?"Eliot Abrams (who is son-in-law of NeoCon gurus Midge Decter and Norman Podhoretz) has been tapped to be head of President George W. Bush's Global Democracy Strategy. Abrams worked for Scoop Jackson. I wonder what might be lurking in Scoop's drawers that Abrams might have to hide?
"First and foremost, we must bring down the terror regimes, beginning with the Big Three: Iran, Iraq, and Syria. And then we have to come to grips with Saudi Arabia. … Once the tyrants in Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Saudi Arabia have been brought down, we will remain engaged. …We have to ensure the fulfillment of the democratic revolution. … Stability is an unworthy American mission, and a misleading concept to boot. We do not want stability in Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and even Saudi Arabia; we want things to change. The real issue is not whether, but how to destabilize."The NeoCon creed. You can look at up on Google and see which one said it. They're all alike. Either they're incredibly naive, or they're out for endless war. You decide.
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"[Pat] Robertson, head of the Christian Broadcasting Network and one of the original leaders of the grass-roots Christian conservative political movement, urged Senate Republicans to change the chamber's rules to prevent Democratic filibusters against the nominees.Bruce Ackerman warns:
The neo-con religious agenda is nothing short of revolutionary. The modern Supreme Court has consistently barred the state from endorsing religion, and it has protected each American’s right to make intimate decisions about sexuality, child-bearing and child-rearing. Neo-cons would reverse these priorities; they would strip away the constitutional right to privacy, and empower politicians to engage in endless theological disputes.
QUOTE:Maybe there's a method to that madness? Perhaps this story has to be kept in the "churning" stage so the deeper, far more serious issue can finally be brought to the surface by the painfully-slow-to-react (and ethically misguided) mainstream media.
More than anything, though, it is Gannon's personal online activities that has kept the story churning.
"..we also should be wondering who on Gannon/Guckert's client list was a government official with access to sensitive information. Patronage of a prostitute by such a person (irrespective of sexual orientation) could leave him/her open to blackmail and so represents a huge security risk."
"I wonder if Dems are learning the wisdom imparted by Bull Moose, that there's mischievous and useful fun to be had in being the opposition party, particularly when the party in power is as flatulent with hubris and corruption as the fiefdom of Tom DeLay. Dems should resist the temptation to be statesmenlike and bail out Bush should he stumble, the way they shamefully rescued Reagan in his second term. Bipartisanship has gotten Democrats nowhere for four years, has earned them nothing more than a fine spittle of contempt falling like a constant drizzle. They should let a smile be their umbrella as they enjoy the spectacle of House and Senate Republicans promoting Social Security privatization as if they'd been ordered by their commander in chief to suck lemons."