Intelligence Report Offer Dim Views of Afghan War---New York Times
President Bush sold his ill-conceived notion of a global War on Terror to the American people and to the world at large. From the beginning, the concept of a global war on terror, fought with armies, air force and navies, the same way World War II was fought and won, made the enterprise a mission without a meaningful definition of success. As long as some crazy person in Pakistan, Afghanistan or Iraq or anywhere else was willing to blow himself or herself up, we could not declare victory in the global war on terror.
President Obama came into office, and attempted initially to repudiate the concept of a global war on terror, but he was not strong enough as a leader to do so. He seemed to be too willing to buy into the Conservative propaganda that Democratic presidents are weak on defense. In order to prove the Conservative propagandists wrong, he has used the same play book that informed the war policies of President Bush, which were repudiated by Red States and Blue States just two years ago, to make the Obama presidency possible.
Anyone who has been willing to look beyond the familiar play book will come to the conclusion that is emerging from these reports, that "victory" is next to impossible, unless the mission is defined in a way that focuses on the security interests of the United States. Neither the current Afghan government, nor all of the emotional commitments to bring some form of democracy to the tribesmen of Afghanistan is crucial to those interests. The fundamental American interest is to ensure that Afghanistan is not now or in the future a training and a launching site for international terrorism. A few hundred soldiers and special forces, and smart munitions on ships and in the air could accomplish that mission, at a fraction of the cost of the current mission.
Considering all of the above, President Obama should clearly redefine the mission in Afghanistan. He should also move to significantly draw down on the American military deployment in Afghanistan. The young soldiers on the front lines deserve a clear and winnable mission.
I thank you.
Fubara David-West.
Intelligence Reports Offer Dim Views of Afghan War
By ELISABETH BUMILLER
Published: December 14, 2010
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WASHINGTON — As President Obama prepares to release a review of American strategy in Afghanistan that will claim progress in the nine-year-old war there, two new classified intelligence reports offer a more negative assessment and say there is a limited chance of success unless Pakistan hunts down insurgents operating from havens on its Afghan border.
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Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Friday, October 8, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
Obama's Waterloo?
Obama's Waterloo?
The Federal Government has to spend, in order to provide liquidity in the market, during periods of economic contraction. That becomes even more critical, when a major factor in the contraction is the failure of the free market, in such areas as the management of supply and demand, and the proper valuation of asset, risks and opportunities.
The problem for the Obama administration is that for a long time Americans have been told that the free market alone is the key to prosperity. Government should not only leave Wall Street alone, to make up the rules of the road, but also avoid taxing citizens to pay for the things that they want from government.
Even the massive failure of the market that brought on the current recession has not been sobering enough, to dispel those faulty notions about the economy and the role of the government. As long as the United States could borrow massive amounts of dollars from places like China, the people could live large in their fiscal unreality. President Reagan, for instance, was a major political actor to tell the people in the 1980s that borrow and spend was preferable to tax and spend, and that government was the problem not the solution. His influence is still palpable in Republican circles.
Thus, two years after the big economic melt-down, President Obama's political opponents are telling the people, once again, that the problem with their situation in the economy is the government. See, they say, Obama had his stimulus dollars, and yet the economic situation remains as bleak as ever. All of the spending has been wasteful! Of course, they are wrong.
They forget that the economic crisis started under a Republican president, whose solution just before he left office, as the economy was sinking was to pour billions of dollars into Wall Street firms. President Obama followed that precedence. The valid criticism of the president is that he followed it with so much faith, instead of ensuring that Main Street was made the focus of the recovery under his watch.
Imagine what the situation would have been today, if the president's stimulus package had dedicated close to a trillion dollars to buy up most of the troubled mortgages in the United States, as a means of resetting those mortgages at today's interest rates for 15 to 30 years. In order to boost the political support for such a program, all mortgages might have been qualified for the modification, solving much of the mortgage problems at the roots of the recession. The Fannie Mae corporation might have been used to make the entire program automatic.
The economic situation would have been dramatically different today. However, politics is the art of the possible, and Charles E. Lindblom (1977) reminds us that in systems such as this, business occupies a privileged position, which any president will ignore to his own peril. Wall Street and business will have the upper hand.
I thank you.
Fubara David-West
The Federal Government has to spend, in order to provide liquidity in the market, during periods of economic contraction. That becomes even more critical, when a major factor in the contraction is the failure of the free market, in such areas as the management of supply and demand, and the proper valuation of asset, risks and opportunities.
The problem for the Obama administration is that for a long time Americans have been told that the free market alone is the key to prosperity. Government should not only leave Wall Street alone, to make up the rules of the road, but also avoid taxing citizens to pay for the things that they want from government.
Even the massive failure of the market that brought on the current recession has not been sobering enough, to dispel those faulty notions about the economy and the role of the government. As long as the United States could borrow massive amounts of dollars from places like China, the people could live large in their fiscal unreality. President Reagan, for instance, was a major political actor to tell the people in the 1980s that borrow and spend was preferable to tax and spend, and that government was the problem not the solution. His influence is still palpable in Republican circles.
Thus, two years after the big economic melt-down, President Obama's political opponents are telling the people, once again, that the problem with their situation in the economy is the government. See, they say, Obama had his stimulus dollars, and yet the economic situation remains as bleak as ever. All of the spending has been wasteful! Of course, they are wrong.
They forget that the economic crisis started under a Republican president, whose solution just before he left office, as the economy was sinking was to pour billions of dollars into Wall Street firms. President Obama followed that precedence. The valid criticism of the president is that he followed it with so much faith, instead of ensuring that Main Street was made the focus of the recovery under his watch.
Imagine what the situation would have been today, if the president's stimulus package had dedicated close to a trillion dollars to buy up most of the troubled mortgages in the United States, as a means of resetting those mortgages at today's interest rates for 15 to 30 years. In order to boost the political support for such a program, all mortgages might have been qualified for the modification, solving much of the mortgage problems at the roots of the recession. The Fannie Mae corporation might have been used to make the entire program automatic.
The economic situation would have been dramatically different today. However, politics is the art of the possible, and Charles E. Lindblom (1977) reminds us that in systems such as this, business occupies a privileged position, which any president will ignore to his own peril. Wall Street and business will have the upper hand.
I thank you.
Fubara David-West
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Glen Beck, Conservative icon beckons America to God
Glen Beck, conservative icon beckons America to God: Who would quarell with that?
Sunday, August 29, 2010 1:06 PM
This is just nonsensical. Who said that America had moved away from God? The nation has always kept its adherence to religious values, while attempting to stay within the necessary constitutional strictures, which among other things, make it possible for African-Americans to be recognized as citizens with full rights.
This rhetoric about God, American public life, and politics (often implied) has been a long-running devise by which conservatives have sought to do god's work in politics, by condemning liberal thought as either ungodly or a sure ticket to hell. That is how the Christian Right has been able to convince a lot of people that supporting conservative politicians and most recently, President Bush, for instance is a Christian duty. In that regard, they violate the important instruction from Jesus Christ to give unto Caesar Caesar's and unto God, God's.
For a long time, the war was against the poorest of the poor: mothers on welfare, who were portrayed as the evil genius behind much of what was wrong with traditional values. President Clinton, for instance, who was a smart politician, did not buy into the narrative, but pushed for radical welfare reform, in order to take the issue away from the Religious Right.
Now, people like Glen Beck are blowing the horn again, partially to whip up the emotions of the rabble against President Obama, an African-American trailblazer, whom many in the ultra-conservative wing, continue to see as an impostor: an African, who should not qualify for the presidency, or a godless socialist, who should be ostracized in the tradition of the Red Scare.
The God these people march for is the jealous and militant God of the Old Testament, who would destroy the enemies of the Israelites, just to make a point, even though the same God supposedly created all of humanity and the natural world; a God who would fight their political battles, while condemning their opponents to eternal hell.
In that sense, these people are truly the Christian Taliban. Without the larger cultural context within which they operate: a context that could juxtapose the noble vision of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and those of the Christian Taliban, and ask free peoples to draw contrasts and comparisons, these folks will feel very comfortable in the caves of Afghanistan, and in the Madrasas of Pakistan.
I thank you.
Fubara David-West.
Sunday, August 29, 2010 1:06 PM
This is just nonsensical. Who said that America had moved away from God? The nation has always kept its adherence to religious values, while attempting to stay within the necessary constitutional strictures, which among other things, make it possible for African-Americans to be recognized as citizens with full rights.
This rhetoric about God, American public life, and politics (often implied) has been a long-running devise by which conservatives have sought to do god's work in politics, by condemning liberal thought as either ungodly or a sure ticket to hell. That is how the Christian Right has been able to convince a lot of people that supporting conservative politicians and most recently, President Bush, for instance is a Christian duty. In that regard, they violate the important instruction from Jesus Christ to give unto Caesar Caesar's and unto God, God's.
For a long time, the war was against the poorest of the poor: mothers on welfare, who were portrayed as the evil genius behind much of what was wrong with traditional values. President Clinton, for instance, who was a smart politician, did not buy into the narrative, but pushed for radical welfare reform, in order to take the issue away from the Religious Right.
Now, people like Glen Beck are blowing the horn again, partially to whip up the emotions of the rabble against President Obama, an African-American trailblazer, whom many in the ultra-conservative wing, continue to see as an impostor: an African, who should not qualify for the presidency, or a godless socialist, who should be ostracized in the tradition of the Red Scare.
The God these people march for is the jealous and militant God of the Old Testament, who would destroy the enemies of the Israelites, just to make a point, even though the same God supposedly created all of humanity and the natural world; a God who would fight their political battles, while condemning their opponents to eternal hell.
In that sense, these people are truly the Christian Taliban. Without the larger cultural context within which they operate: a context that could juxtapose the noble vision of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and those of the Christian Taliban, and ask free peoples to draw contrasts and comparisons, these folks will feel very comfortable in the caves of Afghanistan, and in the Madrasas of Pakistan.
I thank you.
Fubara David-West.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Beck and Palin: A people get the kind of leaders they deserve
Beck and Palin: A People Get the Kind of leaders they Deserve
Friday, August 27, 2010 3:55 PM
From:
"Fubara David-West"Add sender to Contacts
What can you say about the state of Conservative politics in the USA, when an air-head like Glenn Beck and the attractive, but clueless Sarah Palin, could attract so many followers? I think that it is illustrative of the wretchedness of the Conservative program today, which bets heavily on the possibility that the American people have very short memories, and are easily swayed by rabid jingoism, racism disguised as genuine political opposition, abject folly, with a confetti of disjointed thought, promoted as ultimate political wisdom.
The uplifting thing for all Americans, must be that the founding principles, and documents of the country anticipated moments such as this, when the hoi polloi might be swayed by loud zealots posing as patriots. That is why all of the checks and balances in constitutional and political practice, built into the system, continue to ensure that the United States does not settle for the foolish rabble-rouser for very long periods of time.
However, a people will get the kinds of political leaders and politics they deserve, at any point in their history. Imagine what might have happened, if Americans, two years ago, settled for a set of leaders, who convinced themselves that because government spending would be unpopular, the entire economy should be allowed to crumble in a depression.
By making a different choice, the people deserved the leaders they had, who were willing to make unpopular decisions to avoid the abyss. However, democratic politics has its flimsy moments. Thus, those who now think that two years removed from the economic meltdown, everything should be back to normal, can have their political moment.
I thank you.
Fubara David-West.
The Racial Politics of Glenn Beck's March on Washington
(Page 1 of 2)
Chris Keane / Reuters-Landov
Fox News host Glenn Beck speaks to the National Rifle Association.
By now the political cycle of racial accusation and counter-accusation has become so predictable you could set your watch to it:
Stage 1: A Republican politician, conservative leader or talking head makes an offensive remark. See: Trent Lott, Mark Williams, Rush Limbaugh (repeatedly), Dr. Laura Schlessinger.
Stage 2: African-Americans and liberals highlight the remarks and explain why they are offensive.
Stage 3: The politician or talking head apologizes and/or defends himself or herself. Sometimes he or she goes on to resign.
Stage 4: Conservatives are outraged that the humorless PC police have taken down one of their leaders over something as insignificant as praising segregation or using a racial epithet. They fulminate, claiming that civil-rights groups such as the NAACP and the media are more credulous about accusations of racism toward conservatives than liberals.
As the recent episode with black USDA official Shirley Sherrod being railroaded by the NAACP and the media after a misleadingly edited video of her remarks was posted by conservative provocateur Andrew Breitbart demonstrates, African-American political figures are under just as intense a microscope when it comes to potentially offensive remarks. But it does seem that conservatives are constantly being accused of racial insensitivity and the tiresome cycle begins anew. Why is that?
Perhaps it has something to do with so many conservatives frequently behaving insensitively. Consider Glenn Beck's so-called Restoring Honor Rally, for which he just so happens to have booked the steps of the Lincoln Memorial for Saturday, the 47th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Civil-rights organizations typically commemorate the massive civil- rights demonstration and Martin Luther King Jr.'s iconic "I Have a Dream" speech there on that date.
Beck says the event will "reclaim the civil-rights movement," from progressives who have hijacked it for their redistributive agenda. The original March on Washington, like the civil-rights movement more generally, saw economic justice (hence "jobs") as inextricable from legal equality. It was an inherently liberal cause. Beck can disagree, and say that the two goals are separable, as indeed he does.
But to claim, as he recently has, that economic justice was not a concern of the civil-rights movement, and that liberal political leaders who are popular among African-Americans are "perverting" the cause, is both demonstrably false and deeply disrespectful to the African-American community. Beck says he and his overwhelmingly white followers "are the inheritors and protectors of the civil- rights movement." This is as direct a provocation to civil-rights activists as it would be to conservatives if Keith Olbermann said that he and his viewers were the inheritors and protectors of Ronald Reagan's legacy.
Beck's rally will feature Sarah Palin as a speaker. Yes, that's the same Sarah Palin who just last week claimed Dr. Laura was being “shackled” for her profligate use of the N-word on air and then urged Dr. Laura to "reload." (Whether Palin was referring to a gun or a firehose is unclear.)
Civil-rights leaders are pushing back by holding their own competing rallies elsewhere in Washington. Meanwhile one of Beck's fellow inheritors of the civil-rights movement, Tea Party organizer and blogger Andrew Ian Dodge, helpfully posted a visitors' guide to D.C. for his cohort. The guide warns against venturing into most of Washington outside of a small strip of downtown and fancy areas to its north and west. The areas that are proscribed are predominantly black, while the areas that are deemed safe are among the few mostly white neighborhoods in Washington.
Other helpful advice: "Most taxi drivers and many waiters/waitresses (especially in local coffee shops like the Bread and Chocolate chain) are immigrants, frequently from east Africa or Arab countries. As a rule, African immigrants do not like for you to assume they are African-Americans." Remarkably enough, some African-American commentators found the guide offensive.
So, to recap: Tea Party activists, who surveys suggest are disproportionately white and more likely to hold negative views toward African-Americans, have pushed civil rights off the site of a great moment for African-Americans on its anniversary—which also happens to be the day before the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and the government's consequent abandonment of New Orleans' mostly African-American poor residents—to cheer for Palin and Beck as they inveigh against economic justice and activist government.
The next time a conservative makes a racially inflammatory remark, perhaps he shouldn't wonder why he doesn't get the benefit of the doubt.
Next
1
Friday, August 27, 2010 3:55 PM
From:
"Fubara David-West"
What can you say about the state of Conservative politics in the USA, when an air-head like Glenn Beck and the attractive, but clueless Sarah Palin, could attract so many followers? I think that it is illustrative of the wretchedness of the Conservative program today, which bets heavily on the possibility that the American people have very short memories, and are easily swayed by rabid jingoism, racism disguised as genuine political opposition, abject folly, with a confetti of disjointed thought, promoted as ultimate political wisdom.
The uplifting thing for all Americans, must be that the founding principles, and documents of the country anticipated moments such as this, when the hoi polloi might be swayed by loud zealots posing as patriots. That is why all of the checks and balances in constitutional and political practice, built into the system, continue to ensure that the United States does not settle for the foolish rabble-rouser for very long periods of time.
However, a people will get the kinds of political leaders and politics they deserve, at any point in their history. Imagine what might have happened, if Americans, two years ago, settled for a set of leaders, who convinced themselves that because government spending would be unpopular, the entire economy should be allowed to crumble in a depression.
By making a different choice, the people deserved the leaders they had, who were willing to make unpopular decisions to avoid the abyss. However, democratic politics has its flimsy moments. Thus, those who now think that two years removed from the economic meltdown, everything should be back to normal, can have their political moment.
I thank you.
Fubara David-West.
The Racial Politics of Glenn Beck's March on Washington
(Page 1 of 2)
Chris Keane / Reuters-Landov
Fox News host Glenn Beck speaks to the National Rifle Association.
By now the political cycle of racial accusation and counter-accusation has become so predictable you could set your watch to it:
Stage 1: A Republican politician, conservative leader or talking head makes an offensive remark. See: Trent Lott, Mark Williams, Rush Limbaugh (repeatedly), Dr. Laura Schlessinger.
Stage 2: African-Americans and liberals highlight the remarks and explain why they are offensive.
Stage 3: The politician or talking head apologizes and/or defends himself or herself. Sometimes he or she goes on to resign.
Stage 4: Conservatives are outraged that the humorless PC police have taken down one of their leaders over something as insignificant as praising segregation or using a racial epithet. They fulminate, claiming that civil-rights groups such as the NAACP and the media are more credulous about accusations of racism toward conservatives than liberals.
As the recent episode with black USDA official Shirley Sherrod being railroaded by the NAACP and the media after a misleadingly edited video of her remarks was posted by conservative provocateur Andrew Breitbart demonstrates, African-American political figures are under just as intense a microscope when it comes to potentially offensive remarks. But it does seem that conservatives are constantly being accused of racial insensitivity and the tiresome cycle begins anew. Why is that?
Perhaps it has something to do with so many conservatives frequently behaving insensitively. Consider Glenn Beck's so-called Restoring Honor Rally, for which he just so happens to have booked the steps of the Lincoln Memorial for Saturday, the 47th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Civil-rights organizations typically commemorate the massive civil- rights demonstration and Martin Luther King Jr.'s iconic "I Have a Dream" speech there on that date.
Beck says the event will "reclaim the civil-rights movement," from progressives who have hijacked it for their redistributive agenda. The original March on Washington, like the civil-rights movement more generally, saw economic justice (hence "jobs") as inextricable from legal equality. It was an inherently liberal cause. Beck can disagree, and say that the two goals are separable, as indeed he does.
But to claim, as he recently has, that economic justice was not a concern of the civil-rights movement, and that liberal political leaders who are popular among African-Americans are "perverting" the cause, is both demonstrably false and deeply disrespectful to the African-American community. Beck says he and his overwhelmingly white followers "are the inheritors and protectors of the civil- rights movement." This is as direct a provocation to civil-rights activists as it would be to conservatives if Keith Olbermann said that he and his viewers were the inheritors and protectors of Ronald Reagan's legacy.
Beck's rally will feature Sarah Palin as a speaker. Yes, that's the same Sarah Palin who just last week claimed Dr. Laura was being “shackled” for her profligate use of the N-word on air and then urged Dr. Laura to "reload." (Whether Palin was referring to a gun or a firehose is unclear.)
Civil-rights leaders are pushing back by holding their own competing rallies elsewhere in Washington. Meanwhile one of Beck's fellow inheritors of the civil-rights movement, Tea Party organizer and blogger Andrew Ian Dodge, helpfully posted a visitors' guide to D.C. for his cohort. The guide warns against venturing into most of Washington outside of a small strip of downtown and fancy areas to its north and west. The areas that are proscribed are predominantly black, while the areas that are deemed safe are among the few mostly white neighborhoods in Washington.
Other helpful advice: "Most taxi drivers and many waiters/waitresses (especially in local coffee shops like the Bread and Chocolate chain) are immigrants, frequently from east Africa or Arab countries. As a rule, African immigrants do not like for you to assume they are African-Americans." Remarkably enough, some African-American commentators found the guide offensive.
So, to recap: Tea Party activists, who surveys suggest are disproportionately white and more likely to hold negative views toward African-Americans, have pushed civil rights off the site of a great moment for African-Americans on its anniversary—which also happens to be the day before the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and the government's consequent abandonment of New Orleans' mostly African-American poor residents—to cheer for Palin and Beck as they inveigh against economic justice and activist government.
The next time a conservative makes a racially inflammatory remark, perhaps he shouldn't wonder why he doesn't get the benefit of the doubt.
Next
1
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
Axelrod: Defending the President
Dr. Axelrod has been such an effective defender of President Obama's record as the chief executive of the States, that one wishes to get a hold of the behind-the-scenes meetings with advisers that go into the policy-making mix, before the President adopts policies and the tactics on how to sell those policies.
The administration does have an impressive record, when it comes to legislative triumphs on such long-standing issues as health insurance reform, but the economy is still having a difficult time recovering. Furthermore, unemployment continues to be high. Meanwhile, the public and politicians have been prematurely put into a situation of stimulus-fatigue, by all of the rhetoric about excessive government spending during a deep recession.
What can be done? I think the president and his advisers should take advantage of the interconnection between domestic and foreign policies, by making a dramatic move, to speed up the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan. There are a host of reasons that could be given for that, including reducing the footprint of conventional forces, in order to fight "a smarter war" against a dwindling corp of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.
Each dollar of savings from such a move, should then be delegated to help Main Street, by buying up most of the homes that are now in foreclosure or pre-foreclosure, and reselling them to home-owners through Fannie Mae, with a reevaluated principal and fixed interest rates at current market levels.
That will change the topic on the economic front, from doldrums all around to optimism among medium and small business owners. That coupled with the legislative successes of the president and Congress so far, should re-energize the grassroots and reduce Democratic losses in the Mid-term elections.
I thank you.
Fubara David-West
Sun Jul 11, 12:17 pm ET
Axelrod tries to fend off WH critics from all sides
By Rachel Rose Hartman
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By Rachel Rose Hartman rachel Rose Hartman – Sun Jul 11, 12:17 pm ET
The Obama Administration put presidential advisor David Axelrod on the talk show circuit Sunday. In each appearance, he was peppered with questions about White House critics. With a stagnant job growth, stymied legislation and sinking poll numbers, Axelrod certainly had his share of complaints to address.
Let's review:
Sinking approval from independent voters? Axelrod conceded on ABC's This Week that "difficult times" create a "difficult election" environment for the president, but said the administration' s focus remains on how to fix the labor market and the country. "Our job is to worry about how we get people back to work, how we move this country forward, and if—if we do our job, the rest will take care of itself," Axelrod said, adding that the presidential election "is an eternity away."
The administration does have an impressive record, when it comes to legislative triumphs on such long-standing issues as health insurance reform, but the economy is still having a difficult time recovering. Furthermore, unemployment continues to be high. Meanwhile, the public and politicians have been prematurely put into a situation of stimulus-fatigue, by all of the rhetoric about excessive government spending during a deep recession.
What can be done? I think the president and his advisers should take advantage of the interconnection between domestic and foreign policies, by making a dramatic move, to speed up the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan. There are a host of reasons that could be given for that, including reducing the footprint of conventional forces, in order to fight "a smarter war" against a dwindling corp of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.
Each dollar of savings from such a move, should then be delegated to help Main Street, by buying up most of the homes that are now in foreclosure or pre-foreclosure, and reselling them to home-owners through Fannie Mae, with a reevaluated principal and fixed interest rates at current market levels.
That will change the topic on the economic front, from doldrums all around to optimism among medium and small business owners. That coupled with the legislative successes of the president and Congress so far, should re-energize the grassroots and reduce Democratic losses in the Mid-term elections.
I thank you.
Fubara David-West
Sun Jul 11, 12:17 pm ET
Axelrod tries to fend off WH critics from all sides
By Rachel Rose Hartman
Share
retweet
By Rachel Rose Hartman rachel Rose Hartman – Sun Jul 11, 12:17 pm ET
The Obama Administration put presidential advisor David Axelrod on the talk show circuit Sunday. In each appearance, he was peppered with questions about White House critics. With a stagnant job growth, stymied legislation and sinking poll numbers, Axelrod certainly had his share of complaints to address.
Let's review:
Sinking approval from independent voters? Axelrod conceded on ABC's This Week that "difficult times" create a "difficult election" environment for the president, but said the administration' s focus remains on how to fix the labor market and the country. "Our job is to worry about how we get people back to work, how we move this country forward, and if—if we do our job, the rest will take care of itself," Axelrod said, adding that the presidential election "is an eternity away."
Saturday, June 5, 2010
On Israeli use of force and the Xtian Taliban
Re: [NIgerianWorldForum] GOOOOD... OBAMA: US WILL STAND WITH ISRAEL
Saturday, June 5, 2010 9:48 AM
From:
"Fubara David-West"Add sender to Contacts
Onward Christian Soldiers! Religion can truly make an ass of human beings. Thus, in the name of religion, some Muslims will blow themselves up to make a political point. In a similar vein, for religious loyalties, many Christians, even from places like Africa will hail the outrageous actions of Israel, both in the Palestinian territories, and on the high seas, to enforce an inhuman blockade, that seeks to collectively punish the Palestinians in the name of Israeli security.
One could imagine these Christians being absolutely sympathetic with an Israeli version of the insane Adolf Hitler, if he was today gassing Palestinians to death in the name of security. Many of these Christians, especially from Africa, where superstition still reigns will today be hailing such a Hitler as a tool of the Almighty God, in bringing about the ancient prophecies, with regard to his promise to Abraham. In that regard, William Blake's words regarding evil and divine creation, might be the only compelling wisdom, when it comes to making sense of the senseless.
Of course, the United States will stand with Israel, because that is the way politics is played in the United States, where the Jewish lobby and zany Christian movements, could be expected to make a lot of noise, spend a lot of political capital to paint an American president, who does not follow the orthodoxy, which says that what is good for the Jewish state is good for the United States, as a lover of Arab terrorists, or an anti-Christian ideologue, betraying the American national interest, as they imagine it in their twisted understanding of history and high politics.
The interesting thing is that in considering the geo-political implications of these matters, one could at least have some respect for the Christian soldiers in the United States, who might be called the Christian Taliban, in their penchant for the inhumane, when it comes to the treatment of the Palestinians by the Jewish state. The Africans present a great puzzle, because theirs is a mindless loyalty, borne out of what we might call cultural imperialism, nothing more; and these Africans bask in its glorious hell.
I thank you.
Fubara David-West.
Saturday, June 5, 2010 9:48 AM
From:
"Fubara David-West"
Onward Christian Soldiers! Religion can truly make an ass of human beings. Thus, in the name of religion, some Muslims will blow themselves up to make a political point. In a similar vein, for religious loyalties, many Christians, even from places like Africa will hail the outrageous actions of Israel, both in the Palestinian territories, and on the high seas, to enforce an inhuman blockade, that seeks to collectively punish the Palestinians in the name of Israeli security.
One could imagine these Christians being absolutely sympathetic with an Israeli version of the insane Adolf Hitler, if he was today gassing Palestinians to death in the name of security. Many of these Christians, especially from Africa, where superstition still reigns will today be hailing such a Hitler as a tool of the Almighty God, in bringing about the ancient prophecies, with regard to his promise to Abraham. In that regard, William Blake's words regarding evil and divine creation, might be the only compelling wisdom, when it comes to making sense of the senseless.
Of course, the United States will stand with Israel, because that is the way politics is played in the United States, where the Jewish lobby and zany Christian movements, could be expected to make a lot of noise, spend a lot of political capital to paint an American president, who does not follow the orthodoxy, which says that what is good for the Jewish state is good for the United States, as a lover of Arab terrorists, or an anti-Christian ideologue, betraying the American national interest, as they imagine it in their twisted understanding of history and high politics.
The interesting thing is that in considering the geo-political implications of these matters, one could at least have some respect for the Christian soldiers in the United States, who might be called the Christian Taliban, in their penchant for the inhumane, when it comes to the treatment of the Palestinians by the Jewish state. The Africans present a great puzzle, because theirs is a mindless loyalty, borne out of what we might call cultural imperialism, nothing more; and these Africans bask in its glorious hell.
I thank you.
Fubara David-West.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Health Insurance Reform: The Democratic Win in Perspective
By Fubara David-West
President Obama and the Democrats were the big winners yesterday, as they finally heard the message from the vote of the last elections: lead! If the president had learned the lesson from that message, in the first few months of his presidency, he would have realized from the word go, that it was a huge mistake, to basically give the Republicans a veto over his most important domestic policy initiative.
His willingness to lobby hard for bipartisanship, after the electorate handed the presidency, the House and the Senate to Democrats, merely convinced his political opponents that he was weak; and once they arrived at such an estimation, there was really no compelling reason for them to cooperate with him, in order to make his presidency successful.
The final act that got the Democrats over the finish-line: a parliamentary maneuver that avoided the vise of the super majority rule in the Senate was always available, but it was left untouched until the frigid intransigence of the Republicans, who were acting like victims of groupthink, made it crystal clear that they were not opposing health care reform because of any deep-seated philosophical issue. Theirs was a simple mission of burying the presidency of a man whom they considered to be weak. By the final act, which guaranteed this victory, President Obama showed the Republicans that their estimation of him was quite mistaken.
The Republicans have now been placed in a situation where they have to rethink their strategies. They were too quick to imagine that they could easily dust themselves off from their resounding defeat at the polls in November 2008. It is not yet good morning in the Republican Party.
I thank you.
Fubara David-West.
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By Fubara David-West
President Obama and the Democrats were the big winners yesterday, as they finally heard the message from the vote of the last elections: lead! If the president had learned the lesson from that message, in the first few months of his presidency, he would have realized from the word go, that it was a huge mistake, to basically give the Republicans a veto over his most important domestic policy initiative.
His willingness to lobby hard for bipartisanship, after the electorate handed the presidency, the House and the Senate to Democrats, merely convinced his political opponents that he was weak; and once they arrived at such an estimation, there was really no compelling reason for them to cooperate with him, in order to make his presidency successful.
The final act that got the Democrats over the finish-line: a parliamentary maneuver that avoided the vise of the super majority rule in the Senate was always available, but it was left untouched until the frigid intransigence of the Republicans, who were acting like victims of groupthink, made it crystal clear that they were not opposing health care reform because of any deep-seated philosophical issue. Theirs was a simple mission of burying the presidency of a man whom they considered to be weak. By the final act, which guaranteed this victory, President Obama showed the Republicans that their estimation of him was quite mistaken.
The Republicans have now been placed in a situation where they have to rethink their strategies. They were too quick to imagine that they could easily dust themselves off from their resounding defeat at the polls in November 2008. It is not yet good morning in the Republican Party.
I thank you.
Fubara David-West.
__._,_.___
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Friday, February 5, 2010
Haiti: Obama must stop the political correctness
The fact that Haiti is charging these Americans with a serious criminal offense, is an outrage. The Obama administration should have seen that from the very beginning, and demanded the immediate release of the Americans to the US forces, and diplomatic representatives onshore and offshore. The Obama administration must know when to use American power, instead of treating these kinds of events with the kid gloves of political correctness.
The fact is that the authorities in Haiti are in no position to dispense justice in this case, considering the total devastation of the country, following the earthquake: a devastation which has elicited the sympathy and the charity of many international organizations, and people from across the globe. Neither the relief agencies, the people pouring in to help, nor the Haitian government is currently operating in a normal environment. Some miscalculations, missteps, errors in judgment, misapplication of administrative assets are inevitable.
The Haitian government demonstrates a profound lack of appreciation of the level of the ruin all around the country, and even more importantly, of the great international assistance it will need to rebuild the country, when it parades these Americans as criminals, who presumably went into Haiti as traffickers in Haitian kids. President Obama must instruct the Secretary of State to demand an immediate end to this perilous drama.
Fubara David-West.
Haiti ambassador: 'compassion' for American missionaries charged with kidnapping
The Haitian government on Thursday charged 10 American missionaries with abduction. Haiti's ambassador to the US promised "compassion" and said the case shows the world that the government will continue to enforce the rule of law.
Four of 10 Americans who were arrested while trying to bus children out of Haiti without proper documents or government permission, arrive to court inside a Haitian police truck in Port-au-Prince, Thursday.
Rodrigo Abd / APEnlarge Photos (1 of 2)
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By Stephen Kurczy Correspondent / February 4, 2010
Boston
The 10 American missionaries who attempted to sneak 33 children out of Haiti last Saturday were charged today with kidnapping.Skip to next paragraph
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02.04.10Haiti ambassador: 'compassion' for 10 American missionaries
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02.03.10Angola oil pipeline attacked – by swordfish?
02.03.10Turkey looks to capitalize on its 'Beijing 2008 moment'
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Haiti 'orphan' rescue mission: Adoption or child trafficking?
Haiti: Americans accused of child trafficking could be tried in US
Haitian Ambassador Raymond Joseph says the charges signal that anarchy will not prevail, despite the earthquake’s destruction of most government buildings in Port-au-Prince.
“By this action, I think the Haitian government is sending a clear message to the world that there is a government in place, and that nobody can just take it upon himself or herself to come and do in Haitii whatever they think is good,” Mr. Joseph said by telephone Thursday from Washington, D.C.
The Baptist missionaries from Idaho and Kansas were brought Thursday before a judge who found sufficient evidence to charge them with abduction and criminal conspiracy. Those crimes can carry prison terms of up to 15 years.
The stated purpose of the New Life Children's Refuge group's “Haitian Orphan Rescue Mission” was to “rescue Haitian orphans.” But it came out that most of the 33 children had families and many of their parents had willingly given the children to the missionaries.
The BBC offers this video of the missionaries being whisked into the courtroom.
“We can say these people were acting in the best interests of Haiti’s children, but you must agree that what has happened is really out of the ordinary and it is illegal,” says Joseph. But he added that their motives will be taken into account during the upcoming trial and judgment.
“I am quite sure they’ll take into consideration the character of the people ... and perhaps show some compassion down the road,” he says.
It was unclear Thursday when or where the actual trial would take place. Prime Minister Max Bellerive said Monday that Haiti is open to having the American Baptist group tried in US courts, given the impact of the Jan. 12 earthquake on government institutions.
Christian groups, who have provided substantial aid to Haiti since the Jan. 12 earthquake struck, say they will continue to support the country despite the arrests.
Shortly before the court hearing, Patrick Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition met with Joseph in Washington.
“The heart of the meeting was coming to try to secure the release of the 10 missionaries who are being detained in Haiti,” says Mahoney, a Presbyterian pastor and activist from Virginia who personally knows several of the arrested Americans and works with their church in Idaho.
“I went as an advocate, saying I know what these people are like, I know who they are, and, even though mistakes were made, it’s important to know they are not child traffickers.”
Now, Mahoney says he is more disappointed in the White House than in Haiti’s officials.
“When you have Haiti’s prime minister referring to caring Christians as kidnappers, and no response from our administration about that, it’s deeply troubling.”
Joseph said he has not spoken with the White House regarding the missionaries’ arrest, but it will not become a sore point between the two countries.
“I don’t see why this should cause any friction,” he says. “I’ve talked with some people off of the record and most agree that this was uncalled for, the way [the missionaries] did it.”
Joseph said the missionaries are being held in a makeshift jail. He said they were being cared for and well fed.
In a similar case, 16 Europeans from a France-based group called Zoe's Ark were charged in 2007 with trying to smuggle 103 children out of Africa. While they were convicted and sentenced to eight years of hard labor, Chad's president pardoned the group.
Joseph said he was familiar with the case, but that it did not necessarily provide a precedent for the current one.
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The fact is that the authorities in Haiti are in no position to dispense justice in this case, considering the total devastation of the country, following the earthquake: a devastation which has elicited the sympathy and the charity of many international organizations, and people from across the globe. Neither the relief agencies, the people pouring in to help, nor the Haitian government is currently operating in a normal environment. Some miscalculations, missteps, errors in judgment, misapplication of administrative assets are inevitable.
The Haitian government demonstrates a profound lack of appreciation of the level of the ruin all around the country, and even more importantly, of the great international assistance it will need to rebuild the country, when it parades these Americans as criminals, who presumably went into Haiti as traffickers in Haitian kids. President Obama must instruct the Secretary of State to demand an immediate end to this perilous drama.
Fubara David-West.
Haiti ambassador: 'compassion' for American missionaries charged with kidnapping
The Haitian government on Thursday charged 10 American missionaries with abduction. Haiti's ambassador to the US promised "compassion" and said the case shows the world that the government will continue to enforce the rule of law.
Four of 10 Americans who were arrested while trying to bus children out of Haiti without proper documents or government permission, arrive to court inside a Haitian police truck in Port-au-Prince, Thursday.
Rodrigo Abd / APEnlarge Photos (1 of 2)
Buzz up!
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Email and share
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By Stephen Kurczy Correspondent / February 4, 2010
Boston
The 10 American missionaries who attempted to sneak 33 children out of Haiti last Saturday were charged today with kidnapping.Skip to next paragraph
Recent posts
02.04.10The global odds of a shark attack? You're more likely to eat one than be eaten
02.04.10Haiti ambassador: 'compassion' for 10 American missionaries
02.03.10French citizenship denied to man with veiled wife
02.03.10Angola oil pipeline attacked – by swordfish?
02.03.10Turkey looks to capitalize on its 'Beijing 2008 moment'
Related Stories
Haiti 'orphan' rescue mission: Adoption or child trafficking?
Haiti: Americans accused of child trafficking could be tried in US
Haitian Ambassador Raymond Joseph says the charges signal that anarchy will not prevail, despite the earthquake’s destruction of most government buildings in Port-au-Prince.
“By this action, I think the Haitian government is sending a clear message to the world that there is a government in place, and that nobody can just take it upon himself or herself to come and do in Haitii whatever they think is good,” Mr. Joseph said by telephone Thursday from Washington, D.C.
The Baptist missionaries from Idaho and Kansas were brought Thursday before a judge who found sufficient evidence to charge them with abduction and criminal conspiracy. Those crimes can carry prison terms of up to 15 years.
The stated purpose of the New Life Children's Refuge group's “Haitian Orphan Rescue Mission” was to “rescue Haitian orphans.” But it came out that most of the 33 children had families and many of their parents had willingly given the children to the missionaries.
The BBC offers this video of the missionaries being whisked into the courtroom.
“We can say these people were acting in the best interests of Haiti’s children, but you must agree that what has happened is really out of the ordinary and it is illegal,” says Joseph. But he added that their motives will be taken into account during the upcoming trial and judgment.
“I am quite sure they’ll take into consideration the character of the people ... and perhaps show some compassion down the road,” he says.
It was unclear Thursday when or where the actual trial would take place. Prime Minister Max Bellerive said Monday that Haiti is open to having the American Baptist group tried in US courts, given the impact of the Jan. 12 earthquake on government institutions.
Christian groups, who have provided substantial aid to Haiti since the Jan. 12 earthquake struck, say they will continue to support the country despite the arrests.
Shortly before the court hearing, Patrick Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition met with Joseph in Washington.
“The heart of the meeting was coming to try to secure the release of the 10 missionaries who are being detained in Haiti,” says Mahoney, a Presbyterian pastor and activist from Virginia who personally knows several of the arrested Americans and works with their church in Idaho.
“I went as an advocate, saying I know what these people are like, I know who they are, and, even though mistakes were made, it’s important to know they are not child traffickers.”
Now, Mahoney says he is more disappointed in the White House than in Haiti’s officials.
“When you have Haiti’s prime minister referring to caring Christians as kidnappers, and no response from our administration about that, it’s deeply troubling.”
Joseph said he has not spoken with the White House regarding the missionaries’ arrest, but it will not become a sore point between the two countries.
“I don’t see why this should cause any friction,” he says. “I’ve talked with some people off of the record and most agree that this was uncalled for, the way [the missionaries] did it.”
Joseph said the missionaries are being held in a makeshift jail. He said they were being cared for and well fed.
In a similar case, 16 Europeans from a France-based group called Zoe's Ark were charged in 2007 with trying to smuggle 103 children out of Africa. While they were convicted and sentenced to eight years of hard labor, Chad's president pardoned the group.
Joseph said he was familiar with the case, but that it did not necessarily provide a precedent for the current one.
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Monday, January 18, 2010
Nigerian NBC Stops Bakare's Broadcast
NBC STOPS BAKARE'S BROADCAST
Monday, January 18, 2010 9:15 AM
This is one reason why the Federal monopoly over the use of the airwaves must be discontinued. Private enterprises must be able to set up their television and radio stations to compete with the NBC. The freedom of speech and of the press in Nigeria will not be fully realized, as long as this monopoly stays in place. Those who are thinking about amending the constitution should take a note of this matter.
Nigerians should also bear in mind that keeping these kinds of anachronistic monopolies alive and kicking, is highly inimical to developing a thriving economy in the digital world. What about China? One might ask. The answer is that China is a special case, which cannot possibly be the standard for Nigeria.
China is showing that a communist state could also have a thriving market, but we have not yet come to the crossroads, when the teeming population of Chinese youth, which is very comfortable with the digital world and the global village, begin to take full charge. One can imagine a popular view in China that Karl Marx and Adam Smith are complementary, in the socio-economic universe, and that individual freedom is indivisible.
Fubara David-West.
Monday, January 18, 2010 9:15 AM
This is one reason why the Federal monopoly over the use of the airwaves must be discontinued. Private enterprises must be able to set up their television and radio stations to compete with the NBC. The freedom of speech and of the press in Nigeria will not be fully realized, as long as this monopoly stays in place. Those who are thinking about amending the constitution should take a note of this matter.
Nigerians should also bear in mind that keeping these kinds of anachronistic monopolies alive and kicking, is highly inimical to developing a thriving economy in the digital world. What about China? One might ask. The answer is that China is a special case, which cannot possibly be the standard for Nigeria.
China is showing that a communist state could also have a thriving market, but we have not yet come to the crossroads, when the teeming population of Chinese youth, which is very comfortable with the digital world and the global village, begin to take full charge. One can imagine a popular view in China that Karl Marx and Adam Smith are complementary, in the socio-economic universe, and that individual freedom is indivisible.
Fubara David-West.
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