The French Intifada


Doug Ireland shatters a number of misconceptions about the French riots in this must read post. Ireland, an American journalist who speaks French and lived in France for a decade, dissects the youths who riot, and the society that has failed to address the poverty and racism that has festered for 50 years:
...the current rebellion has little to do with Islamic fundamentalism. It is the anguished scream of a lost generation in search of an identity, children caught between two cultures and belonging to neither -- a rebellion of kids who, born in France and often speaking little Arabic, don't know the country where their parents were born, but who feel excuded, marginalized and invisible in the country in which they live.
Read the whole thing.
9.11.05 15:39


Black rage


What vicious, white racist would say such a horrible thing?
"75 percent of New Orleans residents had left the city, it was primarily immoral, welfare-pampered blacks that stayed behind and waited for the government to bail them out." So said the Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson, founder and president of BOND, the Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny.

Peterson writes, "about five years ago . . . I stated that if whites were to just leave the United States and let blacks run the country, they would turn America into a ghetto within 10 years . . . I gave blacks too much credit. It took a mere three days for blacks to turn the Superdome and the convention center into ghettos, rampant with theft, rape and murder."



Bonus quote: "Most black people--not all, but most--can't think for themselves." Rev. Peterson, speaking to College Republicans at their covention last June.
10.11.05 20:03


How low can he go?


Latest Fox News poll: Bush approval at 36 percent.
"The key to understanding Bush's rating is not the fact that 84 percent of Democrats disapprove or that 72 percent of Republicans still approve ? they?ve been polarized for a long time," comments Opinion Dynamics Chairman John Gorman. "The real problem for the president is that self-described independents now disapprove by a 58 percent to 26 percent margin. The 'rally-the-base' strategies that have worked so well for the administration are not likely to win back the independents the Republicans need to return to parity. The question is whether they can develop an approach that wins back independents."
Some people will approve of Bush even if he runs over their dog.

Armistice Day

Today it's called Veteran's Day, but Nov. 11 was originally set aside by President Woodrow Wilson in 1919 to commemorate the end of The Great War. That's what it was called then. Now we call it World War One. Here's a poem from that period, by the British poet Wilfred Owen.

The Next War

Out there, we've walked quite friendly up to Death;
Sat down an eaten with him, cool and bland, -
Pardoned his spilling mess-tins in our hand.
We've sniffed the green thick odour of his breath, -
Our eyes wept, but our courage didn't writhe.
He's spat at us with bullets and he's coughed
Shrapnel. We chorused when he sang aloft;
We whistled while he shaved us with his scythe.

Oh, Death was never enemy of ours!
We laughed at him, we leagued with him, old chum.
No soldier's paid to kick against his powers.
We laughed, knowing that better men would come,
And greater wars; when each proud fighter brags
He wars on Death - for lives; not men - for flags.



Old jokes really are the best

The Four Ghosts Of The White House
One night, George W. Bush is tossing restlessly in his White House bed. He awakens to see George Washington standing by him Bush asks him, "George, what's the best thing I can do to help the country?"

"Set an honest and honorable example, just as I did," Washington advises, and then fades away

The next night, Bush is astir again, and sees the ghost of Thomas Jefferson moving through the darkened bedroom. Bush calls out, "Tom, please! What is the best thing I can do to help the country?"

"Respect the Constitution, as I did," Jefferson advises, and dims from sight...

The third night sleep still does not come for Bush. He awakens to see the ghost of FDR hovering over his bed. Bush whispers, "Franklin, What is the best thing I can do to help the country?"

"Help the less fortunate, just as I did," FDR replies and fades into the mist...

Bush isn't sleeping well the fourth night when he sees another figure moving in the shadows. It is the ghost of Abraham Lincoln. Bush pleads, "Abe, what is the best thing I can do right now to help the country?"

Lincoln replies, "Go see a play."

h/t LJ's Blogorific
11.11.05 14:03


Waterboarding

Andrew Sullivan, aka George Bush's worst nightmare, on Donald Rumsfeld's favorite form of torture:
Water-boarding...is a specific technique directly authorized by Rumsfeld, described in the Schmidt Report, under the John Yoo rules, as legally permissible even for POWs under the Geneva Conventions. The Schmidt Report described this treatment as "humane." It is very important to focus on the specifics of what this president has authorized. When he says "We do not torture," he means that this technique is not "torture". A technique used by South American dictators is fine by Bush. This from a president who had the chutzpah to respond to Abu Ghraib by saying that the abuses did not reflect America's values. He was right. They reflect Bush's values. But Bush has made his own depraved morality synonymous with America's.
Waterboarding consists of strapping a person onto an inclined board, so the victim's head is lower than his feet. An absorbent towel or placed over the victim's head, and water is slowly poured onto the towel. It becomes harder and harder for the victim to breath, which creates the sensation of drowning. Because the victim's lungs are higher than his head, there is little danger of water entering the lungs. In many cases, the victim will actually pass out, only to be revived so the process can start again.

George Bush says this is not torture.
13.11.05 03:00


Our brave allies, the Saudis


Via The Religious Policeman:

A Saudi chemistry teacher has been sentenced to imprisonment and public flogging for mocking Islam and studying witchcraft. Muhammad Al-Harbi was ratted out by some students who were upset that they weren't allowed to retake a chemistry exam. But the real reasons for Al-Harbi's problems lie with his attitude towards terrorism. He's against it.
Deeply disturbed by the explosions at the Al-Hamra Compound in Riyadh in 2003, Al-Harbi felt it his duty as an educator to enlighten his students and warn them of terrorism and its consequences. He went to great lengths by talking to students, hanging anti-terrorism signs around the school and speaking against terrorism.

"The Ministry of Education has recently ordered all schools to lecture students on the dangers of extremism and terrorism in general, but I was a step ahead of their decision," said Al-Harbi.

Apparently Al-Harbi's actions and comments against terrorism upset a number of Islamic studies teachers known for their fundamentalist beliefs. After the Al-Hamra blast in Riyadh, Al-Harbi copied an article, Cavemen Go to Hell written by Saudi columnist Hammad Al-Salmi in Al-Jazirah newspaper, attacking terrorists and extremists. Al-Harbi posted the article on the school bulletin board but it was ripped off and torn to pieces.

The teachers, as one of the students' fathers admitted to Al-Harbi, used to visit students in their homes, encouraging them to disobey Al-Harbi and calling him names. One of the Islamic studies teachers stopped Al-Harbi in a morning school assembly from speaking against Abdul Aziz Al-Muqrin, identified by the Saudi government as a terrorist and who was on the government's list of wanted terrorists. The teacher told Al-Harbi that Al-Muqrin was a Muslim and that no matter what he had done, no one should speak against him.

"They told the students that I studied under secular teachers and thus I?m not to be trusted in any subject except for chemistry," said Al-Harbi.
I'm sure that Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice would be very disturbed to hear that the Saudi Courts are punishing people who speak against terrorism.

Condoleeza Rice blows Saudi foreign minister

JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said he is less worried that U.S. policies in Iraq will bring on a civil war there, and pledged anew to contribute $1 billion for rebuilding that war-ravaged country's shattered infrastructure.

"My fears are much more eased,'' Prince Saud al-Faisal said Sunday following meetings with Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice.

Before Iraqi voters passed a new constitution last month, Saud had told U.S. reporters he worried that sectarian disputes complicated by the U.S. presence in Iraq were pulling the country toward civil war.

He said Saudi Arabia is working to distribute the reconstruction money promised earlier this year, but gave no date for it. The United States has chided Arab states for not doing enough to support post-Saddam Iraq and for being reluctant to open embassies there.

Rice said Saudi Arabia can do more to root out the sources of terror financing, but said the two countries were working together well.

``The reason that countries or leaders are fighting terrorism is not to please us, not to please the United States,'' Rice said. ``It's because their own people are dying ... because their own region is suffering a sense of instability.''
14.11.05 17:33


Rep. John Murtha




The Republican Party has a new boogie man, but he ain't scarin' the right people.

Rep. John Murtha, D-Cajones, is a decorated Marine combat veteran. When he was first elected to congress in 1974, at the age of 42, he was the first Vietnam Vet to serve in either house. He represents the 12th congressional district of Pennsylvania, hardcore mining country in the state's southwest corner. Remember the movie "The Deerhunter"? Uh-huh. That's the 12th district. Work all day, join up at the tavern afterwards. Pitchers of cold Pabst, quarters lined up on the pool table, Johnny Cash on the jukebox. The 12th district is as red as they come, yet Murtha, a Democrat, carried his district with 73Èf the vote in 2002. The Republicans didn't even try in 2004.

Murtha is a Democratic hawk who voted for the first Iraq War. He also supports the partial birth abortion ban, and drilling for oil in Alaska. He wants to loosen gun restrictions, and he says we need to re-instate the draft.

No wonder the GOP flew into full panic mode after Murtha stood in the well of the House and called for bringing our troops home from Iraq. As Ruddy Gore says:
The White House has fired back that Murtha is "endorsing the policy positions of Michael Moore and the extreme liberal wing of the Democratic party." If I were a Republican, responses like this would worry me. In the normal scheme of things, this "tar first and ask questions never" rhetoric is left to loyalist bloggers. When Bush and Cheney actually start smearing people on their own, it reeks of flop sweat.
John Murtha doesn't oppose the war because he's been swapping spit with Barney Frank. Murtha decided to bring the boys home after listening to the boys back home - the coalminers and truckers, the waitresses and salesmen who keep re-electing for 15 straight terms.

Meanwhile, Bush's poll numbers are still heading south. As Tina Fey said on SNL, 66 percent of Americans disapprove of President Bush's job performance, while 34 percent think Adam and Eve rode a dinosaur to church.

If the Democrats want to rise above the level of Capital Hill doormats, they need to make peace with guys like John Murtha. If for no other reason than it's really fun to see President Flop Sweat squirm.


Lest we forget

"Russert: If your analysis is not correct, and we’re not treated as liberators, but as conquerors, and the Iraqis begin to resist, particularly in Baghdad, do you think the American people are prepared for a long, costly, and bloody battle with significant American casualties?"

"VP Cheney: Well, I don’t think it’s likely to unfold that way, Tim, because I really do believe that we will be greeted as liberators. I’ve talked with a lot of Iraqis in the last several months myself, had them to the White House. The president and I have met with them, various groups and individuals, people who have devoted their lives from the outside to trying to change things inside Iraq. And like Kanan Makiya who’s a professor at Brandeis, but an Iraqi, he’s written great books about the subject, knows the country intimately, and is a part of the democratic opposition and resistance. The read we get on the people of Iraq is there is no question but what they want to the get rid of Saddam Hussein and they will welcome as liberators the United States when we come to do that."

h/t
Crooks and Liars
19.11.05 17:14


From the Heraldblog archives




Wow, Barbara Bush hasn't changed at all. Neither has
little Georgie, for that matter.
19.11.05 17:53


[first page] [previous page]  [next page]