|
Latest Articles: Opinions/Editorials
Ann Coulter: Parasitical Wretch Or Clueless Idiot?
Post Date: 2011-02-16 12:20:15 by Brian S
2 Comments
Ann Coulter has had her day. Unfortunately that day ended with the exit of Bill Clinton from the White House. Her schtick back then was criticism of Clinton for the various torts that almost got him impeached. After Clinton left office, she became just another brainless Bushite, a blind follower of the most profoundly un-conservative president in recent history. Our girl didn't have the experience in politics needed to see through the neocon agenda of open borders and liberal internationalism. And any presumptively conservative pundit who failed to see through Bush lost all credibility. Of ocurse that disqualifies just about all the wannabe conservatives who occupy the ...
Obama Isn't Trying to 'Weaken America'
Post Date: 2011-02-15 20:09:09 by Skip Intro
0 Comments
Some conservatives call the president the political equivalent of a suicide bomber: so consumed with hatred that he's willing to blow himself up in order to inflict casualties on a society he loathes. Some conservative commentators may feel inclined to spend Presidents Day ruminating over Barack Obama's evil intentions, or denouncing the chief executive as an alien interloper and ideologue perversely determined to damage the republic. Instead, they should consider the history of John Adams's White House prayer and develop a more effective focus for their criticism. On Nov. 2, 1800, a day after he became the first president to occupy the newly constructed executive mansion, ...
7 Non-Political Differences Between Liberals and Conservatives
Post Date: 2011-02-14 21:06:17 by A K A Stone
10 Comments
People who don't follow politics tend to believe that conservatives and liberals are just flip sides of the same coin. In other words, conservatives are pro-life, pro-gun, and fiscally conservative while liberals are pro-choice, anti-gun, and want to tax and spend, but otherwise, there are no real differences. However, if you follow politics closely, you'll find that there's a gulf as wide as the ocean between the average politically active conservative and the average politically active liberal. We don't just have political differences; we view the world through very different eyes. Of course, I don't want to oversell this because as Americans, conservatives and ...
What Egypt Can Teach America
Post Date: 2011-02-14 15:54:26 by Brian S
2 Comments
It’s a new day in the Arab world — and, let’s hope, in American relations to the Arab world The truth is that the United States has been behind the curve not only in Tunisia and Egypt for the last few weeks, but in the entire Middle East for decades. We supported corrupt autocrats as long as they kept oil flowing and weren’t too aggressive toward Israel. Even in the last month, we sometimes seemed as out of touch with the region’s youth as a Ben Ali or a Mubarak. Recognizing that crafting foreign policy is 1,000 times harder than it looks, let me suggest four lessons to draw from our mistakes: 1.) Stop treating Islamic fundamentalism as a bogyman and allowing it ...
Tea-Party Traitors
Post Date: 2011-02-14 13:45:32 by Brian S
0 Comments
Unlike many right-wing commentators, I did not endorse the tea-party movement when it erupted. Nor, like a few unusually shameless media whores, did I rush to leap in front of the parade and claim that I was leading it. I did not even think of doing either because I concluded from the start that the tea party is a useless and incoherent political mirage that is unlikely to accomplish anything of substance. It is not elections but the subsequent actions of the officials elected that matter. This is why, despite the Republican landslide of 2010 that saw an amazing 40 tea party-backed Republicans elected to the House of Representatives, I see absolutely no reason to change my mind about it. ...
Roubini’s Next Crisis Is Scary Food for Thought
Post Date: 2011-02-14 12:45:45 by Brian S
0 Comments
Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Forget Egypt for a moment. Skip the water crisis in China. Look past angst on the streets of Bangladesh. If you want to see how extreme the effects of surging food prices are becoming, look to wealthy Japan. So big are the increases that economists are buzzing about them pushing deflationary Japan toward inflation. Yes, rising costs for commodities such as wheat, corn and coffee might do what trillions of dollars of central-bank liquidity couldn’t. Yet the economic consequences of food prices pale in comparison with the social ones. Nowhere could the fallout be greater than Asia, where a critical mass of those living on less than $2 a day reside. It might ...
Mubarak's Departure Thwarted Israeli Strike On Iran
Post Date: 2011-02-13 18:35:02 by Brian S
1 Comments
Most Israelis were either born or immigrated to this country during the period in which Hosni Mubarak ruled Egypt. This is the reality they know. And this is the significance of the stability that Mubarak provided them with. In all the upheavals that took place in the Middle East over the past three decades, the Egyptian regime appeared to be a powerful rock. The leaders of Israel knew that their left flank was secure as they went out to war, built settlements and negotiated peace on the other fronts. The friction in relations between Jerusalem and Cairo, however frustrating it was at times, did not undermine the foundations of the strategic alliance created by the Israeli-Egyptian peace ...
When Will Obama Start Talking To Hamas And Hezbollah?
Post Date: 2011-02-13 18:27:29 by Brian S
2 Comments
It is often said that in the Middle East, anything is possible; judging by America's behavior toward Egypt, one can say the same thing about U.S. policy. By Zvi Bar'el Under other circumstances, that is, were our prime minister known for his foresight and for his planning and analytical capabilities, one might even suspect him of being behind the "provocation" in Cairo, which, of course, serves the "Zionist interest." How pleasant to see the United States digging itself a deeper hole every day with its declarations and suggestions to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak: Yes to resigning now; no to resigning now; lift the state of emergency; dissolve parliament, ...
The Hypocrisy Of Zionism; The terrorism is real—but who are the real terrorists?
Post Date: 2011-02-13 18:21:49 by Brian S
0 Comments
By Sarah Carlson February 12, 2011 Seattle bus ad censored due to Zionist pressure On Jan. 27, a group of Israeli settlers opened fire on the West Bank village of Beit Ommar. Yousef Fakhri Ikhlayl, 17-years-old, was shot in the head while standing in his family's vineyard. Two days later, Israeli “security” forces opened fire on Ikhlayl’s funeral procession—first with sound grenades and teargas canisters and then with rubber bullets and live ammunition. Less than two weeks earlier and nearly 7,500 miles away, a group called “Stand With Us” launched an ad campaign in six San Francisco Bay Area BART stations. This was in response to ads placed in three of ...
What "Original Intent" Would Look Like
Post Date: 2011-02-13 13:19:56 by Brian S
0 Comments
Tea Partiers would be surprised how little freedom they'd have if we read the Constitution literally By David Schultz Salon/iStockphoto With reverence and awe, Michele Bachmann and the Tea Party pay homage to the original Constitution and framers who drafted the document in 1787. The House of Representatives, in a nod to them, began its session this year by reading it. Bachmann even brought Antonin Scalia to a seminar on the Constitution for members of Congress, where the Supreme Court justice instructed members to read the Federalist Papers and follow the framers' original intent. Moreover, many of the Tea Party's political positions, such as opposition to ...
10 Historical 'Facts' Only a Right-Winger Could Believe
Post Date: 2011-02-12 19:25:38 by Brian S
4 Comments
LIKE THIS ARTICLE ? Join our mailing list: Sign up to stay up to date on the latest headlines via email. Petitions by Change.org|Start a Petition 33; As you may have noticed by following their writings, conservatives are not sticklers for historical accuracy, especially when they have a point to defend and not a lot of evidence to support it. Get a load, for example, of John Podhoretz explaining how the pro-choice Rudy Giuliani reduced abortions in New York City (though, um, not really) because he cut crime, which is one of "the spiritual causes of abortion." Yeah, deadline pressure's a bitch. But there are some bizarre notions of American history in which ...
Buchanan: Bush's New 'Axis of Evil'
Post Date: 2011-02-11 12:25:33 by Brian S
0 Comments
George W. Bush must have been the despair of the history department of every school his daddy managed to get him into. Consider his latest excursion into the history of the republic, at Southern Methodist, where the Great Man's papers are to be housed. "What's interesting about our country, if you study history, is that there are some 'isms' that occasionally pop up. One is isolationism and its evil twin protectionism and its evil triplet nativism. So if you study the '20s, for example, there was an American-first policy that said, 'Who cares what happens in Europe?' ... And there was an immigration policy that I think during this period argued we had too ...
Obama's Meddling: A Mess or a Mission?
Post Date: 2011-02-11 08:26:07 by A K A Stone
11 Comments
Barry Rubin, editorialist for the Jerusalem Post, opined today at American Thinker that Barack Obama has so utterly failed in his Middle East diplomacy that no ME nation can now trust either his judgment or his promise. The following is a portion of his thoughts. Here are some implications: --Israel will not take risks or make concessions based on this administration's promises because it doesn't keep its promises or its commitments. The Administration is only proving the ineptness that Israelis already expected. --But, of course, the same applies to the Palestinian Authority. Do you think it believes the U.S. government is going to protect it from Hamas? --Do you think the Saudis ...
Egypt Demonstrates for Democracy; Americans Contemplate PATRIOT Act Extension
Post Date: 2011-02-10 19:00:44 by Brian S
4 Comments
Egypt Shames AmericaIn spite of our own interests, Americans and the US government are supplying the boots that rest on the necks of citizens of Egypt and dictatorships around the world. Meanwhile, we remain silent as the impending reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act threatens to speed the momentum of repression in our own country.The uprisings across the Middle East expose how long America has impeded democracy abroad, rather than supporting it. And the contrast between Arabs mobilizing to obtain freedom, while we in America sit idly by as our elected leaders undermine our rights, is a sobering reminder of our own democracy's faults.The Boot That Rests on Their Necks ...The Egyptian ...
LOCAL REPORT: Jackson, Michigan Jobless Drop Among The Biggest In The Nation
Post Date: 2011-02-10 14:50:30 by Brian S
0 Comments
It was already impressive enough to learn that Jackson County’s jobless rate dropped 4.3 percentage points in a year. But did you know that’s one of the biggest improvements in the country? The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last week that only two other communities in the country saw a greater dip in their unemployment rate from December 2009 to December 2010. Both — Muskegon (4.8 percentage points) and Monroe (4.4 percent) — are in Michigan. In fact, the 10 biggest drops all took place in our Wolverine State. Is the glass half empty or half full? A community’s jobless rate likely won’t fall so much unless it is high in the first place. Indeed, ...
Why Conservatives are Turning on Beck [Full Thread]
Post Date: 2011-02-09 00:27:50 by Brian S
53 Comments
Adam Serwer asks a good question: why now? Why, after all the obvious agreement between conservatives and Beck -- on Israel, on Islam, on big bad bogeymen like shari'ah water-carriers and socialists and Stalinists et al. -- are conservatives suddenly, as Anthea put it yesterday, circling Beck like sharks? As I discussed as the Egypt news was breaking and Beck was jumping on the opportunity to link the Muslim Brotherhood to the grand socialist conspiracy, American conservatives have a long-standing affection for conspiracy theories surrounding the Muslim Brotherhood and its supposed plot to take over America with a "caliphate." As Media Matters notes today, Beck shares a ...
Will The Real Zionists Please Stand Up?
Post Date: 2011-02-08 19:46:21 by Brian S
0 Comments
If I had a hundred rupees for every time I’ve heard the term ‘Zionist’ or ‘Zionist conspiracy’ used in everyday conversation, newspaper articles or political speeches, I’d be a rich man. But despite the term’s widespread use it is bandied about with little understanding of its meaning, origin or implications. In fact, the words ‘Jewish’, ‘Israeli’ and ‘Zionist’ are used interchangeably. Let’s try to clarify this a bit: Judaism is a religion, Israel is a state and Zionism is an ideology. Dr Alan Sabrovsky, a former US marine of Jewish origin describes modern Zionism as a “witches’ brew of xenophobia, ...
Sarah Palin insults Ronald Reagan's legacy
Post Date: 2011-02-08 13:33:45 by go65
4 Comments
Now here comes the ubiquitous Sarah Palin claiming the mantle of Ronald Reagan's legacy. I have recently been minimizing the Sarah Palin commentary, and trying to emphasize more substantive matters, because I am bored to death by much liberal obsession with Palin and partisan hack jobs by the Dick Morris types on the right. In this case, Sarah Palin has nothing in common with Ronald Reagan. Reagan would never have thought of quitting as governor of California, as Palin quit as governor of Alaska. Reagan treated opponents with civility and decency, no matter how much he disagreed with them. Ronald Reagan believed in the art of negotiation, which he learned as president of the Screen ...
Palin’s Neocon Path
Post Date: 2011-02-08 12:47:14 by Brian S
13 Comments
When John McCain announced his choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate on August 29, 2008, the only foreign policy experience or expertise the Republican vice presidential candidate could point to was her 20 months as Governor of the only state between Canada and Russia. But the former Governor and potential 2012 presidential candidate has come a long way in the little more than two years since the enormously successful “hockey mom” speech she delivered at the Republican National Convention. In an op-ed piece in USA Today last December 21, Palin sounded like an old foreign policy hand from inside the Washington beltway.In the article, headlined “Time to Get ...
Dr. Ron Paul: Our 30 Year Mistake
Post Date: 2011-02-07 18:41:24 by Brian S
5 Comments
The events in Egypt of late have captured the attention of the world, as many thousands of Egyptians take to the streets both in opposition to and in favor of the current regime. We watch from a distance hoping that events do not spiral further into violence, which will destroy lives and threaten the livelihoods of average Egyptians caught up in the political turmoil. I hope that Egyptians are able to work toward a more free and just society. Unfortunately, much of the blame for the unrest in Egypt and the resulting instability in the region rests with US foreign policy over the past several decades. The US government has sent more than $60 billion to the Egyptian regime since the Camp ...
The Good Word: With Turmoil In Middle East, It Is Good To Have Obama At The Helm in the U.S.
Post Date: 2011-02-04 16:52:41 by Brian S
0 Comments
With all of the turmoil in the Middle East — a new opposition government not fully supported by the United States and Israel in Lebanon; a Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia; and massive demonstrations in the streets in the capital cities in Cairo; Sana’a, Yemen; and Amman, Jordan, against autocratic, repressive regimes — there is total uncertainty as to what the region’s future will be. What is certain is that while each country in the area is unique, whatever occurs in one country affects what occurs in other Mideast countries, if only because of satellite TV, the Internet and cell phones. What is also certain is that U.S.-Middle East interests are very complicated due to ...
The Tea Party Is the Muslim Brotherhood of America? You Betcha
Post Date: 2011-02-04 15:15:20 by Brian S
1 Comments
MSNBC's Chris Matthews made a remark yesterday comparing the Tea Party of America to the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt. "So the Muslim Brotherhood has a parallel role here with the Tea Party," he said. "They're the ones who keep you honest and decide whether you've stayed too long?" That's what you might call a backhanded compliment. Mr. Hardball could have gone so much further with the comparison. Getty ImagesA typical Tea Party sign 43;The truth is that the Muslim Brotherhood and the Tea Party have a lot in common, starting at the most basic level. Both movements are dedicated to driving the world backward into a religious state, one ...
George Bush Was Wrong, Wrong, Wrong
Post Date: 2011-02-04 15:01:28 by Brian S
11 Comments
If the debate in Washington over the Iraq War had made for strange political bedfellows, during the current discourse over the Egypt crisis, the bedfellows are looking really weird. In the run to the U.S. "liberation" of Mesopotamia the romance between the neocons (American Enterprise Institute / Weekly Standard) and the liberal imperialists (The Brookings Institute / New Republic) -- consummating their relationship while doing nation building on the banks of the Euphrates -- was all the rage. You may recall that the bed aka the Freedom Agenda that our odd couple was sharing crashed to the floor of Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and the rest of the Middle East. In fact, some ...
We Are All Egyptians
Post Date: 2011-02-04 14:29:18 by Ferret Mike
0 Comments
Inside Tahrir Square on Thursday, I met a carpenter named Mahmood whose left arm was in a sling, whose leg was in a cast and whose head was being bandaged in a small field hospital set up by the democracy movement. This was the seventh time in 24 hours that he had needed medical treatment for injuries suffered at the hands of government-backed mobs. But as soon as Mahmood was bandaged, he tottered off once again to the front lines. “I’ll fight as long as I can,” he told me. I was awestruck. That seemed to be an example of determination that could never be surpassed, but as I snapped Mahmood’s picture I backed into Amr’s wheelchair. It turned out that Amr had lost ...
The Roots of the American Right’s Muslim Brotherhood Panic
Post Date: 2011-02-03 19:48:07 by Brian S
9 Comments
Reza Aslan has a good piece up at the Washington Post, in which he both demystifies the Muslim Brotherhood and exposes the hypocrisy of American conservative politicians like Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum for fomenting panic about the Brotherhood's supposedly theocratic aims: After all, in the United States it is axiomatic that Islam is inherently opposed to democracy and that Muslims are incapable of reconciling democratic and Islamic values. Never mind that the same people who scoff at the notion that religion could play no role in the emerging democracies in the Middle East are the same people who demand that religion must play a role in America's democracy. Ironically, one of ...
Latest [Newer] 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 [Older]
|
