Footnotes from what came to be called the Middle East and beyond
Were you too inspired by the ideals of the Nixon White House during your college days? Write in and let us know …
Deputy Secretary of State Randall L. Tobias submitted his resignation Friday, one day after confirming to ABC News that he had been a customer of a Washington, D.C. escort service whose owner has been charged by federal prosecutors with running a prostitution operation.
Tobias, 65, director of U.S. Foreign Assistance and administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), had previously served as the ambassador for the President’s Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief.
As the Bush administration’s so-called “AIDS czar,” Tobias was criticized for emphasizing faithfulness and abstinence over condom use to prevent the spread of AIDS.
These guys are beyond disgusting. The only question is how deep the rot.
It was a fine idea then and it still is — not because the current field is particularly weak, but because Mr. Cheney is so much more experienced and shrewd a figure, one who could help settle some of the arguments about the Bush years in favor of Mr. Bush.
For those who have the pleasure of not knowing, the New York Sun is a neoconservative rag that makes even the Jerusalem Post blush.
A poll by the American Jewish Committee revealed that support among Jews for a military strike against Iran had dropped from 49 percent last year to 38 percent at
present.
So I had an interesting conversation today with a Democratic party operative, and she suggested to my absolute astonishment that Obama was purposely aligning his position on Israel with mainstream Jewish Americans rather than with the pro-Israel hawks. When I asked about his prostration before AIPAC, she laughed: “there is a difference, you know, between crazy and stupid.”
Addendum: Cheney at AIPAC. That is another way to measure Jewish support for the Bush administration:
The crowd gave Cheney only one standing ovation and only partial applause when he made the connection between the need to stay in Iraq and the ability of the United States to deal effectively with Iran’s nuclear threat. In sharp contrast, when Cheney dedicated his speech last year to the dangers posed by Iran and Palestinian terrorism, he drew 48 rounds of applause, including eight standing ovations.
Several Jewish conferencegoers said they were concerned by Mr. Obama’s remark Sunday in Iowa where, in a reference to the Middle East, he said, “Nobody is suffering more than the Palestinian people.”
What hath AIPAC wrought …
“I want to have my conscience clear with Him. Then it doesn’t matter so much what others think.”
Greenwald, the author of linked piece, is a crank, but the quotes are priceless or terrifying or whatever …
Iran is the trouble maker, trying to tip over apple carts all over Baghdad right now because they want America to pull out. And do you know why? It’s because they’ve already decided that they’re going to partition Iraq.
And half of Iraq, the western, northern portion of Iraq, is going to be called … the Iraq State of Islam, something like that. And I’m sorry, I don’t have the official name, but it’s meant to be the training ground for the terrorists. There’s already an agreement made.
They are going to get half of Iraq and that is going to be a terrorist safe haven zone where they can go ahead and bring about more terrorist attacks in the Middle East region and then to come against the United States because we are their avowed enemy.”
I give up.
In the evangelical world, Rabbi Eckstein also faces problems. A glance at the Evangelical Ministry Watch website shows that he has come under criticism by evangelicals for attempting to stop missionizing attempts by evangelicals among Jews.
“Across Afghanistan last year, the number of roadside bomb attacks almost doubled, direct fire attacks on international forces almost tripled, and suicide bombings grew nearly fivefold,” Mr. Bush said. “These escalating attacks were part of a Taliban offensive that made 2006 the most violent year in Afghanistan since the liberation of the country.”
Is honesty part of some new policy at the White House?
No, this is the blame game, DC-style. Afghanistan will fall to the Taliban in two years. Europe will be blamed for not contributing enough troops, and US diplomats will resume their talks with Taliban leaders over the proposed trans-Afghanistan pipeline. (For the record, the Soviets sent over 100,000 troops into Afghanistan; NATO: 35,000.)
The same trap is being laid for Democrats over the Iraq war. Disingenuous right-wing freaks are all but threatening the equally ridiculous Democrats to cut the purse strings for the Iraq war, hoping for a similar scapegoat for another lost war.
Meanwhile, the body count rises …
PS: For any law types, John Yoo just might be evil incarnate.
In his speech he intends to remove any doubts the Democratic Party’s donors and constituents, many of whom are Jewish, may have about his support for Israel in his speech.
Poor Wesley Clark … He just picked the wrong country to state the obvious …
Remarkz 