Rant on Iran, Israel, Right Wing Extreme Racism

David Ignatius
Dana Milbank
Charlie Pierce


"Socialism is not dead. It has, however, been confined to a House subcommittee." - Dana Milbank


The Iranian election campaigning is over, with votes being cast tomorrow. For the first time in Iran's history, how the Iranian women will vote may be the deciding factor as to who will win. Mahmoud Ahmedinejad has tried trashing his oppoonents and identifying with the common citizen, but he may have fatally become associated with the Bush administration and its policies. His main opponent wants a better relationship with the US, and better roles for women in government. Since the election looks more like a referendum on Iran's relation towards the US, Obama's Cairo speech will have done a lot to sway the young and middle class voter. And just like any country where ideology runs so heated, there is always the danger that whomever wins other than Ahmedinejad, they will be assasinated or overrun by the military...


The next step towards the Israeli - Palestinian peace process has occurred, with the BBC reporting: "Hamas will not obstruct any political movement towards establishing a Palestinian state on 1967 borders, says its exiled leader, Khaled Meshaal." This was negotiated in Egypt, with talks between Hamas and Fatah, or Palestinian Authority, and is in diect conflict with their founding statement. Again, this is one more increment to put pressure on Israel to step up and deal honestly, while the right wing faction in charge would be content letting the matter slide for another 60 years...

Benjamin Netanyahu will give a speech next week, he will put forward his position, and parts of it are already being leaked to the press. Basically, he will say to Obama, screw you, we will not freeze our settlements. It may create a no confidence in his government and he would then have to step down. Shimon Peres is saying that they are ready to announce the formation of a Palestinian state, they just have to hash out the fine details....

A few months ago I said that with our first black president, we will have to come to grips with whilte male rage, and if it wasn't contained, resolved, or given a cathartic outlet, then frustration would build until we begin to see more acts of violence. The Secret Service is worriedby the high amounts of death threats Obama has been receiving.

With the right wing murders these past 12 days, of an abortion clinic doctor, and a black guard at the Holocaust Museum, it's beginning to happen. There has been a stepping up of agression towards abortion clinics, and the reactions on the web has been off the hook. It has nothing to do with Republicans in Congress, or the offbeat talk of Nwt and Sarah, but is a sickness that runs deeper in our collective soul. On a personal level, I thought that I had gotten past racism back in the '70's, and had a black girlfriend. Since I've moved to ColoradoI've been called a racist a few times by blacks, and of course it bothered me. But I chalk it up to a learning lesson, that no matter how enlightened you feel you are, you can express racism towards others, intended or not.

But that doesn't address those whose lives have become twisted from living with hateful views towards others. We don't have any sort of screening process, or clinical way to determine if someone has become mentally ill from hate. We also don't have any way to successfully change a person's hateul views, as it tends to smack of Big Brother and fuel the parnoia even more. I'd like to say it could be the job of the church, but most of them hide within the community of a church. I'd love to see a national dialogue begin over this but the left and right are too busy pointing fingers at each other and finding ways to express phony outrage. With the economy not getting better, people are still being laid off, and it gets more difficult putting food on the table, the violent side of our culture will grow, and soon it won't be lone, rogue males causing murders, but one of over 1000 hate groups acting together, spurred on by the Tom Tancredo's and Michelle Malkin's here in Colorado...

late night jokes:

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the 'Late Show,' a division of Fiat." --David Letterman

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am in so much trouble, because ? I'll tell you why - the governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, is angry with me. Fuming, angry, seeing red, and has called me 'pathetic.' Yup, that's right. Honestly, I haven't been called pathetic - well, since the honeymoon, actually." --David Letterman

"But, I won't kid you. I was feeling a little depressed when I heard that the Governor was mad at me and called me 'pathetic.' To cheer myself up, I went out and spent $150,000 on clothes, and I feel better now." --David Letterman

"Folks been following the elections in Iran? I know you have. Anyway, President Ahmadinejad is in a tight race, but today, he got great news for the campaign - he was endorsed by Mel Gibson." --David Letterman

"Listen to this - listen to how the power of the world is changing. Ahmadinejad may lose his job, and the Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il is stepping down, and before you know it, the only tiny -- because these guys are all petite guys -- the only small control freaks left in the world will be, like, well, Tom Cruise. Is that right?" --David Letterman

"Listen to this. There was a big storm down in the Washington, D.C., area, and it toppled a tree. A giant, ancient tree toppled over. This is how crazy things are. When the tree toppled over, somebody contacted former Vice President Dick Cheney, and he said: 'See, well, there it goes. It proves that President Obama is soft on weather.'" --David Letterman

"But here's what happened. The grounds crew chop it up and then grind it up and use it for mulch. And I was thinking, you know, you can do the same thing with your General Motors stock." --David Letterman

"There is an agency now that keeps track of this kind of stuff, and I think it's fascinating. Do you like the presidential minutia? I love it. I can't get enough of it. And according to this tracking agency, President Obama invokes the name Jesus Christ more frequently now than did George W. Bush for the same amount of time in his Presidency. I never really noticed it but I'll bet it's true, because if you think about it, Obama is always saying, Jesus! Why did I run for president?" --David Letterman

"Today, Chrysler was taken over by Fiat and the new CEO said, this is a quote, 'Going forward we intend to build on Chrysler's culture of innovation.' Yeah. Yeah, then he laughed for three straight hours." --Conan O'Brien

"President Obama's in the news, of course. He's put health care back in the news. Yup. President Obama says he wants to create a national health care plan that's both affordable and easy to use. Yup. Yeah, good. Yeah, and the insurance industry says they'll fight the plan with congressmen who are both affordable and easy to use." --Conan O'Brien

"As you all know, two U.S. reporters have been imprisoned in North Korea, and now, President Obama is considering sending Al Gore to negotiate their release. Yeah. Yeah, and after hearing the Al Gore threat, North Korea gave up the reporters and their nuclear program." --Conan O'Brien

"This is weird. Former President George H.W. Bush is going to celebrate his 85th birthday by once again going skydiving. Yup. And his son, George W. Bush, is going to celebrate his father's birthday the way he always does, giving him a World's Greatest Dad mug and making him a macaroni necklace." --Conan O'Brien

"Edward Whitaker, the former chairman of AT&T, was appointed the new chairman of General Motors. I'm not sure about his business plan. He's giving away free cars on nights and weekends. I think that's a bad idea." --Jimmy Fallon

"In an interview, the new chairman actually said, 'I don't know anything about cars.' I respect that. He's keeping up the GM tradition." --Jimmy Fallon

"Kim Jong-Il said that if provoked, North Korea would not hesitate to use its nuclear weapons in a 'merciless offensive.' Well, I just hope no one is stupid enough to provoke that fat little weirdo. Ooh, women's glasses." --Jimmy Fallon