Health Care Bill Signed, Conservatives Sign Death Pact

David Brooks
Peter Schneider
Matthew Duss

“There is no downside for Republicans, only for Americans.” - Michael Steele

“Freedom dies a little bit today.” - Marsha Blackburn

“When this bill goes into effect, and none of the things Republicans warned about begin to happen — none of the death panels, none of the government takeover, none of the socialism — Republicans will have no credibility,” -- Robert Menendez

Of course President Obama signed the health care bill this morning, although the attorney generals of several states have vowed to fight it in court, because of the lack of windmills in America.. Their main argument is their states have laws saying you cannot mandate all citizens to have insurance, and that a federal mandate would infringe on those state's rights. Unfortunately, it's an argument that would lose, as case law has proven that federal law supercedes state law, as in the example where states have approved medical marijuana that is in opposition of federal drug laws. There are other, more frivolous arguments that seem to have been dreamed up by Orly Taitz Esquire.

From the NY Times: "With the strokes of 20 pens, President Obama signed his health care overhaul — the most sweeping social legislation enacted in decades — into law on Tuesday during a festive, at times raucous, White House ceremony. “We have just now enshrined, as soon as I sign this bill, the core principle that everybody should have some basic security when it comes to their health care,” Mr. Obama declared in the East Room, before an audience of more than 200 Democratic lawmakers, White House aides and others who rode a yearlong legislative roller-coaster ride that ended with Sunday night’s House passage of the bill. They interrupted him repeatedly with shouts and standing ovations."

After the anger and whining from Congressional Republicans has died down, will come the realization that they blew their big chance to influence the legislation in their quest to discredit Barack Obama. They have been revealed to be a party of old hacks without credibility, and this will affect the further decline of the GOP. They will have some seats won during the upcoming mid-term election, but it won't be enough to change the makeup of the House. The question is will the various tea parties be able to organize themselves into a viable force, or will some charismatic independent arrive to band them together. Ron Paul? Bob Barr? I don't think so...

While the media focus has been on the historic legislation, the finance reform bill is slipping on through, having passed the House and the Senate Finance Committee giving it a vote of approval. It contains creating a consumer finance protection department, which, again, the Republicans are shooting themselves in the foot by opposing it, looking like they are in favor of businesses who employ corrupt practices. Within the week, Obama will have made two important pieces of legislation, making the Repubs looking pretty impotent. Perhaps now they might want to rethink their goal of limiting the size of their tent, as the circus is passing them by...

Sarah Palin has decided to add to the ugly by publishing a hit list of Democrats she feels should be unseated and whom she will work against. From Politico: "Ann Kirkpatrick (Ariz.), Harry Mitchell (Ariz.), Gabrielle Giffords (Ariz.), John Salazar (Colo.), Betsy Markey (Colo.). Allen Boyd (Fla.), Suzanne M. Kosmas (Fla.), Baron P. Hill (Ind.), Earl Pomeroy (N.D.), Charlie Wilson (Ohio), John Boccieri (Ohio), Kathy Dahlkemper (Pa.), Christopher Carney (Pa.), John M. Spratt, Jr. (S.C.), Tom Perriello (Va.), Alan B. Mollohan (W.Va.), and Nick J. Rahall II (W.Va.). I note that John Salazar is a Blue Dog Democrat, one of the more avowed conservatives, but his brother is serving as Obama's Secretary of Agriculture. It'll be good to see Sarah stumping around the state again, maybe I will be able to get a picture of her for under $10,000...

I, for one, will be glad not to hear this socialism crap bandied about by brain dead individuals who have lost the ability for critical thinking. My fellow Republicans (and yes, I am a liberal Republican) need to confront their emotional inner demons and accept that there are homosexuals among us and they aren't any threat, that people of other faiths may consider themselves to be members of your party, that you can't place exclusivity on love of country or family values, and that it's always wiser to consider a wide range of opinions than stick with a pitiful few. This is actually the best time to rebuild the GOP so that it will represent the generations of the future. Instead, I am afraid that I am watching the angry, ugly death throes of an old elephant, who is trying to find its way to the burial ground. But the media won't give it the dignity to die in peace, they document each weak shake of its head and stamp of its feet, as it rages on blindly into the dark night...

Bring Back Black Panthers, Buy Rush's Ticket Good-bye

Eugene Robinson
Marc Thiessen
Mark McKinnon

"The social movements that allowed Obama to become president and Pelosi to become speaker proved that the arc of history bends toward fairness and inclusion." - Eugene Robinson

"If Americans give Republicans their reins of power in November, it will not be to bring home the bacon -- it will be to protect the smokehouse" - Marc Thiessen

"We did not fear our future. We shaped it." - Barack Obama

It was a busy week in Washington last week, with a lot of protesting going on. First, we had a gay activist chaining himself to the iron fence that surrounds the White House during Congressional hearings over the "don't ask don't tell" policy. Then, we had folks protesting both for and against the health care bill, which resulted in some real ugly public displays of hostility. Most important, there were the people who marched for a better immigration policy on Sunday, their crowds dwarfing all of the others.

The most troubling incidents happened during the anti-health care protests. A respected black civil rights leader was called "nigger" as he walked past the group, and another black Congressman was spit at. Congressman Barney Frank was called "faggot" as he also walked by. Maybe we are gearing up for violent confrontations in our current culture war. Maybe it's time to bring back the Black Panthers to intimidate the intimidators, if we're going to get racial might as well level the playing field, hire some ex-NFL linemen as bodyguards to ensure safe passage through the mobs. Where I grew up in LA, you just didn't say the N-word unless you wanted an instantaneous ass kicking, and I have no sympathy for people who still need to learn similar lessons. Of course, such incivility could be a byproduct of the prescription medications that we are all taking, a side effect from the anti-depressants.

Despite all of the mean spirited personal attacks, and angry deranged arguing, the health care bill was passed. I haven't read the bill, and confess that I was pretty apathetic over the debates about it, couldn't bring myself to get emotionally involved. Whether or not it is a good bill remains to be seen, as we watch carefully how it will be implemented. Since it resembles most the health care bill that Mit Romney passed in Massachusetts, it might give him the best platform for running in 2012 - that's he is the best qualified to implement the health bill. As for the rest of the Republicans who have vowed to never cooperate again, like John McCain, they sound like 5 year old boys, whining in front of the cameras. Once again, I'm soooo glad that John lost the election...

Much punditry over whether Barack Obama will get re-elected or not in 2012. If he also tackles financial reform, a bill that is being voted on today, immigration reform, and gets the Israeli - Palestinian peace talks going again, he will have accomplished more than any other President has in one term, securing his place in history. But I think that he will continue to be successful and that when summer rolls around, his poll numbers will be positive. If there are more people finding jobs come summertime, we may have another Summer of Love, with people dancing in the parks, despite the dead grass and shrubbery, you know, actually sipping tea instead of taping bags to their foreheads...

If you would like to donate money to buying a first class, one way ticket to Costa Rica for Rush Limbaugh, click on his name here. The website is giving him four weeks to make good on his promise to leave the country if the health care bill passed, and is hoping to be able to buy him the plane ticket, out of the goodness of their hearts... I'm sure that Rush will respond on his show today, or else he will be ridiculed every day that he ignores his promise. Payback can be sweet, maybe we can all kick him in the butt on his way to the airport...

aipac...

It will be interesting to see how well Israel's Prime Minister is received at this week's AIPAC conference. Hillary Clinton has already addressed the crowd, telling them: "... that Israeli settlement activity in occupied Arab lands – East Jerusalem and the West Bank – undermines trust between the two allies and makes the US role in the peace process more difficult. Her words follow Mr. Netanyahu's assertion Sunday that Israel would not cease all settlement construction in Jerusalem, which it claims as its capital.


Secretary Clinton took her argument a step further, saying Israel’s settlement activity complicates other US goals in the region that are also Israel’s goals –specifically, ensuring that Iran does not become a nuclear power. Stating that a nuclear-armed Iran would touch off an arms race in the Middle East and embolden Iran’s “terrorist clientele” to take new actions, Clinton said, “This … is unacceptable to the United States. It is unacceptable to Israel. It is unacceptable to the region and the international community.”

What will Benjamin Netanyahu's response be? Can he please the crowd and appease the Obama administration tomorrow? "He's meant to please everybody, isn't he?" quips Peter Medding, an expert on the US-Israel relationship at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.


"My guess is that he will say nothing that offends his coalition partners back home, nor that offends the American administration," says Medding, noting that Mr. Obama's team has asked him to reaffirm his commitment to the two-state solution after plans emerged for 1,600 new homes in East Jerusalem. "But we have to distinguish between words and actions. Netanyahu will make a public statements in Washington that won't offend anyone, and that will give hope to Israelis and Palestinians. But what is he actually agreeing to do once he arrives home?" So he is here to suck up and garner large donations, which is really the job of the Israeli representative at the conference. The real action will take place behind closed doors tomorrow as he meets with Obama and they see if they can't come up with a winning strategy forward out of this diplomatic mess.

Khamenei Bitch Slaps US, Next Tea-Party Signs

Christopher Buckley
Nour Odeh

"Hezbollah craves war but we do not want it. We do not want it but we crave it." - Hassan Nasrallah.

Showing that he really is a tired old man who cannot learn new tricks, Iran's top leader, the Ayatollah Khamenei responded to Barack Obama's video that extended an open hand with a slap in the face. He tried to blame all of the recent unrest in his country on the US, only nobody is buying into it. I don't blame the younger generation of Iranians for wanting a more open society when their leader embarrasses them so, he is worse than Dick Cheney: “The new administration and president claimed interest in just and fair relations, they wrote letters and sent messages ... saying they are willing to normalize relations with the Islamic republic but in practice they did the opposite. If they were able to do it, the U.S. and Zionist regime would have sent troops to Tehran's streets, but they knew it would hurt them. Thus they spread propaganda and supported the rioters " Khamenei added that the “enemies” of the Islamic republic had plans to start “civil war” after last June’s elections. Blaming the United States and Israel for much of the unrest after the presidential election, Khamenei said: "The enemies wanted to divide the people... and to create a civil war, but the nation was alert." This kind of verbiage sounds like it's coming from the Chinese Communist Party. It's always easier to blame some outside Great Satan instead of looking in the mirror. Certainly wouldn't want the Ayatollah to have to give up his private camel and animal herds, where he obtains the fiber for his custom-made cloaks and clothing...


The Iraq vote count is going very slowly, as they don't want to hear the word "fraud," so each vote is recorded four times on separate count sheets. When al Malicki was winning, his rival was claiming fraud and wanted a recount. Now that Allawi is ahead in the count, it is al Maliki who is crying foul and demanding a hand recount. So nobody will be satisfied with the results and it will take several months for the winner to form a government. There are so many factions that there will never be an uneventful election in Iraq, unless Ahmed Chalabi succeeds in becoming Prime Minister and dissolves the Parliament to become the next dictator. Except statues of balding, paunchy old guys are not very dashing or inspirational...

Two things may come of the UN's Ban Ki-Moon visit to Gaza the other day. He saw first hand the incredible poverty and despair people have living amid rubble and bombed buildings. Since he also had visited Haiti, he had a good base for comparison. He may try to apply more pressure on Israel to negotiate. Again, Israel is in the position of power and has the most to give up if a Palestinian state is formed. Second, is that Hamas will have to radically change how it leads and deals with Israel. If they want to continue in power, they are going to have to better try and change the welfare of the citizens of Gaza. Revolutionary rhetoric doesn't put bread on the table, and you can only smuggle so much through the tunnels, as much as Egypt will allow. Hamas is also going to have to have elections soon and face the fact that they may be voted out as easily as they were voted in...

"You know, I was thinking about this health care problem. If you took all the money the Republicans have spent to stop health care and all the money Democrats have spent trying to get health care, we could afford health care." –Jay Leno

I assume that the health care vote will be over by the time I publish this post. Hopefully, the Republicans will have gotten all of the mean and evil thoughts out in one last cathartic shout (obscure reference to a Robert Graves short story here), they will now abandon Mitch McConnell's ill-advised strategies, and Congress becomes a more civil place to work. I certainly don't think that the right wing can get as over-the-top emotionally over finance reforms and immigration policy... or maybe I am naive. I can just see the distorted kinds of bumper-stickers and signs being made:

Fiscal Transparency is Fascist

Mr Obama, Tear Down this Wall

Birth Certificates Not Stock Certificates

late night jokes:

"Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day. Republicans are now working on declaring March 18 as St. Obama Day. They want to honor the president for driving all the Democrats out of Washington." –Jay Leno

"Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich announced he will change his no vote and he will vote yes on health care. Now, I don't want to imply he made a deal, but he announced it at Cleveland's new Airport, which is right next to the Dennis Kucinich Highway and the new Dennis Kucinich Middle School." –Jay Leno

"Yesterday, President Obama appeared on Fox News to pitch his health care. Obama was on Fox. That's like George W. Bush being on The Learning Channel." –Jay Leno

"And 80-year-old Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens said he's considering retirement, either that or playing for the Minnesota Vikings next season." –Jay Leno

"PepsiCo announced it will voluntarily remove all high-calorie sweetened drinks from schools — no more sugary drinks in schools. This is part of their new program, 'Leave No Child With a Bigger Behind.'" –Jay Leno

"You guys excited for March Madness? Had some great matchups so far. B.Y.U. versus Florida. Old Dominion versus Notre Dame. Obama versus Fox News." –Jimmy Fallon

"Obama was a great ballplayer when he was a kid, but naturally, the other team never let him pass anything." –Jimmy Fallon

EU and UN Gang Up on Israel, Obama Supports Free Internet in Iran, The Trials of Dr Orly Taitz Esquire

Fareed Zakaria

David Remnick
Yaakov Katz

"After watching Netanyahu's government over the past year, I have concluded that he is actually not serious about the Iranian threat" - Fareed Zakaria

"So it has been disturbing to see that some right-wing members of the Israeli political élite, along with some ordinary Israelis, often seem to derive their most acute sense of Barack Obama from Fox News and the creepier nooks of the blogosphere" - David Remnick

"t may lead to a third intifada, during which Israel would be fighting a 20,000-strong militia, half of which was trained by the US and EU, and not terrorist organizations like Hamas or Islamic Jihad." - Yaakov Katz

The European Union and the UN are ganging up to pressure Israel to cut out the building of houses in inflammatory areas and get it's butt into gear and seriously negotiate with the Palestinians. As in let's create a Palestinian state within the next 24 months, quit stalling. The message isn't going over well, especially among those who believe that every square inch of land is given to them by God to do with as they please. This conservative Israeli attitude towards their darker brothers is similar to the American attitude towards the American Indians - don't get uppity and stay on the reservations. The Palestinians must continue to act like a conquered people, accept their miserable fate in Gaza to pay for the sins of Hamas... Yaakov Katz, in his opinion piece from the Jerusalem Post, paints the worst case scenario for Israel if a third intifada rises up, saying it could happen next year. There won't be any movement until after the AIPAC Conference March 21-23 in Washington DC.

President Obama has taken up the cause of a freer Internet in Iran, and once again offered to meet and talk with the government of Iran. In a video that was released in Iran, but not shown on the state run television, Obama also offered: "... increased educational programmes to allow young Iranians to study in the US, and suggested that Washington would take an active role to ensure online communication. He promised US efforts to "ensure that Iranians can have access to the software and internet technology that will enable them to communicate with each other, and with the world, without fear of censorship".


Opposition supporters in Iran used social networking sites and services such as Twitter, Facebook and the Google-owned YouTube website to get their message out following the country's disputed presidential election." In response, the iranian government said that Obama was trying to twist public opinion by denying their achievements in space science and nuclear peace building. Last year Obama offered an open hand if Tehran would unclench its fist. This year he if offering an open hand if Tehran would unclench its butt. Unfortunately, we know what will come rushing out... ewww. What I didn't know is that the Iranian government bought a lot of bootleg American movie DVDs and broadcasted them over their state run television whenever the opposition tried to have a rally. Yes, they bribed the populace with Disney movies to stay at home and watch such decadence...

California maybe going into bankruptcy, their legislature dysfunctional, and every summer half of the state is set on fire, but at least the State Bar seems to be working just fine. Orly Taitz, the Russian immigrant who started the birther movement, claiming that Barack Obama is not a US citizen, is under investigation and could become disbarred.

Dr Orly Taitz Esquire, who joined the California State Bar in 2002, has been filing many briefs in Georgia over the claim that Barack Obama was not born in the US and therefore cannot be allowed to be President. She chose to file in Georgia because she was told that Georgia might be the most sympathetic to her arguments. Unfortunately for her, the Federal judge dismissed her case. She then accused the judge of treason, and kept on filing briefs in the hope that one stuck to the wall.

The judge imposed a sanction of professional misconduct against Orly for filing what amounted to be frivolous lawsuits, and forwarded his ruling to the California State Bar. Ms Taitz is working hard for her 15 minutes of fame, and on her website has stated how impressed she is by the intelligence of Liz Cheney, and that she would work for her if Liz ran for President. What I want to know, is which Russian mafia group allowed Orly to immigrate to the US, and did they do it to get rid of her and not have to put up with her crazy acts in the motherland...

Et Tu, Vlad? Schizophrenic Iran

Martin Indyk
Ahmed Rashid
Jumana El Heloueh

"And I'm sure you remembered to turn your clock ahead an hour, unless, of course, you're a Democrat working on health care. Then you might want to turn it back a year and start all over again." – Jay Leno

"You know, I was thinking about this health care problem. If you took all the money the Republicans have spent to stop health care and all the money Democrats have spent trying to get health care, we could afford health care." – Jay Leno

"Sarah Palin, out in Arizona, is campaigning with John McCain. He's running for Senate re-election. They're campaigning together out there. I thought, yeah, I mean, there's an unbeatable combination." – David Letterman

How quickly the news changes. The article I wanted to reference to after reading it in the paper this morning suddenly became old news, and I had to go to the archives to find it. Luckily, I was able to use my library skills to ferret it out... It looks like March is turning out to be "Let's Bash the USA" pver our foreign policy. First, the Israelis ambushed and embarrassed Joe Biden, who only came to praise them, and ended up as the butt of a right wing prank. Then, Hillary travels to Russia, trying to get a more solid backing from them over imposing sanction against Iran. In a press conference, she gets dissed by Vladimer Putin: "Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin made the announcement on the much delayed power plant, near the Iranian city of Bushehr, earlier Thursday, just as Mrs. Clinton arrived for talks about Iran, the Middle East and a new arms control agreement.


When Mrs. Clinton was asked about the announcement at the news conference, she said, “We think it would be premature to go forward with any project at this time, because we want to send an unequivocal message to the Iranians.” Mr. Lavrov responded unequivocally, saying, “The project will be completed.” Of course, Mr Putin's brutish nature won't allow him to come up with something original and clever, he has to copycat Netanyahu and be smug about it.

Russia contracted with Iran years ago to build this nuclear plant and to run it, with extended maintenance for years to come, so it is lucrative for them to honor the contract and get 'er done. Complaints have been made that they have been dragging their heels.

The US would like Russia to continue to delay, at least until Iran shows us that it has no ambitions to produce a weapon. Queen to Rook 5. Russia counters that they will be overseeing the plant and taking the depleted uranium rods out of the country for disposal, and that there will be frequent inspections by the IAEC. Check.

The main obstacles in this chess game are the intangibles, the machismo of the men running the Iranian government, Ahmadinejad wanting to never loose face or appear to back down. The US also wants to strut like John Wayne on a bad hair day, finding ways to neutralize Iran and bully them a little. A large part of diplomacy is being patient and letting the principles have their temper tantrums, and after they have gone to take their naps, of picking the pieces they threw onto the floor back up, and getting back to the negotiating table.

It hasn't been easy for Hillary: "In a grueling 36 hours of diplomacy, devoted to two of America’s most delicate relationships, Mrs. Clinton found herself trying to reinforce a new start with an old adversary, Russia, while bridging a rift with an old friend, Israel." The end result is that Israel has offered ideas to move the peace process along, and it looks like we are making up and moving along with it. Too bad this new attitude hasn't filtered down to the street level, as there are new outbreaks of violence by frustrated Palestinian teenagers in the West Bank...

schizophrenic iran...

The news coming out of Iran is just as divisive and complicated as a chess match. In order to obtain as much money as they can before any more sanctions are imposed, the Iranian government set free many of the people they had jailed over the past few months. Some had to pay up to $450,000 bail, others also had to pay hefty fines and had their charges dropped. Thousands of others who could not come up with the bribe money were not so fortunate: "The advocacy group Human Rights Activists in Iran said on Friday that around 18,000 people have been arrested since last summer, and many of them remain in prison. Emadedin Baghi, a human rights activist and journalist, has been in solitary confinement for the past 50 days, the opposition Jaras Web site reported. At least six people were sentenced to death last week for their role during the protests, in addition to two others who were executed in February."

Mir Mousavi used this brief leniency to post onto his web site and a video on Facebook, beating the Ayatollah Kohamenei in his usual announcement of naming the Persian new year, in a battle of pithy remarks. But the opposition was able to send a representative to Washington, asking that Internet access be made more available in Iran, instead of limiting it: "In recent months the government has carried out cyberwarfare against the opposition, eliminating virtually all sources of independent news and information and shutting down social networking services.


The sanctions against online services — provided through free software like Google Chat or Yahoo Messenger — were intended to restrict Iran’s ability to develop nuclear technology, but democracy advocates say they ended up helping the government repress its people." Internet service is provided by satellite in Iran, and the government's jamming of transmissions is in violation of international agreements. Switching to a newer satellite that transmits in higher and faster bandwidth would help counter that, as well as give more areas access to news sites and the BBC. Curiously, any products made by Cisco are under sanctions, but if the opposition cound score a few high end routers, they might be able to wage a better cyberwar against the government, who is scheduled to spend $500 million on cyberwarfare this year. It could come down to a virtual war in the Mid East this summer: "Iran, which has no communications satellites of its own, is dependent on foreign companies for broadcasting all its local channels as well as English, Persian and Arabic channels. Its jamming of BBC Persian and Voice of America violated international regulations.


“What Iran is doing can cause serious chaos in the international satellite order,” said Sadeq Saba, the director of Persian-language BBC television. “If other countries begin to retaliate and jam Iran’s channels, there will be serious chaos.”

Also on Thursday, the authorities jailed Hussein Marashi, a relative of Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani ,: "... one of the nation’s most influential politicians, an opposition Web site, Kalame, reported. Mr. Rafsanjani sided with the opposition in the aftermath of the elections but has occupied a hazy middle ground in recent months. Mr. Marashi, who was a senior reformist politician and a close relative of Mr. Rafsanjani, was charged with “spreading propaganda against the regime.” Analysts said the arrest could be an effort to pressure Mr. Rafsanjani, who enjoys wide support among the traditional clerics in Qom, to side with the government." The classic case of using the carrot and the stick, the Iranian government is using tactics from the ancient Chinese book, The Art of War, instead of consulting the Koran...

Missile Fired From Gaza, Disband the Catholic Church, Dear John

Michael Oren

Rex Brynen
Bernard Avishai

"Israel and America enjoy a deep and multi-layered friendship, but even the closest allies can sometimes disagree." - Michael Oren

"Netanyahu has been trying to pretend that the crisis with Washington was precipitated by bad timing. Nobody in the administration is buying it, and it is not clear how the Israel lobby can even try to sell it." - Bernard Avishai

"Gen. David Petraeus, the head of American forces in the Middle East and an expert in counterinsurgency, weighed in with a statement of the obvious, that America’s long acquiescence in Israel’s occupation was jeopardizing U.S. standing in the region." - Bernard Avishai

I had wanted to write about the next steps that could be taken to heal the US - Israeli spat, but that will take a back seat in light of current events. To make matters even worse in Israel, today we have another international incident that will generate a military response from the Israeli government, and probably halt all current progress towards any peace talks. Some hot-headed Palestinian group in Gaza fired a Kassam missile into Israel and killed a Thai greenhouse worker. From al Jazeera: "A rocket has been fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel, killing a Thai agricultural worker, Israeli medics have said. Thursday's strike, the first from the territory to cause any fatalities since the end of Israel's Gaza war in January 2009, may harden Tel Aviv's response.


"This is a crossing of the red line, which Israel cannot accept. The Israeli response will be appropriate. It will be strong," Silvan Shalom, the Israeli vice prime minister, told reporters. The attack happened as the European Union's foreign affairs chief was visiting the enclave." We can forget the gaffe over Biden, forget the rioting in Jerusalem and Bangkok. Now, the right wing attitude in the Israeli government will harden, they wil call for another invasion into Gaza, and dash any hopes of Netanyahu being forced into forming a more moderate government..

A group that claims to have been inspired by al Qaeda that nobody has heard of claimed responsibility: "A small Islamist faction calling itself Ansar al-Sunna claimed responsibility for the attack.
In a statement e-mailed to reporters in Gaza, the al-Qaida-inspired faction said the attack was a response to Israel's "Judaization" of Islamic holy places in Jerusalem and elsewhere in the West Bank. A second group, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades, also later claimed responsibility.


Vice Premier Silvan Shalom warned that the attack would lead to a strong reaction, and said that Hamas was ultimately responsible. “It is severe escalation,” said Shalom in remarks broadcast on Army Radio. “Israel will not return to the situation of before Operation Cast Lead. The response will be particularly fierce...I hope Hamas will learn a lesson.” What nobody has mentioned, is why Israel has imported Thai workers to do menial labor for them. I wonder if they have joined in the practice that is common to all countries in this region, of hiring foreign workers and then treating them as slaves, taking away their passports and often physically abusing them. Only someone interested in human rights would open that can of worms, and they have been put in jail a lot recently for trying to tell the truth.


are there any catholics left?...
The Catholic church has been covering up the pedophiles who abused young children for over 30 years. Hardly any of the priests were let go, their actions reported to the police, or even an attempt made to get them therapy. Instead, the abusive priests were sent to different locations in round-robin fashion, and their victims made to sign an oath of silence. Even the Pope is implicated when he was a Cardinal in Germany, and the numbers of victims are in the hundreds, from all over the US, Ireland, Germany, and Italy.

 

The real questions will be swept under the rug, that there are many more pedophiles in our societies than we know, how often people we trust will abuse our trust,  and why the Catholic church hasn't been disbanded centuries ago - since it has nothing to do with religion.

Our churches often impede a person's spiritual growth, they talk a good game about mystical experience, but lack the skills or knowledge to pass on an understanding of that experience. Which is why Islam persecutes Sufis, and Christian churches do not practice meditation. Lack of understanding leads to intolerance instead of acceptance, which also shows up in preaching against gays while at the same time trying to cover up the actions of pedophiles.

dear john...
Speaking of intolerance, Congress has been having hearings over the wisdom of repealing the "don't ask don't tell" policy of gays in the military.. Yesterday General David Petraeus sat before the panel and said that the policy should end now, but he was not allowed to read his official statement because it was deemed too long. The main Congressman who seems to want the policy to continue indefinitely, is John McCain. When he was running for President, John said that if the generals were for ending the "don't ask" policy, then he would be for changing it, too. Well, all of the Pentagon top brass has weighed in on the side of changing the policy , while John has dug his heels and put his fingers in his ears, saying no no no no no...

It's a good thing that John didn't become President. It's pretty clear that he is in denial, that he has buried the memories of the homosexual acts he performed when he was a prisoner of war in Vietnam. John, it's no big deal, nobody would think anything less of you. It doesn't diminish the heroism you portrayed, even if you did manage to get your co-pilot and gunner killed.. We don't even care if the stories are kept private, it's better that way for your health. Something for you to share with your priest, something you both might have in common...

Lula in Israel, Let's All Blame Mitch!

Maureen Dowd
Ahmad Rashid

"Ireland is a peculiar society in the sense that it was a nineteenth century society up to about 1970 and then it almost bypassed the twentieth century." - John McGahern

"Making peace, I have found, is much harder than making war." - Gerry Adams

"God's pity on the Ginger Man"  - J P Donleavy

The world took little notice when the Brazilian President visited Israel after Biden did, but his visit may have had more significance. It was the first time a Brazilian President ever visited, and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is pushing for letting Brazil be the added spark that will move the peace process forward: "After being grilled in the Knesset - including by Netanyahu - for his policy of non-confrontation and dialogue with Iran, Lula did not flinch. He condemned both the Holocaust and terrorism; he reminded his hosts of Brazil's and Latin America's stand against nuclear weapons; he stressed "dialogue" and "compassion" to solve the Middle East conflict; he defended a viable two-state solution for Israel and Palestine; but he also did not refrain from criticizing the expanded colonization of East Jerusalem. He received a standing ovation and, according to some members of parliament, "more applause than [former US president] George W Bush".

Brazil has good relations with Iran, and is part of an economic pact made between Brazil, Russia, India, and China, who are doing their best to stimulate their economies by preferential trading among each other. India is buying nuclear equipment from Russia, so is Iran. Brazil is on good terms with the US, and has offered to host an informal conference between Syria and Israel later this year which both countries have accepted.

Neither Brazil or China want to see sanctions placed on Iran, and have said that Iran has a right to develop nuclear plants to provide energy, as long as it works with the International Atomic Energy Committee. Brazil isn't proposing anything new for Israeli - Palestinian negotiations, but is offering to provide to be a new, neutral part of the negotiation process. This may play well in Washington, as Netanyahu has dismissed both David Axelrod and Rahm Emmanuel as "self-hating Jews." We'll see if da Silva can become an important player on this stage, or if he will get sucked into the stagnant vortex that comprise Middle Eastern relations. The fact that the pugnacious, extremely right wing Avigdor Lieberman boycotted his speech is a good thing. And his presence is welcome when the US and Israel need a little time to repair their relationship...

"And in World News, the tension between the White House and Israel is at its highest level in 30 years. Israel wants to build more houses in its territory, and the Obama administration wants them torn down. Here's the solution: You build the houses, but let Countrywide give everybody an adjustable rate mortgage. They'll be foreclosed on and out of there by July." –Jay Leno

health care reform...
The theatrics are switching into high gear, it's almost painful to watch as politicians down to the local level act mean and tough in their opposition. The Virginia Governor threatening to sue if it passes, Utah passing statutes that says their laws supercede any Federal laws... plus, they want to take over all Federal land in their state and put up Mormon churches and big parking lots in its place, giving a new twist to the Joni Mitchell song...

The Congressional Budget Office is supposed to come out today, scoring the proposed health bill, saying if it will either save money or cost money down the line, either giving it the green light to vote on, or killing it in its place.

The current GOP strategy was conceived by Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell. In a NY Times feature, Mr McConnell has: "used his extensive knowledge of Senate procedure to slow things down, take advantage of the difficulties Democrats would have in governing and deny Democrats any Republican support on big legislation. In meetings with his caucus, Senator Mitch McConnell urged members to continue to play “team ball” — with the team being the Republican Party. Republicans embraced it. Democrats denounced it as rank obstructionism. Either way, it has led the two parties, as much as any other factor, to where they are right now"

“To the extent they are trying to turn us into a Western European country, we are not going to be helpful.”   - Mitch McConnell

"Their goal, is to slow down activity to stop legislation from passing in the belief that this will embolden conservatives in the next election and will deny the president a record of accomplishment.”  - Richard Durbin

So, if you are like me and don't like the strategy of Republicans right now, we now know who to blame.
This is old school, old man style hardball politics, born out of bitterness, and has made the younger generations cynical about the political process. OK, us grumpy old men are cynical, too, but I feel more pissed off at the narrow mindedness of the whole thing. If we want to get different parties to negotiate in places like Israel, Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan, then we should be showing them how it's done. Right now we are a poor example, despite the 11 Republicans who voted for the jobs bill.

late night jokes:


"And I'm sure you remembered to turn your clock ahead an hour, unless, of course, you're a Democrat working on health care. Then you might want to turn it back a year and start all over again." –Jay Leno

"You know, I was thinking about this health care problem. If you took all the money the Republicans have spent to stop health care and all the money Democrats have spent trying to get health care, we could afford health care." –Jay Leno
"Congress is getting ready to vote on President Obama's health care bill. It's going to be a close vote. The House Democrats say it could be a real tickle fight." –David Letterman

"Sarah Palin, out in Arizona, is campaigning with John McCain. He's running for Senate re-election. They're campaigning together out there. I thought, yeah, I mean, there's an unbeatable combination." –David Letterman
"Thank you for coming on the Ides of March. You know, this is March 15. It was on this day in 44 B.C., Julius Caesar met his end. He was stabbed in the back by members of the Senate, ironically, while pleading for health care." –Jay Leno

"Well, President Obama, turning up the pressure on Congress to pass this health care reform. In fact, he's telling Democrats, if they don't vote for this bill, he will go out and campaign for them in November." –Jay Leno

"It seems The Journal of Neurology reports that the longer you smoke, the less likely you are to develop Parkinson's disease. So what are they telling us? Follow me guys. Remember, a couple of months ago, doctors said drinking a glass of alcohol every day was good for your heart. Smoking prevents Parkinson's disease. Marijuana is good for glaucoma. Sex is good for your prostate. You know, screw health care. Let's party!" –Jay Leno

"And in his speech to the Export-Import Bank's annual gathering, President Obama announced that he will establish two brain trusts to double U.S. exports over the next five years. You know what our leading export is right now? Jobs." –Jay Leno