Day: September 23, 2015

Is Extremism Ever Acceptable?

Under normal circumstances the best answer would be NO, extremism is never acceptable.  That is unless you are in bed with the US and then you can get away with crimes against humanity in the name of friendship.

I mean look at the acts committed by ISIS…..the beheadings, the burning deaths, the torture, the treatment of women and prisoners…..none of this is acceptable, right?

Well you see that one of the US greatest allies is capable of all this and more…..oh so much more……

Ali Mohammed al-Nimr was just 17 when he was arrested in 2012 and accused of taking part in anti-government protests and illegally possessing firearms; he was sentenced to death by crucifixion in 2014. Now, Saudi Arabia has dismissed his final appeal and he has no other legal options to fight the sentence, Middle East Monitor reports. As the International Business Times reports, it appears al-Nimr’s connection to Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr—his uncle and a prominent religious leader and critic of the Saudi regime—is a large part of the case against him. With the elder al-Nimr scheduled to be executed this week—there’s been no confirmation of it happening so far—activists fear his nephew could also be executed within days.

Activists say the younger al-Nimr was tortured, denied access to lawyers, and forced to sign a confession under duress; they claim there is no evidence of firearms offenses al-Nimr was charged with, and al-Nimr and his family deny all the charges against him. His trial did not meet international standards, reports IBT, and his appeal was held in secret without al-Nimr knowing about it. “No one should have to go through the ordeal Ali has suffered—torture, forced ‘confession’, and an unfair, secret trial process,” says an advocate at legal charity Reprieve. “His execution—based apparently on the authorities’ dislike for his uncle, and his involvement in anti-government protests—would violate international law and the most basic standards of decency.”

Saudi Arabia….the home of Wahhabism…in case you are confused what I am eluding to….let me help….

It would be a mistake and unethical to criticize all of Islam on the basis of doctrines particular to Wahhabi Muslims. Modern Islamic extremism and terrorism simply cannot be explained or understood without looking at the history and influence of Wahhabi Islam. This means that it’s important from an ethical and an academic perspective to understand what Wahhabi Islam teaches, what’s so dangerous about it, and why those teachings differ from other branches of Islam……(Google works well for research)…….

Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (d. 1792) was the first modern Islamic fundamentalist and extremists. Wahhab made the central point of his reform movement the principle that absolutely every idea added to Islam after the third century of the Mulsim era (about 950 CE) was false and should be eliminated. Muslims, in order to be true Muslims, must adhere solely and strictly to the original beliefs set forth by Muhammad.

The reason for this extremist stance, and the focus of Wahhab’s reform efforts, was a number of popular practices which he believed represented a regression to pre-Islamic polytheism.

That’s right, Irene…the extremism that you so much despise originated in the one country that the US has strong ties with….in these days of yore.   And yet we accept their crimes against humanity and in doing so….we are showing our acceptance of such extremism.

Source: It’s Time to Break With Saudi Arabia’s ‘Kingdom of Horrors’ – Truthdig

Let me ask…..why do we spend so much time condemning ISIS for their extremism and look the other way when someone close to us using the same techniques to control their population?

Do not take my word for it….read this from those fine people over at OK, Fine……

ISIS and Saudi Arabia punishment

Does not that somehow make us as guilty as anyone?

Let me see…..ISIS takes territory and eliminates its enemies…..Is that not what Saudi and the other Gulf Monarchs are doing in Yemen?

Where’s the difference?

Pick A Country,…..Any Country

Go ahead pick a country, especially those countries that have some sort of authoritarian government.

How many times have you heard that what the country needs is democracy so that much needed reforms can be implemented and change can happen…..How many times?

Think about what the media called “the Arab Spring”….that was the beginning of a democratic movement that could sweep the globe…..what the Hell happened?

We heard that for Iraq…..and how did that work out for Iraqis?  Afghanistan is another of the democratic movement poster child….they had an election which would magically solve all problems…..and how did that work out for the Afghans?

Is it possible that democracy may not be the magic bullet that we are told?

I have often debated the validity of the promise of democracy…..that it is more to every situation than an election can cure……keep in mind ……”an election does not a democracy make”…..

A newly released research suggests that there may be no such thing as “democratic peace”, instead, economic trade relationships and participation in international governmental organizations are the key to keeping the peace among countries.

Source: Democracy in Question: Research Suggests It Does Not Prevent Conflicts

We still hear some politician or another babble on about bringing democracy to this region or that…..it is nothing more than a political slogan muttered to those that will believe anything.

Democracy is not something that one finds in one’s Xmas stocking….it takes work and it takes time……the term is used too easily…..and understood too little.

Is Jeb Spinning His Wheels?

I know it is too early for all this analysis….so much can happen before the 2016 begins……but what the Hell…..gotta do something to entertain myself…..

The field for the GOP in 2016 is getting smaller….Perry gone, Walker gone, others to follow suit…..Jindal, Pataki, Graham, Gilmore (who?)…….but what about Jeb?

Once upon a time I though Jeb was the clever brother of the family and would be a better candidate and president than GW……must have been drugs that gave me those thoughts…..so far Jeb has shown nothing to lead anyone to believe that he is the smarter brother let alone would make a good president…..

What am I saying?  Am I implying the Jeb should drop out of the nomination race?

Well…..yeah!

And I am not alone……

Now that Scott Walker has called it quits in the 2016 race, it’s time Jeb Bush follows suit, writes Matthew Yglesias at Vox. Wait, isn’t Bush a frontrunner with money coming out his ears? Yes, which is why you’d be more likely to see a unicorn than a Bush-free race this week. But that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be a smart move. “If he cares about his family legacy, the good of the Republican Party, and the ideological principles he espouses, he should drop out as soon as possible and endorse Marco Rubio,” writes Yglesias. Here’s his reasoning: While GOP insiders seem confident the fervor over Donald Trump and Ben Carson will die down, one of them could nab the nomination; Jimmy Carter did while lacking insider support. Rather than bury Rubio early, Bush should let the better man take his spot. After all, Yglesias writes, Rubio and Bush are essentially the same candidate, only Rubio “is better at politics.”

Despite nearly identical stances on abortion, immigration, foreign policy, and deficit-increasing tax cuts, Rubio performs better than Bush in head-to-head polling against Hillary Clinton. He’s also “a dynamic public speaker and gutsy political risk-taker … who impresses staffers on both sides of the aisle.” Bush’s campaign, meanwhile, has been “unimpressive” from the start. He’s “struggled mightily with incredibly banal questions about dynastic politics and his brother’s invasion of Iraq, while his arguments in favor of immigration reform have been so weak that the entire nominating contest has been dominated by Trump’s racist demagoguery,” Yglesias writes. Face the music, Bush: You could go out now as “a good man driven by a strong sense of duty,” or you could wait while your campaign continues to unravel and “be humiliated,” Yglesias concludes. Click for the full column.

What say you?  Yea or nay on Jeb getting out of the way?

Foreign Policy by Intimidation

Speaking of females that want to be president.

After listening to 2 GOP debates I have learned that they all have a foreign policy by intimidation……2016 is going to be the election that is won or loss on the back of foreign policy…..the US is involved in more countries now that before Obama took office and it has been expanding ever since…….and if a Repub wins the election it will grow at a more rapid pace….

With that said…..what can we actually look forward to with a GOP win in 2016?

GOP Candidates Show How It’s Done

Source: Foreign Policy by Intimidation – The Unz Review

America’s First Female President

You know me…..I just have to inject some history into my posts…..what is blogging without a little whimsy?

This election, the 2016 election, is one that has the country beaming with pride…..you see it appears that there is a good possibility that Hillary will become the country’s first woman president…..

Sorry, Hillary, you can’t be the first. Edith Wilson beat you to the job a century ago.

You see the wife of president Woodrow Wilson took the reins of government after her husband had a stroke and was incapacitated…

After Woodrow’s stroke, Wilson controlled all communication to and from the president — who, though bedridden and exhausted, was still lucid — and gave orders on his behalf to rally support for the Treaty of Versailles and to lobby the Carnegie Steel Co. to negotiate an end to the steelworkers’ strike that was crippling the country. To be sure, there were limits to what Wilson could do, and she never admitted to making any decisions impacting governance.  (Read more)……..

Source: America’s First Female President? Been There, Done That | Flashback | OZY

See history can be fun!  Think what you will learn tomorrow.

Ukraine’s ‘Democratic’ Dictatorship by Justin Raimondo — Antiwar.com

Ukraine has sort slipped from the headlines….you see we Americans can only handle one or two “big” stories at a time….and right now Trump and refugees are commanding all the attention.

For months some have been saying that the US is propping up a mostly fascist regime in Ukraine….of course that is not the story the government, ours, wants to be out there…..so they turn to the media to give Americans some red meat to divert our attention from what is occurring in the region.

The problem is that these stories keep popping up and at the worst times….Ukraine is moving away from even the hint of a democratic regime……and the US just smiles and keeps shoving aid and weapons up there butts to keep Russia off guard…..

Source: Ukraine’s ‘Democratic’ Dictatorship by Justin Raimondo — Antiwar.com