#3
he turned the UAE into one of the richest countries in the world
No, oil turned the UAE into a rich country. He was a bystander. There's still no industry, technology, entrepreneurship, intellectualism or any other element of an infrastructure that would denote a modern, productive country.
Of course, being a bystander in a muslim country is a good thing. Being a "friend of the palestinians" is a great thing. Being a woman is an atrocity.
#5
PlanetDan,
Absolutely correct! We lived in Dubai in the late 1980s early 1990s and Abu Dhabi was just a rich third world country. Dubai is the only one out of the 7 Emirates that shows any signs of modern infrastructure and that is because they know that they have very little oil and are being forced to look for something else for revenues. Moreover, the Al-Maktooms (?) has always been smater than the Zaayeds.
#6
Such good friends I bet they even have a brotherly law not allowing any Palestinian the right to settle and live in the UAE. With friends like that who needs more?
#8
During President Bush' post election news conference a reporter stated that "Yasser Arafat is dead". The President was not aware, neither were the majority of the other reporters.
The headline here in terms of Arafat being a "true friend to Arabs". Most posting know the truth about the history of Arafat. The Arab press will now re-write history erasing the evil.
deeds. Arafat passed away in relative calm compaired to the thousands that suffered at his hands.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/04/2004 11:55 Comments ||
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#9
Sing along now..."What a friend we have in Yasser.."
#1
One of the many benefits of the Bush re-election is that I can read and watch propaganda like this bullshit without busting so many blood vessels any more. At the end of the day, most people see it for what it is, and as for those who take it seriously - well, they're probably lost to reason anyway.
#3
Bulldog, after all the years of talk, why doesn't the government terminate public funding of the BBC? It would be interesting to watch them compete without a safety net.
#8
Guess they just got their copy of F-9/11 from Mikey boy. Word is he's trying to sell off all copies to make some last minute money!
Posted by: BA ||
11/04/2004 21:57 Comments ||
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#9
What a relief. I was afraid we were going to have spend billions to rebuild the World Trade Center. Thankfully, according to the Beeb, they're still standing.
Since we're all stupid over here, I figured I'd let the experts on America enlighten us...
George W. Bush's victory in Tuesday's U.S. presidential election showed the depth of conservative sentiment in middle America that liberals failed to take account of, European newspapers said on Thursday. Left-leaning dailies expressed incredulity and horror at the result -- "Oh, God" in small white letters were the only words on an otherwise completely black front page of an inside section of Britain's Guardian. They were drinking early at The Guardian, I'll bet...
But the same newspaper, which had backed Democratic challenger John Kerry, headlined one article on the election: "Small-town morals win the day. The coalition of moderate classes, the financial world and Christian traditionalists gathered in by the (Bush) strategist Karl Rove expresses the deep-rooted spirit of the country, the domestic mood snubbed by the mass media," said Italy's leading broadsheet Corriere della Sera. "Fearful of attacks by Osama bin Laden, frightened by the guerrilla warfare in Baghdad, American public opinion decided these are not times for social experiments and found in Bush the values of simplicity, faith, family, community and country."
American voters preferred Bush, "who looks and indeed talks like a Southern farmer, simple, level-headed and honest" to the tall, aristocratic, French-speaking Kerry, said Hungary's left-wing Nepszabadsag.
Some newspapers said outright the U.S. public was wrong. "How can 59,054,087 people be so DUMB?" asked the British tabloid Daily Mirror, which vigorously opposed the U.S.-led Iraq war, in a reference to the number of Bush voters. Hey, don't make us come over there. And you all know Bush is a maniac, so we just might...
Turkey's liberal Radikal said American voters had "closed their ears to international public opinion." No. We listen to it. We just don't pay much attention to it.
"Parts of the U.S. elite are now asking the same questions as are being asked in London, Paris or Berlin: How could it happen? Why didn't the voters realize that Bush's politics are bad for ordinary people?" said Sweden's Svenska Dagbladet. We love our 80% tax rate over here. What's wrong with you Americans?
But another Swedish daily, Dagens Nyheter, said people had better get used to it. "The world not only needs to be ready for four more years with George Bush but prepare itself for future U.S. leaders to be colored by religious and moral conservatism." That really freaks them out, doesn't it? Belgian dailies agreed that the election result marked the shape of things to come. "Those who think that Bush ... will opt for a more consensus-driven course, are wrong. The population is backing his approach. The neo-conservative bunch surrounding him will see no reason to change their minds," wrote De Standaard. Left-leaning De Morgen said a second term might have a moderating effect on Bush's advisers, "but it could just as well be that the president will become even more obsessed by the messianistic self-image he has created himself." He's mad, I tell you!! Totally, totally mad!!
Serbia's Politika said it could go either way. Bush "could slowly start changing the relationship toward his allies in the world and no longer insist on American domination at any cost," or he might "pursue his old ways." Way to take a stand, Politika.
Commentators in several countries speculated on the repercussions on their own political scenes, including in Russia, where papers said the Bush win would be good for President Vladimir Putin. "Our guy won -- Bush will share his second term with Putin," read the front page headline in Vremya Novostei.
#3
Someone once wrote a book about Napoleon, which had a series of Parisian newspaper headlines from the time of his escape from the island of Elba. At first they were screaming banners "Mad Tyrant Escapes!"; then after he landed in France, they became neutral, "Bonaparte Lands in France"; and as he approached Paris, they fell all over themselves in welcoming him back. "The Proud Liberator Returns To Joyous Throngs". Hypocrites then, hypocrites now.
#5
At the Inauguration Bush should have the Marine Corps Band play Onward, Christian Soldiers with vocal by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir followed by a NASCAR drive-by.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/04/2004 18:06 Comments ||
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#7
They haven't figured it out yet, but the "US elite" no longer includes the networks' talking heads and the NYTimes' reporters and editorialists. Thirty years ago, a reporter or news producer or correspondent for the NYT or CBS etc was a national cultural figure with real influence. Today, they're just guys who write stuff and talk into the monitor.
#8
John you-all can move down South with us, don't worry.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/04/2004 19:50 Comments ||
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#9
My gut reaction is to tell these people to FOAD but now I see it as a propaganda war on me the US citizen and my counrty. Perhaps that is simple minded thinking. But it is a lie when they say I don't hate the US I hate Bush just as it is a lie to say I don't hate jews I hate zionism.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/04/2004 1:10:22 PM ||
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#1
The dem's lost, despite the MSM, because they are diseased.
Women's rights? They died when Bill Clinton green lighted the idea that in order to get the plum jobs and get ahead, a young aspiring girl must give head ...and the "women's groups" agreed that it was a personal decison each woman and leader of the free world must make on their own.
#2
Well when you have to live in fear that a comment you make about their backwards death cult might put your life at risk here in western society it's wrong. Everyone should be free to express themselves and even create art that other will object to on religious grounds without fear. That is a basic tenet of "freedom of speech"
I think the west needs to act in self defense in some way but I can't see it happening as it's politically incorrect.
...Civilian deaths have always been a tragic reality of modern war. But the conflict in Iraq was supposed to be different - US and British forces were dispatched to liberate the Iraqi people, not impose their own tyranny of violence. Reading accounts of the US-led invasion, one is struck by the constant, almost casual, reference to civilian deaths. Soldiers and marines speak of destroying hundreds, if not thousands, of vehicles that turned out to be crammed with civilians. US marines acknowledged in the aftermath of the early, bloody battle for Nassiriya that their artillery and air power had pounded civilian areas in a blind effort to suppress insurgents thought to be holed up in the city. The infamous "shock and awe" bombing of Baghdad produced hundreds of deaths, as did the 3rd Infantry Division's "Thunder Run", an armoured thrust in Baghdad that slaughtered everyone in its path... I am rubbing the soles of my shoes on 'The Guardian', and reminding them of the millions of helpless Nazis their countrymen helped gleefully slaughter in the infamous "World War Two".
#1
And of course here in the UK every moonbat gasbag is quoting the Lancet's suicidal paper ridiculously inflating civilian deaths in the overarchingly arrogant self-assured 'I can lie as much as I damn well like because I know for sure that I'm correct' way that only lefties can.
#3
Oh, no! If only I had known this, I wouldn't have voted for Bush! Why, oh why, hasn't the mass media kept us informed of all the terrible things that the Americans have done in Iraq.
#4
The tables can be turned on Scott Ritter (Senior UN Weapons Inspector, Iraq 1991-1998). If he and his comrades from the UN had of done their jobs better and not have rolled over for all the Oil for Food revenue, all these alleged civilian deaths would not have occured. Make no mistake, Scott Ritter is out for himself and no one else.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/04/2004 18:50 Comments ||
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#3
ask her to promise never to visit and she can say whatever she wants - free country
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/04/2004 19:11 Comments ||
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#4
Yawn same old shit. She is one of the many in self denial about the issues facing the world. The press would do best to ignore her. It's slow as the NFL players are locked out.
...Let's face a hard truth: this was the bitterest Presidential campaign in living memory. The Democrats and their allies staked everything on the defeat of this President. All of the resources they had accumulated over a generation of struggle were thrown into this battle: and they have failed. Despite all of their tricks, despite all of their lies, the people have rejected them. They mean nothing. They are worth nothing. There's no point in trying to reach out to them because they won't be reached out to. We've got their teeth clutching the sidewalk and out boot above their head. Now's the time to curb-stomp the bastards...
Posted by: Anonymoose ||
11/04/2004 10:58:40 AM ||
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#1
Anyone recall the Mongol saying, something like - What is happiness? To destroy your enemy, to send him fleeing before you, to hear the lamentation of his women.
Posted by: Don ||
11/04/2004 11:36 Comments ||
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Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/04/2004 00:59 ||
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#1
They had Bruce Springsteen, Dave Matthews and New York Times darling Eminem.
How the idiots at Democratic National Headquarters managed to delude themselves into believing that any of these no-talent "celebrities" represented some sort of asset for their campaign is symptomatic of how devoid of substance their total platform was for its entire duration.
All of you here at Rantburg know well enough how little fondness or admiration I have for president Bush. To say that Bush is merely better than Kerry is scant praise. That said, in light of the Jell-O sort of spinelessness that Kerry demonstrated, only a moron could possibly doubt that the better man won.
Again, I do not intend this to be high praise. I most certainly do intend for it to be a scathing indictment of Bush's erosion of the separation of church and state. However, nothing can possibly approach the degree of insular stupidity exhibited by the Democrats' attempts at embracing such moronic ideals as sensitivity to Islamist fanatics, not to mention their typical obsession with nanny-state politics.
Kerry was his own worst enemy and nothing less. At a time when both America and history itself demands the most stolid resolve imaginable, not just against terrorism, but against creeping socialism as well, the Democrats failed in every respect to relinquish their fixation upon appeasement and soft-pedaling of totalitarian and authoritarian governments.
Without requiring any assistance from their opponents, the Democrats have relegated themselves to another four years of oblivion. They deserve it more richly than ever before in recent history.
I can only hope that in the midst of fighting theocracy abroad, America does not find itself the victim of one at home. Such a tragedy goes beyond imagination.
#2
They registered a shitload of "youth". It was one of their secret weapons dreamed up by Lockhart, Carville, et al. The Rock the Vote BS was supposed to be the trigger that fired this brilliant political coup. The Donk turnout of this group was less than 10%. Looks like they were all too stoned or too stupid to find the polling places. Fucking brilliant.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/04/2004 5:00 Comments ||
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#5
The Democrats are stuck in a special-interest, welfare-state world where individuals work for D candidates just because they are part of a group -- and are repeatedly told so by the MSM. Hence the elusive or eroding "youth vote", "union vote", :Hispanic vote", "black vote", etc.
But an increasing number of Americans vote their conscience and personal beliefs. This year, the blogosphere magnified that fact.
The Democrats are doomed unless they can come up with visions and proposals that conform with the American spirit of independence.
#7
I'd have thought a flip flop by Ann Coulter would get more attention. Tastes change.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/04/2004 7:18 Comments ||
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#8
Mark, I believe the actual quote was "But, Terayzah, you promised you'd buy me the Presidency."
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/04/2004 7:20 Comments ||
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#9
Mrs. D you are correct, I can envision Terayzah stating 'buy' since she was in the habit of buying what ever she wanted. The voters sent another message which she is having a very had time buying right now. Like Soros. money can't buy everything. :)
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/04/2004 12:03 Comments ||
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#10
The "massive youth vote" is one of the great myths held dearly by the Democratic Party's leadership. Every four years they promise a massive turnout of the presumably progressive, idealistic, Bobby Kennedy-worshipping kids, and just as regularly, it fails to materialize.
Voting is a bit more difficult than posting screeds on a chatboard or firing up a bowl. Among other requirements, one needs to get out of bed, get dressed and figure out where the polling place is. Perhaps the new leadership of the Dems will recognize the obvious: kids don't vote.
#11
true lex, also realize that it takes a certain amount of stoicism and determination to stand in line for 90 min's or more just to get into the voting booth. I'd wager some of today's youngsters don't have that type of paitience.
#13
Voting is a bit more difficult than posting screeds on a chatboard or firing up a bowl. Among other requirements, one needs to get out of bed, get dressed and figure out where the polling place is.
You got it Lex... and someone maybe you had a good post to the effect that many kids want to vote but don't want to look like a fool. I remember that... I didn't vote until I was 25 for that reason... what's the procedure, will I look stupid, is my hair okay? If only they knew... :)
The US provokes the hatred of the Islamic world because the "freedoms" associated with the nether reaches of its entertainment industry are its most visible face to the rest of the world. The US, to most of the world, represents global mobility, but also the breakdown of the family, the collapse of hoary conventions of respect, the trampling of tradition.
First of all, America's tragic encounter with Islam is a confrontation between a modern and a traditional society, in which the traditional society only can lose. That it also is a confrontation between Christianity and Islam, two religions that respond in radically different ways to the fragility of traditional society, makes the confrontation all the more ferocious. Islam looks outward to defend the community, the ummah, against its enemies by conquering and transforming them in its own image. By its nature it is militant rather than self-critical. Christianity demands that the believer look inward to his own sin. Soul-searching after September 11 is what made the personal so political in the US.
The US is in danger of social decay - not as much danger as my Halloween apparition of bin Laden portrayed, but in danger nonetheless. When two-fifths of female university students suffer from anorexia or bulimia, and one-sixth suffer from depression, it is clear that the Witches' Sabbath of sexual experimentation that began during the 1960s has led to widespread misery. Parents cannot raise their children in isolation from violent pornography; young people cannot build their lives in a fraternity party.
It is the hard, grinding reality of American life in the liberal dystopia that makes the "moral issues" so important to voters. Partial-birth abortion and same-sex marriage became critical issues not because evangelical voters are bigots. On the contrary, parents become evangelicals precisely in order to draw a line between their families and the adversary culture. This far, and no more, a majority of Americans said on November 2 on the subject of social experimentation.
Unlike the Europeans, whose demoralization has led to depopulation, Americans still are fighting against the forces of decay that threaten - but do not yet ensure - the ultimate fall of American power. That is the message of November 2.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/04/2004 9:35:16 AM ||
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#1
âThis far, and no more, a majority of Americans said on November 2 on the subject of social experimentation.â
No doubt many Bush voters support social conservatism. But there were also many people who voted based on the single issue of the WoT. People who trust Bush to âdrain the ME swampâ. For many, the social conservatism, e.g. the ban on federally funded embryonic stem cell research, was unwanted but unavoidable baggage.
#2
Last evening on NPR Nancy Pelosi said "We will fight the Republicans". She wnet on to say the government has been taken over by radical, right-wingers. Isn't there some way we can get rid of her?
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
11/04/2004 7:24 Comments ||
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#3
Mail her a one way ticket to Vancouver?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/04/2004 7:26 Comments ||
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#4
We would love to but she lives in a safe "bay area" district and is the offspring of a long time California democratic family.
A look at this map will explain how screwed conseravatives are in California. It's the same reason we are stuck with Di Fi and Boxer.
#5
I know. That's part of why I moved. And suggested a plane ticket instead of an election. But I thought she was the sister of Tommy d'Alesandro, former mayor of Balitmore, MD.
btw, DPOD, did you see the letter to the editor in the WSJ from the fellow in Palo Alto? Classic description of the situation there.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/04/2004 7:37 Comments ||
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#6
I am afraid we will never rid ourselves of Pelosi. But let her whip up the Liberals and attempt to obstruct Congress. They have lost seats in Congress three elections in a row, lets make it ten. I hava a prediction that next election cycle they lose more seats in both houses and we get some more Conservatives in the State goverment. Dan Lungren is goint to run for Senate against DiFi next cycle and he was a VERY popular AG and he will have the support of Arnold.
#7
No comment. Not my cup of tea. He hasn't been a real good friend to firearms owners in my estimation. I held my nose with Arnold know he was also no friend to firearms owners but electable. Won't do it for Lungren. I'll vote Libertarian. I have to often split my vote as it is.
#8
Lungren had his chance. He lost to Davis. So what makes anyone think he can beat DiFi? The Caliphornia electorate shifted to the right?
That was one of the problems I saw with the state. It is a one party state now. Eight years of malignant neglect by Bush is only exacerbating the situation. As a result there is a dearth of talent in the GOP. Caliphornia looks more and more like Maryland or Massachusetts. Permanent Democrat legislature and judiciary with a once a generation Republican governor.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/04/2004 8:44 Comments ||
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#9
The thing about Nancy's interview that struck me the most was she blames the loss of the election to radical right-wingers. She just doesn't understand that the majority of voters (a little over 3 million more than Kerry) are not radical right wing-nuts but conservatives. Her brand of anything goes liberalism and socialism just don't play in most of the US. Tom Daschle found that out the hard way in South Dakota. I don't believe 2nd Ammendment rights played as big a role in this election as the last. I believe if two people of the same sex want to live together in a pseudo-marriage that's their business but don't call it a marriage and it appears there are an awful lot of people who agree with that. I don't believe unions between same-sex couples should be banned by law but calling them marriages is offensive to most heterosexuals and this is something the homosexual community doesn't understand. Just my opinion but I think " moral values" is the biggest reason the President won reelection. John Kerry was seen to be morally deficient and the President was viewed as morally superior. Moral values do play a very big role in the Hispanic community as well as some of the othe minorities and the Catholic and Protestant communities as well. This isn't to say that these people want a theocracy (some do but most don't) they just want someone with a moral compass to lead this country.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
11/04/2004 9:27 Comments ||
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#10
Deacon I think you hit the nail on the head.
Here is even more to think about. Bush is a Methodist. They are pretty liberal. So much so I quit the United Methodist Church. I am still a follower of John Wesley's thought though. Bush is not a right wing nut job conservative. He is a compasionate man trying to do the right thing. He does rely on his faith in making decisions. Kerry relies on his thumb, spit and the wind. The contrast is stark.
Bush is what you see. Kerry is not what you see. People liked what they saw in George Bush and voted that way.
This is not some great mystery or some lurch towards a right wing theocratic republic.
If you were exposed to the Euro media's post-election analysis, chances are you'd think exactly the opposite. At least accoring the the Beeb, etc. Bush was voted in solely by right-wing evangelical Christians. They've found their propaganda lie for the next four years, and they'll stick to it.
#13
Very well said Deacon, I agree with you. Bush is not a pseudo Christian extremist Fallwell boy no matter how much the left says so. Painting him as a born-again fire and brimstone type when he really belongs to the UMC is way off. The common folks recognize the distinction. The left errors when comparing the average conservative (who may or may not be religious) to those that consider themselves in the religious right. Another reason why Pelosi should stay in CA.
#14
Jarhead - it's a deliberate error. That's why I call it a lie. A straw man fallacy, especially popular with the fundamentally dishonest anti-American media in Europe.
#15
She just doesn't understand that the majority of voters (a little over 3 million more than Kerry) are not radical right wing-nuts but conservatives.
She can't tell the difference.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/04/2004 10:57 Comments ||
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#16
Yea I say ceed the coast and LA to Nuveo California and let the rest of us have representation in the Senate and House. Jules.
#17
Deacon, you are absolutely correct. I've had the exact same thoughts on those issues.
The folks being called 'evangelicals' are not in the spittle and eye-rolling Fallwell club that got so much media attention 5-10 yrs ago. The people who voted for Bush this time are people who believe that the gov't shouldn't be legislating morality, but at the same time morality should not be abscent in legislating.
#19
My group at work in blue-state Illinois has one (and only one) Kerry supporter. He has been talking since before the election of moving to Canada if W won. OK, if you feel that strongly about it...but his tone is that somehow he'll be punishing us by doing so. To which my (as yet unvoiced) comment would have to be "don't let the border gate hit you on the ass on your way out."
Posted by: Darth VAda ||
11/04/2004 23:35 Comments ||
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Yasser Arafat is alive and well enough (may not much longer) to secretly free money for terrorism while he publicly denounces attacks such as Monday's lethal suicide blast in the crowded Tel Aviv Carmel market.
Yasser Arafat is alive and well enough to secretly free money for terrorism while he publicly denounces attacks such as Monday's lethal suicide blast in the crowded Tel Aviv Carmel market.
Arafat, whose condition still remains unknown despite reports from different aides, gave detailed orders for terrorist operations before he was airlifted to France earlier this week, according to respected journalist Ben Caspit of the Hebrew Maariv newspaper. The PA chairman instructed aides not to talk with Hamas about reducing attacks because "this is against our policy."
From his hospital bed in France, Arafat relayed a statement condemning the bombing by a 16-year-old Arab who blew himself up and murdered three Israelis in the late morning attack. The condemnation also was a signal to PLO cabinet officers in Ramallah that Arafat.
His wife Suha relayed the statement, and she has been one of a select few who have direct access to the 75-year-old "father of terrorists". Israel Radio reported this week that one of her first concerns was having her husband sign a will which would give her access to hundreds of millions of dollars he has stashed away in different accounts in Israel and Europe. Arafat reportedly refused her request.
Suha, Arafat's press agent and his liaison in France have relayed reports that Arafat's health is improving, but an Israel Defense official told Knesset members Tuesday he is suffering from a serious disease.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/04/2004 1:41:17 AM ||
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Read the whole thing. You know you want to ;-) When Normal Means Divisive
And now at last we get back to normal. Now we can all reunite and hold hands and buy the world a Coke, right?
No. When Walter Mondale took a pasting, half the nation didn't convert to Ronald Reagan's stare-down-the-Rooskies approach. Bill Clinton's victory in '96 didn't make conservatives think, "Gosh, he's popular. Let's give him that nationalized health care, eh? It would mean so much to him."
Normal is normal only in retrospect, when you've forgotten the love-him/loathe-him dynamic that has ruled the political culture since Richard Nixon. (With a brief time out for the halcyon, let-grandpa-drive mood of Bush 41's first two years.) We're back to deep polarization, which isn't new in our history, but seems so different from the gauzy era of I Like Ike and the beloved reign of FDR.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Belgian dailies agreed that the election result marked the shape of things to come. "Those who think that Bush ... will opt for a more consensus-driven course, are wrong. The population is backing his approach. The neo-conservative bunch surrounding him will see no reason to change their minds," wrote De Standaard. Left-leaning De Morgen said a second term might have a moderating effect on Bush's advisers, "but it could just as well be that the president will become even more obsessed by the messianistic self-image he has created himself." 
