Sunday January 25, 2009, 12:40 pm
Reza Fiyouzat, Revolutionary Flowerpot Society
Jan 25, 2009

Beware of Straight-A Students!

Democrats are like the good, intelligent students to the Republicans mostly jocks and too rich to study types. Vast stereotypes, both, but will do for the purpose.

Among the Democrats' goody-two-shoes student types, though, Obama is exceptional. I wouldn't be surprised at all if he were a straight-A student throughout his school years. Also, I bet he always wanted to sit in the front row, though guessing by his height he must have probably sat toward the back.

Not even a week in the White House, and he is cruising through his agenda tasks one by one; nay, one two three at a time, 'There, I'm done!'

His first work week was only three days long, yet he's already given the orders to close down Guantamo Bay's prison camp, and all 'black sites'. Just these two items of shame should also bring about a whole host of investigations and prosecutions, but will any ensue? I doubt it.

Also, any and all legal justifications and formulations of torture, by a stroke of pen, were rejected, suspended or came 'under review', although the legal procedures for the prisoners' trials/release are still to be worked out ... Which, itself could take a while longer ... "Have patience," will soon become the operative word of advice coming from Democrat apologists.

And, let us not pass too quickly over that convenient category: 'under review'. Could it be that some of these 'methods and techniques' could simply be re-categorized, or the army manuals re-written, so after the 'review process' torturous methods of interrogation can resurface, now as legal? Never put anything past these rats.

Next: abortion. Reversed all Bush injunctions and bans on spread of U.S. aid money going to international organizations that educate about, or help with, abortion. Done! All the feminists thus satisfied, he can depend on them for support in just about anything he'll put his mind to. The Pro-Choicers, further, will revel for a long while on the fact that it is now the Pro-Lifers' turn to organize and protest, to bring pressure; this particular tennis ball is now in the opponents' camp for at least four years. Barack, the ever-enthusiastic student has paid his debt to one of his gleeful constituents, turned in his homework and early at that, has a guaranteed stage at this forum, and has an apple cart full of polished ones ready to hand out to this crowd.

Next: in a show of something not so pleasant that could await more government employees (wage/benefit cuts), Obama started a policy of wage freeze for the White House staff. Done! And see how serious he is about fiscal discipline?

Next: to show how hard he's coming down on those terrible lobbyists, he's introduced restrictions on lobbying by anybody who works in his administration. Done! See how unfriendly he is to 'special interests'?

Obama is smart! And, therefore, tons more dangerous than Bush. On this, I have to agree with Alex Cockburn's descriptions of George Bush as the ultimate disaster president for the plans of the imperialists (see, Hail to the Chief). Just look at how exposed the imperialists became during the Bush presidency. Now, all the mess will be swept under the carpet. Try to get a word of criticism against this Prince of Light, and just watch how quickly a liberal will morph into a fascist super-hero right in front of you, no telephone booths needed.

A friend, a very capable editor in his own right, was warning way back about this very 'Barack more dangerous for the left' business. Back when the presidential campaign was ongoing, my friend was confiding that from a leftist perspective, as President, McCain would do more damage to imperialism than would Obama. With an Obama victory, he warned, you'll get the slick, schmoozing, super-hypocritical slime balls back in charge, finessing and sexing things up, tidying up the mess, soft-talking to the Europeans and making it easy for the U.S. to get more effective European cooperation to plunder and further oppress the rest of the world. My friend was, and is, correct.

Yes, to prove how quick of a study he is, Obama didn't forget to include the big-ticket items of strategic import that he also was required to turn in: Insults for the Palestinians, the Afghans and the Pakistanis. It didn't take him long at all to reveal how much of a slave he has promised to be for his Israeli bosses.

Look how successfully he has turned in his homework, reports all typed-up, double spaced, one and half inch margins, with a neat title page, with appendices featuring special charts, color-coded and all handed in before term, already got his 'A+'; for work done so well and the report written up oh, so beautifully on the topic of ... Gaza!

"Israel has a right to self-defense," and, "No democracy can tolerate such danger to its people." This line of non-reason is such a non-sequitur and so irrational that it is almost insane to utter; it is clearly not said to address a real problem.



What does it mean, anyway? That 'democracies' can kill innocent children indiscriminately by the hundreds in a short span of time, if they so wish? That 'democracies' can occupy other people's land indefinitely and subject the people of those occupied lands to any sadistic and cruel type of behavior the human mind can conjure up? What kind of 'defense' requires killing and maiming innocent children, women and men by the thousands, to 'retaliate' for the killing of one person, even if we agree that the Hamas rockets were the real reason for the 'retaliation'? Is Obama sick in the head?

Still not a word of condemnation about the outrageous ethnic cleansing and widespread massacres; not a word about the use of illegal weaponry such as white phosphorus and uranium-enriched munitions, a war crime that a constitutional lawyer should know about; not a word about the indiscriminate bombardment of heavily civilian population areas, not to mention direct and very precise attacks on hospitals, schools, infrastructure such as power plants and sewerage plants, even UN buildings; the very institution that sanctified Israel's very creation and existence! Still not a word regarding ALL the egregious violations of Geneva Conventions, UN Charter, international humanitarian laws or most any law, period!?

So we can conclude that, during the 22-day slaughtering of Gazans, when Obama didn't utter a word about the massacre of Palestinian children, women and men, trapped-in and locked-in with no place to flee to, it was not due to the fact that the U.S. 'cannot have two presidents at any given time' (I am pretty sure he did not stop waxing statesmanlike regarding a whole host of other issues).

Obama's silence was not due to his careful deliberations under way, forcing him to wait for his moment before coming out and revealing a thus-far hidden socialist internationalist seeking to interject some 'balance' into the U.S.'s role as an intermediary in the Middle East 'conflict'.

No. He had already finished his homework for this class and turned it in before term! The real reason he didn't say anything was that Obama really didn't have anything to add. Nothing to add beyond what reality (aided by Bush and his puppeteers) was saying already: that the slaughtering of Palestinians is acceptable to ALL U.S. administrations.

Be afraid of this straight-A student. Be very afraid, and organize!

Sunday January 25, 2009, 1:24 pm
He stands exactly as he promised on this issue, which certainly does not meet with my approval.

But why would I expect he should do everything I would like ? I'm pleased with other things he has done, and note the sarcasm of this blog.

It illustrates once again the great weakness of the left is its inability to be as cohesive as the right.

Obama is centrist. Let's work with this, and not join Faux News and Rush in bashing him before he even rolls up his sleeves.

Monday January 26, 2009, 6:43 pm
I have to agree this article is very sarcastic and dismissive of everything Obama has done so far. I could not read the whole thing. I like some of things Obama has done. He is only just starting so lets see where he takes us. I doubt he will do everything we all want but I still give him a chance.

Monday January 26, 2009, 6:59 pm
No President will be able to please everyone. Why do we always act surprised and some seem to forget he has been in office 6 whole days. He is only human.
If you have issues then organize, protest, petition and make your voice heard, that is what the USA is all about. With Bush gone let us make use of our freedoms in areas we see in need.

Monday January 26, 2009, 8:02 pm
It's not an article; it's a blog post by a self-proclaimed Revolutionary Flowerpot. Opinion is great and all, but let's not confuse it with journalism. That's what FOX does.

This kind of criticism from the left has a place, but it's not really useful in moving the center. It's most effective as a self-congratulatory excuse for perpetuating disengagement with any part of the system because it is sooooooooo corrupt, man. This type of ego-worshipping radicalism is useless and fake, as the lack of any specifics following the call to organize! shows.

Monday January 26, 2009, 9:41 pm
I'm really hoping his stimulus "green jobs" pkg is successful and not a handout to the rich to play with!

I'm really angry at the reversal of abortions, because I believe all life is sacred and abortion is murder. If people want to abort innocent life, so be it -- BUT NOT WITH MY TAX DOLLARS!!! I should, we pro-lifers should be allowed to NOT have to fund this.

Hamas? They are terrorists and the innocent Gazans were given ample notice to leave the area to flush out the terrorists -- if they chose to stay, then that is their choice. Sorry they were hurt. for thousands of years these people have been killing one another. There has been just as many if not more innocent deaths in Israel. I believe all war should be halted!!

It will be interesting to see how this next 4 years pans out. I hope it won't be as bumpy as the last 8 years.

Monday January 26, 2009, 10:56 pm
From what I can gather Obama smoked pot and wanted to be a basketball star when he attended Punahou high school in Oahu, Hawaii so he was not the kind of goody goody two shoes A+ described though it was a private school with a good reputation. However I am very dissapointed at Obama's silence about Gaza. I do hope he takes a more balanced approach in the middle east - holding both sides accountable for their transgressions and trying to stop our own - but I expect he won't bring enough change in this area as he is trying to be "centrist" but alas I believe he is movement in the right direction but we will have to see

Monday January 26, 2009, 11:07 pm
A TRUE LEADER, GIVE HIM A BREAK, HE CAN'T DO IT ALL IN A FEW WEEKS, IT CANT TAKE A FEW YEARS TO CLEAN UP THIS MESS BUSH LEFT BEHIND, HE WILL NEED A SECOND MANDATE, IF YOU PEOPLE REALLY WANT TO SEE CHANGE........

Tuesday January 27, 2009, 5:09 am
Israel justified its aggression against the civil population of Gaza as to stop the missile attacks of the democratically elected Palestinian resistance Hamas who are actually struggling against occupation, oppression.

Israel calls the struggle against occupation as "terrorism" and in the process justifies the killing and bombing of over 1300 Palestinian out of which 400 murdered were children, 128 women, 68 elderly not to mention the numbers of normal civilians, Journalists, nurses, doctors and even UNRWA employee murdered … over 2000 Building destroyed, 26,000 buildings damaged including 52 UN and UNRWA facilities, schools, where houses, farms, mosques , power stations even Hospitals bombed, and they say they wanted to stop the terrorists of Hamas !!

Obama calls israel a "friend" .. well .. it is really easy to know what a person is made of by just looking to his "friends" .. !!

Tuesday January 27, 2009, 7:22 am
Give his administration a chance to meet and craft a peace proposal..

Bush had 8 years and did NOTHING about Middle East Peace, except inflame and enrage Muslims. He was told by Congress to appoint a WMD czar, and never did. Obama just appointed one, and assigned highest priority to preventing nukes getting into terrorist hands, reducing number of them worldwide.. Lets see what he actually does. At least he put someone on the job.. Bush never filled the post, for at least two years. that shows how serious he was about preventing a nuke weapon being used on the USA.

Tuesday January 27, 2009, 7:35 am
Those numbers were proven to be propaganda by Hamas. They are false.

Tuesday January 27, 2009, 9:56 am
Obama's done some great things in his first week as president, as listed in that blog. I'm very impressed!
Unfortunately, he's also done some bad things during his campaign: his support of the $700 billion bailout, voting for the PATRIOT Act renewal, voting for the FISA Amendament to smoothe over corporate/government wiretapping, turning down public funding, etc.

Of course Obama is going to support Israel...he's a centrist! He's also not going to support Universal Health Care, or end the War on Terror, or end the War on Drugs, or any of the many, many other things that liberals have been working on for a very long time. If citizens want those things, they'll have to organize and work to put pressure on Obama and our representatives in Congress...just like we had to under Clinton and Bush.

Some things will change, some will stay the same. So far, the changes have been good ones, though.
If you truly want a brighter future for America, organize! Bitter whining on a blog's not going to help.

Some people from the Nader campaign have started a national movement to organize citizens by congressional district, to put pressure on their representatives for change. Sign up at november5.org today!

Tuesday January 27, 2009, 1:54 pm
http://www.uruknet.de/?s1=1&p=51250&s2=27

For Palestinians, Obama's Message is Crystal Clear

Jan 26, 2009

When former U.S. President George W. Bush departed for his final trip home, that very moment represented an end of a long and unbearable nightmare, one that Bush epitomized until his last day in office. Americans may decry what we can finally dub as the 'Bush legacy', for it brought economic ruin, but also pushed the country into avoidable, if not completely preventable wars, disgracing the collective history of a nation that for long imposed its sense of moral authority on the world.


But the new president is set to change all of that. True, Barack Obama is duly warning of hyped expectations; but, frankly, he can only blame himself for the eagerness and hope, realistic or otherwise, that has engulfed the nation, even the world over. During his presidential campaign he made many promises, the gist of which is that an Obama administration would be everything that the Bush administration was not. That was enough for 'Obamaniacs' to sing and dance the world over.


One cannot expect that Obama has a magic solution for everyone's problems, everywhere. In fact one must be realistic and simply ask Obama to remedy the problems and conflicts that were introduced or provoked, financed and sustained by his own country.


Regarding the Middle East, Obama seems to have hit the ground running, or so we are told. Shortly after his inauguration, he appointed former Senator George Mitchell as special envoy to the region. Mitchell "will bring a wealth of experience and credibility to the job," said CNN.


Once again, Obama is clearly attempting to delineate an early policy that differs from Bush's. The latter was affiliated with the infamous Guantanamo Bay, the "gulag of our times" – according to Amnesty International - thus Obama ordered it closed, a year from now that is. Bush was blamed for his late arrival to the Middle East peace process scene, thus Obama makes it clear that the peace process is a priority for his administration.


But the question is how different will Obama truly be when his administration is done carrying out a few symbolic gestures to appease the ever-eager public?


Naturally a new administration, promising a new era, requires a new language. Although inundated with lofty terminology, the outlines of Obama's new administration seem, in some instances, a mirror image of Bush.


These are remarks made by Obama (not Bush), on Jan. 22, and seen as the first major statement by his administration regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict: "Let me be clear: America is committed to Israel's security. And we will always support Israel's right to defend itself against legitimate threats…. Hamas must meet clear conditions: recognize Israel's right to exist; renounce violence; and abide by past agreements. Going forward, the outline for a durable cease-fire is clear: Hamas must end its rocket fire; Israel will complete the withdrawal of its forces from Gaza; the United States and our partners will support a credible anti-smuggling and interdiction regime, so that Hamas cannot rearm."


Funny how Obama started his statement with "let me be clear." He cannot possibly be any clearer as he spent endless hours for many months assuring Israel and its supporters, while condemning Palestinians without any reservation or remorse.


Those who counted on Obama to bring a just peace to the Middle East must've had their hearts broken watching the man charging against Hamas's terror, as thousands of Gazans were killed and wounded, including 430 children in the matter of three weeks as a result of Israel's barbarous attacks, using mostly American weapons (and full, unqualified U.S. backing.)


And yet, Obama found it fitting to explain that his administration's foreign policy is not only "critical in terms of projecting … America's power, but also America's values and America's ideals." Of course, it was Palestinian trust in those ideals that led them in droves to the polls in January 2006, and subsequently to their starvation and carnage in Gaza. It is no wonder that Palestinians are unimpressed.


Aside from Obama's unparalleled clarity, thus far, on his utter and "unconditional" commitment to Israel, he, along with his officials, continue to borrow similar vague slogans that were used enthusiastically by the Bush administrations: national security, national interests, spreading of American ideals, values, and all the rest.


Commenting on such sloganeering, Howard Zinn, one of America's most celebrated historians, said, 'We have to think about these words and phrases that are thrown at us without giving us a time to think. And ... we have to redefine these words, like "national security." What is national security? ... having military bases all over the world [or] ... having healthcare, having jobs."


Americans will have four years to determine how Obama and his administration define these tired slogans, ones that also include democracy and "terrorism" (is the latter an exclusively Arab tendency, never an Israeli, no matter how many the latter kills?)


Meanwhile, Palestinians in Gaza hardly have the leverage of time as tens of thousands remain homeless and destitute. More, they have little hope and expectations on Obama or even Mitchell, despite his "wealth of experience and credibility."


"Obama won't bring my husband back to life," Leila Khalil, a Gazan woman, whose husband was killed during Israel's bloody offensive, told AFP. "He was martyred and left me with six children to feed on my own."


Obama's also made himself "clear" regarding the fate of Leila's husband, and thousands like him: "For years, Hamas has launched thousands of rockets at innocent Israeli citizens. No democracy can tolerate such danger to its people, nor should the international community, and neither should the Palestinian people themselves, whose interests are only set back by acts of terror."


Luckily, Leila no longer has a TV set to listen to Obama's remarks. It was, along with her home pulverized by Israeli missiles, courtesy of the United States. For Gazans, and most Palestinians, things cannot be any clearer.

--

Ramzy Baroud (www.ramzybaroud.net) is an author and editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His work has been published in many newspapers, journals and anthologies around the world. His latest book is, "The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People's Struggle" (Pluto Press, London).

Wednesday December 23, 2009, 11:22 pm
He is as dangerous as his illuminati handlers, just as Bush was. The world is headed to a one world govt and Obama is leading the way. Kissinger even says that is exactly what is happening. Lord have mercy on us.
Ps- I don't think he is really a friend of Israel. Soon everyone will turn on them and God will miraculously rescue them.

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