Thursday, Jul 29th
Last update04:12:41 PM GMT
Editorial Glance
The truth, however, is that the only problem Republicans ever had with George W. Bush was his low approval rating. They always loved his policies and his governing style — and they want them back. In recent weeks, G.O.P. leaders have come out for a complete return to the Bush agenda, including tax breaks for the rich and financial deregulation.
They’ve even resurrected the plan to cut future Social Security benefits.
Given the way Israel behaves now, it’s pretty sad to remember that it was envisioned as a country where the Jews ran their own national affairs – but nobody else’s.
Now it’s not enough for Israel to have its own coast, its own territorial waters, its own airspace – no, we’ve got to control Gaza’s coast, Gaza’s territorial waters, Gaza’s airspace, too. The Gaza Strip is part of our sphere of influence. Let any Turkish ship, Libyan ship or any other ship we don’t like try to sail into Gaza, and they’ll get a taste of gunboat diplomacy, Israeli-style. Let anyone try to fly a plane in or out of Gaza and they’ll be at the mercy of the Israel Air Force.
Maybe we should all move to Afghanistan. At least that's one country Obama is interested in rebuilding.
Meanwhile, a jobs creation bill has been hijacked in Congress under the tyranny of the minority Republican Party, and there's fading hope of Congress, before its summer recess at the end of the week, voting on much less passing a standalone bill that will extend unemployment benefits to the unemployed until the end of November 2010.
In George Orwell's chilling novel, 1984, the author depicts a future society in which citizens are controlled by an all-seeing, all-knowing big government, referred to as 'big brother.' Orwell's nightmare is here, now.
The Disunited States of America is no longer a country of national union. From the inception of the U.S. Constitution, factions continually vied for power. Yet there was a blueprint of basic precepts generally accepted as the law of the land. The appearance of legitimacy was shattered a century and half ago, that foretold the “War of Northern Aggression”. The American Revolution permanently betrayed is but a memory of past glories. The rule of law now relegated to an exhibit in a wax museum.
Most important thought: I'm sick and tired of this thing called "patriotism".
The Japanese pilots who bombed Pearl Harbor were being patriotic. The German people who supported Hitler and his conquests were being patriotic, fighting for the Fatherland. All the Latin American military dictators who overthrew democratically-elected governments and routinely tortured people were being patriotic — saving their beloved country from "communism".
Philip Weiss, who runs a blog called Mondoweiss (War of Ideas in the Middle East) has just posted a remarkable piece entitled “Petraeus Emails Show General Scheming with Journalist to Get out pro-Israel storyline.”
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