Condi and Alabama side trip

At the end or 2005, Secretary of State Condi Rice traveled to Alabama with the foreign secretary of Great Britain. They went to visit her alma mater and catch a football game. I was on a detail at the time working for FEMA Katrina relief. I spent a lot of time at Oak Mountain State Park. After the game their posse headed for the state park. They went to see the evacuees and a Disaster Relief Center.

As I said, I had spent much time at Oak Mountain and was unaware of a DRC in the park. Sure enough on the evening news there they were, consoling the victims of Katrina, at a mobile DRC. The next day I had some time and mentioning after all the time I had spent there I was unaware of a DRC in the park. So I started walking up the hill and as I passed a resident he asked where I was going. From behind me I heard him say, " Oh, they brought that up yesterday morning and took it away about an hour after Rice left." I stopped in my tracks. He then went on to tell me they had a bunch of people go up there to meet the secretary.

In the middle of a national natural disaster valuable resources were diverted at great effort and expense for a 15 minute photo op for the secretary of state and the foreign secretary of Great Britain. An unabashed political move at your expense. This is what this administration thinks important enough to spend your hard earned tax money on.

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Let's review

Greeted as liberators
New beginning
Final throws
Evil doers
Mushroom shaped cloud
WMD, we know where it is
They deserve to protect their borders
Stay the course
We'll stand down as they stand up
Hunt him down in his cave
They hate us for our freedom
Mission accomplished
Fight them over there so we won't have to fight them here
Dead or alive
Bring 'em on
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Israel: Enough Already

For weeks now Israel has been shelling and bombing Lebanon. It seems now they are making rubble out of bigger pieces of rubble. Where the whole world was with them in the beginning, even "moderate," Arab countries, now there is a sense that enough is enough. I don't think that many would be too upset with a continuation of ground combat. The Ariel bombardment is what has many calling for a halt and/or cease fire. Israel has over played its hand.

Rightly so the Israeli attitude has not changed but, now is the time to rethink and regroup, taking into account world opinion and the real personal and regional implications of the "Arab street."

War of this kind is not only about bombs, it is also about what will come of the continuation of the bombing campaign. This is where Israel's thinking needs to mature and accept that they have a unique opportunity to move the discussion to a place where real, tangible change is possible, only if they can see a larger picture of what their deeds will sew.

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Good advice Mr President

President Bush said today that Israel had the right to protect its borders. Seems like a reasonable right. I wish the president would take his own advice.

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NO TALKING!

One does not make peace with ones friends. One makes peace with ones enemies. But this administration won't talk to its enemies. It seems this administration has Attention Deficit Disorder ADD. Every so often the president goes before the nation or to another country and makes grand pronouncements. Everyone feels better. People everywhere feel better and have new hope. The problem is that is the end of it. There is no follow-through. We see no visibly intense engagement between the Bush Administration and its adversaries.

There once was. "the war on terrorism." We had to get the bad guys, the evil doers. So we invaded Afghanistan. We vanquished the Taliban. We moved on to Iraq and the worst evil doer in the Middle East. We had to stay the course. We forgot about Afghanistan. We were going to hunt down Bin Laden. We kept talking about him being held up in a cave. Like we had him cornered and he was cowering in a damp dank place. Waiting for the bad ass Americans to come and get 'em. Still waiting. Now the Taliban are coming back and the country is the largest supplier of Opium in the world. We called Darfur a Holocaust. What have we done about it? We denounced the leader of Venezuela. What did we do about it? We denounce North Korea but won't talk to them. We accuse the Iranian government but we won't talk to it. Syria, Hammas, who else won't we talk to? The thing is, who now wants to talk to us?

We've lost our credibility because we don't follow-through and we don't talk. We know the big stick part but we lost the talk softly part. People don't trust what we say because we are all hat and no cattle. Thanks W, and remember, they hate us for our freedom.
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What is the purpose of the G-8?

It was the G-7. The seven largest economies of the world. They would gather annually to discuss and sometimes determine a joint approach to economic issues. Leaders, foreign ministers and economic ministers would be present. Then the G-7 became the G-7 + Russia, with the inclusion of the nuclear power into a segment of the discussions. Then it became the G-7 + 1, and Russia was at the table. Russia was now a full member, but in name. Finally, the rouse was admitted and now we have the G-8.

Now it has a confused mission and with that no mandate for being. It is no longer the meeting of finance ministers and national bankers for discussions on economic policies and problems. Now it is some kind of ersatz NATO + Russia kinda thing not always but maybe and who really knows. An abomination with no mandate and no charter. Another feckless blabber dome bent on pleasing all and thus accomplishing little.

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Israel: Burnig at both ends of the candle

It seems like Israel is burning at both ends. Another Condi Rice excellent performance. The Bush experiment is failing its most elemental precept. Iraq will blaze the trail for peace between the Jews and Arabs and the entire region will benefit. Well the region has "benefited" from the bungling , mis-steps and incompetence of this administration. War on every front. Remember, democracies don't start wars, unless they are the U.S.A. and Israel, I mean.

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What has Condi Rice done right?

I can not figure out the positive attitude people have for Condi Rice. What has she done right? I can't think of a thing. Help me out here. She is supposedly a Russian specialist. Did she think they would poison the leader of Ukraine? Did she think the media giant would be stripped by the government of his holding and thrown in jail? Has she gotten them to do anything positive with Iran? How did she handle the oil blackmail with their neighbors or the situation in Georgia?

How has she done with Darfur? She said it was genocide and then went to sleep and forgot about it. I see a whole lot of talk and very little positive action. Sorry, I don't get it

As national security advisor did she coordinate the mis-information campaign for the war in Iraq? Did she handle the leader in Venezuela well, or Peru or Korea? I cannot think of anything she has touched that was better for it and yet everyone sings her praises. I don't get it

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