American Theocracy, ever looming these past three decades attempts to rewrite U.S. history, with the aid of Congress.
In the January 28th edition of The Nation, Chris Hedges, former Middle East bureau chief for the New York Times and now senior fellow at The Nation Institute reports on James “Randy” Forbes, (R-VA).…
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76 - Colin
A very depressing opinion it is too Jet.
77 - Jet in Columbus
In my opinion my last comment is the only solution... and I think we all know it.
78 - Colin
Mmmm. I hope not. It's not what I know.
ABSOLUTE demand from the LEADERS in the region for economic and social reform NOW. Relief for the toiling MILLIONS who suffer under these rich bastards and feel compelled to JOIN the terrorists out of sheer frustration and anger...
Why not demand this now anyway?
79 - Jet in Columbus
Because it's been tried seven different ways from Sunday and didn't succeed. The Japanese were just as fanatical, they wouldn't surrender as long as their Emporer stood firm, and that was the only way to make them surrender.
80 - P.Marlowe
Because Colin there's no one at 1600 Penn Ave that has the political will to carry it out. Right now the people there are carpetbaggers - pure and simple.
It would require someone with iron-clad will - a Lincoln-esque type figure, possibly an FDR or Truman to have the political balls to carry this out. Especially since it could lead to political suicide and that's just for starters...
The US would have to go it alone. Take the heat for all the other allies governments.
Would you like to be the one sitting in the Oval Office having to give the order? Lord knows I wouldn't.
Marlowe
81 - Colin
I dunno that's true - I get the impression that we (the West) don't really give too much of a shit how Saudi Arabia, UAE, etc are governed so long as the oil keeps pumping at a reasonable 'to us' price, and we're only too happy to compromise ourselves further by signing billion pound/dollar arms deals with, for example, Saudi Arabia, in order to "protect them from Iran". In fact, in Britain, a massive amount of money was wasted on a serious fraud office investigation into a possibly corrupt (bribes, back-handers etc) deal with the Saudis which was ditched for 'national security' reasons - in reality everyone must know that means, cos they'll pull out the deal, which is worth shedloads of money and plenty of defence jobs. The countries from which these attacks come are our allies - whether they be medieval theocracies or not.
82 - Jet in Columbus
Unfortunately it took Pearl Harbor to get us into WWII, even more unfortunately when we suffered our 2nd Pearl Harbor in New York, we had a leader who'd rather sit in an elementary classroom reading "My Pet Goat" than to take action.
No one would've blamed us if we'd immediately bombed the living hell out of the capital of Afghanistan, but instead he sat on his hands and flew around in Air Force One.
Yeah but what if we were wrong... we were-we attacked Iraq who had nothing to do with 9/11
83 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
The countries from which these attacks come are our allies - whether they be medieval theocracies or not.
These are allies? Colin, maybe our air force should drop a couple of nukes on London in vengeance for the English expulsion of Jews a few centuries ago. Or maybe for the perfidious behavior of the English government in betraying Jews by shutting the gates of the Mandate in 1939.
You seem to have difficulty comprehending the true meaning of the word, "ally". These attacks both on New York, and on London mean that these so-called "allies" are in reality enemies. I realize that Englishmen have the shit from Arab arse all over their lips. Their vision is badly impaired, along with their judgment. But is kissing Arab arse so ingrained among Welshmen also that you cannot see the obvious?
84 - Irene Wagner
Apparently you thought my recommendation of “gentle persuasion” had something to do with Arabs. It didn’t"it had to do with abortion. Passion for unborn babies shouldn’t mean bombing abortion clinics, and passion for one’s Christian brother and sisters shouldn’t mean threatening to take out one innocent Muslim (or Jew, atheist) for every innocent Christian harmed. Christians who aren’t as passionate about the sanctity of life of Palestinians as they are about unborn babies will carry signs at a pro-life rally, and refuse to oppose a pre-emptive war against any of Israel’s enemies because “Israel can do no wrong.”
Ruvy, Master Thespian: Arabs don't give a rat's ass about your "gentle persuasion". They respect power and that is all they respect. When Arabs terrorists seized the Church of the Sepulchre in 2002, you Christians did shit. You didn't open your mouths at all. You did not warn the Arabs that the Qa'aba would be blown to bits if they did not evacuate the church forthwith, you did not warn that mosques would be burnt to the ground if they did not evacuate your church.
No can do, Ruvy. We’ve only just started to live down the Crusades.
85 - Irene Wagner
...and to be fair in avenging their persecuted brethren around the world, US Christians would have to convince their "faithful" representatives to arrange the burning of mosques (or the hangouts for top members of the Communist party) in Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bangledesh, Belarus, Bhutan,Brunei, Burma, Chiapas, China, Comoros, Cuba, Egypt, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Laos, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, MOrocco, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, SOmalia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tibet, TUnisian, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen. (This isn't a complete list.)
There just aren't enough bombs to go around, Ruvy. An organization called Voice of the Martyrs enlists the aid of Christians in helping Christians and their families in countries where persecution includes denial of access to Bibles and education to imprisonment, torture and death.) Anything beyond that sort of intervention, and World War III would be starting. That isn't the way Jesus would've gotten things done, anyway. He knocked over a few crooked money-changers in front of a synagogue once, but other than that, he pretty much left houses of worship alone, except to teach in them.
86 - Irene Wagner
...and after the atomic dust finally settles over the Muslim population centers some of you atheists are recommending we choose at random and take out if the US is attacked again...history will no doubt record that the carnage was started by US Christians and their theocracy, their evil In-God-We-Trust penny-stamping ways.
87 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Apparently you thought my recommendation of "gentle persuasion" had something to do with Arabs. It didn't--it had to do with abortion.
I apologize, madame. Since my glasses frames broke a while back, reading and writing can be a bit of a chore, and occasionally I lose the thread of what the writer is attempting to convey.
I don't always have a magnifying glass handy....
It appears that we agree about abortion, pretty much.....
As for living down the Crusades, that is one thing. It is quite another to let someone crap all over you. And that is what happened in 2002 in Bethlehem. I'm sorry dear, that is cold hard reality.
It bothered me greatly that Israeli troops got involved at all. Given that Bethlehem was supposed to be under Arab control, Israeli soldiers should have stayed the hell out, and let the Moslems shame you Christians into finally doing something to show you have some real spine.
You didn't.
Instead we took the blame for you. More Jews crucified (not literally, this time) for your sakes. When are you going to learn to clean up your own messes and not to rely on us?
88 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
...and to be fair in avenging their persecuted brethren around the world, US Christians would have to convince their "faithful" representatives to arrange the burning of mosques....
Irene, the first thing you learn living in the Middle East is to stop being fair. You do not have to hit every single mosque. A few big ones, burned down to the ground (not bombed, but destroyed systematically by angry mobs of Christians) would more than suffice to get the point across. Such a thing could have been easily accomplished in Michigan, or in parts of Australia..... The threat of destroying the Qa'aba with nukes serves as the ace in the hole.
That is how you deal with such a thing. Learn from the following example.
Many years ago, during the first intifada, some Arabs tried to destroy Kokhav Ya'akov. The French Jews in the town didn't wait for the IDF to help them. They trashed the neigboring Arab village several times. The mukhtar from the village finally came under a flag of truce, begging that the village not be touched again. Since then, Kokhav Ya'akov has not been touched. In neighboring P'sagot, the law-biding English speaking Jews, waited for the IDF. Go back over the records of Arab terror strikes. P'sagot has been hit again and again. That is the difference between turning the other cheek, and breaking the other guys cheek.
89 - troll
a happy weakness with reasoning from analogy is that the future is in no way compelled to imitate the past...
I urge you to seek another way
90 - Irene Wagner
No apologies needed Ruvy. Besides, broken glasses or no broken glasses, people who disagree violently usually need to say the same things to one another many times and in many different ways, and listen thoughtfully in their turn, before they can understand each other's point of view. That isn't the same as capitulation or cowardice.
91 - mitch
The crazies are running the asylum.