Archive for August 31st, 2008

Please…please…let’s be reasonable

A report from a Lebanese source: (click through for original link)

The United States has informed Israel that it bans any attack on Iran to knock down its nuclear program, the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat reported Sunday. The newspaper, in a Tel Aviv-datelined report, said Washington has “clearly informed Israel… that we would not allow you to launch war on Iran.”

[My first question: Why don't Americans know this? Because ABCNBCCBSFOXCNN are too busy blowing smoke up their asses about Sarah Palin.]

The reported U.S. message also includes a ban on the use of Iraqi airspace to launch raids against Iran, the report added. Some Israeli forces believe the “west has succumbed” to the idea of nuclear-armed Iran … and Israel must acknowledge this reality,” according to the report. However, “the majority of Israeli political and military officials believe that Iran’s nuclear program poses a direct threat to Israel’s existence,” the report said. Such officials believe that “they should get rid of this (Iranian) program,” the report explained. Getting rid of the Iranian nuclear program can be achieved “by the collapse of the ruling regime, by an American military strike or by effective international pressure that reaches the level of a suffocating blockade,” it added.

[Please note that getting rid of the (non-existant) Iranian nuclear program cannot be achieved by an Israeli strike, according to the Israeli report.]

Nevertheless, “If the (whole) world does not back one of these options, Israel would be left with no choice but to act alone” against Iran, the report added.

Estimated Israeli government response to US: WHAaaaaaa!!! IT’S NOT FAIR!!!!! (foot stomping) You HAVE to help us!!!!!!!!!!!!! Otherwise we could get HURT!!!! DON’T YOU CARE???!!!?????????

WE HATE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU. WILL. PAY. FOR. THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Right after that temper tantrum, here, Israel has suddenly become more cooperative with its neighbors. Surprise, surprise.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has worked out a “compromise” with the forces calling for striking Iran. He upgraded the budget of the military and security agencies to prepare for a strike and opened dialogue with Syria via Turkey. The report quoted Olmert as saying going to “war against Iran without peace with Syria would be a serious adventure.” “The army believed that Syria would take part in such a war, Israel can defeat Syria and reach as deep as Damascus, threatening to occupy the Syrian capital. “But such an operation, even if its success is guaranteed, would cost Israel 1,000-2,000 fatalities, would lead to shelling several Israeli cities and would result in extensive damage sustained by both sides. “Above all, this war would end by going into negotiations focusing on returning the Golan to Syria.” The report also quoted Olmert as saying “as long as the result would be negotiations over the Golan, but only after major losses, why don’t we start negotiations on the Golan now and achieve peace that gets Syria out of the sphere of Iranian influence?” It also quoted Olmert as saying “Syrian President Bashar Assad is not an adventurer, he is a smart person …and doesn’t perceive himself with Iran, strategically.

Indeed. Why not cooperate if you have to actually pony up some lives and, more importantly, territory? This is getting serious.

Let’s get it straight. Israel does not want to pay the price for their hegemony over the Middle East. They want it for free, else they want Americans to pay the price. And they will make us pay for not paying, somehow, which will undoubtedly suck. But even so, at least by standing up against their threats, somebody in the US has somehow preserved one precious thread of national integrity which remains after eight years of rape by Bush/Cheney and the neocons!

Why hasn’t anyone tried this sooner?

Things are rarely as they appear

 

Like millions of other people across America…I’m still trying to comprehend what would drive McCain to pick Palin, especially now that she is being vetted. What a disaster. I am of two minds about this. Either the powers that run things above politics picked her to be their puppet and will control the corporate media so they don’t shred her like she’s being shredded on the internet, or John McCain snapped under pressure and picked her all by himself out of spite.

McCain seems to have a similar sociopathic personality to Bush. He must have been under tremendous pressure to make this decision, and we can imagine the people pulling and tugging and wheedling and cajoling their arguments at his poor, addled brain. Maybe he snapped out of exasperation, told them all off, and picked her to literally mess up their plans. Spiteful? Yes. Stupid? Yes. Possible? Yes. As suggested by one wag, perhaps he wants to take a few of his favorite enemies out (the Rovian power structure) as a final but deeply satisfying disparaging gesture.

However, it could also be part of a bigger design — a disturbingly cynical decision from exceedingly greedy people. They selected her because they can control her, and they can control her portrayal in the media, and they can control the election results. We can judge this from the narrative.

I caution anyone who thinks disposing of McCain/Palin will be simple and fun unless the media narrative adopts the same position. We have been down this road before, have we not? Did W get the job twice against all odds? Yes, and millions of people knew he was a big fat unqualified phony. It matters not what we understand in the online community if ABCCBSNBCFOXCNN decide Palin poops cupcakes, so people should refrain from getting all cocky over this. Many many people in America will consider her a breath of fresh air. Fox has begun the ‘rising star’ narrative. We live in a country where millions of people have no trouble blithely tossing aside pesky facts that don’t meet their preferred worldview, and who spend exactly zero hours doing independent thinking or investigating.

Yes, it’s ridiculous. Yes, she lacks all qualifications. As Dick Cheney says, “So?” I ask you, since when have facts mattered to these people?

If you read this article: www.rense.com/general83/gds.htm, The RNC Just Gutted the DNC Again by Karl Schwarz (and Rense.com is down for some unknown reason), you can see that Shwarz thought this pick was a really great idea. Now he is one of the people — and a conservative — who writes the most bitter diatribes against the Bush administration, complaining how badly they have screwed everything up and cost people lots and lots of money. Sounds like a smart guy, but he sung Palin’s praises to the high heavens. How odd, I thought. Apparently, it was a signal that the right people were finally in charge again. This somewhat bizarre position, coming as it does from a highly disaffected conservative, and combined with the rumor (also from purported insiders) that McCain suffers from a deadly illness, support the conclusion that Palin was chosen deliberately by people who have plans beyond John McCain. If you buy all that, and put it in context that a Lieberman pick would have been very disruptive to the base, you can see how this route might make sense. All they have to do is get McCain/Palin close enough to squeak in with a little election theft, and then they have another puppet regime through which to control events. Additional options of the non-election variety open up when McCain becomes incapacitated. I ask you, how convenient is that?

McCain has yet to release his medical records. The latest news about his health goes back to May 2008, came from the AP (not be be trusted), and didn’t say much.

He now appears cancer-free, has a strong heart and is in generally good health, according to eight years of medical records McCain’s presidential campaign made available Friday as it sought to prove that, at 71, he is healthy enough _ and not too old _ to serve as president.

Appear. Lot’s of things appear to be one way, but in reality they are quite another. For all those who have devotedly sought the truth about 911, etc., we know how resistant most Americans remain. They see what the corporate media wants them to see, in this as in all critical matters. What I propose here may seems like a wild theory, but unfortunately, the truth for the past eight years has proven to be beyond most people’s nightmares. Therefore, I find it most productive to consider the craziest possible theories first and work my way back into conventional thinking as those theories get knocked out by facts (to the extent that we can determine the facts). For those who want an Obama win, I suggest you tread carefully or the Democrats will soon pluck another defeat from the jaws of victory. Because that seems so incredibly unlikely is exactly why you should worry.

UPDATE: The Yurica Report. The Dominionists consider this a ‘brilliant’ move. Don’t forget that the Religious Right has been waiting so patiently, so very, very patiently, with Job-like virtue I tell ya, having been used for their votes and money so many times before by the Republicans. Now, at long last, they have the chance to get one of their own into the White House. They begin to pour money into John McCain’s coffers now. She is The Church Lady.

UPDATE: The Nation reports that an ‘ultra-secretive right wing group’ picked Palin: The Council for National Policy. It is the Dominionist theocracy crowd after all. Yurica had it right.
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters?pid=352178