Has change finally come to the middle east?

 

 We’ll soon find out how willing the Iranian people are to take those first crucial steps towards normalizing their  relationship with the West and the United States.

The last time I got this excited, for the middle east, was way back in 2005 during Lebanon’s Cedar Revolution.

And now that same excitement coupled with anticipation is killing me.

Last year, young people in the US finally stepped up and put their votes where their mouths and hearts have been for a very long time.  Young people all across the United States worked their butts off, convinced their friends, families and in some cases coworkers to vote for and support a candidate that many pundits had declared as having a snow ball chance in hell of winning the American presidency.

But most importantly millions of  those young people showed up at the polls on voting day showing that with unparalleled determination, hard-work and just a bit of luck change is indeed possible even at the highest levels of power.

And for the past few weeks we’ve been watching a replay of that same process in Iran.

Iran’s young people have catapulted their version of Barack and Michelle Obama unto the world stage by openly displaying their support for underdog presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi and his wife Dr. Zahara Rahnavard.

Obama won the election because he was able to harness and direct the energies and passion of millions of young people. Mousavi is hoping that their efforts coupled with the current  economic conditions in Iran and the desire for positive changes amongst the Iranian people will be enough to topple the country’s current president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Can Mousavi accomplish the same thing? Maybe. It’s certainly looking like he has a real shot at winning but it is a long shot. Nevertheless I’m willing to argue that his chances are much better than Obama’s were that’s for sure..lol

And what happens if he does?  Would a Mousavi win have any influence on Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Hoseyni Khamenei  the ’real’ leader of  Iran? Maybe.  According to some reports it appears Ayatollah Khamenei is willing to work with Mousavi although the two men were once fierce rivals for the affections and adulations from the previous and first Supreme Leader Ayotallah Khomeini.

However it appears Khamenei is willing to put the past behind him and Mousavi appears to be a realist and if elected he intends to pursue a pragmatic approach on the international stage and he’s even said it!

So should Mousavi win we could finally see direct talks, (remember what Obama said during the election?) or we could see multi-lateral talks but chances for constructive and significant diplomacy undoubtedly increase with a Mousavi presidency.

Now, I’m not suggesting that you should start planning a trip to Iran or that President Obama will be visiting Iran anytime soon but should Mousavi win we can definitely expect a thaw in US-Iranian relations.

How significant a thaw? Well, we’ll just have to wait and see… 

What aren’t they going to give us..no pork, no vote..

Ok..so foreign people and rich people aren’t going to get my money..great they don’t need it anyway..a dollar a day is just enough in my opinion for those darn foreigners!!!

Sarah Palin wins the vice presidential debate in St.Louis

Every pundit out there keeps talking about either how low the bar is or how much Sarah Palin has to prove tonight but you know what? Sarah Palin has nothing to prove and there is no bar. All she has to do is show up tonight and she wins.

It’s that simple.

So what if she doesn’t know anything about foreign policy.  How many Americans do infact let’s be honest how many Americans care about what takes place outside our borders? I mean who cares about those ‘other people’ all they want from us is our money anyway, right?

So what if she can’t name a court case that she significantly disagrees with? How many Americans can? All we have do is overturn Roe v Wade and everything will be fine.

So what if she can’t name a magazine or a book that she’s read or reads that has helped shape her outlook on the world? Isn’t print a medium for those other people anyway? 

 

Listen, people Sarah Palin is a sideshow, a very interesting one, i’ll give you that, nevertheless she’s still a side show. She was picked not because she helps John McCain with liberals and television know it alls or because she can rattle off world leaders and the issues affecting their countries. Please, she was selected to help John McCain steal women voters from Obama and because the photos with her and her hubby and their baby are priceless.

Insulting yes but isn’t that obvious?

And the fact she’s on the stage tonight with Joe Biden  as the first female GOP vice presidential candidate might be enough to earn her and her boss some votes and enough to quell some fears on the conservative side.

But if you believe that she will be marked equally or on the same curve as Joe Biden you’re wrong. If you doubt me listen to the comments after the debate tonight. Unless she says something remarkably foolish Sarah Palin will be judged the winner. Who cares about substance? Who cares about experience? I mean those things are soooo 2004..all I can say is Idiocracy is definitely upon us people- and she just might be our next vice president..God help us all if that day happens..

 

*** I will be live blogging as usual, just in case you care..lol..i’ll even send some of you text updates***

Go ahead and listen to those pundits now..

Now they are talking about bracelets,which one is prettier?

OMG people!!! Talk about the issues.

Obama’s VP, who will it be?

 

So, the wait could finally be over, Obama according to news sources is finally ready to announce his choice for VP.

I am on the edge of my seat.  We could know THIS WEEK, the other half of an Obama presidency. This man or woman (probably not) would be part of a historic campaign and an even more historic presidency.

Oh why, oh why couldn’t it have been me?..lol

I have a sneaky suspicion that his choice will be someone that we didn’t even suspect was in the running or even hone in on but at the same time I’m pretty certain it wouldn’t be the dream ticket choice of Hillary Clinton, but hey he could surprise us all and choose Ms.Clinton.

Former Senator Sam Nunn’s name has been bandied around left and right and many have floated the possiblity of a Joe Biden vice presidency but I really don’t like either of these choices but for the same reason.

While Sam Nunn and Joe Biden have significant foreign policy experience neither man can help Obama win states that he couldn’t have won without them. So in my book they should be ruled out simply because they don’t bring enough to the table.

Senator Evan Byah of Indiana and Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia on the other hand could help Obama win their  respective home state come November. Since they are not only popular with their base constituencies but also with independents and moderate leaning Republicans they could help Obama solidify and reassure skeptical white working class men and women about an Obama presidency. And while we can wish it wasn’t so or even try to wish it away at the end of the day Obama does and will need to calm any fears within this particular constituency in order to win the election and Byah and Kaine can help him to do so.

In the long run, Obama’s lack of of foreign policy and national security experience, can be compensated for with a campaign focus on national issues which are of greater importance this election cycle and in the end he must win the election and carry the electoral college in order to become President and that must be the central focus of the campaign.

The leader of the world’s biggest polluter admits it..proudly!!!

 

 

 At his final  G8  summit in Japan, George Bush, the President and leader of the most powerful nation in the world and the nation with the biggest responsibility TO the world (since we consume 25% of the world’s resources) told world leaders as he left the summit, right after rejecting global climate change targets,  with a smile and a wave, “Goodbye from the world’s biggest polluter.“

No. This is not a joke.

The most powerful man in the world and the leader of our country has once again shown the utmost disrespect to our allies and the people of the world with his comments and actions.

Regardless of your political persuasion you have to agree that comments such as these are not helpful to our image abroad and do little to advance our international political interests.

I just have to keep telling myself just six more months..just six more months.

Obama and his pastor..

Obama’s pastor and spiritual advisor Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who married the candidate and baptized both of his children, has made some extremely controversial comments about 911, American foreign policy and Hillary Clinton.

Rev.Wright in trying to fire up and motivate his congregation on behalf of Obama made this insensitive and racially charged comment about Hillary Clinton, ” Barack knows what it means living in a country and a culture that is controlled by rich white people. Hillary would never know that. Hillary ain’t never been called a n**ger. Hillary has never had a people defined as a non-person.”

Now, we can argue the merits of this statement which is akin to saying that a white person will never understand what it’s like to be black in America (of which I can talk about from now till the end of time…lol) but in the end I have to say that a statement like this, in this particular context, from this particular individual, should not have been made in the first place.

And Obama should, quite rightly, distance himself from such comments he’s tried to do that for the entire day via press releases and on blogs but that’s not enough.

In addition to those avenues Obama should take the opportunity tonight, when he appears on MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann to reject and repudiate (those two words are quite popular this week aren’t they..lol) the statements of Rev. Jeremiah Wright. On a current blog  Obama states that he believes, ‘ that words that degrade individuals have no place in our public dialogue, whether it’s on the campaign stump or in the pulpit…I reject outright the statements by Rev. Wright that are at issue.’

He should reiterate this once again tonight just to hammer home the point that he’s not just running for president of the African American community he’s running to be president of America!

Obama and those around him should remember that in order for him to achieve the presidential post he cannot allow himself  to be labelled as just another ‘black politician running for president’. Obama cannot win by just garnering the black vote. He can only win by amassing the majority vote and some of these comments by Rev.Wright and others could ultimately marginalize and confine Obama as ‘just another angry black guy’ and cost him the presidency.

And the more time he spends talking about and defending statements made by his surrogates, campaign staff and associates and even in some cases associates of his opponent, on race, detracts from his overall message and his policy agenda!

In addition Obama, his surrogates and any one with even the slightest association with the campaign must remember that Obama is not running to be the president of the African American community he’s running to become the president of the United States of America and he can’t achieve that if other communities believe that he can’t or wouldn’t represent their best interests of the United States as well as the interest of the black community.

Obama, ultimately will have to put country first and community second and of that there should be no disagreement!

Pakistan, Cuba, Venezuela and freedom..

All in the same sentence I wonder if he’s thinking about going to war with all of them..at the same time?

And he is still attacking Obama about some of his positions on foreign policy including one where Obama says he would be willing to sit down with those who are now considered our ‘enemies’…you know he has to attack the top dog if he doesn’t he wouldn’t be John McCain.