Worse off
Listening to BBC this morning, I do agree with Kofi Annan that Iraq is in ‘worse than a civil war’, which he calls due to the bitterness of the conflict. As he mentioned, the people of that country used to be able to send their children to school without worrying that they would not see them again. This is no longer the case.
It is also noted by the UN refugee agency that this is the case.
’The United Nations refugee agency says the humanitarian crisis they are facing in Iraq is now even greater than at the start of the American-led invasion in 2003.
The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees says there are now at least 1.6 million Iraqis displaced internally.
It says another 1.8 million are displaced externally in neighbouring countries such as Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Iran.
The UN says it has less than two-thirds the funding it had three years ago, and is now dealing with five times as many refugees.
The agency says many of its staff in the region are volunteering to go without their salaries so crucial humanitarian projects can continue.
The office of UN High Commissioner for Refugees says alarming levels of violence are forcing more than 50,000 Iraqis to flee their homes each month.’
It is simply the case that this world is in much worse shape, and America regarded as the enemy by a large proportion of the world, since the war on Iraq was launched in 2003.
Today’s victory by Hugo Chavez was trumpeted by him as a repudiation of the ‘devil’, as he calls our president – and no one disputes that.
‘Touting his victory in a speech to thousands, Chavez said Venezuelans should expect an "expansion of the revolution" aimed at redistributing the country's oil wealth among the poor.
"Long live the revolution!" Chavez shouted from the balcony of the presidential palace. "Venezuela is demonstrating that a new and better world is possible, and we are building it."
With 78 percent of voting stations reporting, Chavez had 61 percent of the vote, to 38 percent for Rosales.
Chavez has won a loyal following among the poor through multibillion-dollar social programs including subsidized food, free university education and cash benefits for single mothers.
Chavez, who says he sees Fidel Castro as a father, dedicated his victory to the ailing 80-year-old Cuban leader, and called it a blow against President Bush.
"It's another defeat for the devil, who tries to dominate the world," Chavez told the crowd of red-shirted supporters, who listened to him under pouring rain. "Down with imperialism. We need a new world."
Even before polls closed, Chavez supporters celebrated in the streets, setting off fireworks and cruising Caracas honking horns and shouting "Chavez isn't going anywhere!"
Since he first won office in 1998, Chavez has increasingly dominated all branches of government, and his allies now control congress, state offices and the judiciary. Current law prevents him from running again in 2012 but he has said he plans to seek constitutional reforms that would include an end to presidential term limits.
Chavez has posed a growing challenge to the United States while leading a widening bloc of Latin American leftists, influencing elections across the region, and allying himself with U.S. opponents like Iran and Syria.
The United States remains the top buyer of Venezuelan oil, but Chavez has sought to gradually diversify to new clients in Latin America and as far away as China.’
While I don’t think that Chavez is necessarily a bad choice, it does make me very concerned to see the growing rift between this country and the South and Central American continent, as well as the rift between this country and the Middle East, Africa and Europe. It will take a long time for those areas to return to a working relationship with this country, and it will take a government that works for our own interests, and shows a regard for the interests of the other people in this world, before that healing can begin to happen.
Sadly, we wouldn’t have these problems except for the candidacy of Ralph Nader, running as a Green Party candidate, who claimed that there were no differences between the Republican George W. Bush and the Democrat Al Gore in 2000.
Even those who voted for him believing that line have to have realized by now that there are immense differences.
Consumer advocate, lawyer, presidential candidate and critic of Democrats and Republicans alike, Ralph Nader bears many titles. Yet as he mounts his fourth bid for the presidency, Nader's candidacy is shadowed by the 2000 election and whether he helped elect President George W. Bush.
As the Green Party candidate in 2000, Nader won 2.74 percent of the national vote, placing third. But many Democrats blame him for siphoning off votes in key states, especially Florida, that might have gone to Democratic nominee Al Gore. Bush won Florida by 537 votes and won the election after a 5-4 decision in the U.S. Supreme Court settled a protracted dispute over the Florida vote. ‘
We would not be at war, we would not have an immense deficit, we would not have a world feeling threatened by our adventurism, and we would have a solid government that worked for the well-being of its people if Al Gore were in the office of president, and if John Kerry were president we would be working toward those goals.
I am confident that whoever runs in 2008, there will be a third party candidate trying to divide the vote so that a Republican can remain in office to consolidate the ills that have so far been effected by our Cretin in Chief. I am also confident that any sane voter must realize that a vote for that candidate will be a vote against the best interests of this country. And now we have another wrinkle, the advocacy group that is working to defeat a specific candidate who would be good for this country.
In Dallas, there is an announced group that will be working to defeat Hillary Clinton, another candidate who would be sure to work in the interests of the public, and of this country.
‘A Dallas businessman is helping bankroll an effort to derail Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential hopes, and he says he plans to tap other big-money Texans in the cause.
Richard Collins has put at least $80,000 into a group called Stop Her Now, which launched a new Web site last week targeting the possible frontrunner for the Democratic nomination in 2008.
"We expect to raise millions of dollars, a lot of it from online people and a lot of it from wealthy, conservative donors from around the country that want to keep Hillary Clinton from being elected president," Mr. Collins said.
The effort is the latest example of a small network of Texans with deep pockets funding independent committees, an expansion of their influence beyond just raising money directly for candidates. The groups, which emerged in the 2004 presidential campaign, are a powerful new force influencing national campaigns.
In addition to the Web site, which will feature cartoons and a series of animated shorts dubbed the "Hillary Show," Mr. Collins said the anti-Clinton group plans an aggressive direct-mail campaign.
"We're going to define Hillary as an ambitious, calculating, tough political operator who is trying to define herself as a centrist Democrat when, in fact, she's an ultraliberal Democrat," said Mr. Collins, who owns a newspaper group with publications in Cedar Hill, Duncanville, DeSoto, Lancaster and Grand Prairie.
Clinton supporter Garry Mauro dismissed the venture as a "bad investment."
"They should save their money to attack people who are relatively unknown," said Mr. Mauro, a former Texas land commissioner and long-time political ally of the Clintons.’
Also, at Eschaton, there is a new approach to skimming off the votes they have earned from Democratic candidates, which Atrios features at his site under the title “I’m So Excited”, called Unity08;
‘Dear Unity08 Community Member,
Here at Unity08, we've been working hard to keep up with all of your suggestions and are proud to announce major improvements to the Unity08 Web site and community tools — improvements you've been asking for.
We've given the site a new look — including adding the faces of those who are Unity08. We've created more space to highlight your comments and discussions, and your take on the most crucial issues facing our country.
Check out the new discussion on "Top Ten Reasons Why the Moderate Middle Matters" and the great write up of our movement on the USA Today Web site.’
I would like anyone who is considering the candidacy of an extreme candidate with no chance of actual election to remember that every vote counts. If your vote is meant to work for the public interest, it really cannot be best used by being cast for a candidate that cannot win or a cause that undermines good candidates. The quixotic appeals to many voters because they feel like they are too often failed by the leaders they vote in, but the case of this administration is living proof that we can do very much worse if voters throw away their power of choice.
It is also noted by the UN refugee agency that this is the case.
’The United Nations refugee agency says the humanitarian crisis they are facing in Iraq is now even greater than at the start of the American-led invasion in 2003.
The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees says there are now at least 1.6 million Iraqis displaced internally.
It says another 1.8 million are displaced externally in neighbouring countries such as Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Iran.
The UN says it has less than two-thirds the funding it had three years ago, and is now dealing with five times as many refugees.
The agency says many of its staff in the region are volunteering to go without their salaries so crucial humanitarian projects can continue.
The office of UN High Commissioner for Refugees says alarming levels of violence are forcing more than 50,000 Iraqis to flee their homes each month.’
It is simply the case that this world is in much worse shape, and America regarded as the enemy by a large proportion of the world, since the war on Iraq was launched in 2003.
Today’s victory by Hugo Chavez was trumpeted by him as a repudiation of the ‘devil’, as he calls our president – and no one disputes that.
‘Touting his victory in a speech to thousands, Chavez said Venezuelans should expect an "expansion of the revolution" aimed at redistributing the country's oil wealth among the poor.
"Long live the revolution!" Chavez shouted from the balcony of the presidential palace. "Venezuela is demonstrating that a new and better world is possible, and we are building it."
With 78 percent of voting stations reporting, Chavez had 61 percent of the vote, to 38 percent for Rosales.
Chavez has won a loyal following among the poor through multibillion-dollar social programs including subsidized food, free university education and cash benefits for single mothers.
Chavez, who says he sees Fidel Castro as a father, dedicated his victory to the ailing 80-year-old Cuban leader, and called it a blow against President Bush.
"It's another defeat for the devil, who tries to dominate the world," Chavez told the crowd of red-shirted supporters, who listened to him under pouring rain. "Down with imperialism. We need a new world."
Even before polls closed, Chavez supporters celebrated in the streets, setting off fireworks and cruising Caracas honking horns and shouting "Chavez isn't going anywhere!"
Since he first won office in 1998, Chavez has increasingly dominated all branches of government, and his allies now control congress, state offices and the judiciary. Current law prevents him from running again in 2012 but he has said he plans to seek constitutional reforms that would include an end to presidential term limits.
Chavez has posed a growing challenge to the United States while leading a widening bloc of Latin American leftists, influencing elections across the region, and allying himself with U.S. opponents like Iran and Syria.
The United States remains the top buyer of Venezuelan oil, but Chavez has sought to gradually diversify to new clients in Latin America and as far away as China.’
While I don’t think that Chavez is necessarily a bad choice, it does make me very concerned to see the growing rift between this country and the South and Central American continent, as well as the rift between this country and the Middle East, Africa and Europe. It will take a long time for those areas to return to a working relationship with this country, and it will take a government that works for our own interests, and shows a regard for the interests of the other people in this world, before that healing can begin to happen.
Sadly, we wouldn’t have these problems except for the candidacy of Ralph Nader, running as a Green Party candidate, who claimed that there were no differences between the Republican George W. Bush and the Democrat Al Gore in 2000.
Even those who voted for him believing that line have to have realized by now that there are immense differences.
Consumer advocate, lawyer, presidential candidate and critic of Democrats and Republicans alike, Ralph Nader bears many titles. Yet as he mounts his fourth bid for the presidency, Nader's candidacy is shadowed by the 2000 election and whether he helped elect President George W. Bush.
As the Green Party candidate in 2000, Nader won 2.74 percent of the national vote, placing third. But many Democrats blame him for siphoning off votes in key states, especially Florida, that might have gone to Democratic nominee Al Gore. Bush won Florida by 537 votes and won the election after a 5-4 decision in the U.S. Supreme Court settled a protracted dispute over the Florida vote. ‘
We would not be at war, we would not have an immense deficit, we would not have a world feeling threatened by our adventurism, and we would have a solid government that worked for the well-being of its people if Al Gore were in the office of president, and if John Kerry were president we would be working toward those goals.
I am confident that whoever runs in 2008, there will be a third party candidate trying to divide the vote so that a Republican can remain in office to consolidate the ills that have so far been effected by our Cretin in Chief. I am also confident that any sane voter must realize that a vote for that candidate will be a vote against the best interests of this country. And now we have another wrinkle, the advocacy group that is working to defeat a specific candidate who would be good for this country.
In Dallas, there is an announced group that will be working to defeat Hillary Clinton, another candidate who would be sure to work in the interests of the public, and of this country.
‘A Dallas businessman is helping bankroll an effort to derail Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential hopes, and he says he plans to tap other big-money Texans in the cause.
Richard Collins has put at least $80,000 into a group called Stop Her Now, which launched a new Web site last week targeting the possible frontrunner for the Democratic nomination in 2008.
"We expect to raise millions of dollars, a lot of it from online people and a lot of it from wealthy, conservative donors from around the country that want to keep Hillary Clinton from being elected president," Mr. Collins said.
The effort is the latest example of a small network of Texans with deep pockets funding independent committees, an expansion of their influence beyond just raising money directly for candidates. The groups, which emerged in the 2004 presidential campaign, are a powerful new force influencing national campaigns.
In addition to the Web site, which will feature cartoons and a series of animated shorts dubbed the "Hillary Show," Mr. Collins said the anti-Clinton group plans an aggressive direct-mail campaign.
"We're going to define Hillary as an ambitious, calculating, tough political operator who is trying to define herself as a centrist Democrat when, in fact, she's an ultraliberal Democrat," said Mr. Collins, who owns a newspaper group with publications in Cedar Hill, Duncanville, DeSoto, Lancaster and Grand Prairie.
Clinton supporter Garry Mauro dismissed the venture as a "bad investment."
"They should save their money to attack people who are relatively unknown," said Mr. Mauro, a former Texas land commissioner and long-time political ally of the Clintons.’
Also, at Eschaton, there is a new approach to skimming off the votes they have earned from Democratic candidates, which Atrios features at his site under the title “I’m So Excited”, called Unity08;
‘Dear Unity08 Community Member,
Here at Unity08, we've been working hard to keep up with all of your suggestions and are proud to announce major improvements to the Unity08 Web site and community tools — improvements you've been asking for.
We've given the site a new look — including adding the faces of those who are Unity08. We've created more space to highlight your comments and discussions, and your take on the most crucial issues facing our country.
Check out the new discussion on "Top Ten Reasons Why the Moderate Middle Matters" and the great write up of our movement on the USA Today Web site.’
I would like anyone who is considering the candidacy of an extreme candidate with no chance of actual election to remember that every vote counts. If your vote is meant to work for the public interest, it really cannot be best used by being cast for a candidate that cannot win or a cause that undermines good candidates. The quixotic appeals to many voters because they feel like they are too often failed by the leaders they vote in, but the case of this administration is living proof that we can do very much worse if voters throw away their power of choice.
Labels: Dirty Tricks, Guantanamo Bay, Voter Fraud
posted by Ruth at 4:29 PM
1 Comments:
Great post, thank you. I've written about a possible Bloomberg '08 candidacy on my blog at www.minor-ripper.blogspot.com. I think with his money and smarts--along with the country's yearning for another alternative to the two party system, it might just work for him.
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