Here is a different look at the first two weeks in the Obama administration. Liberals should not be discouraged after all, according to Greg Palast.
Republicans are right. President Barack Obama treated them like dirt, didn't give a damn what they thought about his stimulus package, loaded it with a bunch of programs that will last for years and will never leave the budget, is giving away money disguised as "tax refunds," and is sneaking in huge changes in policy, from schools to health care, using the pretext of an economic emergency.
Way to go, Mr. O! Mr. Down-and-Dirty Chicago pol. Street-fightin' man. Covering over his break-your-face power play with a "we're all post-partisan friends" BS.
And it's about time.
Palast's perspective is right, of course, but we haven't seen everything yet. But...so far, so good [continue here]
"I'm against unfettered violence, unjustified oppression, and stealing land"
Anti zionist!
"I was speaking of Tibet"
Oops!
Peace under present circumstances or even under a two state solution is impossible in Palestine. Arabs and Jews must learn to live together in the same land using democratic principles. See this 60 minutes video explaining the problem.
After eight years of obscurantism and antiintelectual hubris on the part of the Republicans, President Obama is ready to push the clock forward to let the light shine.
When Barack Obama proclaimed during his Inaugural Address that he would “restore science to its rightful place,” you could feel a dark cloud lifting like a sigh from the shoulders of the scientific community in this country.
Dennis Overbye lets us know the feelings of the scientific world --and progressives everywhere-- with a new, intelligent President. Let's continue forward. Continue with this article
George McGovern advises Obama of the perils and inmorality of expanding the war in Afganistan
So, let me suggest a truly audacious hope for your administration: How about a five-year time-out on war - unless, of course, there is a genuine threat to the nation?
During that interval, we could work with the U.N. World Food Program, plus the overseas arms of the churches, synagogues, mosques and other volunteer agencies to provide a nutritious lunch every day for every school-age child in Afghanistan and other poor countries. Such a program is now underway in several countries approved by Congress and the United Nations, under the auspices of the George McGovern-Robert Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Act. (Forgive the self-serving title.) Although the measure remains painfully underfunded, with the help of other countries, we are reaching millions of children. We could supplement these efforts with nutritional packages for low-income pregnant and nursing mothers and their infants from birth through the age of 5, as is done here at home by WIC, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children.
Read the whole article at: http://www.truthout.org/012209R
|
Bienvenido Sr. Obama No doubt he’ll dissapoint us, like all those Finally the long list of Commanders-in-Chief from him whom they consider Saint Obama pariahs, atheists, and queers whithold their hope knowing full well, maybe, that the comedy may end up being a drama So long, Mr. Bush To that illiterate war criminal Whose programs were reduced to mere slogans the world tribunal in The Hague awaits in earnest to get your bones and words and your defense, to expose to the whole world what’s your true value Go to hell you fool, you mindless nave and continue disdaining all you ignore thinking that beign stupid is an honor when all that you have been is a great bore! Translation by Javier Bustamante |
Norman Solomon is saying what many progressives are beginning to fear: the "center" is pulling Obama to its core and the military-industrial complex is winning the hand. Witness the National Security, Pentagon and Financial appointments to the Cabinet. We may be in for some serious disappointments.
http://www.mediaed.org/wp/norman-solomon-on-c-span
"All nationalists have the power of not seeing resemblances between similar sets of facts. A British Tory will defend self-determination in Europe and oppose it in India with no feeling of inconsistency. Actions are held to be good or bad, not on their own merits, but according to who does them, and there is almost no kind of outrage -- torture, the use of hostages, forced labour, mass deportations, imprisonment without trial, forgery, assassination, the bombing of civilians -- which does not change its moral colour when it is committed by 'our' side ... The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them" -- George Orwell.
M.J. Rosenberg applies this quote to Gaza, but it also reminds us of events in the US these last eight years.
Richard Dawkins one of the great atheists of our day has come up with the idea that many millions of atheists need to come out of the "closet" and show their convictions, drop whatever complexes this society imposes on them, and show their huge numbers. They also need to show they are common human beings who don't need god to be moral, ethical, and decent. Dawkins raised over $100,000 in a few days and created posters to be shown on two buses in London for one week. The idea has caught fire and Barcelona has duplicated the approach. Madrid and other Spanish cities are to follow suit. We hope the rest of Europe follows soon. Now the idea is can we do this in the US? Would we be stoned, berated, and otherwise scorned if we try it? Let's try.
