Showing posts with label Gaza. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gaza. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Talk About Perfect Timing!

A few days into the Israeli invasion of Gaza and after calls from the UN to stop the violence went unheeded, I turned to a friend (who follows my blog so he can verify) and said, "I bet they'll call a cease-fire and be done by January 21st."

Talk about timing:

NY TIMES: After more than three weeks of fighting, Israeli troops completed their withdrawal from Gaza early on Wednesday, the military said, but residents reported the continued sound of what they said was naval gunfire in the waters off the Mediterranean coastline here.

The troops did not go far: they were redeployed on the perimeter of the war-battered enclave, where more than 1,300 Palestinians died in the Israeli campaign against Hamas, the Islamist group that runs Gaza. Thirteen Israelis, including three civilians, also died during the 22-day offensive, according to military officials.

We all knew that Israel was getting in last its licks before the Obama administration took over, but could they at least hide it and pretend like one thing had nothing to do with the other?

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Joe the Plumber Becomes Joe the Reporter

Just when you thought it was safe to flush your toilet, it backs up and out comes the stink and sewage and Joe the Plumber. Sam "Joe" Wurzelbacher, who made an ass of himself during the presidential campaign is now making an ass of himself playing war correspondent for the conservative website PJTV.com.

His interviewing skills are atrocious, he can't think of a question to ask someone who's just given him a tour of a warehouse of catalogued spent shells recovered from bombing sites and then goes off on the media saying they shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a war zone... while he's playing reporter in a war zone! He'd rather watch war film trailers "like they did in World War I and World War II" to garner support for the troops before watching Marley and Me while stuffing his face with Jujyfruits™ instead of having real reporters report the real news.



Why does anyone keep taking this attention whore seriously?

Friday, January 9, 2009

The Final Insult? US Abstains in UN Cease-Fire Vote

I know that the "real" final insult of George W. Bush will be the pardon list we'll get on his way out the door, but I couldn't help but lump this into the same category because really, everything he's doing these last few weeks is all just one big slap in the face.

At the United Nations, fourteen nations approved the Security Council resolution urging a[n Israeli/Palestinian] cease-fire, with the United States abstaining. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States abstained, which left it unclear how a cease-fire would be enforced, because it wanted to see whether mediation efforts undertaken by President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt would succeed. The United States did not veto the resolution because Washington supports its overall goals, she said.
They fucking abstained in voting on a cease-fire?! They wanted to wait on Egypt's mediation efforts? I don't EVER want to hear another conservative dickwad like Rush Limbaugh or crack whore like Ann Coulter EVER malign Obama again for voting "present" while in the Illinois State Senate.

This abstention, this non-vote, this "present" vote was a tacit admission by the Bush administration that whatever Israel does is fine by us. I hope that the incoming Obama team would be decent enough, human enough to vote in the affirmative should a situation like this come up again. But that's hard for me to imagine because to this point, the only voice in all of Congress that has been outwardly critical of Israel's disproportionate attack in Gaza has been Dennis Kucinich.
...Kucinich likened the Israeli attacks on Gaza to its war with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon in 2006. In both cases, he said, civilian populations were attacked and “countless innocents” were killed or injured.

“All this was, and is, disproportionate, indiscriminate mass violence in violation of international law,” Kucinich said in a statement. “Israel is not exempt from international law and must be held accountable.”

...Kucinich said the perpetrators of attacks against Israel should be brought to justice, but that Israel “cannot create a war against an entire people in order to attempt to bring to justice the few who are responsible.”

...Kucinich said in his statement that he had sent a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon requesting an independent inquiry. He said the attacks on civilians represented collective punishment, which he said was a violation of Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
It's really a shame that Dennis Kucinich isn't taken more seriously throughout the country. Instead of asking policy questions of the Congressman, the talking heads would rather find out if he's seen UFOs.

Also read:
Kucinich, January 8: Bush Administration Ignores Humanitarian Crisis - Israeli Military Prevents Emergency Ambulance Care for Four Days

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Jon Stewart 2009

First good slam of the New Year by Jon Stewart directed at New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.



Bloomberg regarding the Israeli response in Gaza (video): "Let me just phrase it for you in something that will bring it home: If you're in your apartment and some emotionally disturbed person is banging on the front door screaming,'I'm gonna come through this door and kill you,' do you want us to respond with one police officer, which is proportional, or with all the resources at our command?"

Stewart: I guess it depends if I force that guy to live in my hallway and make him go through checkpoints every time he has to take a shit. But then again by removing him by force, as long as you really believe that there'll be no more crazy people left in New York, (using McCain "Dick Fingers") okay.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Topsy-Turvy World - UPDATED

I think I've just fallen into Alice's rabbit hole. I'm watching MSNBC's 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and to my astonishment, Pat Buchanan is condemning Israel's airstrikes in Gaza while David Shuster and Harold Ford, Jr. are arguing the Israeli side and blaming Hamas.

I think my head is going to explode.

I hope someone has video soon. If not, I'll attempt to put some up myself.


UPDATE (8:22pm): Here's the video in which Pat Buchanan is awesome... yeah, I know!


Israel's Gaza Strike Timing

Scott Shane has written a very interesting analysis on the timing of Israel's strikes in Gaza that have continued for 10 days despite UN officials urgently calling for a cease-fire.

Many Middle East experts say Israel timed its move against Hamas, which began with airstrikes on Dec. 27, 24 days before Mr. Bush leaves office, with the expectation of such backing in Washington. Israeli officials could not be certain that President-elect Barack Obama, despite past statements of sympathy for Israel’s right of self-defense, would match the Bush administration’s unconditional endorsement.
Now, everyone has been making a big deal out of Obama's statement that there is only "one president at a time" as if perhaps he should stage a coup and take office early to deal with the current administration fucking up as many things as possible during its last days in office. Speaking about future plans to deal with the economic crisis during the transitional period is one thing, but speaking on foreign policy affairs and confusing who actually speaks for the US during a critical time is something else. That's why this one statement - the final one in the article - kind of pissed me off.

Martha Joynt Kumar, a political scientist at Towson University who studies presidential transitions, said Mr. Obama’s predicament exemplified the treacherous weeks between election and inauguration, and the way inspiring visions inevitably give way before unexpected events.

“On a campaign, you control what you talk about and when you talk about it,” Ms. Kumar said. “When you begin governing, you have to respond to what happens in the world.”

That's right, Kumar. "When you begin governing." And that happens January 20th, not one day before.

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Palestinian Protests In Times Square

Here's a glimpse of what's happening on 7th Avenue between 42nd and 37th Streets today.

From what I understand, it was a joint Palestinian/Israeli protest to stop the bombing in Gaza. I did see one sign that read, "Another New York Jew Against Israeli Apartheid."

And yet today we have this: Israeli ground forces enter Gaza in escalation

(Crappy photo taken from my Treo 700WX)

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Scarborough PWNED By Zbigniew Brzezinski

Oh. My. God. It's a belated Christmas present. A Festivus miracle!

Today on Morning Joke™, Joe Scarborough spoke with former US National Security Advisor (and Mika's daddy) Zbigniew Brzezinski about the current Hamas/Israeli conflict in Gaza. Joe steps in it big time as he claims that "you can't blame what's happening in Israel on the Bush administration" and goes back to 2000 when Bill Clinton "gave Arafat and the Palestinians everything they could have wanted," to which Brzezinski responds, "You know, you have such a stunningly superficial knowledge of what went on that it's almost embarrassing to listen to you."

OH SNAP, MUTHAFUCKAAAA! (The throwdown takes place at 6:30 but watch Mika's take to the camera at 6:47 as she knows that Beaker is going to get steamrolled by her Pops.)

Brzezinski went on to explain what really happened while Joe licked his wounds. Instant classic! I think I'm going to make a ringtone out of this.




(H/T Jason Linkins)

 
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