I wonder if Joe went running to dubya for a nice big wet kiss last night? Hopefully it’ll be the last thing he ever runs for. I damn near wore out my F5 key reloading the Hartford Courant site, trying to get the most recent vote counts. I was hoping for a Lamont landslide to discourage Joe from running as an Independent, but that didn’t happen. I guess we’ll have to see whether the Democrats out there respect the will of the voters, or if they decide that Joey caucusing with the Repubicans is too big a risk to take. Hopefully they can let Joe sulk for a day or two, and then discourage him from running.
Josh Marshall was supposed to be breaking some news on the supposed “hacking” of the Lieberman website, but it got too late to wait for, so I guess I’ll go over to TPM and see what they came up with.
By the way, if you’re out there in the LA area, Marc has added a gig at the Holywood Improv tonight at ten o’clock. He’ll be there Friday and Saturday, too, if you can’t get there tonight.
…and I’m out of the ward!!!…
YEA :banana:King Kong is #1 :banana:YEA
:rofl2:…and which Ward might that be:?: I can think of a few:rofl2:
:lol::banana:Yay! They let King Kong out!! :banana: Yay!:banana:
How long they let you out for, KK?:doh:
Enjoy your freedom!:lol:
:joe::joe::joe:
:banana:Yay! Lamont won:fist::banana: Yay!:banana:
Booo :growl: McKinney lost 🙁 😥
Take that :spank: , Loserman :fu: you traitor:evil:
RAGING Granny :banana:
YEA for Lamont Go Get ’em:growl::fist:
Grrr:growl:Booo McKinney lost 🙁
As The RAGE said Loserman:jerk:, Traitor:fu: take that :spank:
NED!!!
NED!!!
NED!!!
:banana::banana::banana:
BRING THEM HOME!!!
Now we need Bill Clinton to pull off the ultimate act of diplomacy and talk Loserman into getting out for the sake of the party.
But for today…
NED!!!
:banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:
thought the same thing~
Yay Ned! :banana:
Congratulations Melina!! – you worked hard!!! :fist:
ok, back in the GA fish bowl where we can legally stand our ground and kill people if they look funny at ya.
How about if they look funny to ya?
So, according to TPM Muckraker, Lieberman was paying more than $15 a month for his website. It says he was paying for 400 GB of transfer a month (though that could be a bit misleading; you could get a deal from the water department to feed your apartment complex with one ½” water pipe, and have them tell you you’re allowed 400 billion gallons of water usage a month. Sounds good, until Monday morning rolls around and all 500 tenants try to take a shower).
The Planet seems to have pretty good facilities though, so it’ll be interesting to see what myhostcamp was buying from them, and what really happened. I certainly hope it doesn’t turn out to be some Ned staffer thinking he was doing the campaign a favor. It all still sounds awfully fishy, though.
Tell Lieberman not to run as a third-party candidate. Tell him to support the Democratic Party. Tell him the Lieberman Doctrine has failed.
Click here to access the Lieberman comment page at http://www.senate.gov.
And the moral of the story is:
Don’t tongue-kiss a dry drunk President on national television and expect to get re-elected by the opposition party.
This is for you, Joe: :fu:
Contact Harry Reid at http://reid.senate.gov/contact/email_form.cfm
Tell him that, as a Democrat, you demand that Lieberman, a self-declared Independent, be stripped of any committee positions he holds by dint of his former party affiliation.
Time to take the gloves off.
beemer, :nod::rofl2: re 11
May the SeaChange continue – first starting with Ned and now The Rest of the Nation.
:fist: ARREST! IMPEACH! VIGILANCE! :banana:
I just finished a candle wax letter sealing a self-made envelope and letter.Fun but :tongue::yawn:
Gotta go feed Rats.:yawn:
Two yawns and counting.
Look what Bush Inc. has thought of now:
The Bush administration has drafted amendments to a war crimes law that would eliminate the risk of prosecution for political appointees, CIA officers and former military personnel for humiliating or degrading war prisoners, according to U.S. officials and a copy of the amendments.
Officials say the amendments would alter a U.S. law passed in the mid-1990s that criminalized violations of the Geneva Conventions, a set of international treaties governing military conduct in wartime. The conventions generally bar the cruel, humiliating and degrading treatment of wartime prisoners without spelling out what all those terms mean.
The Israeli cabinet has approved an army plan to push deeper into Lebanon, to try to take control of areas used by Hezbollah to launch rockets on Israel.
An extra 30,000 troops could be needed for the advance, which aims to reach the Litani river, up to 30km (18 miles) from the Israeli border.
The meeting came as French and US diplomats at the UN began re-drafting their plan to end the crisis.
Arab League officials are calling for an immediate Israeli withdrawal.
Its representations to the UN Security Council came after Lebanon said it found aspects of the draft resolution unacceptable.
France and the US do not want major changes to their text and diplomats say prospects for an early vote are fading.
But French President Jacques Chirac said a workable resolution was essential and called for an immediate ceasefire.
“Our objective is to achieve cessation of hostilities so that … the thousands of deaths, suffering and destruction should be put to an end. This is our absolute priority,” he said.
Veto-wielding Russia earlier said it would not vote for any resolution which did not have the backing of Lebanon.
In other developments:
Israel struck Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp, Ein al-Hilweh, near the port city of Sidon, killing two people. The Israeli army said it was targeting a house there belonging to a Hezbollah member
The death toll from an Israeli air strike on a residential building in southern Beirut on Monday went up to 41 after more bodies were found in the rubble
Al-Arabiya TV reported that four Israeli soldiers had been killed in a rocket attack in southern Lebanon. There is no confirmation from Israeli sources
At least five Hezbollah rockets landed in a border area of the West Bank. No-one was hurt
UN environment experts said an oil slick from a bombed Lebanese power plant had now reached Syria
The UN Human Rights Council will meet on Friday to discuss the conflict, after a request from 16 states led by Tunisia
Nearly 1,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in the conflict, the Lebanese government has said. More than 100 Israelis, most of them soldiers, have also been killed.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4775689.stm
===================================================
I’m glad Lamont beat Lieberherk.. I hope Lamont doesn’t turn into another Ken Salazar..:barf:
:gate::omg::jason::jason::crap::yuck::eek:
Link to the WSJ Middle East News Page
http://tinyurl.com/epu8o
Breaking News: First Democratic Leader Steps Up
By: John Amato on Tuesday, August 8th, 2006 at 9:38 PM – PDT
In a C&L exclusive,
A check from Hillary Clinton’s HILLPAC is being cut to Ned Lamont for five thousand dollars. She’s the first one to be counted on and make good on her promise to support the winner of the Connecticut primary. We can only hope that the rest of the Democratic Party stands behind Ned in his bid to win the Senate seat.
http://tinyurl.com/z3dn4
=================================================
It’s unclear if this payment was for his campaign or for services rendered..:eek::rant1:
A screen shot from sannity and combs at Ned Lamont rally last night somebody is holding sign Sannity sucks ass :lol::hubba::omg:
http://tinyurl.com/h28oa
It’s unclear if this payment was for his campaign or for services rendered.. 😮 :rant1:
Comment by fred — August 9, 2006 @ 9:48 am
If it was for services rendered that starts at 500k, well for me it would be half a Mil. :barf:
I don’t think it was for services rendered the back of her neck would be in the way..:eek::omg::yuck::peace:
What do a small south Texas cable company, a suburban Virginia cable provider and Web-hosting servers in Delhi, Montreal, Brooklyn and New Jersey have in common? Since fighting broke out in Lebanon, they all have had their communications portals hijacked by Hizballah. Hackers from the militant Lebanese group are trolling the Internet for vulnerable sites to communicate with one another and to broadcast messages from Al-Manar television, which is banned in the U.S. In the cyberterrorism trade it is known as “whack-a-mole” — just like the old carnival game, Hizballah sites pop up, get whacked down and then pop up again somewhere else on the World Wide Web.
http://tinyurl.com/m5tqb
================================================
I wonder if they have web based training classes ??:eek::rant1:
Doesn’t look like its banned from this perspective.. kind of bloody though.
http://www.almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/News.aspx?language=en
LJinOregon , great sign :rofl2: hahahahaha 😆
Fred, some make me :rofl2:, some make me :barf:, some I heard but = :omg: …thus 😉
Sue P , I heard that to and as Randi said (just for you Fred) Time to get rid :evil:bush and :evil:bush administration before elections and PUT GORE AS AN EMERGENCY PRESIDENT:nod:
:music notes:”When you wish upon a star…” 😉
ARREST! IMPEACH! VIGILANCE!
G’Night and G’Day To One and All.
:knit::gate:Be Well
:nod:colmes looks like skeletor from the masters of the universe!
Getting stepped on each day by a Jack Ass takes a lot out of you :omg::eek::rant1:
Hey everyone!
Yay Ned!!
I dont feel like I did much…or nearly enough…but hopefully I can make up for that in the coming weeks…
Will suddenly had to get his casts off yesterday because the Dr’s vacation schedule would have made him have them on way too long…so, we did that in Westchester NY, and of course the highway dept was repaving the very major Merritt parkway which has only 2 lanes each direction anyway…and then in Greenwich we came round the corner and almost hit an accident that had just happened…looked like speed and dangerous lane changing right where the highway slows down and gets all windey,,,,This road was made for Model T Fords…if not for horse and carriage!!…not BMWs vs. Minivans…
Anyway, castboy is no more…and now hes atrophy boy who can hardly walk or move and just wants to “rest”…
BUT the Dr has orered 5 days a week PT…great….
So Im trying ot set that up…
And along with all the rest and my darling baby bird who is SO clumsy and with a big heavy belly, and the visiting snake who just almost got away…I caught him mid slither….I feel like I didnt really get to do enough for Ned….and it should have been a bigger margin.
Lets get Clinton , Bush Sr, and Carter to go as a peace envoy to Joementum’s house and talk him out of the run.
And as of 11 PM or so last night, every asshole Dem started piling into the Ned camp…I still havent had a chance to check all the news and see what Dodd is doing, but I expect that they all have to despect what the Dem voters want….even only half….
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hank Johnson, the soft-spoken DeKalb County commissioner who forced U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney into a surprising runoff, finished the job Tuesday, decidedly defeating the 4th Congressional District lawmaker in their fierce rematch.
In a race that attracted national attention and a higher turnout than election officials expected at home, McKinney, a six-term Democrat and outspoken critic of the Bush administration, suffered her second defeat in four years. Before the day was out, the incumbent was complaining of voting irregularities, which election officials discounted.
Johnson, a 51-year-old lawyer and former magistrate judge, will face Republican Catherine Davis in the November general election in a DeKalb County district that is considered solidly in the Democratic corner. The district covers DeKalb and parts of Gwinnett and Rockdale counties
http://tinyurl.com/n79f7
=============================================
The people at DU think Georgia demodorops are not very bright .. :eek::doh::rant1:
MEXICO CITY, Aug 9 (Reuters) – Thousands of Mexican leftists blockaded the offices of three major foreign-owned banks on Wednesday in a new protest to force a full recount in a July 2 presidential election they claim was rigged.
Protesters surrounded Mexico City offices of U.S.-based Citigroup’s Mexican unit Banamex, the Bancomer bank owned by Spain’s BBVA and the British giant HSBC They sat on the ground around the buildings and vowed to block access for several hours.
. . .
All but one of Mexico’s major banks are in the hands of foreign companies and the industry’s sell-off has been a symbol of free market reforms in Mexico, so there was little surprise over the election protesters’ new choice of target. “Now it is the banks’ turn,” said Gerardo Fernandez, a spokesman for the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution.
During the election campaign, Lopez Obrador had promised to reopen the books on a controversial $100 billion bailout of struggling private banks by the government during an economic crisis in the mid-1990s. Most of the big banks that survived the crisis were later sold off to foreign financial giants.
“Banamex is really Citigroup, a foreign bank that ransacks the country,” Fernandez said on Wednesday. “It took more than 10 percent of the bank rescue.”
http://tinyurl.com/mzd26
===============================================
The poor in Mexico seem to see things in a much clearer light than the Yuppies in the SBR do.:eek::rant1:
Apparently Dodd has been given the job of talking Joe off the ledge, and into retirement (what the hell, I’m sure Fox News pays better anyway).
Speaking of Lieberjerk lights
Colo. senator says defeated Lieberman worthy of support
Ken Salazar said he was “disappointed” by Lieberman’s loss in primary.
WASHINGTON – Sen. Ken Salazar is in an awkward position after Tuesday’s U.S. Senate primary in Connecticut.
Salazar has pledged to work to re-elect incumbent Sen. Joe Lieberman in November, even though Lieberman now plans to run as an independent after losing the Democratic primary to challenger Ned Lamont on Tuesday.
“I am disappointed in the outcome,” Salazar said in a statement Tuesday night. “Sen. Lieberman is a good friend and a good man who has contributed greatly to the nation and the state of Connecticut. He has sought to pursue common ground and worked to transcend the partisan poison of Washington, D.C.”
…
Salazar is one of a handful of national Democrats vowing to campaign against the party’s nominee, Lamont, and for the independent, Lieberman, from now until November.
http://tinyurl.com/oq8bo
===============================================
Kenny was one of those people who the corporatist/realestate/defense industry dominated Colorado democratic machine forced down the throats of Colo voters ..He’s probably better than Pete Coors would have been.. :yuck::yuck::yuck::rant1:
Awesome! Joe’s new party site is up!
http://www.connecticutforlieberman.com/
:rofl2::rofl2::rofl2:Good morning
for those of us who :love: our cats and dogs,
technudge.com
Listening to old MS shows (boy, they age well…)
I note that today is Marc’s 7th anniversary of being
clean and sober. Happy anniversary, Marc! And I’d like to recommend the 8/9/05 show (find it at http://www.thesnotgreensea.com/mp3/morningsedition/2005)
as a particularly great example of a great show.
What’s wrong with management at AAR? Isn’t Lamont’s victory proof that AAR listeners, as well as bloggers,
are making a difference in politics?
I’ve just heard Lieberman’s concession speech again and he talked about how Lamont was just practicing the usual partisan politics.
I KNOW I MUST BE MISSING SOMETHING BUT……
How can two Democrats,in a Democratic primary, be practicing partisan politics unless one of them is a 😡 Republican.
some more info on how lieberman’s website went down yesterday:
slashdot link
KP –
sent you an email – the card should be at your house tomorrow afternoon. :gate:
but of course, dahling!
McKinney has said some pretty stupid things though – not the sharpest knife in the drawer, inmho.
===
I agree sueP #36
===
:rofl2: Beemer!
====
Hi from the road..in search of good pie today:nod::joe:
:billcat:
3:45 p.m.: U.S. televangelist Pat Robertson said he joined hands with Olmert to pray for victory in Lebanon. Olmert’s 15-minute meeting with Robertson came on an intense day of political activity for the Israeli leader, and could be seen as implicit recognition of the importance of the Christian right in U.S. politics.
2 p.m.: Nasrallah warned all Israeli Arabs to leave the port city of Haifa Hezbollah could step up attacks without fear of shedding the blood of fellow Muslims.
=============================================
Israel has only succeeded in getting about 10 miles into Lebanon with their US grade A high tech army against a foe that is mostly well equipped infantry.. Hezzbollah has anti tank missiles and the Israeli’s only have so many tanks they would like to have blown up .. :eek::eek::gate::omg:
Pat Robertson is another person that needs to have a bad experience in an alley some place..:roll::yuck::spank:
August 9, 2006
The Sweetness of Lieberman’s Defeat
By ALEXANDER COCKBURN AND JEFFREY ST CLAIR
Any morning which carries the fragrance of a defeat for Joe Lieberman is one that should be savored. And his humiliation at the hands of Connecticut voters yesterday is all the sweeter for the fact that it looks as though we may be able to enjoy another Lieberman defeat in November. No longer able to run as the junior Democratic senator from Connecticut Lieberman insists that he will run as an independent in the fall election. If he does so, it may deny victory to the man who defeated him yesterday in the primary, Ned Lamont, but Lieberman himself will plummet once again. There are a lot of people in Connecticut who quite rightly can’t stand the guy.
There are no mysteries to what happened yesterday, except maybe to the New York Times which insisted – when Lamont first challenged Lieberman – that the senator was hugely popular. He wasn’t. Al Gore made the same mistake when he put Lieberman on the 2002 ticket in the hopes that his vice presidential candidate would win him Florida. Instead Lieberman showed in his amiable “debate” with Cheney that he was a de facto endorser of the Bush ticket…
http://www.counterpunch.org
Shultz and his electric car and clean coal rant..:yuck:
Global warming is caused by C0 and CO2 emissions.. I don’t think it possible to burn carbon based anything and not produce CO and CO2.. Coal fired power plants produce several hundred million tons of CO2 each year.
We have to solve both the fossil fuels and the energy independence problems at the same time or we will be SOL and Wall street will be up to the gutters in the Hudson river. Going from an oil based to a coal based system is not worth the investment.. :fustrate::paranoid:
Pat Robertson should is bizarre. Did you see the Daily Show’s moment of Zen last night? Robertson on Fux news piece.
Lieberman’s rise as a national politician coincided with the Democratic Party’s refashioning as full-time corporate whore-without-shame, in the late 1980s. This was when the Democratic Leadership Council was ramping up, with denunciations of the Democratic Party as a sinkhole of of old liberals in the mold of George McGovern or Walter Mondale. Lieberman, a former prosecutor, berserk Zionist, cultural conservative and race-baiter was exactly what they were looking for.
:omg::rofl2:
The Reich wing media has painted the left as loonies for so long that most of the “Democrats” being from the lower end of the upper 5% or so that find themselves running for office seem to believe they can’t be very far from the center and get elected. The polls indicate the people on the other hand are pretty much to left of the center and see no benefit to electing a democrat over a rethug because they get screwed by both.. Money of course comes from the corportists so they dems are very confused.:doh::fustrate::eek::yuck::gate::omg::jason:
from a friend overseas:
http://news.sky.com/skynews/video/videoplayer/0,,31200-galloway_060806,00.html
Wow, I now have two friends on myspace (it says three, for some reason, but there’s only two; since it’s Rupert Murdoch, I’m guessing they have a Diebold friend tabulator). Hollywood Improv asked to be my friend. I’m guessing this is not an honor they (or is it he? it says Hollywood Improv is a 32 yr old male) bestow upon just anybody.
I sent a friend request to Blue Moon Cafe, but after about a week of being ignored, I rescinded it. Hey, I don’t frickin’ beg for anybody, knowimsayin?
Jackie Mason defends Mel Gibson and trashes Abe Foxman:
http://www.counterpunch.org/mason08092006.html
The way things are posted on the board a DU is a bit confusing because the timestamp indicates when the last response was made not when the item was posted but Reuters in saying the Israeli ground offensive into south Lebanon has begun.. but the WSJ page said earlier that they were holding off to see if the UN could reach a settlement on the cease fire agreement. Hezzbollah mean while said that they would turn south Lebanon into a mass grave of Israeli dead.. :eek::eek::eek::yuck::yuck::gate::omg::jason:
Heh. Love him or hate him, you gotta admit George is a real pisser. If you don’t listen to his weekend radio program on TalkSport, you should give it a listen.
I’m friendless, PJ. Guess it would help if I’d created a myspace page, but then would if no one wanted to be my friend? :paranoid:
got to go cook din din for the crew here….the vacation is over. :billcat:
I loved him saying, “What a stupid question.” :rofl2: wish people would use that with the faux news pundits here.
Well, I actually don’t quite get myspace. I guess it’s something for people who need anonymous friends, and can’t figure out how to put up web page. But it gives me Marc bulletins, so what the hell.
Yeah, he went off right at the start, on Rupert Murdoch and Sky News and their one-sided reporting. That’s what people need to do here.
Ethnis Cleansing: constructive, benign, and nefarious. (Kafka era Studies #1)
Edward Herman http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=72&ItemID=10731
Plus the fact that he sounds like Angus McFarquhar doesn’t hurt, either.
When the terrorism is not especially helpful to U.S. interests but is carried out by an ally or client that U.S. officials want to placate or protect, the killing of large numbers of civilians is treated as of little interest and no evident moral concern-it is “benign”–as in the case of Indonesia’s invasion-occupation of East Timor in 1975 and after, which resulted in the death of a third of the East Timorese population, but which was aided and diplomatically protected by the U. S. government, based on the perceived merits of the Suharto dictatorship and kleptocracy. [3]
On the other hand, a terrorism carried out by a communist or any other designated enemy state is given great attention, arouses great moral fervor, and is treated as “nefarious.” This was the case with the killings by Pol Pot in Cambodia, the NLF in Vietnam, and Saddam Hussein in Iraq–except during the period in the 1980s when Saddam was serving U.S. interests by killing Iranians.
EDWARD HERMAN
BIG MARON D/L UPDATE OVER @ Philosophiction.
Quicktime video of Marc’s post-final-show stand-up routine at DemocracyFest, plus a pair of interesting interviews – one from May of this year by Adam Carolla, another dating from just after ‘Jerusalem Syndrome’ with Bradley Lewis in which Marc gives some fantastically candid insight into his creative process and motivations.
The downloads should be up and running by this evening.
Peace, folks. Philosophiction at:
http://objet.blogs.friendster.com/philosophiction/
sr
—
sd
Constructive Ethnic Cleansing: Croatia and the Krajina Serbs
As a model instance of constructive ethnic cleansing, we may take the case of the Croat ethnic cleansing of Serbs from the Krajina region of Croatia in August 1995. Long before that date the Clinton administration had aligned itself with the Croats and Bosnian Muslims in the externally stoked civil war that engulfed the region from 1991 onward: it had supported sanctions on the Serbs alone, sponsored and used the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) as an anti-Serb political-PR-judicial instrument, encouraged the Bosnian Muslims to withdraw from the Lisbon agreement in March 1992–an agreement that would have settled the conflict and prevented the further large-scale blood-letting–helped organize an alliance between the Muslims and Croats to help them better fight the Serbs, and supported the import of arms and mujahadeen to help the Muslims fight and kill more effectively, among other matters.
To further weaken the bargaining position of the Serbs, the Clinton administration actively supported the Croatian army’s attacks on the Serb communities in Croatia in Operation Flash in May 1995 and then in the massive ethnic cleansing of Krajina Serbs in Operation Storm in August 1995. Richard Holbrooke visited Zagreb two days before the beginning of Operation Storm, and clearly did not exercise any restraining influence on the imminent cleansing operation. Active U.S. support came in the form of military aid, the provision of military “advisers” closely affiliated with the U.S. armed forces, direct participation in the military operations via intelligence provision and even selective bombing missions, and a refusal to cooperate with the ICTY in providing information on possible war crimes committed by the Croatian armed forces.
Another form of U.S. support was an intense and indignant focus on the Srebrenica massacre, [8] which took place during the month before Operation Storm and helped justify and distract attention from the Croatian ethnic cleansing and massacre. Operation Storm involved the removal of some 200,000 to 250,000 Krajina Serbs, in contrast with perhaps one-tenth that number of Bosnian Muslims removed from Srebrenica. Operation Storm may also have involved the killing of more Serb civilians than Bosnian Muslim civilians killed in the Srebrenica area in July: virtually all of the Bosnian Muslim victims were fighters, not civilians, as the Bosnian Serbs bused the Srebrenica women and children to safety. The Croats made no such provision and hundreds of women, children and old people were slaughtered in Krajina. The ruthlessness of the Croats was impressive: Tim Ripley notes that “UN troops watched horrified as Croat soldiers dragged the bodies of dead Serbs along the road outside the UN compound and then pumped them full of rounds from the AK-47s. They then crushed the bullet-ridden bodies under the tracks of a tank.”
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Some 30 percent of Americans cannot say in what year the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against New York’s World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington took place, according to a poll published in the Washington Post newspaper.
But when asked what year, 30 percent could not give a correct answer.
Of that group, six percent gave an earlier year, eight percent gave a later year, and 16 percent admitted they had no idea whatsoever.
This memory black hole is essentially the problem of the older crowd: 48 percent of those who did not know were between the ages of 55 and 64, and 47 percent were older than 65, according to the poll.
http://tinyurl.com/g2ta4
================================================
Wow Americans are some smart cookies aren’t they …:fustrate::fustrate::fustrate::fustrate::jason::jason:
Roots of Terrorism
George Galloway
Where recorded: Chicago, IL
Date recorded: 19 Sep 2005
Ever since September 11, the Bush administration and its corporate media allies have scrupulously denied the possibility that the terrorist attacks were motivated by anything other than hatred of America. Even a hint that terrorism could be connected to U.S. policy is immediately greeted by jingoists and their noise machine with howls of derision and the epithet “anti-American.” The supernationalist flagwavers live in a Garcia-Marquez world of magical thinking: The U.S. is in a glass bubble of purity and innocence.
George Galloway
George Galloway is a Respect Party member of parliament representing a seat in London. A 36-year member of the Labour Party, he was expelled after his opposition to the attack on Iraq. CNN called his May, 2005 U.S. Senate testimony, “a blistering attack on U.S. senators rarely heard in Washington.” He is the author of “Mr. Galloway Goes to Washington.”
The local NPR station ran the recording of this talk last night. Galloway is terrific. I would like a few dozen like him in this country.
http://www.alternativeradio.org/programs/GALG001.shtml
Typical rightwing propaganda:
CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) – The White House accused the Democratic Party on Wednesday of catering to the extreme left after Connecticut voters defeated Sen. Joe Lieberman in a primary election over his support of the Iraq war.
Question for Bush: If the “extreme left” is the majority of voters, how can it be “extreme” ? Isn’t it more like “typical” ? People keep hearing this garbage day in and day out, though.
Israel has launched a new operation in south Lebanon, with troops and armoured columns moving across the border.
An Israeli army spokesman said the aim was to quell rocket fire by Hezbollah from the town of Khiam, which has already seen heavy fighting.
The move did not mark the start of a wider push approved by the government earlier on Wednesday, he added.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4778133.stm
===================================================
We will see if they can increase their penitration from 10 to 11 miles this time.:eek::eek::yuck::crap:
Why is there a buzz about George Galloway today? Rhodes caller is talking about him now. Did George do something out of the ordinary recently?
Angry MPs demand recall of parliament
Discontent over UK’s Lebanon policy
Patrick Wintour, Ewen MacAskill and Oliver Burkeman in New York
Wednesday August 9, 2006
The Guardian
Up to 100 MPs, most of them Labour, are to demand an immediate recall of parliament to debate the crisis in Lebanon because of growing fears about the government’s strategy.
The call is expected to come in the next 48 hours and its organisers have been in discussion with the Liberal Democrat and Scottish Nationalist parties. Negotiations are also under way with campaign groups backing the call for an immediate ceasefire that attracted the support of 200 MPs.
Jon Trickett, chairman of the Compass group of 50 leftwing MPs and a force behind the appeal, said: “In this crisis, parliament needs to speak for the nation. We are living in a 24/7 society, yet our parliament seems so ossified that it goes into recess for 11 weeks and there seems no way for backbenchers to bring MPs back.”
The demand will be made in a letter to Jack Straw, the leader of the Commons. The Speaker will take the decision, on the recommendation of the government.
The mood in Downing Street is that there is no great need for a recall. However, cabinet sources acknowledged that if the moves towards a UN resolution collapse, that could change.
http://tinyurl.com/nlgu3
=============================================
Even the usual lap dogs are growling..:eek::crap:
The worst part is, 23% of the respondents thought 9/11 happened on June 6th.
MySpace Repost:
Aug 9, 2006 3:18 PM
Subject Are you an Air America Radio listener in Dallas? (Repost)
Body: From: Dallas Air America Radio Fans
Please repost this invitation widely.
The Dallas Air America Group is a group of North Texas residents committed to supporting and promoting progressive, independent media in North Texas. Our group began in 2004 when our only access to Air America Radio was through Internet streaming or satellite radio (now on XMradio).
Since April 2005, we have been proudly supporting our local affiliate on the Air America Radio Network affiliate, KXEB 910AM, through our website, DallasAirAmerica.org.
We are the oldest and largest Air America MeetUp fan group in the country, having over 300 unique members in 3 groups in Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Our members live in 6 counties of North Texas. We have a film group, progressive book club, as well as volunteer oportunities.
Add Dallas Air America Radio Fans as your Myspace friend:
According to Wikipedia…
KXEB (910 AM) is a talk radio station located in Dallas, Texas. It features a schedule consisting primarily progressive talk radio hosts, and serves as the Air America Radio affiliate for Dallas-Fort Worth.
The station itself is located in Dallas, and the transmitter is located just outside of the northwestern city limit of Frisco, Texas, a town just north of Dallas. KXEB is owned by Border Media Partners, a company that owns other radio stations, including two other liberal talk stations,
KOKE in Ausin and KTXX-FM in San Antonio. All three stations make up ‘Texas Progressive Radio’, and all air similar programming, which includes hosts Rachel Maddow, Mark Riley, Jerry Springer, Al Franken, Ed Schultz, Randi Rhodes and Sam Seder. Lifestyle shows and the syndicated Air America network feed are featured on weekends.
KXEB broadcasts with 1,000 watts during the daytime, and powers down to 500 watts at night, per FCC regulations. Even with the limited signal, the station reportedly covers the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex adequately.
NEW YORK A photographer for the Times-Picayune of New Orleans who has undergone severe personal trauma since Hurricana Katrina hit was arrested Tuesday after trying to get police to shoot him to death. Police said he claimed he was depressed after he found out he didn’t have enough insurance money to rebuild his Katrina-damaged home.
They said he was seeking “suicide-by-cop,” but police who found him tasered him instead.
Earlier published accounts had revealed that he had recently taken a leave of absence from the paper and was undergoing therapy.
John McCusker, the photographer, was being held under psychiatric observation and faces unspecified charges.
He had been one of the paper’s key photographers in the immediate aftermath of Katrina. “Katrina didn’t flood New Orleans – government failure did,” he told visiting students from Brown University recently.
http://tinyurl.com/ouxbs
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Welcome to Bush world :eek::yuck::fustrate::paranoid:
bbc link
the mexican officials appear more untrustworthy every day that passes. :paranoid: maybe they got their inspiration from watching how american republicans handle elections: steal the votes and then keep stalling about re-counting the votes until everyone gets tired of hearing about it.
obrador and the mexican people sound like they see the behavior of the american people, who were in similar circumstances in 2000 and 2004, as a cautionary tale. :alc:
The worst part is, 23% of the respondents thought 9/11 happened on June 6th.
That’s why my head hurts :fustrate: :doh: 23% :doh: :fustrate:
and at LEAST 30% (more like 40%) will vote against their and their childrens self interest.:omg::mad::growl::billcat::fist:
:fustrate: but I look at myself, since I keep trying (or being forced) to care. I think we have enough of “us good one” that we should ignore the IDIOTS. Let “them” know, like Loserman”, “they” are no longer part of the equation.
But then again DINOS and D.L.C. keed “screwing” us.:omg:
Been Working :tongue:and hardly any Lurking 🙁 weak:hubba:
AHH, THAT’S why I had a smile on my face the whole time!
(din din is ready, now where IS everyone?)
too good to be true department?
technudge link
Randi will be on Larry King tonight with Boortz to talk about Israel and Lebanon. She can’t be looking forward to THAT.:omg:
HEY, I just met Guss, Sblue:40: He said you arrre very talented and creative, and he would love to meet you again.
He said that every Friday he’s at the “place’
I have to go get a buzz on. Oh, and finish that short strory, too
Farmerkat, I just emailed you but it is sitting in my Drafts since I am “running” 😉
foggyblue, the Dems are again acting typical :growl:
I called, I sent a wonderful e-letter, but for naught. But I just got from a non Dem saying about a press conference and email spoke of how Kerrigan (good guy) keeps asking Dems to put someone in City Hall TO HELP HIM but local Dems are not listening. I did get an e-mail reminding of a rummage sale August sometime.
I admit, I am frustrated. :fustrate: I will vote Dem (and ask all to also FOR NOW), but they may just end up in a SciFi/Fan Story.:rofl2:
oh druid, sheesh 🙁 those humboldt dems sound like, i dunno, national dems. 😥 it would be so great to have you AND chris k. on the city council together. :nixon: what is wrong with the dems that they behave like this :growl: what a great idea to put them in a scifi story. :rofl2:
Thanks Foggyblue, I needed to:rofl2:…and I should be focusing on my other “things” but I will keep going to committee meets :growl::rofl2::banana::wink:
I named a STRAY :billcat: after a Great One.:wink:
😮 re 71 it was to be “BEST Interests” not “Self Interests”
(but personally I think it was a Freudian slip teehee)
Back to Work :tongue:
Howard Dean, on Atios:
After his loss, Joe Lieberman announced his intention to run as an independent. That’s the wrong thing to do.
Ned Lamont won fair and square. We have a process, and those who participate in it should respect the outcome. Joe Lieberman should respect the Democratic voters’ decision. He has to do what all of us who have lost an election have done: support the winner.
Can there be any more proof that Lieberman is a Rethug?
Karl Rove, a close advisor to the President, has expressed interest in assisting Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman in retaining his seat, despite a loss in the Democratic Primary last night, ABC News has reported.
Rove was, according to the report, acting on behalf of President Bush.
George Stephanopoulos, writing for the World Newser blog at ABC, wrote that a Lieberman aide had shared with the news agency a message from the White House: “The boss wants to help. Whatever we can do, we will do.”
According to the report, The Lieberman campaign is assessing its options, including whether it is beneficial for a candidate attempting to appeal to independents and moderate Democrats in Connecticut to be publicly supported by the President.
#81 :shock::tinfoil::jerk::spank::!::?:
ok, wrote liebermonkey, just to make me feel better. wish Georgia would have done the same thing to ZigZag Zell that CT did to lieber.
Hey Druid – i’m beginning to think this “civilization” belongs in a sci-fi flim. 😉
sblue => did you find some pie? I think I’ll make a peach pie this week.
forgive me if you all saw this yesterday and I’m reposting. I thought it worthwhile to pass on:
😡
PS – re# 81 if they can still put in a different rethug candidate in CT, why they don’t just put loserman in as that candidate? :doh:
G’night!
#83, a sci-fi film of which Steven King is the author.:omg:
It wouldn’t be much of surprise if in fact Lieberman were to become the Repug candidate. Perhaps, that is what we’re seeing with Lieberman releasing that letter from the white house. His slogan could be: “I’m your candidate, whoever you are“
heard a blurb on Franken today,
“Lieberman, Party of One”
:rofl2:
NOW really G’night!
Hey, if anybody’s been itching to try Linux, Freespire 1.0 was released today. Looks like it’s geared to the desktop user, with a mix of open source and proprietary drivers (though you can download a totally open source distro if you want). Might be worth a try if you have a computer hanging around that you don’t mind playing with, and it’s a fairly light download (under 700 megs).
Lieberman would remain an “independent” candidate, I think, in order to suck up as many votes from CT Democrats as possible. If the GOP doesn’t run anybody and gives tacit (or even overt) support to him, he could be tough to beat. Then there’s the question of who he’d caucus with. Especially if Reid strips him of his committee assignments. Could be a very big deal, if the Senate winds up being 49-49-2, with Jeffords caucusing with the Democrats, and Cheney still with the tie-breaker.
This is probably not the beer that Mel Gibson was drinking.
Farmerkat, :nod: I think this has been a SciFi/Fan since before Ray:jerk:Gun (and before).:nod: but fun to hear you say so it is not just my :tinfoil::paranoid: reality. :rofl2: 😡
It is hard to write fiction, when IT’S ALL TRUE:!: :eek::omg:
I was drawing a rose as spinkles started…
“TOOOOOOO Many Cars!” She screams, as she remembers the quiet times in the mountains. 😉
I may send via email cuz I NEVER AM ON WHEN YOU ARE ON! :rofl2::wink::eek::wink:
mentos and diet coke!
:fu:fuck man they keep blowing up fireworks right outside my truck! watch this
Sean, just :mad:sent you a bloody post 😡
Where is it:?::growl:
seanMs to repeat briefly — re Skeletor :rofl2:
Yaaaaaa HeMan and SheRa
:growl:Briefly When are you seeing Marc:?: …In La? …I told hubby you all might meet — since I am here and not there 😐 Rats
um the 16th in irvine or the 17th in HOLLYWOOD!:cool:
mentos and diet coke! okay SeanMs = weird :rofl2:
Did you see the Topless Carwash :rofl2::rofl2::rofl2:
I know you did:!:
huh topless carwash? where! i wanna go!
they say EXTREME LEFT because we are cool like how the people in the mountain dew ads are cool!
:hot:damn it i need AC!
If you wish to connect I asked and he ok’d the giving of email or do you want him to contact on “My Space. :eek::wink:
Are you talking about riding The Shark”:?:
Sorry folks but I do watch (My Bad:spank:) Rock Star now with Supernova and Tommy Lee and Dave Navarro (who might be getting maleboobs:eek: But he is still “pretty”, or Handsome Pretty Handsome…:tongue:
http://jeffylikescandy.blogspot.com/2006/07/i-was-listening-to-that-commie-marc.html
Hey Travis…Thanks for the Gus update-
Maybe you can drag me to the moon again on a Friday sometime:alc:
Long sleepy drive today and no pie. Some old Maron and Randi screaming me awake.
So PJ where is your Blue Moon Cafe?
I just saw a Blue Moon Cafe and Lounge in Coos Bay OR.
:nod:i wish i was listening to that commie marc maron! well then again i like this commie mike malloy too!
:bow:M M initials of 2 great liberal talk show hosts!
did i post this yesterday?
Current users online: 1 🙁
Guess I killed it:omg:
I’m here but prob all gone… Sblueheron (I don’t know how towrit wha or wa or WTF :doh:
I am probably the 1
I waas the one:doh:
When I get :fustrate:I go to your 108 :lol::rofl2::lol:
“She’s a Man, Baby.”
Ohhh Mooonlight maaannn:hubba:
SBluHeron, Did you see Sean’s 108 :rofl2:
:nod::yawn:
:nod:
I saw the Elk today on #38(Highway Oregon)
They were all sitting down on the scratchy dry grass.
That’s all I have to report:billcat::billcat:
He’s probably grown all “hairy”. I am a literalist and that means you may not be able to deal with My Moon :mad:ness. I still can’t get my Brain or Soul around that…..I just can’t take a joke.:doh:Hubby can I am still trying to “get it”…But maybe as easy as Moon Light :mad:ness. Okay, I think I got my brain around it. :doh::knit2::doh: But Love the Moon. :pent::knit::love::pent:
Goodnight Druid thanks for flying by:love:
But is your friend a theatre person, a theatrical person, or SCA:?: (SCA said I could go in as … DaDaDaaaaaa Druid Morrigan…but no time 🙁
and I get to you as you leave thus :knit::gate:Aways Happy Journeys awake or :yawn::wink:
who is hairy?
:rofl2: Elk I can understand :wink::rofl2:
My friend is just in the Revels every year-has a library job the rest of the time then some OBOD work too.:knit2:
I forgot to say, elk are beautiful….Now go to bed 😉
Now I am 😯 awake. Weird sleep this trip.
Thanks for the teaching :nod: I “see” :rofl2::nod::rofl2:
:oops:Oops regarding 122 :rofl2:
Mostly he dances through life while being “stuck”.
I will talk till next :yawn: occurs…
So if OBOD haunts, why not you or if he is a Dru, then he could work or why not :pent::cool: or are you already a Witch?:wink: Hope I am not be tooo personal.
I guess I don’t mind the pulling of leg:tongue:
It can cost a zillion $ now for Dru WE. I am suppose to start a thing down here (I am puposely cuz:oops:embarresed (sp) I am trying to finish certain things now before opening The Redwood Seed Group again:eek:, BUT GUILT cuz I haven’t for many a moons 🙁
I am a Wiccan Druid….. I say Witch since I see them and all called them whether true or not…they are my heritage.
I am open but can’t say I am a witch. Played a part once on Samhain.(sp?):knit:
Seem to know alot of:pent: peeps.
Also some family connections in Salem MA.:omg:
This little thing resonates: http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/houses.htm
OOOOoooooo :rofl2: ,
This is the Age of Aqua… INDIVIDUALISM:!: Plus no time in this life, as if you or me or anyone has time for “anything”
Ain’t that the truth?:doh:
Samhain is of course correct (sorry forgot to speak)
and so cool re 135. and Salem :omg: 😉 to me you are part of the weave :knit::wink:
Yeah I am pretty certain of that- I am not very good with dogma.
Now :billcat:ma I can get behind.
Born on Friday the 13th:shock::tinfoil::tongue::hubba:
Oh, Boy!:doh: My head hurts
5 people here now.
Been mooning it?:spank:
Yeah:barf:
Re “no time” I use to say but stopped — well you will see why (and starting again)
As the Red Queen say, “Off with their head.”
But in thruth I have the White Rabbit on desk cuz,
“I’m late. I’m late for a very important date. No time to say hello, goodbye. I’m late. I’m late. I’m late. …(And I know whole song:eek:)”
Hey travis have you been crafting a story for us?
Sometimes nothing but time just priorities.
No. I’ve been too busy worrying about my next apartment and job. Plus, I’ve beeen getting drunk:spank:
Travis are you snug outside under tarpage?
We’re not alone anymore 😮 We’ll play straight …NO …. What month woman:?: 😉
Does one thought lead to the other?
The 1st
Actually, right now, I don’t feel so good:yuck:
Travis lets brainstorm…roxie had one good idea(of many I am sure)
Remember careful of the keyboard :barf:
Though it is all yours and you can do anything to it like paint it black!
Were you mixing the grain with the grape?:rant1:
travisdem_04 Water, Tea, and deep breaths (or puke :barf: cuz it cleans all:wink:)
:priest:
Think whale thoughts.:nod:
:wink:sblueheron 1rst is Relative” :rofl2: But I like Mysteries. Some say right after Samhain, some say at Winter Solstice, some say Sun Calendar, some say Astrology ….. But all is a JOKE (Tarot:wink:)
but end of this type of talk……I do have a weird sense of humour :tongue::rofl2::doh:
Yeah, puke sounds about right. I thikn I’m done with the moon for a while:yuck: see ya later, I think
Don’t mix and sleep with foot hanging out (I played with drink when in 20’s ) then :rofl2::rofl2::rofl2::cool::wink:
:knit:Be Well Travis:gate:Good Journeys
:knit:
sblueheron Think whale thoughts — :cool::love:
163 cool 😎 Awwwwwww
::shock:
hope travis looks.
Evening all, just catching up on posts.:eek:
Hey Mister!:banana:
for druid:
and travis and Moonlightman a healing tree..
:banana:Hey sblueheron!:banana:
Hey yourself-How has your funny self been keeping?.:knit:
Night Druid:yawn:
look in your mail tonight.:knit:
HERON WHERE ARE YOU? I love the whales!
WAIT A MINUTE!!!!!! Heron=Maron??????????
Are you Mark????????
It’s Marc to you man.. How was the Improv?
Mish and I had a GREAT time! These days I have nothing better to do!:lol:
Wait my leg is getting longer…..OH NOoooooo:shock::eek::hot:
:billcat::yawn:
‘Night sheeple…
Where are the Whales?????
My friends took ’em off Vancouver Island.
Wow they are great! I need to go to vancouver island!:nod:
Why would you cut the tree down?
I have to go to Victoria for work On a float plane:omg:
Why is this Moon making some WEIRD? hmmm 😉
I have also seen that sight with MT Baker in the background early one morning on the Anacortes Friday harbor ferry…
You ALL are “sTRANGE” :rofl2:
The tree is still there with your “back” button.
Druid check your email.:nod:
Am I being strange:paranoid:
There are whales here too 🙁 really:nod::wink:
Heron, you go to work on a float plane everyday? Are you Ranger Ricks?
The heron’s legs are getting longer:spank:
10-4 :nod: SBlueHeron
Druid, it is the weirding way!:lol:
Evening/Morning :yinyang:
:hot: after another typhoon!
No I’m gonna do it once to hire my replacement.
I wake up to the sound of floatplanes every day and think…I’m gonna do that.
re 194- 10-4 Elinor
KING KONG What WARD was that?
OK sheeple
881
What a great place sblue!:nod:
They kept me there for five days! Freinds had to bring food! (They just gave me hospital drugs. 😮
Heron = Maron :rofl2::rofl2::rofl2:
And The Mighty Monkey The King made it thru 😎
Well Kong get a little drizzle? or was it a bit of a heavy mist?
Oh man I can’t 881 now…Are you OK?
SBlueHeron the PIXs are Great….
I especially like the Heron ooooOOOOOoooo
Still need bed rest. Thanks
A pulled groin is not serious enough to get a room at the hospital.
But if you can’t walk and are in pain, they won’t let you leave.
It was a catch-22.
WHAT KING KONG, A HOSPITAL WARD 😮 HOW are You?
He is my Eugene friend…
Well cats and kitties. I nearly fell asleep while driving today and you know why. I was so excited I couldn’t sleep last night and tomorrow I have to be somewhere early so farewell and feel better KK. Love YA:love:
Night Moonlight:spank:
All the typhoons have MISSED northern Taiwan. East’s been clobbered. South’s under water. West got ripped up. Taipei-It’s a work day!
Nice to dodge the bullet
:yinyang::knit::gate:Be Well In All Journeys
Druid, I just got a rattle that I ain’t so young and healing takes a bit more time. :doh: Shit! Thought I was invincible.
MoonLightMan I wanted to, as Travis says, throw it down with you. I won’t bite, much Bwah HaHa
Just One question, please?
I asked nicely, too.:hubba:
:yawn:Be well all. :yawn: I am over and outing as well. Lets hope tommorrow is better than today! (today was not all that bad seeing looserman getting his just desserts!)
ok ….time for a question:growl:
You still are the Mighty King Kong 😉
Sleep tight, MLM.
See you on the other side,Druid.
Awwwww Dear MoonlightMan don’t tell me year, but month and date please :batting of eyes:
Night Kong…Get well soon! ouch! I know what it feels like, I do not envy you.
King Kong again :knit::yinyang: :gate::yinyang:Safe and Merry Journeys
Druid, I believe it is August 10. 200:yawn::lol:6 if I am not mistaken. See ya later alligator!:yawn: after while crocadile!
:growl:grrr Dear Leo Prrr,
Thanks for your support.
Want to hear about the special message at the Chinese doctor’s? It was electrical and on 11.
:nod: King
I do not want to talk much to you SINCE YOU NEED REST
but I can take that message in many ways…
:yinyang::gate::love:safe journeys
… and you have to get better soon cause how can you “play” with an ouchy:wink:
YOU WERE SO MISSED HERE:!: Eveyone was asking if anyone heard from you…
At the hospital, Western and Eastern treatments are available. I took the Western drugs and the Eastern accupuncture and message. There were two messages. One was what you normally think of. the other was electrodes placed around the groin and leg that pulsed. They pulsed in a way to make like a message. Better than I would have guessed.
I love that I can get the east-west mix at a local hospital.
and you don’t want to know the cost.
I am real basic — besides Accu which I totally believe in but I was thinking of leaches for quicker healing of stiches . Sorry strange brain I guess (or heart) whichever :rofl2:
Druid- be #1,I’ll give some dancing bananananas.
King Kong THX 😎 but not needed and I think others are too. I would Have Let You for you adventure :banana::eek::cool:ouch:banana:
When National Socialism came to power in the 1930s, Carl Schmitt defended the Third Reich and its right to peremptory justice by reference to the juridical example of the Inquisition.
According to Schmitt, the ultimate power of government is not to be found in legislation, but in the executive power to abrogate or suspend legislation. What matters is not the rule, but the exception, and “sovereign is he who decides the exception.” Schmitt’s aphorism describes how Hitler in fact took power, with the unilateral abrogation of civil liberties in Germany. Hitler imposed a “state of exception” on those whom he deemed alien to or a danger to the regime, and those in such a state of exception no longer have the rights of citizens. This state of exception, willed by the German unitary executive power, was the juridical basis for the Nazi death camps. The assertion of notional “unitary executive power” in part results from officials’ prior disgust at the inherent weakness of a parliamentary system to forcefully address long-term problems facing society, like a weak fiat currency, economic crisis, or terrorism. A “unitary executive power” appeals to the “Right,” to which Schmitt and purportedly the Bush Jr. administration belong, but, one has to note, it also could have appeal for the “Left.” Such executive powers no doubt appeal to all who are certain of their own rectitude, certain that they are guided by destiny or by God to act, to be decisive. Thus one characteristic of fascism is said to be “decisionism.” “At least we’re doing something,” a decisionist says – even if what “we’re” doing is in fact despotic and destructive. George W. Bush is, he tells us, “the decider.”
Arthur Versluis
MSU
The Lebanon War and the Failed UN Resolution
by Phyllis Bennis; Institute for Policy Studies; August 10, 2006
The draft resolution on the Lebanon crisis to be discussed by the UN Security Council this week is very much Washington’s resolution. The draft does not call for a ceasefire; it is qualitatively discriminatory between the two sides; it has already been rejected by the government of Lebanon as well as by Hezbollah; and even if implemented it will not bring peace. An AP story released even before the full text was released recognized the agreement as a “major victory for the U.S. and Israel.”
Passage of the resolution will not lead to a ceasefire, or even a significant reduction in violence; Condoleezza Rice said she did not expect the resolution to bring about an immediate end to the violence, and noted that “these things take a while to wind down.” Israel’s justice minister Haim Ramon told the New York Times that Israel would continue its attacks and that its forces would remain in Lebanon “until the international force arrived.” Since the current draft does not even call for creation of such a force, mentioning it only as a future goal to be addressed in a subsequent resolution, Israel’s announcement is a clear warning of continuing war.
One of the still-unanswered questions is why France reversed its earlier position and collapsed under U.S. pressure to accept the draft. As AP described it, “France and many other nations had demanded an immediate and halt to violence without conditions as a way to push the region back toward stability.” It is virtually certain that at least part of France’s decision (and that of other European governments backing the draft) was based on the need to respond to a widespread public demand in Europe for governments to do something to bring about a real ceasefire. Paris may have assessed that claiming to support a ceasefire, even in the context of a resolution that will not bring it about, is politically less risky than acknowledging that U.S. power is paralyzing the Security Council.