Saturday, June 20, 2009

A Quote to Think About

With all that's going on in Iran, here is some science courtesy of John F. Kennedy...

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable.”



Thursday, June 18, 2009

Republican Party Akin To Iranian Protestors?

LOL.

Here are some interesting tweets, courtesy of The Fix.

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First, Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.), who is running for governor of the Wolverine State, tweeted: "Iranian twitter activity similar to what we did in House last year when Republicans were shut down in the House."

Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas) then followed Hoesktra's tweet with two of his own. "Good to see Iranian people move mountains w social media, shining sunlight on their repressive govt -- Texans support their bid for freedom," Culberson wrote, adding in a second tweet: "Oppressed minorities include House Repubs: We are using social media to expose repression such as last night's D clampdown shutting off amends."
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Uh... I mean, maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see any similarities between fat, rich, white males and disenfranchised Iranians. Do you? I'm sorry but the republican party is completely in shambles right now. They are voting against funding for the military, which is so hypocritical I can't even begin to get into it, but just remember whenever the democrats opposed funding for the wars that Bush started they called it a "vote against the troops". What a nightmare. Then, one of their potential presidential candidates Nevada Sen. John Ensign, a man once quoted, in reference to the Clinton scandal, as saying: “I came to that conclusion recently, and frankly it’s because of what he put his whole Cabinet through and what he has put the country through, he has no credibility left.” Well mister Ensign, I guess you have no credibility left and neither does your party it seems.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Ahmadinejad Is Not The Issue

Foremost I would simply like to point out that I realize Ahmadinejad likely wasn't legitimately re-elected in Iran, but under their political structure the presidential seat is almost powerless, and the policy implications of his rule are negligent at best. Nevertheless, I applaud the outrage over the political corruption and election fixing, surely I consider this a major transgression and recognize the strain it puts on a nation where many strive for legitimacy, peace, and acceptance only to be overshadowed by a menacing figurehead, who despite the medias oft-misquotes, is still a fear-mongering-hate-artist who deserves a life of imprisonment. The real point of this blog though is to explore the quintessential question of, who really runs Iran? It is easy to cast a sole figure into the role of devil, as was done from Bin-Laden and Hussein to Hitler and Stalin and so on and so forth, in this case Ahmadinejad is the face of horror, but my understanding is that he has been sorely miscast for the role. The most important factor in understanding Iran is that their government, while they do hold elections, is not a true democracy, they are more or less a strict Islamic theocracy. What the BBC classifies as a "network of unelected institutions controlled by the highly powerful conservative Supreme Leader" is the pillar of "government" by which all decision making must run through, and while Ahmadinejad may or may not line up with them on certain issues, he -nor any of the elected parliament members- really matter, it seems, because regardless of their efforts, even if they were in favor of change (mild or radical), I have serious doubts as to whether or not they would fly. Basically, my contention is that if Mir Hossein Moussavi were not [potentially] cheated out of office by a rigged election, it doesn't even really matter one way or the next. If you want change, change the system. That's just one mans humble opinion though.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

The Current Republican Landscape

I was just reading an article from last Wednesday's edition of USA Today and there are some pretty jarring figures in a Gallup poll they cited. The figures referenced state that the majority of republicans consider Rush Limbaugh and Dick Cheney to be the leaders of their party. That's a pretty scary thought if you're a republican, or for that matter, any human being who happens to live in this country. Not only are neither of these men viable figureheads for the future, but their status as present mouthpieces for one of the two political parties of note is pretty pathetic. Dick Cheney is somewhere in between a has-been and a never-was, who has spent his recent months bitterly attacking President Obama and making false claims that the country is now "less safe" and condoning methods of torture. Limbaugh, though is the real joke though, not only are his radical right-wing opinions incredibly convoluted and oft-ridiculous, but this is a guy who once (and probably to this day) has an addiction to prescription drugs, and is a KNOWN RACIST. This is the same guy who played a little tune he called "Barack the Magic Negro" on his radio show. Ugh. So there you have it folks, your republican party in 2009. Good luck on putting another right-winger in the oval office next election. Who knows, maybe Mitt Romney is the answer. Ha, or better yet, Sarah Palin?