Blogging the democratic revolution
While the big story has always been that Pinochet came to power through a CIA-organize military coup, most people forget the influence that the Soviet Union and Cuba had on Chile at the time. There’s really two sides to that coin, but most contemporary leftists ignore the inconvenience of the fact that the KGB gave…
I neglected to write about this last week, more out of being overworked than sheer laziness (notice how late I’m posting nowadays?). But this is pretty important given the level of controversy surrounding it, and considering how “multi-cultural” Canada is. They rejected the idea of allowing sharia tribunals, and then went a step further and…
Transitions Online discusses the future of unstable Albania, who in July’s parliamentary elections re-elected former strongman Sali Berisha to the premiership. It’s really detailed, especially for a subject so elusive.
The Kyiv Post has a hilarious, lively, and insightful editorial about the political games going on in Ukraine. But here’s the best part, which seriously takes Yushchenko and Tymoshenko to task for their latest jockeying. And one more word for Tymoshenko, and indeed for Yushchenko: talk of rigging the political reform process one way or…
This report from the Guardian Unlimited draws an accurate picture about how Islamist groups like the Badr Brigade and the Sadrists, while they forcefully maintain the peace, have infiltrated government and society at all levels to the point where they are, in fact, the ones in control. Basra has not been beset by the levels…
After Ukrainian President Yushchenko disbanded the government of Yulia Tymoshenko, he appointed Yuriy Yekhanurov as the new prime minister. However, in order to become installed permanently, the Verkhovna Rada must approve him by majority vote. Well, it looks like that won’t be happening. (AP) – The Ukrainian parliament on Sept. 20 rejected the candidacy of…
Why is he doing this to us? He’s appointing incompetent cronies left and right. Who am I talking about? Not some corrupt Chicago machine pol or some New Orleans lowlife political vermin, but George Bush himself! Apparently, he never learned ANYTHNG from Katrina! Do we really need a Julie Myers, age 36, experienced at writing…
The difficulties that Iraqi Shia, Sunnis and Kurds have had in governing their country following their elections have given the world lots of headaches, especially for the United States. But if you really want to see a group of political parties having a difficult time putting together a stable coalition, look to Germany. The best…
Alexandra Beech, who is Venezuelan, has written a compelling personal story of her observed differences between Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe – and she notices that the differences between the two men are strong. The essay, which amusingly enough has the same title as mine here, couldn’t be more different in…
Brazil’s failure as a regional leader in the face of growing communist aggression from the likes of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro and Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez is a major concern, I argue, in this American Thinker essay here. UPDATE: It’s on Real Clear Politics this morning here. VCrisis has an in-depth analysis from a famous…
Daniel has a good thorough roundup of the ongoing electoral mess in Venezuela, which faces congressional elections on Dec. 4. This will be one hell of a fateful day for this country’s ‘democracy.’ Chavez is likely to totally consolidate power and end elections forever more in Venezuela after this. There’s the interesting problem of his…
Miguel Octavio writes a post about the unbelievable hassle of getting a passport out of Venezuela. He studiously describes the incredible shenanigans citizens must go through (something the FARC, which gets its Venezuelan passports handed to them never worries about) including high bribery rates, unfathomable delays, government blacklists, and now a particularly slimey government official…
Marvelous Miguel Centellas of Ciao! blog had just what I was looking for, commentary on the news here showing that Marxist Evo Morales has taken the lead in the presidential polls. Miguel cautions us not to despair, Bolivian voters tend to break away from the frontrunner at the last minute so in this regard, maybe…
The lumbering, overbearing, porkbarreling, intrusive U.S. Federal Government is getting waaaaay too full of itself and overconfident, too. It’s now gotten into its fat head the idea of suing the Club for Growth, one of our favorite must-read blogs at PubliusPundit. It’s doing so on an accusation of soft-money financing. But the fact is, Club…
In the email, Elena Steiger sends this story of an activist in Uzbekistan whose very basic human rights are being breached outright by the government. Elena Urlaeva, well-known rights activist and member of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan, was detained by security agents on August 27, 2005, while distributing flyers at a peaceful protest…
I almost forgot about this week’s carnival of revolutions, so check it out. Sorry for the lack of posting today. I’ve been working since Sunday afternoon with no sleep, so I’m a little tuckered out. You know what that means. Pity me!
I have now posted my Middle East Week in Review post for Sept. 18. I also have a seperate post explaining why I have decided to stop posting daily and instead focus on just posting 1-2 in-depth analysis pieces per week, plus my Week in Reveiw news bulletin.
NewsHounds is a leftwing site but I am going to agree with them – strongly – that Fox News gave a boorish interview with President Alvaro Uribe and this marvelous – truly marvelous – president of Colombia responded with stunning class, dignity and intelligence. Newshounds called it very right this time. You have to read…
“I am very confident ÄthatÅ on the 19th of September, the day after the elections here, we are all going to wake up and realize that the heroes of Afghanistan were the people that went out and cast their vote for their own future.” — The commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Lieutenant General Karl…
A source in Colombia has emailed me to say rumors are flying that Manuel “Sureshot” Marulanda, the Marxist FARC guerrilla chief of chiefs, has been shot dead – UPDATE from my source: died in bed. If it’s true he’s been shot or captured, it has the significance of the U.S. taking out Zarkawi or Bin…
Harry Hutton has a whole gallery of these Colombian FARC-slaying babes of politics. These women are anti-narcotics cops in the belly of the world’s worst narcotics beast, women who are winning Colombia’s war on terror without any need for U.S. troops. And, yes, they do have looks. For FARC’s ugly phony-revolution guerrillas, these real revolutionary…
UPDATED: While President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia was ringing the opening bell of the New York stock exchange today, his ministers back home were announcing that interest rates would be slashed 50 basis points and nearly a billion more dollars in debt was being repaid. Meanwhile, Colombia’s trade surplus was expanding, tourism was up 19.5%,…
The signatures that led to a recall referendum in Venezuela last year have since become Hugo Chavez’s blacklist against his political enemies. Aleksander Boyd has a stunning collection of screenshots showing how Venezuela’s increasingly freedomless regime has used the latest technology to perpetrate low-tech vengeance. It’s a don’t miss because there’s something mind-changing about the…
That’s what Alexandra Beech argues is the real meaning of Secuestro Express, a scary new movie about ‘express kidnappings’ in Venezuela that is making waves in Hollywood. Read her fascinating analysis here.
It’s not often that I write about politics in the United States, but the response on both sides of the aisle to the Hurricane Katrina devastation has really shaken me to the point where I feel it necessary to discuss the implications of the proposals. This blog is about democracy and good government, and especially…