Blogging the democratic revolution
Moderate democratic socialist President Michelle Bachelet of Chile looks to be slightly edging toward the right, given a recent cabinet shuffle. Three cabinet officials, from education, economy and interior have been replaced. This follows recent street protests from students who were demaning that the government raise funding and bus fares for education. It was the harshest challenge to her government, and curiously enough, led by the far-left. Troy University political scientist Steven Taylor at PoliBlogger points out that on the surface, the studiously balanced cabinet, between men and women, remains. But idea-wise, the shift has moved a little to the…
I think it would be pretty tough to stick to an editorial line here at Publius given the wide array of opinions on the subject among the contributors. Even when we agree, there are points of disagreement on specifics. So what I’ve tried to do is get a response from several of the contributors so that we can have a more wide-ranging debate on both the overall of what’s happening as well as the little details. As of now there are four posts — just scrol down — and there should be more to come as the situation develops.
This is one of my all-time favorite magazine covers. A hot babe hoisted up in the middle of Lebanon’s Cedar Revolution, flashing only peace signs (and unfortunately little else). The girl at the top of this blog’s banner does the same. Democracy stirs in the Middle East, along with something else. Now that’s inspiration. The revolution expelled Syria for the most part from Lebanon, allowing it to hold free and fair elections in which an anti-Syria coalition was formed. However, given the regime’s longterm entrenchment, it’s elements are still very much active and large parts of the country are still…
Hezbollah has just announced that is ready for all out war with Israel, according to CNN. The declaration was made after Sheik Hassan Nasrallah’s home was bombed and Hezbollah’s headquarters were destroyed by Israel. Mr. Nasrallah is the leader of Hezbollah in Lebanon. As I have followed the rapid escalation of events in Israel, I have been impressed potential for prolonged violence and general instability. At the moment, I really question whether Israel’s response is warranted. True, Hezbollah has kidnapped several Israeli soldiers. According to Hezbollah, the hostages were taken so as to facilitate a release of Hezbollah militants being…
Stefania got it right. Israel did nothing other than protect itself. Remember that Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said two years ago, that when the Party of God will be ready, it will attack the cities inside Israel (and so they did, for the first time ever!) and kidnap its soldiers, to show the Arab and Muslim world that Israel is a weak country that can be easily defeated with guerilla attacks. Although one is Sunni (Hamas) and the other Shiia (Hezbollah), these two militias have the same sponsors, Syria and Iran. What happened with Gilad Shalit did not just fall out…
Cuban communist dictator Fidel Castro is probably on his last legs. Rumors of the tyrant’s demise are circling like vultures over dead carrion. According to Val Prieto at Babalu blog, citing some items in The Miami Herald, the communist press on the island prison is giving considerable prominence all of a sudden to Castro’s no-good little brother, Raul, whom he’s designated as his dynastic successor. We are likely to know for sure on July 26, which is Castro’s favorite holiday, that of his putsch. But there’s more than that. Val has suddenly started getting actual hate mail from Castro’s brutal…
It seems that half world has not yet realized that a new war has been declared by the arab and Islamic nations against Israel. This war is aimed to the total destruction of the Jewish state. Let’s not forget that this time these nations’ regimes have the atomic bomb and that they might launch it sooner than we expect. Israel is at war, a war he has never sought. But now, Mr. Olmert, you’re facing a choice that could have important consequences: either you act or Israel faces another Holocaust, this time with Islamic nations assaulting it with chemical weapons.…
On July 13, 1994, a group of over 70 Cubans attempted to flee Castro’s Gulag on board of a tugboat named “13 de Marzo”. They was unable to leave the waters belonging to Cuba because the regime’s state security thugs were ordered, by the thug-in-chief Fidel Castro, to sink the boat. 41 people died, among which were pregnant women and children as young as 2 years old. The crime has remained unpunished and of course it will still remain unpunished with Castro still in power. Amnesty International has a must-read summary of the facts here The Weekly Standard has an…
Democratic revolution is spreading across the world, in the greatest news and megatrend story of possibly the century. But for those of us who are already in democratic regimes, we sometimes wonder if there is much more we can do except watch and applaud. There is partisan political activism, of course, but that isn’t for everyone. And we can’t get involved in partisan politics, except maybe to cheer at the sidelines. So how does the free world participate in advancing democracy and beating back tyrants? Well, just look. Today, the West struck a couple of significant blows against tyranny —…
I am writing this piece in response to the many allegations circulating in the Web regarding the Zidane-Materazzi case. One version has already been told, so I want the readers to read the other,too. There is an ongoing inquiry opened by the FIFA to find out what has really happened betwen the two players. In my opinion, everyone of us should refrain from expressing summary claims without having any proof. So far, the proof we have is that Zidane has committed a vile act of violence by head-butting a rival player. False claims have circulated according to which Materazzi would…
Supporters of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in another protest. Source: The Scotsman Defeated Mexican presidential candidate, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, is not going down without a fight. He refuses to accept the results of the July 2 election. It was a hard fought presidential race and he lost by a narrow margin, which has got to be tough, and now he is charging wholesale fraud in a desperate effort to turn the result his way. Knowing his peje character, it’s probably not surprising that he would react this way. A peje is a barracuda-like fish that swims around in AMLO’s…
They’re probably not true. Val at Babalu blog has the best — and some very funny – stuff here. Just click and keep scrolling.
According to the Jerusalem Post, Israeli Prime Minister Olmert has declared the latest attack by terrorist group Hezbollah an act of war. Israel has confirmed that two IDF soldiers were kidnapped, and they are currently searching for them in Lebanon. You can buy the IDF some pizza and soda, although it would seem to me far more useful if one could buy the IDF some bullets. You can also make a donation for a variety of uses to the IDF through LIBI.
On Monday, Russian forces killed Shamil Basayev, the Chechen terrorist responsible for the Beslan attack, in counterinsurgent operations in Ingushetia. Ingush Deputy Prime Minister Bashir Aushev confirmed his death. “Fragments of the bodies of two militants were found on the scene of the explosion. Basayev’s body has been identified through some of the fragments, including his head,” Aushev told Interfax. Putin said that Basayev “deserved retribution” for Beslan and for taking hostages in Budyonnovsk in 1995. Chechen President Alu Alkhanov called the killing a moment where Chechnya could finally turn “one of the blackest pages in ÄitsÅ history” and that…
The Italian national team landed yesterday evening (Italy local time) at Pratica di Mare airport, Rome. They have been awarded by the Italian institutions (it was hard to me to see Prodi and company to award my players). Then, they walked in the streets of Rome on board of a bus, waving Italian flags and inciting the 600 thousand people who were waving flags and singing. Regarding Materazzi, we can never know the truth behind the claims of Zidane. Already, several arab and Islamist websites are ‘condemning’ Materazzi. Here is a list of what is circulating in the arab and…
Winds of Change (via Instapundit), like many others, has noticed the ideological division in many countries that has resulted in complete impasse — the latest being Mexico. It’s “deja vu all over again”. Apparently the ideological tie that afflicted the US Presidential Election six years ago, and the deadlock that Thomas Mann has been writing about for a number of years, isn’t just an American thing. . . . At precisely the time in history when we need to be decisive, we’re afflicted with paralysis. We’ve got two approximately equal sides, equally convinced that they’re right, and in diametric opposition…
Two weeks of all out assault on the Hamas government has led to the group on its knees pleading for peace. Interior Ministry offices were blown to bits, members of parliament were arrested, entire parts of Gaza were temporarily reoccupied, and and Prime Minister Haniya was hiding for his life. A declaration of ceasefire should be no surprise. Hamas has been rendered completely incapable of governing, brought to the realization that it cannot exist unless Israel recognizes it, and not the other way around. It should also not come as a surprise that Israel has declined such a generous offer.…
Go see what Jim Hoft’s dragged in at GatewayPundit this time here!
Boli-Nica at Boli-Nica blog has a humdinger of an item about how the Mexican Internet and all its youthful users have roared into life, slamming Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and all his absurd efforts to derail Mexico’s hard-won democracy. Among other things, the Mexican Internet-os are deriding AMLO for failing to learn English! They’re sending e-mails out, setting up Web sites at lightening speed to make fun of the guy and in a less classy move, some are hacking into AMLO’s site, re-directing it to a less flattering one. They are photoshopping AMLO like crazy and making mean little YouTubes…
Supporters of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador gather to protest in Mexico City Source: El Universal Leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who lost Mexico’s July 2 presidential election by a narrow margin, has brought his supporters to the streets in a bid to overturn the election, on claims of fraud. The AMLO party, PRD, has yet to substantiate its claim that the election has been conducted in any way other than exemplarily. Observers from the European Union and other places have said it was clean. I was in Tijuana for the election and the AMLO party (PRD) observer also…
We can now say the the Orange Revolution is officially over. The once-orange Socialist Party has changed sides and teamed up with pro-Russia Viktor Yanukovich’s Party of Regions, along with the Communists, and forged out a new coalition agreement nominating him for the position of prime minister. And they have the votes to get it through. A year and a half later, politically Ukraine is in the same place it was before. Ukraine’s Western-leaning Orange coalition fell apart in acrimony Friday less than a month after its formation, boosting the fortunes of the pro-Russian opposition in this former Soviet republic.…
Honduras has a GDP per capita of $2800; yet, it is a country of riches. The land is endowed with a natural beauty unsurpassed anywhere else in the western hemisphere. Flying in a 14-seater to Roatan, less than an hour out from San Pedro Sula, I saw dozens of small islands wrapped in thriving forests. Crystal clear water became colored as the coral crept up toward the shore, and even from so many feet in the air, the sand on the beach looked whiter than snow. The sight isn????????t unique to the islands though. The mainland is lush with tropical…
Alicia Hernandez, mother of Guillermo, dismissed voices according which the independent journalist of Cubanac????n Press had suspended the 4-month-long hunger and thirst strike. Guillermo continues his fight. Read here, in Spanish.
Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, in the style of Stalin before him, continuously makes ridiculous claims about ending poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, and exclusion. Under his great “socialism,” all is sweetness and light, wonder and justice, just like the Happy Commie pictures you find in Iron Curtain propaganda posters. Yeah, sure. Have you ever tried to learn another language? Do you remember how hard it was to learn to read when you were five or six, even if you had the best teachers? Under Chavistadom, you are now asked to believe that it no longer is hard anymore to become literate and…