Blogging the democratic revolution
There’s a new U.S. development on the horizon that’s coming on us like a Singapore sunrise – which is to say, fast. Small towns in America are rebelling against unchecked immigration, which has spread well past the big cities like Los Angeles and deep into the small towns of America. Tiny Hazleton, Pennsylvania got itself a slew of lawsuits from leftwing lawyers like the American Civil Liberties Union for passing some of the toughest anti-illegal immigration muncipal laws in the country. The small city, population 31,000, made English its official language, vowed to fine anyone who rents flophouses to illlegals,…
Do my eyes deceive me? The most leftwing alternative-media newspaper, SFWeekly, in the U.S.’ most leftwing alternative city, San Francisco, has given one heck of a thrashing to the world’s most leftwing alternative Sandalista nuisance group, Global Exchange. The leftwing newspaper’s charge? Rampant Sandalista meddling! SFWeekly is laying it on thick against the leftwing “revolutionary” tourism group, led by Medea Benjamin, whose other group, Code Pink, famously photoshopped one of the Iranian freedom babes seen on this site here into a war protestor, which she was not. The alt-media newspaper warns that Global Exchange is spreading LIES about the Mexican…
In his Washington Post article, Jackson Diehl argues that the recent ‘crises’ in Lebanon & Ukraine (two democratic revolution countries) will provide a dilemma for the Bush administration: should the United States continue to promote democracy even when it yields anti-West countries? The question really boils down to this: were the democratic revolutions about installing pro-West regimes in place of anti-West regimes or were they about installing democracies in place of dictatorships? Though I think Diehl overestimates the likelihood of Ukraine returning to authoritarianism, his larger point has wide ranging implications. Is America really promoting democracy because democracies are peaceful…
At the end of May I wrote about Vietnam and the United States bilateral free-trade agreement, paving the way for the United States to approve a bill leading the country’s accession to the WTO later this year. Trade will lead to growth and prosperity; and, eventually, real democracy. Even we fought a war with them so many years ago, Washington and Hanoi are on pretty good terms these days. The latter knows that being friends with the former leads to big benefits in the long run. There are some, however, who don’t want to see that happen. Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez,…
Ah, NAFTA, and the glories of free trade. The economies of the U.S., Canada and Mexico have all increased threefold since that first shot against tyranny was fired with that alliance on New Year’s Day in 1994. There’s is nothing more impressive than free trade. Or here’s another way of looking at it.
This is too funny! Is this the tragicomic end of the Glenn Greenwald saga? Greenwald is presently denying the claims, but I don’t think it helps his credibility that his own biographical blurb reads almost exactly the same as the alleged sock-puppet posts in question… UPDATE: He seems to have changed the tenor of his bio. I wonder what else he’ll be revising? Why Greenwald is probably doomed I believe Glenn Greenwald is probably doomed to relegation. If the suspicions around his online activity are correct — and judging by his response of frantic denial, personal attacks, revisionism, etc., it…
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrived in Afghanistan yesterday. He met with President Karzai and discussed issues relating to Afghanistan????????s collaborative efforts with the international community to suppress the Taliban resurgence and the country’s efforts to curb the cultivation of opium poppy. Also, he met with US military commanders and NATO officials to discuss plans for the military handover of Afghanistan to NATO. Rumsfeld expressed his support for Karzai and praised his leadership. He lauded Karzai and his team????????s achievements on various fronts including the offensive against Taliban and the subsequent peace prevalent in Afghanistan. This visit shattered speculations in some…
In the past few years, presidential cavorting around has been taken to new heights by Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, his master below in Havana, and his little mini-me, Evo Morales of Bolivia. Big photo ops, goofy costumes, wild radio shows and lots of spectacle seem to be the norm of the day. That said, for good or evil, these events attract attention because the participants all look like they are having fun. President Bush has no doubt noticed this … and has decided to top them. He invited Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi over to the White House and onto…
Terrific news! Peru’s Congress passed the Free Trade pact with the U.S., after months of contentious debate. They took one look (well, probably several) at the $11 trillion economy they have the opportunity to freely trade with and decided it was worth it. They passed the measure, despite fears that they wouldn’t. They ignored the protests. They considered their nation’s interests. They’re right! Now we can buy Made In Peru products as easily as Made In China ones. Better yet, they probably will not cost as much. Better still, we can sell our own fancy capital equipment or whatever to…
U.S.-Japan anti-ballistic missile test in the Pacific Source: Honolulu Star Bulletin OK so the U.S. and Japan don’t have such great soccer teams this year. The trans-Pacific allies seem to do other things better. Like blast incoming nuclear missiles out of the sky. In news that just feels good to wake up to, a U.S.-Japan team near San Diego shot down an incoming medium-range test missile off Kauai in six minutes, 100 miles high, demonstrating to the madman ruling North Korea that his technology and his nuclear threats are obsolete. And that we mean victory. Source: Navy Times We are…
I am sitting here in the crosshairs of a madman out of North Korea. Incredibly, he’s fuelling up a Taepodong missile and getting ready to launch it in my direction. It can reach 9000 miles. And I am on the receiving end. The mighty U.S. military industrial complex has activated its missile defense system a few miles away, up in Vandenberg Air Force base. In the 1980s, nuclear war used to be talked about all the time. Duran Duran used to sing about it. But ultimately, the idea of nuclear menace was an abstraction. Vandenberg was an abstraction, it was…
Oh, to hear how some Americans talk! – the Chinese are a menace, and Latin America is full of different kinds of Mexicans all of whom want something from us before they go communist, same as the Chinese. In fact, probably joining the Chinese! That’s how the world looks to some on the right who don’t look too closely. I’ve seen it on bulletin boards and heard it on talk radio shows and listened to it from friends. It’s all scarily wrong. And fortunately, not the foreign policy of the U.S. Most in that establishment see far more closely what…
For as much as I love the United States, I have to support my national team. It’s sport, guys. But I liked some photos I found on Yahoo/NewsPhotos/Germany , showing Italian and American fans joking and smiling with each other. Posters of Italian players…half naked!
I spotted this on a leftwing Bolivian blog – Clinton is busy courting Evo Morales for his September summit. http://www.barrioflores.net/weblog/archives/2006/05/evo_to_attend_c.html The blog reports that Morales has accepted Clinton’s invitation (I notice Clinton’s site doesn’t say anything about this, he must know Morales’ name is starting to stink). http://www.eldeber.com.bo/2006/20060529/al42.html Morales announced today that he’d be confiscating railroads, power plants and phone companies. He’s already gone after gas, oil, land and possibly mines. http://www.efenews.com/detalleFrontPage.asp?opcion=0&id=1215278 This rightwing Bolivian blogger says Morales is going after bank accounts: http://aruiznavajas.blogspot.com/2006/06/rumour-has-it-update-1.html#links Morales has also ranted and raved about how much he loves Che Guevara, says he’s taking…
After the fall of the Soviet Union, the United States embarked on a mission to assist the former Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact countries to establish democracies. The US saw as a key factor in establishing democracies that the emerging nations go through a period of transitional justice. One of the keys to transitional justice was to encourage these new nations and their governments to adhere to the rule of law. The Department of State spends billions of dollars on programs and training to encourage the rule of law, and many embassies have personnel assigned as Rule of Law Coordinators.…
The Miami Cuban community is often maligned as a bunch of “older Cuban men” who’ve not been able to get over the loss of their “stuff” from the thieving and murderous reign of Fidel Castro. They are portrayed as troglodytes, fanatically rightwing, living in the past, playing dominoes, recalling the good old days, sexist and totally irrelevant. Definitely not the “in” crowd to such “cognoscenti” who dismiss them. Well, Miami Cubans have a way of throwing those stereotypes right back in the faces of their accusers, who are often U.S. leftist ignoramuses with no understanding of the Cuban-American experience, no…
Nutsy leftwing conspiracy-theory-loving Hollywood director Oliver Stone repudiated Hugo Chavez’s claim that Stone would be making a movie, all about him. And that’s not surprising. Stone is trying to go mainstream in the U.S. film scene, cranking out a watchable, straightforward, decent portrayal of 9/11 cops in his upcoming World Trade Center movie, which is probably well worth seeing when it arrives in August. Even if it were a crappy movie, I’d go see it anyway, based on Stone’s public repudiation of the brutal Venezuelan dictator this week. That stung Chavez hard, in a way the dictator didn’t expect. After…
The New York Times is reporting that the Bush administration is considering holding negotiations for a peace treaty with North Korea. To many, this will be a shock. After years of six-way talks to try to convince them to abandon their nukes, it comes to this. However, if you read Publius, this may not be so surprising. It is part of a new, huge diplomatic effort underway by the Bush administration in collaboration with other regional powers to show certain rogue regimes (i.e. North Korea & Iran) that they do not have to fear invasion. This is actually the next…
Iran’s leader, Mahmood Ahmadinejad, Monday sent a letter to President Bush in some sort of effort to communicate with him, and to halt potential action over Iran’s nuclear program. It has a weird bloggerly quality to it, mulling over events, ranting and raving here, whining about always being a victim there, and it’s sort of interesting to read. But the most interesting part (to me) is Ahmadinejad’s clear reference to Venezuela’s dictator, Hugo Chavez. It’s obvious he watches the Chavista soap opera going on in the Western hemisphere, and clearly has discussed the paranoias of Chavez. They fill his thoughts.…
The trial of 9/11 conspiracist Zacarias Moussaoui has come to a dramatic end, with the jury deciding that he will receive life in prison instead of the death sentence. Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person convicted for involvement in the September 11 terrorist attacks, will be sentenced to life in prison on Thursday after a jury on Wednesday decided that he should not receive the death penalty. The decision to sentence Mr Moussaoui to life in prison without parole was a big blow to the Bush administration, which had argued his involvement in the attacks on the World Trade Center and…
I got back from the La Brea evening protest. This was the second one that wasn’t the early morning’s coercive boycott, but instead a real show of presence for the immigrants who feel most strongly affected by coming Congressional efforts to deal with immigration. It was endorsed by Cardinal Mahony and Dolores Huerta, and reportedly drew about 400,000 people, versus the morning action, which only drew about 200,000. There was probably some overlap of protestors. But by and large, it goes to show that more immigrants want peaceful dialogue and change, not ‘revolucion’ and confrontation endorsed by ANSWER and its…
???????America is a nation of immigrants!??????? ???????America is the melting pot of the world!??????? America is whatever we want it to be. It is once in a blue moon that we discuss American politics here at Publius — the much looked-over world of frozen separatist conflicts, democratic movements, and Hugo Chavez keeps us pretty busy. But today is a bit different. Today is May Day, and Mexican immigrants are out to demonstrate for the right to be just as American as anyone else. Today is different because America is facing a challenge to its democracy that it rarely encounters. There…
Blogging live from Los Angeles – on a too tight schedule and deadlines, deadlines, deadlines. Here’s what is going on on this Day Without An Immigrant: 1. Highways very quiet, no blockages, but traffic rushing through as if everyone expects some and wants to get to work first. The Santa Monica freeway (10) is especially this way, the San Diego freeway (the 405) is less so. 2. At work, none of the cleaning crew have shown up. Even the ones who told me (en espanol) that they would be here … are not. Must be 30 people missing. 3. Cardinal…
As oil prices hit $75 a barrel, the U.S. is right now caught up in an idiotic debate over supposed price-gouging at the pump. Congress wants to investigate oil companies over it. What they should be doing is asking why the U.S. is dependent for its oil on anti-American Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez. We are dependent on him, he knows it, and he abuses us for it. It’s him who, along with his pals the ayatollahs, is deliberately trying to drive oil prices up to $100 a barrel, not the oil companies. That’s not all. Chavez harasses U.S. oil companies…
You thought commissars were a thing of the past? Not at UCLA. Here in the states, a fierce debate is going on as to whether illegal immigrants should all walk out on their jobs on May 1 to make a political point, one that says the U.S. economy cannot function without illegal immigrants. It’s a takeoff on a clever movie that came out recently called ‘A Day Without A Mexican.’ The problem is, if the immigrants do this, they’ll probably be fired from their jobs, negating the point of being an illegal immigrant altogether. And being fired could leave such…