Blogging the democratic revolution
Bill from Dawn’s Early Light let me know about a conversation between himself and Simon from Simon World discussing the future of U.S.-Sino relations. Being that Simon is both a smart guy and lives in Hong Kong, he knows what he’s talking about. Check it out.
Publius Pundit isn’t the only one thinking about democratic revolutions – it’s a idea that’s caught fire in the minds of people all over the world. Val Prieto at Babal???? reports that there’s a young man at Columbia University, Loren Crowe, who’s studied in Cuba and now made it his mission to get documentary word out, in a non-ideological way, about that closed society. He’s seen the place up close and he’s doing it to counter all the tired Che-tee-shirt romanticism he sees around campus. What Loren’s doing is a revolution, too. I had a look at his site and…
Cuban refugees risking it all to flee communism arrive at the gates of Guantanamo and are ordered by US troops back to communism – through a field of landmines. One of the troops who had to carry out these illegal orders tells the terrible story here and I blanch at the inhumanity. Where is the outrage? Update: The serviceman who describes the account says this happened ten years ago and from what he understands, US policy has changed. Who says Cuban-Americans’ raised eyebrows at Clinton were confined only to Elian? Clinton was capable of incredible inhumanity to the helpless.
Venezuela Today has found an extremely significant strategic development in the Colombian press: Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez is thinking of withdrawing Venezuela’s membership from the Organization of American States. He would do that to circumvent the regional organization’s group efforts to strengthen the OAS’ Democracy Charter, which of course does not serve his interests as a dictator. This wily move comes as a blow to the Bush administration, which has stated that its strategy is to force Chavez to adhere to democratic norms or face OAS sanctions – and, at this meeting, the U.S. is proposing to add the additional…
Reading over the actual transcript of the press conference has been a lot more interesting than just reading the news articles about that. I guess those in the press just haven’t caught on to my tastes yet, but I can forgive them for now. At the beginning of the press conference, both President Bush and Putin give their littles speeches. The action didn’t start until the newspeople started asking their loaded questions… something that made for even better answers. You’ve got to love it. I’ve put in bold some parts of interest; things that many of us have wondered about.…
From this article: Although details were still being negotiated last night, the joint statement to be released at the presidential summit in Bratislava, Slovakia, could be used as a counterpoint to the rising tension in U.S.-Russian relations over Putin’s crackdown on domestic dissent. Bush has promised to challenge Putin on Russia’s retreat from democracy during their meeting but has also stressed his continuing friendship for the Russian president and their ability to work together on mutual security issues. “We’re trying to demonstrate that we can make progress and move forward despite these other issues,” a senior Bush administration official said.…
So CNN finally writes something about this story. . . OLYMPIA, Washington (AP) — Republicans dissatisfied with the balloting that installed Democrat Gov. Christine Gregoire alleged Tuesday that 1,108 felons voted illegally in the 2004 election. Dino Rossi, the failed GOP candidate, is challenging Gregoire’s election in court on the grounds that illegal votes and election workers’ errors irrevocably tainted the results. He is pushing for a new election. Gregoire won the election by just 129 votes, after a hand recount of 2.9 million ballots. Rossi had won the first two counts. Democrats say Gregoire is the legitimate governor, and…
I already posted my favorite quotes from Bush’s speech, but there is still plenty of speculation and analysis from the blogosphere that is worth reading. Here’s the full transcript of the speech. And here is a lot of the preliminary commentary wrapped up by Chester. Because it was so long ago, you may not remember when I predicted Bush’s “war on tyranny” inauguration speech, but I think Bill’s analysis of the speech given to Europe is good because he predicted it with great foresight on the pragmatism of idealism. Neo Coneli has reads into what Bush’s plan for Israel. More…
Drudge has posted many fantastic excerpts from President Bush’s speech today in Brussels, which reads fantastically. “The alliance of Europe and North America is the main pillar of our security in a new century. Our robust trade is one of the engines of the world economy. Our example of economic and political freedom gives hope to millions who are weary of poverty and oppression. In all these ways, our strong friendship is essential to peace and prosperity across the globe – and no temporary debate, no passing disagreement of governments, no power on earth will ever divide us.” “Today, America…
The Venezuelan Information Office, which is the aggressive propaganda arm of the Chavez regime, does more than just propagandize – it also seeks to discredit critics – in the U.S. It has now has targetted Wall Street Journal editorial page writer Mary Anastasia O’Grady in a concerted campaign. Venezuelan blogger Alexandra Beech at The Sixth Republic has the story here.
I was just passing by C-Span2, and they had George Soros on talking about his book, The Bubble of American Supremacy, something I will probably not be buying. However, we was talking extensively about the Open Society Institute, something I find more valuable than his political leanings in the United States. When asked why he created it, he responded that it was “the result of a mid-life crisis.” Well, I’m glad he didn’t simply settle for a motorcycle.
Bill Rice has posted his impression that America’s move toward idealism in foreign policy is indeed a realistic approach. I’m apt to agree. In the long term, trying for big dreams like freedom, democracy, and conquering tyranny are much more pragmatic, even incomplete, than simply settling for good short-term relations with “friendly regimes.”
I find this symbolic in a way: Via: Reuters
It is kind of funny how the two parties have changed in the past four years. The Democrats have become increasingly reactionary, whereas the Republicans have become increasingly progressive. And the reason for the former is because the Republicans aren’t progressing in the same direction that the Democrats have been taking the country since FDR. Republicans are trying to undo a lot of the things that the Democrats have established, and setting in place of it an entirely new mindset and culture for America. I can imagine how much it would suck to see your legacy unraveling before your very…
Overall, I thought it was a good speech, albeit there being some points of policy I do not agree on. The purpose of the State of the Union address, as I see it, is to assess what we have done, where we are because of it, and evaluate where we are going to go. This means broad, often somewhat vague long-term goals, and then more on-point short term goals. Domestic Policy: -Strengthening community colleges is a good idea. They are pretty good, and very cheap. That’s an avenue that a lot of people don’t think about that can be used…
Alright, the Democrats are doing a broadcast of what they think we should do. This should be interesting. In fact, it already is, because he is talking about values. They are, in their credit, at least trying to calmly explain where the Democrats stand. But… alas, I find myself disagreeing at the very core of these values. The first point being on the protection of today’s jobs from shipping overseas. It makes me question their judgement, being the historical party of raising taxes. Note that the countries with the highest growth and investment are those with the lowest taxes. If…
I’ll be using this thread for updating the liveblog. I’ll be covering what is happening on Fox News because they’ll do the speech with a lot of post-election fallout and analysis coverage. Remember, this is Central/Arizona time! 7:00 – Laura Bush took her seat in the box with a few Iraqi voters. Very cool. And they’re just introducing the cabinet mambers. 7:05 – President Bush was just introduced. Big applause, though I’m guessing a duo of Massachusetts senators aren’t putting their all into it. He’s wearing the red power tie, perfect for what kind of speech this is shaping up…
Alright guys, here’s my fair warning to you. I’ll be liveblogging my thoughts on the State Of The Union address tonight when it starts, and I figure I’ll liveblog the after-coverage also. It’s not like I have essays to write or anything! I am looking forward to the second half: foreign policy. Personally, while I am very keen on the domestic reforms coming up, I don’t think we’ve heard enough specifics for the rest of the world. My outlook is generally positive and optimistic though. If you want the more skeptical version of the liveblogging, make sure to check out…
It looks like a total of 489 felons counted so far were allowed to vote in the Washington state elections. That’s higher than than the amount of votes that the fishy third hand-recount afforded to the Democrat candidate for victory. Pretty messed up situation, and sadly, the real winner may never be known. The government doesn’t owe either of the two candidates anything — not even victory. They owe the people what they are paid to do, and make sure that the people’s rightful choice is elected. How hard is it, honestly, for the government to fulfill its basic duties?
This item on Larry Summers, Condi Rice, Hugo Chavez, and Venezuela, outlining a string of media double standards about sexism is getting a high hit count at American Thinker.
My essay on why the US news media ignored Chavez’s filthy speech directed against Dr. Condoleezza Rice. I called a bunch of US news editors to find out why. It’s sad.
I find myself agreeing with all of this. Hat tip: Pejmanesque.
Nathan from The Argus has got some great commentary regarding the Bush inauguration speech. I don????????t know how to say it other than to once again say that democratization isn????????t new. Talking about it is. Doing it is bipartisan. Publicly supporting it seems to be something the right is much more concerned about. And why do I don the ideologue????????s gloves, something I rarely do here? Because praktike points to this Senate plan as an alternative to Bush????????s foreign policy vision. All I can really say in praise is that it is gloriously imprecise, tells a wonderful fairy-tale in the…
More on the the Washington election fraud and how the blogosphere uncovered it.