More chaos ensued Sunday in Yemen, where President Ali Abdullah Saleh again reneged on his commitment to step down, encouraging mob action that imprisoned American, British, and Gulf Arab ambassadors for several hours.
YEMEN UPDATE: Longtime American ally President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen on Sunday once again reneged on his commitment to sign a deal beginning his prompt transition from power.
This occurred as armed thugs aligned with his regime held the ambassadors of the US, the UK, the European Union, and Gulf Arab states imprisoned for hours inside the United Arab Emirates embassy. The ambassadors were finally rescued by helicopter from the roof of the UAE embassy.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued this statement late today: The United States is deeply disappointed by President Saleh’s continued refusal to sign the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) initiative. He is turning his back on his commitments and disregarding the legitimate aspirations of the Yemeni people.
The concerted efforts of the international community, led by the GCC, have been tireless and all sides have agreed — on multiple occasions — to sign the GCC initiative. President Saleh is now the only party that refuses to match actions to words. We urge him to immediately follow through on his repeated commitments to peacefully and orderly transfer power and ensure the legitimate will of the Yemeni people is addressed. The time for action is now.
We are also outraged to learn that earlier today factions loyal to President Saleh encircled the UAE embassy in Sana’a. They refused to allow U.S. Ambassador to Yemen Gerald Feierstein, ambassadors from the United Kingdom the European Union and GCC states, the GCC Secretary General and other foreign diplomats to leave the embassy. We condemn this action and call on President Saleh to meet his international obligations to ensure the safety and security of all foreign diplomats and their staffs working in Yemen.
>>>>>>LIVE VIDEO NETCAST
At 7:35 AM Pacific on Sunday, President Barack Obama addresses the AIPAC Policy Conference 2011 in Washington. The event will be netcast live here on New West Notes.
** LIVE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE.
With massive geopolitical events swirling and the 2012 presidential race unfolding, the White House is increasingly a pivot point for the day’s events. Live streaming of key presidential events is now available as a matter of course here on New West Notes. You can mute the audio by clicking on the pause button.
NWN will continue to present other live netcasts in full streaming mode, as it did with the Ronald Reagan Centennial events from the Reagan Library, as they emerge and are technically available and as significance dictates.
President Barack Obama visited CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia on Friday to thank the agency and its director, veteran California political figure Leon Panetta, for its central role in the take-down of Osama bin Laden.
** OBAMA TODAY – SUNDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington, then he is en route to Dublin, Ireland.
Obama has received his daily intelligence briefing in the Oval Office.
At 7:35 AM Pacific, Obama delivers remarks at AIPAC Policy Conference 2011 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.
AIPAC, of course, is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Obama is pressing Israel to on the Palestinian peace process.
At 7:05 PM Pacific, Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama depart the White House on Marine One en route to Andrews Air Force Base.
At 7:20 PM Pacific, the Obamas depart Andrews Air Force Base on Air Force One en route to Dublin, Ireland.
This is the start of Obama’s week-long European trip, discussed below.
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels announced in an early Sunday morning e-mail to supporters that he will not run for president in 2012. The former federal budget director for President George W. Bush and White House political director for President Ronald Reagn was viewed as a major, though lesser known, prospect in a wide open Republican nomination race, and many establishment types wanted him to run.
The media feeding frenzy around former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s private life was very daunting for Daniels, however. Daniels’ wife left him and their children and moved to California, where she married a doctor. Only to leave the Californian man and return to Daniels and her family four years later.
Since then, Cheri Daniels has not participated in his campaigns, nor has she played an active role as first lady of Indiana. She gave a speech earlier this month to Indiana Republicans, a rare move, but said little, after former First Lady Laura Bush called her and encouraged her.
In Yemen, President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s latest agreement to leave appears in doubt again, with the added problem that his armed supporters have surrounded the US, British, and Gulf Arab ambassadors, who are inside the United Arab Emirates diplomatic mission in the capital city Sana’a.
Updates ahead on that.
Terrorist bomb blasts have killed more government security forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
War Zone Times: Libya is nine hours ahead of Pacific time, Iraq is ten hours ahead of Pacific time, and Afghanistan is eleven and a half hours ahead of Pacific time.
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … JERRY BROWN RETURNS. AGAIN!
** FROM THE JERRY FILES – SUNDAY. Governor Jerry Brown is in Northern California.
He has no scheduled public events as of this morning.
Brown is working on California’s chronic budget crisis and his nascent administration.
He proclaimed Sunday, on the strength of legislation signed last year by then Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, to be Harvey Milk Day:
In 1977, Harvey Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, becoming the first openly gay man in the history of the United States to be elected to public office. This milestone achievement gave hope to millions of gays and lesbians across the country that a day would come when they could live their lives openly and honestly without fear of discrimination.
As a Supervisor, Harvey worked with others to secure passage of San Francisco’s landmark Gay Rights Ordinance. This ordinance extended employment protections to gays and lesbians in San Francisco, and it became a model for anti-discrimination legislation throughout California and the nation.
In 1978, Harvey traversed the State to campaign against Proposition 6, which was known as the Briggs Initiative. Had it passed, Proposition 6 would have required California school districts to fire openly gay and lesbian teachers solely because of their sexual orientation. The proposition was defeated in the November 1978 election in part because Harvey successfully appealed to Californians’ basic sense of fairness.
A few weeks after the election, Harvey and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone were shot and killed in San Francisco City Hall by a former member of the Board of Supervisors. The tragedy and its aftermath helped further propel the burgeoning gay and lesbian civil rights movement.
Harvey’s life was cut short far too soon, but his legacy of hope, tolerance, and equality lives on.
NOW THEREFORE I, EDMUND G. BROWN JR., Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim May 22, 2011 as “Harvey Milk Day” in the State of California. I call on all Californians to observe the 81st anniversary of Harvey Milk’s birth with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
In his weekend video/radio address, President Barack Obama, having given the commencement address at Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis a few days ago, says Congress must replace No Child Left Behind to improve all schools.
FLASH UPDATE: YEMEN LEADER TO GIVE UP POWER SUNDAY. According to reports at mid-day on Saturday, the Arab awakening is about to end the rule of a third decades-long leader.
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, a lynchpin in the US battle against jihadists, will reportedly finally accede to a Gulf Cooperation Council-brokered deal with opposition leaders and sign an agreement Sunday to step down in 30 days.
Saleh had agreed before to the proposal, only to renege. He insists that Al Qaeda, which has found a major toe-hold in his impoverished country, will end up in charge when he leaves power.
But mass protests against his rule have persisted for months, despite frequently bloody crackdowns by his security forces. And he has major defections from the army and other institutions.
At one point, Saleh, a longtime American ally, claimed that the entire Arab awakening had been conceived by the CIA and was being run out of a “control room” in Tel Aviv.
The fundamental problem in Yemen is that it is running out of oil and running out of water. Without massive outside assistance, it will become a failed state.
** OBAMA TODAY – SATURDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington.
Obama has received his daily intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
He has no scheduled public events.
Obama is prepping for a major trip to Europe in the coming week.
Four nations in six days.
Obama will begin with a sentimental visit to Ireland. Why Ireland? Well, it’s where some of his forebears come from.
America’s first black president has, on his mother’s side, a third great-grandfather who emigrated to America in 1850 during the potato famine. Obama will visit the little hamlet he left behind.
From Ireland it’s on to Britain, and a full-on state visit in America’s closest ally.
Obama will speak to the UK Parliament in Westminster and, with First Lady Michelle Obama, spend at least one night in Buckingham Palace.
Obama will also hold extensive talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron. There have been some rifts in the “special relationship” of late.
The BP Gulf oil spill last year caused widespread anger against the British oil giant. And Britain’s unilateral decision to withdraw its 10,000-strong contingent from Afghanistan led to dissatisfaction behind the scenes.
Obama and Cameron then go on to France for the G-8 (Group of eight major economic powers) summit.
The future of the Afghan War will be a major topic there, with the US scheduled to begin some draw-down of forces in July.
A Taliban suicide bomber in a military hospital in the Afghan capital Kabul killed at least six medical students today.
Also on tap is the need for support for emerging Arab democracies — especially Egypt and Tunisia — as the Arab awakening continues to unfold, along with the future of the Libyan War and the likely lack of same for the Israeli/Palestinian peace process.
Obama will separately during the G-8 summit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan.
The American-Russian relationship is much improved but remains complex, with recent controversy over the Libyan War. Which Medvedev allowed to commence through his decision not to veto a UN Security Council resolution, but which his mentor, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, bitterly opposes.
In the Libyan War, under increasing military pressure, the Gaddafi regime is floating a new peace feeler through the Russians. They are offering to pull troops back any contested cities if the rebels do the same.
And Obama and Kan have much to discuss as the Japanese mega-quake, tsunami, and nuclear power disaster continues to play out.
Obama will wrap up his trip with a visit to Poland, a one-time part of the late Soviet empire that is now thriving as a democracy.
Meanwhile, in the wake of their less than successful meetings on Friday, Obama will be leaving some of the stage in Washington to Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu.
His government, the most conservative in Israel’s history, is deeply threatened by the Arab awakening and dismissive of Obama’s call for the use of pre-Six Day War borders (with some land swaps) in determining a future Palestine. Despite the fact that former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, and even some previous Israeli governments, have done the same.
Another attack in Pakistan on a supply convoy for the Afghan War killed at least 16 people today.
Obama is monitoring a variety of other geopolitical crises, mostly focused on the Arab uprising, AfPak, and Iraq.
War Zone Times: Libya is nine hours ahead of Pacific time, Iraq is ten hours ahead of Pacific time, and Afghanistan is eleven and a half hours ahead of Pacific time.
** FROM THE JERRY FILES – SATURDAY. Governor Jerry Brown is in Northern California.
He has no scheduled public events as of this morning.
Brown is working on California’s chronic budget crisis and his nascent administration.
Public employee advocates are campaigning today in the Modesto area to influence the votes of three Republican state legislators in favor of tax extensions.
** NCIS: AMERICA’S FAVORITE SHOW AND WHAT IT TELLS US. Tuesday night saw the season finale of NCIS, the most watched scripted television series in America. Indeed, if a national poll is to be believed, the veteran CBS procedural about Navy cops (NCIS standing for Naval Criminal Investigative Service), finishing its eighth season, is not only the most popular current scripted show in the country, it’s the favorite show of all time.
How was the season finale? On the anti-climactic side, actually, and not nearly as good as the penultimate episode, one of the show’s best. But it did set up an intriguing beginning to the show’s ninth season in the fall, one which says nefarious things about our national security apparat. More about that in a moment. There be some spoilers ahead.
So, NCIS, the most popular show of all-time? Really? … From my May 18th essay.
** IN THE SHADOW OF BIN LADEN: THE CALIFORNIA CONNECTION. The first official to announce the death of Osama bin Laden was not President Barack Obama, it was Senator Dianne Feinstein. The Senate Intelligence Committee chair was speaking at a memorial service in Santa Monica for her longtime campaign manager, Kam Kuwata.
Feinstein says she thought that Obama was about to give his nationally televised address. Which he actually gave about an hour later. And that the memorial, filled with pols and media types, was off the record. Which of course is why her remarks were reported in the media.
But Feinstein’s premature announcement of one of the biggest stories in recent memory is only one of the California connections to the demise of the legendary founder and leader of al Qaeda, who claimed credit for ordering the 9/11 attacks on America and eluded American forces for nearly a decade. … From my May 11th feature.
Files seized in the Navy SEAL raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan reveal that the Al Qaeda leader was planning the hijacking and destruction of a series of oil tankers to drive the price of oil skyward and disrupt the global economy.
** IN THE SHADOW OF BIN LADEN: REPUBLICANS AND THE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE. … From my May 7th essay.
** CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATS: AN UNCERTAIN TRUMPET. … From my May 2nd feature.
** OBAMA’S BIGGEST PROBLEMS STILL LIE ABROAD. … From my April 29th essay.
** HAS CALIFORNIA’S REFORM MOMENT ARRIVED? … From my April 26th column.
** THE NON-IMPERIAL PRESIDENCY: OBAMA AND LIBYA. … From my April 21st essay.
** ASSESSING THE JERRY BROWN ASSESSMENTS (AND WHY HE WAS IN STEALTH MODE SO LONG). … From my April 18th feature.
** FROM GOVERNATOR TO MOONBEAM. … From my January 3rd, 2011 feature.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th, 2009 Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in three wars in the region, and the Arab uprising underway, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND NATIONAL ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. Having crashed over $147 for yet another record on July 11th, 2008, crude oil is trading at $100.10 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Energy markets are closed on the weekend.
This is up about $66 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
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| Comments (46) |
Good speech by President Obama on education.
Good Al Jazeera news video on the Taliban infilatration of Kabul.
Good news video on the convoy attack in Pakistan.
Al Qaeda and oil tankeres, great.
Today is the rapture and I am taking song requests for my rapture party. I am going to start with Disco Inferno. Any suggestions?
Another good speech by Barack. Can’t wait for all his European appearances!!!
Jonas Blane says:
May 21, 2011 at 11:27 am
Good speech by President Obama on education.
Too late, man. The super quakes were supposed to start last night in New Zealand…
Brasky says:
May 21, 2011 at 12:33 pm
Today is the rapture and I am taking song requests for my rapture party. I am going to start with Disco Inferno. Any suggestions?
Jesus Christ!!!
Jonas Blane says:
May 21, 2011 at 11:29 am
Good Al Jazeera news video on the Taliban infilatration of Kabul.
Depressing…
Jonas Blane says:
May 21, 2011 at 11:32 am
Good news video on the convoy attack in Pakistan.
Something else to worry about…
Jonas Blane says:
May 21, 2011 at 11:36 am
Al Qaeda and oil tankeres, great.
Indeed.
So to speak.
> Capitol Boy says:
May 21, 2011 at 12:44 pm (Edit)
Jesus Christ!!!
Jonas Blane says:
May 21, 2011 at 11:29 am
Good Al Jazeera news video on the Taliban infilatration of Kabul.
Well, at least I don’t have to feel Left Behind …
> Capitol Boy says:
May 21, 2011 at 12:42 pm (Edit)
Too late, man. The super quakes were supposed to start last night in New Zealand…
Brasky says:
May 21, 2011 at 12:33 pm
Today is the rapture and I am taking song requests for my rapture party. I am going to start with Disco Inferno. Any suggestions?
The scary thing is those idiots raised over $100 million for this obvious insanity.
> Brasky says:
May 21, 2011 at 12:33 pm (Edit)
Today is the rapture and I am taking song requests for my rapture party. I am going to start with Disco Inferno. Any suggestions?
Who can you trust?
Which of course is the entire point of these repeated, bloody, exercises.
> Jonas Blane says:
May 21, 2011 at 11:29 am (Edit)
Good Al Jazeera news video on the Taliban infilatration of Kabul.
“Waiting for the End of the World,” by E. Costello.
Told the wife to wear her nice knickers today so that you sinners can’t peek up her skirt when she ascends (without me, obviously).
Sadly, the jokes on this cat’s followers–many of whom have quit their jobs and have run up their credit cards in order to spread the “good word.”
#
Brasky says:
May 21, 2011 at 12:33 pm
Today is the rapture and I am taking song requests for my rapture party. I am going to start with Disco Inferno. Any suggestions?
#
Oh, I have some understanding of the precarious political position that Prime Minister Netanyahu finds himself in and I know that, relatively speaking, he represents the ‘moderate’ wing of his coalition government. Though, I still find it hard to say Bibi and moderate in the same breath.
Actually, one could make some very cogent arguments to support the supposition that Israel would be far better off if Netanyahu had been inclined toward forging a whole other kind of coalition but, that’s fodder for its own lengthy piece. Which won’t appear here. Ahem.
I was referring to Bibi’s little performance the other day in the Oval Office in front of the press when he was being outrageously disingenuous in his condescending attempt to put words in Obama’s mouth with respect to the 1967 borders, and then feign strong rejection of the president’s comments which he took completely out of context as he made no mention of what Obama said about requisite land swaps. I suspect this will be his tack through the rest of his US visit and Obama should be prepared to effectively counteract any more examples of Netanyahu’s own special brand of nonsense. I won’t be holding my breath.
>Bill Bradley says:
May 21, 2011 at 2:15 pm
Netanyahu is the moderate in the coalition government in Israel. A coalition of the right, the far right, and the even farther right.
>>> Elizabeth Miller says:
May 20, 2011 at 9:56 pm (Edit)
Soon after President Obama took office, he met with the Israeli Prime Minister. And, I wondered out loud –– only half jokingly –– whether Obama should have left the presiding duties over that particular meeting to his vice president. I was ultimately proven very wrong. Biden was right –– this president had proven that he had steel in his spine!
After the meeting yesterday between Obama and Netanyahu, Biden was proven right, yet again. The Israeli prime minister revealed himself not only as an obstacle to peace in the Middle East but as nothing more than a political hack in comparison to the elegant statesmanship demonstrated by President Obama.
Now, THAT was funny.
> Bill Bradley says:
May 21, 2011 at 2:17 pm
Well, at least I don’t have to feel Left Behind …
>>> Capitol Boy says:
May 21, 2011 at 12:42 pm (Edit)
Too late, man. The super quakes were supposed to start last night in New Zealand…
>>>>> Brasky says:
May 21, 2011 at 12:33 pm
Today is the rapture and I am taking song requests for my rapture party. I am going to start with Disco Inferno. Any suggestions?
Maybe Harold Camping forgot to carry the one…
The replacer for Saleh is one of the most important figures in world.
FLASH UPDATE: YEMEN LEADER TO GIVE UP POWER SUNDAY. According to reports at mid-day on Saturday, the Arab awakening is about to end the rule of a third decades-long leader.
I think it may be time to start holding my breath.
TerrificAIPAC speech by Barack!! He said what needed to be said.
Terrific Barack speech to the CIA, and nice plug for Panetta!
Right you are!
I love these speeches before AIPAC – it’s always interesting to see which sentences get the most appause and when it is literally possible to hear a pin drop.
There were both of those moments in this speech, albeit, more of the former. Which is not at all surprising.
Obama made it very difficult, if not impossible, for ANYONE to ever seriously question his personal committment to the security of the state of Israel. And, he gave AIPAC and its supporters some of the bad medicine that they are so wont to refuse to take.
And, most importantly, President Obama adequately demonstrated that he is very capable of calling out the nonsense – by Netanyahu or by anyone else – when he wants to. I’d like to see more of that, please.
Bill Bradley says:
May 21, 2011 at 2:17 pm
Well, at least I don’t have to feel Left Behind …
> Capitol Boy says:
May 21, 2011 at 12:42 pm (Edit)
Too late, man. The super quakes were supposed to start last night in New Zealand…
Brasky says:
May 21, 2011 at 12:33 pm
Today is the rapture and I am taking song requests for my rapture party. I am going to start with Disco Inferno. Any suggestions?
Right you are!
I love these speeches before AIPAC – it’s always interesting to see which sentences get the most appause and when it is literally possible to hear a pin drop. There were both of those moments in this speech, albeit, more of the former. Which is not at all surprising.
Obama made it very difficult, if not impossible, for ANYONE to ever seriously question his personal committment to the security of the state of Israel. And, he gave AIPAC and its supporters some of the bad medicine that they are so wont to refuse to take.
And, most importantly, President Obama adequately demonstrated that he is very capable of calling out the nonsense – by Netanyahu or by anyone else – when he wants to. I’d like to see more of that, please.
>Capitol Boy says:
May 22, 2011 at 8:36 am
TerrificAIPAC speech by Barack!! He said what needed to be said.
Good President Obama speech on the CIA.
This is a quiet weekend…
It’s a holiday weekend, you know …
I know my joke, what’s yours?
I guess that makes us even.
Mullah Omar is possibly dead.
What new video today?
What I meant is it was anything at all but quiet…
Requiem says:
May 22, 2011 at 2:00 pm (Edit)
This is a quiet weekend…
Elizabeth Miller says:
May 22, 2011 at 4:24 pm (Edit)
It’s a holiday weekend, you know …
Requiem says:
May 22, 2011 at 5:43 pm (Edit)
I know my joke, what’s yours?
Elizabeth Miller says:
May 22, 2011 at 6:48 pm (Edit)
I guess that makes us even.
Quite so.
I see.
But, I can’t really recall what I meant …
Tons …
> Jonas Blane says:
May 23, 2011 at 8:33 am (Edit)
What new video today?
I don’t find the reports to be convincing.
> sergei says:
May 23, 2011 at 4:40 am (Edit)
Mullah Omar is possibly dead.
Heh.
> Requiem says:
May 22, 2011 at 2:00 pm (Edit)
This is a quiet weekend…
Oh, you can question it. It has to do with which ground holds and terms of defensibility.
I just love your sweeping assertions, Liz …
> Elizabeth Miller says:
May 22, 2011 at 9:31 am (Edit)
Right you are!
I love these speeches before AIPAC – it’s always interesting to see which sentences get the most appause and when it is literally possible to hear a pin drop. There were both of those moments in this speech, albeit, more of the former. Which is not at all surprising.
Obama made it very difficult, if not impossible, for ANYONE to ever seriously question his personal committment to the security of the state of Israel. And, he gave AIPAC and its supporters some of the bad medicine that they are so wont to refuse to take.
And, most importantly, President Obama adequately demonstrated that he is very capable of calling out the nonsense – by Netanyahu or by anyone else – when he wants to. I’d like to see more of that, please.
Leon = M.
> Capitol Boy says:
May 22, 2011 at 9:03 am (Edit)
Terrific Barack speech to the CIA, and nice plug for Panetta!
When and if …
> sergei says:
May 22, 2011 at 4:31 am (Edit)
The replacer for Saleh is one of the most important figures in world.
FLASH UPDATE: YEMEN LEADER TO GIVE UP POWER SUNDAY. According to reports at mid-day on Saturday, the Arab awakening is about to end the rule of a third decades-long leader.
1994, 2011, 2017 … Definitely somewhere in there.
> Brasky says:
May 21, 2011 at 8:19 pm (Edit)
Maybe Harold Camping forgot to carry the one…
I’ve never quite read any of those books, but I’ve skimmed them …
The UN is taken over by the anti-Christ and becomes a world government, CNN is his media vehicle, etc.
> Elizabeth Miller says:
May 21, 2011 at 6:48 pm (Edit)
Now, THAT was funny.
> Bill Bradley says:
May 21, 2011 at 2:17 pm
Well, at least I don’t have to feel Left Behind …
>>> Capitol Boy says:
May 21, 2011 at 12:42 pm (Edit)
Too late, man. The super quakes were supposed to start last night in New Zealand…
>>>>> Brasky says:
May 21, 2011 at 12:33 pm
Today is the rapture and I am taking song requests for my rapture party. I am going to start with Disco Inferno. Any suggestions?
Obama’s speech got a good response from a number of Israeli ministers …
We’ll see what Netanyahu says tomorrow at AIPAC.
> Elizabeth Miller says:
May 21, 2011 at 6:46 pm (Edit)
Oh, I have some understanding of the precarious political position that Prime Minister Netanyahu finds himself in and I know that, relatively speaking, he represents the ‘moderate’ wing of his coalition government. Though, I still find it hard to say Bibi and moderate in the same breath.
Actually, one could make some very cogent arguments to support the supposition that Israel would be far better off if Netanyahu had been inclined toward forging a whole other kind of coalition but, that’s fodder for its own lengthy piece. Which won’t appear here. Ahem.
I was referring to Bibi’s little performance the other day in the Oval Office in front of the press when he was being outrageously disingenuous in his condescending attempt to put words in Obama’s mouth with respect to the 1967 borders, and then feign strong rejection of the president’s comments which he took completely out of context as he made no mention of what Obama said about requisite land swaps. I suspect this will be his tack through the rest of his US visit and Obama should be prepared to effectively counteract any more examples of Netanyahu’s own special brand of nonsense. I won’t be holding my breath.
>Bill Bradley says:
May 21, 2011 at 2:15 pm
Netanyahu is the moderate in the coalition government in Israel. A coalition of the right, the far right, and the even farther right.
>>> Elizabeth Miller says:
May 20, 2011 at 9:56 pm (Edit)
Soon after President Obama took office, he met with the Israeli Prime Minister. And, I wondered out loud –– only half jokingly –– whether Obama should have left the presiding duties over that particular meeting to his vice president. I was ultimately proven very wrong. Biden was right –– this president had proven that he had steel in his spine!
After the meeting yesterday between Obama and Netanyahu, Biden was proven right, yet again. The Israeli prime minister revealed himself not only as an obstacle to peace in the Middle East but as nothing more than a political hack in comparison to the elegant statesmanship demonstrated by President Obama.
This would make quite a case study in the sociology of hysteria.
> Pat Skipper says:
May 21, 2011 at 4:30 pm (Edit)
“Waiting for the End of the World,” by E. Costello.
Told the wife to wear her nice knickers today so that you sinners can’t peek up her skirt when she ascends (without me, obviously).
Sadly, the jokes on this cat’s followers–many of whom have quit their jobs and have run up their credit cards in order to spread the “good word.”
#
Brasky says:
May 21, 2011 at 12:33 pm
Today is the rapture and I am taking song requests for my rapture party. I am going to start with Disco Inferno. Any suggestions?
#
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