#3
IRANIAN.WS OP-ED > GLOBALRESERACH - IRANIAN TRUMP CARD: RUSSIA CAN TAKE CONTROL OF THE PERSIAN GULF [Russ NavBase on Gulf island; West fears potent RUSS-IRAN-CHINA Axis]???
Posted by: ed ||
09/02/2008 08:32 ||
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#1
Gerhard Schröder announced that he was going to work for Russias Gazprom, the gigantic, state-owned energy company, whose chairman is a former East German Stasi (secret police) officer. The Stasi officer was friendly with Putin when Putin was a KGB operative stationed in East Germany.
Schröder joined the Social Democratic Party in 1963 and became Chancellor of Germany in 1990. With unification of Germany a signficiant amount of former East German intelligence, Stasi files, etc, were never made available to US Intelligence. Within the community, little additional confirmation of Schröder's association with the KGB was necessary. His long standing support for the Nord Stream (oil pipeline from Russia) is well documented. Landing a high paying position with Gazprom is not surprise.
#4
When Reagan tried to put Euromissiles in play in the eighties, one right wing regime after another toppled. That is likely to happen again. Just the facts, ladies and gentlemen.
McCain aides whose judgment I trust are impressed by Sarah Palin. One was particularly amused by this exchange: A nervous young McCain staffer took it upon himself to explain to Palin the facts of life in a national campaign, the intense scrutiny she'd be under from the media, the viciousness of the assault that she'd be facing, etc.:
Palin: "Thanks for the warning. By the way, do you know what they say the difference is between a hockey mom and a Pit Bull?"
McCain aide: "No, Governor."
Palin: "A hockey mom wears lipstick."
Posted by: Mike ||
09/02/2008 12:33 ||
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#1
People are expressing doubt about whether Governor Palin can handle Joe Biden in a debate. The lady has had five children -- after that, how hard can debating Joe Biden be? I think after a few questions it'll be Biden asking for the epidural.
Posted by: Matt ||
09/02/2008 15:04 Comments ||
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#2
Not only is she the hottest VP the world has ever seen, she's a killer! (Ok I had to say it once) This is gonna be fun watching her rip them limb from limb. More popcorn please!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
09/02/2008 23:02 Comments ||
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#3
There's plenty, Pan - I've tripled my order and put a rush on it. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/02/2008 23:09 Comments ||
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By Captain Frank Gamboa, USN (Ret.)/For the >Sun-News
My friendship with John McCain began when we were assigned to the same company at the United States Naval Academy as freshmen. We became friends and later decided to be roommates the next year.
John and I came from vastly different backgrounds. He was from a legendary, American Military family whose record of honorable service dates from the start of our nation. I am a first-generation American citizen. My parents were born in Mexico. To escape the Mexican revolution, they came to America early in the 20th century, with only the clothes they were wearing and their bags, but with hope in their hearts. John entered Annapolis right out of high school. I entered after two years of junior college.
Because John and I lived in close quarters 24 hours a day for three years, we got to know each other very well. John McCain's parents, Captain and Mrs. Jack McCain, lived on Capitol Hill in Washington. I learned about Navy culture from them; they treated me like a son, inspired me and gave me confidence. I got to know John McCain's family, John's character, his values and his heart. Despite our different backgrounds, we found common values and purpose in the Naval Academy.
Young men and women go to the Naval Academy to become officers and leaders. We were tested by the upperclassmen to determine whether we had the character to lead and command with competence and concern for our people. The seniors wanted to find out if we understood the obligation of service to country that we had sworn to defend. Regardless of who we were, the upperclassmen would find out if we had the right stuff.
Equally importantly, we learned the same about our classmates -- we learned who we could trust, who we could count on when we needed help.
One day at lunch in the mess hall I saw John's true mettle. We sat at a table with Midshipmen we did not know. As we ate, I sensed that John was tensing up. He had noticed the senior was mistreating a Filipino messman who was serving food to our table and could not bear to ignore it. I heard him say to the senior at the head of the table, "Mister, you are picking on that steward!" Startled, the senior replied "What did you say Mister?" John said, "That steward is doing the best he can so why are you picking on him?" This time the red-faced senior snarled, "What's your name, Mister?" John shot back, "McCain, what's yours?" The senior stared at John in disbelief. I was almost choking on my food -- to stand up to an upperclassman was unheard of at the Academy. John had reacted instinctively without regard to personal consequences, demonstrating courage and daring I had never seen. Embarrassed, the senior abruptly got up and left the table.
This incident became legend among our classmates. We were amazed at John's moral courage and bravery. He was fearless. He became our moral compass through his displays of of courage and leadership. He was only 18 years old.
Many years later I learned of his torture as a prisoner of war, and of his heroic conduct. I was not surprised that he resisted so courageously, or that he had put the welfare of his fellow prisoners and his country before his own self-interest.
I know John McCain as a person; his character and his values. He is a good and decent man. I know he will look after the best interests or our country and of our Hispanic community.
Throughout our nation's history, in times of crises Americans have chosen strong, bold and visionary men to serve as our president. As a nation, we can solve all our problems -- if we are properly summoned and honorably led. John McCain will call on the best in each of us. He has the character and judgment to lead the American people to a better future. That is why I support him to be our next president.
Capt. Frank Gamboa, USN (Ret.) is the first Mexican American to command an amphibious squadron of ships in the U.S. Navy, the first to command a ship as a commander, and later, as a captain. He later served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Equal Opportunity Policy.
#1
Reading this, a friend stepping up in the role that true friends portray in our lives, a paraphrase of the Dr. Krauthammer, "Where are the Obama friends? Kerry, at his acceptance speech, had numerous military souls arrayed on the stage.
But we are yet to see with Obama, a friend, a family member other than his wife and daughters. Where are the family members, the friends that should be surrounding him? Where are the Harvard folks, the Columbia classmates? The U of Chicago faculty that were on staff with him?"
There seem to be none. Thanks, Dr K. for bringing that point to our attention.
#5
"I guess he doesn't feel like parading a bunch of commies and fellow travelers."
I guess he doesn't feel like parading a bunch of commies, fellow travelers, crooks, slumlords, bagmen and political fixers.
There. Fixed it.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
09/02/2008 9:50 Comments ||
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#6
An amazing, warm tribute to an old friend going back over 50 years. Please, let it stand on it's own legs. No need to trash BO here. A year ago I was an ABM Repubilican(Anyone But McCain). He seemed old, stale and hopelessly afflicted with Old Senator's disease. Politically, I'm a bit to the right of him. but since the beginning of the summer, I've come to realize that this is someone who is worthy of our respect and trust. He's also running a lot smarter campaign that I had thought possible of him.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
09/02/2008 10:12 Comments ||
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#7
Where are the Obama friends?
Last time I checked, they seem to be checking the differential fluid under the bus. Except for Mr. Ayers, he was in the back of the bus, looking a little apprehensive.
Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad has been unusually cautious in reacting to Russias battle with the west over Georgia. Unlike his Syrian counterpart, who had lavished praise on Moscow and justified its military intervention, the Iranian president last week went only as far as to criticise obliquely those who were lambasting Russia.
Countries that do not belong to a region do not interfere with the countries of that region, he declared at the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation summit.
It is to Irans advantage to stay on the sidelines as a new geopolitical game unfolds, and Tehran tries to figure out its place in it. True, Tehran stands to benefit as Russia raises the price of its co-operation with other United Nations Security Council members on curbing the Iranian nuclear programme. But it is not unthinkable that Moscow would eventually try to buy its way out of the European crisis by offering more forceful help on Iran.
In the short term, trouble in another part of the world is surely good news for Mr Ahmadi-Nejad. It buys his scientists time to keep those centrifuges spinning and mastering nuclear technology. And it fits perfectly with the Iranian strategy of delaying the nuclear crisis at least until the next US president takes over.
The Iran nuclear dispute has disappeared from the headlines only a few weeks after it seemed to be coming to a head. This summer world powers, including Russia, renewed an offer of economic and political incentives to Tehran to persuade it to halt its uranium enrichment programme. Iran reacted by dragging its feet. People close to the regime whispered to all who were willing to listen that Iran was interested in the packages sweetener. Under the European offer, Iran could, as a first step, freeze only the expansion of uranium enrichment activities and the UN would stop its pursuit of more sanctions.
When speculation was mounting that Israel could launch military strikes against Irans nuclear facilities thanks to apparent American opposition, the speculation has since subsided the US agreed, for the first time, for a senior US official to take part in face-to-face talks with an Iranian negotiator.
Iran, however, celebrated the concession and offered nothing in return. Instead of an expected Yes or Maybe at the Geneva talks, diplomats received an Iranian counter offer of endless talks about talks. Irans attitude frustrated all participants, including the Russians, and raised the prospect of a more determined international front against Iran. Moscow, however, was still uneasy about imposing a fresh round of UN sanctions.
Now, with the US and western European governments condemning Russia for intervening in Georgia and recognising the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, its resistance will harden. But it is too early to assume that, if the world faces a resurgent and more aggressive Russia, Iran will be off the hook. For one thing, the crisis could encourage the European Union to follow the US example and impose a further raft of unilateral sanctions against Tehran.
Moscows aim, moreover, appears to be to assert itself near its borders, not necessarily to provoke a wider global conflict. And while its relations with Iran have been friendly, Moscow fears an Iranian nuclear bomb as much as, if not more than, the US. Russias history of intervention in Persia, meanwhile, leaves Iranians wary of its intentions.
Vladimir Putin, Russias prime minister and former president, hinted last week that co-operation over Iran hinged on the wests talking to Russia about its own concerns. But he also made clear that Russia had backed three UN sanctions resolutions on Iran because it was in its own national interests.
Iranians can rejoice for now at the erupting tensions in Europe. But it is doubtful that they will be counting on Russia to get them out of the nuclear dispute.
#1
See also TOPIX > DRIVING RUSSIA INTO THE ENEMY's HANDS [Iran]. Russ is reportedly negotiating wid Iran to set up TWO MILBASES inside IRAN - one in eastern Iran/Azerbaijan, a second on an island in the Persian Gulf, as price for Rus admission into the SCO [CSTO?] and which undoubtedly is intended to protect Iran from Western attack.
Also from TOPIX > THE SCO'S RISING POWER IN ASIA; + IRAN AND KAZAKHISTAN SITTING ONA TREE ... NOPE, THEY'RE JUST FRIENDS, + RUSSIA IS FACING A NEW CAUCASUS UPRISING IN INGUSHETIA.
#2
If the Iranians are stupid enough to let the Russians in, then they deserve the absolute rape of their country that will follow. The Russians have been lusting after the Persian Gulf since Ivan the Terrible's time and if they get in, it will take a massive war to get them out. The only reason that the Soviets left Iran after WWII was that the US was occupying the lower half of the country and Truman made it clear what the costs would be if the Red Army tried to stay.
Obama will spend the rest of his life wondering why he rejected the obvious road to victory, that is, choosing Hillary Clinton as his vice presidential nominee. However reluctantly, Clinton would have had to accept. McCain's choice of vice presidential candidate made obvious after the fact what the party professionals felt in their fingertips at the stadium extravaganza yesterday: rejecting Clinton in favor of the colorless, unpopular, tangle-tongued Washington perennial Joe Biden was a statement of weakness. McCain's selection was a statement of strength. America's voters will forgive many things in a politician, including sexual misconduct, but they will not forgive weakness.
That is why McCain will win in November, and by a landslide, barring some unforeseen event.
#2
Money quote: "American voters are not intellectual, but they are shrewd, like animals. They can smell insecurity, and the convention stank of it."
By the way, "Spengler's" real name is Uwe Parpart. He's a smart guy, but always acted like a dick when we worked together. I think this "Spengler" secret identity is bizarre and pointless, so I enjoy "outing" him whenever I get the chance.
#4
Why didn't Obama choose Hillary? The most credible explanation came from veteran columnist Robert Novak May 10, who reports that Michelle Obama vetoed Hillary's candidacy.
For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of Michelle Obama.
Posted by: ed ||
09/02/2008 18:07 Comments ||
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#5
He is a Third World anthropologist profiling Americans, in but not of the American system. No country's politics depends more openly on friendships than America's, yet Obama has not a single real friend, for he rose so fast that all his acquaintances become rungs on the ladder of his ascent.
H/T our own AzCat --- he put this in comments yesterday, I read it late Monday nite, and he posted it again tonight, in comments... it deserves to be read. It's a powerful family vs politics story.
This is the only post I intend to write about the vicious rumors and, then, news regarding Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol, and I am not going to open comments on this post or permit comments on the topic on other posts.
I have precisely one point to make on this topic, and I only write this because it's a point I haven't seen made elsewhere.
*******
Kaylene Johnson's biography Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned Alaska's Political Establishment Upside Down recounts how after Sarah Palin lost in her bid to become Alaska's lieutenant governor in the 2002 GOP primary, then-U.S. Senator Frank Murkowski went on to win the Alaska gubernatorial race, so he then had the opportunity to name his own replacement for his just-vacated U.S. Senate seat. Murkowski had encouraged Palin's run for lieutenant governor, and she had supported him and campaigned for him even after her loss. Johnson reports (at page 73) that after the general election, Palin "was one of at least eight people Murkowski interviewed for the vacant seat."
But Murkowski ended up naming his daughter, Lisa Murkowski a blatant act of nepotism that shook many of his supporters, including Palin. Murkowski went on to name Palin as the chair and ethics officer of the Alaska Oil & Gas Conservation Commission, about which I blogged earlier today, since it was from that position that she ended up becoming thoroughly disillusioned with Murkowski, ultimately leading her to resign and take him on in the press over his administration's ethical violations.
Lisa Murkowski had to run for re-election to her U.S. Senate seat in her own right during the next general election. Writes Johnson (at pages 88-89; emphasis mine):
In 2004, friends and supporters urged Sarah to challenge Lisa Murkowski. [By then,] Sarah had made a name for herself as a reformer, and supporters thought she had a good chance of winning. So, Sarah approached her family to discuss the possibility. Like all of her decisions, the decision had to be unanimous.
"People don't believe me, but it's true. It had to be a family decision," she said. Todd was up for a move to Washington, D.C. and the girls were on board as well. But son Track, in his early teens, was becoming aware of the contentiousness of a political battle. He valued his privacy, and felt uncomfortable in the limelight. "Track did not want me to run, and he was adamant about it. He had to bless me," Sarah said. "If he had said at the time 'This is great,' I would have done it."
In 2006, however, Frank Murkowski himself was up for re-election as governor. Continues Johnson (at page 91): "This time, when Sarah talked with her family about running, the decision was a unanimous decision to go for it."
And of course, she won.
*******
Public service as an elected official requires personal sacrifice, and that sacrifice is not limited to the candidates and office-holders. Their families are also at risk. In the internet age when almost any cell phone can produce a video clip and the news cycle is barely 24 hours, when a rumor can spread across the globe faster than it could spread through a company lunchroom thirty years ago those sacrifices are amplified.
Given that Gov. Palin was already subject to public scrutiny, Bristol's impending wedding would have gotten at least state-wide publicity, as would the subsequent birth of Gov. Palin's first grandchild. That much was already inevitable if Bristol Palin chose life instead of choosing to have an abortion.
What I want to specifically focus on, however, is Gov. Palin's decision to accept John McCain's offer to be his vice presidential running mate knowing full well that the news about Bristol would ignite a national rumor-mill as a result.
I obviously don't know for sure what conversations Gov. Palin had with her family, and in particular with her daughter Bristol, before giving Sen. McCain her decision. But given this history from 2004 when a veto from Track stopped her from running for a U.S. Senate seat she might very well have won, in which case she would have become Barack Obama's Senate classmate I would wager a very, very large sum of money that Bristol Palin was given a veto right again. I would wager that she was warned, in detail, about the certainty that her privacy would be invaded in a sickening, vicious manner.
And I would wager that Bristol Palin must have said: "Go ahead, mom. Tell Senator McCain 'Yes.' I know what's coming, but my baby and I will be okay."
We know that Track decided to put his life and limb at risk for his country by enlisting in the Army and volunteering for service in Iraq. But Bristol Palin's decision may be one of the most fearless, selfless acts any seventeen year old young woman has ever made. Even thinking of her being confronted with it brings tears to my eyes.
I wish her and her husband-to-be and their baby safety and joy. And as much privacy as they can find. I intensely admire both her decision to choose life, and her decision to further sacrifice her privacy in order to support her mom for the betterment of our country. And as far as I'm concerned, that's the end of that.
If you have ever had a close connection to a "politics family," (one that lives constantly in the public eye), you know, this "view" to be true. A big ole hug for Bristol for the love she must feel for her MOM to accept the decision she has made
#2
Actually, OldSpook, I would like to see all related widespread coverage stop ASAP. I see no indication that Sarah Palin has done anything other than the right thing, and I think most voters agree. Keeping this ball in play just prolongs the game, and this game needs to stop. It started as a dirty game by people we abhor, and we don't need to play their game.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
