Category Archives: U.S. Politics

Iran, Iraq, Middle East, Persian-American Gulf, U.S. Politics, US Foreign Policy

More on the Proposed Newt Gingrich Iraq-Iran Hike…………….

   Rattlesnake Ridge   Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter   

 
      BFF

This morning I thought of Newt Gingrich, not sure why. I Binges him (I don’t patronize only one search engine) and clicked on his Twitter link. Here is some of what I read:


  • “If we reestablish the constitutional basis of America this election will be historic-your help at newt.org makes big difference”

  • “The tea party movement should seek to educate the protesters-the tea party has it right-return to constitutional government”

  • “Looking forward to the debate tonight. But today I’m taking questions from you. Use #LeadNow to ask me about the issues.”


As I read his seriously witless remarks (tweets), my thoughts traveled back toward my home region, back to the Middle East, moving along the coast of my (Persian-American) Gulf and farther north, well past the Gulf. I focused on the common northeastern border between Iraq and Iran.
I wondered if Newt Gingrich has given up on the idea of taking a hike along the Iraqi-Iranian border (in the Kurdish region). (Actually it was my suggestion to him, my contribution to his campaign posted here last week). It would be a great way to shore up his (non-existent) foreign policy credentials before the Iowa Republican caucuses. Nothing like a hike straddling the Iranian border, preferably in an undersized business suit that would accentuate his body curves. The mullahs may be thrilled: the prize this time would not be three crazy hapless students seeking innocent adventure.
Newt, like most Republican political and radio warriors, never served in the military. They are so good at evading service yet sound more patriotic than Democrats who did. He will come out of Tehran almost as another John McCain but not as thin and not as injured. Of course the cuisine in Iran, even in Evin prison, is better than the Hanoi Hilton.
Cheers
mhg


[email protected]

Gulf states, Religion, Salafi, Saudi Arabia, U.S. Politics, WTF

American Schism: Salafis vs. Shi’as vs. Mormons vs……..

   Rattlesnake Ridge   Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter   

 
      BFF


American media raised a storm last week when an Evangelical religious pastor supporter of the Texas Governor called the Mormon (sect) of Mitt Romney a “cult”. Initially, having been conditioned back on my Gulf to certain derogatory remarks, I was surprised at the media storm. In recent years on my Gulf people often call each others’ sects and faiths things that are worse than a mere “cult”. This has been especially the case since growth of the imported Salafi Wahhabi cult. It has exasperated sectarian divisions into open hostility.
This pastor must have been reading the website of the sectarian Saudi Alarabiya network, or maybe he has been watching the extremely sectarian-baiting television and other media of the Bahrain government. At least he did not call Mr. Romney a terrorist plotter and an agent of a foreign regime (not the Saudi regime). And he does not need to import foreign mercenaries and import officially-approved American weapons, all with Saudi money, to shoot at Mr. Romney.

Cheers
mhg


[email protected]

Culture, U.S. Congress, U.S. Politics

Expanding the Oxymoronic Base: the Republican Drive to Dumb Down the Rest of America………….

   Rattlesnake Ridge   Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter   

 
      BFF

“House Republicans are laying the groundwork for another battle with President Obama over spending and domestic policy with a bill that would cut some of his favorite health and education programs, tie the hands of the National Labor Relations Board and eliminate federal grants for Planned Parenthood clinics. The bill, which finances the Departments of Labor, Education and Health and Human Services, would prohibit Mr. Obama from spending more money to carry out the new health care law until all legal challenges to the law were resolved……. The House bill would also block numerous rules intended to protect workers. For example, the National Labor Relations Board could not use any money to enforce a new requirement that employers notify workers of their rights to form and join unions……. the bill would eliminate Pell grants for a million students, or roughly 10 percent of those now eligible, while reducing the cost of the program by $3.5 billion, also 10 percent. Since many states have increased tuition at public colleges, Mr. Hartle said, the bill would mean that “low- and middle-income families will face higher college costs with less student aid.”………. Federal education officials could not enforce a new rule setting stricter standards for profit-making colleges and vocational schools………..”

This looks suspiciously like a deliberate drive to dumb down the rest of America. Less educational opportunities, less education, lower quality education: all these point out to a desired end product that forms the base of the Republican Tea Party. Polls and surveys have indicated in recent years that the less educated voters prefer extreme right wing Republican candidates, while the most educated prefer Democrat candidates. This analysis probably applies especially to white voters in Blue states or ‘swing’ states who are more likely to be considered ‘independent’ voters. The Republicans want dumber “independent” voters, presumably dumber than voters in the extremely Red states, which some may consider an oxymoron-ic thing to expect.
Cheers
mhg


[email protected]

Arab Revolutions, Saudi Arabia, U.S. Politics, Wall Street

Arab Spring Misses Riyadh but Lands in New York…………

   Rattlesnake Ridge   Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter   

 
      BFF

“In a tense showdown above the East River, the police arrested more than 700 demonstrators from the Occupy Wall Street protests who took to the roadway as they tried to cross the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday afternoon. The police said it was the marchers’ choice that led to the enforcement action. “Protesters who used the Brooklyn Bridge walkway were not arrested,” Paul J. Browne, the chief spokesman for the New York Police Department, said. “Those who took over the Brooklyn-bound roadway, and impeded vehicle traffic, were arrested.” But many protesters said they believed the police had tricked them, allowing them onto the bridge, and even escorting them partway across, only to trap them in orange netting after hundreds had entered………..”

Somehow the Arab Spring overflew Saudi Arabia and landed in New York City. It must be the power of that old fear: it was vanquished in Tunisia and Egypt and Libya and Syria and Bahrain and Yemen, but it still rules supreme in Riyadh.
Cheers
mhg


[email protected]

Corruption, Culture, Finance, France, Libya, U.S. Politics

Corruption in the French Political Class, or ‘what bears do in the forest’……

   Rattlesnake Ridge   Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter   

 
      BFF

“President Nicolas Sarkozy has distanced himself from a suspected corruption scandal that has roiled the French political class after an investigating magistrate began legal action against two of his close allies. Investigators are probing whether a French defense deal in the 1990s with Pakistan involving suspected kickbacks set the stage for a Karachi car bombing in 2003 that killed 15 people – mostly French defense contractors . In a statement Thursday, Sarkozy’s office said his name is not mentioned in any documents ……….”

What else is new? Several French presidents have been implicated and investigated for corruption, the last one being Chirac and now Sarkozy. None has been punished. There have been cases of cash paid, other financial benefits, and there have been cases of diamonds and precious stones gifted by African dictators. There are occasionally French politicians who truly feel angry at being accused, perhaps because they are innocent. There was one former French Prime Minister (I met him a couple of times when he was Finance Minister) who felt upset enough about accusations against him to commit suicide about ten years ago. He was unusual in that case and I suspect he may have been innocent.
Now in American politics they have more clever ways of getting the money to the politicians. There are millions of campaign fund donations, and there are more direct benefits through highly-paid speeches to special interest groups, as well as junkets and there are probably other ways as well. Then, for those who behave themselves and mind the interests of the lobbies, there are lucrative jobs waiting after they lose elections.
Now about Sarkozy, the Hero of Libya and aspiring hero of My Gulf. Oh well, you know the common American saying about ‘what bears do in the fores’……..
Cheers
mhg


[email protected]

Economics, Iran, U.S. Congress, U.S. Politics, US Foreign Policy

Ahmadinejad on the U.S. Economy, his American Well-Wishers…….

   Rattlesnake Ridge   Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter   

 
      BFF

“Mr. Ahmadinejad also indulged in a bit of triumphalism. He acknowledged that the West’s “crippling” sanctions against Iran had “worked well.” But he added: “Does Iran face more problems or the United States of America?” He referred to the “collapse” of the American financial system and suggested that Iran’s economy is in better shape. He added that the West will be driven by its weakness to “seek a rapprochement with Iran.” Then the interview was over, and Mr. Ahmadinejad zoomed back from bombast to conciliation. He beamed and told me: “We truly like and love the people of the United States.”………….”

Ahmadinejad was gloating on television yesterday. He rattled off statistics, real data, about the U.S. economy that should worry any American. He talked about unemployment, poverty, widening inequality, public debt, prisoner ratios, and other issues. Of course, he did not care to mention how the Iranian economy and the Iranian people have been doing under his regime.
Like I said, the statistics he rattled off should worry most Americans and not just some. Most of the U. S. economic problems have been self-inflicted, especially the past obsession with “deregulation” and gutting oversight, while more of Iran’s problems are foreign-inflicted. Yet I have no doubt that there are Americans also gloating over some of the same statistics (while denying some of them). Ahmadinejad was trying to get back at the U.S. for imposing tough sanctions on his country. On the other hand, some Americans are no doubt seriously hoping for the hard times to continue, but only until after the elections of 2012.
A twist of fate: Mr. Ahmadinejad knows that the health of the Iranian economy is tied to the health of the U.S. economy, sanctions or no sanctions. He did not and he does not wish the American economy any ill, for his own country’s sake. American policy-makers also know that the health of the world economy is tied to the ability of Iran (as well as others) to produce petroleum, that same crude stuff that U.S. politicians rail about in public and want o “boycott’. They also know that a cessation of Iranian exports will cause prices to skyrocket, but probably help a couple of places like Texas and the Gulf of Mexico operations.
Cheers
mhg


[email protected]

Israel, Middle East, Palestine, U.S. Politics, United Nations International Organizations, US Foreign Policy

Next Year in Jerusalem, Next Year in New York, Next Year at the U.N.………….

   Rattlesnake Ridge   Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter   

 
      BFF

“Israeli officials: Palestinians routed, about to fold” YNet News (Israel)

“French president Sarkozy says UN will not vote on Palestinian state this year, promises a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli impasse within a year” Reports

Yesterday it almost looked like the Palestinian “authority”, never known for its backbone, had surrendered again. Reports quoted American and French officials that ‘negotiations’ will resume to reach a solution within one year. Sounds familiar? Remember 2009, when the new and “extremely naïve” Obama administration started negotiations with Israelis and Palestinians with a solemn promise that they will solve everything within one year. At that time I wrote here “forgetaboutit”. One year? It is too short a time to reach never.
The Jewish people have a mantra that they repeated during their long Diaspora , especially at every Passover Seder: “Next year in Jerusalem”. It kept them focused on the promise and the goal, which they eventually achieved. Now the Palestinians will have to adopt a new mantra “Next year in New York” or maybe just “Next year at the UN”.
Except it won’t be next year, or the year after, or any other year after, as long as the Likud and its right-wing allies rule the roost.
Cheers
mhg


[email protected]

Economics, Finance, U.S. Congress, U.S. Politics

White House and U.S. Congress Engineer another Market Crash………….

   Rattlesnake Ridge   Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter   

 
      BFF
“What began as a weak day in the stock markets ended in the worst rout in more than two years, as investors dumped stocks amid anxiety that both Europe and the United States were failing to fix deepening economic problems. With a steep decline of around 5 percent in the United States on Thursday, stocks have now fallen nearly 11 percent in two weeks. Markets have been plunging as investors sought safer havens for their money — including Treasury bonds, which some had been avoiding during the debate over extending the nation’s debt ceiling…….With investors in the United States already focusing anew on fragile economic growth and high unemployment, waves of selling of stocks began in Europe and continued throughout the day in the United States. Analysts said the market still might have further to fall, as investors reassess the dimming economic prospects……..”

As someone said, or maybe as someone ought to have said: asinine politicians espouse asinine economic policies and create disaster. Clearly there is no shortage of asinine politicians in the United States Congress, from both parties, although the Republicans seem to earn the prize (in asininity). There is nothing more asinine in economics than forcing a contractionary economic policy during a deep recession. Even if it is for the sake of the higher goal of political expediency. Is like Roosevelt’s double-dip recession in the mid 1930s?
I know, I know, the situation in Europe helped, but the main culprits are in Washington, DC.
Cheers
mhg


[email protected]

Economics, U.S. Congress, U.S. Politics

U.S. Tea Party Nation: the Democrats’ Date Rape………….

   Rattlesnake Ridge   Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter   

 
      BFF
“While much of Congress is upset at the prospect of downing such a bitter brew, the new political faction known as the Tea Party doesn’t abide any compromise, no matter the stakes for the country. With just two more days on the debt clock, the machinations on Capitol Hill grew ever more surreal on Sunday. Reid’s initial compromise failed to get the required 60 votes to overcome a Republican filibuster……… As the deal evolved with more than $2 trillion in cuts, equal to or more than the amount needed to extend the debt ceiling through the next election, and with no additional revenue, the clear winner was the Tea Party. The newcomers held their ground, dictating the terms of the debate and extracting a historic victory in the scale of deficit reduction. Yet many who ran under the Tea Party banner could end up voting against it because it doesn’t go far enough. These members’ refusal to back down on any new revenue, not even closing tax loopholes for special interests, took the nation’s economy to the brink. And it left some Democrats feeling like they had been extorted ………..”

“Feeling extorted” is the wrong term to use for Democrat legislatures. The Democrats undressed, lied down (presumably on their backs but not necessarily so) and opened their legs just wide enough. Can they call it rape now? Absolutely not: they were intimidated, became the “chicken” in the unusual game of chicken, but they could have kept their clothes on, could have said “NO”.
(There is no such thing as a “Tea Party”: it is a major wing of the GOP now and soon it will be all of the GOP).
Cheers
mhg


[email protected]

Arab Revolutions, Economics, Finance, France, U.S. Politics, WTF

World Revolution Redux? a Wal-Mart World, PIGS of Europe, Arab Spring, Che Guevara……….

   Rattlesnake Ridge   Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter   

 
      BFF
“S. Robson “Rob” Walton, Walmart chairman, has a net worth of about $19.7 billion. And he’s only number 9 on the list of 2010’s top 20 richest Americans. Walmart workers, meanwhile, make around $8.75 an hour—about $18,000 a year. They’d have to work over a million years to approach what the chairman of Walmart Stores is sitting on. Alice and Jim Walton each have about $20 billion, and Christy Walton has $24 billion. Last year Jonathan Turley noted that the CEO of Walmart, Michael Duke, makes his average employee’s yearly salary every hour………..”

This is not just an American phenomenon anymore, although the gap tends to be wider in America and the third world (including the Middle East where the gap may possibly be the widest now) than in Europe or Japan. From Russia to Ireland, and south to the Middle East, income gaps are widening among working people and their corporate and government leaders. The middle classes, usually the pillars of stability wherever they exist, are being truly squeezed, forcing a very few of them upward, pushing the vast majority of them down the ladder. That is when revolutions erupt: when the middle class, if it exists, is threatened, when very few are at the top and most are at the bottom. Think France 1789, Russia 1917, China 1949, Iran 1979. The now-aborted Arab Spring was at least partly a bread and butter issue, about depots taking away both freedom and a chance at decent living.
Just when we thought Europe was irrevocably in its post-revolutionary stage, we are getting the ‘uprisings’ in Greece and Spain, not to mention the perennial French issue-oriented little ‘uprisings’. Advice to many older Europeans, especially in the PIGS countries: don’t throw away your Che Guevara posters and caps yet.
Okay, I may be exaggerating a bit, barely, so don’t sell the farm yet…..
Cheers
mhg


[email protected]