Needlenose

The attack on the Holocaust museum wasn’t an act of right-wing terrorism because racism isn’t really a “conservative” thing.

Can somebody explain to me why the SF Chronicle carries her crap?

*Update 6/16/09* If conservatives aren’t racists, why do they keep sending around these ‘humorous’ emails?

Iran, surrounded by U.S. military bases (indicated by flags)

You know there’s trouble brewing when stories about intensely contested campaigns begin with this (from the BBC):

The two main candidates in Iran’s presidential election have claimed victory, after extended voting as huge numbers of people turned out to vote.

Reformist challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi told a news conference that he had won by a substantial margin.

However, state media said hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won, and officials said he had got 69% of the five million votes so far counted.

The touting of a big Ahmedinejad lead in the preliminary official tabulations seems to have come in response to Mousavi’s public claim of victory, as Al Arabiya reports:

Meanwhile Ahmadinejad’s supporters refuted such statements as “false” and intended as psychological warfare to affect voter turnout.

“These early statements are meant to influence votes,” Ali Akbar Javanfekr, advisor to Ahmadinejad, told Al Arabiya.

Of course, if that’s what the president’s supporters think, it kind of tips their hand about their proclamations, too, doesn’t it?

Amid the premature and conflicting claims, it’s hard to tell what the truth is yet.  The well-documented massive urban demonstrations for Mousavi, the main challenger to Ahmedinejad, in contrast with the Iranian regime’s authoritarian nature, have led to predictions such as this from the Times of London:

It is widely believed that the 2005 election was marred by fraud and experts estimate that up to four million votes could be rigged this year. However, with the turnout so high, even that may not be enough.

The wide media coverage given to the protests, though, could be misleading.  Because opposition to Ahmedinejad is concentrated among the most urban, educated and affluent voters — the ones who are easiest for foreign journalists to come in contact with — Mousavi’s support may be overstated in the media.

At the same time, when Iranian press agencies are reporting (via the Al Arabiya story linked above) that “participation in Iranian villages reached 90 percent,” it’s reasonable to be suspicious that not all of those votes are legitimate.

Attackerman and Talking Points Memo have been providing analyis of the Iranian elections throughout the day, so check there (as well as more obvious news sources like CNN) for updates as the situation evolves (or devolves).

(Cross-posted at Firedoglake.)

P.S.  Special inside joke for Michael Ledeen fans: The dead are voting!

The wrong-wingers wax purple with their hyperbolic condemnation of all Liberalism and Liberals.  We are ‘traitors,’ the ‘enemy in our midst,’ blah blah blah.

To be honest, I’m starting to long wistfully for the days when the Dung Eaters where happy to condemn us in books, columns and talking head shows, rather than terrorize and murder us!

Hot on the heels of murdering an abortion doctor during church service, another wing-nut just shot up the Holocaust Museum in D.C.

Back in the Dawn of Shrubya’s Reign of Error, I mused about the ebbing of wing-nut terror tactics.  Well it’s a new day, with a real leader in office – and the wing-nuts are apparently feeling threatened.  Given the level of the hate speech at the Palin rallies prior to the election, I figured we’d be looking at a resurgence of wrong-wing terror – sadly, it seems to be coming to pass.

*Update* Check out Shepard Smith comments on increasing levels of wing-nuttery and hate mail.

From the Associated Press: “U.S. President Barack Obama tours the Sultan Hassan Mosque along with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton (behind center) in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, June 4, 2009. At left is Iman Abdel Fateh and right is Dr. Zahi Hawass.”

Tip from General Contractor Buddy, Tennesseens can pack heat in bars.  Let that sink in for a moment – rednecks…alchohol…guns…all in one place…

Still, it seems wiser than the Georgian’s desire to carry guns in airports – I’m still not sure what that was about.  And of course you need to pack a piece to defend yourself against Yogi and Boo-Boo in the National Parks.  Of course for some reason we still haven’t opened up churches to weapons of individual destruction in spite of the fact that killing in church appears to be all the rage.  I mean nothing says “Jeebus loves you” like a bullet to the head, right?  Just ask this pastor in Kentucky!

President Obama explained his purpose right away in his symbolic address to the Muslim world from Cairo yesterday:

So long as our relationship is defined by our differences, we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace, those who promote conflict rather than the cooperation . . . .

I’ve come here to Cairo to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world, one based on mutual interest and mutual respect.

Not surprisingly, Karl Rove — this country’s most infamous practitioner of the politics of division and disrespect — wasn’t amused (via ThinkProgress):

ROVE: You know what? Who cares about whether or not they approve or like the president of the United States?. . .

I thought one commentator put it pretty good. The most powerful thing that Barack Obama has done to win the respect of the Islamic people, of the Muslim people around the world was three well-placed shots to end a negotiation with terrorists who had hijacked a U.S. boat.

As the last couple of U.S. election cycles should have taught him, Rove’s understanding of human nature is backwards. I’ll never forget this chilling anecdote from a Los Angeles Times story in March 2003:

In Doha, just a few miles from the U.S. Central Command base where Gen. Tommy Franks stands ready to run a war against Iraq, a theater audience made up mainly of Qataris breaks into applause as the leading actor reacts to television scenes of the collapsing World Trade Center towers with the words: “Americans go around punishing everyone. Now it’s time to let them feel something.“

Remorseless displays of American power generate not respect, but rather a desire for revenge. That’s why it was so important for the world to see a U.S. president speaking knowledgeably and respectfully about Islam, emphasizing our country’s ideals and a desire to build a future together. And that’s why it’s just as important for Obama to back up these words by disengaging us as rapidly as possible from Iraq and Afghanistan so the Muslim world’s view of us isn’t shaped by images of hostility and destruction.

A changed worldwide view of the United States is our best hope for a more peaceful, less militarized future. Then again, that’s probably exactly what Karl Rove is worried about, isn’t it?

(Cross-posted at Firedoglake.)

Several weeks ago I wrote a despairing post about the state of our war in Afghanistan, criticizing Obama for following Shrubya’s tired strategy of fighting a counter-insurgency conflict in Afghanistan while the enemy thrived, unmolested, across the border in Pakistan.

Since then, Pakistan really bumped up their game and has made major gains in fighting the Taliban, Al Qaeda and their sympathizers in the Swat Valley.

I should probably have posted something about that  earlier, but their past claims of ‘victories’ and gains were either gross hyperbole or outright lies.  However, I’m actually heartened by Osama Bin Laden’s latest missive blaming Obama for “ordering” President Zardari to attack the guerrillas.

Check out the speech – it strikes me as the typical ‘tough talk’ a leader has to give when his followers are backed into a corner – kinda like that some of the speeches given by the (now dead) head of the Tamil Tigers as his guerrillas were increasingly trapped by Sri Lankan forces.  The other comforting thought is that Obama could actually ‘order’ President Zardari to do anything!  Don’t you wish that were true?  I guess American Liberals aren’t the only people that believe Obama has magical powers!

It’s much too early to determine if this is a true sea change in the battle – who knows how many Taliban and Al Qaeda warriors donned burkhas and slipped out among the civilian refugees?  And don’t forget that Pakistan is only one of the countries bordering Afghanistan suitable for a base for the guerrillas, and that is a horribly corrupt country at that.

But it’s definitely cause for optimism – let’s hope this reduces some of the strain on President Karzai and the NATO forces in Afghanistan!

*Update 6/4/09* A friend of mine just got back from a couple of weeks in Karachi – he tells me things are really messy there right now – lots of internal divisions between groups such as the Muhajirs and the Pashtuns are boiling up to the surface resulting in pitched street fighting.

From President Obama’s trip to the Middle East, visiting King Abdullah in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia…

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