Election 2004

aEwkVS ftltyfekwvje, [url=http://hvycqwgzfelz.com/]hvycqwgzfelz[/url], [link=http://xpelgjvbzfeu.com/]xpelgjvbzfeu[/link], http://qelrafyrtdgv.com/

The 2004 American election took place in the midst of conflict and widespread global terrorism. George Bush won a crystal clear victory. If the video message to voters from Osama bin Laden had an effect it was in favor of Bush too. He took 51% of the vote, 3.5 million more than John Kerry and in absolute terms, the largest number of votes any presidential candidates has won. Republicans have increased their majorities both in the House of Representatives and in the Senate. Having won the popular vote, he has a mandate for programme, including radical tax-reform and changes to Social Security, with little Democratic Party support. By increasing his party’s control of Congress, he is nearer to the point of being able to use the legislature like a parliament, rubber-stamping his proposals without much involvement of the other party.

After reading the letter written by Muhammad B. the murderer of Theo van Gogh I wonder about his version of Islam. The monotheistic religions including Judaism, Christianity and Islam believe that a part of God's soul is embedded in every human being (Genesis 1:26). We are all made in God's image. What does that mean? In a God-like manner we must have the right of choosing God/Life or Evil/Death (Deuteronomy 30:19). Life is defined as following the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17), the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3-10) and the Sura (17:22-39) commandments. These rules define a system of life and reject a system of death. We may not all observe these

Ok, this one is just too good NOT to share. In deference to Hobbes, who took me to the wood shed the last time I posted an article, I did not author this. In fact, no one could make this stuff up! But I suggest it represents a significant mindset of many US liberals...and it's incredibly funny! ;) IM Courtesy of The Opinion Journal, 12-3-2004; commenting upon the article found at the following link http://www.bocaratonnews.com/index.php?src=news&prid=10324&category=Local%20News The Gift That Keeps on Giving Yeah, we know, but we just can't resist: "Twenty John Kerry supporters met for their first group therapy session in South Florida Thursday, screaming epithets at President Bush as they shared their emotions with licensed mental health counselors," reports the Boca Raton (Fla.) News, which simply owns this story. "The first of several free noontime therapy sessions at the American Health Association in Boca Raton was designed to treat what mental health counselors have dubbed Post Election Selection Trauma (PEST)."

Forward looking as ever, I note that January 2005 will (insh'allah) witness two significant electoral processes: the race to succeed Yasser Arafat as president of the Palestinian Authority (that's the office, right?), slated for January 9, and the Iraqi election (which--since it's looking like a game of chicken--I am tempted to call the "Chicken Run" ;) ) currently scheduled for Jan 30. [Lexicographical note: ask me about "chicken," if you don't know] In Iraq, today's NYT reports a rift within the Shi'a Alliance headed by Sistani, with the prospect of a rival slate being put forward. Apparently, both sides claim Sistani's blessing. Tension seems to be around the status of returning exiles: are they receiving undue deference within the Alliance, thanks to their contacts with the U.S.? There are also reports (a few days ago) of an emergent accord between Muqtada al-Sadr and Ahmed Chalabi (late of the Coalition), which may or may not be the rumor behind the rumor. See http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/07/international/middleeast/07iraq.html?oref=login

This was a difficult election to swallow. We worked hard. We fought. We gave our money, our time, and our hearts to this campaign. And we did this because we knew beyond doubt that we were right. We didn't have to reach for bizarre rationalizations to defend our votes. In our world view, leaders should be held accountable, incompetence should be rejected, and injustice should be destroyed--but it did not. What we saw this year was more than a powerful political machine. What we saw was the intransigence of 50 years of rhetorically reinforced perception. More than a machine, it is a movement. Indeed, more than a movement, it is a cult.

So Fred Halliday is professor of international relations at the LSE, is he? Remind me not to recommend that department to anyone who seeks impartial education in that subject, then. I foolishly understood that the role of a pedagogue was to provide his/her students with the ability to think rationally and dispassionately about topics under discussion: this is obviously not how he sees his role: "Politics - indeed the future of the world - require a continued, cool and resolute engagement in the face of the latest decision of the American electorate, benighted and reckless as it is"

Some time ago, I remarked that OD's e-democracy worldmap had no information about sites and bloggers in Iraq. I've since learned of several, for those who may be interested in more first-hand views. Limitation: these are mostly in English, from people who have access to the web and electricity--so a limited sector of the population. Nevertheless, there's an interesting range of opinion. http://dailywarnews.blogspot.com/ Not (as far as I can tell) from Iraq itself, but has a number of terrific resources (including detailed maps) and good links. The ethno-religious map is especially illuminating.

The neoconservative inspired policy of exporting US style democracy to the Middle East, which they claim is their genuine motive, is now running up against the realities of the region and Iraq. The ideologues venture now increasingly looks like a gamble that will not pay off. It has the authentic gamblers ring about it, namely that the odds against winning were cast aside and the focus shifted almost entirely to the large gain that was anticipated.There is one significant difference and that is the stake wagered will not be from the pockets of the gamblers but from those of the American and Iraqi people in money and lives.

I couldn't resist posting this story. For all you Americans out there, here's your Thanksgiving dessert. :) IM Bush Bounce Confounds the Media Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2004 4:35 p.m. EST NewsMax.com's Fr. Michael Reilly notes that President Bush's approval ratings are on the rise again, much to the chagrin of the mainstream press. The results of the first major post-election poll show a big bounce for President Bush, with a CNN/Gallup survey awarding Bush a 55 percent job approval rating, with only 42 percent disapproving. What's more, Bush's personal popularity is 60 percent as opposed to 39 percent who do not approve.

The US economy has grown for 11 consecutive quarters. 2,228,000 NET new jobs created in the last 14 months. Productivity is at an all time high. Home ownership is at an all time high. Afghanistan and Iraq are now ruled by pro-American governments who are fighting with the coalition against radical Islamists. Afghanistan just completed it's first national democratic election in history. Hamid Karzai, the pro-American president, was elected with a large majority of the votes. More than 2/3 of the know Al qaeda leadership, who were free when Clinton was in office, are now dead or in captivity.

Indicative of the waning of US power relative to China, as Fred Halliday writes (http://www.opendemocracy.net/debates/article-3-117-2225.jsp), is the following report: In a mark of China's growing economic confidence, the country's central bank has offered blunt advice to Washington about its ballooning trade deficit and unemployment. ...Li Ruogu, the deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, warns the US not to blame other countries for its economic difficulties. ("China tells US to put its house in order" - Financial Times, 22 November [online edition] 23 November [print

In his 17 November piece (http://www.opendemocracy.net/debates/article-3-117-2225.jsp), Fred Halliday writes: Many former communist and especially former Soviet societies the transition has been not to western democracy, but from dictatorship by the party nomenklatura to dictatorship by dynastic nomenklatura, involving robbery of public goods and the consolidation of a society ruled by post–communist oligarchies. Until late last night, it looked as if there more chance than there is today that Ukraine would break free of this cycle (see (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4031127.stm).

"We took a helluva beating,” the late great General Joseph Stillwell groused on marching his malarial, worn-out, battle-weary troops out of the jungle in the China-India-Burma theatre during World War Two. His grimly realistic assessment of how the Japanese defeated his GIs did not endear him to the War Department bureaucrats who found a way to sideline him for the rest of the war. (For a brief time he was my commanding officer.) But Stillwell’s sobering view of how best to defeat the enemy contributed significantly, in the long run, to Allied victory. Kerry voters need General Stillwell right now. Someone bracing and un-b.s.-able who won’t ladle out twaddle about hope, new beginnings and "it’s time to begin the healing”, as Kerry told his supporters in his Faneuil Hall concession speech. Personally, I was dismayed that Kerry and the Democratic Party establishment, after vowing to “count every vote and make every vote count”, so hastily threw in the towel before all the votes had been processed in Ohio (among other places). It was not Kerry and the Party’s decision to make. His candidacy would never have gotten off the ground if not for the amazing groundswell of enthusiasm and hands-on help he got from ‘the troops’, the men and women, boys and girls, who gave themselves heart and soul to his campaign. What arrogance! As if Kerry, not we, were the driving force.

I, for one, have had it with debating bush v. kerry, a discussion which is now officially pointless. I'd rather seize the opportunity to get some fresh viewpoints: Mike, you're a soldier: can I ask whether you've served in Iraq and/or Afghanistan? If so, can you give us a sense of what the prospects are for a reasonable outcome--that is, what we should, realistically, be expecting? Conventional wisdom on the left has it that insurgencies have both a military and a political dimension: that they can be fought militarily, but have to be won politically. In Iraq, it seems clear that the US has the upper hand in military terms, but that we're not doing so well on the political front. I've heard it said that Fallujah is now the Alamo of Islamic militancy.

Hello USA (and rest of the world) My name is Sidar, I am a M. Sc. Electrical Engineering student who lives in Sweden. I don't know everything about the U.S.A. but just like many other people in the world I think it's in a many ways a very fascinating and wonderful country. One thing is for sure,and I think lots of people agree with me on that the world would be much more boring without the U.S.A. as a nation, but there are some things I and I think, many others find a little strange. One of these things is that there is no great variety in the political parties of the U.S.A. and I think the history has showed that whether the president has been democratic or republican there hasn't really been great differences between them. Please correct me if you believe I am wrong, but I don't believe the political parties are representative for a great part of the American population.

Established 1981 London School of Islamics An Educational Trust 63 Margery Park Road London E7 9LD Email: info@londonschoolofislamics.org.uk www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk Tel/Fax: 0208 555 2733 / 07817 112 667 Crime against Humanity To deprive a Muslim child from his/her culture and language is a crime against Humanity. Children of minority communities have the right to enjoy their own culture and to practice their own religion and language. British Muslims have been denying such rights in the field of education. Education shall aim at developing the child’s personality, the talents, mental and physical abilities to the fullest extent. Education shall prepare the child for an active adult life in a free society and foster respect for the child’s parents, his or her cultural identity, language and values. UK Government is a signatury of this convention and has an obligation to comply with this convention under UK Law.

First, I pointed out for months how the Democrats were throwing away what should have been an easily won election -- Dukakissing. Todd Gitlin has it conveniently 180 degrees absolutely wrong. A president with disapproval ratings OVER 50%, with solid majorities saying that the country is going in the wrong direction is not a "strong hand". This is letting the Democratic Party off the hook -- and in justifying the lying there is a lot of lying to justify. How did the Democrats pull defeat from the jaws of victory (something that is to be blamed on the LEFT, as blame, like s*** is supposed to go DOWNhill not UP!) -- when it wasn't merely the failure of the Administration, but the RECOGNITION of this failure by mainstream America that was at issue? To start with we need to determine what if any machine agenda there was in US politics, since US politics is mainly a matter of elite "consensus" with all kinds of professionals (whose unwritten job description includes pooh poohing the truth)denying the very notions as 'paranoid', cynical, or merely simple-minded. To get to the truth of US politics NECESSARILY means confronting and getting through that credentialled solid wall of protestation.

The US economy has grown for 11 consecutive quarters. 2,228,000 NET new jobs created in the last 14 months. Productivity is at an all time high. Home ownership is at an all time high. Afghanistan and Iraq are now ruled by pro-American governments who are fighting with the coalition against radical Islamists. Afghanistan just completed it's first national democratic election in history. Hamid Karzai, the pro-American president, was elected with a large majority of the votes. More than 2/3 of the know Al qaeda leadership, who were free when Clinton was in office, are now dead or in captivity.

My vanity is flattered that Dominic Hilton found things to praise in the "view from Ohio" thread (that was praise, wasn't it?), but I want to note for the record that it was Hilton, not I, who used the phrase "average hick." Far be it from me to confuse the serious with the solemn, but since the topic under discussion was whether or not urbanites are condescending (viz. "contemptuous") towards rural constituencies, I think the wording matters.