A clear case of flying while Arab (FWA)
I watched some footage on CNN's website regarding the removal of the Imams from the plane. Specifically, I saw an interview with a young white woman and an older white man. When they asked them to recall what about the men seemed suspicious or of concern, they noted the following:
"One was wearing sunglasses and it was dark on the plane"
"They were kinda of keeping to themselves"
"They were together in the terminal, but sat in different seats when they boarded"
"They were praying together on the plane"
Every one of the things they noted was perfectly innocent. I'm not sure the average white person would recognize the fact that what they keyed off of was the muslim appearance of these men, not their behaviors, but anybody that has ever been profiled can see it a mile away. The guys were scholars in Minneapolis for a conference. The conference organizers even notified local law enforcement and the FBI ahead of time to help avoid issues. When asked to leave the plane, they refused and they got arrested. I can't say I blame them. I would have been pissed off and I think my attitude might have been, "F**k it, arrest me then". They took the guys off the plane, interrogated them, then released them. US Airways refused to put them on another flight. Its a crying shame. Comes with the territory these days, just like being scrutinized by the police when you are a brother, but still, its a shame.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Monday, November 20, 2006
KRT Wire | 11/20/2006 | Rangel says he's serious about reinstating the draft
KRT Wire | 11/20/2006 | Rangel says he's serious about reinstating the draft
Now, this is precisley the kind of absurdity that I do not want to see the Democrats engaging in. While its an arguement to say that the threats we face currently in the world require a larger military (a view echoed by Abizaid in the recent hearings), addressing that need with the draft is not necessary. Beefing up pay and benefits for the armed forces could accomplish the same without all of the attendant issues that come with conscription.
The only reason for Rangel to float this is as a way to embarrass the President and rub his nose in the mess that Iraq certainly is. But thats not what the vote on 11/7 was about. The American people already know its a mess and that we are not winning. We want Congress and the President to come up with a strategy for winning, not to play political games with it. This is the kind of political stupidity that left unchecked will certainly damage the hopes of the Democrats to beat back another decade long absence from the majority.
Its also an interesting light on Pelosi as speaker. Either this is the kind of posturing her liberal viewpoint is comfortable with (a bad thing) OR, she does not have the political strength as Speaker to enforce discipline or forge consensus on strategy with powerful committee chairs like Rangel (also a bad thing). Either way, this is playing politics with the war, and the public is just not going to stand for it. Dems will pay a bitter price in 08 if they don't get a grip.
Now, this is precisley the kind of absurdity that I do not want to see the Democrats engaging in. While its an arguement to say that the threats we face currently in the world require a larger military (a view echoed by Abizaid in the recent hearings), addressing that need with the draft is not necessary. Beefing up pay and benefits for the armed forces could accomplish the same without all of the attendant issues that come with conscription.
The only reason for Rangel to float this is as a way to embarrass the President and rub his nose in the mess that Iraq certainly is. But thats not what the vote on 11/7 was about. The American people already know its a mess and that we are not winning. We want Congress and the President to come up with a strategy for winning, not to play political games with it. This is the kind of political stupidity that left unchecked will certainly damage the hopes of the Democrats to beat back another decade long absence from the majority.
Its also an interesting light on Pelosi as speaker. Either this is the kind of posturing her liberal viewpoint is comfortable with (a bad thing) OR, she does not have the political strength as Speaker to enforce discipline or forge consensus on strategy with powerful committee chairs like Rangel (also a bad thing). Either way, this is playing politics with the war, and the public is just not going to stand for it. Dems will pay a bitter price in 08 if they don't get a grip.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Democrats to Press Bush to Redeploy Troops in Iraq - New York Times
Democrats to Press Bush to Redeploy Troops in Iraq - New York Times
Its been a while since I got into this blog. The mid term elections have come and gone and the Dems took control. Now the question is whether they will foolishly over reach and misread the American people, or restrain the urge to whole sale reverse course in Iraq.
First off, the Dems won not because they have such great ideas for running the country, but because Americans are convinced that the President's conduct of the war is not working and they were fed up with 12 years of Republican control of Congress and the White House in which the Republicans forgot who the heck they were supposed to be.
On Iraq, I think Americans are clear that Iraq is a mess and the administration's strategy for prosecuting it is not adequate to the complexity of the situation. Oh yeah, I know, a lot of people have no idea what Iraq was to accomplish in the first place. To recap, the Bush administration took down Iraq in order to lean on the surrounding countries more effectively to obtain their help in going after terrorist networks. This limited goal was achieved, we got a ot of cooperation from surrounding countries. The problem became mission creep as it went from muscling regional players to implanting democracy to full scale nation building in a socio-cultural political situation the administration never fully understood. As Colin told them, "if you break it, you own it".
While there are plenty of Americans who say bring the troops home now, I think most recognize that having gone in there and wreaked all this havoc, its not a responsible or prudent thing to simply up and leave. Furthermore, the Iraqi people have been plunged into a living hell and I think there is a moral obligation on this country to try to salvage some hope for their futures from this mess.
The other issue was corruption and plain old partisan power politics. The republicans have ruled with an iron fist, and Congress and the White House just scratched each other's back. Congress let the President do whatever he wanted more or less, backing him with legislation. The White House for its part, hasn't vetoed one bit of the hysterical spending being done by Congress. The deficit is getting hammered and the corporate and moneyed interests of this country were being entrenched while the little guy got screwed.
But as the article in the NYT highlights, its now time to see if the democrats are truly able to govern. Iraq is a complex situation. Bush's strategy has failed because it didn't recognize that, and the Dems already sound guilty of the same failure of understanding with their calls for redeployment in the short term. There was a strategic rationale to the Iraq war. The problem is that the war opened up a large can of worms, a Pandora's box that Bush needs to close. The downside is that there are no good options in Iraq now. All we have are bad choices. The Dems make a mistake if they think that the simplistic answer of just bring the troops home is the right move. Bush's strategy failed for lack of respect for the complexity of the problem. The Dems are poised to make a similar mistake.
Its been a while since I got into this blog. The mid term elections have come and gone and the Dems took control. Now the question is whether they will foolishly over reach and misread the American people, or restrain the urge to whole sale reverse course in Iraq.
First off, the Dems won not because they have such great ideas for running the country, but because Americans are convinced that the President's conduct of the war is not working and they were fed up with 12 years of Republican control of Congress and the White House in which the Republicans forgot who the heck they were supposed to be.
On Iraq, I think Americans are clear that Iraq is a mess and the administration's strategy for prosecuting it is not adequate to the complexity of the situation. Oh yeah, I know, a lot of people have no idea what Iraq was to accomplish in the first place. To recap, the Bush administration took down Iraq in order to lean on the surrounding countries more effectively to obtain their help in going after terrorist networks. This limited goal was achieved, we got a ot of cooperation from surrounding countries. The problem became mission creep as it went from muscling regional players to implanting democracy to full scale nation building in a socio-cultural political situation the administration never fully understood. As Colin told them, "if you break it, you own it".
While there are plenty of Americans who say bring the troops home now, I think most recognize that having gone in there and wreaked all this havoc, its not a responsible or prudent thing to simply up and leave. Furthermore, the Iraqi people have been plunged into a living hell and I think there is a moral obligation on this country to try to salvage some hope for their futures from this mess.
The other issue was corruption and plain old partisan power politics. The republicans have ruled with an iron fist, and Congress and the White House just scratched each other's back. Congress let the President do whatever he wanted more or less, backing him with legislation. The White House for its part, hasn't vetoed one bit of the hysterical spending being done by Congress. The deficit is getting hammered and the corporate and moneyed interests of this country were being entrenched while the little guy got screwed.
But as the article in the NYT highlights, its now time to see if the democrats are truly able to govern. Iraq is a complex situation. Bush's strategy has failed because it didn't recognize that, and the Dems already sound guilty of the same failure of understanding with their calls for redeployment in the short term. There was a strategic rationale to the Iraq war. The problem is that the war opened up a large can of worms, a Pandora's box that Bush needs to close. The downside is that there are no good options in Iraq now. All we have are bad choices. The Dems make a mistake if they think that the simplistic answer of just bring the troops home is the right move. Bush's strategy failed for lack of respect for the complexity of the problem. The Dems are poised to make a similar mistake.
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