The results are in and Ahmadinejad won 62.6% to Mousavi 33.7%. Reactions are very strong to this election and most of it is negative. Before we move on to the US, world, Iranian reactions my quick reaction is that the election results are bogus. The ballots either weren’t counted or the outcome was changed. Either way, I’m rather upset but change doesn’t happen in one election and Iran is changing for the better. The fact that the youth in Iran are involved and not in favor of Ahmadinejad means that something good must be happening. Unfortunately, now more than ever will us in the U.S. and other countries need a president of Iran that would work with the rest of the world. World reaction to the Iranian election is either cautious yet seem to lay out that they don’t agree with the outcome of the election or they are just silent on their opinion of the elections.
The U.S. reaction is coming from Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. This is from the AP,
The U.S. on Saturday refused to accept hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s claim of a landslide re-election victory in Iran and said it was looking into allegations of election fraud.
“We are monitoring the situation as it unfolds in Iran, but we, like the rest of the world, are waiting and watching to see what the Iranian people decide,” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said at a news conference with Canada’s foreign affairs minister, Lawrence Cannon.
Minutes after Clinton spoke, the White House released a two-sentence statement praising “the vigorous debate and enthusiasm that this election generated, particularly among young Iranians,” but expressing concern about “reports of irregularities.”
Canada’s foreign minister Cannon said his country was “deeply concerned” by reports of irregularities in the election. “We’re troubled by reports of intimidation of opposition candidates’ offices by security forces,” he said. “Canada is calling on Iranian authorities to conduct fair and transparent counting of all ballots.”
Other world leaders seem to be taking the wait and see position. The reaction in Iran from supporters of Mousavi was to protest the results. Quite understandable, as I write this post a CNN reporter said the results in Iran initially said Mousavi won and the later something happened where they released the results showing Ahmadinejad won in a landslide. Seems like there should be a recount because from all accounts I don’t think Ahmadinejad should be trusted to run a fair election. Here’s Mousavi reaction via Reuters,
Mousavi complained of violations and vote-rigging — allegations rejected by Interior Ministry officials.
“I’m warning I will not surrender to this dangerous charade. The result of such performance by some officials will jeopardize the pillars of the Islamic Republic and will establish tyranny,” Mousavi said in a statement made available to Reuters.
Here’s some videos and pictures of the protests in Iran,
Iran protester helping an injured riot police officer
It’s been a while since I written one of these. There’s so much I’d like to blog about today but haven’t the time so I thought I’d just put together this post wrapping up some of the latest interesting political stories.
Lets start with a news story, that was completely predictable. Also, very much stereotypical of what a crazy religious zealot would do, not normal decent people, but the ones that like to go overboard. Apparently a gay teen novel is threatening the very fabric of society in Wisconsin. A Christian group wants to have the right to burn said gay teen novel, “Baby Be-Bop”. Can someone tell me what this would achieve, especially in the age of the Internet with ebooks.
As some of you may know, North Korea has been making bold moves lately. With the imprisonment of the two U.S. Journalist and the testing of missiles they are back to testing the international community. So, in typical U.N. fashion sanctions have been applied to North Korea. Is it just me or does the U.N. need to think of long term solutions to fix the North Korea problem cause sanctions don’t seem to ever solve the problem. Nonetheless, it’s better than nothing.
The good news coming from Iran is that whether Ahmadinejad or Mousavi wins, the political landscape is changing. Lets all hope for everyone’s sake that Mousavi wins. The AP changes this stories headline from, “Iran vote extended with turnout massive” to “Iran presidential challenger’s office attacked”, I’m sure the headline will keep changing as more updates come. Campaign offices being attacked isn’t anything out of the ordinary even here in America. I really hope the results are counted in a fair way. Mousavi seems to have the younger generation on his side and even if he loses he’s made some impact. President Obama gave his first statement on the Iran election by stating, “We think there’s the possibility of change”. Mou
If you’re looking for a news story that sounds like something sort of out of a movie then this is it. Yesterday it was reported that two Japanese men arrested in Italy were carrying $134.5 billion of U.S. government bonds. Apparently the bills were counterfeit, the story is interesting, read more at AsianNews.
Okay, enough international stuff for now and lets go to manufactured over reaction from the GOP. So, it’s completely reasonable, no matter which Palin daughter David Letterman was referring to, it was degrading. But, it was a joke and he apologized, and in the statement the Palins made, it’s also rather distasteful for them to suggest the Letterman shouldn’t be around little girls. Basically suggesting he’s a perv. This “uprising” against Letterman is manufactured. The strategy here is to boost her profile, rally conservatives, be against the “typical New York elite liberal”. It’s also very hypocritical. She gets made at Letterman explioting her daughter and says theres a double standard between her daughters being off limit and Obama’s daughters being off limits. The problem is that she has been exploiting her kids and throwing them in the spotlight since she stepped on the national stage. Her 18 year old daughter is practically advocating political positions now and she’s also a celebrity because of her Jerry Springer drama. I think this is a lose-lose from Palin and Letterman. I doubt this story will die before Monday as now republicans want to protest Letterman. This is the only time I’ll mention this story on this blog, cause it’s getting tiring and stupid.
Apparently, Fox News viewers don’t like Fair and Balance. Which is kind of funny since whenever anyone criticizes Fox News, the main rebuttal from conservatives is that “Fox News IS down the middle, unbias, “Fair and Balance”. Now that Shepard voices an opinion that conservatives disagree with, now they get all mad. For what it’s worth, one of the lessons taught in marketing is that if you keep saying the same this over and over again then the people will believe it. “Fair and Balance”, “Fair and Balance”, “Fair and Balance”, “Fair and Balance”, “Fair and Balance” Conservatives are attacking Shepard for stating that the DHS report needs to be taken more seriously.
So, that’s all the stories I found interesting so far, have fun reading!
As most have heard now, James Von Brunn, 88 year old anti-Semitic white supremacist walking into the U.S. Holocaust Museum in D.C. and open fired. Luckily he didn’t get far. He shot, Stephen Tyrone Johns a security guard at the museum but guards responded by shooting James Von Brunn. Stephen Johns later died in the hospital and Brunn is still in the hospital. Brunn has a history, in 1981 he went to the federal reserve with intentions to kidnap. He was convicted and spent 6 years in prison. On his site it says he fought in World War II. From his website,
In 1981 Von Brunn attempted to place the treasonous Federal Reserve Board of Governors under legal, non-violent, citizens arrest. He was tried in a Washington, D.C. Superior Court; convicted by a Negro jury, Jew/Negro attorneys, and sentenced to prison for eleven years by a Jew judge. A Jew/Negro/White Court of Appeals denied his appeal. He served 6.5 years in federal prison. (Read about von Brunn’s “Federal Reserve Caper” HERE.) He is now an artist and author and lives on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
Brunn is also an Obama birth certificate conspirator. Meaning he doesn’t believe Obama is a citizen of the U.S. and his birth certificate is fake. This guy is obviously part of the racist fring movement. With this case, along with the shooting of abortion doctor George Tiller by Scott Roeder what should be done to stop these evil extremist from striking again? We were warned about people like Brunn and Roeder, Janet Napolitano released the slightly less controversial DHS report warning us of these people. Napolitano can’t get full credit for it of course, as the report was started during the Bush administration but somehow she was attacked for it by the right. Anyways, the report titled, Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment explained the role that an economic downturn, first African-American President, change in policies, immigration would have on extremist segments of the population. The report wasn’t our only sign as these types of domestic terrorist have killed in the past.
Let it be known that people like Brunn are watched by the FBI and other organizations. One thing these organizations can’t do it simply arrest someone for making anti-Semitic/racist statements. In this country, white supremacists can march down the street and have a huge parade and be protected by the police. Freedom of speech is very important here and it must not be altered because someone makes offensive remarks. Also, our second amendment right shouldn’t be jeopardized either. So, what should be addressed so prevent these cases of domestic terrorism and intimidation by fringe extremists? I’m truly asking as this case brings forth various issues involving policy and personal responsibility.
One issue that needs to be addressed in our gun laws. I love the second amendment right but should someone with his past have been able to get a gun. Debating the second amendment is something democrats don’t like to do because it becomes a cultural issue. Republicans aren’t bringing it up as much anymore because it always brings the fringe element out which weakens their party and freaks people out. It was no mistake that after the election of Barack Obama, that gun sales went through the roof. Fringe elements of the republican party or others said they were stocking up on guns and to my surprise they did…in fear that Obama would “take away their guns”. But, how did an ex-felon get a gun? There must be others out there like him that felt threatened enough, by either Obama’s election or their general hatred, to get a gun.
I’m all for free speech, but lets face it, there’s some influential figures that go overboard on the rhetoric. O’reilly calling Tiller a “baby killer”, Limbaugh making white against blacks and vice versa type of comments as well as saying Obama is doing more damage to the country then the terrorist of 9/11. These people are listened to by the extremist part of the republican party and they know it, yet they continue to pull strings of hatred. Almost, vindicating extremist beliefs. In this case it comes down to personal responsibility. We all know, O’reilly and Limbaugh would never do what Brunn do because they are only there for entertainment, to spew lies, and make money off the people that believe their crap. But, they know as well as other people in the media, the horrible emails being sent. Even those of us that run small political blogs get racist, threatening emails or comments. Most of us (assuming most) take it as our responsibility to remove these type of comments from our blogs, but people Limbaugh have a bigger stage. Here’s Shepard today talking about the email he receives,
Limbaugh and the rest of the village loons aren’t to blame for the attack, but they do have a responsibility whether they like it or not to tone down the extremist rhetoric. This also exist on far “leftwing” fringe of the democratic party, we’ve seen these people during the election. Some were just as anti-Semitic and racist and some didn’t even bother to vote. People have every right to be anti-abortion, anti-gay rights, and so on, but how about debating these issues respectfully as both sides make great points.
Obviously, the economy is going to take a while to turn around anytime soon though unemployment is slowing. We do know that when people are doing poorly economically, some of those join fringe elements of society where they blame everyone for their issues. I truly think that once the economy turns around then there will be less recruitment by extremist and racist groups. Might be naive on my part, but that’s what I think.
With an increase in economic stability comes better education. I have visited many excellent schools that deal with K-12 students and one of the reasons the school does well is because of diversity. This also plays out in the workforce. It is just a fact that more diverse schools do better. In 2009 there is no reason for schools to be so isolated. From my experiences it plays both ways, whether going to mostly black or white schools or religious school, when students aren’t interacting with people that come from different backgrounds and faiths then they develop stereotypes about each other. Better education is needed to open people’s minds and see that though we come from different backgrounds we really aren’t different or of more value than the next person.
These are only a few issues that should be addressed. Again, we can’t just arrest people for making anti-Semite/racist remarks but we stop the number of people willing to join these fringe groups and do harm. Brunn was a lone killer, but he was part of a white supremacist group. Roeder, who killed the abortion doctor was a lone killer but has been in contact and received information from an influential anti-abortion group. And anti-abortion protests are even getting worse and more threatening. Those of us that think differently from the fringe elements should not feel intimidated to voice our views. There are more fringe idiots out there and though it may be hard to prevent them from doing some harm we can definitely do more to prevent people in the future from joining these hate groups. The world is better now then before on issues of race, religion and tolerance but we have a ways to go. Let me know if you have any idea, because I know the above ideas aren’t the only ways to deal with this issue but it wouldn’t hurt.
Just my quick thought that doing this is really unnecessary. Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham have threatened to shut down the Senate if the bill stopping the release of abuse photos isn’t passed. Though, as expressed here, I have typed my opinion that I really don’t care about if the photos are released. The photos wouldn’t help America in any way, in my opinion. Nonetheless, I don’t think it’s worth it to hold up the already slow Senate just to get their bill passed. It’s not only unnecessary but selfish considering the other issues the Senate has to address that’s more important. Excerpts from Raw Story,
In a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman (I-C.T.) threatened to shut down the Senate by blocking any further legislation unless their bill preventing the release of any further detainee abuse photos is passed.
Both men said they fear more disclosure would trigger heightened violence against Americans overseas.
………….
“The question over the release of the photos is one of two key issues that is jamming up final consideration of a major, emergency spending bill to fund the war in Iraq, efforts in Pakistan and Afghanistan and prepare for the H1N1 flu,” reported Fox.
Huffington Post reported Monday night: “People can’t believe that this is a reality, a possible reality that the detainee photos amendment will be taken out of the bill,” Graham said, shortly before The Huffington Post confirmed that it was. He and Lieberman are determined to vote against the war supplemental without the photos amendment. “And,” he said “I think we’ll carry a lot of people with us.”
Politico came out with two interesting stories. The first story mentioned how Pres. Obama mentions Jesus more than Pres. Bush did.
In his speech Thursday in Cairo, Obama told the crowd that he is a Christian and mentioned the Islamic story of Isra, in which Moses, Jesus and Mohammed joined in prayer.
At the University of Notre Dame on May 17, Obama talked about the good works he’d seen done by Christian community groups in Chicago. “I found myself drawn — not just to work with the church but to be in the church,” Obama said. “It was through this service that I was brought to Christ.”
And a month before that, Obama mentioned Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount at Georgetown University to make the case for his economic policies. Obama retold the story of two men, one who built his house on a pile of sand and the other who built his on a rock: “We cannot rebuild this economy on the same pile of sand,” Obama said. “We must build our house upon a rock.”
More than four months into the Obama presidency, a picture is emerging of a chief executive who is comfortable with public displays of his religion — although he has also paid tribute to other faiths and those he called “nonbelievers” during his inaugural address.
To me it is not necessary for politicians to mention god in political speeches. I firmly believe in separating church and state. On the other hand, the difference between Obama and Bush was that Bush’s policies appeared to largely influenced by the religious right. Pres. Obama, whether on the religious right or left has included them in discussions but not let them control the debate to the point where they’re largely influencing policy. It is quite interesting since religion in most part during the campaign has worked against him. Yet, the religious right was the loudest during the campaign. Pres. Obama did however come off as a moderate on religious issues while still able to affirm his Christian beliefs. Atheists, though some skeptical about Pres. Obama’s speeches, they realize this. This is also from Politico,
Though disappointed by this, Toni Van Pelt, director and chief lobbyist for the Center for Inquiry, thinks that now is the time for nonbelievers to tread lightly, “in a thoughtful way, to be successful and not suffer a severe backlash.”
As part of this, Van Pelt says nonbelievers are wise to keep their consternation in check, particularly over such things as rhetorical matters.
“I don’t want you to think that I am undercutting the importance of cultural messages,” she says, “but pragmatically, there are some really serious things that we need to focus our work on.”
And, to be sure, Obama has pleased many secular humanists with specific actions he’s already undertaken, such as overturning a last-minute Bush order that gave protection to health care providers who refuse to attend to medical requests on account of their personal beliefs. In addition, advocates say they have been heartened by Obama’s push for “evidence-based” science policy, as well as his individual selections for administration science posts.
Last week, the Secular Coalition for America, an atheist advocacy group, held its first-ever individual face-to-face with the White House. Ron Millar, the coalition’s acting director, told POLITICO that he met with Paul Montero, Obama’s religious liaison in the White House Office of Public Engagement.
There’s obviously going to be some sort of opposition from atheists groups on decisions Pres. Obama makes. The good thing is that they are allowed to have a voice at the table along with faith based groups. Which is something that didn’t happen during the Bush administration.
Well this is very new, or at least a new term being used. During a speech addressing the people attending Rock Church in Virginia about “Rediscovering God in America”, he said Americans are surrounded by paganism. This is from The Hill,
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee urged Christians to get involved in politics to preserve the presence of religion in American life.
“I think this is one of the most critical moments in American history,” Gingrich said. “We are living in a period where we are surrounded by paganism.”
They and other speakers warned about the continuing availability of abortion, the spread of gay rights, and attempts to remove religion from American public life and school history books.
Because the last thing we need in a Christian country is a bunch of Christians in politics I’m sure most the people in the church agreed with Gingrich. One thing I don’t want is someone urging people to enter politics for the purpose of bringing in religious dogma. I wish Gingrich and other republicans would respect the founding fathers and our Constitution. By the way, God isn’t mentioned in the Constitution! Let me also mention how un-American it is to step over the fact that theres supposed to be a separation of Church and State. If Newt, the adulterer, is now the go to guy telling us that we’re godless or basically criticizing those how don’t believe, then we can kiss our principles good bye.
The U.S. on Saturday refused to accept hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s claim of a landslide re-election victory in Iran and said it was looking into allegations of election fraud.
Mousavi complained of violations and vote-rigging — allegations rejected by Interior Ministry officials.
I’m sure most the people in the church agreed with Gingrich. One thing I don’t want is someone urging people to enter politics for the purpose of bringing in religious dogma. I wish Gingrich and other republicans would respect the founding fathers and our Constitution. By the way, God isn’t mentioned in the Constitution! Let me also mention how un-American it is to step over the fact that theres supposed to be a separation of Church and State. If Newt, the adulterer, is now the go to guy telling us that we’re godless or basically criticizing those how don’t believe, then we can kiss our principles good bye.
