Today's edition of quick hits:
* As violence in Israel intensifies, the prospects for even a ceasefire are not at all good.
* Hamas said today it's "up to Israel to end the new conflict it had started, adding that a 'land war' would cost Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the election."
* Dana Liebelson put together a primer on the Israel-Hamas conflict for those who want to get up to speed.
* President Obama makes a historic visit to Burma.
* Afghan President Hamid Karzai ordered his aides to "institute the 'full Afghanization' of the U.S.-run prison at Bagram Air Base, charging that American forces are continuing to detain Afghans despite a bilateral agreement in March to transfer all prisoners to Afghan authorities."
* Officials at the World Bank are once again warning of "catastrophic consequences" if average world temperatures rise more than 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century.
* Could an extension of Bush-era tax breaks be bad for the economy? Actually, yes.
* Good call in Massachusetts: "Governor Deval Patrick will direct state colleges and universities Monday to allow young illegal immigrants to pay the lower resident rate for tuition and fees as soon as they obtain work permits through a new federal program."
* As if Rupert Murdoch didn't have enough problems, he had to walk back a controversial tweet over the weekend after accusations of anti-Semitism.
* And those eager to equate every potential political controversy to Watergate should take a moment to remember what the Watergate actually was and why it was so important.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
Leave a Comment:
So imprisoning the Palestinisns within a wall and blockadeing them failed to kill them off quick enough.
Things you will never get a clue about from the corporately owned media.
It could have something to do with a genocidal attitude towards Israelis.
Or living next door to the people who overthrew your government and kicked you out of your own country.
Wow, basketball boy misses again from the free-throw line! Do you actually know how to shoot a basketball, basketball boy?
Polish flag raised at ESA
Why in the world does NBC seem to think dramatic music behind the report about Hamas and Israel is needed? I don't need to be told how to feel about this.
What public challenges to the seperatist movement in the red states is being waged by Progressives and other groups?
None. We're hoping they'll leave.
I remember back to the days of the Vietnam War demonstrations when we were told "LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT!!!"
When I was in the AF in '69 I actually got to meet Sam Ervin, who headed the Senate Watergate Committee. I am a nut about history anyhow, but I have read a lot about Watergate.
I find the Republicans and their constant use of Watergate and impeachment as infuriating. And I find the Democrats just as disgusting for allowing it to happen (especially Nancy Pelosi and impeachment being off the table and President Obama for not prosecuting Bush, Cheney and the others).
Nixon and his some members of his administration, such as Agnew, were ACTIVELY involved with planning a variety of things that were felonies. Prior to the acts, they were planning on how to have plausible denial of the events. Things from breaking and entering to money laundering. Afterwards they not only tried to cover things up, they succeeded to some degree in preventing the truth from coming out (obstruction of justice).
It's up to the DEMOCRATS to bring an end to this.
What John McCain was involved with when he nearly got expelled from the Senate because of the Keating Five scandal was significantly worse than even the worst case scenario that he has fantasized about when it comes to Libya.
Dana Liebelson put together a primer on the Israel-Hamas conflict for those who want to get up to speed.
What a one-sided load of crap 'primer'!
If you desire an educated, nuanced perspective that is not one-sided, try Professor Juan Cole of The University of Michigan who is undoubtably the most informed academic in the U.S. on the Middle East and the various branches of Islam.
http://www.juancole.com/
You're surprised that a member of the tribe wrote a primer defending the tribe?
Check these links for information on the "humanitarian concern" if the Israeli Wehrmacht:
Matan Vilnai, deputy defense minister of Israel has in the past threatened a "holocaust" and Gilad Sharon, son of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, called for Gaza to be the new “Hiroshima.”
My best friend is married to a Muslim from Palestine (technically, he was born in Jordan but only after his family was forced out of Palestine so his heart is all in Palestine).
The horror stories he tells of the atrocities suffered by those in the Gaza strip are enough to make your stomach churn. Not one of them had I ever heard about from the media.
Israel needs to know that the USA isn't going to come to their aid and defence by rote anymore. They must not be allowed to butcher and kill Palestinians just because the worlds largest army is backing them up without question. Those days need to be over.
i agree. the american people are not being educaated by our corporate media, if you want a different view watch democracy now on link tv
There are still a lot of votes not counted in Arizona. Someone needs to ask those election officials in Arizona and Florida why those states have counting problems when Illinois, California and New York have more people in some counties and they have no similar counting problems.
We all know the answer.
They will keep recounting until they get the results they want
On November 6th, while the U.S. attention was on the elections, Netanyahu announced the building of 1,285 more "settlement" housing units in East Jerusalem.
Soon after Israel got the response they expected from Hamas -- rockets fired into Israel.
Israel assassinates Hamas leader.
More rockets from Hamas.
Israel creates hell on earth in Gaza.
History keeps repeating. The last time Netanyahu ordered 1600 new "settlement" housing units in East Jerusalem. He always does this before an election there. He needs to up the fear, so Likud looks like the protector of Israel.
Speaking of Twinkies. You know there is just something that just keeps going through my mind that I do want to know about. First NBC and MSNBC have increased in their ratings, but it was attributable to the very fact that they needed the way to do it. As I see it, many of us bloggers have definitely majorly contributed to changing NBC and MSNBC for the better. And I want to know what is in it for us bloggers who have really contributed majorly to the improvement of NBC and MSNBC, especially financially. Your terms and conditions in my frame of mind sucks so if you could explain how it can really benefit us contributing bloggers who have stimulated NBC and MSNBC to change in the right direction? It would be appreciated if you didn’t use the typical business bull crap and pony out something substantial. How much do you really value your bloggers?
close your eyes and what do you see?
now, take that to the bank.
You comment on a blog and think you're a blogger??
Actually anybody who does write or blog here can affect the news media so I do not agree with what you say. Stop making excuses, when you know it is true.
This is nowhere near Watergate, but there are some questions left to ask Susan Rice slanderers, sore losers, Benghazi conspiracy theorists and Republicans who at every turn try to be the political antimatter to President Obama no matter what he does:
Given that Susan Rice repeated almost word for word the declassified talking points that intelligence agencies prepared for her interviews, isn't it you, who owes her an apology?
What is the political benefit of hiding something that the administration knew everyone would know in a short period of time, well before the election was over? Isn't the most logical reason for not declassifying the specifics that terrorists were involved was to protect ongoing operations and the pursuit of these terrorists? If your main concern is the protection of these pursuits why would you engage in political attacks demanding answers that would compromise these efforts? Is it because you just didn't think about it?
If before you talk about Gen. Petraeus’s failings you always acknowledge his accomplishments, don't you owe Susan Rice the same deference by first acknowledging all of her contributions as a public servant before you attack a single morning's interviews?
Do you regret Republicans denying Pres. Obama's administration's request for millions of dollars more in support for the exact type of security Chris Stevens and everyone else engaged in the Benghazi mission, asked for and desperately needed? If you're so concerned now about the lack of security we had in Benghazi, how come you didn't research what sort of security was being requested and needed before you determined not to supply more funding for security? Are you focusing on Susan Rice more than the security failures in Benghazi, because you're concerned about the fact that you would not provide the necessary funds requested? If you're calling for investigations and hearings regarding the statements on one single day about an evolving situation, are you also going to call for investigations and hearings regarding congresses failures to understand the actual security situation before they deny funds for it?
Given that you supported Condoleezza Rice's Secretary of State Nomination, what other disqualifying actions has Susan Rice demonstrated that surpass Condoleezza Rice's actions? If there are no others, do you really believe that her interviews on one Sunday morning entirely disqualify her from advancement, given all of her extensive accomplishments?
Do you regret your overzealous nature in conducting public hearings leading to the outing of Libyans working for the CIA and publicly exposing there was a CIA operation? Do you regret so aggressively attacking the administration given the fact that a part of the reason the intelligence community didn't declassify what they knew about the terrorists involved was to protect the fact that they obtained that information through an ongoing undercover CIA operation?
Given the fact that Susan Rice was exactly relaying the up-to-date declassified intelligence information, isn't your problem with the intelligence agencies who formulated the talking points for her interviews? If your problem is with the intelligence agencies, what is your exact problem with what they did and did not declassify?
Why have you displayed far more aggression towards Susan Rice than the terrorists who killed four dedicated Americans?
They're just trying to keep the attacks up against Obama with increasingly less material.
just a thought...
wasn't the defunding of State just a stupid poke at HRC? if we cut off her money, she won't be an effective SoS so we'll have stuff to yell about her "lackluster" career at State when she runs for President in 2016. yup, yup, yup (think stupid buzzard talking).
they wanted to cut off her balls. swing and a miss! they forgot she keeps hers in her briefcase. did they think she slept through all those years hanging around the white house and more in the senate? did they think she never listened to WJC or, likely, advised him?
so, it looks like a try for a cheap shot gets them a dead ambassador and three others. this maybe should be hung around their necks like a rotting albatross?
hey, they make $hit up, i make $hit up. or...
I have issue with the primer on the Israel-Gaza conflict. One thing that is so important to know is that before Israel bombs anyone they drop thousands of leaflets that warn innocent civilians to evacuate. They are the only army in the world that does this. In contrast, the terrorist organizations including Hamas specifically place their rocket launchers right where there are innocent children and families so that if the Israelis bomb the rocket launchers they will inadvertently kill innocents. Other armies keep their weapons away from areas where innocent civilians live so that it is two armies fighting each other, not purposefully getting their own civilians killed to make the other army look bad in the media. I personally disagree with the settlements and bombing overall but Hamas does not play according to the few rules of war that actually exist. Israeli breaks those rules by warning people they wil bomb them, giving up the opportunity for a surprise attack, because they are a religious based government that believes they must try to reduce civilian casualties. No one is completely innocent here, but these two facts are essential to know when considering this situation.
Do you have a clue what Gaza is? Do you have the slightest bit of knowledge that there is no place else to "go to" there?
Letting the Jews back into Israel after 2,000 years made as much sense as would giving North America back to the Indians. Every tribe has a story about "God" giving them the place they're in. The single dumbest idea the British imperialists ever had in the history of their "wonderful" empire.
True, TC, but no one can change that now. We just have to deal with the consequences. Both the Israelis AND the Palestinians have to get over the past and decide how they want to live in the future.
Neither group is going to "get rid" of the other - but they CAN learn to live together - once they figure out that the pain of fighting is greater than anything either side will gain.
Who is responsible for the debt?
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_maz23oPiyC1r9xd47o1_500.jpg
I guess you missed the fact that most of that debt was ran up by Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Paulson/Rove spending our national wealth like crack ho's with credit cards. You DO know that 2 wars, tax cuts for the rich, Medicare Part iDiot and all that other ridicules supplementals that were never paid for, right?
You are actually blaming Obama/Biden for finally putting that debt on the books and paying for it, idiot
Uhm- I remember way back in the campaign, Obama was claiming that he was going to save a bundle on the war, and redeploy those savings to domestic issues. That doesn't sound like credit card spending. But, he was found to be a liar on this fact.
These Republicans are gonna ask the musical group air supply to rewrite their song "making love out of nothing at all" and change it to "making scandals out of nothing at all"
What's next for the GOP? Are they gonna ask for a special committee to find the identity of "who (really) let the dogs out?"
YEA, and the way those damn Liberals started two wars without paying for them or lied to start one of those wars. Oh wait that was George W.
Hey Useful Tool, remember 1983 how Liberals cut & run after 241 Marines were killed in Lebanon... oh wait that was Ronald Reagan
I know I KNOW, it's just a coincidence every time "a Liberal" is in the White House, Americans have to struggle through a banking/financial scandal/crisis... oh wait, that was "a Bush".
You Conservative wackos got nothing, no brains, no hope, no balls, no rational stance or common sense. You're a bunch of brainwashed LOSERS who deserve to be held accountable for your poor voting choices... I'm sick of you right wing degenerates ruining the nation with your low grade thought processes
A least Ted Kennedy worked the rest of his life to make up for any mistakes he made... What are the Bush's and Cheney's doing, hiding out in their bomb shelters cyberbitchslap2.blogspot.com #*^~ you!
Jerrold
Seek help.
I’ve heard every aspect about this latest conflict in the Holy Land but the one thin I haven’t heard any news about is who the f*** is providing rockets to the Palestinians? You mean to tell me investigative journalists, law enforcement and intelligence agents can’t identify the manufacturer of those rockets? COME ON!
I hope to GOD no American has a hand in this arms dealing. Lets say rocket parts manufacturers or other war profiteers who came out of the woodwork during Bush/cheney like a nest of disease infested roaches. I am somebody who wants to lynch War Profiteers consciousmc.blogspot.com
It has been reported that the primitive rockets (with a range of maybe 10 km) are home-made. The longer range rockets are reported to be made in Iran, flown to Sudan, trucked through Egypt and transported by tunnels into Gaza.
SpoAct, And Let's not forget the Fact about The Bombing of the Marine Barrack's. That Intercept's where made by the NSA and they knew 4 week's PRIOR to the attack that something was going to happen, Col. Geraghty found this Info out 28 Day's after the Bombing.
Gee Sarge who was president when that happened? Oh yeah Reagan. Thanks for reminding me Sarge.
If the Republican party, Conservative media, and Conservative movement put as much energy into helping fix this country as they do looking for scandals that aren't there...we can have a hugely successful country by New Year's day 2013
I'll vote for you
Never going to happen. Good luck with your campaign. I was a write-in candidate for Emperor of the World, but I didn't get any votes.
My reccomendatin for those that want to understand the situation in Israel regarding Hamas is to first read the Hamas charter. The preamble calls for killing Jews wherever they are. The important point within the charter is that it is all Muslim land and therefore there can be no negotiating. Hamas took over after a bloody over throw of Fatah in Gaza. Hamas is an antisemitic terrorist organization that targets civilians. The rockets were hitting Israel long before the arms blockade. Israel left Gaza and what it got was a terrorist base that has succesfully terrorized over a million Israelis for years.
How does this work? It is the randomness of the rockets. If they hit you can be killed. So even if there are only 3 a day since you never know where or when they will hit, how do you live? Can your kids play outside? Walking the dog? All the little things most people take for granted. I myself thought I understood but until I recently heard the siren in my town and the boom that followed I realized I did not quite get how scary it is.
Gaza itself is complicated. There is wealth in Gaza. New malls, five star hotels and ater parks and brand new cars. There is also poverty. Israel allows supplies to come in through the crossings on its border even today. Patients are treated in Israeli hospitals. And what of the crossing between Gaza and Egypt. Why has Egypt not opened the gates? After all Mubarek is gone. Now the Muslim Brotherhood is in charge and Hamas is an offspring of the Muslim Brotherhood. So Gaza is complicated.
The stockpiling of weapons with greater capabilities has been going on in Gaza for too long. These weapons, to be used against a civilian population can not be allowed. So after careful intelligence gathering, followed by Hamas increased firing of hundreds of rockets on our civilian population it was time to stop them before it was too late.
The solution is simple. Stop the rockets.
An interesting comment on the situation from Yair Lapid who will be running with a new centrist party in the next Knesset elections-
We tend to feel, instinctively, that in any struggle or conflict the weaker side is also right. That is not the case here. The weaker side of this conflict fired 12,000 missiles on innocent civilians, using women and children as human shields, twisted Islam into a religion of blood
shed and horror, and at the very same time is cynically misusing western freedom of speech in order to portray itself in the media as the victim; The stronger side of this same conflict is a democracy that has been bleeding for years from unprovoked terror attacks , that has already vacated the Gaza strip more then 7 years ago, and that is supplying it's enemy even now with electricity, medicine, water and humanitarian aid and is going out of it's way – including jeopardizing it's own soldiers – in an effort to save the lives of the very same Palestinian citizens the Hamas seems so eager to sacrifice in the name of Allah
Every item Ms. Warady cites is word for word from the Israeli government and false. First of all Israel is not a democracy. Was South Africa a democracy because it held a "fair" election for white people only? There are about 12-13 million people between the Jordan river and the Med. sea and over 5 million Palestinians are under illegal Israeli control & occupation and have No vote, therefore Not a democracy...and that's not counting several million more Palestinian refugees that Israel expelled and won't allow back to their home and towns- in spite of U.N. Security resolutions. 12,000 rockets against Israel? What is the source of that figure? I don't believe it for a second. Portray itself as the victim? Who suffers? As of today 4 Israelis have died and about 145 Gazans: who is the victim? During Operation "Cast Lead" in '08-09 the ratio was about 1,400 Pal vs 10 Israeli dead. Unprovoked attack? The world knows better; Provocation was front page news that Israel assassinated a Hamas leader, the negotiator who made the deal to free Israeli solder Shalit. prior to that Isrl shot unarmed 14 yr old boy who 'got too close to fence', then Hamas rocketed an army jeep then the assassination. The siege of Gaza is collective punishment, illegal under the 4th Geneva Convention: a War Crime. No one can enter of leave, the fishermen can't fish, Isrl controls air space and food coming in, calibrating the calories just above starvation. Don't believe me: look up any of this on the Israeli website B'tselem, Human Rights Watch, ad nauseum. Israel is a wolf in sheep's clothing, a nuclear regional superpower w. 4th largest air force in the world attacking a defenseless 1.7 million with no army and nothing but WWII rockets, and losing 4 people and crying victim. Only here in Israel & US does anyone believe this non-sense because the press is totally pro-Israel.
Gaza is an open air prison and Ms. Warady pretends Israel is supplying humanitarian aid while it rains bombs killing over 35 children just in the past few days, targeting journalists, ambulances, etc. All of this happened in 08 fully documented in UN reports; attacking schools even police stations. Yesterday they hit the building housing Agence France and Aljazeera offices- journalists died because Israel doesn't want the reports and pictures coming out- Shame on you Ms. Warady for peddling "hasbara" i.e. Israel gov't propaganda while innocent people's apartments have collapsed on them and Israel refuse to let people live because---and here is the real reason which every Israeli knows: Netanyahu and Barak want to be re-elected in January. Since their economic plans are in tatters, and the security establishment in Israel rejects their plans to attack Iran, and then Netanyahu insults Obama and openly back Romney- Netanyahu has one card to play: kill Palestinians. How cynical! If these are Jewish values the Prophets are spinning in their graves!