Glenn Beck calls on the latter-day General Ripper to bolster his IslamoMarxistFascistSocialist conspiracy theory about Egypt
February 14, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media Glenn Beck, we can all see, is really plunging wildly over an emotional cliff in his increasingly bizarre attempts to defend his wild conspiracy theories about the unrest in Egypt. And it’s been such an epic meltdown that it’s been hard to keep track of all its many variations. But the researchers at Media Matters happened to catch one of the more hilarious of these: Beck bringing on a onetime commanding general in Iraq — Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin — to defend his theory as being on the money. That’s right: the guy who brought you Abu Ghraib, on to warn of yet another dire threat. Of course, the last we happened to notice Boykin poking his head out of his lead-lined nuclear bunker was when he was explaining how Marxism is being insidiously implemented in America under President Obama — rather like another general we once knew: Click here to view this media As we observed at the time, this was what Boykin saw as America’s biggest problem: I’m a Special Forces officer, I’m a Green Beret and I’ve studied Marxist insurgency, it was part of my training. And the things I know have been done in every Marxist insurgency are being done in America today. Among the signs that we are now on the verge of a complete Marxist takeover? — The bailouts, which Boykin says “nationalized” large chunks of the economy. — Gun control, which Boykin claims that Obama is pursuing by agreeing to a United Nations small-arms treaty. — The hate crimes law, which Boykin claims is about being able to silence pastors and other critics. And then, of course, the coup d’grace : The final thing has been to establish a constabulary force, a force that can control the population. You say “well, we don’t have that.” Well, let me remind you that prior to the election, the President stood up and said that if elected he would have a nation civilian security force that would be as large as and as well-equipped as the United States military. For what? Remember Hitler had the Brownshirts and in the Night of the Long Knives, even Hitler got scared of the Brownshirts and killed thousands of them. So you say “are there any signs that that’s happened” and the truth is yes. If you read the health care legislation which, by the way nobody in Washington has read, but if you read the health care legislation it’s actually in the health care legislation. There are paragraphs in the health care legislation that talk about the commissioning of officers in time of a national crisis to work directly for the President. It’s laying the groundwork for a constabulary force that will control the population in America. Of course, one couldn’t listen to this rant without being instantly reminded of General Jack D. Ripper . I obtained some documentary footage of Gen. Ripper and mashed it up with the Boykin video so you could do a comparison/contrast. As Kyle notes: Let me also just point out that Senate Republicans actually had Boykin on their witness list to testify against Elena Kagan at her confirmation hearing until they dropped him at the last moment. Gee, I can’t imagine why. Let me also point out that Boykin is not only one of the brilliant geniuses behind Abu Ghraib, he also played a major role in the horrendous disaster at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, in 1993. What is not known about Waco is that the final assault plan was amended on the ground by the tactical field commanders on the very day of the assault. That alteration had been discussed and rejected by the FBI brass over several weeks. Nonetheless, the FBI HRT commander, Richard Rogers implemented the rejected plan via a loophole signed by Janet Reno the morning of the final assault on April 19. That alteration was identical to the gassing and demolition plan that two Delta Force advisors seconded to the Justice Dept. in a principals meeting of April 14. Those two advisors supported the rejected plan that was later implemented “hypothetically” in order to conform to the letter of Posse Comitatus law. I also have published a peer-reviewed article with this finding. It is based on government documents–all open source. The rejected plan supported by Jeff Jamar, Richard Rogers, and the two Delta Force officers resulted in a disaster that did not have to happen. It was an ill-advised tactical approach to a religious community that feared that Satan was attacking them. Those two Delta Force officers were Peter J. Schoomaker and “Jerry” Boykin, now both top officials in the US Army in charge of military planning for the war on terrorism. Hey Glenn — we’re convinced!
Continue reading …Shockwaves of the revolution are being felt throughout the Middle East Any fears that the revolution could be reversed by Egypt’s military rulers began to recede yesterday. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, now the official ruler in Egypt, dissolved parliament, suspended the constitution and confirmed that an election would be called in six months’ time. It did not directly address the third demand, that emergency rule would be lifted, but a committee will be formed to amend the constitution, which includes the hated emergency law. Brick by brick, the structure of Hosni Mubarak’s regime is being dismantled. As cars began circling Cairo’s Tahrir Square for the first time in more than two weeks – and there were scuffles between soldiers and protesters who refused to leave – political progress was at long last being made. A march of victory has been called for the end of this week, but one of the opposition leaders, Ayman Nour, was right to say that the military’s actions were meeting the protesters’ central demands. Egypt will be preoccupied with its own affairs for some time to come, but it is clear that the shockwave of last week’s events is already being felt throughout the region. The first to feel its effects was the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank – for whom the former Egyptian president was a trusted ally in the fight to contain and control Fatah’s rival, Hamas. Mahmoud Abbas, whose own term as president has expired and whose legitimacy has been questioned, announced that general elections would be held by September . His aide, Yasser Abed-Rabbo, called upon all parties to participate, a plea that Hamas rejected. With up to 1,000 of their members in Palestinian Authority prisons, it is not difficult to see why. Their ability to contest an election in the West Bank is in doubt and in those circumstances conciliation talks should precede, not follow, an election worth the name. The chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, also offered his resignation after he accepted that the leak of secret documents about talks with Israel, which were published by al-Jazeera and this newspaper , came from his own office. Al-Jazeera was accused of undermining the peace process by publishing the confidential record taken by Palestinian officials. It may be closer to the truth to say that Fatah is divided about the extent of the territorial and other concessions offered by Mr Abbas to the then Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert. Mr Erekat’s resignation may not be the last. These manoeuvres are minor in comparison to the possible change in regional politics that a change of regime in Egypt could trigger. No one can say for sure how Egypt will turn out, but it is already clear that a future government will be
Continue reading …Mona Eltahawy on the Protests in Algeria: Sounds Like Everyone is Catching Freedom Fever
February 14, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media As Susie already noted , there are protesters out in Algeria now defying the government ban and taking to the streets anyway. And as CNN’s Wolf Blitzer noted, the government there decided that shutting down Internet communications and social networking sites was a smart way to deal with the civil unrest there along with a heavy police presence cracking down on protesters. Egyptian journalist Mona Eltahawy weighed in on whether every dictator in the Middle East ought to be worried about the possibility of facing the same fate of those in Egypt and Tunisia. BLITZER: Let’s bring in the Egyptian journalist, the Arab Affairs Analyst Mona Eltahawy, she is joining us once again. Mona, the protests in Tunisia led to a revolution there. In Egypt led to a revolution there. Today we are seeing in Algeria, some major demonstrations going on. What’s going on in the region? MONA ELTAHAWY, ARAB AFFAIRS ANALYST: It sounds to me, Wolf, like everyone is catching freedom fever. I’ve been Tweeting about this and comparing to a rally, like some kind of rally race, where the baton started in Tunisia and handed it to Egypt, and now Egypt is kind of going, OK, who wants it next, guys? As you said, Algeria, we saw protests in Algeria today and interestingly the Algerian authorities shut down Facebook and they did the Internet — I think it was Facebook, mostly. But if you’ll remember, Hosni Mubarak also tried to quell “unrest”– quote/unquote– in Egypt by shutting down the Internet. I just don’t think that these dictators are getting it. That it’s not about shutting down Facebook and the Internet, it is about listening to your people. I think that’s what the freedom fever is. BLITZER: We’re showing our viewers some pictures, still photos of some of the signs and some of the protests in Algeria today. What about Jordan? Is King Abdullah, is he vulnerable there? ELTAHAWY: I think the entire region is vulnerable. We have to approach monarchies is a bit different than we do republics, just because of the structure of societies there. There he’s vulnerable, too. He saw protests during Egypt’s uprising calling for the government to be fired, basically, and we just heard Fionnuala talk about the Muslim Brotherhood there in Jordan. I think every country in the region has basically just kind of sat back and watched in amazement. Now every dictator is obviously watching in fear. But every Arab I know is so excited by what happened because basically what we’re seeing happen in one month, we saw two Arab dictators toppled. And Arabs are sitting back and thinking wow, we can do this. We can get rid of these guys who have been suffocating our countries for decades upon decades. That’s not something you can quell. We hear of some governments – like, Bahrain, for example, promised to give, I don’t know, a raise or something, and others are promising all kinds of money. It’s not about giving monetary incentives to stop a revolution, surely it is about listening to your people and their desire for freedom. BLITZER: Is Bashir Al Assad in Syria threatened right now? ELTAHAWY : There is this timetable for revolution, that has been circling, circulating around Twitter and Facebook, where every country is getting its own hash tag and date. Protests are planned in Syria. Protests are planned in Libya. So countries you don’t normally hear of having these kind of popular uprisings, or public dissent, and that usually crush down quite harshly. Obviously Syria and Libya are very different from Egypt, but what is the saying is that people are watching and thinking we can do it, too. Again, they are on Facebook, the Libyan authorities shut down pages that were inviting people basically to this revolution. So I think everyone is vulnerable. And we’ll see all these dictators try to take these measures. But once you catch freedom fever, it’s hard to go back. BLITZER: ARE you confident that this is going to work in Egypt? ELTAHAWY: I’m very confident it’s going to work because I think hearing all the discussions so far about the armed forces, the military, will they step aside? I think what happened in Egypt is as the armed forces were in the streets in Cairo, they saw the determination in Egyptians’ eyes. Egyptians have awakened to this amazing political empowerment, and the military knows that Egyptians will continue to rise up against anyone who tries to impose a regime on them. I think that’s what’s changed in Egypt. It’s changed for young people, it has changed for women and the way Muslims and Christians get along. So much has changed and that keeps me optimistic. BLITZER: Mona Eltahawy. I follow her on Twitter. At Mona Eltahawy, let me spell it for our viewers here in the United States and around the world, @M-O-N-AE-L-T-A-H-A-W-Y. She’s very active on Twitter it is a very good place to do. Thanks very much, Mona. ELTAHAWY: Thanks, Wolf. Thanks for that plug.
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In Yemen, armed police beat back thousands of protesters as marches continued in the capital Sanaa for a third day. Demonstrators were calling for political reform, and an end to president Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 23 year rule on Sunday. Al Jazeera’s Bhanu Bhatnagar reports.
Continue reading …MSNBC’s O’Donnell Sees ‘Right Wing’ Inciting ‘Anti-Islamic Hysteria,’ Keith Ellison Sees ‘Scarecrow’ in Muslim Brotherhood
February 13, 2011 No Comment
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The Shawna Forde trial: As case goes to jury, cable TV networks continue to ignore the story
February 13, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media [Video via KOLD-TV. ] One of the prevailing questions about the case of Shawna Forde , even as her trial was getting under way, was whether the mainstream media would bother to notice. A Washington Post piece actually tried to tackle this very question, but only dropped a little toe into the lava pit: But unlike the Krentz case, the trial has been a largely local story. “There’s a few places writing about this, but it is not getting the attention it deserves,” said Eric Rodriguez, vice president of the National Council of La Raza. “It should be shocking to more people. Is there any circumstance where what took place is acceptable to people?” Krentz’s shooting, which for a time was a staple of news coverage and has been brought up in homeland security hearings on Capitol Hill, struck a nerve in part because of the government’s failure to deal with illegal immigration. Arizona, which the Pew Hispanic Center reported this month is home to 400,000 undocumented immigrants, has passed tough legislation in recent months to crack down on those who are in the country illegally. The trial is now in the hands of the jury, and I haven’t yet seen a single cable-network report on the story — particularly not on Fox News Channel, which has had complete silence on the case. I’m flying down to Tucson tomorrow and will be reporting from the scene when the verdict is delivered. (The project is being funded by the Investigative Fund of the Nation Institute. ) Meanwhile, the local media have done an excellent job of covering the trial, particularly the reporters at the Arizona Daily Star, led by Kim Smith, who wrap up the closing arguments made Thursday : Shawna Forde thought so highly of herself she believed she could create a new world, decide who was a drug dealer and who wasn’t and who should live and die, prosecutor Rick Unklesbay told jurors Thursday. The truth, however, he said, is, “What Shawna Forde is is a common thief and a murderer.” Unklesbay spent approximately 90 minutes Thursday going over the evidence he says proves Forde, 43, was the mastermind behind a May 30, 2009, Arivaca home invasion that left Raul Junior Flores, 29, and his 9-year-old-daughter, Brisenia, dead of multiple gunshot wounds. Two other suspects in the case, Jason Bush and Albert Gaxiola, are scheduled to go to trial this spring. The prosecutor reminded jurors that at least four witnesses testified Forde bragged about her plan to fund her Minutemen American Defense organization by robbing drug-cartel associates during home invasions. Among those witnesses were her sister, two FBI informants and Oin Oakstar, an Arivaca drug smuggler. Flores and Brisenia died because of Forde’s greed, Unklesbay said. Forde may not have pulled the trigger, “But make no mistake about it, she’s the one who planned the event, recruited the people to do it and she went in there with them,” Unklesbay said. The Daily Star team has also been filing a lot of the details in the trial at their courthouse blog. Definitely worth checking out. Meanwhile, the folks at Presente have created a website and poster demanding justice for Brisenia Flores: enlarge Credit: Presente.org Go here to sign a petition demanding justice for Brisenia.
Continue reading …CNN Anchor Candy Crowley’s Basic Budget Question: ‘Who’s Going to Get Hurt?’
February 13, 2011 No CommentAmerica's budget deficit is enormous. In fiscal 2010, it was $1.3 trillion, and government spending increased nine percent . But on Sunday's State of the Union program on CNN, anchor Candy Crowley pressed Obama's budget director Jack Lew from the left. The only question was who's going to be victimized by spending cuts: “So let's get down to the basic question, who's going to get hurt in this budget?” Lew claimed “The budget saves $1.1 trillion over the next 10 years in domestic spending. It reduces, as you said in your introduction, $400 billion, which would bring us down to the smallest government as a size of the economy since Eisenhower was president.” Team Obama's trying to sound like they're economizers, which is ludicrous. But Crowley could only retort: “At what cost?” Lew claimed the Obama budget has “scores of programs that are being reduced.” Crowley could only keep suggesting they were heartless: CROWLEY: So you have said in an editorial you wrote that the budget is an expression of our values and aspirations. So if I look at this what we call discretionary spending, things we don't have to spend on, you want to cut back community development block programs. That creates jobs in communities; it helps them with infrastructure, that kind of thing. Home heating assistance; education, as you just mentioned. You're also going to do — the Great Lakes Restoration Fund Initiative is getting a pretty healthy cut in what they get from the feds, eight states involved, in trying to keep the Great Lakes economically viable. What does that say about our values and aspirations? LEW: Well, what it says, Candy, is that we really do have to do what every American family does; we have to start living within our means. Crowley's questioning implied that no one's “going to get hurt” if spending balloons without restraint — and that government “investment” in infrastructure or industrial policy is unquestionably effective. She started lecturing Lew about how cuts will ruin education: Here's the problem, I guess. If you are a graduate — let's take one of your examples. You're a graduate student; you are, right now, getting loans. You don't have to pay those loans or any interest on them until you graduate. But now you have to pay — or it accumulates, I'm assuming — you have to pay interest beginning on Day One of grad school, and that makes it so that you can't go to grad school. Lew replied that letting interest accumulate wouldn't make it impossible to go to grad school. Government officials are too polite and afraid of media reaction to wonder out loud how we are going to be able to make any budget
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High security at former Egyptian leader’s home amid calls for international action to freeze Mubarak family assets At the end of a palm-lined drive in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, guarded by dozens of armed security officers and sniffer dogs, a defeated ex-president was this weekend contemplating his past, his present and his future. After steering the destiny of 80
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