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![]() Just Above Sunset
January 8, 2006 - Just when you thought you knew the players and the rules...
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There is much unease in
the Middle East as a key player has been sidelined from the game - as in this from the BBC midweek – Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon is to be kept heavily sedated as he fights for his life after suffering a major stroke on Wednesday. And there was more
surgery, and as of publication here, he's still hanging on. So what is the unease? Chief Palestinian negotiator
Saeb Erekat - "I'm really worried that the competition to replace Mr Sharon will be marred with more escalation against the
Palestinians whether in the form of assassinations, arrests, incursions of settlements and that worries me a lot." "He was dividing God's
land. And I would say, Woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the E.U., the United Nations
or the United States of America. God says, This land belongs to me. You better leave it alone." God got him good! This
is punishment for giving up Gaza. A notorious unit under
his command had been responsible for the mass slaughter of the inhabitants of Qibya, a village in the then-Jordanian West
Bank, in 1953. He had gone on to be one of the most promiscuous participants in the lawless attack on Egypt, in collusion
with the most reactionary circles in Britain and France, in October of 1956. After 1967, he was a particularly brutal enforcer
of the occupation in Gaza. But, finally, Sharon "did
begin to acknowledge the contours of Palestinian statehood, and this counts as one of the better ironies of history." He made things better a
bit, but realistically he had no choice. That was the only "opportunity." The Sabra and Shatila massacres
he arranged were youthful exuberance? The Israeli government
is planning to give up a large slice of land to American Christian evangelicals to build a biblical theme park by the Sea
of Galilee where Jesus is said to have walked on water and fed 5,000 with five loaves and two fish. And note these details from the ABC Travel pages – Highlights may include
a Holy Bible Garden, full of plants and trees mentioned in the New Testament, and equipped with quiet sites for reflection
and prayer. A Sea of Galilee Amphitheater will overlook the mouth of the Jordan River and hold 1,500-2,000 worshippers. And
the park will have a Christian Experience Auditorium and a Multimedia Center. The Guardian reports a mixed reaction, locally – Yossi Sarid, a former
government minister and member of the Knesset, said he was wary of the friendship of the American Christian right and projects
such as the Galilee centre. He said: "I am not enthusiastic about this cooperation because I have no desire to be cannon fodder
for the evangelists. It hardly seems like the
twenty-first century. After the enlightenment we had all sort of war about territory and resources and just raw power. Now,
we're back to competing fundamentalists. What happened? It'll all be over soon
enough. And what our friends say? Rick,
the News Guy in Atlanta – I always figured one proof that God is not the vengeful jerk that Osama bin Laden and Pat Robertson make him out to
be is that, after all these years, those two idiots are still alive and kicking and making general nuisances of themselves. You'd think a guy who had a controversial
"Wonderful World of Jesus" business deal awaiting Israeli government approval would know enough not to go insult Israel's
leadership. And I would also wonder, the next time Pat Robertson shows up at the White House, whether we should take this
to be proof that our own leaders still associate themselves with people of low degree, or instead whether it would just be
further proof that the members of this administration still don't read the newspapers. Frequent
contributor Phillip Raines – I can only guess at the security that will need to be in place at Jesusland theme park. Metal detectors won't be enough. I also thought Sharon - once a warmonger - has become a little less vengeful himself.
I can't help but think that was because he saw the last days coming, as anyone his age and weight with such a stressful
life would realistically consider. With power, wisdom and time running out I
would want to make peace, not kick ass and seek revenge. Maybe he did too. And the Pat Robinson problem of dealing out smite cards because he knows what God thinks… Could anything be more arrogant wrapped in piety? It's just too much. Rick
again – In Sharon's case, I tend to think it's the classic case of conservatives getting the power they also wished (and campaigned)
for, and then slowly becoming converts to reality. In Pat Robertson's case, I think the dude knows the only way to keep a picture of his mug fresh in our brains is to
periodically say something radically stupid, then tip off the media. I suppose he was just about due again. Dick
in Rochester – Can anyone here hack into Robertson's phone list? I wanna talk to God, too! As
mentioned in Washington 90210 - the background piece on Jack Abramoff (Beverly Hills High School, Class of 1977), the lobbyist who pled guilty to all sort
of the felonies and will, in return for a lighter sentence, reveal just what congressmen and staffers he sort of bribed -
this whole investigation is being overseen by one Noel Hillman, "a hard-charging career prosecutor who heads the Public Integrity Section and who has a long track record
of nailing politicians of all stripes." But
we're also told "politics almost certainly will creep into the equation" as Hillman's new boss is one Alice Fisher, "who is
widely respected but also a loyal Republican socially close to DeLay's defense team."
As noted, Alice Fisher was appointed to this post in a "recess appointment" last September - Carl Levin, a senator from Michigan,
and a Democrat, had been blocking the nomination. Some agent had named Alice Fisher in an email saying we really were torturing
folks down in Guantánamo, and he wanted to look into that. Did she have something to do with saying that was fine and dandy?
Levin didn't get to ask the question. Like John Bolton at the UN, Alice Fisher was appointed through the procedural back door,
and no one can do anything about either one of these two until 2007. Floyd Hall, of New Jersey,
to be a Member of the AMTRAK Reform Board. Do these names mean anything
to anyone? Under the Constitution,
the president may avoid the Senate confirmation process and make appointments while the chamber is in recess. Such appointments
usually are short-term, expiring at the end of next congressional session. So there is some heartburn.
John McCain complains that
the regular confirmation process should be used "so the Senate can be assured that nominees are qualified." Ted Kennedy says
there's a problem with Hans von Spakovsky going to the FEC - von Spakovsky is the Justice Department lawyer who was Republican
Party chairman in Fulton County down in Georgia, the guy who argued Georgia voters should be required to have photo identification,
and many said that was an effort to keep out black voters who wouldn't go through the process of getting the ID cards and
couldn't afford them. Black voters don't usually vote Republican of course. And this Hans was also involved in a decision
that rejected a recommendation of career Justice Department lawyers in a Texas redistricting case - as you recall, the lawyers
had concluded that the redistricting plan violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965 because it eliminated several districts where
minorities had substantial voting power, and illegally diluted black and Hispanic voting power. Hans said that didn't matter.
Myers, a niece of former
Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Richard B. Myers and the wife of the chief of staff to Homeland Security Secretary Michael
Chertoff, had been criticized by Republicans and Democrats who charged that she lacked experience in immigration matters.
Well, she's never run anything
this big, and as the Post noted last September – The Bush administration
is seeking to appoint a lawyer with little immigration or customs experience to head the troubled law enforcement agency that
handles those issues, prompting sharp criticism from some employee groups, immigration advocates and homeland security experts.
Right. And I'm the pope.
J. Dorrance Smith, the
nominee, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee in a closed session to answer questions about an opinion article
in which he accused U.S. television networks of helping terrorists through their partnerships with Al-Jazeera. That Wall Street Journal
opinion article is available here - he blasts all the major US television networks and the government of Qatar for cooperating with Al-Jazeera in showing "gruesome
battlefield footage" obtained in Iraq. He just hates "the ongoing relationship between terrorists, Al-Jazeera and the networks"
- and suggested maybe our government shouldn't maintain normal relations with Qatar - as long as they continued to subsidize
Al-Jazeera. |
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This issue updated and published on...
Paris readers add nine hours....
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