The Meditations of MJ Santos

Posts Tagged ‘Israel’

Obama´s First 100 Days: Homage to Islam and Pander to the Jobless

In news, politics, religion, society on 2008/12/05 at 12:23

I was watching Wolf Blitzer´s Situation Room on CNN briefly last night (sorry, no Fox news in Europe) and noticed for the first time that one of the “best political team on TV” made an honest unbiased comment. Campbell Brown (whom I enjoy watching during Elections coverage), made a remark about how Obama´s cautiousness during the Primaries is now reflected on the so-called 2.5 M jobs he promised to create. Now, Obama said 2.5M jobs to be “saved”. Like she said, it doesn´t really mean anything. In my world, it just meant, he pandered just like most politicians who say what the voter wants to hear. 

THE AUTO INDUSTRY BAILOUT

GM, Chrysler and Ford are now doing another run to convince U.S. Congress to give them a $34bn Bailout. Their argument is that if they don´t get the help, America will just throw $300bn development and investments made in the past. It is a very tough decision to make. If you help them, they are still going to be doing the same structure and if not…well, no one wants to know. But the reality is, with the global financial crisis, people are not buying cars. As of today, HONDA even pulls out of Formula One racing since it is a luxury item for them to spend $300M with 700 employees (snaps for them!). I personally have not seen what these Big Three Automakers are proposing on paper (yet), but there needs to be serious cutbacks. 

Clinton Appointed as Secretary of State

Clinton Appointed as Secretary of State

Then you have Obama switching from creation of jobs to saving jobs. The man has never made a decision in the Senate and just ticked a lot of PRESENT on bills. What do you expect?

THE APPOINTMENTS

He keeps saying he is bringing change to Washington, so far, he has put most Clintonistas and to top that cake, he selects Hillary Clinton to be his Secretary of State (with Bill tagging along). Smartly stupid, I´d say.  The saying, “Keep your enemies closer” is definitely taken into new heights.

SPEECH IN CAIRO, EGYPT…MAYBE?

In an effort to mend rifts between the U.S. and the Muslim world, Obama is seriously considering making a major foreign policy speech in an Islamic capital, CAIRO, Egypt. My initial reaction is WHO is paying for this? His campaign? How is delivering a speech somewhere mend deep-seated issues between countries? I find it quite naïve if he does this without a plan. This is not anymore campaigning. But this here sounds like a photo-op for me.

But the question really is that why Obama feels it necessary to give a speech so early in his new administration. During the presidential campaign Obama indicated U.S. foreign policy was too skewed in favor of Israel and that he would seek to balance that approach in his administration. But then when McCain painted him as naïve about the Middle East, he then strongly backed Israel in his first foreign policy speech when he addressed American Israel Public Affairs Committee. 

Using process of elimination, I find it hilarious how they chose this place. Obama’s foreign policy advisers ruled out Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and other capitals around the Persian Gulf. If he does the  speech in Baghdad, it would appear to validate the Iraq war (which he of course opposed).

Going to Damascus, the Syrian capital would be rewarding them (not a good idea to start with),  

Tehran in Iran? Haha, too soon for tea and urugula.

Amman, Jordan? They are not interested as they did the show their before.  

Ankara, Turkey? Too boring.

How about  Islamabad, Pakistan? Well, after his speeches about Pakistan during elections, I don´t think he will come out alive. 

Ramallah on the West Bank would be futile because Palestinians have been demanding Jerusalem as their capital.

Jakarta, Indonesia? Obama´s Childhood place? Good for him, not cool enough for the media.

A MUST REASON

Remember when he kept dodging he was a secret Muslim? (Take it easy, Ret. Gen. Colin Powell. I am not anti-Muslim. I got a cousin who is one and wonderful Muslim friends). The truth is, Obama had been raised a Muslim and converted to Christianity after meeting the Rev. Jeremiah Wright in his 20s after he moved to Chicago.

 

Obama was born to a Kenyan father who was a Muslim. His mother divorced this man and later remarried an Indonesian muslim who became Obama’s stepfather. The couple moved to Indonesia with the young Obama. There he was registered at two schools as a Muslim student, Barry Saetoro.

 

Obama´s Indonesian School Record

Obama´s Indonesian School Record

In his autobiography, “Dreams From My Father,” Obama mentions studying the Koran and describes the public school as “a Muslim school.” 

My own process of elimination? Obama wants to be pay homage to his roots. It´s perfectly fine for me, but it would be better to be upfront and honest to the American people what exactly he has in his head of his. As hired CEO of the Free World, he needs to be accountable.

The Gospel of Obama

In blogging, politics, society on 2008/11/27 at 15:56

And it came to pass, in the eighth year of the reign of the evil Bush the Younger (The Ignorant), when the whole land from the Arabian desert to the shores of the Great Lakes had been laid barren, that a Child appeared in the wilderness.

The Child was blessed in looks and intellect. Scion of a simple family, offspring of a miraculous union, grandson of a typical white person and an African peasant. And yea, as he grew, the Child walked in the path of righteousness, with only the occasional detour into the odd weed and a little blow.

When he was twelve years old, they found him in the temple in the City of Chicago, arguing the finer points of community organisation with the Prophet Jeremiah and the Elders. And the Elders were astonished at what they heard and said among themselves: “Verily, who is this Child that he opens our hearts and minds to the audacity of hope?”

In the great Battles of Caucus and Primary he smote the conniving Hillary, wife of the deposed King Bill the Priapic and their barbarian hordes of Working Class Whites.

And so it was, in the fullness of time, before the harvest month of the appointed year, the Child ventured forth – for the first time – to bring the light unto all the world.

He travelled fleet of foot and light of camel, with a small retinue that consisted only of his loyal disciples from the tribe of the Media. He ventured first to the land of the Hindu Kush, where the

Taliban had harboured the viper of al-Qaeda in their bosom, raining terror on all the world.

And the Child spake and the tribes of Nato immediately loosed the Caveats that had previously bound them. And in the great battle that ensued the forces of the light were triumphant. For as long as the Child stood with his arms raised aloft, the enemy suffered great blows and the threat of terror was no more.

From there he went forth to Mesopotamia where he was received by the great ruler al-Maliki, and al-Maliki spake unto him and blessed his Sixteen Month Troop Withdrawal Plan even as the imperial warrior Petraeus tried to destroy it.

And lo, in Mesopotamia, a miracle occurred. Even though the Great Surge of Armour that the evil Bush had ordered had been a terrible mistake, a waste of vital military resources and doomed to end in disaster, the Child’s very presence suddenly brought forth a great victory for the forces of the light.

And the Persians, who saw all this and were greatly fearful, longed to speak with the Child and saw that the Child was the bringer of peace. At the mention of his name they quickly laid aside their intrigues and beat their uranium swords into civil nuclear energy ploughshares.

From there the Child went up to the city of Jerusalem, and entered through the gate seated on an ass. The crowds of network anchors who had followed him from afar cheered “Hosanna” and waved great palm fronds and strewed them at his feet.

In Jerusalem and in surrounding Palestine, the Child spake to the Hebrews and the Arabs, as the Scripture had foretold. And in an instant, the lion lay down with the lamb, and the Israelites and Ishmaelites ended their long enmity and lived for ever after in peace.

As word spread throughout the land about the Child’s wondrous works, peoples from all over flocked to hear him; Hittites and Abbasids; Obamacons and McCainiacs; Cameroonians and Blairites.

And they told of strange and wondrous things that greeted the news of the Child’s journey. Around the world, global temperatures began to decline, and the ocean levels fell and the great warming was over.

The Great Prophet Algore of Nobel and Oscar, who many had believed was the anointed one, smiled and told his followers that the Child was the one generations had been waiting for.

And there were other wonderful signs. In the city of the Street at the Wall, spreads on interbank interest rates dropped like manna from Heaven and rates on credit default swaps fell to the ground as dead birds from the almond tree, and the people who had lived in foreclosure were able to borrow again.

Black gold gushed from the ground at prices well below $140 per barrel. In hospitals across the land the sick were cured even though they were uninsured. And all because the Child had pronounced it.

And this is the testimony of one who speaks the truth and bears witness to the truth so that you might believe. And he knows it is the truth for he saw it all on CNN and the BBC and in the pages of The New York Times.

Then the Child ventured forth from Israel and Palestine and stepped onto the shores of the Old Continent. In the land of Queen Angela of Merkel, vast multitudes gathered to hear his voice, and he preached to them at length.

But when he had finished speaking his disciples told him the crowd was hungry, for they had had nothing to eat all the hours they had waited for him.

And so the Child told his disciples to fetch some food but all they had was five loaves and a couple of frankfurters. So he took the bread and the frankfurters and blessed them and told his disciples to feed the multitudes. And when all had eaten their fill, the scraps filled twelve baskets.

Thence he travelled west to Mount Sarkozy. Even the beauteous Princess Carla of the tribe of the Bruni was struck by awe and she was great in love with the Child, but he was tempted not.

On the Seventh Day he walked across the Channel of the Angles to the ancient land of the hooligans. There he was welcomed with open arms by the once great prophet Blair and his successor, Gordon the Leper, and his successor, David the Golden One.

And suddenly, with the men appeared the archangel Gabriel and the whole host of the heavenly choir, ranks of cherubim and seraphim, all praising God and singing: “Yes, We Can.”

Borrowed from Gerard Baker from Times UK