More oddities in the U.S. "debate" over Israel/Gaza
Glenn Greenwald / Salon.com
Friday Jan. 2, 2009 05:34 EST
This Rasmussen Reports poll -- the first to survey American public opinion specifically regarding the Israeli attack on Gaza -- strongly bolsters the severe disconnect I documented the other day between (a) American public opinion on U.S. policy towards Israel and (b) the consensus views expressed by America's political leadership. Not only does Rasmussen find that Americans generally "are closely divided over whether the Jewish state should be taking military action against militants in the Gaza Strip" (44-41%, with 15% undecided), but Democratic voters overwhelmingly oppose the Israeli offensive -- by a 24-point margin (31-55%). By stark constrast, Republicans, as one would expect (in light of their history of supporting virtually any proposed attack on Arabs and Muslims), overwhelmingly support the Israeli bombing campaign (62-27%).
It's not at all surprising, then, that Republican leaders -- from Dick Cheney and John Bolton to virtually all appendages of the right-wing noise machine, from talk radio and Fox News to right-wing blogs and neoconservative journals -- are unquestioning supporters of the Israeli attack. After all, they're expressing the core ideology of the overwhelming majority of their voters and audience.
Much more notable is the fact that Democratic Party leaders -- including Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi -- are just as lockstep in their blind, uncritical support for the Israeli attack, in their absolute refusal to utter a word of criticism of, or even reservations about, Israeli actions. While some Democratic politicians who are marginalized by the party's leadership are willing to express the views which Democratic voters overwhelmingly embrace, the suffocating, fully bipartisan orthodoxy which typically predominates in America when it comes to Israel -- thou shalt not speak ill of Israel, thou shalt support all actions it takes -- is in full force with this latest conflict.
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Change has come to America
Here is the election night speech by President-Elect Barack Obama:
The Obama-Biden Transition Project has launched a web site for the new administration... change.gov
Scandal-Scarred Congressman Concedes To Challenger
Rooney's Victory Comes After Mahoney Admitted To Having 'Multiple Affairs'
STUART, Fla. - Scandal-scarred U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney, who admitted last month to having "multiple affairs" but refused to resign, conceded his seat in Congress.
Mahoney conceded to Republican challenger Tom Rooney shortly before 10 p.m. Election Night after it appeared Rooney was on track for a decisive victory over the incumbent congressman.
Univ. of Florida "Gators for McCain" chairman votes for Obama, then resigns
from the college newspaper, reporting on Joe Biden's visit to Gainesville:
Not all Republicans were there to protest.
“I wanted to see the next vice president of the United States,” said Josh Simmons, Gators for McCain chairman.
Simmons said he voted for Obama about two weeks ago.
“I’ve seen a different John McCain than the one I signed up to work for,” he said.
Simmons said he submitted his resignation Sunday night and will no longer be chairman for the group, which has more than 1,000 members.
“I expect them to be incredibly pissed off,” he said.
http://www.alligator.org/articles/2008/11/03/news/campus/081102_biden.txt
Herald-Tribune endorses Betty G
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
"Gissendanner's enthusiasm, broad perspective and unique experiences in community service give her an edge. We recommend Betty Gissendanner for Florida House of Representatives, District 71."
full endorsement at heraldtribune.com
In addition, the Charlotte Sun also endorsed Betty, on October 5th:
http://www.sunnewspapers.net/articles/edStory.aspx?articleID=423785
Bulls, Bears, Donkeys and Elephants
By TOMMY McCALL
NYTimes.com
October 14, 2008
Since 1929, Republicans and Democrats have each controlled the presidency for nearly 40 years. So which party has been better for American pocketbooks and capitalism as a whole? Well, here’s an experiment: imagine that during these years you had to invest exclusively under either Democratic or Republican administrations. How would you have fared?
As of Friday, a $10,000 investment in the S.& P. stock market index* would have grown to $11,733 if invested under Republican presidents only, although that would be $51,211 if we exclude Herbert Hoover’s presidency during the Great Depression. Invested under Democratic presidents only, $10,000 would have grown to $300,671 at a compound rate of 8.9 percent over nearly 40 years.
