An Independent Take on the Elections

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Tuesday November 06, 2012 · 6:48 AM PST

2012/11/06 · 06:48

I am from India, but I follow US politics very closely, I have no stakes in the elections as Americans do, but like many others around the world, what got my attention was the Bush era, and the Iraq war.
In the current elections, people have claimed that there is not much difference between Obama and Romney. There have been arguments in these and other blogs on why this is not so, that focuses on specific policies.
My own take is different.
For the past 4 years, since the inauguration and even before that, Republicans have decided that truth really does not exist. Whatever they make up and force down Fox News and then through the equivalences of the mainstream media IS the truth. A victory in 2012 has been their goal since the crash of Lehman brothers, and they have cynically run propaganda for the past 4 years.
It is precisely for this reason, that I hope Obama wins. The elections should not even be this close - that it is, shows the gullibility of Fox News watchers and is also a reflection of the media's abdication of their role.

arramiah

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Wednesday June 02, 2010 · 11:22 AM PDT

2010/06/02 · 11:22

After watching the coverage of the flotilla incident and the Israeli attack, in the blogosphere and on television, I could not understand initially why there seemed to be so much complexity in the debates in the United States. Here is my shot at an explanation. (I am an East Indian, and I could be wrong about some American history here).
The history of 20th century and the lessons that we should learn from it are a big part driving the flotilla and the blockade narrative in people's minds. And the media, government and intellectuals in the USA are UNIQUELY incapable of learning certain of those lessons.
Why?

arramiah

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Tuesday January 05, 2010 · 9:12 AM PST

2010/01/05 · 09:12

I was watching TV today when it struck me that the world order was all wrong. I quickly wrote an elegant proof for it and here it is.

The progressive blogosphere in the USA handles debates such as torture, or the Iraq war or terrorism with a very internal focus - more simply as a debate with the right wing in the USA.
In that process they have missed the forest for the trees (or the trees for the forest - I forgot what that even means).
There are much larger issues at stake - 9/11 and Bush's attack on Iraq should have brought a focus on systemic issues in the international order. The United States' informed citizenry ideally should have taken a leadership role in defining these issues and trying to correct them.
Instead we have confined ourselves to debating why torture does not work or the individual prosecutions for torture.
Let me list some of these issues below:

arramiah

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Tuesday February 24, 2009 · 6:35 AM PST

2009/02/24 · 06:35

Couple of diaries have been posted on slumdog and how India received it and how the West received it and so on. Coincidentally, for no particular reason, I wrote a post yesterday linking Slumdog, the booker prize winning novel "The White Tiger" and a phenomenon I had noticed with Indian English authors. That post was entirely meant for an Indian audience and I thought I would share it here. My entire thesis is that there are subtle sociological pressures under play both in India and in the West. Please note, again, that the post is meant for an Indian audience.

arramiah

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Saturday December 06, 2008 · 10:37 AM PST

2008/12/06 · 10:37

There are two talking points that need to be defeated right now for the sake of sanity.

Bush in his ABC interview says, "I wish the intelligence had been different, I guess,".

Senator Dianne Feinstein is quoted in an article in NYT as saying "I think that you have to use the noncoercive standard to the greatest extent possible," ,raising the possibility that an imminent terrorist threat might require special measures.

arramiah

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Friday September 05, 2008 · 9:26 AM PDT

2008/09/05 · 09:26

(I wrote this article for an Indian audience here in my blog. I thought it may be of interest to Kossacks as an outsider's perspective.)
The presidential elections for the United States are due first week of November. The contenders have been finalized by their parties this week - Barack Obama the Democrat, with Joe Biden as the VP candidate; and John McCain, the Republican with Sarah Palin as the VP candidate.
What do the American elections have to do with India? Although the TV news shows cover it, they focus on the outsourcing question. The predominant view is that the Democrats would fix loopholes in tax law and thus work against the money flow to India.
Yet, the American elections are of critical interest (beyond outsourcing) to India and to the rest of the world. We have to remember that the United States has launched two aggressive wars in our neighborhood and currently the US Army is engaged in operations in Pakistan NWFP. It is a country that is the driving force of world economy, and is also seriously in debt. Our government is seeking a nuclear deal with them on the basis of which the ruling party almost caved in.

arramiah

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Thursday August 14, 2008 · 10:43 AM PDT

2008/08/14 · 10:43

This is not meant to be an adult post - it simply analyzes a model of working together as a community. Nothing offensive in here.
I wrote this post for primarily an Indian audience, in my personal blog here. I thought it would be interesting to share it with the community here. I am not a native English speaker, so the style may be foreign. There are a few cultural references - Chennai is a city in South India. Tamil is the language spoken in that city. Continue over the jump.

arramiah

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Wednesday April 09, 2008 · 11:09 AM PDT

2008/04/09 · 11:09

Political reconciliation hasn't happened, and violence has leveled off and may be creeping back up," said Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., chairman of the House committee. "So how can we encourage, if not force, the intransigent political leaders of Iraq to forge a real nation out of their base sectarian instincts?

That above is from AP article here on the Petraeus testimony.
That is a Democrat there, talking as if the Iraqis actually invited the USA to invade them.

arramiah

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Friday June 22, 2007 · 6:26 AM PDT

2007/06/22 · 06:26

Here is the latest - 25 civilians killed in NATO airstrike

Now I know that most members in DKos see the Afghan war as justified - although, as aggressive war, it was as illegal; and in terms of war crimes by the "coalition" forces, it is as brutal.
But see the way this is framed by AP:

arramiah

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Friday May 18, 2007 · 5:24 AM PDT

2007/05/18 · 05:24

One of the premises on which the attack on Iraq was based is that the Iraqi people have no real power - that they are not a democracy. And hence America was justified in "liberating" that country. In blogs and opinion pieces, there is no doubt that most people have bought into the argument that America has to do "something" about dictators or "tyrants". Many people may not support the war but they still think that being a democracy automatically makes America somehow responsible for world affairs.
But, is democracy or "Western" democracy, an ideal?

arramiah

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Tuesday April 03, 2007 · 12:29 PM PDT

2007/04/03 · 12:29

Reading about foreign policy diaries in DKos and debating American foreign policy with some AMericans has led me to write this diary - it is obvious your narrative of world history is vastly different from a citizen of the Third World (as you call it). I have been called radical by some of my friends - but my opinions are shared by many millions around the world. I read counterpunch, and most Americans and Israelis writing in counterpunch express the same views.
I will start with the difference in narrative and then address some talking points.

arramiah

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Thursday February 22, 2007 · 8:12 AM PST

2007/02/22 · 08:12

Sorry for the short diary, but:
I saw this headline in yahoo.com in the front page:
"U.N. says Iran refuses to halt nuke development"
The article title, when you click on the link says:
"Report on Iran: Nuclear work ongoing " link

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An Independent Take on the Elections

Colonialism and the American blindness

The task of building a better world

SlumDog and the West

Iraq war and the dirty bomb scenario - talking points

The selection of America's President

The Porn Library Of Chromepet

Would YOU relenquish power if you had it?

Killing Afghans continues

Is Democracy ideal?

A Third World Perspective for Kossacks

Iran coverage by AP