Tags: Iraq,War on terror,Middle East,Foreign Policy,Russ Feingold,Israel,Palestine,Peace,Lebanon,Syria Iran,9-11, Diplomacy
(This Diary had to be edited, re-formatted, and re-posted)
Sorry for the duplication!
11-11
So sorry Russ stepped aside today! His voice needs to be heard by all. (Maybe Al Gore, as our next Prez can make him V.P. or Sec. of State?)
We've had a website for 'Feingold08' for a long time and believed in his perspectives on Foreign Policy.
Senator Feingold fights against all opression, believes in a strong but balanced Foreign Policy and demanded exhaustive diplomacy over pre-emption! But above all he was a champion of the people and their rights.
This diary is re-posted primarily as a correction, but it's also to add my voice to those calling for more discussions on a neglected topic.
If you dont' agree with my commentary, fine. But don't slam the door and throw charges of anti-Semitism. Policies are legislated by humans. Wars are waged by humans.
No God would condone Cluster Bombs and Depleted Uranium tipped missiles.
So let's keep religion out of it. Allright?
My long time rants' against Joe Lieberman as a Senator and the DSCC and DCCC's unfair election tactics, reported on almost on a daily basis here at Kos, looked at a bigger more global perspective on the effects of how our Congressional policies
govern everything from Enron to Dubai.
So the composition of the Senate and the mindset of its' Senators mattered a great deal to me. As it should to all.
In no way do I mean to demean the efforts of the DSCC or DCCC who finally, after 5 years of timidity, contributed to such tremendous gains only with the aid of Governor Howard Deans' money and ground force leading the street by street charge, whom they continually fought against, and Russ Feingold, whom they also demeaned, and all the others in Congress and the PACs and grass roots and netroots all worked together to finally win, but by slim margins.
which astands for
Dean, Feingold and other 'mavericks' entered territories never before attempted by the limited tunnel vision of the current leaders of the DSCC and DCCC.
And thus their recruitment and ideals on who would or would not be the best candidates, were limited and skewed.
We 'Democrats' were once known for our focus on human rights and diplomacy. And we had enough hawks in the party to fully insure supportive of a strong and sound Military.
We had a pretty balanced and productive Democratic Pary in Congress. Bush changed all that.
And unthinkable legislation passed with the help of many in our Party. Understanding the Red/Blue state competing issues played a key role in some of those votes, there was more to it. We suddenly had too many neocon minded Dems like Joe. Great people and valuable to the party but..
What we and the world desperately needed here and now in the Congress of the United States, were more Neds. With more Neds in the beginning it may have been a whole new world.
So I see some Red Flags ahead because Joe was one of the past enables and friend on bad Policies..
Some think we will now have new and improved and humbled Joe? Time will tell.
But he's openly admitted he's in this for his own Pork and owes no one. And worse Joe is a neocon inside. He and 'the Moderates' voted against every principle America stands for when they supported torture. Schumer forced through by fearmongering, the Patriot Act. They were against Habeus and actually voted against a true Moderate, Diane Feinstein, when she tried to stop the use of cluster bombs just in civilian areas.
Those votes went against all of our past codes of conduct and humanity. And,in my opinion, threw away many of the keys to the success of the Democratic Party and Americas itself.
So what does the flaming Mideast think of the Democratic Partys' big win?
Do they feel a new sense of hope? A little more confidant that help is on the way?
Two of the first headlines from the Middle East that appeared on my homepage were these:
From Haaretz (Israels perspective)
http://www.haaretz.com/...
"Numbers of Jewish Lawmakers reaches record High"
Following yesterday's results, the number of Jews in the Senate rose from 11 to 13 and in the House of Representatives from 26 to 30.
versus
The Daily Star (Largest English speaking Mideast paper)
"Democratic resurgence in Washington is no cause for celebration"
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/...
-"...One practical obstacle to meaningful change is the fact that Bush's Republican allies have lost the House of Representatives - and possible the Senate as well - to a crop of Democrats hobbled by a congenital inability to define a platform of coherent policies on issues great and small. The only exception to this general rule is no cause for comfort: Democrats are even more dependent, financially and politically, on the pro-Israel lobby than Republicans. This means that Washington's mindless support for the Jewish state's intransigent approach to the Middle East's core problem - the Palestinian-Israeli conflict - is likely to remain intact. Given the impunity this grants Israel's government, expect more incidents like Wednesday's massacre of 18 Palestinians, including 13 from a single family, in Gaza. Also, expect Palestinian militants to eventually lose patience.
Hardly a balanced perspective from an area at the heart of our 9-ll, Iraq, Afghanistan and on and on.
And this is hardly an inflammatory comparison to use. Israel always gets the better end of our Policies. That's a fact and everyone knows it.
But the heart of the matter is that we have people dying because of a lopsided and/or negligent Foreign Policy. Queen Noor of Jordan vehemently voiced the same concerns. But no one wants to discuss it. (Like my sneaky friend.)
I chastise Joe not because he's a Jew but because he's a pre-emptive and dis-proportionate response kind of guy. And there are others in our Party with the same beliefs.
We falsely call them Moderates and wrap our arms around their 'Bi-Partisanship'.
Who believes that the freedom to use cluster bombs at will and torture and NO Habeus are what the Senate, the country and the world need more of?
They therefore deserve to be branded with a less 'kindly' name to separate them from those other true patriots that believe in our Constitution and the Geneva conventions:
Meet the 'C.B.G.B.S.', which stands for:
"Cluster Bomb Gang Bangers in the Senate"
Crude and cruel? You bet.
So is torture.