Alex Jones going nuts on Piers Morgan

[Dinner]

His weakness is that his record is one that projects weakness abroad and shows that he's more than a bit homophobic.

The really hilarious thing has been watching the right wing Republicans suddenly pretend they care about equal rights for gays. What a spontaneous conversion that has been.

BTW, no, he's not weak he just doesn't thinks war should be a last resort instead of a first choice which is gleefully desired as most of the American far right (meaning most Republicans) want it to be.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

The hatred is so ingown and part of the culture that any Pal 'leader' willing to entertain enterring into peace talks and peace settlements risks being killed. Arafat was the last chance as he held enough power at one point but then got scared after the Oslo accords. Pal-Israeli talks have no shot until the culture changes.

[snoopy369]

I don't entirely disagree - that's why it will take decades for it to really take hold. But I think Israel bears a lot of responsibility for that culture, by placing Palestine in a very, very weak position and holding them down there. Palestine's culture won't change until they see a way out that's acceptable and secure.

[kentonio]

How exactly do you think the 'culture' is going to change when the situation stays the same? Fatah have been trying a peaceful approach and instead of rewarding them for that, Israel have continued the settlements and generally been pretty dickish. All that the current situation is going to lead to is increased Hamas power, and more dead Israelis and Palestinians.

[Dinner]

Morgan wanted ratings and for people to talk about him.

Gee, that would be just about every TV show, no?

[DinoDoc]

The really hilarious thing has been watching the right wing Republicans suddenly pretend they care about equal rights for gays. What a spontaneous conversion that has been.

Let's not pretend this isn't an issue on the left which is quite frankly where the nomination will live or die at the end of the day, Oerdin. It was only mentioned by myself due to it being one of the controversies surrounding the nomination. However the Brennan nomination is the one I really hope dies in the Senate.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

His weakness is that his record is one that projects weakness abroad and shows that he's more than a bit homophobic. If the nomination fails it's going to most likely to die due to liberal opposition.

You forgot the administrations inherent mysogyny/racism for nominating only white mens to fill the open cabinet posts.

[DinoDoc]

Gee, that would be just about every TV show, no?

You were acting as if he might have wanted anything else.

[regexcellent]

Or, perhaps, to the conclusion that they didn't feel they had a chance at a peaceable outcome from those negotiations that was sufficiently in their favor? Israel will have to give up a lot in order to bring the conflict to an end, and while they have seemed willing to give up some, they haven't really seemed willing to give up all that much. Not nearly as much as the people in the area gave up when Israel was created in the (recent) first place...

The Palestinians set their end-goal for the negotiations as preconditions for negotiations.

If they were truly interested in negotiating they wouldn't set preconditions to merely talking.

They weren't happy with '67 borders then and they still won't be now.

[Dinner]

You forgot the administrations inherent mysogyny/racism for nominating only white mens to fill the open cabinet posts.

It's nominated several women including a black woman yet the Republicans filibustered all of them just like they did when he nominated a black man during his first term. So get a new meme; one which actually has some basis in reality.

[The Mad Monk]

You know Yasser Arafat is dead now, right?

You know they dug him up to expose yet another evil Israeli plot, right?

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

It's nominated several women including a black woman yet the Republicans filibustered all of them just like they did when he nominated a black man during his first term. So get a new meme; one which actually has some basis in reality.

1. In the first term the administration nominated and the GOP confirmed a number of women and minorities. Including Hillary for Sec State also Holder as Attorney Gen. (see below) All of which were NOT filibustered despite misgivings.

2. Now in the second term (after that whole war on womyn meme that was the basis of the campaign) he has not nominated a woman or minority for any open positions. While briefly considering Susan Rice she was not nominated for the open Sec State slot she declined. (Apparently POTUS needs some up to date binders.)


1st term Cabinet level appointments (Not a single one filibustered by GOP)

Sec State - Clinton (woman) 1st choice confirmed not filibustereed
Sec Treasury - Geitner - (White male) 1st choice Confirmed not filibustered
Sec Defense - Gates - (White male) 1st choice Confirmed not filibustered
Attn General - Holder (black male) 1st choice Confirmed not filibustered
Sec Interior - Salazar (White male) 1st choice Confirmed not filibustered
Sec Ag - Vilsak (white male) 1st chocie Confirmed not filibustered
Sec Commerce - Locke (Chineese american male) 3rd choice after Richardson withdrew based upon corruption charges and Gregg withdrew based upon Obama being an ass - Locke confirmed not filibustered

Sec Labor - Solis (woman) 1st chocie confirmed not filibustered
Sec Health and Human Services -Sebelius (woman) - 2nd choice as Administration had fulfilled its allotment of tax cheats and couldn't get Daschle to pass muster. Sebelius confirmed not filibustered.
Sec Transportation - LaHood (white male) 1st choice confirmed not filibustered
Sec Energy - Chu (moron) 1st choice confirmed not filibustered
Sec Education - Duncan (white male) 1st choice confirmed not filibustered
Sec Veterans Affairs - Shinseki (male) 1st choice confirmed not filibustered
Sec Homeland Security - Napolitano (woman) 1st chocie confirmed not filibustered

[MichaeltheGreat]

Off the top of my head:
1) Hagel voted against designating Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization, when they were actively involved in murdering Americans in Iraq.

2) Hagel vocally opposed the Iraq Surge in 2007.

1) would be about as useful as designating the KGB a terrorist organization during the cold war (or in turn, the USSR so designating the CIA, since we played rough too at times). Other than a masturbatory feel-good gesture, what exactly would be accomplished by such a gesture?

2) Yeah, the surge was great - we helped a Shiite controlled Iranian proxy government consolidate power in Iraq. Iraq was a geopolitical FUBAR from day one.

[regexcellent]

1) would be about as useful as designating the KGB a terrorist organization during the cold war (or in turn, the USSR so designating the CIA, since we played rough too at times). Other than a masturbatory feel-good gesture, what exactly would be accomplished by such a gesture?

Designating it as a terrorist organization automatically puts it under a myriad of sanctions.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Designating it as a terrorist organization automatically puts it under a myriad of sanctions.

Which are pretty much irrelevant. It's not like the Revolutionary Guards have their bank accounts down at your neighborhood Chase or BofA branch or they're applying for visas to come visit Disneyland. Sanctions are pretty much Lima Delta foreign policy feelgood tools.