In Praise of The Huffington Post

The Wizard is praising The Huffington Post?

O.K., O.K., I know it's impossible, but it's true. I have been a harsh critic of Arianna Huffington and her cadre of Hollywood Glitteratt for years. At times her corral of bloggers smell a lot more like a pigsty, wallowing in a mud hole of hate. A quick review of today's blog posts show that nothing much has changed.

But let's give Arianna and her news staff a great deal of credit and prise for their 24 hour a day reporting of the Iranian Election and subsequent protests. While our cable news networks slept and generally ignored this extremely important story, The Huffington Post was all over it.

Using every resource available to them from bloggers, to Twitter, to international news networks, including al-Jezeera, Huffington has continuously put together one compelling story after another.

A great deal of praise and credit goes to the legions of people worldwide who contribute daily or hourly to Twitter. The Twitterati have provided much needed information and solidarity and support for the people of Iran. Twitter has been so fascinating it is literally difficult to turn off at night. It is our window tot the world. Literally.

Which brings me right back to The Huffington Post. I've "tweeted" several times in the last 72 hours that Nico Pitney deserves and should win a Pulitzer Prize. In fact, if he doesn't win, they simply need to throw the prize away, because it will be meaningless. He writing and editing of video, stories and tweets has been nothing short of masterful. Using the methodology often referred to as "live blogging" he has chronicled the unfolding story in the way television should, but hasn't.

I believe we have actually learned the weakness of television. It is a singular medium, video only. Pitney can seamlessly combine video, written word, audio and still images to a maximum effect.

We can only hope and pray for a good and safe outcome for the people of Iran. But I am certain this is the event that changed the nature of news forever.

Nancy Pelosi Betrays America.... Again

Nancy Pelosi must think she is a genius. She must believe she is the modern day heir to the genius of Machiavelli with the power to deceive everyone and never get caught. And, just like Machiavelli she loves the game and loves to win. Her duty to her constituents and to America mean absolutely nothing to her. It's all about the game. And it's all about power.

But she isn't really very good. She is, in fact, the worst Speaker of the House in History. Sadly, she is just barely good enough to deceive a few frightened Red State Democrats who see the McCain surge and the public's overwhelming demand we move toward energy independence as a threat to their potential re-election.

With gasoline prices surging toward $4.00 a gallon, the demand that Pelosi at least allow a vote on an intelligent and comprehensive Energy Plan was exploding with the public. Well over 70% of Americans demanded Pelosi allow a vote. Pelosi held on until a planned summer recess and prohibited any type of vote. She bought her Red State Democrats 4 weeks.

Pelosi got a book tour and America got nothing.

Unfortunately for Pelosi, Republicans kept up the pressure. Even as Pelosi turned off the lights and disconnected the cable television cameras, Republicans met every day, Every day for over a month. And the Democrats who went home seeking a hiding place from the monstrous failure of Congress, found the public was certainly not going to forget, let alone forgive.

The worst, least effective and most incompetent Congress in the entire history of the republic resumed session with a real opportunity to accomplish at least one thing for the good of the people. Pelosi promised she would allow a comprehensive bipartisan energy plan to come to a vote.

Pelosi lied.

Working carefully and in total hiding with a small group of co-conspirators, Pelosi crafted one of the most disingenuous, misleading and destructive pieces of legislation every written. Far from being bipartisan, she not only kept all Republicans out of the negotiations, she even refused to allow Republicans to view the bill until it was brought up for a vote. Naturally, no amendments were allowed.

Pelosi's goal in crafting this legislation was three fold. First, an by far the most important, Pelosi wanted to make absolutely certain that no legislation would actually pass. None. No type of energy bill. She wants nothing to help America. The bill had to be designed so that the only outcome would be failure.

Second, the bill had to provide cover for her freshman Red State Democrats. It had to have the illusion of a comprehensive energy plan, including additional oil exploration. The Red Stater's had to be able to go home and say, "I voted for more oil. I voted for lower gas prices. I voted for alternative energy research, I voted for a comprehensive energy plan. See. I'm a good guy."

Lastly, she wanted total failure of the bill to allow her to have an additional Election Issue. She needs to be able to say "See, we Democrats compromised and passed an oil drilling bill. Drill, Baby, Drill. But those mean old Republicans stopped it."

But everything about her bill is a total lie. It's a hoax or as Republicans call it, a sham.

By eliminating revenue sharing for the states in royalties for offshore oil and gas drilling while requiring states to approve the drilling leases, Pelosi knew it would be unlikely the states would ever give their approval. Why should they? They take all the risk, get one of the reward.

The bill prohibits drilling less than 50 miles offshore when Pelosi knew that, to give an example, 95% of the known reserves off the coast of California are less than 50 miles from the coast.

The American people are demanding we change our bankrupt energy policy which has prevented the U.S. from utilizing our own resources and outsources our money and our jobs and our security to very unfriendly countries.

What needs to concern Americans most is that, faced with the greatest energy crisis in our country's history, Nancy Pelosi purposefully drafted a bill she knew would fail. She designed it purposefully to fail. She decided to give billions of American dollars to other countries. She decided to keep jobs away from Americans and give those jobs to the despots in Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Venezuela. She decided to deprive America's innovators who might invent the solutions to future energy needs from any funding that could fuel the future.

Pelosi wanted and demanded failure. She succeeded.

How will America reward her and the Democrats who conspired with her? I, for one, am demanding her resignation. I, for one, will not vote for any Democrat candidate for the House of Representatives who doesn't promise to work against her re-election as Speaker.

There is no room for Nancy Pelosi in our leadership.

Women

Have I mentioned in the last few minutes just how brilliant The Middleman is? I believe there might be just one original episode left in the series. It's unlikely to be renewed by ABC Family, who deserve kudos anyway for green lighting the series in the first place. It will always remain one of television's (and literature's) finest moments.

The Middleman: Fighting Evil So You Don't Have To. I know the fictional world is safe in the hands of Wendy Watson (as portrayed by Natalie Morales on the right). But what of the real world?

You want a strange and disconcerting night? Just watch Michelle Obama's excellent speech at the Democrat Convention, highlights (errr.... lowlights) of Nancy Pelosi's speech to the same convention and then watch Natalie Morales and Matt Keeslar. Of course there is less fiction in any five minutes of Javier Grillo-Marxuach's Middleman that in any corresponding five minutes of Pelosi's speech.

But I'm actually getting carried away (as usual). I do have a point for you to consider. Compare this week's Democrat convention to the current events in any nation of region generally operating under Islamic law.

In Denver, Colorado we are watching some of the world's finest and brightest women showcased on television for the whole world to see. As I already mentioned, Michelle Obama was wonderful in telling her American story to the world. Michelle is a woman, a woman of color, who is a heroine to women everywhere.

And we saw Carolyn Kennedy deliver a moving speech. She is, in many ways, the future of the Democrat Party.

I've already mentioned Nancy Pelosi and, as much as I dislike her, she is probably the third most powerful person in America.

For the next two nights, the Democrats will showcase Hillary Clinton, a woman who has nearly achieved the highest elected office in America (which is arguably the most powerful position on earth).

Compare America's celebration of women in power to the virtual invisibility of women throughout much of the Islamic world. Under the most conservative (fundamentalist) rule, women are denied all education, denied medical care and denied all basic human rights. Even under relatively modern Islamic societies women are denied the right to own property, hold elected office and, in some countries, denied the right to drive a car.

Often women are forced to avoid all contact with men except for direct relatives. They cannot dine in restaurants or even enjoy a cup of coffee in Starbucks (an American women was recently arrested in a Starbucks in Saudi Arabia).

In one of the greatest injustices and ironies of Islamic society, being raped means jail time for the woman, even as the rapist walks free. Sometimes being raped means a death sentence, as the woman's family must kill her to save the family's honor.

In really big news this week, Iran has notified the world that it might, just might, outlaw the stoning of women. But they're not sure yet. But for certain women cannot participate in sports or even attend sporting events. The Ayatollah's have spoken on this issue.

Now the Democrats will spend the next three nights bashing John McCain. And that's OK by me. It's tradition. And while it's actually rather unlikely any speaker from the dais will speak out FOR the oppressed women of the world, the very presence of women sharing power and the stage with men speaks volumes.

Strong women around the world are fighting evil, from Hillary Clinton to Natalie Morales. But we all need to join the fight.

McCain, Bush and Hundreds of Lemmings Change Position in Offshore Drilling, Thank God

"The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house All that cold, cold, wet day..."

Dr. Seuss, The Cat in The Hat

It's just damned frustrating to realize that America could easily be oil and energy independent today. We could easily be free of the influence and control of the Saudis, Iran, and Sean Penn's close personal friend Hugo Chavez.

The only THINGS that have prevented energy independence are Thing One and Thing Two, aka the Republican and Democrat Parties.

Thing One and Thing Two have long preferred demagoguery to actually serving the American Public. I hope you all have followed the antics of Thing One and Thing Two over the last eight years. Never Compromise. Always stake out opposite sides of all Energy issues. Never Compromise. Never actually pass any legislation. Blame the other Thing for the stalemate.

Steps needed for lower energy prices and energy independence have already been thoroughly outlined. Expand drilling in the United States, including off shore and in what is perhaps the single most environmentally safe area in the nation, the Arctic refuge (ANWR).

Increase Automobile Fuel Standards. Provide Tax Support for development of Alternative Energy Sources.

Clear the road for increased Nuclear Power. It's simply stunning that Iran is smarter than the United States. Hell, let's let Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad run the US Nuclear Energy Program. At least he actually believes in energy independence. O.K., that's a joke, but you get the idea.

End the incredibly stupid tariffs on Brazilian sugar based ethanol imports. Brazil, in case you hadn't noticed, is our friend.

In short, implement all the good energy policies from both Thing One and Thing Two.

John McCain, President Bush, most Republicans and many, many Democrats did prove they can read the POLLS today and suddenly switched sides to support off shore drilling. Good for them.

But can we actually get Thing One and Thing Two to compromise and pass legislation?

Well, remember The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss? Thing One and Thing Two only created a mess. It took the children (i.e., the American Public) to actually clean up the mess.

A "tip o' the Wizard's pointy cap" to Senator Harry Reid, who first used Dr. Seuss' Cat in the Hat to illustrate the log jam in the US Congress (courtesy of Wikipedia).

Timetable? We Should NEVER Leave Iraq

Aided by blind hatred and near sickening political demagoguery by those who simply despise George Bush, America stands on the verge of making one of the worst foreign policy decisions in all of history.

And George Bush and his aides are so wounded, not to mention virtually incompetent in all matters political, they are doing nearly nothing to prevent the coming disaster.

This textbook failure will make Viet Nam look positively heroic.

Put simply, America stands poised to snatch defeat (and so much worse) from the jaws of victory. Bush and the military leaders in Iraq have virtually won the peace. We've gone from Invasion, to War, and then on to Occupation. FInally we are on the verge of peace.

I believe the occupation is now at an end and we are ready to enter into a period of mutual support, cooperation and even friendship.

And the Iraqi Government clearly believes the same thing. We should see troop withdrawals begin this fall.

If intelligent forces were guiding the foreign policy of our country, instead of electioneering and demagoguery and the flames of personal hatred, we would be entering into a long term agreement of mutual support and protection between our countries. The agreement would absolutely mirror our agreements with Japan, Germany and dozens of other countries.

Instead, Bush is unable to negotiate such a treaty. Not because the Iraqis are unwilling, they are actually begging for such an agreement, but because Bush is terrified by our Congress and the mood of the electorate.

He cannot bring a treaty before a Congress that most certainly will fail to ratify it.

No the mood in this election year is retreat, submit, withdraw and abandon. There are no facts on the ground that will ever placate a Congress effectively controlled by Moveon.org.

Bush is so inarticulate and so inept he cannot speak to the American people and convince them to do the right and intelligent thing. He lacks the powers of persuasion of his predecessors and the current Democrat Presidential candidate.

Instead Bush has "promised not to tie the hands of his successor." No treaty, no agreement, no nothing.

And Obama will most certainly leave a very fragile Iraq to fall under the control of a religious dictatorship that will become the greatest enemy ever faced by any power on earth.

And it's so damned unnecessary. The war is won. The occupation is over. All we need to do is support the people of Iraq, exactly as we have supported the people of Germany, Japan and South Korea. Trade, financial aid, rebuilding, mutual aid. Iraq is ready to govern. If we don't abandon them.

Please read the entire Wall Street Journal article from Friday, How Prime Minister Maliki Pacified Iraq.

America is very close to succeeding in Iraq. The "near-strategic defeat" of al Qaeda in Iraq described by CIA Director Michael Hayden last month in the Washington Post has been followed by the victory of the Iraqi government's security forces over illegal Shiite militias, including Iranian-backed Special Groups. The enemies of Iraq and America now cling desperately to their last bastions, while the political process builds momentum.

These tremendous gains remain fragile and could be lost to skillful enemy action, or errors in Baghdad or Washington. But where the U.S. was unequivocally losing in Iraq at the end of 2006, we are just as unequivocally winning today.

And while you're in a reading mood, please read the news report from this morning, Iran police start wider crackdown on un-Islamic dress. Is this really the future we want to grant to the women of Iraq?

The Dream Election 2008

Yet another primary and yet another chance for the Wizard to opine......

We are very, very close to the Wizard's "Dream Election" of Democrat Barack Obama facing Republican John McCain. This is the very best possible matchup for the American people. McCain and Obama are the best of their respective parties and either would make an excellent President.

Even more important these are two men of extraordinary integrity and honor. We can actually respect them both for exactly the same reason - Their positions on the war in Iraq. You see, even though they are polar opposites, both have held their positions even when faced with overwhelming public opposition! These men don't sway with every breeze in the polls. They actually believe what they say. That is refreshing in itself!

And this election is best for the American public because the choice couldn't possibly be more clear. In McCain we have a supporter of the continued occupation and (potential) liberation of the people of Iraq versus Barack Obama, a champion for withdrawal of the troops from Iraq.

In their speeches tonight, both men fully embraced their positions on Iraq. Neither man will back down.

The voters in American will finally be allowed to choose. No fence sitting. The course of action, the future path of American foreign policy, will be clear once the dust settles in November. If the people really want to leave Iraq (and possibly Afghanistan), the road map home will be drawn in the quiet privacy of the voting booth.

If, on the other hand, the American public agrees with John McCain and believes that America must take the War on Terror into the Middle East, that renewed surge must find its roots in the polling places of America.

These are tough choices. These are real leaders.

We Should Leave Iraq........ Never!

The invasion and occupation of Iraq was just plain stupid. It was unnecessary, poorly planned and badly executed. If George Bush wasn't a fool, he certainly made foolish decisions. As for Rumsfeld, he was criminally incompetent.

Hindsight is a wonderful tool. But ninety percent of Americans supported the invasion of Iraq. And nearly every Democrat either strongly and passionately supported the war or were too cowardly to actively oppose it. We should and must deeply respect those who opposed the invasion before it began, but we should also forgive those who mistakenly supported the invasion.

But what about today? The world and the Middle East are vastly different today that they were six years ago. And our ill begotten invasion and occupation of Iraq are part of the reason for the different dynamics at play.

But we cannot undo the last six years. This isn't golf and we don't get a mulligan. Instead we must play the ball where it lays. And it lays in the slowly healing Iraq.

New leadership in the military and in the Department of Defense have reprogrammed our approach to Iraq. Finally a solution to the failed state is building, as it must, from the ground up. A very, very gradual pull down of troops has begun. But the foundation is fragile.

And the enemies of America are genuinely terrifying. If the political forces fighting so very, very hard to engineer a forced pull out of American troops from Iraq would look dispassionately at the enemy they would see an organization so vile, so evil, so ruthless that their daily operating tactics violate not just the Geneva Convention, but every value and moral ever cherished by every single human society throughout history.

George Bush has never even imagined the types of sadistic and evil torture practiced every minute of day by these ...... people ........ [What can we call them??? There simply isn't a word in any language for this level of evil.] Targeting children. Killing teachers. Brainwashing followers into suicide murder. Thousands (yes, you read that number right) of torture chambers where generally innocent people are slowly starved, cut, bled and beaten to death, often for no purpose what-so-ever.

Televised beheadings? At least they have a purpose, They are designed to incite fear.

But the real issue is Iran. While Bush screwed up with invading Iraq and providing textbook lessons in how not to occupy a country, Iran has emerged as the leader in the Middle East. And now even conservative estimates give Iran nuclear weapons in just one year.

And there are, in fact, no solutions to Iran, no options, even in Bush's far reaching playbook. Posturing and bluffing are the best the west can do and, frankly, Iran knows the drill.

So we face a nuclear Iran. Period. There are no options. Bush will not bomb. Bush cannot invade. Israel will not be our proxy. Period.

Given these facts, and they are facts, the only logical, intelligent course is to stay and rebuild Iraq from the ground up. A strong, democratic, Iraq is the only solution, even if it take years. The United States must maintain significant forces in Iraq until that job is done.

Iranian Minister: Gays Should Be Hanged

I can literally hardly wait until January 9, 2009 when the new President, whoever he or she might be, is inaugurated. Not because Bush will be leaving, but because maybe.... just maybe.... all my long time liberal friends and allies will return to their sanity.

I hate the "Bush Derangement Syndrome" that has infected so many of my friends because it has so thoroughly blinded them to the real issues and the real problems, the real prejudices, the real crimes and the real tragedies around the world. And the plight of homosexuals in Iran is one of those real tragedies.

Further down this page will be a story that is resonating
with liberals and progressives around the world. But you won't find a single sentence about it on The Huffington Post (go ahead and do a search) or on The Daily Kos. Nope, to find this story here in the USA you need to go to the liberal bastion of truth and justice: Little Green Footballs.

For those who simply cannot bear to click on a link to lgf, here is a link directly to the story from the Times of London: Gays should be hanged, says Iranian minister

Key quotes from the Times Story:

Homosexuals deserve to be executed or tortured and possibly both, an Iranian leader told British MPs during a private meeting at a peace conference, The Times has learnt. Mohsen Yahyavi is the highest-ranked politician to admit that Iran believes in the death penalty for homosexuality after a spate of reports that gay youths were being hanged. Britain regularly challenges Iran about its gay hangings, stonings and executions of adulterers and perceived moral criminals, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) papers show. The latest row involves a woman hanged this June in the town of Gorgan after becoming pregnant by her brother. He was absolved after expressing his remorse. A series of reported executions of gays, including two underage boys whose public hanging was posted on the internet, has alarmed human rights campaigners. Minutes taken by an official describe a meeting between British and Iranian MPs at the Inter-Parliamentary Union, a peace body, in May. When the Britons raised the hangings of Asqari and Marhouni, the leader of the Iranian delegation, Mr Yahyavi, a member of his parliament’s energy committee, was unflinching. He “explained that according to Islam gays and lesbianism were not permitted”, the record states.... those in overt activity should be executed [he initially said tortured but changed it to executed]. He argued that homosexuality is against human nature and that humans are here to reproduce. Homosexuals do not reproduce.” Nicole Pichet, a researcher who also took notes of the gathering, told The Times that the discussion began with British MPs discussing the underage gay hangings. Mr Yahyavi responded by saying homosexuality was to blame for a lot of diseases such as Aids. Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Nigeria apply the death penalty for homosexuality, according to the International Lesbian and Gay Association.

The Bush Derangement Syndrome casuses some of my friends to say that we cannot possibly criticize Iran because Bush criticizes Iran. We can't be on Bush's side of the debate.

Does that mean we must turn a blind eye to injustice? Our help is needed. We wouldn't tolerate this activity in Texas or Montana or Israel or France. Why do we tolerate it in Iran?

I'm hopeful that once Clinton or Obama or even Guilani is elected, liberals and progressives can once again focus on issues without considering the spectre of George Bush.

Do You Feel Lucky?

It isn't easy being a liberal in a small town in the deep south. It's especially difficult being a religious liberal. My church, the Unitarian Church, sanctions religious gay marriages. I'm proud of our open, inclusive congregations.

My favorite Unitarian Minister is a woman. Another rather wonderful sign of progress and equality.

But I must drive a hour and a half to attend church. The closest thing we have to a liberal church here in our small town is a Methodist Church with a pastor who makes most Baptists look left wing.

Still I chose to live here in a town of only 8,000 and my wife and my family love it. There is actually a lot to be said for small town values, especially the friendship and mutual support in a tight knit community. If you have tragedy, a crisis or even a fallen limb off a tree, thee are twenty people who genuinely rush to your side. We can argue politics over our morning coffee and they will still stop to help if my car breaks down on the side of the road.

I feel lucky. This is a great community, a great state and a great country.

But my rights as an American citizen are really an accident of birth. Unless reincarnation is more of a reality than I've assumed, I did nothing to deserve this wonderful accident. And if reincarnation is a reality, I must have done something really good in a previous life to receive this much bounty now.

We can argue politics. We can officiate religious gay marriages. We can lobby our government and perhaps, someday, legal gay marriages will become a reality.

I can go to the local Baptist Church and witness my grandson be baptised as I did last Sunday. There is no restriction on religious freedom. I can be Unitarian one Sunday and Baptist the next (at least in spirit).

Tragically both my boys have been married and divorced. One is remarried to a wonderful girl and we even gained a granddaughter in the process. Gone are the stigmas against divorce, remarriage and even sex outside of marriage.

Maybe that's not all good. Divorce rates are high and too many children are born out-of wedlock. Society is evolving and solutions sometimes come slowly. But freedom is a wonderful thing.

I am very lucky, indeed.

But what if I had been born in Iran instead? It's just a matter of luck. I didn't chose to be born here. Saeed Ghanbari didn't chose to be born in Iran. It was just a matter of luck.

From today's Daily Mail (United Kingdom) , story by David Williams

Rough justice: 80 lashes for 'immoral' Iranian who abused alcohol and had sex His face covered by a balaclava, an official brandishing a cane repeatedly lashes the back of a man found guilty of breaking Iran's morality laws. Two police officers hold the legs of 25-year-old Saeed Ghanbari and another his arms to ensure there is no escape from the punishment of 80 lashes handed down by a religious court. Traffic was brought to a halt in Qazvin, 90 miles west of the capital Tehran, as more than 1,000 men gathered behind barricades to watch the public flogging. Some took pictures on mobile telephones, others climbed traffic lights for a better vantage point as Ghanbari was marched to the centre of the square under the watch of blue-uniformed guards carrying machine guns. A four foot long metal bench was taken from a police van and the convicted man was made to lie on it on his stomach, his fawn checked shirt pulled-up to his shoulders to expose his back and waist. One police officer held his hands together beneath the bench, two others gripped his legs to ensure there was little movement. Two police officers stood-by, their faces covered with balaclavas - each to administer 40 lashes. The public lashings have been endorsed by the judiciary as a way of deterring alcohol abuse at a time when it is on the increase among young men but some religious leaders are said to be questioning their validity, fearing they have an adverse impact on the country's image abroad. Although men and women convicted of flouting public morals are routinely flogged in detention centres, public floggings are considered rare. Human Rights groups say there have been a marked rise in recent months in the number of people sentenced to executions and floggings in Iran.

This isn't funny, but I can't help but think about the movement here in the U.S.A.to teach abstinence. I'm guessing public flogging might just do the trick.

If a flogging like this took place at the hands of a fundamentalist Christian in small town Mississippi, the entire world would be outraged. This simply can't happen and won't be tolerated in the United States.

Amnesty International, which said it is "greatly concerned by continuing human rights abuses in Iran", has highlighted figures revealing 117 people were executed in 2006 with thousands facing floggings. They included a woman, who had been forced into prostitution as an eight-year-old, receiving 99 lashes because of "acts contrary to chastity." Earlier this year, a man was flogged after a copy of the Bible was found in his car.

If our misadventures in Iraq have taught us nothing else, it has proven our inability to force our morality upon other countries, especially Islamic countries. We cannot convert the world to democracy and religious freedom at the point of a gun.

Still, what should we do? A girl received 99 lashes for being raped as a eight year old.

As I send my check tonight to Amnesty International I just want to ask you one question: Do you feel lucky?