Don Singleton: 2007-01-07

Friday, January 12, 2007

EU must help Islam embrace Enlightenment

Reuters reported Germany's interior minister said on Thursday that parts of the Islamic world had yet to embrace the values of the Enlightenment, and the European Union should help integrate Muslims by promoting the training of imams.

Wonderful idea. The probability of teaching a pig to fly is higher.

Wolfgang Schaeuble told visiting Brussels journalists he would use Germany's six-month presidency of the 27-nation bloc to establish an EU-wide dialogue with Muslim leaders to improve integration, defuse tensions and fight "home-grown terrorism". "Part of the Islamic world has yet to implement the Enlightenment," the Christian Democratic politician said, referring to the 17-18th century European movement to value freedom and reason rather than tradition.

What part embraces it.

"We should not be arrogant but only helpful. After all, Christianity waged terrible conflicts for a few centuries until the process of Enlightenment took root, and part of Christianity shows signs of falling back in that direction."

How many Christians do you know willing to blow themselves up regardless of who they kill?

The Islamic world must accept that equal rights for women was a universal principle enshrined in the United Nations charter and not "some peculiarity" of Europe, he said.

ROF, LMAO

"Anyone who cannot accept the equality of men and women has not even come close to meeting one of the basic conditions for the 21st century. It's in Islam's own interest to make that very clear and decisive," he said.

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Dean Chooses Denver

Hotline reported The labor pains were hard,

Did Dean yell yeeehaww during the labor pains?

but the DNC finally has its 2008 convention city locked down: Denver. A Democrat who was briefed said that chairman Howard Dean made the final decision yesterday, weeks later than planned. DNC comm. dir. Karen Finney declined to confirm the choice. Colorado is a marquee states for Democrats, who have, in the past two years, gobbled up the governor's mansion, control of the state legislature, and two congressional seats. But Denver's bid was shot through with holes from the start. The first technical submission was greeted with dismay by party regulars; revised bids were better. Labor unions threatened to balk unless Denver began to unionize its hotels;

If Denver had been smart they would have pulled out then. Why raise their hotel costs due to unions, and cut into their tourist and future convention business just to get the Hillary Inauguration.

others wanted to extract compromises from the DNC and the state about union participation. The DNC worried about whether Denver could raise the $50 million necessary to stage the marquee event for the '08 Dem nominee.

Hillary can pay that out of petty cash, but why tick New Yorkers off by not spending it in NY

Promises by out of state governors to raise millions were greeted skeptically. It was not immediately clear what made Dean comfortable that Denver had settled these issues. NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg was once enthusiastic about the prospect of a DNC convention, even opening City Hall for meetings of top Democratic financiers. But Bloomberg turned soured about the prospect the more he dealt with the DNC.

They got too greedy

New York City would have been the safe choice, logistically and financially. But it would have been a political nightmare and set Dean apart from his Netroots allies

who are not in Colorado either

and virtually every strategist, presidential candidate and office holder in the party.

None of them trust Dean anyway.

But Dean aides have said that he was not prepared to risk holding a convention in a city that was not prepared to handle it.

In other words Dean asked for too much, and Bloomberg said no.

Al-Maliki grows a backbone

CBC News reported Al-Maliki gives Mahdi Army blunt choice: disarm or face American onslaught.

Can we put a bullet in the center of al Sadr's black hat just to show you mean it?

Iraq's prime minister has told Mahdi Army militiamen they must surrender their arms or face an all-out assault by U.S.-backed Iraqi forces, senior Iraqi officials said Wednesday, revealing a pledge Washington wanted to hear as American and Iraqi troops prepared a fresh operation to end the bloody sectarian war gripping Baghdad. The blunt message was particularly significant given that Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi leader, previously had blocked several U.S. attempts to crack down on the military wing of radical anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, now one of the most powerful players in Iraq.

If he ever backs down from that pledge we should pull out immediately. Move North to protect the Kurds, then stage most forces as if we are preparing to invade Iran

RWN blogged This is another headline that has been long overdue.

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Does a McCain-Lieberman ticket make sense?

MSNBC reported In the spring of 2004 Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry made overtures to Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican, to be his running mate.

Ha Ha

A Kerry-McCain ticket had a compelling logic: it would have given Kerry a chance to outflank President Bush, to win some Republican voters, and to carry McCain’s state of Arizona and its ten electoral votes.

?????

Will McCain, now a leading contender for the 2008 GOP nomination, borrow Kerry’s idea and offer the vice presidency to Sen. Joe Lieberman, Connecticut’s self-styled “independent Democrat”?