Intifada

The PNAC neocons are likely to suggest that the US invasion of Iraq served as a catalyst for the uprisings and protests now sweeping the Middle East. Glenn Beck will refer to an organized Islamic conspiracy to unite all Moslem nations under one banner and take over the world. Rush Limbaugh will say that Democrats are behind the unrest as part of a plan to insure Obama’s re-election. Sarah Palin will tweet that the fuss has to do with Michelle Obama’s efforts to curb childhood obesity.

The reality of course has nothing to do with any of the above. The demonstrations and riots are about brutal economic oppression and the growing inequality between rich and poor, fueled by increasing outrage over unemployment, food inflation, corruption, freedom of speech, and poor living conditions.

Egypt is currently capturing the limelight, but this is bigger than Egypt, where what is happening would probably not be taking place without the recent development in Tunisia, which overthrew President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali on January 14. Granted, Egypt is no Tunisia, but the events are connected and extend across the region. At least ten self-immolation attempts occurred in Algeria just in the week from January 12 to January 19, most associated with the lack of housing. In Jordon, protesters enraged over widespread hunger called for Prime Minister Samir Rifai to step down with cries, “Beware of our starvation and fury!”

Though small, protests in Jordon occurred today as well. In Yemen, protests occurred in multiple cities including Sanaa University where a slogan read, “Leave before you are forced to leave.”

Protesters have also set themselves on fire in Mauritania and Saudi Arabia. Sudan is facing a secessionist referendum, and across the Mediterranean, Albania is facing increasing pressure from its opposition parties.

Boston.com has a terrific sequence of photographs of the developments in Tunisia, Lebanon, and Egypt, where President Hosni Mubarak’s grasp is slipping. Facebook pages called for January 25 to be a "day of revolution against torture, poverty, corruption, and unemployment." Egypt has virtually shut down all Internet, all cell phones, all messaging, and it has brought in the army to clamp down on the crowds. Curiously, many of the protesters think the army is on their side.

From a Daily Beast article on Egypt:

Dalia Ziada, a popular 29-year-old Egyptian blogger, noted, "Men and women are standing side-by-side in calling for their rights."

You don’t see political flags [in the crowds],” said Ahmed Samih, an activist who directs an Internet radio station in Cairo. “You don’t see the Muslim Brotherhood. You see Egyptians. You see the flags of Egyptians all over the place."

Or as Ziada put it: "All you have is an idea."

Marco Vicenzino, director of the Global Strategy Project, is suggesting that Mubarak, 82, step down peacefully in a way the prevents additional bloodshed, including his own.

Of course, countries like Iran don't have to worry about anything like this.

The Unintended

(Unintended Consequences, Lee Roy Beach) Everyone knows various versions of the tale where one obtains what one has long desired, but instead of the anticipated fulfillment, the results are unforeseen and sometimes disastrous. Remember Terry Jones, the minister who announced plans to burn the Qur'an? He got the attention he wanted, with unintended consequences.

Many in the GOP have been screaming for the last two years about what they would like to burn. Their takeover of the House has already generated seismic shifts in national sentiments and the electricity in the network of the nation's political discourse. John Boehner is Speaker of the House, a house with a considerable number of tea party candidates.

Rand Paul and Michele Bachmann are making proposals. Paul's include eliminating the Affordable Housing Program, the Commission on Fine Arts, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the State Justice Institute. He would also eliminate the Consumer Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, the Department of Education, and slash others as follows:

Legislative branch -- 23%
Federal courts -- 32%
Agriculture Department -- 30%
Commerce Department -- 54%
Health and Human Services -- 26%
Homeland Security -- 43%
Interior Department -- 78%

Oh, and eliminate food stamps.

Bachmann's ideas add: cap Veterans Affairs health care spending, privatize the Transportation Safety Administration, Federal Aviation Administration and Amtrak, repeal the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law, and open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to leasing.

The ideas of these new representatives don't feel the same as they did when spoken at tea party rallies.

Obama's numbers are climbing (1/13-17/2011 NBC-WSJ poll), but this occurred before the State of the Union, which has only fortified his numbers. What initiated the jump? The tragedy in Tucson? Without question the horrific violence shed the hateful rhetoric in a different light, but his eulogy at the University of Arizona, even with the country's tendency to come together after a tragedy, seems insufficient to shift his approval numbers so dramatically.

The GOP's victory in the House replaced its bash Pelosi privileges with a job. It also installs President Obama as the most visible and reliable line of defense against people who apparently want to return this country to the Stone Age. Unlike Jones, Speaker Boehner doesn't have the option to proclaim, "Never mind!" and tell his folks to take the signs down and go home.

Now seen as a voice of reason and intellect protecting a center against extremism, Obama becomes the face of progress so hard won over two centuries. This will continue to fuel approval of his presidency and dramatically enhances his re-election bid in 2012.

Empty Chair

Ever since Gabrielle Giffords was elected to Congress, when I watched various events where Congress was assembled, in particular the President's State of the Union address, I would look into the audience just to see if I might catch a glimpse of her in her seat.

I never found her place.

Until tonight.

I never imagined that when I would find her place at the President's State of the Union address, it would be empty.

March 21-26, 2010

Congress passed the Affordable Health Care for America Act on Sunday, March 21, 2010. That night, the Pima/Swan office of Congresswoman Giffords was vandalized. On Thursday, 3/25, Sarah Palin posted her now infamous "Take Back the 20" map featuring cross hairs targeting 20 members of Congress who supported the bill. The map made me sick, and convinced that this was the sort of thing that would get people killed, I posted Retreating, Reloading, and Aiming. That Friday, 3/26, conservative and former Palin supporter Elizabeth Hasselbeck addressed Palin's map on The View.


Later that same day, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords spoke to MSNBC about the vandalism, the increasingly violent rhetoric, and Palin's cross hairs. The video below offers the full five minute interview, not the one cut to the brief remark about the map. The video says A LOT.

The Killa from Wasilla

Congresswoman Giffords Shot

Anyone paying the slightest attention to the news now knows that a gunman opened fire at a northwest Tucson Safeway this morning where Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was holding a public event. The latest word is that the gunman fired many shots rapidly and has wounded at least five and perhaps as many as twelve people. Most disturbingly, I heard via phone call that Giffords was shot in the head. I don't have any confirmation of this.

The news is still saying nothing about her condition or the nature of her injuries, but it is confirming that Giffords has been flown to University Medical Center via medivac, which is not a good sign.

Okay - the news has just confirmed that she was shot in the head.

May folks say a prayer in support of this well meaning and dedicated public servant.

Update: NPR is now reporting that Gabrielle Giffords has died, but Sheriff Clarence Dupnik is saying that she is still alive. Pray hard.

Update (2:25 PM Tucson time): Gabrielle is clearly alive, now out of surgery but in critical condition. The surgeon expressed "optimism" that she will live. Word is that a federal judge and five others are dead, including someone on her staff.

Update (2:35 PM): The shooter has been identified as Jared Loughner, a 22 year old Caucasian, and that Giffords is responding to doctors and expected to live.

Carol Somers

Former AZ Representative Carol Somers (R: LD-13) died peacefully December 30, 2010 after a battle with brain cancer. I've been told she was ready and prepared to leave this world. May her wonderful husband Mike, who has heroically provided loving support at her side from start to finish, find solace and support from friends and loved ones.

Among other causes she supported as an elected official, Carol was a workforce development champion committed to helping local Tucsonans improve their skills and wages. I met Carol in 2002 shortly after she became the Chair of the Board of The Southern Arizona Institute of Advanced Technology (SAIAT). Under her leadership, the board implemented critically needed changes and transformed the agency from a marginally effective (and heavily subsidized) training institute into an extraordinary organization that served over 100 employers and trained over 10,000 employees per year, requiring only a fraction of the public subsidy needed by the earlier version. Without Carol, the place would have closed in 2003.

Instead, it became something truly valuable and prospered until 2007. When TREO stole its funding and shot it out of the sky, I resigned. Carol, not yours truly, remained with the crippled plane and guided it to the ground.

Carol was one of the increasingly rare Republicans committed to improving the government instead of dismantling it. She contributed to those efforts seeking a world that works for everyone and not just the fortunate few. May she now reside in a better place.