Irax

Is anyone else completely unnerved by the frequency with which Bush says "Iran" these days? My head says, "of course there's no way he could..." But what, after all, would rational thought have to do with it?

Quotes from last night's State of the Union:

• The United Nations has imposed sanctions on Iran, and made it clear that the world will not allow the regime in Tehran to acquire nuclear weapons. (Applause.) With the other members of the Quartet -- the U.N., the European Union, and Russia -- we're pursuing diplomacy to help bring peace to the Holy Land, and pursuing the establishment of a democratic Palestinian state living side-by-side with Israel in peace and security.
  
• In recent times, it has also become clear that we face an escalating danger from Shia extremists who are just as hostile to America, and are also determined to dominate the Middle East. Many are known to take direction from the regime in Iran, which is funding and arming terrorists like Hezbollah -- a group second only to al Qaeda in the American lives it has taken.
• In Lebanon, assassins took the life of Pierre Gemayel, a prominent participant in the Cedar Revolution. Hezbollah terrorists, with support from Syria and Iran, sowed conflict in the region and are seeking to undermine Lebanon's legitimately elected government.
• In Iraq, al Qaeda and other Sunni extremists blew up one of the most sacred places in Shia Islam -- the Golden Mosque of Samarra. This atrocity, directed at a Muslim house of prayer, was designed to provoke retaliation from Iraqi Shia -- and it succeeded. Radical Shia elements, some of whom receive support from Iran, formed death squads.
• If American forces step back before Baghdad is secure, the Iraqi government would be overrun by extremists on all sides. We could expect an epic battle between Shia extremists backed by Iran, and Sunni extremists aided by al Qaeda and supporters of the old regime.
• The United Nations has imposed sanctions on Iran, and made it clear that the world will not allow the regime in Tehran to acquire nuclear weapons. (Applause.)
  

All this at a time when Iranians are flexing the democratic muscles that Bush supposedly values, and electing reform parties in opposition to their confrontational President. You won't hear much about that, though, in Bush's posturing.

I believe that if a Democrat appears to have a chance of winning the 2008 election, we will go to war against Iran before that can happen. I hope my cycnicism is unjustified, but I'm still holding my breath.

AlterNet: Recycled Christmas

"Though we really enjoyed coming together for a mid-winter celebration, the very thought of shopping ruined Christmas. Wasn't there another option? Didn't we have the right to reclaim the holiday and create our own family tradition?"

[Full article linked to title above]

CQ: New House Intel Committee Chair unfamiliar with Al Qaeda

Apparently, Silvestre Reyes, soon to be the next House Intelligence Committee chair, doesn't know a most basic fact about Al Qaeda -- that it is a Sunni organization.

Reyes was chosen by Nancy Pelosi, passing over the more senior Rep. Jane Harmon, with whom she has strained relations.

[Full story linked above]

Padilla case crumbling?

Andrew Sullivan sums up the status of the Jose Padilla case:

So an American citizen, detained without due process for three years, accused of terribly serious crimes, and allegedly tortured, may not be found guilty, after all. And people wonder why many of us have concerns about the way the Bush administration has handled military detainees.

NYT: Bush to Ask Lame Duck Congress...

Big surprise -- Bush wants to push through not only major nominations and pass spending bills (before Democrats try to put pay-as-you-go rules back in place), energy legislation (read: more money for Exxon/Mobil), and surveillance measures (read: more civil liberties violations).

Bush to Ask Lame Duck Congress to Confirm Gates - New York Times: "Earlier, Mr. Bush listed spending bills, energy legislation and a measure authorizing surveillance of terrorist suspects as issues that need to be addressed soon. He did not mention immigration legislation, which stalled in Congress recently."

I know I have to say something...

I know I have to say something about Ted Haggard, but I don't even know where to start. Here's a guy who started and grew a 14,000- member church, and met with the Bush admini- stration on a weekly basis. He associated with leaders of the most vehement of gay-bashing organizations, Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council.

There is this very short video of Haggard (from the frightening documentary "Jesus Camp" about American madrassas), apparently confronting his own homosexuality. There's this May 2005 Harper's profile of him.

One pastor blames Haggard's wife, noting that wives of preachers often let themselves go, assuming that they don't have to work for their husbands' fidelity (I am not kidding!). Then there's David Frum, who thinks it's more moral to be a hypocritical homosexual than an honest one (apparently there is an unwritten commandment about homosexuality that trumps the one about false witness).

So there you have it folks. It doesn't matter how often it becomes clear that gays can be conservative, and even religious, and still be driven by their innate sexuality. It doesn't matter how many hyper-homophobic politicians, preachers, and priests are outed (Rick Santorum -- your day is coming!). The U.S. is so hung up about sex, and particularly gay sex, that it was easier for Haggard to admit to buying the deadly, addictive, illegal drug that is killing people and truly ruining families, than to admit to being gay. His followers will continue to put their blinders on and cover their ears and insist that these are anomolies, and move on to the next charismatic charlatan.

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On the bright side... Doogie Howser came out. :-)

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Business Week: Can Design Change the World?

A new book - an outgrowth of the popular worldchanging.com Web site - focuses on simple and complex innovations that could solve global crises. Publisher Abrams set an example by printing the 600-page book on recycled, acid-free paper and purchasing wind credits (from www.renewablechoice.com) equal to the amount of electricity needed to manufacture the book.

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