The Giuliani interview shows that the EO was framed with the intent of being a Muslim ban. Giuliani should be called to testify to this under oath in any proceeding challenging the constitutionality of the EO. The intent of the EO, plus the fact that the persons affected have already been vetted and approved for admission, and the fact that the EO was intended to include not only non-citizen valid visa holders, but also lawful permanent residents, and even naturalized citizens, demonstrate that the claim that the order targets "radical Islamic terrorists" is false. The violations of the constitution and law here are numerous. Off hand, one could mention equal protection, due process, establishment of religion, etc. Trump, Giuliani, and the others on the committee conspired to violate the constitution and US law. Trump has violated his oath to uphold the constitution and should be impeached. I hope the ACLU and other interested parties take due note of this fact.
I would like to simply quote from Geo. Washington's Farewell Address those portions which perfectly describe our favoritism toward the so-called "state" of Israel and our antipathy toward its antagonists, as something to be avoided. I quote:
"Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all. Religion and morality enjoin this conduct; and can it be, that good policy does not equally enjoin it - It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and at no distant period, a great nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence.
In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in one nation against another disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable, when accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. Hence, frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and bloody contests. The nation, prompted by ill-will and resentment, sometimes impels to war the government, contrary to the best calculations of policy.
"So likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter without adequate inducement or justification. It leads also to concessions to the favorite nation of privileges denied to others which is apt doubly to injure the nation making the concessions; by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained, and by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom equal privileges are withheld. And it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the favorite nation), facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own country, without odium, sometimes even with popularity; gilding, with the appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commendable deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good, the base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation."
All of this describes perfectly the policies pursued by the corrupt miscreants we have elected and in whose guilt we therefore share. And one can be sure the blowback will continue to plague us in various forms. And if anyone cares to dispute this, let him explain why Washington's warnings should not be heeded. "Oh, we like sheep have gone astray!"
Never fear! Relatively little of this money was actually spent on the countries in question. Almost all of it went to U.S. contractors and sub-contractors. Take a drive sometime along the VA side of the Potomac from Arlington to Reston and take a look at the splendid properties to be found en route. Who are their owners? Most likely generals, neocons, lobbyists, and others of the well-connected who pushed their way again and again through the revolving door of government "service" and government contracting. It's all just money decreed into existence and added to the national debt and winds up in the pockets of the well-connected. I myself was on a contract in Iraq for nearly six years and saw the whole thing. But I was on a meager and humble contract, not one of the whale-sized contracts that swallowed vast sums whole! These endless conflicts are just programs of creating new government debt to enrich the well-connected. Anyone who believes otherwise is simply a fool. In fact, get this: Some of the money that was spent in-country wound up in the hands of al-Qaida or other insurgents, who would then use it to manufacture IEDs to kill our own soldiers. Is there any other people on the face of the earth stupid enough to finance the killing of their own kids? It may be unpleasant to have to admit it, but the fact is that Americans are the dumbest customers in the world!
I lived in Arabic-speaking Muslim countries of the Middle East for decades, and hence I could go on at some length about the biases of the US media. One of the things I find most amusing about our media persons is the fact that, almost without exception as far as I can tell, they grossly mispronounce the name of the Syrian president Bashaar al-Asad. The epithet al-Asad is to be pronounced with only two "short a's", and not to be pronounced as al-Asaad. Thus our media are to be seen as having no hesitation to pontificate about figures whose names they don't even know how to pronounce!! Another big joke. Once I heard Scott Pelley intone emphatically "THE DICTATOR Bashaar al-Asaad (sic)." I presume that CBS doesn't like Bashaar al-Asad because Syria helps Hizballah, which stands in the way of Israel occupying southern Lebanon and getting control of Lebanon's water resources. I don't recall anyone on CBS stressing that Husni Mubarak was a dictator, but then of course he was a "true friend of Israel." To anyone with first-hand knowledge of the Middle East our media seem so biased as to appear virtually out of touch with reality. The anti-Iran campaign is a whole other long story.
Another media organization that seems obsessed with portraying Muslims negatively is CBS. The "Islamic terrorist" (another stock phrase) is frequently shown as a target of the brilliant, dedicated NCIS team. But I have never seen on "60 Minutes" any portrayal of what life is like for Palestinians under Israeli occupation. Of course, the CBS president, Leslie Moonves, is a grand-nephew of David Ben-Gurion! Once I heard Scott Pelley utter the phrase "Iran's nuclear weapons program." If 60 Minutes had proof of the existence of such a program, you'd think they would show it to the world. It seems evident that CBS is just another American media mouthpiece of the Likkud party. CBS claims that its credibility is of paramount importance. Sure it is, when your goal is to influence public opinion in favor of Israel at every turn. "Credibility"--what a joke!
Ayman al-Zawahiri, the current head of al-Qaida, is also a physician and surgeon. Excelling in a particular branch of science does not preclude the possibility of one's harboring crackpot views of matters outside his narrow field of expertise. And then there's Dr. Josef Mengele...
The Giuliani interview shows that the EO was framed with the intent of being a Muslim ban. Giuliani should be called to testify to this under oath in any proceeding challenging the constitutionality of the EO. The intent of the EO, plus the fact that the persons affected have already been vetted and approved for admission, and the fact that the EO was intended to include not only non-citizen valid visa holders, but also lawful permanent residents, and even naturalized citizens, demonstrate that the claim that the order targets "radical Islamic terrorists" is false. The violations of the constitution and law here are numerous. Off hand, one could mention equal protection, due process, establishment of religion, etc. Trump, Giuliani, and the others on the committee conspired to violate the constitution and US law. Trump has violated his oath to uphold the constitution and should be impeached. I hope the ACLU and other interested parties take due note of this fact.
I would like to simply quote from Geo. Washington's Farewell Address those portions which perfectly describe our favoritism toward the so-called "state" of Israel and our antipathy toward its antagonists, as something to be avoided. I quote:
"Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all. Religion and morality enjoin this conduct; and can it be, that good policy does not equally enjoin it - It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and at no distant period, a great nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence.
In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in one nation against another disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable, when accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. Hence, frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and bloody contests. The nation, prompted by ill-will and resentment, sometimes impels to war the government, contrary to the best calculations of policy.
"So likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter without adequate inducement or justification. It leads also to concessions to the favorite nation of privileges denied to others which is apt doubly to injure the nation making the concessions; by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained, and by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom equal privileges are withheld. And it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the favorite nation), facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own country, without odium, sometimes even with popularity; gilding, with the appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commendable deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good, the base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation."
All of this describes perfectly the policies pursued by the corrupt miscreants we have elected and in whose guilt we therefore share. And one can be sure the blowback will continue to plague us in various forms. And if anyone cares to dispute this, let him explain why Washington's warnings should not be heeded. "Oh, we like sheep have gone astray!"
Never fear! Relatively little of this money was actually spent on the countries in question. Almost all of it went to U.S. contractors and sub-contractors. Take a drive sometime along the VA side of the Potomac from Arlington to Reston and take a look at the splendid properties to be found en route. Who are their owners? Most likely generals, neocons, lobbyists, and others of the well-connected who pushed their way again and again through the revolving door of government "service" and government contracting. It's all just money decreed into existence and added to the national debt and winds up in the pockets of the well-connected. I myself was on a contract in Iraq for nearly six years and saw the whole thing. But I was on a meager and humble contract, not one of the whale-sized contracts that swallowed vast sums whole! These endless conflicts are just programs of creating new government debt to enrich the well-connected. Anyone who believes otherwise is simply a fool. In fact, get this: Some of the money that was spent in-country wound up in the hands of al-Qaida or other insurgents, who would then use it to manufacture IEDs to kill our own soldiers. Is there any other people on the face of the earth stupid enough to finance the killing of their own kids? It may be unpleasant to have to admit it, but the fact is that Americans are the dumbest customers in the world!
I lived in Arabic-speaking Muslim countries of the Middle East for decades, and hence I could go on at some length about the biases of the US media. One of the things I find most amusing about our media persons is the fact that, almost without exception as far as I can tell, they grossly mispronounce the name of the Syrian president Bashaar al-Asad. The epithet al-Asad is to be pronounced with only two "short a's", and not to be pronounced as al-Asaad. Thus our media are to be seen as having no hesitation to pontificate about figures whose names they don't even know how to pronounce!! Another big joke. Once I heard Scott Pelley intone emphatically "THE DICTATOR Bashaar al-Asaad (sic)." I presume that CBS doesn't like Bashaar al-Asad because Syria helps Hizballah, which stands in the way of Israel occupying southern Lebanon and getting control of Lebanon's water resources. I don't recall anyone on CBS stressing that Husni Mubarak was a dictator, but then of course he was a "true friend of Israel." To anyone with first-hand knowledge of the Middle East our media seem so biased as to appear virtually out of touch with reality. The anti-Iran campaign is a whole other long story.
Another media organization that seems obsessed with portraying Muslims negatively is CBS. The "Islamic terrorist" (another stock phrase) is frequently shown as a target of the brilliant, dedicated NCIS team. But I have never seen on "60 Minutes" any portrayal of what life is like for Palestinians under Israeli occupation. Of course, the CBS president, Leslie Moonves, is a grand-nephew of David Ben-Gurion! Once I heard Scott Pelley utter the phrase "Iran's nuclear weapons program." If 60 Minutes had proof of the existence of such a program, you'd think they would show it to the world. It seems evident that CBS is just another American media mouthpiece of the Likkud party. CBS claims that its credibility is of paramount importance. Sure it is, when your goal is to influence public opinion in favor of Israel at every turn. "Credibility"--what a joke!
Ayman al-Zawahiri, the current head of al-Qaida, is also a physician and surgeon. Excelling in a particular branch of science does not preclude the possibility of one's harboring crackpot views of matters outside his narrow field of expertise. And then there's Dr. Josef Mengele...