This is definitely a major defeat for Bashar. After over three years of unchecked barbarity of the Syrian regime, aided by the intervention of Iran and its Shi'i surrogates like Hizbullah and the Iraqi gangs, and after all that we were hearing in late 2013 that Bashar will win the war in a matter of months, now, in 2015, another provincial capital falls to the rebels. And this is not an insignificant capital in the Eastern desert, but Idlib which is two hours away from Latakia and Aleppo, undermining the longstanding efforts of Bashar to retake Aleppo. The fact that Bashar is still losing, despite the handouts of Obama in the form of his inaction in 2013 and airstrikes in 2014, clearly shows that he is incapable of winning despite his barrel bombs.
Obama has been a disaster on Syria, as he has been a coward timidity in his dealings with Republicans in the Congress. He always says that 'this is my red line' but very soon after, breaks his own promise/assertion, and timidly bows down to pressures, whether it is from Russia, or is from Republicans in the Congress. And one does not have to be rocket scientist to understand what this whole theatrics of unfulfilled threats lead to: defeat and humiliation! And that's exactly what is going to happen to Obama and unfortunately the United States.
If Perry or Bachman win the primary and become the de facto leaders of the Republican Party, they are likely to rename it as 'National Fascist Republican Party of the United States".
I think this map is a little inaccurate; at least it is grossly inaccurate about West Azerbaijan, my home province in the northwest, which has a mixed population of predominantly-Shia ethnic Azeris (50+/-5%) and predominantly-Sunni Kurdish population, but the map shows the whole area as Kurdish which is not accurate. There is also a sizable Sunni ethnic Azeri population (5-10 per cent) in the region which are not shown in the map.
First it is not my dream, it is rather what should have already gone into this satirical piece in the first place since it precisely reflects how Beck views electoral politics. Secondly it might be true that politics is not much different from 'his' dream right now, but keep in mind that in Beck's standards, politics is still too elitist (read meritocratic) for morons like him and Sarah Palin to get their hands onto the red button.
I have a dream that one day nobody will need intelligence, competence and integrity to run and be elected to public office in this land; I have a dream that no politician will ever be judged by the merit of his ideas but by the flames of his demagogy. I have a dream that one day our elections will be decided by gunfires instead of ballot boxes. I have a dream.
Well said, that's exactly what I meant. But the sad thing is the lack of any political alternatives in US electoral politics today. It's either Democrats or Fascists who have taken over the Republican Party, and if you are a reasonable person, you either choose inefficient cowardly D's or you stay home and help neo-fascists take over the government.
I know this might sound a little too cynical- and maybe too pessimistic- but if you take a look at the last four decades, GOP has evolved more into the monochromatic party of ‘whites’; this trend started with Nixon’s ‘Southern strategy’ in 1968 and worked well for years to come simply because whites were the majority for all those years. But today we live in a completely different US today than in 60′s and 70′s; it is just sufficient to note that President Obama wins just 43 per cent of the white vote and still manages to pull off a landslide. If current trends persist, whites will no longer be a majority within a few decades and neither will the Republican Party be able to win any national election in the face of new demographics. In other words, the demographic clock is ticking against GOP and they are well aware of that.
What I think is happening is that some elements in the GOP are trying to make electoral politics about race and ethnicity, and they do this in such a heated manner that they can mobilize and widen their base around that; indeed they need a higher share of the white vote today and they can only achieve this if they can create a narrative where it is 'us against them'. This can eventually have a multitude of effects including:
1- Establishment of a mob of ignorant uneducated bigots through which they can intimidate their political opponents and interfere with the democratic process in this country.
2- Alienate minorities to the level of their complete marginalization in the political process.
3- Stopping or reversing the demographic process which is currently against them by making US an uncomfortable- and preferrably dangerous- place for minorities.
This can unfortunately stall the entire democratic electoral process and makes GOP-led US a country like Russia or Nazi Germany- although I think it is very unlikely- but when people like Sharron Angle talk about ’2nd Amendment remedies’ that's precisely what some people inside GOP think about at this moment.
I know that this strategy is unlikely to work and is therefore harmful for the GOP in the long run; GOP should instead try to outreach more to minorities as most mainstream rightwing parties in the West- such as Tories in UK do. I am certain that some elements in the GOP are looking forward to this more peaceful and more democratic alternative and in years to come, we will not only witness the escalation of fear-mongering by certain elements in GOP (like Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich) but also an internal schism and clash between these extremists and more reasonable forward-looking elements of the GOP. (We are currently seeing the beginning of this internal clash with Tea-Partiers making upsets in GOP primaries, but I think we will see more face-offs in the future- and maybe in 2012- which might tear GOP apart and give birth to a more mainstream conservative party and a fringe ethnocentric nationalist party.)
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This is definitely a major defeat for Bashar. After over three years of unchecked barbarity of the Syrian regime, aided by the intervention of Iran and its Shi'i surrogates like Hizbullah and the Iraqi gangs, and after all that we were hearing in late 2013 that Bashar will win the war in a matter of months, now, in 2015, another provincial capital falls to the rebels. And this is not an insignificant capital in the Eastern desert, but Idlib which is two hours away from Latakia and Aleppo, undermining the longstanding efforts of Bashar to retake Aleppo. The fact that Bashar is still losing, despite the handouts of Obama in the form of his inaction in 2013 and airstrikes in 2014, clearly shows that he is incapable of winning despite his barrel bombs.
Obama has been a disaster on Syria, as he has been a coward timidity in his dealings with Republicans in the Congress. He always says that 'this is my red line' but very soon after, breaks his own promise/assertion, and timidly bows down to pressures, whether it is from Russia, or is from Republicans in the Congress. And one does not have to be rocket scientist to understand what this whole theatrics of unfulfilled threats lead to: defeat and humiliation! And that's exactly what is going to happen to Obama and unfortunately the United States.
If Perry or Bachman win the primary and become the de facto leaders of the Republican Party, they are likely to rename it as 'National Fascist Republican Party of the United States".
I think this map is a little inaccurate; at least it is grossly inaccurate about West Azerbaijan, my home province in the northwest, which has a mixed population of predominantly-Shia ethnic Azeris (50+/-5%) and predominantly-Sunni Kurdish population, but the map shows the whole area as Kurdish which is not accurate. There is also a sizable Sunni ethnic Azeri population (5-10 per cent) in the region which are not shown in the map.
First it is not my dream, it is rather what should have already gone into this satirical piece in the first place since it precisely reflects how Beck views electoral politics. Secondly it might be true that politics is not much different from 'his' dream right now, but keep in mind that in Beck's standards, politics is still too elitist (read meritocratic) for morons like him and Sarah Palin to get their hands onto the red button.
I have a dream that one day nobody will need intelligence, competence and integrity to run and be elected to public office in this land; I have a dream that no politician will ever be judged by the merit of his ideas but by the flames of his demagogy. I have a dream that one day our elections will be decided by gunfires instead of ballot boxes. I have a dream.
Well said, that's exactly what I meant. But the sad thing is the lack of any political alternatives in US electoral politics today. It's either Democrats or Fascists who have taken over the Republican Party, and if you are a reasonable person, you either choose inefficient cowardly D's or you stay home and help neo-fascists take over the government.
I know this might sound a little too cynical- and maybe too pessimistic- but if you take a look at the last four decades, GOP has evolved more into the monochromatic party of ‘whites’; this trend started with Nixon’s ‘Southern strategy’ in 1968 and worked well for years to come simply because whites were the majority for all those years. But today we live in a completely different US today than in 60′s and 70′s; it is just sufficient to note that President Obama wins just 43 per cent of the white vote and still manages to pull off a landslide. If current trends persist, whites will no longer be a majority within a few decades and neither will the Republican Party be able to win any national election in the face of new demographics. In other words, the demographic clock is ticking against GOP and they are well aware of that.
What I think is happening is that some elements in the GOP are trying to make electoral politics about race and ethnicity, and they do this in such a heated manner that they can mobilize and widen their base around that; indeed they need a higher share of the white vote today and they can only achieve this if they can create a narrative where it is 'us against them'. This can eventually have a multitude of effects including:
1- Establishment of a mob of ignorant uneducated bigots through which they can intimidate their political opponents and interfere with the democratic process in this country.
2- Alienate minorities to the level of their complete marginalization in the political process.
3- Stopping or reversing the demographic process which is currently against them by making US an uncomfortable- and preferrably dangerous- place for minorities.
This can unfortunately stall the entire democratic electoral process and makes GOP-led US a country like Russia or Nazi Germany- although I think it is very unlikely- but when people like Sharron Angle talk about ’2nd Amendment remedies’ that's precisely what some people inside GOP think about at this moment.
I know that this strategy is unlikely to work and is therefore harmful for the GOP in the long run; GOP should instead try to outreach more to minorities as most mainstream rightwing parties in the West- such as Tories in UK do. I am certain that some elements in the GOP are looking forward to this more peaceful and more democratic alternative and in years to come, we will not only witness the escalation of fear-mongering by certain elements in GOP (like Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich) but also an internal schism and clash between these extremists and more reasonable forward-looking elements of the GOP. (We are currently seeing the beginning of this internal clash with Tea-Partiers making upsets in GOP primaries, but I think we will see more face-offs in the future- and maybe in 2012- which might tear GOP apart and give birth to a more mainstream conservative party and a fringe ethnocentric nationalist party.)