The babyjesuschristsuperstar on Board: filling the moral void of Clinton’s legacy

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
when bill clinton repeatedly decided to not take Bin Ladin, pre-9/11, was that because it would have been unwarrented?

No, I think it was obvious to any thinking person by early 2000 that Bin Laden should be taken out, hard.

Pity Bush didn't become President until September 10, 2001, or he might have had time to do something about that.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Sidd Finch
No, I think it was obvious to any thinking person by early 2000 that Bin Laden should be taken out, hard.

Pity Bush didn't become President until September 10, 2001, or he might have had time to do something about that.

sudan kept it's offer open?

[Shape Shifter]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
sudan kept it's offer open?

The fake you seems much less ignorant.

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

Originally posted by Spanky
She turned out not to be a good candidate. We decided it would be a lot easier for Pete to get earned media. So we went with Pete. The official announcement is coming from Lodi today. Do you want to donate?

I'll pass, but thanks for asking. Best of luck in getting rid of Pombo, though.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Shape Shifter
The fake you seems much less ignorant.

I thought you had stopped sucking slave's dick?

[SlaveNoMore]

Hank Chinaski
I thought you had stopped sucking slave's dick?

"Brownnose Mountain"?

[Shape Shifter]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
"Brownnose Mountain"?

So you admit that you're the fake Hank?

[SlaveNoMore]

Shape Shifter
So you admit that you're the fake Hank?

Um, no. I can barely bother to post here. You really think I'd be posting there, too?

Is there a Hank on the Monkeyscribe site?

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
Um, no. I can barely bother to post here. You really think I'd be posting there, too?

Is there a Hank on the Monkeyscribe site?

its GGG. you can tell by his mad-photoshop skills. place is pathetic- they gave me a crown for periodically bitching that they let him steal my name. SS is the only one else there- I bet in HS he played football with the middle school kids down the street.

[SlaveNoMore]

Good thing all those Baldwins and other hacks didn't move to Canada, eh?

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
Good thing all those Baldwins and other hacks didn't move to Canada, eh?

If you're going to start in with the race-baiting again, take it to the FB where it belongs.

[SlaveNoMore]

Tyrone Slothrop
If you're going to start in with the race-baiting again, take it to the FB where it belongs.

What do you think about Harry Belafonte?

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
Good thing all those Baldwins and other hacks didn't move to Canada, eh?

was same sex marriage a big issue?

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
was same sex marriage a big issue?

No, even the Conservatives support it there.

[Spanky]

The sad state of American news. Look at CNN, FOX or MSNBC and compare it to Stratfor below. These aren't news channels they are fluff channels. Am I just a freak, or is the stuff below interesting and the stuff on these other channels enough to put a meth head to sleep? Don't people want interesting news and not weather reports from Europe?

From Stratfor

1253 GMT -- SRI LANKA -- Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse met Norwegian peace broker Erik Solheim in Colombo on Jan. 24 for talks aimed at preventing a Sri Lankan civil war. Solheim, who arrived the day after a suspected rebel ambush, is scheduled to meet with leaders of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on Jan. 25 to try to bridge the rebel demand that talks be held in Norway with the government demand that they be held somewhere else.

1248 GMT -- LEBANON -- Lebanon should tell the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) that Hezbollah is a group that defends Lebanon against Israel and not a militia that needs to be disarmed, Lebanese Energy and Water Minister Mohammed Fneish said Jan. 24. Fneish, who also is a Hezbollah member, said a Jan. 23 UNSC statement calling for the implementation of Resolution 1559 (2004) -- which includes a demand that militias be disbanded -- is nothing more than a continuation of American pressure that would enable Israel to continue to occupy Lebanese territories. It is an insult to all Lebanese to call the resistance movement a militia, Fneish said.

1240 GMT -- SUDAN -- Sudan Liberation Army rebels attacked the government-held town of Golo in Sudan's central Darfur region Jan. 23, a senior African Union official said Jan. 24. Darfur rebels also warned late Jan. 23 they are suspending participation in the Darfur peace process to protest Khartoum's bid to lead the African Union, a move that would give the Sudanese government oversight over the 7,000 peacekeeping troops monitoring the cease-fire in Darfur.

1233 GMT -- IRAN -- Two blasts rocked the southwestern Iranian city of Ahvaz at the same time Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was scheduled to visit Jan. 24, though Ahmadinejad reportedly cancelled the visit a day earlier due to bad weather. State television said one explosive device detonated in front of a private bank, killing six people and injuring 15, while the second explosion, in front of a government natural resources office, injured nine.

1226 GMT -- WEST BANK -- Abu Ahmed Hassouna, a leader of the ruling Fatah party in the West Bank town of Nablus, was shot to death Jan. 24 in violence related to the Jan. 25 parliamentary elections, The Associated Press reported, citing relatives at the scene. Hassouna's family said nine gunmen affiliated with Fatah fired at election posters on Hassouna's house and then shot him in the head when he leaned out the window to tell them to stop. The gunmen escaped the scene.

1218 GMT -- CANADA -- Results from the Jan. 23. Canadian general election indicate the Conservative Party won 124 seats in the 308-seat parliament and took 36 percent of the popular vote, making Stephen Harper prime minister-elect and ending the Liberal Party's 12-year leadership of government. The Liberals, led by Prime Minister Paul Martin, won 103 parliamentary seats and just over 30 percent of the popular vote, while the Bloc Quebecois Party took 51 seats.

1211 GMT -- CHINA -- Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao met with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick on Jan. 24 for discussions regarding Sino-U.S. relations and other issues of regional concern, said a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman. Although bilateral relations face some problems, they are also reaching an unprecedented depth and width that must be maintained through frequent contact, the spokesman said. Zoellick also is scheduled to hold talks with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo regarding the U.S.-China Strategic Dialogue during his three-day visit to China.
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Geopolitical Diary: Chirac Meets the New Germany

German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with French President Jacques Chirac for the second time on Monday. It was a summit that Chirac almost certainly approached with considerable trepidation. Though he was quick to ensure his place as the first foreign leader with whom Merkel met following her swearing-in, she rapidly followed up her visit to Paris by hopscotching across Europe, then flying to Washington and Moscow as well. In short, every aspect of German foreign policy has been up for review.

This stems partly from the change in personalities at the helm. Merkel's predecessor, Gerhard Schroeder, was notorious for his pro-French and anti-American attitudes -- to such a degree that he and U.S. President George W. Bush were not even on speaking terms. And Schroeder, Chirac and Russian President Vladimir Putin made it a point to collectively challenge U.S. foreign policy whenever the opportunity presented itself.

Merkel, who was born in what was then East Germany and lived under the Russian boot during the Cold War, has a more natural sympathy with Washington. While she regards Russia as a potential partner for Germany, it is -- in her own words -- certainly not a friend.

Merkel has been unusually fortunate during her first two months in office. Her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) failed to win an outright majority in parliamentary elections, forcing it to enter into an awkward coalition with the Social Democratic Party (SPD) -- Schroeder's own grouping -- that few, including us, would have thought would have much chance of accomplishing anything particularly meaningful.

But instead of running a government of the lowest common denominator, a series of coincidences have allowed Merkel to distance Germany from Schroeder's policies. Schroeder himself lent a hand, by taking a job as manager of a Russian energy project that he had personally negotiated with Moscow in the closing days of his administration. Such a flagrant conflict of interest alienated even his own former Cabinet ministers.

Also, Iran's new president began waxing philosophic about erasing Israel from existence -- or at least relocating it to Germany. Whereas Schroeder had been quite gung ho about talking up Iran, Merkel could easily cite public opinion in disengaging from Tehran. And finally, a series of public scandals implicating the previous SPD-led government slammed home. But since Merkel's CDU was in opposition at the time the events in question were to have taken place, all blame has been laid at the feet of Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier of the SPD, who until recently was Schroeder's right-hand man.

As a result of all of this, Merkel has been able to chart the ship of state as she sees fit (at least, so far as foreign affairs are concerned).

But Chirac's concerns at this summit run far deeper than anxieties about personalities or coincidences.

Since the end of World War II, France has been, for all intents and purposes, the king of Europe. The United Kingdom was always on the outside looking in, the smaller states could not hope to challenge French hegemony, and Germany was a defeated, occupied state lashed to the European project.

Of the three circumstances, it was the last that empowered French ambition the most. By itself, Paris lacked the geopolitical weight to play a meaningful role in global affairs. But by elevating itself on the back of a prostrate Germany, France could make its voice heard far and wide.

However, Germany now is beginning to stand back up and no longer will serve as a pedestal for France. Under Schroeder, an awakening, reunified Germany was not a threat because Berlin still marched in lockstep with Paris. But under Merkel, that is changing.

For the first time in 50 years of Franco-German partnership, the French president likely realized that the German he would be entertaining has her own ideas about what needs to be done for Germany, as opposed to ideas about what was best for Europe. Relations between Paris and Berlin are hardly hostile, but there are more cracks of light between them than there have been in decades -- whether the issue is VAT, the European constitution or relations with powers beyond Europe.

Which forces one to recall what European history was like before Germany was an occupied state. Traditionally, a strong Germany wreaks havoc with French interests. Throughout history, when Germany has been strong, France has been forced to look elsewhere for allies. And quite often, those allies have spoken English.

For a president who has dedicated his entire political life to using Germany as a bolster for France and its power vis-à-vis the Americans, that is perhaps the biggest nightmare of all.