REACH OUT & TOUCH SOMEONE

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OBAMA GREETS MUSLIMS & ARABS

NEW PRESIDENT CHOOSES ARAB TV FOR FIRST INTERVIEW


YOUTUBE: AL ARABIYA
"Obama's first interview as president (Al-Arabiya TV exclusive)"
FuxSnooze filters disengaged.



Super-Envoy George Mitchell Starts Work In The Middle East

I can't say I'm happy with Barack Obama's choices for his staff and Cabinet, as they mostly represent the Clintonism we voted against in the Primaries. And he has made way too many concessions to the Republicans, whose *sses we kicked in the general election. But he has at least acknowledged some of the more substantive issues facing the world today: Economic stimulus and home-owner rescue, global warming and energy issues, world poverty and over-population, abortion and women's rights. And now the Middle East.

This could be Obama's downfall, of course. Our conservative "friends" are salivating at the prospect, and many are openly wishing him ill before he even gets started in the Middle East. It's a mess of long standing, and it only seems to keep getting worse every year. Everything the United States has done there since Dubya took over in 2001 has been an unmitigated disaster, from 9/11 to Guantanamo, from Gaza to Pakistan. I guess you could say that it's all uphill from here: We couldn't continue to sink much lower, but it will be hard work climbing out.

Former U.S. Senate Democratic Majority Leader George Mitchell may only be a guy who happened to be in the right place at the right time, fourteen years ago. After centuries of struggle, the situation in Northern Ireland had reached a point where nearly everyone was crying out for a solution. Attacks by the IRA on the financial center and major airports in London had suddenly brought round the intractable Tories, whose slim majority in the House of Commons was partially dependent upon the support of the Ulster Members of Parliament and their supporters. By talking surreptitiously with both sides in the Irish province, the ice began to break. At some point, it had to go public to succeed. To his credit, President Clinton stuck his neck out and sent Senator Mitchell to Belfast to broker a deal. Maybe he only got the credit for its' success by showing up at the final moment. But everyone concerned still credits Mitchell with closing the deal between arch-enemies like Republican Gerry Adams and Loyalist Ian Paisley. Despite many bumps in the road, the deal is still on track.

Mitchell of Maine is now 77 years old. His arrival in the Middle East comes at perhaps the worst moment in recent history. There has been no evidence of any back-room dealing between the Israeli's and the Palestinians, unless you count mutual bombardments and civilian carnage as a form of communication. After sixty years of unqualified diplomatic, military and economic support by the U.S., Israel is now more accustomed to requiring things of America than the other way around. Even after attacks on U.S. Navy ships and espionage right in Washington, Israel still has 110% support from nearly everyone in any position of power in the United States. Even the anti-Semites of the American right-wing have embraced the militant Zionists who now control the Jewish State, delighted with their hard and racist stand against any concession to the Palestinians, and their sabre-rattling at Iran. Bush has given the Israeli Right a blank check, and they've been spending it like there's no tomorrow.

But there's a new exchequer in town. After making obeissance to AIPAC, the Israeli lobby in New York, Obama is reaching out to the Arabs. Sending Special Envoy Mitchell may be only a gesture, but it is an important one. It's the first step in what could be a new path in the Middle East peace process, which is a phrase we haven't even heard in eight years. Whether Mitchell is up to it or not, he seems to have the respect of both Arab and Jew. Hopefully, he has some vigorous and capable younger aides who can do the heavy lifting, and all the endless groundwork that any deal will require. Given that the fate of the world may rest upon it, we can all only hope and pray that Mitchell is once again the right man in the right place at the right time.


MSNBC
"State monitoring Obama arab reaction "
What the people say, over there. State is checking the blogs! Now check mine!

' A State Department official read to NBC News a few of the emails coming in from posts abroad. The U.S. Embassy in Cairo reports: "We are getting overwhelmingly positive feedback from bloggers and contacts in country. Their main points are that they were highly impressed..." that he gave his first TV interview to an Arab satellite channel. In Saudi Arabia, a newspaper editor told the embassy, "The reader reaction that he's getting so far is astonishingly positive." In the United Arab Emirates, the embassy said, "Anecdotal public reaction has been highly positive." In Bahrain, one newspaper normally critical of U.S. policies commented favorably on the appointment of George Mitchell as special envoy. '

JEWISH TELEGRAPHIC AGENCY
"Op-Ed: Mitchell is the honest broker the Mideast needs"
Even the Israeli's were impressed.

' Hopefully, George Mitchell’s tenure as special envoy to the Middle East will turn out to be a case of what Yogi Berra would call “deja vu all over again.” Specifically, we could use a repeat of May 9, 2007, which has been the highlight of Mitchell’s career. That was the day that the conflict over Northern Ireland ended. It was a conflict that began in the 12th century and saw 3,500 people killed since 1966. President Obama would not have appointed George Mitchell unless he intended to push the process to a successful conclusion. Nor would he have made the appointment in the presence of the vice president, secretary of state and the assembled staff of the State Department. As for Barack Obama, he promised to begin the serious pursuit of an Israeli-Palestinian agreement during his first year in office. He’s well ahead of schedule. He appointed and tasked George Mitchell as special envoy on his second full day in office. '

ISLAM ONLINE
"America No Muslims' Enemy: Obama "
R-E-S-P-E-C-T

' Pledging a new "language of respect" in dealing with the Muslim world, US President Barack Obama affirmed that under his rule, the United States will send a message to Muslims worldwide that America is not their enemy. "My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy," Obama told the Arabic-language Al-Arabiya television in an interview on Monday, January 27. In his first formal interview as president, Obama vowed a conciliatory approach to the Muslim world, where anti-American sentiments reached record high during the presidency of his predecessor George Bush. A recent poll by the Washington-based Pew Research Center found that the US image had plummeted deeply across the world, especially in the Muslim world, with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan topping a long list of disappointing factors."We sometimes make mistakes. We have not been perfect," Obama admitted. '

THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
"Short on substance but Obama’s tone to Muslim world was striking – Ian Black "
Ian's not happy, though.

' Obama’s main message to al-Arabiya, the Dubai-based, Saudi-owned rival to the more popular but far more strident al-Jazeera, was that Americans are not the “enemy” of the Muslim world – a perception that has taken hold in the years since the 9/11 attacks and George Bush’s declaration of a “war on terror”. No matter that this was a reprise of a much-discussed theme in his inaugural address last week. It certainly bears repeating as a high-profile exercise in public diplomacy. But there was no news at all about changes to specific policies that would demonstrate the dawn of a genuinely new approach. The president’s call for the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks will be welcomed as another signal of his determination to play an active role from the start – in stark contrast to Bush. That has already been underlined by the dispatch of the Northern Ireland veteran George Mitchell, his special Middle East envoy, for his first talks in the region. '

THE TURKISH WEEKLY
"Obama offers open hand to Muslims - Times Online"
Maybe we won't lose Turkey after all.

' Obama offers open hand to MuslimsTimes Online - 30 minutes agoPresident Obama has offered to extend a hand of friendship to the entire Muslim world, including Iran, in a clear shift from the confrontational and divisive tone that has characterised American diplomacy in the Middle East over recent years. '

IRANIAN.COM
"Obama and the Jews "
Hard to please an Iranian.

' So, no matter what is Obama's personal thoughts and feelings on the Arab-Israeli issue, he has to take care of the homies who helped put him in office; he has to be especially "kind" to them during his first term. Have no misunderstandings; Obama will side with the Jews 9 times out of 10. Not that the Jews are on the side of right, but because they know how to work within the system. In 20-50 years, Arabs, Iranians and actually I better say Muslims will learn how to do this. I know I am being optimistic...... '

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THE PRESIDENT HAS BEEN SHOD!

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SECRET SERVICE FAILS AGAIN. AND AGAIN. ACCIDENT? OR DESIGN?

YOUTUBE: CNN
"[Updated] Bush Shoe Incident in Iraq {CNN}"
Yeah. Now the shoe's on the OTHER foot. Hey, babe, if the shoe fits, wear it! Walk a mile in the other guys shoes, butthead.


PERHAPS THE SECRET SERVICE AGENTS WERE WAITING FOR THE OTHER SHOE TO DROP

YOUTUBE: ABC NEWS
"Bad Sushi"
Like father, like son: Always a great exit.



Government Offers "Lone Shoeman" Theory: Where Have We Heard This Before?

Are we to believe that there was only one shoeman, aiming at our Commander-In-Chief? Isn't it OBVIOUS that there MUST have been a second shoeman? Maybe he never shoed, but he was there, all right, ready to finish off the POTUS with a final shoe to the head at point-blank range. Only the failure of the first two shoes kept him from carrying out his part in this vast conspiracy. The question is, where was the Secret Service?

Lincoln had no Secret Service. Garfield (not the cat) and McKinley didn't either. Kennedy was the first President assassinated on their watch. Jackson, Roosevelt, Truman, Ford and Reagan survived assassination attempts. Jackson was trying to abolish the first Federal bank when his Whig enemies sent crazed loser Richard Lawrence after him. He failed, and the Bank of the United States was abolished, due to the excise it tax it levied on moonshine, an intoxicant that was regarded by Jackson as essential to the smooth functioning of the slave-owning South. (No, really!) The deal that originally established the bank also moved the Capital, er, Capitol from the North, Philadelphia, to the South, Washington. The Bank, however, remained in Philly, even after it was reconstituted to deal with the financial problems caused by the War of 1812, which also made Jackson a national hero, ironically.

The Second Bank of the United States nearly collapsed due to unwise loans to speculators in real estate. Sound familiar? The Bank had become a sort of early Fannie Mae. Squabbles between political Parties over the financial crisis prevented a bail-out, and panics and depression ensued. The Second Bank would soon die. However, litigation over the Bank would result in the decision that made Federal laws trump State laws (McCullogh vs. Maryland). "States Rights" lost. It was the beginning of the Civil War. The first shoe was thrown at Jackson, and missed. But more shoes were coming.

The next President to be shod was Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was famous for going barefoot even in the snow, and in the House of Representatives. He regarded shoes as weapons of mass destruction, and a potential threat to his own existence, due to a dream he had as a child wherein he was killed by a boot. His dream proved prophetic: Rabid Southerner John Wilkes Boot [!] had planned to kidnap Lincoln and hold him until he released all Confederate POW's, like John McCain. Then Lincoln decided to give African-Americans the vote, which Boot [!] realized would lead, inevitably, to a black President. He resolved to kill Lincoln. He succeeded, but failed in his aim of overthrowing the Union government. Boot [!] was shot by a Union soldier named Boston (which city was later the point of origin of two of the four 9/11 flights), and everyone connected to him was Gitmo'd. The prime suspects were tried by a military tribunal, which was protested. The Supreme Court subsequently banned military tribunals where civil courts still functioned (ex parte Milligan). This led to the use of the actual Gitmo where no such courts exist today.

The military tribunal in the Lincoln assassination found all seven defendants guilty, and sentenced three to life imprisonment, and four to hanging. One was female, Mary Surratt. She was the first woman ever executed by the Federal government. It was the beginning of modern feminism, the judicial recognition of women as equal to men in the eyes of the law (at least for hanging purposes), though it is rarely celebrated today. The conspirators also tried to kill Lincoln's Secretary of State, William Seward, who later purchased Alaska, from which Governor Sarah Palin can now see Russia, the seller. Governor Palin, who became the first woman to run surreptitiously for President, despite the transparent glass ceiling, went on to lose the election of 2008, due partly to her love of expensive footwear. (She was not hung. Yet.) We all know how powerful women's obsession with shoes is. [cf Imelda Marcos; also "Sex In The City," Manolo's, ibid.] I'm getting to the link to Bush' attempted asshoessination. Really.

Next to be shoed came James Abram Garfield, a man of Firsts. He was the first President to be subjected to a metal detector, but only after he himself was shot. He was not required to remove his shoes. His ancestor, John Billington, came over on the Mayflower, and distinguished himself by becoming the first Englishman sentenced to hang in the New World, for shooting a fellow colonist, and not whilst hunting. Garfield was the first and, so far, the only sitting member of the House of Representatives ever to be elected President. He was also an attorney for the Confederate defendants in the ex parte Milligan case that forbade military tribunals in US jurisdictions.

Garfield received stock at "insider" prices in exchange for his voting participation as a Congressman in the stock-swindle involved in the Credit Mobilier scandal, a financial meltdown in the Gilded Age of the 1870's, similar to today's financial mess, in that it involved giving private financial corporations direct access to the US Treasury, saddling the taxpayers with all of the company's obligations, but none of the profits. Even as the enterprise was failing, Congress continued to put money into it, at the behest of principals in the enterprise such as Congressman Garfield.

Garfield was the only actual ordained minister to ever preach from the White House, perhaps the inventor of Republican religious hypocricy. He was also the Ohio Republican member of the electoral commission that awarded Florida's electoral college votes and the Presidency to fellow Ohio Republican Rutherford B. Hayes, who lost the popular vote in the disputed election of 1878, making Garfield the Katherine Harris of his day. Ohio Republicans subsequently rewarded Garfield with a Senate seat involuntarily vacated by a Democrat, making him the first Senator to become President, also, shortly thereafter.

As President, Garfield fought and defeated the principle of Senatorial privilege, beginning the erosion of the power of the Legislative Branch in favor of an Imperial Presidency. Garfield authored an unique proof of the Pythagorean Theorem whilst in Congress, a rare achievement in a famously innumerate body. Pythagoras was half Phoenician (Lebanese), and studied in Egypt. Garfield was shod to death shortly thereafter, in the presence of Lincoln's son, Todd. Todd was not Gitmo'd. Both of his shoes were found still on his feet. Garfield died in Long Branch, New Jersey, home State of the Soprano's. The Soprano's are Sicilians. Sicily was once controlled by Arabs. Both people wore sandals. Sandals are a type of shoes. There may be a Mafia connection, as with JFK. (Check with Oliver Stone.) Garfield has a rest stop on the NJ Turnpike named after him. The men's room there is frequented by foot-fetishists, and State Troopers. The troopers may have let Senator Larry Craig off with a warning after an "incident" there involving his feet, which were shod. Allegedly. This is referred to as "sodomy." Sodom is a town in Israel. See the connections? Try taking some LSD.

McKinley was next. Despite his Imperial precautionary measure of annexing Hawaii, where no one even wears shoes, he was assassinated by a poorly-shod anarchist from his native Ohio. The Secret Service, though it was established under President Lincoln, did not begin trying to protect Presidents until after McKinley was assassinated. Still, they were undoubtedly nearby, as the largest of only four Federal police forces in existence at the time. Perhaps they were enjoying the newfangled confection known as dough-knots at the Buffalo Pan American Exposition, or shopping for shoes. McKinley may have been preoccupied with foreign adventures and expanding the American Empire overseas.

The White House Police, not the Secret Service, did their duty on behalf of President Truman. Several officers were shot by Puerto Rican nationalists, who were fighting to end what they saw as the unlawful occupation of Puerto Rico by the United States. They started a gun-battle outside of Blair House, the guest-house across the street from the White House, which was under renovation at the time. Private Leslie Coffelt was shot and returned fire, killing one of the assassins after being mortally wounded by them. He is the only Presidential security officer ever killed in the course of an assassination attempt upon the President. He always wore big heavy shoes, as did President Truman. They were a band of shoemen.

John F. Kennedy was the next President to be fired upon. He was killed. The Secret Service were present. Shoes were present. The connection is obvious, but we are afraid to say any more.

Gerald Ford was saved from assassination twice in one month, not by the Secret Service, but by pure dumb luck. Ford, like George W. Bush was an idiot. Both wore shoes on the days of their attempted asshoessinations. Coincidence? I think not. Manson family member Lynette "Squeaky" Fromm failed to chamber a round before firing at Ford, and missed her chance at killing a President. Two weeks later, FBI stooge Sarah Jane Moore fired but missed, thanks to the quick reaction of a civilian bystander, disabled ex-Marine Oliver Sipple. The Secret Service missed both shooters. Now they realize the full effects of shoe-addiction, and its' commonality among women. All women are suspects, today. Most are shooed away, except for young interns with round heels.

Despite all the warnings, a man in shoes was allowed close enough to President Reagan to shoot at him. The bullet ricocheted off Reagan's limo and hit him in the side, entering his lung. Secret Service Agent Jerry Parr hustled Reagan into the limo. Agents Tom Delehanty and Tim McCarthy were shot while throwing themselves in front of the President. White House Press Secretary Jim Brady was grievously wounded, and suffers from his wounds to this day. Reagan went on to commit numerous crimes, and to escape with impunity. And men in shoes are still allowed to approach POTUS. Only the very, very, very Secret Service knows why.

Why?

The answer is obvious: The Secret Service cannot do their job as long as people are allowed to wear shoes. Every successful Presidential assassin has worn shoes. The Secret Service should have seen the shoe threat long ago. They must find ways to counter it. Until then, if you want to approach the President of the United States of America, you simply must remove your shoes, as at the airport these days, or in any oriental despotism. Maybe put them in a locker. Like in a bowling alley. But remember: Shoes don't kill people. People kill people. Even shoeless people can still be carrying a gun. Think about it, Secret Service. Duh. Maybe you need some training from Thom McAnn, or Nobel Prize winner Doc Martins.
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