02 November 2003

Attitude matters

[source]

At issue was last night’s “iftaar” dinner at the White House celebrating Ramadan, the holy month for Muslims that began Monday. Participants fast during daylight hours of Ramadan, breaking their fast each day with an “iftaar” meal — beginning with dates and water— at sundown.

Although the guest list included 92 persons, several Muslim organizations who differ vastly with the White House on political and religious issues complained they were left off the list.

Passed over, Mr. Bray said, was the Muslim Students Association, American Muslims for Jerusalem, the Islamic Society of North America, Project Islamic Hope, the Coordinating Council of Muslim Organizations of Greater Washington and the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

I have to agree with the Rottweiler - try unambiguously condemning terrorism and see if your invites show up in the mail. I’m actually surprised that the Bush Administration is showing this much back bone. Better late than never.

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Ooooh, that's gotta hurt!

[source, source]

Are Louisiana’s political tectonic plates shifting? Or is there more than meets the eye here with Bobby Jindal’s steadily-increasing support among blacks.

The answers are yes, and yes. The New Orleans black political group BOLD sent a shot heard around the state last week by its gubernatorial endorsement of Bobby Jindal over Kathleen Blanco, in a vote described by its president as not close. (Which caused some consternation for one of its top officers, state Rep. Karen Carter, also a state Democrat official.)

Had this occurred in isolation, perhaps Democrats and black elected officials could have written it off as a fluke, maybe an idiosyncratic incident over a group’s perceived slight at the hands of the Blanco campaign. After all, a couple of other alphabet-soup groups have been with Blanco from the start, and others probably will follow.

But then the Baton Rouge-based CLOUT announced its backing of Jindal, followed by the endorsement of veteran Shreveport activist and former state Rep. C.O. Simpkins. Others may well follow here. The news is not that Jindal is going to pick up lots of endorsements from black political leaders (except those elected, who are all Democrats) and groups, but that he’ll pick up more than a trivial number.

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How we botched the occupation of Germany

Quotes and excerpts from the Saturday Evening Post in January of 1946. The contrast in tone of this critical article with those of today is interesting.

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A real problem in Iraq

American troops have been using funds seized from the Ba’ath for on the spot reconstruction efforts through a program called “CERP”. Now, however, the money is drying up and the program is shutting down despite its successes and good works. This is a real problem and the sort of thing a loyal opposition would be headlining. Unfortunately, it’s something that can be easily corrected to the benefit of the ruling party and the modern Democratic Party can’t support something like that.

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Brussels, we have a problem …

[source, source]

59% of Europeans believe that Israel is the world’s greatest threat to peace, according to polling data commissioned by the European Union. And yet the EU-lite sniff at the alledgedly parochialism of US citizens. Sad and pathetic.

P.S. The article also claims that the EU has been attempting to withhold this polling data, presumably out of fear of exactly the kind of mockery I’ve posted here.

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