Hillary Should Stay Two More Years

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeThe Madonna Of Global Politics

China is in sight. Russia is rumbling, and China is in sight.

If Hillary had been vice president, she would have stayed eight years. Being Secretary of State is like being vice president. It is a top job. So her leaving after four years is arbitrary. It is not like suddenly she is too old. If that were the case, she would never have run for president. People who think they are going to be too old in four years do not run.

And it is not about Hillary, it is about the world. I am not saying she is indispensable. I am sure there is someone on the Democratic horizon who might be able to step in. It is about continuity at a crucial time. Tunisia, Egypt, Libya have not been small events. But they are small compared to what could still happen. Syria is still in the works. Iran has not happened yet, Saudi Arabia has not happened yet. Russia is rumbling. China has not happened yet.

And America will happen before China will happen. Only total campaign finance reform will quench the Occupy movement. Nothing less will. And once there is total campaign finance reform in America, this country could legitimately ask for democracy in China.

If Hillary ran on the world's schedule, she might have run for president in 2004, and I think she would have won. But Hillary seems to think the world runs on her schedule. So she took her sweet time - prepare? She was ready in 1992 - and ran in 2008 and lost. Bill Clinton tried very, very hard to get her to run in 2004. I remember watching the guy's moves and feeling sorry for him.
Image via Wikipedia
If the world runs on Hillary's schedule, she retires at the end of 2012. If Hillary runs on the world's schedule, she stays in office to 2014. That might be enough time to occupy China. China is the ultimate prize.

You don't change the Secretary of State in the middle of a raging, global revolution.

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Libya: One Billion, Iraq: Trillion Plus

Barack Obama spent a billion dollars to topple a dictator in Libya. Compare that to the Bush figure of trillion plus to topple Saddam Hussein.

Syria And Iran Before Palestine

Image via WikipediaI am all for a Palestinian state, I always have been. The Palestinians have been living through what is practically apartheid. That is my philosophical and ideological stand.

But the practicality and logistics of this thing is that we have to end the dictatorships in Syria and Iran like we did in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya before we can see the Israel-Palestine peace take its logical next steps.

Syria Is Being Left To The Dogs

Gaddafi is out, now it is Assad's turn. He should be given an ultimatum, and then rain bombs on him too.

Don't Let Benghazi Fall

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UN Military Action For Democracy: Precision Needed: Syria Is Hurting

Image by PanARMENIAN_Photo via FlickrWhat has been going on in Syria has been breaking my heart. It is like these bastards who run the country have basically decided they will stop at nothing.

There is an urgent need for a Libya repeat.

I am not saying the US needs to get involved in a fourth war. Libya is not war. Aerial military action is not war. It is more like police action.

We have to learn from Libya. The lesson from Libya is it is basically fruitless to just target the peddlers in the streets and let the big druglords go.

The NATO powers need to read that UN resolution a little more closely. NATO has been authorized to stop the brutality upon unarmed civilians. But that has continued unabated. And so NATO has to take out the command and control apparatus at Gaddafi's disposal.

The best way to do this is by taking the top guy out. We experimented in Libya. Now we have to revise our operations in Libya, and we have to do it right in Syria.

You freeze all foreign assets of all members of the regime. You issue interpol orders for their arrests. You get a UN resolution passed. You demand that all violent action against peaceful protesters cease. And if the guy does not comply, you take the top guy out through surgical aerial strikes. If it takes more than a week, you are not doing it right.

Some people are like oh no, you get rid of the dictator and there is going to be chaos. Chaos is now. Chaos is that hundreds of innocent civilians have been butchered, and there seems to be no end in sight.

The people in Syria are not lesser people. If people in Libya deserve protection so do the people in Syria.

Democracy wins in Syria and that is bad news for the mullahs in Iran. Because, ultimately, it is about Iran.

The Scary Version
Is Russia Too Big For A Democracy Movement?
Putin Is No Different
I Am Going To Act Like This Is 2007
Drugs And Guns
Another One Bites The Dust
Ai Weiwei
To Zimbabwe Through Ivory Coast
Obama 2012 Is On
Time For Nonviolent Protests In Libya
A Rwanda Was Prevented
Syria's Turn
Khalifa Of Bahrain Must Go
The Two Abdullahs Need To Go
North Korea In Sight
The Anatomy Of Revolutions For Democracy

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Is Russia Too Big For A Democracy Movement?

Image via WikipediaThere are those who say Tunisia is one thing, Egypt is big, but Egypt is one thing, Gaddafi is a dictator, but he is one thing, but Russia is too big, Putin is too powerful. You can't be talking in terms of a democracy movement for Russia.

I would argue otherwise.

Precisely because Russia is so big, it deserves to have a bigger and better democracy movement than we have seen so far in the Arab world. It might happen in Russia before it happens in China.

Military action is out of question. It is not realistic to think you can bomb Russia. I never wanted to bomb Libya in the first place. But what I do prescribe for Russia is massive, massive street action. A people have to pay that price if they want liberty, if they want free speech, if they want democracy. Massive street
Image via Wikipediaaction is like everyone decided to go to school, the school of political consciousness.

A democracy that comes from massive street action will necessarily have a better, smoother transition period that follows the success of a revolution.

Saudi Arabia and Iran before Russia, and Russia before China. I think that is what we might be looking at.

Putin Is No Different
A Rwanda Was Prevented

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Donald Trump: Racist Bitch Motherfucker, Jackass, Punk

The Guardian: Muammar Gaddafi's Tent Finds Home On Donald Trump's Estate: Muammar Gaddafi pitched his tent on an estate belonging to Donald Trump in suburban New York yesterday ..... The Libyan leader is scheduled to attend the UN general assembly this week. He had been struggling to find a plot to accommodate the large Bedouin tent he takes with him when travelling abroad. ...... Workers were seen yesterday erecting a tent and satellites in the glamorous neighbourhood of Bedford on an estate owned by Trump. Local officials tried to stop them, saying it was illegal to build a temporary residence without a permit. An ABC News helicopter filmed a large tent on the 113-acre Seven Springs estate, with rugs and patterned wall hangings. Green and yellow fabric lined the walls in a pattern dotted with images of small brown camels, according to a local newspaper website image. ..... Doors all over New York have been slammed in the colonel's face, but Trump says he has rented part of a large property in Westchester county to Middle Eastern tenants who may be associated with Gadaffi. ..... Gadaffi last month wanted to erect a tent in New Jersey, where the Libyan embassy owns property, but the US government said he could not. A request to set up tent in Central Park was also turned down. ...... Gadaffi arrived in New York yesterday, It is likely he will face protests over Scotland's recent release of Libyan Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, convicted of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 which killed 270.

Creatures with the Donald Trump hairstyle we keep for circus animals where I was born. That would be India, for your kind information. In China they keep them in the zoo. In Africa they leave them in the wild. I will check up on Latin America.

This buffoon's racist rants tell me he is a throwback to another century. He does not belong in this city, or this century.

I am going to bring down the Trump Tower and erect something bigger and better in the same location. The ugly monstrosity that is the Trump Tower needs to go. It has no place in this city.

Running for president is a legitimate act. Running for publicity is also a legitimate act and something I think Trump is capable of doing. But racist rants are not legitimate acts, and I am going to driver this motherfucker out of town. New York City is Barack Obama country.

I Am Going To Act Like This Is 2007
Donald Jackass Trump

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I Am Going To Act Like This Is 2007

Image via WikipediaI am not going to act like my guy is in the White House. I am going to act like he is a fresh faced candidate, and this is 2007 all over again. I think that is the best angle to come from to help with his re-election.

Obama 2012 Is On

My political enemies deprived me of my well deserved victory parties in June 2008 and November 2008, and Inauguration 2009 pretty much passed me by. What I am really angry about is they deprived me of the Iran action of 2009. That street action was custom made for me.

2009 and 2010 were years I should have been by Barack's side, virtually speaking, but I was not. I was too engrossed picking up the pieces from the hit I took in 2008. I'd have liked to stay involved. For me it is about power. It is not about elections. There is joy in governing.

You could argue Barack's first two years belonged to Bush. And so I should not complain too much. He spent two full years cleaning up the house.

His re-election is pretty much reassured. It is going to happen. No sweat. But I am not taking any chances. I am going to act like this is 2007.

He does not really need me for the re-election, although I will be there. It is going to be fun. This time I'd like to be there for the
Image via Wikipediavictory parties. This time I'd like to make it to the inauguration.

But what I'm really interested in is his quest for greatness. You get two years to clean up house, and you get six years to achieve greatness. I'd like to be there for him, virtually speaking.

He already did the FDR thing. He wrestled the Great Recession. 2011 is a godsend to him. When April 2006 finally happened in Nepal, it was bigger and better than anything I had imagined during the months before. 2011 is bigger and better than anything I have imagined in the years before.

A Rwanda Was Prevented
To Zimbabwe Through Ivory Coast

The best kind of greatness comes from liberating people. Libya is Barack Obama's civil war. It took a civil war to catapult Abraham Lincoln to greatness. Barack Obama can help turn 2011 into the biggest year for democracy in world history. He does that and he is competing with old man Abe himself.

Then he gets to focus on tackling America's deficit and debt. Minus that China gets to become the number one economy in the world in 2016, there is speculation. The only way America can compete with China is by doing total campaign finance reform. American democracy as it stands has all sorts of misguided incentive points.

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Drugs And Guns
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Another One Bites The Dust

Image via WikipediaWall Street Journal: Yemen's Saleh Accepts Deal to Step Down: Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has accepted a political deal brokered by neighboring Arab countries that would have him step down from power after 30 days in exchange for immunity for himself and his close relatives, according to a presidential aide. The apparent softening of the longtime ruler's recalcitrant stance that he would remain in power until the end of his term in 2013 comes after a burst of arm-twisting and backroom diplomacy by Yemen's close allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

(via Pantless Progressive)



Saudis Going Into Bahrain Like Saddam Going Into Kuwait
To Zimbabwe Through Ivory Coast
A Rwanda Was Prevented

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To Zimbabwe Through Ivory Coast

Image via Wikipedia

New York Times: U.N. and France Strike Leader’s Forces in Ivory Coast: The United Nations and France went on the offensive Monday against Ivory Coast’s strongman, Laurent Gbagbo, striking his forces in a significant ratcheting-up of the months-long campaign to force him to cede power. ..... France, which has over 1,500 troops stationed in the former colony, announced that it would carry out attacks on Mr. Gbagbo’s military hardware at the request of the United Nations, joining an operation “aimed at neutralizing heavy weapons that are used against the civilian population and United Nations personnel in Abidjan,” a statement from the French presidency said..... Mig-24 helicopters had been deployed against Gbagbo military bases to “render harmless” the mortar-launchers “that are firing” on the United Nations headquarters in Abidjan and on “the civilian population.” ..... Mr. Gbagbo has refused to step down after losing an election last November to Alassane Ouattara, who was recognized as the winner by international organizations. .... Gbagbo, a former university historian who has transformed himself into a hardline autocrat over the course of a long political career.

This was never just about Tunisia. Egypt was a huge victory, but it was never just about Egypt. This thing could really grow. I want Mugabe out. I am thinking China. I am thinking Russia.

The techies of the world have to aim for the Chinese firewall. There has got to be a way in. They have managed to block sites. But they can't take the internet down. So break in. Just do it.

This is about Syria, and Iran. This is about Jordan.

But the Arab world is not enough. This democracy wave has to also engulf Africa.

The Fuck With Mugabe

Libya was a major turning point. The world sent a clear message that when people peacefully protest they will be protected.
Image via Wikipedia
A Rwanda Was Prevented

When the Russian president reprimanded Putin that is when I knew this wave will also crash against the Russian shores. But Russia is a big country, and we will have to build plenty of momentum elsewhere. Elsewhere is the Arab world and Africa.

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Obama 2012 Is On

New York City
Obama 08: NYC Video: 10 Hours

Today is the official launch of Obama 2012. I am in because I was never out.

Barack almost took Brooklyn in February 2008. The summer before I made a promise to Michelle in person: "You give us Iowa, we will give you New York, we will make it quick and painless for Hillary." I tried hard to deliver. Things got so bad Congressman Weiner urged Hillary to make an appearance in Brooklyn before the primary, and she did. Minus that I think we had it.



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But first and foremost for me Obama 2012 is about 2011. I believe 2011 just might end up the biggest year in world history for democracy. But the arc does not bend on its own like Barack never tired of quoting MLK on the 2008 trail. We have to make it happen. And I want to play my part. Democracy has to sweep the Arab world, and Africa, and China and Russia.

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Time For Nonviolent Protests In Libya

Image via WikipediaA Rwanda Was Prevented

The mass murder imminent in Benghazi was prevented. And the UN continues to demand of Gaddafi that he not unleash animal brutality on peacefully protesting Libyans. Armed rebels in Libya have done a swift job of retaking all the territory they had lost.

But now is time for some shift in strategy. Instead of relying solely on military advances, the rebels have to consolidate. They have to organize massive peaceful demonstrations against Gaddafi in all towns and cities they control. The people of Libya have to come out into the streets in large numbers.

The idea is to inspire the people in Tripoli to also come out into the streets. When they first came out, Gaddafi basically declared war on them. And they went into hiding. Now they have to muster the strength all over again. They need to come out all over again. This time if Gaddafi performs a repeat the UN sanctioned powers have to do in Tripoli what they did in Benghazi. Bomb all government installations in Tripoli so as to destroy completely all command and control structures in Gaddafi's army.

The next phase of the drive against dictator Gaddafi has to be nonviolent consolidation of gains made so far.

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A Rwanda Was Prevented

Image via WikipediaGaddafi might or might not go. Libya might or might not become democracy. But what has already happened is a Rwanda got prevented. If Gaddafi had moved into Benghazi like he threatened, like he was about to, we had a bloodbath on our hands, a massacre. That got prevented. That is a major humanitarian achievement. And the intervening powers have to be proud. The UN has to be proud.

No, America did not declare war on Libya. This was no invasion. This was police action to prevent a major crime: mass murder.

Mission accomplished.

But there is work to do. Gaddafi still has to be ousted. Democracy still has to see the light of day in Libya. That is for the people of Libya to do.

And now might be time to bring about a change in strategy. Now nonviolence has to be emphasized.

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Many, Many Nonviolent Options In Libya

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeThe idea never was to bomb Gaddafi into submission. The military action has been designed to make sure he does not unleash animal brutality upon peaceful protesters. Otherwise there were mass protests already in Tripoli. Once Gaddafi has been neutralized, the thing for the Libyan opposition to do is to organize peaceful protests all over again, with the international community standing by. Could you bring a hundred thousand people out into the streets of Tripoli? That is the question. The idea is not for the Libyan opposition to outgun Gaddafi's forces. That never was the idea. The idea always was to win through nonviolent methods.

Come out into the streets all over again. Do it again in Benghazi. Organize peaceful marches in support of democracy. Do that is cities all across Libya. Finally do it in Tripoli. Gaddafi has to go. That is the only acceptable outcome.

Days of military action followed by a few weeks of nonviolent street action. That is the recipe for success.
Image by Getty Images via @daylife
And if Gaddafi performs a repeat and unleashes animal brutality upon those peaceful protesters, take him out. Sometimes you don't get to take the criminal to court. He gets gunned down because he decided to fight to the end.

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Ultimately It Is About Iran, Because That Is Where It All Started

Image via WikipediaSyria's Turn

Tunisia was a warm up act. Egypt was a warm up act. Libya is a warm up act. Yemen, and Bahrain will be warm up acts. Saudi Arabia will be a warm up act, as Syria and Jordan. Morocco, Qatar, United Arab Emirates. They all will be warm up acts.

And then Iran will wake up all over again. All this is in preparation for Iran. Because that is where it all started. The people of Iran woke up in 2009. And we are reaping the rewards today in all these other countries.

But the final push has to be made in Iran itself. The mullahs are unpleasant people. They need to go.

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