March 26, 2005
With show of "people power" in Kyrgyzstan, Russia loses one more de facto satellite
Russia Fumbles, and Former Sphere of Influence Deflates
The revolt in Kyrgyzstan that toppled Russia's strongest ally in Central Asia was the result of the latest in what analysts say is an astonishing and painful series of diplomatic missteps by Moscow.
Three largely nonviolent revolutions over the last 16 months have all but eliminated Moscow's attempt to dominate the former Soviet states that were once part of its unquestioned empire.
The sudden collapse of Kyrgyz President Askar A. Akayev's regime, after the overthrow of governments in Georgia and Ukraine, highlights the fundamental frailty of corrupt, unpopular post-Soviet regimes across the region — most seriously, potentially, in Russia itself.
[We live in hope!--Jen]
As a result, the once-formidable power wielded by the Kremlin in the three former Soviet capitals has given way to — in part, analysts say, because of Russia's failure to successfully manage foreign policy in a region it has declared vital to its own strategic interests.
[Note how the LATimes faults Russia (for failing to use a heavy hand military to keep these sheep in the fold?) and doesn't credit President Bush's "Freedom on the march" initiative?--Jen]
"The entire world has now seen that Russia is powerless and incapable of doing anything. And next time, no one will even think about resorting to Russia's mediation services and patronage," said Stanislav Belkovsky, a political analyst with close ties to the Kremlin. "Everyone understands that the big lion is dead, and should not be feared."
[The only "mediation services and patronage" Russia's ever had were tanks, guns and troops à la Prague '68 and Hungary '56!
Since the Soviet Union fell, their military might ain't what it used to be and under Putin with his Chechen "problems," the smaller army he has doesn't get paid much and isn't all that loyal.
Whatta shame.--J.T.]
"Over all these years, Russia has failed to realize that all the empires collapsed in the last century, while Russia stubbornly continues to pretend that its empire is still alive," he said. "Russia is isolating itself from its own neighbors, and it is doing this with its own hands."
[The "empire" that Russia is pretending was alive was its Communist one, not its old Czarist one!]
There is wide agreement that Russia could have prevented the sudden and chaotic disintegration of Akayev's government, either by stepping forward to support him or by brokering an orderly transition of power. But it did neither, apparently believing Akayev's assurances that the situation was under control.
[Methinks this is wishful thinking on the part of the Leftist LATimes and not an honest analysis of the situation.
From the rioting and looting the Kyrgyrs did in the wake of deposing their old leader this week, it was evident that the people there have had about enough of this rotten puppet with his Russian puppetmaster!]
"The only possible explanation for what happened is the gross, systemic miscalculation of the situation…. All of us have erred in believing in the general passiveness of the masses … and that authoritarianism will continue to prevail on the territory of the former USSR, no matter what," said Alexei Malashenko, an analyst with the Carnegie Moscow Center.
"The developments in Kyrgyzstan vividly demonstrate how wrong we were. They also demonstrate how rotten, unviable and brittle these regimes are," Malashenko said. "What happened in Bishkek shows that all the post-Soviet regimes are literally colossi with feet of clay — the slightest turmoil in their societies is enough to make these regimes crumble."
[Of course, what's happened in the last few weeks, years and months in Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine, Georgia and now Lebanon have nothing to do with it!]
Suddenly, governments from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in Central Asia to Belarus and Moldova on Europe's borders appear vulnerable to public rage, which has fueled increasingly muscular movements that have overturned questionable election results in Georgia, Ukraine and now Kyrgyzstan.
Even Russia, where there has been talk of amending the constitution to extend Russian President Vladimir V. Putin's control past its legal mandate ending in 2008, seems suddenly vulnerable, although it has a massive security apparatus and broad new controls on democratic structures designed in part to prevent such a scenario.
"There is no doubt that as a result of all the latest revolutions around Russia, a transition of power in Russia is starting to look more and more probable," said former democratic legislator Irina Khakamada, who unsuccessfully ran against Putin in 2004.
"The Russian people have already seen that it is possible to fight the government, and win," she said.
The resonance of the ebullient protesters in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan's capital, was apparent Friday in Belarus, where nearly 1,000 pro-democracy demonstrators marched near the palace of President Alexander Lukashenko, a tough, Soviet-style ruler who last year sponsored what observers termed a falsified referendum to extend his stay in office.
[Let's look forward to Belarus being next, then!]
[...]
Russia's former partner states in the Soviet Union have in many cases clung to power with the aid of Kremlin formulas of limits on opposition parties, controls on mass media and manipulation of elections, managing public dissent through the powerful security organizations that succeeded the Soviet KGB.
[And here we were thinking they'd been so free since 1991, when the USSR officially collapsed...!]
The Bush administration and private U.S. foundations have funded dozens of pro-democracy organizations across the former Soviet Union, groups that many post-Soviet leaders see as a threat. Such groups have helped catalyze activism in populations that no longer are willing to tolerate the increasing poverty and corruption that have plagued most of the republics that succeeded the Soviet Union.
[...]But as protests over the allegedly skewed balloting mounted and the opposition took control of most of southern Kyrgyzstan last week, Russia failed to recognize the threat to stability and act accordingly, critics said.
The result, they said, was that Russia allowed Kyrgyzstan to become dangerously unstable, and lost any chance of assuring that opposition leaders friendly to Russia would dominate the contest for power after the transition.
Nikolay Bordyuzha, secretary-general of the regional military alliance Russia shares with Kyrgyzstan, said Akayev had assured Russia, even when half his country was under the control of protesters, that "the situation was not acute enough" to warrant military help.
[Come on, LATimes, no sneer quotes around "help?"
Don't they sound disappointed that Mother Russia and her jack-booted soldiers didn't come to Kyrgyzstan's rescue?]
[...]
"Putin could have visited Kyrgyzstan in the midst of the events, he could have addressed both sides and called upon them to sit down at the negotiating table with Moscow," said Belkovsky, the analyst with Kremlin ties. "But Russia never used these powerful weapons."
Russian diplomats appear to be unconvinced that it is too late. Russian parliamentarians, perhaps accompanied by national security director Igor Ivanov, are scheduled to go to Kyrgyzstan within a few days to try to broker an agreement on an interim government and new elections.
"There is a threat that if Russia doesn't take a proactive stance, the Americans could well snatch the political initiative out of Russia's hands," said Alexander Khinshtein, a parliament Security Committee member who left for Bishkek on Friday.
"And it is absolutely clear that once the U.S. manages to establish control in this Central Asian republic and turns it into a U.S. protectorate, Russia will immediately find that the gate to Central Asia is locked for Russia," he said.
Hmmm.
Will they recognize our support as "established control?"
Of course, Russia has a military base there, but then
so do we!
Ha-ha, Pootie Poot!
Obviously, the final chapter on Kyrgyr democracy and independence hasn't been written yet, so stay tuned.
What I find a bit surprising is that I thought the former satellites of the Soviet Union had gotten their freedom almost 15 years ago, only to discover that the Russian federation had kept de facto control in most of them until just very recently and that they were having to declare their sovereignity all over again in the 21st Century!
No wonder President Bush gave the (2nd) Inaguaral Address he did:
"When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you."
Kyrgyrstan, we stand with you...and we're still pretty sanguine about Lebanon, too!
F-16 sale to Pakistan and India perks up Fort Worth, Texas!
Pakistan's Order Lifts Lockheed F-16 Plant
The Bush administration's decision to sell F-16 fighter planes to Pakistan is likely to be as warmly greeted in Fort Worth as it is in Karachi.
That's because Lockheed Martin Corp. has said it needs new orders for the jet before this fall, or it will have to take action to close the production line there that employs about 5,000 workers.
[...]
...The Fort Worth plant delivered its last F-16 to the U.S. Air Force last month, Jurkowsky said, but is still building planes for the governments of Israel, Chile, Poland and the United Arab Emirates.
[Wonder what the UAE plans to do with those planes?]
[So, they're not really hurting, are they?--Jen]
[...]...The company has sold F-16s to 24 countries and makes them overseas, too, in Europe, Turkey and Korea.
[Turkey, eh?
Hmmm...]
[...]
Richard Aboulafia, an aircraft analyst with the Teal Group in Fairfax, called the sale of two dozen fighter planes to Pakistan "a happy juxtaposition of the wants and needs" of an ally in the war on terrorism and Lockheed's troubled F-16 line. The bigger issue for Lockheed, he said, is the chance to sell another 100 or more F-16s to India, Pakistan's rival in the Asian subcontinent.
[...]
Despite the concerns Indian officials expressed yesterday about news of the sale to Pakistan, the analyst said the prospect of both countries buying F-16s is a positive. "Two countries that have F-16s have never fought a war."
Let's hope that's right.
Pakistan and India are trying very hard not to fight with each other, especially over Kashmir and the number of attacks, bombings and killings has really been down in the last months.
Meanwhile, we here in the Metroplex are enjoying the shot in the arm this gives to our economy!
March 24, 2005
Today's my 3rd blogiversary!
I can hardly believe it, although I find it hard to remember a time when I wasn't blogging!
It's a lot of work and often I'm physically and emotionally exhausted (like today), but I can't imagine living through these trying, roller-coster times when Faith, Freedom, our Country and Truth are at war with Evil, any other way.
ABC used bogus poll about Terri, MSM played up "Republican memo"--outed by Kaus!
The Shame of ABC - A bogus poll to back up the sneering.
The Shame of ABC: I hadn't realized that the surprising ABC poll about the Schiavo case--showing overwhelming anti-tube sentiment--was so badly worded and biased. (For one thing, it deceptively tells pollees that Terri Schiavo is on "life support." For another, it leads with the flat assertion that "Doctors say she has no consciousness and her condition is irreversible.") Michelle Malkin and "Captain Ed" Morrissey are onto the ABC poll. ... Malkin, Morrissey and Powerline also raise doubts about that clumsy Republican talking points memo that ABC's Linda Douglass first trumpeted. I'm not so sure that you'd expect a letterhead on such a hastily-drawn memo, or even the correct bill title. It's not like it's a blog or something formal! It's less clear that the memo was written by anyone in the GOP leadership as opposed to a pro-life lobbying group, as Malkin points out. Yet unless you listened very carefully to Douglass' slyly worded report you got the distinct impression that it was a Republican leadership document. (ABC's own web site headlined the story "GOP Talking Points on Terri Schiavo") ... Anyway, why should it be news--obscuring the actual merits of the case--that politics is involved in federal legislation? The civil rights movement was a political constituency too. ... ABC's performance during this whole story --starting with its sneering Friday coverage--has been pretty much a disgrace. ...
Looks like Mickey Kaus just woke up!
Of course, this biased, untruthful--to put it politely!--reporting about the Terri Schiavo disaster is nothing new for the MSM, but when a media maven (who's no GOP-er!) like Kaus points it out, America should know without a doubt that we have a huge problem of credibility and reliability in "Old Media."
When will my fellow citizens realize that they must read blogs, watch FoxNews and listen to Conservative talk radio to find out what's
really going on?
This is the new "Rathergate," Beltway version.
When you get to Powerline, just keep scrolling down because they've been all over this fake GOP talking points memo for the last few days, as has Josh Claybourn over at
In the Agora.
Same drill (Go there, scroll up and down) for
Michelle Malkin's blog and her attempt to herd the cats in the MSM!
The fine American Spectator also has an excellent piece on Memo-"gate" II:
Dirty Democrat Pool
As my favorite VRWC media maven
Lucianne Goldberg said in regards to this fake "GOP" memo, "ABC picks up where CBS left off."
Unbelievable!
March 23, 2005
Terri Schiavo suffers 5th day without food and water
Sometimes, there are stories that are so upsetting, that I can't blog; I just sit here and read about them, stunned.
Never was this more the case than with Terri's predicament:
Florida Senate Rejects Bill To Keep Schiavo Alive
Terri Schiavo's parents were dealt three setbacks Wednesday in their efforts to reconnect their brain-damaged daughter's feeding tube, with their hopes dwindling to intervention by the U.S. Supreme Court or Gov. Jeb Bush.
[Bless the hearts of the Schindlers.
If it's tough for us who care about Terri's life, think about what they're going through.
Pray without ceasing for all the family!--Jen]
The Florida Senate rejected a bill Wednesday that would have forced the reconnection of her feeding tube as the brain-damaged woman's parents were running out of options to have it reinserted. Earlier in the day, a federal appeals court twice refused to again give her nourishment.
Good Lord.
That not one, but several, US courts would allow a citizen to be starved to death on purpose is frightening to me beyond words!
I don't know what's worse--that these events are occurring during Holy Week, echoing the torture and murder of the Innocent of our Lord's Passion, or the fact that we've endured the preditations of these same bodies before (the Florida legislature, SCOFLA, the Federal courts, and SCOTUS) during the nightmarish
Gore Coup Attempt Election 2000 Recount mess.
Now, we can only keep a death watch, while our most trusted institutions and guardians of Liberty look ineffectual and worse, even murderous themselves.
Lord have mercy!
[...]
The bill would have prohibited patients like Schiavo from being denied food and water if they didn't express their wishes in writing. The 21-18 vote came five days after her feeding tube was removed under court order. Doctors have said she could survive one to two weeks without the tube, which was pulled Friday.
In a 10-2 decision, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused Bob and Mary Schindler's request for an "expedited rehearing" by the full court. A three-judge panel from the same
court ruled against the family earlier Wednesday.
[Terri's case still hasn't gotten a de novo hearing as envisioned by Congress!]
[...]
President Bush suggested Wednesday that he and Congress had done their best to help Schiavo's parents. The White House said it had exhausted its legal options.
Gov. Bush and Department of Children & Families Secretary Lucy Hadi suggested Wednesday they have statutory authority to intervene on Schiavo's
behalf.
Before Bush's announcement, a lawyer for Michael Schiavo said any move by the state to circumvent years of court rulings that support the husband's position would be illegal -- and vowed to bring assault and battery charges against anyone trying to remove her from the hospice.
[Or anyone praying outside her hospice or even a little boy trying to give her a drink of water!
Is this the USA or Nazi Germany or worse?]
[...]Terri Schiavo has not received any nourishment since the tube was pulled Friday afternoon, and relatives who visited her said her deterioration is continuing. Her eyes were sunken, skin parched and flaking and her lips and tongue were dry, said Barbara Weller, an attorney for the Schindlers.
[...]
Terri Schiavo has not received any nourishment since the tube was pulled Friday afternoon, and relatives who visited her said her deterioration is continuing. Her eyes were sunken, skin parched and flaking and her lips and tongue were dry, said Barbara Weller, an attorney for the Schindlers.
[...]
Ten protesters -- a 10-year-old boy among them -- were arrested outside Schiavo's hospice for trying to bring her water. Doctors have said she could survive one to two weeks without the feeding tube.
In Tallahassee, the state capital, Bush renewed his call for the Legislature to "spare Terri's life." Bush pushed lawmakers to pass a bill in 2003 that let him order the reconnection of the tube, but it was later declared unconstitutional.
Sen. Daniel Webster said the Senate's last chance to pass another bill to keep Schiavo alive was Wednesday.
"To be kept alive artificially above and beyond your wishes and the wishes you expressed to your family -- that is cruel and unusual punishment," Sen. Jim King, a Jacksonville Republican who has continually opposed the bill, said during his chamber's debate on the issues Wednesday.
[There is no evidence--NONE---that Terris ever expressed the wish that she didn't want to be kept alive on a feeding tube and/or that she wanted to "die with dignity" (As if a death by starvation and dehyrdration had any dignity to it at all!
If that isn't cruel and unusual punishment, for crimes she's never committed, I don't what is.--J.T.]
[...]
Terri Schiavo suffered brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped briefly from a chemical imbalance believed to have been brought on by an eating disorder. Court-appointed doctors say she is in a persistent vegetative state with no hope of recovery.
[All of these "facts" are in dispute.
There is evidence to suggest that Terri's condition is a result of an assault by her husband.
She most certainly is NOT in a vegetative state and there is much hope that, with rehabilitative therapy, she can get much better.]
Her parents and their doctors argue that she could get better and that she would never have wanted to be cut off from food and water.
Official caption:
Gabriel Keys is arrested by police officers for trespassing in Pinellas Park, Florida, March 23, 2005. The young protester attempted to take a glass of water into the Woodside Hospice for the brain-damaged Terri Schiavo.
Since when it is a crime for one of us, especially a child, to give someone a drink of water?
A 10-year-old boy and his older siblings were among the protesters arrested outside Terri Schiavo's hospice in Florida Wednesday.
[Unreal.
I can't believe this is America...What a sad, sad day for us all.]
Police arrested 10 people who said they were trying to take water to the severely brain-damaged woman. She was taken off a feeding tube Friday.
Chris Keys was among about a dozen people who stood in front of the hospice to bring water to Schiavo. He and three of his children were arrested as his 2-year-old daughter watched from her mother's arms.
His 14-year-old daughter said she was "a little nervous," but that she was sure she was doing God's bidding. She and her 12-year-old brother were cuffed and taken away.
Another protester talked of being held in a Nazi prison camp in the former Yugoslavia. She said she wanted "to at least put some cool water on Terri's lips." She was arrested.
Many of the protesters carried Bibles and cups of water.
[...]
The second arrest was of a man wearing a baseball cap with a cross on it.
That's it?
This man was arrested for being a Christian in public???
Now, Florida's turned into an anti-Christian police state!
How does it feel to know that if we'd been in Jerusalem in 33 A.D., we'd have helped crucify Jesus Christ all over again?
It feels awful to me, down to the bottom of my soul.
I don't want to be part of a nation of Pontius Pilates, led by those Herods and Pilates on these runaway liberal courts, and just wash my hands of this while Terri dies a slow, agonizing death!
Keep praying, America!
Only God should have the power to give and take Life, not Michael Schiavo, Judge Greer or the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals!
Terri is me. Terri is you. Terri is us.
March 21, 2005
Washington, D.C. stays up late to save Terri
White House: Schiavo Bill Not a Precedent
The White House said Monday that an extraordinary law allowing a federal court to intervene in the Terri Schiavo case was narrowly tailored and not intended as a precedent for Congress to step into battles over the fate of seriously disabled or terminally ill patients.
President Bush, who rushed back to the White House from Texas, was awakened to sign the bill shortly after it was approved by the House at 12:42 a.m. Monday and then rushed to him by staff secretary Brett Kavanaugh. Bush stepped outside his bedroom and signed it at 1:11 a.m., standing in the hall of his private residence.
[Bless his heart!
Betcha the President tried to stay up watching those Congresspersons drone on, on C-SPAN, and fell asleep after 30 seconds...
We of the Pajamahadeen certainly hope he was in his jammies!--Jen]
Senior White House aides had been consulting with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales about the case for several days, and the Justice Department had provided "technical support" to congressional lawyers, presidential spokesman Scott McClellan said as Bush flew to Tucson, Ariz., for a speech
Bush, in a written statement, promised to "stand on the side of those defending life for all Americans, including those with disabilities."
[I have to add that we must stand especially for those with disabilities like Terri who can't speak for themselves.]
In cases like this one, where there are serious questions and substantial doubts, our society, our laws and our courts should have a presumption in favor of life," he said.
[One of the most appalling aspects of Terri's case is that the Florida courts have taken the "word" of Terri's "husband" that she didn't want to live in a physical state that required her perpetual care.
Why don't these courts have a "presumption in favor of Life" as I would have expected out of any and every American court?--J.T.]
The law gave Schiavo's parents the right to file suit in federal court over the withdrawal of nourishment and medical treatment needed to sustain their daughter, who suffered severe brain damage 15 years ago.
"Tonight we have given Terri Schiavo all we could — a chance to live," said House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas. "After four days of words, the best of them uttered in prayer, Congress has acted and a life may have been saved."
[Let's hope so, Tom!
BTW, Texas is still pretty proud of this man, and yet the Dimocrats maintained that DeLay was leading the fight for Terri not because of his strong convictions, but to take public attention off of his current political trials. Sheesh!]
The bill passed the House after an often wrenching debate. It won the backing of virtually all the Republicans and almost half the Democrats who sprinted back to the Capitol for the debate, while 174 of the House's 435 elected members did not vote.
House Republicans scrambled to yank lawmakers back from a two-week Easter recess and amass the 218 votes necessary to bring the bill to a vote. The Senate approved the measure on Sunday by voice vote in a nearly empty chamber.
[Is it me or does it seem as if Congress is almost perpetually on vacation, with their long periods of "rest" being interrupted by brief spells of real work?
Yes, the debate was "wrenching" and tiresome; the Democrats' "debates" were mostly "Can we get back to me and my pet causes?"
It's so easy to wail on the Dim Congresscritters, but so valid.
Many were concerned not at all with saving Terri's life and bloviated about "states' rights" and Terri's predicament being "none of our business."]
[...]
Many Republicans said Terri Schiavo isn't in the hopeless state that her husband portrays.
[...whereas many Dims and the Leftist MSM kept saying incorrectly that Terri was in a "vegetative" state, which she is not.]
[...]
A few Republicans questioned the motives of Terri Schiavo's husband, Michael, suggesting he doesn't have his wife's best interest at heart.
"Now, he has had her feeding tube removed and sentenced her to a most excruciating death, citing Terri's own wishes as the rationale ..." said Rep. Jim Ryun, R-Kan. "Michael did not remember this supposed request until years after Terri's initial injuries when a cash settlement was awarded to her, a settlement he would stand to inherit."
[There's evidence to suggest that Terri's injuries resulted from strangulation and not a "heart attack" so it's possible that Michael tried unsuccessfully to kill her.
Unfortunately, there are bad men that some women marry.
Either don't marry them in the first place or don't depend on them to take care of you if you're incapacitated.
This whole mess could have been avoided if only Michael had either been willing to work with Terri's parents and the doctors to take care of her or divorced her and let her parents have sole authority and custody.
But nooooooooooo...]
Republican supporters said the "Palm Sunday Compromise" seeks to protect the rights of a disabled person. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said the law would not affect state assisted suicide laws nor serve as a precedent for future legislation.
McClellan said he was unaware of any discussions in the White House for Congress to take broader action covering other patients like Schiavo.
"This is an extraordinary case," he said. "It is a complex case where serious questions and signficant doubts have been raised." He said it was unclear what Schiavo's wishes were, and he noted that her parents had offered to care for her.
"We've looked at options that were available previously," McClellan said. "We'll see what happens with the court now."
Bush is adamantly opposed to legalizing physician assisted-suicide, as in an Oregon law. "The president believes that a culture of life is built on valuing life at all stages," McClellan said.
The Jewish faith has a saying "If you save one life, it's as if you've saved the whole world."
This is the case with Terri.
Terri Schiavo could be you or me;
now that medical science has the ability to keep us "alive," when we're "brain dead" or in a coma means that a stroke or heart attack could put us in the state Terri's in.
The life saved this Palm Sunday weekend may be mine or yours someday.
Thank God the President and the Congress stepped in to save this precious life when the court system had failed her.
(And Good for you! to the Democrat Congresspersons who crossed the aisle to vote for Life!)
It's one more victory in the Culture Wars and and a victory to return the "culture of Life" to this country where the dream of every citizen enjoying "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness" was made a reality and that we want to keep a reality.
On a sad, infuriating note, this showed us, the American people, without a doubt that the extreme Leftists of the Democrat party will oppose the GOP and the President on anything and turn it into bitter partisan bickering, even saving a woman's life!
Update:
After all we've been through just in the last few days, the Clinton-appointed judge can't make the decision to reinsert the feeding tube to keep Terri from starving and dehydrating to death and minutes are dear to her!
Pray for Terri and for the Florida judges to change their minds and hearts!
