Arafat Calls for Democratic Elections in the United States -- World Reaction is Mixed

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Unk's Troll-free Private Saloon : One Thread

Arafat Calls for Democratic Elections in the United States -- World Reaction is Mixed

by Rahul Mahajan

Palestinian Authority President Yasir Arafat stunned the world yesterday by demanding that the United States hold democratic elections for a new Chief Executive before it attempts to continue in its role as broker between Israel and Palestine.

"Mr. Bush is tainted by his association with Jim-Crow-style selective disenfranchisement and executive strong-arm tactics in a southeastern province controlled by his brother," said Mr. Arafat, who was elected with 87% of the vote in 1996 elections in the West Bank and Gaza, declared to be free and fair by international observers, including former U.S. president Jimmy Carter. "Our count shows that he would have lost the election if his associates hadn't deprived so many thousands of African-Americans, an oppressed minority, of the right to vote. He is not the man to bring peace to the Middle East."

Hugo Chavez, elected president of Venezuela with 62% of the popular vote, concurred with Mr. Arafat. Chavez has long been a victim of Bush's anti-democratic attitude, as the Bush administration funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars through the "National Endowment for Democracy" to anti-Chavez forces and reportedly gave the go-ahead for an attempted military coup by those forces. "After it was over and I was back in power," said Chavez, "his administration actually told me 'legitimacy is not conferred by a majority vote.' Unless, of course, it's a majority of the Supreme Court. I respect the local traditions, however quaint, of the United States, but he hardly sets the best example for the Middle East, does he? Why don't we get back to that idea of an international conference to settle the question of Palestine?"

Bush was not without his supporters, however. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, elected head of a country that legally discriminates among its citizens on the basis of religious belief, forbids political candidates from advocating an end to that discrimination, and disenfranchises an entire people through military occupation, dismissed the call as "absurd."

Hamid Karzai, recently "elected" head of Afghanistan by a grand council, or "loya jirga," in which a foreign body, controlled by the United States, selected delegates; unelected warlords who had ravaged the country were permitted to control the meeting and to threaten delegates who refused to vote their way; and the U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, refused to allow at least two other candidates to stand for election, added his support for Mr. Bush in his hour of need. Said Karzai, "In Afghanistan, we have the loya jirga. In the United States, you have your own process -- as we understand, it's traditional over there for corporations to play a large part in electing officials and writing legislation. We're very interested in looking into that kind of system ourselves."

Vojislav Kostunica, chosen head of Yugoslavia in an election where the United States spent an estimated $25 million to influence the results, was also keen to rush to Bush's defense, indicating that he saw no procedural problems with the 2000 elections. And Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia, long derided for his claim that "Asian culture" is at odds with universal human rights, added, "The elections are strictly an internal matter, and should have no bearing on the status of the United States as a broker. The Palestinians' high-handedness is a serious threat to national independence."

In a surprise move, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, long an ally of the United States, supported Arafat's call, saying, "While we're at it, let's take another look at our agreement on American independence. George Washington was not only unelected, he did rather associate with terrorists. Benedict Arnold would have been a much more suitable partner for peace, n'est ce pas?"

Arafat, busy working on a plan to find a new Israeli leader not tainted with the massacre of hundreds of innocents in Sabra and Shatila to negotiate with, could not be reached for further comment.

(PTB)

-- Cherri (whatever@who.cares), June 30, 2002

Answers

RAHUL MAHAJAN is a graduate student in physics at the University of Texas at Austin and an antiwar activist, serving on the national boards of Peace Action and the Education for Peace in Iraq Center. His writings on foreign policy and globalization have been published in newspapers like the Baltimore Sun and Houston Chronicle, and alternative publications like Extra! and the Texas Observer. He is a member of the Nowar Collective

Nice find Cherri. This puke is a known anti-war activist and a supporter of Iraq. You seem to gravitate to these assholes that spend their time ripping apart the fabric of America. There is however a big difference:

People like Mahajan are being paid to dis our country and our leaders.

You, like the rest of the social leeches in our country, gladly live off the public dole while supporting scumbags like this.

You are beyond pathetic.

-- Oink (oink@welfare.hog), June 30, 2002.


BWAAAHAAAHAAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAHAAAA!!!

I LOVE it! Arafat gives Dumbya a taste of his own medicine!

-- (swallow it @ sphincter polyp. boy!), June 30, 2002.


"Heeey, datsh not fair! I cum out clean affder dey chekked out my butt! I'm jus walkin likes dish cuz Dick wuz kinda hard on my shfinctur lash nite! Feels likes I's shtill got hish pole up my butt, yuk-yuk-yuk!"

-- Dumbya (cheney went to town on me @ after he fownd out. I ain't got aids), June 30, 2002.


It is nice to see that you agree with Arafat Cherri. Please don't adopt his tactics (tying a bomb to yourself and blowing up a kindergarten class) in order to show your opposition to President Bush.

-- (guilt@by.association), June 30, 2002.

Cherri is so full of self-hatred that all things admirable are foreign to her.

-- Oink (oink@welfare.hog), June 30, 2002.


On the contrary, I get the impression that Cherri likes herself very much and knows who she is. She has a very admirable value system, and she stands by them. Hatred for Dumbya is perfectly understandable considering that she has high morals, but hatred for Dumbya does not translate to hatred for herself.

Oink, on the other hand, seems to be some kind of mentally deranged adolescent. He gets his rocks off by attacking others and spewing hatred.

-- (I beg @ to differ. imbecile), June 30, 2002.


He gets his rocks off by attacking others and spewing hatred.

Finally, trollboy remarks on a subject of personal expertise.

-- (pots@black.kettles), June 30, 2002.


(PTB)

I agree with Arafat?

Stop going to extremes and trying to dilute the points brought up in the article. Trying to say that I approve of children being blown up (get real) does not and will not change the the subject of the article, no matter who wrote it. Assumptions are like assholes, everybody has one, and extreme accusations have become the norm for the administration and it's followers when anyone has the guts to stand up against anything they say or do.

It is glaringly obvious that you had nothing to dispute the facts given in the article, so you decided to shoot the messenger. DUH, those tactics are wearing pretty thin here and in the mainstream media. The administration always comes up with some "shocker" every time something negative comes out about ANYTHING that puts the administration in a bad light.

Distractions work with little children having tantrums when they do not get their way, and and even with adults who depend on sound bites to inform them, especially when they believe the mainstream media is being open and honest with them, but when a formally "suppressed" distraction always appears conveniently each and every time "The Polls" are negatively effected by news, or when someone speaks out against Bush or government actions, even the laziest couch potato starts to get suspicious.

When I watched Bush give his postponed and rewritten recitation of what someone wrote for him, I was struck with the absurdity of what he was demanding, considering the news and remarks the administration had made about what happened with the failed coup in Venezuela, the fact that (no matter how anyone likes it) Arafat had been elected under the microscope of the world, not to mention the controversy over the 2000 presidential election in this country.

My first thought was about how he was leaving himself open for this exact kind of rebuttal. The expression "open mouth, insert foot" seemed pretty applicable. Whoever decided to have him say those things was pretty damned stupid, that his demands were going to leave it wide open for leaders around the world to demand that our next presidential election be observed by international observers, a suggestion made by Puten during our 2000 election.

I think it is rather strange that world leaders (and media world wide) are discussing Arafat's rebuttal over elections, yet the mainstream media in the USA has totally ignored it. Who's deciding what "news" we are getting anyway?

-- Cherri (whatever@who.cares), June 30, 2002.


Depends on what your interpretation of ‘news’ is, you hateful bitch. While most people are out in the workplace, you sit around on your fat ass collecting welfare and scouring the Internet for any slam piece on Bush to be found. Not very difficult to imagine what a social leper you must be, even by Seattle’s standards. Just think, while you are picking the scabs off your face, GWB is having a great time running our country and keeping scum like you safe.

-- Oink (oink@welfare.hog), June 30, 2002.

Cherri, even a dim bulb like you should see through Arafat’s spin. You surely wouldn’t attempt to compare the ‘election’ process in Palestine with ours, would you? How could any female have empathy for those of the Muslim faith? Even a woman(?) like yourself should be opposed to anything that originates from the land of sand.

-- Get real (or@get.out), June 30, 2002.


"Depends on what your interpretation of ‘news’ is, you hateful bitch. While most people are out in the workplace, you sit around on your fat ass collecting welfare and scouring the Internet for any slam piece on Bush to be found. Not very difficult to imagine what a social leper you must be, even by Seattle’s standards. Just think, while you are picking the scabs off your face, GWB is having a great time running our country and keeping scum like you safe.

-- Oink (oink@welfare.hog), June 30, 2002."

BWAAAAHAAAHAAAHAAAAHAHAHAHAA!!!

Whoever this Oink person is, he is obviously deeply, DEEPLY in love with his hero Dumbya!! How many times have you jerked off while dreaming you were sucking the Pretzeldential cock, Oink? ROTFL! That $300 advance on your tax refund must have been a real lifesaver for a loser like you, that's why you love him so much. Probably helped you get through the winter months until it got warm enough that you could start panhandling in the streets again! LOL! Methinks Oink is probably that nigga slaveboy Rolo, since he seems to have nothing better to do than defend his lover Dumbya and dream of sucking his cock.

-- hee-haaw! (Linda Tripp told me @ you. blew Dumbya), June 30, 2002.


Oink, am I you? Are you me?

-- (roland@hatemail.com), June 30, 2002.

Ahhhhh........nope!!!

-- Oink (oink@welfare.hog), June 30, 2002.

No, Roland isn't "Oink". Of COURSE not!

"Oink" just happened to be standing by to immediately answer Roland's question less than 1 minute after Roland asked him.

Bwahahahahaa!!

-- (want to buy @ some. swampland?), July 01, 2002.


Maybe you are roland.

-- (Algernon C. Braithewait III @ Ptown.MA), July 01, 2002.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ