Daily Archives: May 20, 2017

Will President Trump and Secretary Tillerson embrace Middle East reality, and reject political correctness, by avoiding procrastination on the relocation of the US Embassy to Jerusalem,

While the election of President Trump represented a setback to political-correctness, Secretary of State Rex Tillersons interview on May 14, 2017 NBCs Meet the Pressreflected the State Departments political correctness on US-Israel and US-Arab relations, the Palestinian issue and the relocation of the US Embassy to Jerusalem.

The interview may have sent a message of US procrastination on the relocation of the US Embassy to Jerusalem, the ancient core of Judaism and Jewish history, which inspired the early US Pilgrims and Founding Fathers. Procrastination would be interpreted by Arabs as US retreat in the face of Arab pressure and threats, eroding the US posture of deterrence, triggering further pressure and emboldening anti-US Islamic terrorism.

Secretary Tillerson embraced the State Departments zero-sum-game philosophy. He assumes that enhanced US-Israel relations undermine US-Arab relations. However, since 1948, and especially in recent years, US-Israel geo-strategic cooperation has surged dramatically, simultaneously with expanded US-Arab security cooperation, and unprecedented counter-terrorism cooperation between Israel and Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, Jordan and Egypt, despite the lack of progress on the Palestinian front.

Contrary to conventional Western wisdom, the pro-US Arab regimes distinguish between challenges which are primary (e.g., the Iranian threat) and secondary/tertiary (e.g., the Palestinian issue). Therefore, when the machetes of Irans Ayatollahs and other Islamic terrorists are at their throats, the pro-US Arab regimes recognize that Israel is the only reliable life insurance agent in the Middle East, regardless of the Palestinian issue.

Secretary Tillerson insinuated that the relocation of the US Embassy to western Jerusalem - which is within the boundaries of pre-1967 Israelcould undermine the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. Thus, he provided tailwind to the 69-year-old Department of States viewwhich contradicts the position of the American people and their representatives in the House and Senate - that there is no legitimacy to Israels sovereignty over any part of Jerusalem. It radicalizes the Arabs, forcing them to outflank the US from the maximalist side, deluding themselves that they have nothing to lose and time is, supposedly, on their side.

Tillerson also seems to subscribe to Foggy Bottoms view that the Palestinian issue is a core cause of the Arab-Israeli conflict and Middle East turbulence, and a top priority for Arab policy-makers. Therefore, he assumes that the relocation of the US Embassy to Jerusalem could fuel anti-US terrorism and undermine US cooperation with pro-US Arab countries, such as Saudi Arabia, against the mutual threats of the Ayatollahs of Iran and additional sources of Islamic terrorism.

However, anti-US Islamic terrorism has been totally divorced from the Palestinian issue and Israel, as demonstrated by the blowing up of the US Embassy and Marines barracks in Lebanon in 1983 (300 US Marines murdered), at a time when the US brutalized Israel over its hot pursuit of the PLO. In fact, the 1998 suicide car-bombing of the US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania (300 persons murdered), and the October 2000 suicide attack on the USS Cole in Aden, Yemen (17 US Marines murdered), occurred while President Clinton refrained from relocating the US Embassy to Jerusalem, as prescribed by 1995 legislation, and while Israeli Prime Minister Barak offered the Palestinians a full Israeli withdrawal, including Jerusalems Temple Mount.

Moreover, since 1948, contrary to the Department of States conventional wisdom, Middle East reality has documented top-heavy pro-Palestinian Arab talk, but anti-Palestinian, or indifferent, Arab walk.

For example, no Arab-Israeli war was ever ignited by the Palestinian issue. It was highlighted by the conclusion of the 1948-49 war, when Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and Syria occupied Gaza, Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) and Al-Hama, but never contemplated transferring these areas to the Palestinians, strictly constraining Palestinian activities.

In addition, none of the recent Arab tectonic eruptions from Tunisia, in Northeastern Africa, through Egypt, Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Bahrain in the Persian Gulf are related, directly or indirectly, to the Palestinian issue or Israel.

The assumption that the relocation of the US Embassy to Jerusalem would undermine US-Saudi cooperation in the face of the Ayatollahs and additional sources of Islamic terrorism, ignores the Saudiand all other Arab regimes - view of the Palestinians.

They have always considered the Palestinians a role model of intra-Arab treachery and subversion. Hence, the severe constraints of Palestinian maneuverability in their countries, and the meager financial assistance to the Palestinians (compared with the US foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority), and the absence of military support. For instance, no Arab regime ever got involved in any of the Palestinian-Israeli wars in Lebanon, Judea and Samaria and Gaza.

In contrast to the recent Arab talk and State Department political correctness, the Arab countries have never considered Jerusalem to be their top holy citystatus reserved for Mecca and Medina - capital or cultural center. Jerusalem was largely neglected during Islamic rule, servingat mostas a political platform in their conflicts with the infidel.

Reality-based political incorrectness motivated Israel and Egypt, in 1977, in defiance of US President Carter, to negotiate and conclude a bilateral peace accord with no Palestinian, regional or international involvement. It also motivated Israel and Jordan, in 1994, to conclude another bilateral peace accord. The US played a critical deal-closing role in both cases, but only after the two parties reached the framework of bilateral agreement.

Moreover, a litany of peace initiatives, launched by the US, failed when attempting to subordinate reality to the US own benevolent political correctness, which stipulated a multilateral peace process, focusing on the Palestinian issue.

Will President Trump and Secretary Tillerson embrace Middle East reality, and reject political correctness, by avoiding procrastination on the relocation of the US Embassy to Jerusalem, thus sparing the US further erosion of its posture of deterrence in the Middle East and beyond?

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Secretary Tillerson's political correctness - Canada Free Press

morning.

Upon the legislations approval, Sen. Allen remarked on the grave importance of recognizing the actions of significant historic figures, flawed as they may be.

Where does it end? Allen asked. Are all parts of American history subject to purging, until every Ivy League professor is satisfied and the American story has been re-written as nothing but a complete fraud and a betrayal of our founding values of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?

The bill creates a standing committee to hear waiver requests from cities and counties, though historic artifacts under the care of museums, archives, libraries, and universities are specifically exempt from the prohibition against removal or alteration.

Lets stop this absurd destruction of monuments that offend the tender sensibilities of any person, anywhere, and preserve our history the good and the bad for our children and grandchildren to learn from, Allen said.

Last month, the City of New Orleans, Louisiana began the removal of several confederate memorials from public grounds, leading to many protests and counter-protests at the sites. According to the mayor of New Orleans, the monuments were removed because they failed to appropriately reflect the values of diversity and inclusion that make New Orleans strong today.

The bill now goes to Governor Kay Ivey for signature.

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Alabama legislators fire back at political correctness, pass bill protecting historic monuments - Yellowhammer News

For someone who offered no apologies after he mocked a disabled reporter, gleefully described the joys of grabbing women by the p-y and defended the size of his penis during a televised debate, President Donald Trump seems to be developing a newfound respect for playing nice at least, on his terms.

Trump took on the anti-PC mantle during the GOP primary, often relishing the opportunity to bash what he considered the excesses of our politically correct media landscape. Asked during a Republican presidential debate by then-Fox News host Megyn Kelly about calling women he dislikes fat pigs, slobs and disgusting animals, as well as telling a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice that it must be a pretty picture when she is on her knees, Trump said this:

I think the big problem this country has is being politically correct. Ive been challenged by so many people, and I dont frankly have time for total political correctness. And to be honest with you, this country doesnt have time, either.

But while private citizen and candidate Trump lamented this (seemingly imagined) social prohibition on calling Rosie ODonnell ugly, now that hes in the White House, Trump and his staff seem to be developing a more nuanced perspective on the issue.

For example, last week saw a flurry of controversy surrounding Stephen Colberts joke about Trumps mouth serving as Russian President Vladimir Putins c- holster, but no one was more scandalized than the formerly anti-politically correct team Trump. Reasonable people can disagree about whether Colberts joke was homophobic, or the figurative equivalent of calling someone a patsy. What is for sure funny about the episode was watching the folks who would normally defend Trump for, say, accusing Kelly of having blood coming out of her wherever, suddenly become fragile prudes over a late-night TV joke.

I wont dignify those comments with a response, White House press secretary Sean Spicer told Fox News. Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, went further, telling the network that the joke was not funny. [This] is about showing basic respect to the president of the United States and the office of the president, she said.

Trump himself had wounded words for Colbert: You see a no-talent guy like Colbert. Theres nothing funny about what he says. And what he says is filthy, he told Time magazine, And you have kids watching.

Of course, Colbert isnt the only entertainer to wind up the Trump White House: When Snoop Dogg released his music video for Lavender, it included a scene in which the rapper uses a toy gun to pretend to shoot a clown who has a strong resemblance to Trump.

The implied violence is cartoonish at worst, but Trump who boasted during the campaign that he could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody without taking a hit in the polls was aghast.

Can you imagine what the outcry would be if @SnoopDogg, failing career and all, had aimed and fired the gun at President Obama? Trump tweeted at the time. Jail time!

Would he, though? Some may recall that controversial right-wing rocker Ted Nugent made headlines after bringing two machine guns onstage during a 2007 concert, calling then-candidate Barack Obama a piece of s- who should suck on a machine gun. Nugent wasnt arrested or jailed for his remarks, but he did receive an invitation to the Trump White House in April where, he claimed, he decorously opted not to pose for a photo putting his middle finger up at the official portrait of Hillary Clinton. Im beginning to sense a pattern.

Likewise, after Trumps bombshell firing of FBI director James B. Comey, Conway made the rounds on TV to implore rude and nosy Americans not to pry into the matter; questioning the timing of the firing, she said, was inappropriate. Of course, perhaps Trumps long-running beef with the media could finally be put to rest if, as Conway told CNNs Jake Tapper in February, the mean reporters could just show Trump some respect. But maybe all the president needs is a safe space of his own.

Chris Caesar is a Boston-based writer whose work has appeared in The Boston Globe, Death & Taxes, Boston.com and Metro Newspapers.

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Trump ran against political correctness. Now his team is begging for ... - Bangor Daily News

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I want to vent my frustrations. Is it not my right to have a difference of opinion without being called a racist, a homophobe or a sexist? People in these groups are still a minority. It seems we are not allowed to dislike or disagree with any minority group in this society. We are supposed to have open minds.

I think we are starting to lose the separation between men and women. We are created for reproductive purposes. Men cant have babies. Only the future will tell us what this society will lead to.

Then there are people like Bill Cosby, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jackson and even the mayor of Seattle getting off or possibly getting away with crimes of rape and pedophilia because they are wealthy and can hire the best lawyers. This is very sad in this save us from ourselves world we live in.

We are more divided than ever in this politically correct nation!

Gary R. Fisher

Lake Stevens

Excerpt from:

Don't label those who disagree with political correctness - The Daily Herald