A Democrat Worth Listening To

[NATO AIR]

Wow, this is the first time I've heard a liberal Democrat call for the US to reconsider its membership in the UN. The disgust and corruption is getting to be too much even for them...

We've come full circle: Stop the genocide in Darfur (by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee)
An op-ed from today's "Houston Chronicle"...

As the last three national elections have demonstrated, the United States remains a divided nation on many political issues. But there is widespread and broad-based consensus in America and between Democrats and Republicans that the ongoing genocide in Darfur, Sudan, is intolerable and must be ended. Thus, one area in which there is ample opportunity for Congress and the Bush administration to work in a bipartisan fashion to achieve a humanitarian result is in responding to the suffering in Darfur.

Not since the Rwandan genocide of 1994 has the world seen such a systematic campaign of displacement, starvation, rape, mass murder and terror as we are witnessing in Darfur for the last three years. At least 400,000 people have been killed; more than 2 million innocent civilians have been forced to flee their homes and now live in displaced-persons camps in Sudan or in refugee camps in neighboring Chad. And more than 3.5 million men, women and children are completely reliant on international aid for survival.

Unless the world stirs from its slumber and takes concerted and decisive action to relieve this suffering, the ongoing genocide in Darfur will stand as one of the blackest marks on humankind for centuries to come. The people of Darfur cannot wait. The time has come for decisive leadership from the United States.

It has been more than two years since I and my colleagues on the Congressional Black Caucus Darfur Taskforce met with then-Secretary of State Colin Powell to press successfully for the Bush administration to declare that the ethnic cleansing and atrocities carried out against civilians primarily by the government of Sudan and its allied janjaweed militias is genocide.

It has been more than a year since I flew to Chad and walked across the border to Sudan and met with African Union troops who pleaded for more peacekeeping authority and the resources to protect the refugees from violence, rather than merely monitor it. Afterward, I worked with other members of Congress to secure increased funding to aid the thousands of Sudanese displaced to refugee camps in Chad and to provide additional funding to assist Chad in responding to the humanitarian crisis.

It has been almost two years since the U.N. Security Council adopted Resolution 1556, demanding that the government of Sudan disarm the janjaweed. This demand was later followed by Resolution 1706, which authorizes a 20,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force. It has been six months since the Darfur Peace Agreement was brokered in May 2006 between the government of Sudan and one faction of Darfur rebels.

But still the violence continues; indeed, the violence is escalating. It is making it even more dangerous, if not impossible, for most of the millions of displaced people to return to their homes and for humanitarian relief agencies to bring food and medical aid. According to Jan Egeland, the U.N.'s top humanitarian official, the situation is "going from real bad to catastrophic."

We have come full circle. Violence is increasing, peace treaties are falling apart, and again as a member of the Congressional Black Caucus Darfur Taskforce and a ranking member on the House Judiciary immigration subcommittee, I have been meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in seeking an increase in the number of refugee visas for Darfur students to come to the United States to study. I will continue my ongoing, unceasing efforts to end the suffering in Darfur and bring peace to Sudan.

These efforts include intensifying my discussions with Rice, U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, representatives of the Arab League, and humanitarian groups such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and various African public policy groups to discuss ways in which to increase pressure on Sudan President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to allow in U.N. peacekeepers, or alternatively, a peacekeeping force of similar size comprising Arab and Muslim troops under the auspices of the Arab League.

It is also not too early to begin the hard thinking and hard work needed to transform the Darfur region from a killing field to an economically, politically and socially viable and peaceful community. This work will, of course, require the active and purposeful engagement of the United States and other key stakeholders, such as China and the Arab League. In this connection, an ongoing dialogue with government representatives of Egypt has already begun, a dialogue that has already yielded significant dividends.

For example, Egypt has implemented several fast-track projects in southern Sudan in sectors involving health, agriculture, electricity, irrigation, infrastructure and education to make unity an even more attractive option to the people of south Sudan. Interestingly enough, these constructive measures might not have been taken by Egypt had Congress adopted the Obey Amendment over the objection of the Bush administration and advocates for the people of Darfur. The amendment, which had no real chance of being adopted, would have punished Egypt by slashing its economic and military assistance funding by nearly 50 percent. I am proud to have played a leading role in defeating this unwise legislation.

It must be noted that no just and lasting peace in Sudan can be achieved without the intervention of China. For too long, China, which is Sudan's biggest oil customer, has also served as its enabler and protector by preventing the U.N. Security Council from imposing more serious sanctions on Sudan in response to the genocide in Darfur. As former Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick stated in a major policy speech on China a year ago: "China should take more than oil from Sudan — it should take some responsibility for resolving Sudan's human crisis." Based on meetings with Zhou Wenzhong, China's ambassador to the United States, I am hopeful that China can be persuaded to provide constructive leadership in Sudan befitting a great power.

Finally, we must be bold and imaginative in fashioning a solution commensurate with the scale of the problem. The way to do that is to develop a Marshall Plan in Sudan. But the United Nations and the international community must draw a line in the sand and act to stop the genocide in Darfur. If the nations of the civilized world cannot unite to stop such a clear-cut case of genocide, then it might be necessary for the United States to rethink the value of continuing to pay dues to that body. The words of President Lincoln speak to us from the ages: "(W)e cannot escape history. We, of this Congress and this administration, will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation."

Jackson Lee, a Democrat, represents the 18th Congressional District in Houston
http://platform.blogs.com/passionofthepresent/2006/11/weve_come_full_.html

 

[sitarro]

This is standard bullshit from this moron. She is only bringing this up to appeal to her constituents who are almost all black and think of themselves as African first, Americans second. They can't show you Dafur or even Africa on a world map but they identify with Africa as their homeland. Real Africans detest American blacks. I work with both, I've heard American blacks criticize Africans for how dark their skin is or even how stupid they are because they have an accent. The African blacks I work with think that American blacks are lazy, stupid and have poor priorities with no morals.

You think we could arrange a trade? I find the Africans I work with to be very intelligent, highly motivated to do their job professionally and quickly. The opposite is true for the American blacks in general. When a job needs to be done you have to search for them because they are hiding out talking on the phone or off playing dominoes. They do the bare minimum and complain about how much they are forced to do. The communication is almost nonexistant between blacks and whites, they speak another language and it is constantly changing, they worry much more about looking what they concieve as Cool than doing the job efficiently and effectively.

I would imagine Charlie Rangle and Sheila Lee will be first on the list to take another of many fact finding trips to Africa at the taxpayers expense as long as they can get a pilot that can find Africa.

 

[sitarro]

Hey NATO,

This is what I mean when I call Sheila a moron.


How the Imams Terrorized an Airliner
Washinton Times Nov. 28, 2006 Audrey Hudson


It’s becoming quite clear that those six imams removed from a plane at Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport were not simply “praying,” but were deliberately staging an incident for political purposes: How the imams terrorized an airliner.
Muslim religious leaders removed from a Minneapolis flight last week exhibited behavior associated with a security probe by terrorists and were not merely engaged in prayers, according to witnesses, police reports and aviation security officials.

Witnesses said three of the imams were praying loudly in the concourse and repeatedly shouted “Allah” when passengers were called for boarding US Airways Flight 300 to Phoenix.

“I was suspicious by the way they were praying very loud,” the gate agent told the Minneapolis Police Department.

Passengers and flight attendants told law-enforcement officials the imams switched from their assigned seats to a pattern associated with the September 11 terrorist attacks and also found in probes of U.S. security since the attacks — two in the front row first-class, two in the middle of the plane on the exit aisle and two in the rear of the cabin.

“That would alarm me,” said a federal air marshal who asked to remain anonymous. “They now control all of the entry and exit routes to the plane.”

A pilot from another airline said: “That behavior has been identified as a terrorist probe in the airline industry.”

But the imams who were escorted off the flight in handcuffs say they were merely praying before the 6:30 p.m. flight on Nov. 20, and yesterday led a protest by prayer with other religious leaders at the airline’s ticket counter at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Mahdi Bray (lgf: search), executive director of the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation (lgf: search), called removing the imams an act of Islamophobia and compared it to racism against blacks. “It’s a shame that as an African-American and a Muslim I have the double whammy of having to worry about driving while black and flying while Muslim,” Mr. Bray said.

The protesters also called on Congress to pass legislation to outlaw passenger profiling. Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, Texas Democrat, said the September 11 terrorist attacks “cannot be permitted to be used to justify racial profiling, harassment and discrimination of Muslim and Arab Americans.”

“Understandably, the imams felt profiled, humiliated, and discriminated against by their treatment,” she said.

According to witnesses, police reports and aviation security officials, the imams displayed other suspicious behavior. Three of the men asked for seat-belt extenders, although two flight attendants told police the men were not oversized. One flight attendant told police she “found this unsettling, as crew knew about the six [passengers] on board and where they were sitting.” Rather than attach the extensions, the men placed the straps and buckles on the cabin floor, the flight attendant said.

The imams said they were not discussing politics and only spoke in English, but witnesses told law enforcement that the men spoke in Arabic and English, criticizing the war in Iraq and President Bush, and talking about al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.

The imams who claimed two first-class seats said their tickets were upgraded. The gate agent told police that when the imams asked to be upgraded, they were told no such seats were available. Nevertheless, the two men were seated in first class when removed. A flight attendant said one of the men made two trips to the rear of the plane to talk to the imam during boarding, and again when the flight was delayed because of their behavior. Aviation officials, including air marshals and pilots, said these actions alone would not warrant a second look, but the combination is suspicious. ...

One of the passengers, Omar Shahin, told Newsweek the group did everything it could to avoid suspicion by wearing Western clothes, speaking English and booking seats so they were not together. He said they conducted prayers quietly and separately to avoid attention. The imams had attended a conference sponsored by the North American Imam Federation in Minneapolis and were returning to Phoenix. Mr. Shahin, who is president of the federation, said on his Web site that none of the passengers made pro-Saddam or anti-American statements.

 

[glockmail]

No doubt she's a moron, but I'd listen to her long enough to get her vote on pulling out of the UN. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

 

[90K]

This is standard bullshit from this moron. She is only bringing this up to appeal to her constituents who are almost all black and think of themselves as African first, Americans second. They can't show you Dafur or even Africa on a world map but they identify with Africa as their homeland. Real Africans detest American blacks. I work with both, I've heard American blacks criticize Africans for how dark their skin is or even how stupid they are because they have an accent. The African blacks I work with think that American blacks are lazy, stupid and have poor priorities with no morals.

You think we could arrange a trade? I find the Africans I work with to be very intelligent, highly motivated to do their job professionally and quickly. The opposite is true for the American blacks in general. When a job needs to be done you have to search for them because they are hiding out talking on the phone or off playing dominoes. They do the bare minimum and complain about how much they are forced to do. The communication is almost nonexistant between blacks and whites, they speak another language and it is constantly changing, they worry much more about looking what they concieve as Cool than doing the job efficiently and effectively.

I would imagine Charlie Rangle and Sheila Lee will be first on the list to take another of many fact finding trips to Africa at the taxpayers expense as long as they can get a pilot that can find Africa.

Well I can agree with you on this subject. First of all if enough American Blacks would stand up against this very thing enough times and put away all this other crap possibly the rest would follow. I spent time in Mombasa, Kenya and for folk so behind the times they were beyond ethically good, but very polite and were easy to understand and a character equal to anyone. Yes they dark but color doesn't matter it is about humanity. I'm personally tired of all of the racal slurs I have to deal with on a regular basis and the majority of it comes for our black neighbors. I say get over it already and stop being frigging sticks in the mud! I'm orginally from Texas and I live in the Northeast and well there ain't no difference here and what you said it must be a conspiracy

 

[theHawk]

This is also the same moron that met with and invited Al-assad to the U.S., not to mention her support of affirmative action and "immigration rights".
And the only reason she won her district was because Enron got deep in her pockets and supported her campaign because the incumbent refused to bend to their will.


But I suppose liberals consider her much more in line with "Mainstream America" than conservatives.

 

[NATO AIR]

This is also the same moron that met with and invited Al-assad to the U.S., not to mention her support of affirmative action and "immigration rights".
And the only reason she won her district was because Enron got deep in her pockets and supported her campaign because the incumbent refused to bend to their will.


But I suppose liberals consider her much more in line with "Mainstream America" than conservatives.

I agree with her on Dar Fur, the UN and certain human rights areas, aside from that she's a unrepentant leftist who scares the hell out of me on other policies. BUT..

That is what successful politics and life is about; working together with people whom sometimes you don't really like and would ordinarily have nothing to do with.