The MAeLstrom

[A scan of news articles and commentary on the internet.]

Bush's America: Roach Motel: Emblematic of the right-wing’s disgust with Bush over his putative immigration proposal, Ann Coulter in Human Events compares the immigrating Hispanics to roaches and America to a “roach motel" in her column title. Coulter writes: Republicans' defense of President Bush's immigration bill is more enraging than their defense of Harriet Miers. Back then, Bush's conservative base was accused of being sexist for opposing an unqualified woman's nomination to the highest court in the land. Now we're racists for not wanting to grant amnesty to millions of illegal aliens.

The New American Cold War: Stephen F. Cohen writes in The Nation: The increasingly belligerent charges and counter-charges by officials and in the media on both sides, "Cold-War-style rhetoric and threats," as the Associated Press recently reported, read like a replay of the American-Soviet discourse of the 1970s and early 1980s. And the unfolding conflict over US plans to build missile defense components near post-Soviet Russia, in Poland and the Czech Republic, threatens to reintroduce a dangerous military feature of that cold-war era in Europe.

Was General Pace Fired Because He Balked at Iran: Levey MG at opednews.com writes: This isn't good news. THIS IS EXTREMELY OMINOUS. I’ve been writing for over a year now that the Joint Chiefs have been blocking the White House’s efforts to expand the war to Iran. No matter what you might think of Gen. Pete Pace, this really is TERRIFYING news, unless you crave a wider war in the Persian Gulf and South Asia.Pace has been the most visible symbol of the push-back within the military against the Long War.

McCain (still) reaching out to Christian conservative base: Matt Stearns of McClatchy Newspapers writes: In his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, Arizona Sen. John McCain is reaching out to conservative Christians, and many of them want to know how much McCain reaches out to God. McCain has written movingly of how his faith helped him survive 5 years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, but he says little about the current role of religion in his life. "I think it's something between me and my creator," McCain said in an interview with McClatchy Newspapers. "It's primarily a private issue rather than a public one. ... When I'm asked about it, I'll be glad to discuss it. I just don't bring it up."

UN Warns Of 5 Million Iraqi Refugees: Patrick Cockburn in The Independent: Across Iraq, millions of people are looking for safer places to live, and not finding them. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) reported last week that 4.2 million Iraqis have been forced out of their homes.There are also ominous signs that the four-month-old US security plan for Baghdad is failing to reduce the level of violence despite an extra 17,000 US troops in the capital."The situation in Iraq continues to worsen," the UNHCR announced, "with more than two million Iraqis now believed to be displaced inside the country and another 2.2 million sheltering in neighbouring states." The Iraqi refugee crisis is now surpassing in numbers anything ever seen in the Middle East, including the expulsion or flight of the Palestinians in 1948.

Frank Rich is off today at the New York Times. :( Frank Rich should not be allowed a vacation, a day off, professional time, personal time, or a bathroom break until Bush and Cheney are gone and forgotten. His column and talent are a public necessity.

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