That tax thing again, and a salute to Senator McCain.

I would like to start this post like I have a few others over the past few days: by asking Mitt Romney to release his tax returns. I know it's an uncomfortable subject for Mr. Romney and his supporters, but I.....wait, let me just let the Washington Post's editorial page tell us why he should release them.

"FOR MOST AMERICANS, income tax returns are a private matter, and federal law protects that privacy. For those who would be president, a different standard applies. The modern presidency demands so much of one individual — decisions of immense complexity, consequence and difficulty — that the candidates’ characters must be thoroughly examined.

The exploratory process is often unpleasant for candidates, especially when it is stimulated or exploited by their opponents. But it is essential for voters. The probing and investigating is a chance to examine all the ups and downs of a career, the critical moments and life experiences that might foretell how a president will make decisions.  

This is why, as we said months ago, Mitt Romney’s tax returns are important. He has described himself as a successful capitalist who took risks and created wealth, a laudable credential. Voters would benefit by seeing and evaluating the details of that story, including through his tax records.

So far, Mr. Romney has made public one year of his federal return, for 2010, and promises to release the 2011 return when it is ready. He has declined to disclose any earlier years. This is an error that he should quickly reverse. He does not need to go as far as his father, who made public 12 years of tax returns when he was running for president in 1968, but more than two years would be informative..."

Thank you!

Anyway, I wanted to do a post tonight congratulating and praising senator John McCain of Arizona. Mr. McCain is a man that I don't often agree with, but he did a brave and courageous thing by standing up to some of the wingnuts in his own party and he should be commended for it.

The republican party is becoming so unhinged at its core that we soon won't recognize the "party of Lincoln" anymore. To think that they would accuse a trusted and long time aide to our Secretary of State of being infiltrator and a spy for the Muslim Brotherhood is preposterous and shocking. (BTW, she is married to a Jew)  

So back to Mr. McCain. Yesterday he took to the floor of the Senate and gave one of those "profiles in courage" speeches that we get from politricksters every now and then.

"In a floor speech Wednesday, McCain defended Abedin, calling her “an intelligent, upstanding, hard-working and loyal servant of our country and our government, who has devoted countless days of her life to advancing the ideals of the nation she loves and looking after its most precious interests. That she has done so while maintaining her characteristic decency, warmth and good humor is a testament to her ability to bear even the most arduous duties with poise and confidence.

“Put simply, Huma represents what is best about America: the daughter of immigrants, who has risen to the highest levels of our government on the basis of her substantial personal merit and her abiding commitment to the American ideals that she embodies so fully,” McCain said. “I am proud to know Huma and to call her my friend.”

I salute you sir. And shame on Michele Bachmann and the purveyors of hate and prejudice for even dignifying these unfounded charges against a hard working American because of their own bigotry and ignorance.



 

I'm Not Interested In Revolutions That Disparage Women (Really, Egypt?)

What kind of Police in Egypt rape and break the arms of women? I'm not interested in Muslim Brotherhood deception and insanity. I'm not interested in allowing Sharia Law. I don't want any excuses about leaving women behind. No Sexist revolutions, Fu Cryin' Out Loud!

Here is the recent story of an American Columnist, Mona Eltahawy, who reports being sexually assaulted and shows two casts on her arms.

 (click HERE for an Excellent blog post with

a good analysis** of this appalling event:

 "You say you want a revolution?" and more

about egypt from the same blog HERE  )

news Links to the story and pictures:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2066157/Mona-Eltahawy-Columnist-sexually-assaulted-Egyptian-military-police-shows-casts-hands.html
and video here:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/25/world/meast/egypt-women-sexual-harassment/index.html
and
the ABC story and video HERE.
excerpt:
..."Acclaimed Egyptian-American columnist Mona Eltahawy, released today in Cairo, said Egyptian security forces sexually assaulted and beat her so severely that an arm and hand were broken during her overnight detention. "I AM FREE," she wrote on her Twitter page just after noon local time....Can barely type -- must go xray arms after CSF [Central Security Forces] pigs beat me," she tweeted.
...
Eltahawy said that while she was in custody "5 or 6 surrounded me, groped and prodded my breasts, grabbed my genital area and I lost count how many hands tried to get into my trousers."
"They are dogs and their bosses are dogs. F*** the Egyptian police," she tweeted.

Some Springtime in Egypt...
virginity checks anyone?  http://marysbeagooddogblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/beware-new-egyptian-army-virginity.html

Lara Logan Here and media's hypocrisy HERE
mass rape and Eman al-Obeidy Video   HERE
and
http://www.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/Movies/04/06/Egypt.film.sexual.harassment/index.html

By the Way,
our own u.s. administration is allowing the taliban to abuse and kill women in the name of "a lasting peace" in afghanistan: more from PBS' special Women War and Peace Documentary HERE

footnote

**excerpt:

"...“She complained to me that she was beaten and sexually assaulted by Central Security Forces,” Mr. Jaffar said. “But what did she expect would happen? She was in the middle of the streets, in the midst of clashes, with no press card or form of ID. The press center had not given her permission to be in the streets as a journalist. The country is in a sensitive situation. We are under threat. She could be a spy for all we know.”

Wow; let's read that back:

 "But what did she expect would happen?" Ah, let's see ... 'gang rape by central security forces' is not the answer that immediately springs to mind.

There is so much wrong

 with Mr. Jaffar's response, it is hard to know where to start condemning it. Are we to understand that if Ms. Eltahawy _did_ have a press card, she would not have been sexually assaulted? Or perhaps she would only have been assaulted by people other than the Central Security Forces...? Anyone with a memory span exceeding that of a gnat will remember the ordeal of CBS reporter Lara Logan, who was sexually assaulted by an Egyptian mob, in Tahrir Square, last February.

But here's the kicker:

 The societal reality underlying this event might be even more disturbing than the random sexual violence this attack appears to represent. Ms. Eltahawy penned an article in June of this year entitled 'These "Virginity Tests" Will Spark Egypt's Next Revolution' (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jun/02/egypt-next-revolution-virginity-tests). Ms. Eltahawy's critique alleged and condemned state-sponsored sexual assaults in downtown Cairo four years ago that targeted girls and women during a religious festival. Ms. Eltahawy claimed the police watched and did nothing. The same article also cited startling statistics that more than 80% of [Egyptian] women now say they've been sexually harassed, and more than 60% of men admit to having done so.

Most people, before this week, might have been forgiven for assuming that the attack on Ms. Eltahawy was an aberration, rather than reflective of current norms in Egyptian culture. So what do we make of Mr. Jaffar's bizarre statement? Are we to now understand and accept that gang rape is acceptable as par for the course in Tahrir Square (the shining symbol of Egyptian democracy)? Should sexual abuse be expected by any reporter as a natural risk to be assumed when covering the Arab Spring ..."

read more at the original blog: http://israelmatzav.blogspot.com/2011/11/you-say-you-want-revolution.html

large interactive middle east map site: http://www.mideastweb.org/maps.htm  and excerpt:"...Bashar Assad and the Mysterious West - Is there any reason why only the Syrian regime is allowed to massacre its citizens, while everyone is silent? Scenarios for Egypt - The Egyptian revolution might be the birth of democracy, but it will probably be something else..."

middle east map  and asia

the following two maps are from a most interesting website: http://www.oilempire.us/new-map.html

an excerpt: "...The most important way that elections in the US are rigged is not voter disenfranchisement, touch screen voting machines or tampered software in ballot scanners, but media manipulation of public consciousness about the candidates....also the differences between the ostensible level of politics (the three branches of co-equal government and the other nonsense taught to us in school), and the "deep politics" of how the military industrial intelligence complex really works...  "

Mideast headlines,

virginity checks, so called arab spring? last night on Washington Week, Gwen ifill's guest stated that the egyption mobs are not so cohesive now, that before, the Muslim Brotherhood was about getting rid of The Dictator, and [feigned] democracy-- now it is their one chance at taking the election so they are splitting off.

What a big fat surprise! You are kidding me right? People were stating this clearly a year ago and were laughed off by all the SmartyPants. Can you say, Caliphate?  http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/11/saudi-journalist-its-not-the-arab-spring-but-the-muslim-brotherhood-spring.html

http://news.investors.com/Article/592569/201111221846/arab-spring-egypt-obama-muslim-brotherhood-al-qaida-gadhafi.htm?src=HPLNews

http://thedailynewsegypt.com/human-a-civil-rights/hrw-condemns-militarys-reluctance-to-investigate-virginity-checks-case.html

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/middle-east/egypt/111121/against-all-odds-%E2%80%98virginity-test%E2%80%99-victim-awaits-her-v

excerpt:"

CAIRO — Samira Ibrahim, who pursued legal action against the Egyptian military for allegedly forcing her to undergo a ‘virginity test,’ anxiously awaits the verdict of the State Council on November 29.
Five human rights organizations are supporting her case against the military and the case garnered interest in the international media.... Ibrahim remains persistent in her fight to make sure no Egyptian woman will be coerced by the army to go through ‘virginity testing,‘ which her lawyers argue constitutes an unlawful sexual assault under both Egyptian and International law.
“I know the odds are against me,” Ibrahim admits.
Ibrahim was among 17 girls who were detained on March 9 during protests in Tahrir Square. “I was beaten, electrocuted, and forced to strip naked in front of male officers,” Ibrahim fights back tears as she recalls the four days she spent in military prison....While Ibrahim’s battle has received adequate attention in international press, local Egyptian media has given the 25-year-old little to no coverage. “It breaks my heart that international outrage over my case is stronger than that of my fellow Egyptians,” Ibrahim says.
In the moderate yet conservative Egyptian society, a woman's honor is directly related to her virginity. Anything that interferes with that – even if the woman herself is not at fault – can become a liability for herself and her family. So it remains too sensitive to publicly and openly discuss issues such as virginity checks, sexual abuse and rape.
“Society does not accept such things being aired in public because they consider it too personal and too private,” explains Hafsa Halawa, an Egyptian lawyer....Violations against women are therefore hugely underreported in Egypt -- one recent report from 2003 found as many as 98 percent of rape and sexual assault cases are not reported to authorities.
This notion is hardly restricted to Egypt, however. Social taboos and safety fears prevent many abused women from seeking help, and underreporting of sexual assault and rape by women is a global phenomenon ... The female activists were detained on various charges they maintain are false, one of which was violation of curfew – lawyers said the girls were detained at 3:00 pm and there was no curfew at the time...."

Discussion of Extremism vs "Moderate"  HERE