Bush arrogant bunkermentality has been counterproductive

Still the best performance of the year

2008-08-19T01:47:00.000-07:00

Mike Huckabee thanking the "weather committee". John Lynch is a great guy, great to see how he and Huckabee talk with mutual respect allthough they are from different political parties.

"what makes this a great country is when its citizens take their responsibility seriously as citizens, and stand not because of the outcome but because of their hearts, their souls and what they truely believe is important for America."

"the reason I am very excited is because New Hampshire has long held a womderfull tradition of helping to launch the candidacies, not just the ones that were favored by people who maybe sit behind large desks in places like Washington and New York but to speak for those people all across this country by sorting through the candidates and what they really stand for and what they are really about and thats why the tradition of having new hampshire and its unique place as the first in the nation primary really does need to continue"

Paul Kagame blessed by Rick Warren

2008-08-17T05:57:00.000-07:00

Rick Warren has driven through a lot of red lights getting so close to an African president that is convicted by courts in France and Spain.

Facts are stuborn things...

2008-08-13T11:46:00.000-07:00

Rwanda report raises issue of motive BBC prpaganda

2008-08-07T21:49:00.001-07:00

more bullshit propaganda from the BBC as per usual at the say so of the UK gov."It certainly raises questions about Rwanda's motivation in taking this step. "maybe to bring the ppl responsible for genocide to justice!

read more | digg story

ED ROLLINS: McCain Eliminated Mike Huckabee As VP Option!

2008-08-07T21:43:00.001-07:00

He should know.

read more | digg story

Will Rick Warren invite Jordi Palau-Loverdos?

2008-08-02T03:52:00.000-07:00

Rick Warren, Paul Kagame's pal, is organising a debate between Mccain and Obama. It would show courage if he would also invite Jordi Palau-Loverdos.

news on Uganda

2008-08-02T03:32:00.000-07:00

Kagame's undercover operation in Europe

2008-08-02T01:53:00.000-07:00

Best Schwarzenegger imitation

2008-08-01T14:53:00.000-07:00

Tim Kaine Vertical 2.0 approved

2008-08-01T10:15:00.001-07:00

I predicted Tim Kaine beginning of june

2008-07-31T22:30:00.001-07:00

Rick Warren and Paul Kagame

2008-07-31T22:24:00.000-07:00

The man who sings the priases of a ruthless dictator, Paul Kagame, has the audacitiy to attack John Hagee and Rod Parsley for their endorsement of a candidate:

“I don’t think it’s right for pastors to endorse [a political candidate] in the first place,” Warren said on a recent CNN interview when asked if he thinks McCain was right to disavow controversial pastors John Hagee and Rod Parsley.

“I would never endorse a candidate. I would never campaign for a candidate,” he added.

“I think as a pastor my role is to pastor all the flock regardless of their political persuasion, so I wouldn’t have wanted endorsements anyways.

End Rwanda’s Support of General Laurent Nkunda in DR Congo

2008-07-31T14:18:00.000-07:00

Letter writing campaign to U.S. Congress to put pressure on Rwandan President Paul Kagame to stop aiding the dissident general Laurent Nkunda! If Nkunda’s funding from Rwanda is cut off then his army will desert him and his grip on the gorilla sector of Virunga National Park will, we hope, lessen. PLEASE write to your Congressional reps and urge them to put pressure on Rwanda to stop funding Nkunda. Robin Andreae wrote a sample letter for us to use. Please feel free to add your own comments or write your own letter. You can contact all of your Congressional reps at Congress.org or on their individual Web sites available at House.gov and Senate.gov.

Congress.org allows you to contact all your representatives, including the president, at one time and has a handy meter that gauges the effectiveness of your letter by number of words. The letter below meets their criteria for length. You may also send a letter by snail mail or fax.

The Democratic Republic of Congo endures what the United Nations calls the deadliest conflict since World War II. We need to help stem the flow of blood and violence. I request that we strongly urge President Kagame and the Rwandan government to act immediately to stop any and all support of the rebel leader and war criminal Laurent Nkunda, to cut off the recruitment from its territory of individuals, including children, as fighters for Laurent Nkunda’s forces, and to comply with the UN arms embargo by ensuring that no military equipment crosses its frontier into the DRC. His whereabouts have been well known, yet nothing has been done to capture him.

Nkunda occupies part of Virunga National Park and park rangers can no longer safely patrol the park for snares, poachers, and illegal charcoal makers. Funds have been raised for his war from the illegal charcoal trade that destroys vast acres of the park’s lush forests and prime wildlife habitat. If we do not act soon, the population of rare mountain gorillas may soon vanish, charcoal looters and poachers will irreparably destroy a world treasure, Virunga National Park, and the Congolese people will bear the scars of war and famine for generations to come.

Thousands of Congolese citizens have fled from the fighting. Many of the refugees suffer from exposure, malnutrition and diseases like malaria are common. Please urge President Kagame to end any relations between his government and the rebel Laurent Nkunda. We must act now.

Chris Blattman's Blog: The origin of African checks and balances?

2008-07-30T21:54:00.000-07:00

Chris Blattman's Blog: The origin of African checks and balances?

Museveni's plan to kill Ugandans using WMD revealed

2008-07-30T21:44:00.000-07:00

What is wrong with the McCain campaign?

2008-07-30T11:02:00.000-07:00

Well, I think he missed an opportunity. Instead of having some fun with it and showing sort of a buoyant 'hey, do what you've got to do, let Obama go play basketball, I'm solving problems.' Do it with tongue and cheek.

Frankly, I thought he looked more like Bob Dole in the last days of the 1996 campaign saying 'look at the record, look at the record,' and there was some anger and sense of frustration there.

Obama one step ahead with Tim Kaine

2008-07-30T05:25:00.000-07:00

The news that Tim Kaine is very close to becoming VP, the Obama campaign has won a decisive strategic move against Mccain in his bid for the Evangelical vote.

Strategically perfectly logical, Tim Kaine fits in the image of the new democrat. Someone that isn't part of the Clinton Machin. Someone who got on board early on. He supported Obama early 2007.

The potomac primary was the decisive victory for Obama. And that illustrates the importance of Tim Kaine.

His image looks very similar to Huckabee. He will make sure the democratic party becomes more open to new voters.

I predicted Tim Kaine beginning of june

2008-07-29T12:30:00.001-07:00

In the waiting room of the Rwandan genocide tribunal

2008-07-29T10:36:00.000-07:00

An important article on the Rwanda tribunal by Barrie Collins:

"In May 1991, Habyarimana’s suspicions of American support for the RPF were confirmed when Herman Cohen demanded that President Habyarimana accept the RPF as a problem that Rwanda, not Uganda, had to address (37). There was no longer any discussion about the RPF as illegal ‘deserters’ from the Ugandan army"

Paul Kagame following Berlusconi's example

2008-07-29T09:17:00.000-07:00

Whatever expectations there may have been that the present Yanga SC leadership are capable of utilising Yusuph Manji’s sponsorship to steer the club to major victories must now surely be laid to rest.

People are now without illusions about the competence and effectiveness of the men at the helm of one of the strongest clubs in Tanzania. I am talking about the club’s top brass, who should be held responsible in their personal capacities for bringing the game into disrepute.

Their decision to pull the team out of Kagame Cup third place play-off game against Simba on Sunday was a major let down to everyone who takes Cecafa tournaments seriously. President Paul Kagame spends 60,000 US dollars every year in the spirit of contributing towards football development in the region.

Roger Winter justifying arming African rebels

2008-07-29T02:42:00.000-07:00

Roger Winter, executive director of the U.S. Committee on Refugees, spoke at a conference of the U.S. Institute for Peace, and demanded full-scale backing from the U.S. government for a war "to bring down the Khartoum government" in Sudan, adding, "even though I know it will bring about a humanitarian catastrophe." He reassured the assembled African policymakers present, however, that U.S. troops would not be involved in the effort; this would be a proxy war using Ugandan and Eritrean troops against Sudan, with U.S. weapons and logistical and training support.

i've removed a ceiling above my dreams. there are more impossible dreams: muhoozi kainerugaba

2008-07-28T22:21:00.000-07:00

i've removed a ceiling above my dreams. there are more impossible dreams: muhoozi kainerugaba

Cynthia McKinney on truth about Congo

2008-07-28T14:37:00.000-07:00

A problem from Hell

2008-07-28T13:42:00.000-07:00

What Kagame learned at Fort Leavenworth

2008-07-28T12:02:00.000-07:00

>>> KAGAME HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY OF CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY IN COURTS IN BOTH SPAIN AND FRANCE<<< but Bush still likes to go on cam with this murderer.

Pvt. Ronald Gray has been on the military's death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, since 1988. His execution would be the first for the U.S. military since 1961, but the White House said it expects further appeals before the sentence is carried out.

"While approving a sentence of death for a member of our armed services is a serious and difficult decision for a commander-in-chief, the president believes the facts of this case leave no doubt that the sentence is just and warranted," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

Gray was convicted of raping and killing a female Army private and a civilian near his post at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He was also convicted of the rape and attempted murder of another fellow soldier in her barracks at Fort Bragg.

>>> KAGAME HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY OF CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY IN COURTS IN BOTH SPAIN AND FRANCE<<< but Bush still likes to go on cam with this murderer.

Cynthia McKinney doing allright

2008-07-28T11:47:00.000-07:00

Samantha Power and Paul Kagame

2008-07-28T09:23:00.000-07:00

It's interesting to see that all foreign policy advisers in the US today are circeling around Rwanda like bees around the honeypot. The question is why? Even Cindy Mccain is going in that direction. The article that I link to reveals some disturbing linking between Samantha Power, Susan Rice, Roger Winter and Paul Kagame. It's an issue that needs to be sorted out totally. Criminals can sometimes look like really clean and cultured people.

Obama's foreign policy adviser: more of the same?

2008-07-27T14:11:00.001-07:00

A Barack Obama administration will likely feature another Rice in a top foreign policy position. Instead of Dr. Condoleezza Rice, it will be Dr. Susan Rice, Obama's top foreign policy adviser, who will assume critical foreign policy responsibilities. Both Rices are African Americans and both attended Stanford University. Susan Rice served as President Clinton's Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs where she earned a reputation of naivety and disregard for the democratic aspirations of African countries where one-party dictators beholden to the United States held sway.

Particularly anxious about Rice's role in an Obama administration is the government of Sudan. Rice has turned her opposition to Sudan's government into a vendetta, one that does not harbor hopes that the dire situation on Darfur and new problems between Sudan's Arab north and black African south will be solved with Rice at the helm in an Obama administration.

Similarly, Rice did not endear herself to opposition leaders in countries like Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They believed that Rice sided with U.S.-supported dictators at the expense of advancing the cause of democracy. One Ugandan opposition leader said Rice told him in 1998 that he should just accept Ugandan dictator Yoweri Museveni's one-party state and "get over" his notion of a multi-party democracy in the country. Rice's policies carried out the policies of her boss, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who also happens to be Rice's godmother.

Rice's foreign policy advisory role with Obama increased after the resignation of Samantha Power, the Illinois Democrat's other foreign policy adviser. Power was forced to step down after she referred to Obama's rival, Hillary Clinton, as a "monster" in an interview with a Scottish newspaper.

Rice is seen as someone who is willing to use military force in Africa, especially against Sudan, and is seen as a promoter of George W. Bush's widely unpopular Africa Command (AFRICOM), which places US assistance programs in Africa under a military umbrella. Rice is married to ABC News producer Ian Cameron.

The Rwandan refugees in Congo

2008-07-27T13:38:00.000-07:00

"Massacres of an estimated 200,000 Hutu civilians in the refugee camps in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, former Zaire in 1996-1997. TheUnited Nations, the USA, and
European Union confirmed the massacres and the Rwandan Patriotic Army admitted to
these crimes, but none was prosecuted. These crimes were called "acts of genocide" by the
International Non-Government Independent Commission set up by the United Nations to
inquire on crimes committed in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The following
military officers participated in the massacres of these Hutu refugees:
· Colonel James Kabarebe, commander of the military invasion of former Zaire.
· Colonel Ibingira;
· Lieutenant Colonel Murokore;
· Colonel Nzaramba;
· Retired Colonel Nduguteye;
· Colonel Jackson Rwahama;
· Major Jacques Nziza, Director of the Department of Military Intelligence (DMI;)
· Lieutenant Colonel Wilson Rutayisire;
· Major Dan Munyuza;
· Commander David;
· Commander Godfrey Kabanda;
· Lieutenant Colonel Kiago

Joseph K. Sebarenzi on Truth and Reconciliation

2008-07-27T13:26:00.000-07:00

Paul Kagame and Frank Rusagara

2008-07-27T12:27:00.000-07:00

took military training in the US.

How many lunatics like Roger Winter have we got?

2008-07-27T08:31:00.001-07:00

This guy has actually worked for the US government. He should be held accountable for the mess he is leaving behind everywhere he goes:

Roger Winter, executive director of the U.S. Committee on Refugees, spoke at a conference of the U.S. Institute for Peace, and demanded full-scale backing from the U.S. government for a war "to bring down the Khartoum government" in Sudan, adding, "even though I know it will bring about a humanitarian catastrophe." He reassured the assembled African policymakers present, however, that U.S. troops would not be involved in the effort; this would be a proxy war using Ugandan and Eritrean troops against Sudan, with U.S. weapons and logistical and training support.

Roger Winter

2008-07-27T08:23:00.000-07:00

Escaping earlier bouts of inter-ethnic violence before Rwandan independence in 1962, tens of thousands of Tutsi refugees had settled in Uganda, where their sons played major roles in the guerrilla movement that brought the current Ugandan strongman Yoweri Museveni to power. One Tutsi - Major General Fred Rwigyema - became chief of staff in the new Ugandan army, while Paul Kagame served as deputy director of military intelligence.

With a wink and a nod from Museveni, Rwigyema and Kagame used their military positions to create their own Tutsi force - the Rwandan Patriotic Army - which began making raids into Rwanda. U.S. Embassy reports in 1989 described these attacks as Ugandan, rather than Tutsi. According to Harald Matwitz, who worked at the time for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the State Department had note of at least 56 such incidents by 1991.

During those years, Washington was providing small amounts of training to the Ugandan Army - and to its Tutsi offshoot. One example is widely known: Kagame's training in 1990 at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. That same October, Fred Rwigyema led a surprise Tutsi attack inside Rwanda, moving to within 60 miles of Kigali, the capital, where the French helped fend them off. Rwigyema died under mysterious circumstances, and Kagame rushed home to take command of Tutsi forces. Did the Americans know by then that Kagame, a senior officer in the Ugandan Army, was also a top Tutsi insurgent? If they did not, someone should be shot - and not just at the Pentagon.

Washington would have gotten some of its best information from nominally independent refugee aid groups, who had a long - and some would say distinguished - history of working closely with both the State Department and Central Intelligence Agency. For the Tutsi refugees, the most visible player in this shadowy, ill-defined world was Roger Winter, now Assistant Administrator at USAID. From the early 1980s, Winter ran the U.S. Committee on Refugees, a private Non-Governmental Organization. Washington provided some 75% of his NGO's budget, but Winter - unlike overt government officials - was free to help the Tutsis organize a conference in Washington in August 1988. The meeting greatly increased support from exiles outside Uganda to the political wing of the Tutsi army, the Rwandan Patriotic Front.

The RPF, as it was known, played down its Tutsi roots, called itself multi-ethnic, and placed prominent Hutu dissidents in leadership posts. But Kagame and his Tutsi associates kept it - and their army - under firm control, and continued to press for a change in the Hutu government of President Juvenal Habyarimana that would permit the refugees to return to Rwanda. Washington increased its support for Musaveni's Uganda, which permitted his military to give increasing supplies of munitions, automatic rifles, mortars, artillery, and Soviet-designed Katyusha multiple rocket systems to Kagame's Tutsi troops. With this support, the Tutsis stepped up their incursions into Rwanda from their Ugandan bases. The escalating attacks caused nearly a million Rwandans to flee their homes, which only strengthened the Hutu hardliners in selling their final solution. The attacks also persuaded the French, who saw an American (and British) hand in the Tutsi effort, to increase their support for the Hutus. Africa was seeing a new kind of proxy war.

At the same time, both Paris and Washington pressed President Habyarimana to accept a UN-brokered power-sharing agreement that would allow the Tutsi refugees to return to Rwanda. Perhaps the deep thinkers in Washington saw the Tutsi military attacks as pressure toward a peaceful settlement. If they did, they soon found out how wrong they were. The climax came on April 6, 1994, when Habyarimana was flying home from peace talks in Tanzania. As his French Falcon 50 aircraft approached Kigali airport, a ground-to-air missile blew the plane apart.

American officials quickly blamed Hutu extremists, who saw Habyarimana as too willing to compromise with the Tutsis. Now, the well-respected French anti-terrorist judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere is reportedly accusing Kagame of personally ordering the assassination - a charge that the Rwandan ruler bitterly denies. Other reports suggest that a Tutsi commando team in Kigali fired Soviet missiles that the Americans captured during the first Gulf War and gave to the Ugandans. Whoever shot down the plane, the killing began within hours, as Kagame and his Tutsi army fought their way toward Kigali to stop the genocide they had helped provoke. Traveling with them, by his own account, was at least one American - the refugee's friend Roger Winter.

Should Congress ever investigate America's role in the Rwandan holocaust, Mr. Winter would be a star witness.

5,400,000

2008-07-27T02:33:00.000-07:00

A new IRC survey has found that 5,400,000 people have died from war-related causes in Congo since 1998 – the world’s deadliest documented conflict since WW II. The vast majority died from non-violent causes such as malaria, diarrhea, pneumonia and malnutrition—easily preventable and treatable conditions when people have access to health care and nutritious food.

A Tale of Two Genocides, Congo and Darfur: The Blatantly Inconsistent U.S. Position

2008-07-27T02:25:00.000-07:00

As many as five million people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A quarter million or so have perished in Darfur, western Sudan. Both are abominations, genocides, crimes against humanity, but only Darfur rates coverage in the U.S. corporate media, action by the United States on the diplomatic and military front, or concerted interest by the Congressional Black Caucus. The Congolese genocide, triggered directly by the U.S. and its surrogates, is masked in silence. In Darfur, "Arabs" who are indistinguishable from their Black African Muslim neighbors are demonized as enemies in the "clash of civilizations."

Truth and reconciliation for Rwanda

2008-07-27T01:01:00.000-07:00

Beyond Hotel Rwanda: Finding Real Peace in Africa's great Lakes Region

2008-07-25T23:51:00.000-07:00

David Beasley: get well soon!

2008-07-25T11:13:00.000-07:00

CHotline has learned that Governor David M. Beasley is home relaxing after surgery and doing well.
Updated early July 28th, 2008

Don't go for the "Dan Quale" Nightmare

2008-07-25T10:41:00.000-07:00

There is a lot of speculation going on about who is going to be the VP. And off course, I have said several times that I don't want Mccain to win. But even though I am no supporter of Mccain. I want to remind all those Huckabee supporters who think he should become VP, that that would reduce Huckabee's position to a mere "Dan Quale". A guy who nobody remembers, who was used by Bush to get him the Christian vote. And that's what we don't want to happen this time around. All those soo called "Christian leaders", like Rick Warren and Marvin Olasky, and soo many others are leaders that want to hold the Christians in the US in their strong grip, as if Christians should not be Free individuals that think for themselves.

Off course Mike Huckabee has his own call to make. But the force that made him drive to the front was a force of democratisation within the Republican party. That was his message, and that was the reason people like Rick Perry, Condoleeza Rice, George Herbert Bush, Peter Wehner and soo many others over at Townhall openly showed their contempt. Contempt, not only for him, but for all those people all across America who have brought them to power for soo many years.

Huckabee's position furthermore is soo much different from Dan Quale's. Huckabee represent a rift in American politics. Soo many people aren't represented at all by the mainstream parties.

I am sure a lot of active Huckabee supporters online have allready decided they won't vote for Mccain, even if Huckabee chooses the VP spot. Off course Mike Huckabee is a Governor with more then ten years of executive experience and he won't make such a decision lightly. But accepting a VP spot to me is the ""Dan Quale" Nightmare.

Melting Glacier

2008-07-25T09:55:00.000-07:00

The Hague Peace Conference on Rwanda

2008-07-25T09:38:00.000-07:00

Rwandans discuss peace in The Hague - 26 April 2008 from olny.nl on Vimeo.

US State Department defends Rwandan criminals

2008-07-25T09:24:00.000-07:00

Gonzalo Gallegos willfully mixes up Rwandan presence in Darfur with the issue of General Karenzi Kareka. This man is convicted in a Spanish court. A decision that will have to be respected by all EU member states. As a spokesman for the justice department in Belgium has confirmed.

Not one of the 40 convicted members of the Rwandan Junta will be able to enter European terriroty because they have commited crimes in neighbouring Congo. A war in which millions died. They didn't die just by accident. NO, Paul Kagame sent his army over there to slaughter hundreds of thousands. Those criminals should be persecuted.

Paul Kagame is found guilty too, by this spanish court. His "democratically" elected parliament, has decided last week that he has immunity. That means he allready knows he is guilty of crimes against humanity in neighbouring Congo.

The only question remaining is this: Why is the US government protecting those criminals? WHY?

Gonzalo Gallegos: Killing Congolese is no problem

2008-07-25T09:22:00.001-07:00

The United States Thursday sided with Rwanda in an international controversy over the status of a Rwandan commander in the U.N.-backed force in Darfur, UNAMID. The commander is accused of 1990s war crimes. The State Department says it reviewed the Rwandan general's case and found no grounds to exclude him from the peacekeeping operation. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

The State Department says a Rwandan pullout from Darfur would "devastate" the peacekeeping operation, and it is urging the retention of Rwandan Major General Emmanuel Karake Karenzi as deputy commander of the hybrid U.N. and African Union force.

A controversy over the status of Karenzi took a new turn this week when Rwanda warned the United Nations that it would leave the peacekeeping force if the Rwandan general had to step down in the face of war crimes allegations.

A Spanish judge in February indicted Karenzi and 39 other Rwandan officers and officials for allegedly engaging in reprisal killings after the country's 1994 genocide.

Karenzi's contract as the number-two U.N. commander in Darfur is up for renewal, and the United Nations has reportedly tried to persuade Rwanda to replace him, after calls for his ouster by Rwandan opposition factions and some human rights groups.

Rwanda has rejected the calls - saying charges against Karenzi are groundless and that he has served with distinction in Darfur.

At a news briefing Thursday, Acting State Department Spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos strongly endorsed a continued role in Darfur for Rwandan peacekeepers including Karenzi

Rwanda's sounds of genocide

2008-07-23T14:04:00.000-07:00

Young woman meets war's hero, recounts his claims of new injustice

By SARAH KRUEGER
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

All was quiet inside the walls of the American ambassador's residence in Bujumbura, Burundi, as I lay in bed shrouded by mosquito netting. As a 4-year-old living in central Africa in 1994, I had known security all my life. Through the gauze I peered out at the clear night sky. Then the thud of grenades broke the silence, followed by machine-gun fire.

While I remained secure, Burundians were not. Years later, I realized that these were the sounds of genocide and that the killing was not confined to the small, remote country where my father was ambassador.

Only a few miles away and a few months earlier, an extensive war had raged in neighboring Rwanda. Tutsis and moderate Hutus fled from a Hutu army, militia, and their own neighbors, who, aiming to destroy all "cockroaches," killed 800,000 countrymen in three months.

Hundreds fleeing genocidal attackers sought shelter in Hotel Mille Collines, where Manager Paul Rusesabagina protected them from death. His story is now familiar from the 2004 Oscar-nominated movie Hotel Rwanda, and his autobiography, An Ordinary Man.

Thirteen years after living as an uncomprehending witness to genocide in Burundi and Rwanda, I recently met this modest hero in, of all places, Laredo. Although my father and he had talked by telephone, they met in person because both had come to Laredo to console a friend, a Rwandan émigré to Texas who had lost a family member. For us, the funeral meant a 2 1/2 -hour drive; for the Rusesabaginas, a 10,000-mile round trip.

Mrs. Rusesabagina entered our hotel lobby in an off-white sheath on the arm of her husband, elegant in a dark suit and fashionable red-striped tie, both smiling warmly. Paul Rusesabagina and my father hugged, as Mrs. Rusesabagina extended her arms to my mother and me. Once seated, as wine was served, the former hotel manager tested the cork, twirled the glass, sniffed the bouquet, and began speaking at length, softly.

Paul, Tatiana and their family had remained in Rwanda following the victory of Paul Kagame and his rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front over the Rwandan genocidal government forces in 1994.

As a Hutu who had saved 1,268 lives, mostly Tutsi, Paul Rusesabagina had remained to help build a society where accountability and reconciliation would replace revenge and ethnic cleansing.

But he found the tables had turned: Instead of Hutus killing Tutsis, Tutsis now killed Hutus while the new Kagame-led Tutsi government looked the other way.

In 1996, a member of Military Intelligence drew a pistol, threatening Paul, whose outspokenness had made him a target for elimination. The family fled immediately, receiving asylum in Belgium. There the man who later emerged as the hero of Hotel Rwanda became a Brussels taxi driver.

In 2004, however, the fame of Hotel Rwanda provided a platform to protest the new injustice in Rwanda. Paul's list of offenses is long, his outrage strong. In recent meetings with U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and other lawmakers, he made the following claims:

• Paul Kagame, after 10 years as dictator, was "elected" president with 95 percent of the vote in rigged elections.
• Ninety percent of government officials, including teachers, today are Tutsi, though they constitute only 15 percent of the population.
• Local gacaca courts run by near-illiterate Tutsi villagers have become tools of ethnic intimidation. They charge and judge Hutu villagers, who are denied legal counsel with crimes from petty theft to genocide.
• Prison facilities designed for 10,000 house 100,000 inmates, some awaiting trial for over 10 years.
• The silent suppression is maintained by a sinister intelligence agency that brings charges, engages in kidnappings, and is responsible for thousands of "disappearances."
Rusesabagina's criticism and international celebrity have come at a price. President Kagame frequently censures him as corrupt, greedy and a liar.

While driving in Brussels recently, a sedan with five Africans sought to run him off the road. His apartment was ransacked, but no items stolen. Obviously Rusesabagina's fame has been no defense against intimidation.

I listened in sadness during our lunch. I only know the names of two Rwandans: Paul Kagame, who led the armed forces to end the genocide, and Paul Rusesabagina, who, unarmed, courageously saved over 1,000 lives.

Unfortunately, President Kagame and the extraordinary "ordinary man" are now on opposite sides.

I doubt that Paul Rusesabagina, who risked his life for those of different ethnicity in 1994, is making false charges against the new government when he says today, "We have only changed the dancers, but the music remains the same."

To avoid the tragedy of re-enacting genocide, Rusesabagina and many human rights groups favor creating a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, as South Africa did after apartheid. Although President Kagame opposes this (perhaps fearing international scrutiny) such a commission could offer an opportunity for both accountability and relieving grief pent up for over a decade.

Perhaps then the genocidal grenades and machine guns that I heard as a 4-year-old in Burundi would at last be silenced in central Africa.

Krueger is a 17-year-old senior at New Braunfels High School. She lived in Burundi in 1994-1995 while her father, Robert Krueger, was U.S. ambassador to that country.

Vertical Day from Congo

2008-07-23T13:39:00.000-07:00

Great blog from Congo

Out of the box politicians: Vertical day 2.0

2008-07-23T11:35:00.000-07:00

Creativity in politics is quite similar to creativity in arts and science. In order to get an "out of the box" idea you first have to define your box and then jump out of it.

To me that's what Vertical day 2.0 stands for and that is what we need for America. People that hold their principles dearly so that they are able to use those ideas in a constantly changing world.

waltz for debby

2008-07-23T10:02:00.000-07:00

Kagame could be prosecuted

2008-07-22T13:37:00.000-07:00

"If there was a political will internationally, Kagame could be prosecuted," he says. "That is what is missing. It is not the lack of evidence or witnesses or ability to uncover the story." Michael Hourigan

Rick Warren and Kagame

2008-07-22T12:45:00.000-07:00

He is a man who does what is right; he is a great leader who will save Rwanda. I do not know any other leader who has done what Kagame has done. He stopped the Genocide and thereafter installed reconciliation; he is a servant leader,” Rick said.

He said many leaders have ended up becoming egocentric. “Kagame is not; he is a man of Grace” who has made Rwanda what it is.

Paul Kagame more relevant than Mandela

Mccain and Obama visit Rick Warren

2008-07-22T12:40:00.000-07:00

"Evangelicals have been cool to McCain's candidacy, opposing, for instance, his support for stem-cell research. Meanwhile, Obama has talked at length on the campaign trail about his faith, and has sought inroads among constituencies that Democrats have long neglected.

Saddleback, where the charismatic Warren preaches, is known as a member of the next generation of Christian leaders poised to take the helm of the evangelical movement from the likes of James Dobson of Focus on the Family and televangelist Pat Robertson.

Warren has spoken about moving the evangelical movement beyond its core issues of abortion, same-sex marriage and other cultural issues to action on poverty, the environment and Aids.

"I couldn't care less about politics, the culture wars," he told the New York Times in February. "My only interest is to get people to care about Darfurs and Rwandas."

"This is a critical time for our nation and the American people deserve to hear both candidates speak from the heart - without interruption - in a civil and thoughtful format absent the partisan 'gotcha' questions that typically produce heat instead of light," Warren said in a statement released by the church. "

Uncovering Rwanda's secret

2008-07-22T12:30:00.000-07:00

Michael Hourigan about Paul Kagame

Trainstation in Marseille

2008-07-22T12:26:00.000-07:00

Invasion of Congo by Kagame and Museveni

2008-07-22T09:20:00.000-07:00

Or was the CIA and even the US President involved?

God was allready there in front of you

2008-07-21T09:38:00.000-07:00

Listen to this genius

2008-07-20T14:10:00.001-07:00

news you don't read in the newspaper

2008-07-20T03:42:00.000-07:00

About Congo, Kagame, Museveni, Africa in general. Also look at the links.

Huckabee for President 2012

2008-07-20T01:36:00.001-07:00

Bush and Rice listening to Huckabee on Iran

2008-07-19T03:27:00.000-07:00

We all remember the criticism of a lot of commentators and even Rice on Huckabee's speech "Paths and priorities in the war on Terror".And of course the now famous quotes on foreign policy and the way European countries like the Netherlands treat immigrants:

"This administration's bunker mentality has been counterproductive both at home and abroad,"
"some of our closest allies are producing some of our clearest threats."

Now we see Condoleeza Rice changing her Iran approach:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aLFxRkuOQHmg&refer=home

But we will remember very well Condoleeza Rice openly critisized Huckabee in stead of staying out of the primaries. That makes it very hard for anyone who agreed with Huckabee on this issue to vote for any candidate that isn't going to convince us that he will listen to Huckabee's views on this issue.

Iowa Straw poll: we r here to stay, we r here to play

2008-07-19T02:05:00.000-07:00

Cindy McCain visiting criminal Rwanda regime?

2008-07-18T09:09:00.000-07:00

The controversy over Rwanda is continuing. I hope some American politics will finally have the courage to not continue their sentimental journey, but open their eyes. Read the blog posts in:

http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2008/07/cindy_mccain_to.html

To know that there is more then one view of reality here. And I think politicans should stop putting their heads in the sand. It becomes guilt at some point to turn your head away like that.

What really happened in Rwanda

2008-07-18T08:46:00.000-07:00

This journalist has done a lot in the Great Lakes Region. Great site if you wan't to get an idea on the conflicting ideas that exist surrounding the Genocide and the War in Congo where millions of people died, women raped. Still we have no real investigation of the facts. What I am 100% sure of today is the fact that General Kagame came into Kinshasa together with Kabila. I am equally sure of the fact that Museveni's forces entered Congo and were part of the alliance that took over the country.

Watching a romanticized movie on the Genocide is good. But to know what really happened you have to figure out the details. And that's when you really descend into the heart of darkness as Conrad put it.

Kagame's invasion of Congo

2008-07-18T08:24:00.000-07:00

Everybody should know by now that it was Kagame's and Museveni's soldiers that entered Congo in 1996 to overthrow the government of Mobutu. That's a fact. The U.S. State department objected swiftly when Saddam Hussayn invaded Quwait. But what did the US government do when Kagame and Museveni invaded Congo? NOTHING.

And up to this day I don't hear any american politician talk about this bloody crime. As an American abroad I am ashamed when the US supports revolutionary movements in foreign countries. Democracy is not advanced one millimeter when Washington does that.

http://cirqueminime.blogcollective.com/blog/_archives/2008/6/15/3741964.html

http://www.globalpolicy.org/intljustice/tribunals/rwanda/2003/0918ponte.htm

My foolish heart!!!

2008-07-17T11:38:00.001-07:00

Kagame responsible for systematic killing

2008-07-16T11:03:00.000-07:00

A memorandum from the Undersecretary of State for Africa George F. Moose to “the Secretary” (U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher under President William Clinton) reports a briefing on September 17, 1994:

A UNCHR investigative team that spent July and August in Rwanda (i.e. Gersony) has reported systematic human rights abuses by the GOR (RPF) forces – including systematic killings – in the south and southeast of the country. The team has concluded that the GOR is aware of these reprisals against Hutu civilians and may have sanctioned them….

On the basis of interviews with refugees/individuals, the UNHCR team concluded that a pattern of killing had emerged. The RPA convened meetings of displaced persons to discuss peace and security. Once the displaced persons were assembled, RPA soldiers moved in and killed them. In addition to these massacres, the RPA engaged in house to house sweeps and hunted down individuals hiding in camps. Victims were usually killed with hoes, axes, machetes and with fire. Although males 18-40 were at highest risk the young and elderly were not spared. The team estimated that the RPA and Tutsi civilian surrogates had killed 10,000 of more Hutu civilians per month, with the RPA accounting for 95% of the killing. (emphasis added)

The King of stealthcampaigning

2008-07-16T10:14:00.000-07:00

It's allways funny when some people over at Townhall make fools of themselves. Today they are calling Huckabee a Christian-socialist.

When Huckabee said "America's greatness is not in it's government, but in it's ordinary people", these guys weren't listening. Politics is a dynamic process, and "we are in it"!!!

Why did we misunderstood eachother, I don't blame you!

2008-07-15T12:29:00.000-07:00

Memories that haunt you in your dreams. Can we never talk again?

Kagame's propaganda against ambassador Krueger

2008-07-14T12:22:00.000-07:00

this article was published recently in Kigali. It shows us how Rwanda's "Mugabe" continues to distort the truth.

Acusing him of arms dealing: http://www.coanews.org/article/2007/u-s-ambassadors-accused-of-dealing-arms

Ambassador Krueger, former Senator also, lived in Burundi where he witnessed the attrocities Kagame has committed. 200.000 Rwandese fled to neighbouring Burundi. He has written a book on this "http://allafrica.com/stories/200709170389.html

He also wrote a book "from bloodshed to hope" about Burundi

You can read his comments on Paul Kagame in an interview on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7xj76ImnNw

The conference on peace and development in the Great Lakes Region was held in the Hague in april http://kurthlampe.wordpress.com/2008/04/25/conference-on-peace-and-development-in-the-great-lakes-region-of-africa/

I wish I didn't miss you anymore

2008-07-14T09:28:00.000-07:00

can't eat, i can't sleep anymore
waiting for you to walk through the door
i wish i didn't miss you anymore

memories don't live like people do
i'm sick
wish you'd remember
everytime you say you're coming
you disappoint me, honey
how well you forgot

one of these days, it's gonna happen to you
missing someone like i missed you

Why Obama Should Reach Out to Conservatives...

2008-07-12T10:04:00.001-07:00

Barack Obama's mantra is change. If he really means it, the most important thing he can do is make a genuine commitment to govern from the center and avoid the polarizing...

read more | digg story

Truth and Reconciliation commission Rwanda !!!

2008-07-12T05:01:00.000-07:00

Who are the killers, who aren't. Listen to this speech about Rwanda. The truth about Rwanda is what we all need to know. Huckabee could push for that , meet with opposition leaders in Rwanda. See to it that his image as the champion of dynamic politics is not tarnished!!

If anything Huckabee should at least speak with Robert Krueger, the former American ambassador to Burundi about the state of democracy in Rwanda today. You can listen to his statements in this interview on youtube. He is also convinced Paul Kagame and his RPF been doing a lot of killing. All of that resulted in 200.000 refugees to neighbouring Burundi in 1995 when he was ambassador there.

Hero of Hotel Rwanda Calls Kagame a War Criminal.

2008-07-12T04:58:00.000-07:00

Read what this respected man says about Kagame.

Paul Kagame – War Criminal?

2008-07-12T04:05:00.000-07:00

Paul kagame was a Ugandan Officer when he invaded Rwanda. There was at that time no genocide going on. And still you see him walking with Bush.

Kagame invaded Congo and drove away President Mobutu. Again, he invaded another sovereign country. And still you see him walking with Bush.

I hope he never will set his feet on American soil again. This man should be one of the first to come to trial in the Hague.

American politicians should keep a clear distance from this man. Because he is smart enough to use his soft hearted American friends that think that what happened in Rwanda is somehow similar to what happened to jews in the second world war.

The US government has invested a lot in supporting this ruthless dictator who invaded Congo and we all know how many millions died during that period.

Read how blind some people can be about this Dictator on

http://www.orwelltoday.com/kagamelincoln.shtml

What has Beasley been doing last couple months?

2008-07-12T03:29:00.001-07:00

Only found a photographer named David Beasley jr., is he family? He took some nice pictures over at a juneteenth celebration

Paula Kagame was officer in Ugandan army

2008-07-11T13:52:00.000-07:00

Paul Kagame is a war criminal. In his country there is no democracy. I hope Huckabee and McCain won't be like all the others that only think of mister Kagame as a victim of a genocide. Kagame was officer in the Ugandan army and invaded Rwanda before the two presidents of Rwanda and Burundi were shot down. The invasion of Rwanda was thus quite similar to the invasion of Kuwait by Sadam Hussayn.

The genocide took place after that illegal invasion. Paul Kagame is allways accusing others that they didn't do enough to avoid the genocide. And he is right. The United Nations should have made it clear to Ugandan president Museveni that he should not let his officer invade Rwanda.

And the elections in Rwanda were not fair at all. The opposition is crushed just like in Zimbabwe. Don't let ourselves be fooled.

Follow the link in this post to find out what kind of man Paul Kagame really is.

Three dimensional projectors

2008-07-11T10:45:00.000-07:00

digg, del.icio.us, bookmarks, widgets

2008-07-10T12:01:00.000-07:00

Social networking and marketing strategies are impacting politics allready. I vividly remember influencing internal party elections in a small political party in the Netherlands through a simple website some ten years ago. It showed to me the power individuals can have through the net. Still it is true that political parties don't seem to care. They like to continue politics the way they allways done it.

With all the new tools like digg, del.icio.us, bookmarks, widgets and a lot of others that I you will get me aware of, the impact an individual can have can get even greater.

As you see to the left, the black women in Europe network has a great widget. One of the black woman in Europe has a blog on http://blackgirlinprague.blogspot.com/. Great pictures of her travels.

Townhall underestimates my braincapacity

2008-07-09T10:02:00.001-07:00

Just like in the Netherlands there are a lot of people that think the only alternative to socialist, liberal or communist politics is to be anti-immigrant. Just like this hate mail that I received from townhall about immigrants.

If you want to convince me to vote for a Republican just because he is for closing borders you really underestimate my braincapacity and the strength of the Latino vote in the upcoming election. These short term political positions Townhall and people like Joseph Farah and the CNN guy Dobs promotes.

I want to see how many pro immigrant Republicans can defend their position on a principled basis. Not just from a economic standpoint, but from the core Republican viewpoint on democratic development.

Huckabee and foreign policy

2008-07-08T00:00:00.000-07:00

Totally agree with Kevin Tracy. Janet should by a camera.

faith-based initiatives

2008-07-06T10:35:00.000-07:00

george bush, barack obama, James skillen, marvin olasky. Probably all of them would love to have a piece of Abraham Kuyper.

Kuyper was a theologian AND a politician. Most scolars who have studied him didn't succeed in combining the two.

They got some schizofrenic man that they pasted on to the reality of today.

The only scolar that got close to keeping both the theological and political idea of Abraham Kuyper together was Klaas Schilder.

landmark achievement

2008-07-06T10:18:00.001-07:00

"I do not want to have anyone misrepresent or miss the opportunity to celebrate what I think is a landmark achievement, not just for Barack Obama, but for the United States of America"

web 2.0 and the creative economy

2008-07-06T03:11:00.000-07:00

There is a lot of talk about these two subjects in business circles. What is astonishing, is the fact that politics doesn't really seem to get it yet.

In politics it seems mostly about power of a few, discarding all other ideas.

Innovation is being presented as something new, but I myself consider it a sign that the ICT world is catching up with the rest of us. A certain method leads to certain insights. In science, in art and also in business.

Politics can learn from that, a political campaign should have the objective of learning something. That makes it interesting to participate.

Architecture of participation for migrants?

2008-07-04T08:55:00.000-07:00

A very interesting project at the University in Muenster, Germany:

http://ppi.uni-muenster.de/

Architecture of participation

2008-07-04T08:50:00.001-07:00

found on the Junction Pool blog:

This is a recent video of Clay Shirky discussing elements of his new book (which I am reading currently), wikipedia and the "architecture of participation" online.

If you needed to boil down what fueled the Huckabee campaign online (aside from the number 1 reason: the candidate) or what is occuring with Barack Obama's campaign online, I would borrow a phrase Shirky uses in this video and Tim O'Reilly coined to say that both campaigns provided an "architecture of participation."

The Obama campaign is head and shoulders ahead of where we ended up on March 5, 2008. We only scratched the surface, but the transformative nature of what we did provide (Bloggers for Huckabee, Meetups, Phone Bank, etc) and the way we utilized these things, empowered our campaign to heights greater than the sum of it's parts and in many ways in unitended directions.

Looking forward, building that architecture and harnessing the momentum it can help create (given the right candidate)will be the great challege confronting every online political campaign going forward.

Architecture of participation

2008-07-04T08:47:00.001-07:00

150 hispanic evangelical pastors meet Obama

2008-07-03T09:36:00.000-07:00

In march Barack Obama met with Hispanic evangelicals in Texas in an effort to court Hispanic voters and address issues affecting the community ahead of the state’s primary this week.

The Illinois senator said during his speech that while he understands some Americans fear illegal immigrants will compete with them for low-wage jobs, what he “refuse[s] to accept is the rising current of distrust and even hate that’s being directed not just at immigrants, but at all Hispanics.”

“We are – each of us – children of God, and the Bible tells us to love all of our neighbors, no matter where we come from or what documents we have,” Obama said.

“Our conscience cannot rest so long as there are 12 million undocumented immigrants living as second-class citizens in the United States of America. Do we not remember that we were all strangers in the land of Egypt?” Obama posed.

Obama called for securing the border and giving “undocumented immigrants” a chance to earn citizenship by paying a fine and “waiting in line behind those who came here legally.”

“Yes, we are a nation of laws, but we are also a nation of immigrants, and there is no reason we can’t reconcile those traditions.”

He compared immigration to poverty, saying both were issues of “conscience” and should be dealt as such, according to MSNBC. He also said he believed the United States should help the poor in Mexico through foreign investment to curb immigration to the states.

Hispanics are the nation’s largest and fastest-growing minority and a key constituency of the Democratic Party. Texas is known for its huge Latino population which makes up nearly 36 percent of the state.

Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton has long had a large following among Hispanic voters, but most analysts are agreeing that support for Obama among this voting bloc is growing.

A SurveyUSA Election Poll released last week showed Clinton leading Obama among Hispanics by 13 points, down from a week before when the same poll showed her up by 33 points.

"We seem to have consistently made inroads,” Obama said referring to the Latino community Friday, according to CBS News.

“Obviously we've got a lot of catching up to do in Texas generally. But we seem to be making progress.”

Friday’s event was the first time Obama has participated in a forum such as this with Hispanic Evangelicals.

During his speech, the Illinois senator emphasized reconciliation between the black and Hispanic community. He addressed the long-held racial divide between blacks and Latinos in America, who are often competitors for government support, low-wage jobs, and affirmative actions, as well as rivals in inner city gangs.

“Whenever I hear folks talk about the ‘brown-black’ divide, I remember my days as a community organizer, when I brought African Americans and Hispanics together to fight a rising drop-out rate in our schools,” Obama recalled. “I remember my days as a civil rights lawyer, when I worked with my Hispanic brothers and sisters to protect our voting rights.

“And I remember May Day 2006, when I marched shoulder-to-shoulder with the Hispanic community to stand up for comprehensive immigration reform.”

He went on to talk about overcoming the divide between Republicans and Democrats and different Christian traditions.

“Whenever I hear folks talk about how we can’t come together as Protestants, Catholics and Jews, believers and non-believers alike, I think about the evangelicals I know who may not agree with progressives on every issue, but agree that poverty has no place in a world of plenty, that hate has no place in the hearts of believers, and that we all have an obligation to be good stewards of God’s creation,” he said.

Obama also shared about his conversion to Christianity as a young man working as a community organizer on the South side of Chicago, and further spoke of being raised in a secular household. His maternal grandparents, who helped raised him, were non-practicing Christians, while his mother was spiritual but not religious. His Kenyan father, who left the family when he was a few years old, was from a Muslim family.

Last month, a Barna survey found that 18 percent of born again likely voters said they would vote for Obama if the general election were held that day. In comparison, Clinton garnered 20 percent of born again likely voters support. Republican candidate Mike Huckabee, a former pastor, received 12 percent support, while no other candidate reached double figures, according to the Barna survey.

Thirty percent of born again likely voters in the early February survey said they are still undecided as to who to support.

But the number of born again Obama supporters may have gone up, given that a recent e-mail from the Obama campaign announced that Obama had won the faith vote by large margins in every primary and caucus so far.

Besides the Brownsville event, Obama also made an impromptu visit to the Texas-Mexico border and a local neighborhood festival.

The democratic primaries in Texas and Ohio will be held Tuesday.

Clubforgrowth: Don't vote McCain!!!

2008-07-02T14:15:00.000-07:00

Clubforgrowth has campaigned actively against Huckabee during the primary season. Their reckless oversimplification of politics looks like hooliganism to me. They don't give any place whatsover to other then economic considerations for their opinions on Huckabee. Time and time again Huckabee has explained his position on these matters. To taint him as a socialist is ludicrous. He is no compassionate conservative, but he is a real Republican. The clubforgrowth seems to think that it hurts Huckabee that they campaign against him. I think they are probably hurting their own image the longer they continue this useless campaign against a man who isn't even running.

The greatness of America and the genius of America

2008-06-30T11:34:00.000-07:00

is not in it's government, it's in its ordinary people!

Peter Wehner attacks Dobson: et tu Brute?

2008-06-29T13:27:00.000-07:00

Peter Wehner, we all remember his shallow and dishonest attack against Huckabee, now turns against Dobson. His way of dealing with Dobson and Huckabee makes clear to me what his objectives are. He wants to be part of the Evangelical world. Dobson is being attacked from all sides and Peter Wehner wants to have part of that cake. He is a strong supporter of the Bush policies. Peter Wehner is looking for power, all he wants. And to get power these days you have to listen which way the wind blows. And Peter Wehner knows very well which way the wind is blowing. And if necessary you have to get rid of some former friends. And while attacking Dobson he slighly adds his view of what Evangelicals should believe.

"There are certainly reasons for evangelicals to have concerns about Obama — based on his extreme views on abortion, judicial nominees, Iraq (his plans for a precipitous withdrawal would probably trigger mass death and perhaps even genocide) and other issues. But critics of Obama have an obligation to provide a fair and honest critique, and the attacks leveled by Dobson fall terribly short of that standard.

If Christian conservatives want to be taken seriously, they need to make serious arguments and speak with intellectual integrity. In this instance, Dobson didn’t. He has set back his cause and made some of us who are evangelicals and conservatives wince."

Peter Wehner still lives in the old world in which the Christian Right had certain shibolleths. That time is over, thanks to Huckabee. Huckabee conceived a dynamic political campaign that was about ideas. We learned on supertuesday that the widows might was more powerfull then all the gold in the world. And that one small stone can strike down a whole lot of armor. Peter Wehner doesn't seem to give the free citizen any place in his political view of the Evangelical.

Evangelical manifesto is bad news for McCain

2008-06-28T12:35:00.000-07:00

This manifesto is a signal to Evangelicals that they don't need to vote McCain in november. The Evangelicals are moving away from Marvin Olasky and his compassionate conservatism. You could read in his articles last year that Olasky wanted to teach Huckabee to be a better compassionate conservative. Pure blindness towards other possiblities and views within the Evangelical and Republican world. The hostility of the Religious Right in general towards Huckabee was the first sign that it was losing control. Ted Strickland, Governor of Ohio, and admirer of Huckabee, witnessed how Huckabee was a vehicle or at least a symptom of this new reality. A reality that will be hard to accept by a lot of people that ever thought compassionate conservatism was worth anything. It's time Evangelicals leave the sinking ship.

Don Scoggins denies "crossing over" to Obama

2008-06-28T05:57:00.000-07:00

I got the following response from Don Scoggins on an earlier post titled: "Don Scoggins, Huckabee supporter votes Obama",FactChecker later responded and added some info on the origin of the article and the credentials of the journalist who run the original article:

Don:

Normally I wouldn't respond to such a fraudulent fabrication. And, at this time I deny any and all quotes attributable to me saying "I would cross over and vote for Obama." Anyone who believes such unverified nonsense coming from an unsourced publication is not too bright and doesn't deserve to participate in our voting process. While admiring Senator Obama's historic achievements I never said I would vote for him. I do find his politics dangerously too liberal.
I am available to speak to anyone personally who cares to further discuss who I plan to support in November, and be reached anytime at 703-565-6771.

Don!

June 18, 2008 8:57 AM

Fact Checker responded the following:

Don!,

Here is the link to the original story by Mr. Bill Johnson, a staff reporter for the Rocky Mountain Times, that appeared in February. http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/06/johnson-this-campaign-inspires-befuddles-black/

Here is a short bio of Mr. Johnson:

Bill Johnson gained most of his journalistic experience on the West Coast as a staff writer, reporter, editor and columnist. He has also been a faculty member of the University of Arizona's Editing Program for Minority Journalists within the Institute for Journalism Education. Johnson won the National Headliner Award's First Place for Columns in 1995 and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for commentary in 1993.

Call Bill at 303-954-2763

Don!, I if contact Mr. Johnson you believe he will really admit he made the entire story up including all your quotes?

Factchecker

Big government, Joseph Farah and neocalvinism

2008-06-21T22:55:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Abraham Kuyper "Calvinism" has a very specific meaning in the context of the "Social Question" at the end of the 19th century and the upcoming revolutionary movements of communism and later national socialism. Within this historic framework neocalvinism is understood as a strong force for democratic development in dutch society.

Let's listen to what Joseph Farah, founder of www.worlnetdaily.com, thinks about the relation between faith and politics in the context of the American presidential primaries:

"Maybe it is the old Baptist preacher in Huckabee that makes him go soft in the knees for government spending programs and illegal aliens.If so, he's not only practicing bad politics – he's practicing bad theology. As Christians, they are confusing the role we as individuals are assigned as followers of Jesus with the role of government. When Jesus tells us to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, He is not suggesting we transfer that personal responsibility to government. He is not suggesting we transfer that responsibility to our neighbors. He is not suggesting, as the old saying goes, we rob Peter to pay Paul.This is a personal, individual responsibility of the believer. It doesn't count if you get someone else to do the job for you. Christians aren't supposed to say, "Gee, this job is too big for me; I better lobby Washington for money. The politicians can tax everyone and turn the whole country into tithers!"

In dutch politics we see the same discussion surfacing regularly. Like the dutch minister of justice Donner, who said that politics cannot be about helping one sheep that has gone astray, rather Christian politics should be about the 99 others.

In my opinion to solve this puzzle you should not see politics as a fight between "big" and "small" governement. The fundamental difference in politics is between "faith" and "unbelief", says Groen van Prinsterer. The great divide in politics surfaces when we invoke the return of the Lord, says Abraham Kuyper in his famous speech "Maranatha".

I agree to a certain extent that most christian politicians today don't operate in the line of Groen van Prinsterer and Kuyper, but that counts just as much for Farah as it counts for those he disagrees with. Kuyper was the antirevolutionary leader who came to power on a wave of support from people who previously didn´t have the right to vote. Abraham Kuyper and his successors like Klaas Schilder had a clear view of the difference between communism and their political method. And they showed their method worked. Just saying Big government is wrong doesn´t get us or anybody anywhere, you have to offer a viable alternative. And that´s what Joseph Farrah doesn´t have.

Big or small government isn't at the core of Kuyper's political method. His method was not based on rich (compassionate conservatives) doing good for the poor (and teaching them morals on the way). His method wasn't either to let government substitue for helping one's neighbour. He formed a political movement around a calvinist identity which allready existed but which he gave a specific new meaning. He used this emphasis on calvinism as a dynamic political weapon against the ruling elite of his time. This same weapon was used by Schilder against national socialism in the 30's and during the nazi occupation of the Netherlands.

Therefore my conclusion remains:

Thanks to Abraham Kuyper "Calvinism" has a very specific meaning in the context of the "Social Question" at the end of the 19th century and the upcoming revolutionary movements of communism and later national socialism. Within this historic framework neocalvinism is understood as a strong force for democratic development in dutch society.

David Beasley for Vice President

2008-06-21T11:37:00.000-07:00

What I find strange is the fact that the name of David Beasley never surfaces when people are looking for a capable man to be Vice President. If you look at his political involvement you will see how he has served the people of his state, and how he chose the right candidate at the right time.

Bush didn't want to hear info from Joseph Wilson?

2008-06-20T11:33:00.000-07:00

Jun 20th, 2008 | WASHINGTON -- Former presidential spokesman Scott McClellan on Friday said President Bush has lost the public's trust by failing to open up about his administration's mistakes and backtracking on a promise to tell all about the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity.

"This White House promised or assured the American people that at some point when this was behind us they would talk publicly about it. And they have refused to," McClellan told the House Judiciary Committee. "And that's why I think more than any other reason we are here today and the suspicion still remains."

The former White House press secretary suggested that Bush could do much to redeem his credibility on the Plame matter and his reasons for going to war in Iraq if he would embrace "openness and candor and then constantly strive to build trust across the aisle."

"This is a very secretive White House," McClellan said. "There's some things that they would prefer not to be talked about."

The White House was dismissive of the event and McClellan himself. Presidential spokesman Tony Fratto disputed McClellan's assertion that that Plame matter concluded with the conviction of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, citing an ongoing lawsuit by Plame and her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, against current and former administration officials.

"The White House has the consistent position that we would refrain from comment while there was ongoing litigation," Fratto said. "Scott must have forgotten the policy he repeatedly stated from the podium."

McClellan cites other examples of Bush's lack of candor, including what he called the "packaging" of intelligence to justify the Iraq war and the president's handling of allegations that many years ago he used cocaine.

In his recently released book, "What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception," McClellan recounts overhearing Bush on the telephone telling a supporter that "I honestly don't remember whether I tried it or not."

McClellan called that kind of response to sensitive questions by Bush and other politicians "essentially evasion."

"That (approach) later transferred over to issues of policy," McClellan said. "It tells something about his character."

Bush's spokesman from 2003-2006, McClellan said that former White House Chief of Staff Andy Card told him that the president and vice president wanted him to publicly say that Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff at the time, was not involved in the leak.

"I was reluctant to do it," McClellan said. "I got on the phone with Scooter Libby and asked him point-blank, 'Were you involved in this in any way?' And he assured me in unequivocal terms that he was not."

In fact, both Libby and former presidential adviser Karl Rove had discussed Plame's identity with reporters. Libby resigned from office the day he was indicted on charges of covering up the leak. Rove remained, eventually leaving office in August 2007. Rove has never been charged in the case.

Plame maintains the White House quietly outed her to reporters as retribution for criticism from her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, of Bush's reasons for going to war in Iraq.

Last July, Bush commuted Libby's 2 1/2-year sentence, sparing him from serving any prison time. "It was special treatment," McClellan said of the commutation.

McClellan told the House Judiciary Committee that he doesn't know if a crime was committed and does not believe that Bush knew about or directed the leak. When asked about Cheney, he replied: "I do not know. There's a lot of suspicion there."

Bush backtracked on his promise of accountability in the Plame matter, McClellan said.

The White House had said in 2003 that anyone who leaked classified information in the case would be dismissed. Bush reiterated that promise in June 2004.

By July 2005, Bush qualified his position, saying he would fire anyone for leaking classified information if that person had "committed a crime." He then commuted Libby's sentence.

McClellan said the White House helped the Justice Department investigate the leak, but he knew of no internal White House probe to ferret out and fire the leaker.

"I certainly think that the president should have stuck by his word on the matter, and I certainly view the commutation as it was special treatment," McClellan said. "It does undermine our system of justice."

Republicans cast his testimony as old news. Ranking Republican Lamar Smith of Texas questioned the impartiality of McClellan's publisher and said that whatever McClellan had been instructed to say about the Plame affair was typical work of the White House press office.

"It should be of no surprise that there was spin in the White House Press Office," said Smith. "What White House has not had a communications operation that advocates for its policies? Any recent administration that did not try to promote its priorities should be cited for dereliction of duty."

Republicans Abroad for Obama!!

2008-06-19T10:29:00.000-07:00

Bush and his wrong assessment of the situation in Iraq, his lies against the representatives of the american people deserve a strong message of all citizens in november!!! We all remember how Rice and Wehner turned ugly against Huckabee when he he wrote a insightfull analysis of the Bush foreign policy. WE WONT FORGET!!!!

Republicans can vote for Obama, yes we can!

2008-06-17T14:26:00.000-07:00

We can do anything, we ought to do it!!!!

Trias Politica

2008-06-14T14:51:00.000-07:00

An important reason why I and many other Americans Abroad will never support McCain. He doesn't seem to get the principle on which the US is founded. Separation of powers. The President should execute swiftly the rulings of the Supreme Court or otherwise be impeached. That is what's up. And all those people calling themselves Republicans and supporting these kind of candidates that want to deny immigrants the basic human rights and detain them because they are "bad" people, should have never even be elected to serve as representatives of the people in the first place. The shallowness of the arguments put forward in this case by Bush, Rice and Mccain is staggering and is a bigger threat to the Nation then any foreigner. The hunt for terrorist seems to get some sort of allmost religious ferver to it. If you read the the Qoran you will notice that it is actually very close to non-christian western thought. It denies that Christ is the fullfillment of the Old Testament. It denies that there has to be fulfillment of the prophesies of the old testament. That's all that is to it. It looks a lot like a secularized religion that america today.

McCain Criticizes Supreme Court's Guantanamo Detainee Ruling

By Nadine Elsibai and Hans Nichols

June 14 (Bloomberg) -- Arizona Senator John McCain condemned the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to allow detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, access to federal courts.

``These are people who are not citizens; they do not and never have been given the rights that citizens of this country have,'' McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, said at a town hall meeting in Pemberton, New Jersey, yesterday. ``There are some bad people down there.''

McCain, a former Vietnam prisoner of war, has said the U.S. mustn't torture captured terrorist suspects and has repeatedly called for a closing of the Guantanamo detention facility. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Illinois Senator Barack Obama, has also said he would close it.

McCain called the court's 5-4 ruling ``one of the worst decisions in the history of this country,'' warning that the court system would be clogged with petitions from the 270 inmates. He suggested that many inmates still present a threat.

``Thirty of the people who have already been released from Guantanamo Bay have already tried to attack America again,'' said McCain, 71.

The court June 12 invalidated a 2006 law, backed by McCain, which stripped Guantanamo Bay inmates of the right to file so- called habeas corpus petitions in U.S. courts. The court's majority opinion, in a rebuke to the Bush administration and Congress, held that inmates at Camp Delta in Guantanamo Bay are protected by the Constitution and may seek release in federal court.

The Bush administration will ``abide by the court's decision,'' the president said following the ruling, during a news conference in Rome. ``That doesn't mean I have to agree with it.''

Impact on Independents

McCain's alignment on the ruling with the Republican Bush administration may be a disappointment to some of his independent supporters, whose votes he needs in the November presidential election.

Obama, 46, praised the Supreme Court's decision the day of the ruling as a ``rejection of the administration's attempt to create a legal black hole at Guantanamo.''

Marseille

2008-06-10T13:54:00.001-07:00

Huckabee's campaign had a great jazz to it

2008-06-08T01:50:00.000-07:00

Tim Kaine for Vice President

2008-06-07T16:13:00.000-07:00

Tim Kaine has great experience and endorsed Obama in february 2007. Obama won his campaign in the Potomac primaries, and that was Virginia. A great choice for Huckabee supporters.

Obama, ambassador for democratic development

2008-06-07T08:22:00.000-07:00

Hillary's campaign attacked Obama for being sexist. That was an insult to the intellect of every American. She herself put up signs at her rallieghs that read "go back to the kitchen".

And the way she uses the term "working class americans" is allmost a different way from saying "non-black middle class". Does that mean that the other half of the electorat was not working? Fact is that she didnt have a message at all. Why would anyone vote for her? The Clinton Democrats and their machine tried to run over the Obama grassroots campaign.

Something you won't see in dutch politics. Wouter Bos, dutch vice-president lashed out against immigrant representatives as incompentent after the 2006 municipal elections. And that pattern is seen all over Europe. For instance in Paris and Marseille you won't see many immigrant representatives. The party machines make sure they won't get very far. Allthough half of the population is immigrant. Great "democratic" parties I would say.