Posted by
Sgt.Stryker on Monday, June 08, 2009 5:08:17 AM
It's been an eventful weekend-it appears democracy is on the march once again, our fearless leader's actions notwithstanding. Witness:
From
Reuters-
"U.S. allies hand Lebanon's Hezbollah election blow"
"The outcome was a blow to Syria and Iran, which support Hezbollah, and welcome news for the United States, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, which backs the "March 14" bloc, named after the date of a huge rally against Syria's military presence in 2005."
"INSTANT VIEW: Centre-right wins European assembly vote"
"The most striking feature of the election results, and I'm speaking, of course, as of now, is the fact that the center-left parties across Europe, the Social Democrats and Socialists have not been able to give a plausible answer, political answer, to the economic crisis.
"We haven't seen ... a far-right wave washing across the European continent. That has not happened."
Pakistanis rise against Taliban after mosque blast
"More than a thousand armed tribesman seeking revenge for a mosque attack surrounded two Taliban strongholds and destroyed the homes of Taliban fighters — including some commanders — in Pakistan's northwest"
"military officials say that as they've proceeded with the operation in Swat, local residents who have remained in the region have grown increasingly cooperative, providing tips on militants' hide-outs and more."
And some potentially good news from Iran, via the
LA Times-
"In Iran, disparate, powerful forces ally against Ahmadinejad"
"We can't run Iran like North Korea," said Saeed Laylaz, a newspaper editor and analyst with contacts among the political elite. "A group of militarists cannot stuff this civilization into a can and put it away. Iran cannot make up for its lack of economic might with nuclear technology, missiles and proxy threats in Lebanon and Palestine and elsewhere."
Meanwhile, The Chi-coms have decided to add
web-censoring software to all new PCs sold their effective July1. Ostensibly used to block porn, there are quite a few not-so-pornographic sites currently blocked, including Amnesty International and the new search engine Bing.
Not to be outdone, their wards the NoKos have
banned ships from their northeast coast, signaling another possible missile test. It's anyone's guess how this will play out, although Hillary has
threatened to put them back on the list of state sponsors of terrorism. I have a funny feeling they are not too concerned. Bombs away.
I'm trying to regain some optimism, but it looks like every day is 2 steps forward, 3 steps back. I'll take the green shoots of growing democracy and liberty where I can find them. Baby steps...