Egypt’s Historic Vote is Underway!

At long last, voting is underway in Egypt!!! Citizens queued from early hours to vote for the first president since overthrowing Hosni Mubarak in February 2011. It’s been a tumultuous road to get to this day, but even from thousands of miles away I can sense the excitement of my Egyptian friends and family, many of whom voted today for the first time in their lives. I happen to be a junkie of political cartoons and have been collecting many along the way to Election Day.

Here are a couple I wanted to share. (I will be writing an editorial on the election in a few days when we have a better indication of how the people voted).

Which one is your favorite?!! (I think the one of Obama is my favorite!)

 

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood Woos Washington

Look who’s visiting Washington!!

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood Woos Washington

By Vivian Salama

The Daily Beast

Click here for original story

There was once a time when U.S. officials shunned Arab Islamist parties, frowned on their election victories, and denied them U.S. visas. But times are changing.

Delegates from Egypt’s Freedom and Justice Party, a group affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood, are in   Washington for their first official visit since Hosni Mubarak was toppled last year. Only days after announcing their party’s candidate in the first presidential election since the revolution, the visiting delegates have met with members of Congress and White House officials and held public discussions at Georgetown University and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Outlawed under the Mubarak regime, members of the Muslim Brotherhood and more hard-line Salafist parties have emerged, not surprisingly, as a powerful force in the Egyptian elections, thwarting the secular groups that are believed to have been the drivers of last year’s revolution. As a group that founded itself on the principles of grassroots activism, the Muslim Brotherhood has long resonated with the people of Egypt, where at many as 30 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, according to the United Nations.

The delegates sent to Washington were all articulate English speakers, two of whom hold doctorates from U.S. institutions. They were non-evasive, answering impassioned questions from the Georgetown audience about religious persecution and Sharia law. The message was not specifically linked to Islam. They did not criticize—or even mention—Israel. They stressed that Egypt is open for business and encouraged free trade and foreign direct investment. (more…)

“The Protester”: A Photo Journal of the Egyptian Revolution

Thanks to TIME Magazine for recognizing the revolutionaries all over the world… I’ve been meaning to write this for quite some time but only finding the chance to do it now.

A year ago when Mohammed Bouazizi, a fruit vendor in Tunisia, burned himself out of frustration from a political system that neglected him, I was en route to Beirut ahead of the Christmas holiday and writing, mainly, about the credit crunch in the Arab Gulf states and mounting concerns that the banking system would not soon recover from the blow. Days after I returned from Beirut, my host, Rania Abouzeid, came to stay with me in Dubai in a desperate attempt to fly to Tunisia, where flights were almost entirely grounded amid an uprising across the country. It was hard to imagine then that the desperate act of this young man not only set in motion a revolution in his country, but around across the region.

Jan. 27, 2011: me and Rania Abouzeid heading to Cairo (at 3am -- ughhh!!!)

On January 14, 2011, following a month of violent protests against his rule, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali – Tunisia’s president since 1987 — was forced to flee to Saudi Arabia along with his wife and their three children.  A week later, Rania and I were on a flight to Cairo where calls for a revolution had begun to circulate on social media websites. They were days I will never forget, and with TIME Magazine’s 2011 Person of the Year issue being dedicated this year to The Protester, I want to share with you all a few memories and photos of the protesters I met in Cairo this year. (Click here to read some of my stories on the Arab Spring)

On January 27, two days after the protests officially begun, Internet and mobile phone service was completely cut off in Egypt and we were left guessing where crowds were gathering. After trying a few spots around town, Rania and I decided to go toward the Mohendiseen neighborhood near the Moustafa Mahmoud mosque. It was a good guess! About 500 protesters had gathered after Friday prayers where they came face to face with riot police chanting slogans like “The people want the end of the regime” and “Hosni Mubarak: illegitimate.”

We began to march, with the intention of going toward Tahrir Square. (Rania and I were quickly separated in the crowd and were each forced to continue reporting on our own). Weaving through side streets and alleys in the Cairo neighborhood, people watched us from balconies, throwing bottles of water, garlic and onions, and bottles of vinegar – all simply remedies for tear gas inhalation, because everyone knew what lie ahead.  The longer we marched, the more the crowd swelled, with protesters called on those people in their homes not to be afraid.

Cairo, January 27, 2011/Photo by Vivian Salama

Cairo, January 27, 2011/Photo by Vivian Salama

Jan 27: Protesters Near Moustafa Mahmoud Mosque/Photo by Vivian SalamaS

Sure enough, we were quickly confronted by tanks and soldiers firing tear gas at the crowd. I’ve never seen so much camaraderie in my life. Soldiers at a nearby military hospital threw medical masks at the protesters and pharmacists handed them out to the crowds. At one point I felt quite ill from the tear gas. A man approached from behind me and pressed a vinegar-covered mask against my mouth and nose. A nearby vendor (who probably struggles to feed his own family with the pennies he earns) emptied his refrigerator, handing out water bottles and cans of soda to the fatigued protesters.

Every where I looked, people were helping each other, helping strangers tie their masks, sharing water bottles, aiding those who were most affected by the gas.

There was one point, marching with the crowd from Mohendiseen, when we approached a major intersection and I heard roaring cheers. I jumped up on a car to see what had happened and was personally overcome by emotion. From three different directions, massive groups of protesters were approaching the intersection – the other groups coming from as far as Giza and the Nasr City. They did this without Internet or mobile phones.

Cairo, January 27, 2011/Photo by Vivian Salama

Groups of young men pushed to the front of the crowd and began to battle riot police, taking over their vehicles and chasing them away. Our group, now numbered in the hundreds of thousands, pushed slowly across the historic Qasr El Nil bridge in an attempt to move into Tahrir. There were moments when I worried that an attack by the military would trigger a stampede – we were stuffed tightly onto the bridge. But every time protesters began to push back, the young men in the crowd would grab the women in the crowd and push them against the bridge railing so to protect them from being knocked down.

Some were more prepared than others!! Cairo Jan. 27, 2011/Photo by Vivian Salama

It was a long night with protesters burning the ruling National Democratic Party headquarters and battling with soldiers in Tahrir. Riot police trucks were set on fire (and the Semiramis Hotel, where many journalists took refuge) was partially on fire for part of the evening. I was trapped in Tahrir for the night and forced to take a last minute room at the Semiramis. I woke up early the next morning to a different Cairo, where charred military tanks stood in the middle of Tahrir Square and smoke billowed from the NDP headquarters and, sadly, from the adjacent National Museum. It would take another two weeks (only!) to overthrow Hosni Mubarak but that first Friday was by far the most memorable. There is an Arabic expression that often refers to the Egyptian people as being “light blooded” (light hearted/good senses of humor). They definitely showed their spirit throughout the frustrating 19 days (and 30 years) it took to shake up their political system.

Tahrir Square, January 28, 2011/Photo by Vivian Salama

Tahrir Square, January 28, 2011/Photo by Vivian Salama

me in Tahrir (late January 2011)

I visited Bahrain in the weeks that followed and I spent a lot of time covering the uprisings in Yemen and, less so, the ongoing crisis in Syria. After years of battling misguided stereotypes of terrorism and violence, these protesters have showed the world that they desire freedom and a decent standard of living and they have the right to demand it just as those in Europe and the US demand of their governments.

The Tunisians, Egyptians and all the other citizens around the world fighting for democracy have a very long and bumpy road ahead.  The TIME Magazine Person of the Year issue questions whether there is a global tipping point for frustration. I believe what happened this year is, in large part, because of overpopulation and because of the global economic slowdown touched societies rich and poor – but toppled those that were already on the brink before markets crash. The world is smaller than ever thanks to the Internet and various technologies that allow us to share experiences with people on opposite corners of the world. As we continue to get closer, and the world, smaller, it will become impossible to distance ourselves from even the most seemingly remote events.

Cairo, January 27, 2011/Photo by Vivian Salama

Al-Qaeda’s American-Born Agent Al-Awlaki Killed in Yemen

The bad guys are dropping like flies this year…!!

By Mohammed Hatem and Vivian Salama

Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) — Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born Islamic cleric who masterminded the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound airplane in 2009 with explosives hidden in underwear, has been killed in Yemen, the Defense Ministry said.

A U.S. government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed al-Awlaki’s death. Al-Awlaki was targeted and killed 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the town of Khashef in the province of Jawf, the Yemeni foreign press office said in an e-mailed statement today. Intelligence services say he inspired a shooting rampage that killed 13 people last year at an army base in Fort Hood, Texas.

Al-Awlaki is identified by the Office of Foreign Assets Control list of “specially designated nationals” as a 40-year- old native of Las Cruces, New Mexico, with dual U.S. and Yemeni citizenship. Last year, President Barack Obama approved an order making him the first American ever to be placed on the Central Intelligence Agency’s hit list.

“He is an excellent role model for what al-Qaeda wants its recruits to be in terms of English language, having exposure to the United States or the West, and adhering to the doctrine of al-Qaeda,” said Theodore Karasik, director of research at the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis.

Yemen’s government is under considerable strain following almost nine months of anti-government protests aimed at toppling President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Karasik said.

‘International Fame’

Al-Awlaki reportedly survived an attack by a U.S. drone in Yemen in May, according to Arabiya television, which cited a member of his tribe. He was an avid blogger and used the Internet to communicate with followers around the world, something that “propelled him to international fame,” IHS Global Insight analysts Gala Riani and Jeremy Binnie said today.

Obama, speaking at the start of a swearing-in ceremony for the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army General Martin Dempsey, in Fort Meyer, Virginia, called al-Awlaki’s death a “major blow” against al-Qaeda that “marks another significant milestone in the effort to defeat al-Qaeda and its affiliates.”

U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague said in an e-mailed statement that countries must “keep up the pressure on Al-Qaeda and its allies and remain vigilant to the threat we face.”

Boost for Obama

Al-Awlaki’s death follows that of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, killed on May 2 in a U.S. raid on an Islamabad, Pakistan suburb.

“If an unmanned vehicle killed the militant, it will have offered an immediate return on Obama’s recent decision to increase the use of UAV’s in Yemen,” Riani and Binnie wrote in an e-mailed report. “These foreign and security credentials are likely to boost Obama’s bid of re-election next year.”

Pakistani-American Samir Khan, an al-Qaeda militant living in Yemen, died in the same attack that killed al-Awlaki, Yemeni state-run Saba news agency reported, citing an unidentified security official.

Yemen, bin Laden’s ancestral home, was the site of a 2000 attack on the USS Cole that killed 17 U.S. sailors. Since the start of anti-government protests inspired by uprisings that toppled the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia this year, concerns about the deterioration of security in Yemen have grown. Former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in April that he saw Saleh’s possible fall as a “real problem.”

Al-Qaeda Offshoots

In the decade since the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S. that killed almost 3,000 people at the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon just outside Washington and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, al-Qaeda offshoots have sprung up around the Islamic world, from the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa to Iraq and the Arabian peninsula.

An Obama administration official said al-Awlaki directed Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who is accused of trying to blow up a U.S. jetliner in December 2009 with explosives hidden in his underpants. Al-Awlaki instructed Abdulmutallab to detonate the device over U.S. airspace to maximize casualties, the official said. He also sought to use weapons of mass destruction, including cyanide and ricin, to attack Westerners, the U.S. official said.

The threat posed by al-Qaeda’s Yemen branch was further highlighted last October when two parcel bombs sent from the country to U.S. synagogues were seized in the U.K. and Dubai. The bombing attempts, in which devices were concealed in printer cartridges, prompted the U.S. and European countries to bar flights or cargo from Yemen.

Body Bombs

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the Yemen-based group, has been examining how to develop body bombs stitched into a terrorist’s belly, breasts or buttocks, Seth Jones, a senior political scientist for the RAND Corp., a Santa Monica, California-based policy research organization, said in a July 18 interview.

Yemen, which gets about $300 million a year in security and humanitarian assistance from the U.S., stepped up operations against al-Qaeda after the parcel-bomb attempts, including air strikes targeting the group’s camps. Military aid to Yemen includes Huey helicopters, Hummer vehicles and night-vision goggles, the Pentagon said in August 2010.

Given al-Awlaki’s popularity, revenge attacks may be carried out in the U.S. and Yemen, IHS analysts Riani and Binnie wrote. “His death will likely be considered a victory for both governments,” they said.

–With assistance from Massoud A. Derhally in Beirut, Lebanon, and Margaret Talev and Roger Runningen in Washington. Editors: Jennifer M. Freedman, Karl Maier

U.S. Joins Egyptian Protesters in Criticizing Suleiman’s Offers

By Alaa Shahine, Vivian Salama and Maram Mazen

Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) — Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman said negotiations he has opened with opposition movements are the only alternative to the “chaos” of regime change, as the government’s limited concessions drew criticism from protesters and the Obama administration.

Omar Suleiman

“There will be no overthrow of the regime because this will lead to chaos, which will take the country into the unknown,” Suleiman told local media chiefs yesterday, the official Middle East News Agency reported. The talks that began this week, involving the Muslim Brotherhood and other groups, “are the first way to achieve stability in the country and to get out of the current crisis peacefully.”

In Washington, the Obama administration echoed the criticism of the protesters that Suleiman isn’t responding quickly enough. The Egyptian government has yet to reach the “minimum threshold” of accomodating demands of the country’s citizens, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said. Egyptian authorities must make “immediate and irreversible progress” toward a transition of power and expand the scope of negotiations, Gibbs said at today’s briefing.

Tens of thousands filled Cairo’s Tahrir Square yesterday in what may have been the largest turnout in two weeks of protests. Today’s was smaller. Another major gathering is scheduled for Feb. 11, dubbed by protesters as a “Friday of Defiance.” (click here to read more….)

–With assistance from Mariam Fam in Cairo, Gregory Viscusi in Paris and Thomas Penny in London. Editors: Terry Atlas, Steven Komarow

Pakistan ushers in new political era with caution

Vivian Salama

LAHORE – There is little fanfare amongst many Pakistanis this week as they watch America prepare to usher in a new era of professed hope and change. 

On Lahore’s main platform for political expression, known here as the Mall, dozens of banners were erected this week reading “America and Israel: dogs of hell.” Protestors marched through Pakistan’s cultural capital yesterday calling on Barack Obama to put an end to policies that stifle the Muslim world.

“Israelis are killing us in Gaza, and Americans killing us in Iraq and Afghanistan and Indians are killing us in Kashmir so we have the right to explain our part,” shouted Fayez Khuraz, an Islamic preacher who joined hundreds of others in protest.  “If Barack Obama is an human being, he will bring an end to these policies that make the Muslim people suffer.”

Many in Pakistan say there is great cause for concern as the Washington transition period nears its end.  Since the early days of the US election campaign, the now-President Barack Obama said that he would not sit quietly and allow Pakistan to serve as a sanctuary for Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants fleeing US forces in Afghanistan. 

Since August 2008, the tribal border between Pakistan and Afghanistan has been the target of repeated air strikes as US forces look to weed out radical Islamists from the lawless mountain region. Pakistani officials have insisted that the attacks are not only unwarranted, but can compromise its domestic security. 

“I think [the Americans] in Afghanistan have made the situation worse for Pakistan,” said Rasul Bakhsh Rais, head of the Department of Social Sciences at the Lahore University of Management and Economic Research.

In recent weeks, one of Pakistan’s most scenic tourist cities, the Swat Valley in the Eastern region, has been the scene of a deadly Taliban take over.  Last week, Taliban insurgents forced the closure of all girls’ schools in Swat, forcing at least 50,000 young girls to stay home.  Pakistan’s military has staged an attack on the militants, causing many civilians casualties and a heightened state of alert across the country.

Many US officials maintain that Pakistan’s Inter-services Intelligence (ISI) continues to aid Taliban forces in Afghanistan and the US must therefore have more direct involvement in the fight against extremism on both sides of the border.  However, analysts in Pakistan believe that no one can deal with Pakistan’s militancy problems better than Pakistan.

“We have that capability we can handle the situation on the borders but when you continue pushing these militants inland, it harms our country,” added Rais. “Pakistan’s future security is very much linked to the war in Afghanistan and the larger issue of peace and stability in the region, so we think Obama will be a better president if he rethinks the two wars and pulls troops out.”

Pakistanis are equally concerned that lawmakers chosen to be part of Barack Obama’s administration have closer ties with India and may, as a result, fail at brokering any neutral diplomacy.  Relations between the formerly-united South Asian nations have been particularly icy in recent weeks after assailants in the deadly siege on Mumbai last November were suspected of having links to Pakistan.

Earlier this month, India’s foreign secretary, Shiv Shankar Menon, said that investigators had found evidence that ties the gunmen who carried out the attacks to “elements in Pakistan” and added that Islamabad was obliged to extradite those responsible.    Washington has urged Islamabad for full cooperation.

“There are two powers that run Pakistan – the army and America, so whatever happens in America affects Pakistan indirectly,” explained Danish Altaf Mufti, a student at the Lahore School of Economics.  “America would definitely want good relations with India but it should try to keep it in check if it wants balance of power in the region.”

Beyond tensions on the country’s Eastern and Western borders, many Pakistanis say they are eager to see a general upheaval of American foreign policy as it relates to the Muslim world.  From Karachi to Rawalpindi, Pakistanis have been voicing their distress over the violence unfolding in Gaza and calling upon the West to take drastic measures to bring an end to the fighting.

“A very important thing is how he handles the Palestine conflict because every Muslim has been hurt by this,” said Mufti. “I know it is transition phase and he has to be careful with his words, but if he is afraid of the Israel lobby then we will not see the real change that people are talking about.”

Open Letter to President-Elect Obama from the Political Council for the Iraqi Resistance

This is an interesting letter from the Political Council for the Iraqi Resistance, an Iraqi insurgent “political” coalition comprising of six major Sunni militant groups.  

It has been interesting to track the various online responses by militant groups to the elections and it is something I will be looking at quite closely in the coming weeks. 

—–

An Open Letter: To Barak Obama the new president of the United States of America 

We should put in front of you some points for the new American administration to benefit from and to use to avoid the mistakes that the old administration fell into: 

I- The reason why you won the presidency is not because the Americans suddenly found out that they should not be racist, it is because of the many mistakes that the Bush administration fell under which didn’t leave for the American citizen any room, not even for a second to think about keeping that administration and the least proof for this is the large numbers of votes against them. 

II- Your campaign promises were built on change and the time for it has come, and we say with that the time has come- the destruction that the previous administration caused for our country from killings, displacement, civil war and racism- has damaged your reputation as American people and it damaged elements of a nation that did not attack you by your own recognition and therefore we ask for change and do not listen to those who tell you that a withdrawal from Iraq is a defeat. We say to you that a withdrawal will mean a triumph of reason and logic. 

III- The vast number of people who have voted for you means that you can take your actions with courage. The disarray of those before you hurt the American people before anyone else, Allah swt has told us in his righteous book that he created man to get to know each other not for one to kill the other O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise (each other). Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And Allah has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things). 

IV- We are a country known for its courage and generosity and our good treatment to strangers. Whoever is good to us we are good to him more than he is good to us, and whoever attacks us he will find from us no mercy, so what do you think we will do to an invader who tampered with our religion and our country, its destiny, security and unity? 

V- To surround our countries security by making agreements with others around us to accomplish your interests and their interests at the expense of the interests of our people will have serious consequences. It is up to you not to try this and not to solve your problems with others at our expense and you should understand this. 

VI- We will be flexible in dealing with your withdrawal but it must not be as part of a security deal with parties that are traitors or a made up government. You must correct your mistakes and work with courage to pay compensation to all those who you have destroyed, their families or their house or their psychology. And you must release all those you have as prisoners until the last Iraqi of them, and you must order the sectarian government to release all its prisoners and to return the balance of security to Iraq. Without this we will not think that you will be coming with the change that you have promised, and if you do this you will be written down in history as the courageous one. 

And finally we in the resistance are staying on our promise to liberate our country and we will not tear from this, the history of our grandparents is the best witness and we will be the best next of kin to that kin in protecting the sanctity of our nation

– PCIR

…And Now, Time to Fix the Domestic Economy

by Vivian Salama

PostGlobal – WashingtonPost.com

 

The last sip of celebratory champagne is now gone, and so, without a moment’s delay, it is imperative for President-elect Barack Obama to assemble a strong strategic transitional team that can work to heal the wounds of a disillusioned America. A carefully selected team must coordinate with the Bush administration in ensuring a smooth and effective handover. Traditionally the President-elect has stayed out of the spotlight in the two-and-a-half months prior to his inauguration. However, in the words of Senator Hillary Clinton, never have we had as “lame duck” a president as George W. Bush.

President-elect Obama was the clear choice for triggering the shockwave needed at a time when America has few friends abroad and domestic confidence in government is at an all-time low. While people around the world continue to celebrate the clear and momentous significance the victory of Barack Obama signifies in our world’s history, we mustn’t forget that there is a crisis at hand that catchy slogans and smooth-talking rhetoric can not and will not solve. His administration should act quickly in order to capitalize on the momentum of this historic victory.

Where I sit in Dubai, the excitement surrounding a Barack Obama victory is palpable — and the same holds true for the entire region. This election meant so much to so many people around the world for several reasons. People in much of the Middle East have lived the last eight years fearful that one wrong word could bring American warplanes calling.

However, confident markets like Dubai’s and bullish markets like that of Egypt found themselves in a nosedive with news that Wall Street was losing steam. Repairing America’s reputation globally must start with an immediate — and non-partisan — fix to the domestic economy. A distracted and bitterly divided Washington ignored several issues surrounding Congress’s $700 billion bailout package. Financial institutions receiving government support are suspected, in some cases, of having used the capital for other purposes. If the government is going to alter its role by nationalizing banks, then those banks should be susceptible to a stringent checks and balances system. President-elect Obama has not a moment to spare if he and his administration, wish to avoid catastrophe and earn the trust and respect of Americans, their colleagues in Washington, and citizens of the world.

He must also consider certain long-overdue ways of trimming costs, such as closing Guantanamo Bay and cutbacks of any and all unnecessary expenditures in Iraq and Afghanistan (so long as they do not compromise the security of American troops or the inhabitants of both countries).

The elections are over — now it is time to get to work.

It may sound cliché to link this historic event to the American dream — but then, many called the candidacy of the junior senator from Illinois just that; a dream and nothing more. As an American-born child of immigrants, I have seen marginalization, and I have felt cynical that the country to which my parents have given so much would not give back in the same way. The last eight years have been tainted by disappointment, fear and disenfranchisement. It is time for change in the most radical of ways. Many believe that if Obama can win the presidency, then anything is possible. Barack Obama has captured the support and admiration of millions around the world. The hard part now is deciding how to maintain it. The road to financial recovery is one that is long and grueling. However, if he can pave it smoothly and quickly, I reckon that people around the world will readily follow. 

Obama Wins the Race for President

It is early in Dubai as I sit here watching celebrations around the world with the announcement of Barack Obama’s victory.  Regardless of their political views, I hope people recognize the significance of this win.  My generation and those that follow have every reason to believe that America is as much theirs as anybody else’s, and never as much as today.  In an America where a black man can be elected into office just half a century after some of the most horrendous acts of discrimination and hate took place, anyone can achieve anything with hope and commitment.  I have spent most of the last 5 years living in the Middle East and have all too often had to explain myself for America’s faults.  For the first time n a long time, I am feeling a lot of pride.  Anything is possible.

WOW.

Added on 11/5/08:

I heard this on the radio this morning and thought it was really lovely:

“Rosa sat so Martin could walk… 

Martin walked, so Obama could run… 

Obama is running so our children can fly!”

Wake Up, America!

I was reading a really interesting op-ed by Frank Rich in the New York Times today called the McCain and Palin Shotgun Wedding.  In it, he discusses McCain’s tendency to advocate party reforms but his failure to actually lead them.  He also legitimately questions the identity of Sarah Palin who appeared out of thin air some two weeks ago becoming an overnight sensation despite having proved herself far less than Obama, a point of major contention amongst the Republicans.  Given that McCain is edging slightly ahead in the polls (to my shock and dismay), and given that he is 72 years old and has a history of illnesses, there is a fair chance that this mystery woman could become president…. How can America let this happen?  She’s set on drilling everything in sight (including her own home state); she believes that the government — and not the individual — should decide on the fate of American pregnancies; and she and her party do not support universal health care — something every democracy but America supports.  I won’t even begin to discuss the audacity of the Republican views on gun control (or lack there of).  WAKE UP AMERICA!!!! The country is in a major crisis!!!  The economy is tanking and our troops are dying…. we MUST make a change before it is too late!!!!  

Frank Rich’s column references some inaccurate references about Obama made by McCain during his RNC speech last week.  I think they are important and thought I’d post them below.  I hope you will all share your thoughts on the elections in the coming weeks!

 

FactChecking McCain

September 5, 2008

He made some flubs in accepting the nomination.

Summary

We checked the accuracy of McCain’s speech accepting the Republican nomination and noted the following:
 

• McCain claimed that Obama’s health care plan would “force small businesses to cut jobs” and would put “a bureaucrat … between you and your doctor.” In fact, the plan exempts small businesses, and those who have insurance now could keep the coverage they have. 

• McCain attacked Obama for voting for “corporate welfare” for oil companies. In fact, the bill Obama voted for raised taxes on oil companies by $300 million over 11 years while providing $5.8 billion in subsidies for renewable energy, energy efficiency and alternative fuels.
  

   

• McCain said oil imports send “$700 billion a year to countries that don’t like us very much.” But the U.S. is on track to import a total of only $536 billion worth of oil at current prices, and close to a third of that comes from Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom. 

• He promised to increase use of “wind, tide [and] solar” energy, though his actual energy plan contains no new money for renewable energy. He has said elsewhere that renewable sources won’t produce as much as people think. 

• He called for “reducing government spending and getting rid of failed programs,” but as in the past failed to cite a single program that he would eliminate or reduce. 

• He said Obama would “close” markets to trade. In fact, Obama, though he once said he wanted to “renegotiate” the North American Free Trade Agreement, now says he simply wants to try to strengthen environmental and labor provisions in it.