Tag: interview

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Jordan’s Queen Rania Slams The West Over “Glaring Double Standard” Regarding Israel-Palestine Conflict

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In an interview with CNN’s Christian Amanpour( 10/24/23), Jordan’s Queen Rania Al Abdullah took issue with the way the West (read United States) has handled the Israel-Palestine conflict, after the terrorist attacks by Hamas on 10/07/23. Queen Rania, who is of Palestinian descent, slammed the West over what she called a “glaring double standard” in the way they treat Israel vis a vis Palestine.

Queen Rania specifically said: “The people all around the Middle-East, including in Jordan, we are just shocked and disappointed by the world’s reaction to this catastrophe that is unfolding. In the last couple of weeks we have seen a glaring double standard in the world. When October 7th happened, the world immediately and unequivocally stood by Israel and…condemned the attacks that happened. But what we’re seeing the last couple of weeks, we are seeing silence in the world. Countries have stopped expressing concern, or acknowledging the casualties, but always with the preface of declaration of support for Israel. Are we being told that it is wrong to kill an entire family at gunpoint, but it’s okay to shell them to death? I mean there is a glaring double standard here, and it is just shocking to the Arab world. This is the first time in modern history that there is such human suffering, and the world is not even calling for a ceasefire, so the silence is deafening, and to many in our region, it makes the Western world complicit…Many in the Arab world are looking at the Western world as not just tolerating this, but as aiding and abetting it…and this is just horrendous, and deeply deeply disappointing to all of us.”

There is no other way to interpret Queen Rania’s remarks other than, she is calling for cessation of hostilities by both sides (Hamas and Israel) so that the world can focus on the humanitarian conditions of the desperate millions of people trapped in Gaza. It is a concern shared by many, including Yours Truly, who reflexively side with Israel. Simply put, every reasonable person wants the eradication of the terrorist group Hamas from the region. Let’s however do it in a way that does not also wipe away millions of innocent Palestinians.

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Green Party Presidential Candidate Cornel West Addresses “Spoiler” Charge

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U.S. presidential candidate Cornel West (Green Party) appeared on CNN’s The Source show (07/13/23) where he among other things, addressed the charge that he’s playing the role of “spoiler” for incumbent President Joe Biden in the upcoming 2024 election. You’ll remember back in 2016, Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein was blamed for helping Republican Donald Trump eke out wins in the key battleground states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, thus securing enough electoral votes to win the presidency. Coincidentally, the same Jill Stein is now Cornel West’s campaign manager, as former President Trump appears poised to be Biden’s Republican challenger in 2024.

Asked by host Kaitlan Collins about the spoiler charge, and the fact that Jill Stein, who many blame for sinking Hillary in 2024 is his campaign manager, West dismissed the charge, adding(2:50): “The Democratic Party is so unsocratic, as well as undemocratic…Examine yourself. Examine why it is, you did not speak to the issues of poor and working people, and therefore you lost. If you’d rather lose than change and examine yourself, then you’re going to have third parties popping out all over the place because people are suffering out here.”

Asked whether he plans to endorse President Biden if the presidential race gets too tight, Cornel West gave quite an interesting response–the kind you’d expect from a seasoned intellectual like him. He said both Trump and Biden are bad choices for the presidency because Trump is leading us towards a second civil war, and Biden is leading us towards a third world war (an obvious reference to Biden’s pro-Ukraine stance).

It remains to be seen what effect Cornel West’s presidential run will have on President Biden’s reelection prospects. Will West cost Biden the White House in 2024 like Jill Stein cost Hillary Clinton in 2016? Only time will tell. What’s impossible to ignore however is the Trump-Jill Stein nexus when it comes to U.S. presidential elections, especially given the fact that they are both very friendly with Russia’s dictator Vladimir Putin, an avowed U.S. foe. This image of Jill Stein dining with Putin and other Kremlin officials, formed the basis of the allegations that she was a spoiler candidate in 2016.

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Senator Chris Murphy Wants U.S. Led Probe Into Shireen Abu Akleh’s Death

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Senator Chris Murphy(D-CT) appeared on MSNBC Prime(07/13/22) to discuss President Biden’s trip to the Middle East, and especially his trip to Saudi Arabia which has drawn condemnation, given Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s implication in Washington Post Columnist Jamal Khashoggi’s brutal murder. During his interview , Senator Murphy also delved into another controversial topic, and that is, the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by Israeli troops.

An investigation conducted by the Israel government into Akleh’s killing concluded that IDF troops shot her by accident. Naturally, this conclusion has generated a lot of criticism from around the globe, and especially from press freedom advocates. Senator Murphy is calling for an independent U.S. led investigation into Shireen Abu Akleh’s death.

Asked by host Ali Velshi why it was important for the U.S. to conduct an independent investigation, Senator Murphy responded(video at 4:57):“Senator Murphy told host Ali Velshi(video at ):”First and foremost, any time an American dies overseas, we should apply the highest degree of scrutiny to make sure we get to the bottom of the story as to how an American citizen was killed, and in this case, given that it might have come at the hands of foreign security forces, that inquiry is even more important. We are simply asking that we do a thorough review that we are not confident the Israeli authorities have done themselves. So I think it’s important to get to the bottom of this even if the bottom involves some unsavory truths about what an important ally of the United States may have done, or elements of their security forces may have done to contribute to this American’s death.”

Bottom line folks, Israel has been, and remains America’s closest and dearest foreign ally. Ordinarily, Yours Truly would be inclined to accept Israel’s explanation of Shireen Abu Akleh’s death at face value but where, as here, the death in question is of a U.S. citizen, Yours Truly has no choice but to agree with Senator Murphy, that the United States needs to conduct its independent investigation. however unpleasant the results may be. Israel and the United States will forever remain close friends, so there’s no harm in finding out the truth behind Shireen Abu Akleh’s death. The Biden administration owes her family the truth regarding the circumstances of her death overseas.

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Senator Shaheen Says Havana Syndrome Most Likely Caused By “Microwave Directed Energy Attacks”

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Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) appeared on MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports (12/15/21), where she gave an update on the investigation into the causes/origins of Havana Syndrome. Senator Shaheen said Russia remains the chief suspect, adding that she agrees with the assessment of the National Academy of Sciences, that these are most likely “microwave directed energy attacks.”

Sen Shaheen said part of the defense authorization bill currently being debated in Congress, seeks to provide a coordinator who will look into Havana Syndrome cases across all federal agencies, and keep Congress apprised on any new findings.

Sen Shaheen told host Andrea Mitchell:“What we want is a coordinator, not just within the various agencies where they’ve had personnel attacked, but also someone who can coordinate the entire effort, and that’s part of the amendment that’s in the defense bill, as well as a regular reporting to Congress. We want to know exactly what’s going on so that we can respond. It’s very troubling that this happened years ago, five years ago, and we still don’t know who’s responsible, we don’t know exactly the cause of the attacks, and we’re not sure who’s doing it.”

Neither Senator Shaheen nor MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchel addressed the growing elephant-in-the-room question regarding directed energy attacks, and that is, growing complaints by regular civilians in the U.S.(not diplomats), who claim to be victims of directed energy attacks, leaving them with symptoms of Havana Syndrome–complaints similar to the one below. Will the designated Havana Syndrome coordinator also hear from such regular civilians and report back to Congress? Hmm

Bottom line folks, the U.S. constitution intended for members of Congress to function as representatives of their constituents. Where, as here, we have Congress totally ignoring cries from regular civilians(their constituents) of directed energy attacks, while at the same time enacting a scheme to compensate and treat similarly afflicted government employees, one can only conclude that the era of representative government is long gone–a sad state of affairs indeed. At some point, hopefully soon, Congress will have to entertain Havana Syndrome complaints from regular civilians. Then, and only then, will the public have confidence in the government’s investigation into Havana Syndrome.

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Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo:”Texas Is Being Run From Maralago”

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Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo appeared on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show (09/24/2021), where she blasted elected Republicans in Texas for giving in to former President Trump’s baseless demands for an audit into the state’s 2020 election results. The decision by the Texas Secretary of State’s office to conduct an audit into the election results of Collin, Dallas, Harris and Tarrant counties, came literally a few hours after Trump’s demand, which led a visibly upset Judge Hidalgo to tell host Maddow that Texas was “being run from Maralago.”

Judge Hidalgo told Maddow:“We have to remember we had incredibly successful elections here in Harris County in 2020. We had innovations that led to record turnouts from both parties, the highest in 30 years, I mean it was beautiful, and since then, no evidence has come out that would in any way cause the need for this kind of audit. All we’ve seen is [former]President Trump exhorting the state, or [Governor]Abbott, to have this audit…The reality of it is Texas is being run from Maralago, and that is dangerous, and it’s not appropriate…it’s extremely concerning.”

Judge Hidalgo added that time had come for politicians in Washington to get off the sidelines, and actively join the fight against voter suppression in the states, telling host Maddow, “We need the federal government to act, I mean, this has gone too far… This should be another call to action. We’ve got the writing on the wall. We’ve got to get off our chairs and get moving on all this.”

Bottom line folks, as Judge Hidalgo correctly pointed out, time has come for some decisive action to be taken against these naked efforts by Republicans at the state level, to restrict the voting rights of minorities. Democrats in Washington cannot just sit on the sidelines, and watch their counterparts in Republican-led states like Texas, go to war against GOP’s efforts to restrict minority voting rights. Simply put, time has come for Democrats in Washington to finally do away with the filibuster, and institute a national voting standard geared towards making it easier for people to vote, as opposed to GOP’s scheme of limiting access to the ballot box. As Judge Hidalgo correctly put it, congressional Democrats need to “get off their chairs and get moving” on a comprehensive federal voting rights law.

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