Pelosi trip to Syria..

[empulse]

Nancy Pelosi's trip to Syria is perplexing me. really its the coverage of her trip by the "liberal media". Most News outfits (and i use News loosely) are lambasting her for this trip.
Why? For trying to engage in diplomacy? Its odd that no one is mentioning the delegation of 6 Republicans that were there the day before she arrived, and the 2 Republicans that went with her delegation. Or the fact that the White House has to in some way approve of, and make arrangements for trips of this type. They are acting like she is a rouge liberal nutbag that is out to make Bush look like a jackass.

When are we going to start demanding that the media actually just report the facts and let us decide instead of them getting a script from ***** and reading verbatim from it? Is anyone still interested in having a functioning democracy anymore? It must be horrible to live your life in fear of not being able to show people that you have the biggest cock, and think that you have to constantly flex you muscles to get things done in the world. maybe I am wrong. Iraq is gong so well, and with Bin Laden behind bars...wait. Sorry I was channeling grandpa McCain for a second...

[high fly]

Nancy Pelosi's trip to Syria is perplexing me. really its the coverage of her trip by the "liberal media". Most News outfits (and i use News loosely) are lambasting her for this trip.
...

So maybe they're not so liberal after all, but just corporations doing what corporations are designed to do - make the most money they can for their stockholders.
A corporation in the news business does this by attracting as many readers and viewers as possible.
Those who only appeal to one side or the other of the political spectrum do not do as well as those who pull an audience whose political leanings span the spectrum, the way most of the major media do.

[RogerPodacter]

To me it seems like a bad idea to have division in the US going to other countries. It looks bad in my opinion.

[HBox]

To me it seems like a bad idea to have division in the US going to other countries. It looks bad in my opinion.

There is no division. It's a desperate White House trying to score political points however they can and a lazy press who has decided they are going to be nothing else than their megaphone.

A Republican delegation went to Syria weeks ago and they said nothing.

A Republican delegation was there at the same time as Pelosi and they said nothing.

The White House HELPED SET UP THAT TRIP AND THEY SAID NOTHING. (http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/04/did_white_house.php)

[RogerPodacter]

There is no division. It's a desperate White House trying to score political points however they can and a lazy press who has decided they are going to be nothing else than their megaphone.

A Republican delegation went to Syria weeks ago and they said nothing.

A Republican delegation was there at the same time as Pelosi and they said nothing.

The White House HELPED SET UP THAT TRIP AND THEY SAID NOTHING. (http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/04/did_white_house.php)


I had no idea about this. I hate this political bull shit games. To me it seemed like they were almost going "behind the backs" of the president, which, regardless of how bad he sucks doesnt look good. Looks like more mickey mouse bull shit...pathetic.

[El Mudo]

There is no division. It's a desperate White House trying to score political points however they can and a lazy press who has decided they are going to be nothing else than their megaphone.

A Republican delegation went to Syria weeks ago and they said nothing.

A Republican delegation was there at the same time as Pelosi and they said nothing.

The White House HELPED SET UP THAT TRIP AND THEY SAID NOTHING. (http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/04/did_white_house.php)



Kinda like this whole overblown US attorney firing "scandal"? :innocent:

[Yerdaddy]

Nancy Pelosi's trip to Syria is perplexing me. really its the coverage of her trip by the "liberal media". Most News outfits (and i use News loosely) are lambasting her for this trip.
Why? For trying to engage in diplomacy? Its odd that no one is mentioning the delegation of 6 Republicans that were there the day before she arrived, and the 2 Republicans that went with her delegation. Or the fact that the White House has to in some way approve of, and make arrangements for trips of this type. They are acting like she is a rouge liberal nutbag that is out to make Bush look like a jackass.

When are we going to start demanding that the media actually just report the facts and let us decide instead of them getting a script from ***** and reading verbatim from it? Is anyone still interested in having a functioning democracy anymore? It must be horrible to live your life in fear of not being able to show people that you have the biggest cock, and think that you have to constantly flex you muscles to get things done in the world. maybe I am wrong. Iraq is gong so well, and with Bin Laden behind bars...wait. Sorry I was channeling grandpa McCain for a second...

I don't have any contact with American television news anymore thank fucking god! But the NYT piece was balanced, at least. (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/05/world/middleeast/05pelosi.html?pagewanted=print) Stick to print media.

Her visit has been strongly criticized by the Bush administration and dismissed by some in the Middle East as a domestic political play.

At the White House on Tuesday, President Bush told reporters that he saw little point in talking to Syria now. “Sending delegations hasn’t worked,” he said. “It’s just simply been counterproductive.”

Gordon D. Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council, on Wednesday seized upon Ms. Pelosi’s comment on the “road to peace,” to say, in a briefing on Air Force One: “Unfortunately, that road is lined with the victims of Hamas and Hezbollah, and the victims of terrorists who cross from Syria into Iraq. It’s lined with the victims in Lebanon, who are trying to fight for democracy there. It’s lined with human rights activists trying for freedom and democracy in Syria.”

Ms. Pelosi’s trip, initially sparked by an invitation from Mr. Assad himself and encouraged by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, she said, is part of a continuing attempt to sway Bush administration policy on Iraq and the rest of the Middle East.

In November, the study group recommended that Washington open ties with Iran and Syria to help stabilize the conflict in Iraq and cool other crises. This month, a group of Republican lawmakers also visited Damascus, calling on Mr. Bush to seek a dialogue with the Syrians.

The Bush administration has resisted the idea of opening such a dialogue, citing its view that the country is a state sponsor of terrorism. It accuses the Syrian government of providing militants with safe passage into Iraq and of interfering in Lebanon’s politics after its army was forced to leave there in 2005. Syria denies the accusations.

The Bush administration's policy towards Syria is to do nothing. Is it almost 2009 yet? Who's wants into the pool on whether we make it there or not?

[A.J.]

I was more put off by her trip to Saudi Arabia where she questioned King 'Abdallah about why there weren't more women in the Saudi government.

Pity that nobody bothered to tell Madam Speaker that the Saudi goverment is a theocracy/monarchy run by the sons and grandsons of the Kingdom's founder, King 'Abd Al-'Aziz Al-Sa'ud.

[Doomstone]

I was more put off by her trip to Saudi Arabia where she questioned King 'Abdallah about why there weren't more women in the Saudi government.

Pity that nobody bothered to tell Madam Speaker that the Saudi goverment is a theocracy/monarchy run by the sons and grandsons of the Kingdom's founder, King 'Abd Al-'Aziz Al-Sa'ud.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/06/world/middleeast/06pelosi.html?ref=world

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, April 5 (AP) ? House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday visited Saudi Arabia?s unelected advisory council, the closest thing in the kingdom to a legislature, where she tried out her counterpart?s chair ? a privilege not available to Saudi women because they cannot become legislators.

<b>Ms. Pelosi, the first woman to serve as House speaker, said she raised the issue of the lack of women in Saudi politics with officials on the last stop of her Middle East tour, but she added that she refrained from criticizing the kingdom over it.</b>

?It?s a nice view from here,? Ms. Pelosi said as she sat in the chair, facing the ornate chamber. She later sidestepped a question on how she felt about the absence of women on the Saudi council, saying: ?I am very pleased that after 200-plus years in the U.S. we finally have a speaker. It took us a long time.?

The Majlis al-Shura, or Consultative Council, was expanded and given more powers in 1992 as a step toward forming a legislature. Its 150 members are chosen by the king and advise him, and the body has the power to propose laws for the government?s approval.

King Abdullah has spoken of reform, but change has been slow and limited. The kingdom, ruled according to the strict Wahhabi interpretation of Islam, held its first elections in 2005, choosing local councils. Women were barred from voting or running for office.

Ms. Pelosi and King Abdullah discussed at length the Arab peace initiative, which offers Israel peace with Arab states if it withdraws from lands seized in 1967 and allows the creation of a Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem. Israel has said it will accept the proposal only if some changes are made.

?I explained to him that this can be a very important and historic proposal if he is prepared for a discussion and a dialogue and not a presentation on a take-it-or-leave-it basis,? said Representative Tom Lantos, a California Democrat and the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who is also part of the American delegation. ?His reaction was very positive.?

Your words, AJ, conflict with reality.

[empulse]

Kinda like this whole overblown US attorney firing "scandal"? :innocent:

Overblown? There would be no problem if the Whitehouse had just said "Fuck 'em in their asses, they're FIRED!" But they lied. They have given several stories now, all have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt as LIES.

Carol Lamb - Reason given by DOJ / Whitehouse: She wasn't prosecuting enough illegal alien cases.

The Facts: She is ranked as the #3 prosecuting US Attorney in illegal immigration cases in the US. With 100% conviction rate, 31% increase in cases tried every year she has served, and no plea deals attached to her convictions.
She also investigated Democrats 217 times. 0 charges pressed on a range of accusations. Investigated Republicans 17 times, all leading to convictions including Duke Cunningham. She was at the time of her firing investigating the further corruption of California republican Jerry Lewis in relation to the Duke Cunningham case, where it looks like several Republicans were handing out DOD contracts to people who bribed them. That is a crime. They should go to jail, and any Democrat involved should go to jail as well, although none have been found to be involved.

So I ask you: "Why do you hate America, and hate our justice system?" shouldn't it cross all party lines and be blind to politics?

[scottinnj]

I have seen bits and pieces of coverage about her trip, but can't say whether its a good thing or a bad thing. I don't see the harm unless she is trying to make policy which is supposed to be done by the administration. If she gets the ball rolling so Damascus and the White House/State Department can hammer out some peace accords, then she did a good thing.

On the whole foreign policy ordeal, all of them are dumb motherfuckers. The President, The VP, Madame Secretary of State and the douchebags in the Senate and House (both parties) have put the presidential election of 2008 in higher importance then winning the war against Al-Queada, finding OBL, or finding a way to win in Iraq. And we are going to suffer for that.

[empulse]

UPDATE:

British papers are now reporting that Pelosi may have brokered a deal for the release of a captured Israeli soldier (1 of the 2) that started the conflict between Israel and Syria last year.

Stupid diplomacy. What next? peace? sheesh. what a bitch.

[scottinnj]

She's an amatuer. If it had been Jesse Jackson, both Isreali soldiers would have been home by now.

[Yerdaddy]

She's an amatuer. If it had been Jesse Jackson, both Isreali soldiers would have been home by now.

"by now"? Are you sure you factored in the two days of photo-ops with the good Reverend?

If she really got something concrete from the trip then the Democrats should get credit at least for showing Republicans that doing something is better than doing nothing.

[high fly]

To me it seems like a bad idea to have division in the US going to other countries. It looks bad in my opinion.


Yeah.
We don't want them knowing we have freedom of speech or anything.
They might want it for themselves, and wouldn't that be a fine kettle of fish?

[A.J.]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/06/world/middleeast/06pelosi.html?ref=world



Your words, AJ, conflict with reality.

Only because I had read a different article that didn't mention that.

[scottinnj]

Yeah.
We don't want them knowing we have freedom of speech or anything.
They might want it for themselves, and wouldn't that be a fine kettle of fish?


I don't like fish...therefore it wouldn't be fine. How about a fine bucket of KFC? Or a fine box of Domino's Pizza?