CONCERN ABOUT OBAMA'S SAFETY AGAIN

I suppose someone in the White House, especially these days, knows they are risking their lives to serve in that capacity. Obama is no different and yet after his criticism of the various settlements (fortresses really) on the West Bank. This is the last opportunity for these settlers to live out a dream that they take very literally. I don't know what can be done to moderate the extremist tendencies of the settlers. They have gotten a lot of mileage out of being tough and never backing down and in this situation that could mean someone tries to harm Obama or Israelis working for a two state solution.

Rabin was assassinated by one of these fanatics and the "Holy Land" seems to create martyrs out of folks that would just be cranks elsewhere. So I suppose Obama is forewarned and hopefully will watch his back in the States as well. The same goes for all the white supremacists and extreme anti-Muslims who populate the States. They must be livid after hearing Obama quote the Koran and say other nice things about Muslims. Then by using his personal story Obama really put himself as a human being on the line.

Of course the danger of extremist violence from other quarters such as AQ cannot be ruled out but Israel and the settler militias seem more of a threat and may engage in provocative and warlike acts meant to sabotage the prospects of a two state solution by attacking Iran with nuclear weapons while carrying out an expulsion of the Palestinians in the midst of the crisis caused by the nuclear war. Of course Pakistan is the nation with the Islamic bomb so we cannot rule out an effort to trigger a war that devastates the Pakistani nuclear arsenal, or uses it up on targets not Israel. Israel and the United States could collude in these endeavors while Obama waxes eloquently about settlements and a two state solution. Then oops, a little nuclear or not so little nuclear war or wars and the Palestinians are doing the Cherokee march out of Palestine or getting killed like in the original Nakba.

This seems unthinkable but it is certainly not inconceivable. Nations build these nuclear weapons and one has already used them actively. Nuclear weapons clearly provide a degree of security to a nation that nations without them do not possess. Hopefully Israel doesn't really wan't to blow up the world or Iran and Pakistan either.

I suppose the costs to the world ecosystem would be quite significant if a few dozen nukes were detonated in Iran, Pakistan, India and who knows where else? Will we all line up like good little soldiers then? I fear so and yet what we should be doing is everything we can to stop such a nuclear attack by any party.

OBAMA'S SPEECH IN CAIRO

It is remarkable that Obama has spoken out so strongly about an end to Jewish settlements (fortresses really) on Palestinian Territory recognized as Palestinian territory, by all parties now with the exception of Israel or certain Israeli trends.

Some Israelis still seek the conquest of all of Palestine. This was the goal of the Zionist founders and most Israeli leaders ever since. Then there are the settlers which are the armed militias that illegally occupy the West Bank. Settlements were expelled from Gaza but settlers want to return.

That is what the settlements are all about, making a two state solution impossible and creating the basis for the complete disenfranchisement of the Palestinians, the indigenous people of Palestine.

Today, in Cairo, Obama seemed to repeat this opposition to the Jewish military outposts known as "settlements". Will he flip flop? He hasn't yet.

Obama's speech to the so-called Muslim world, really it seems more the Arab-Muslim world was in many ways remarkable as well. His speech was nuanced and seemed steeped in a level of understanding and even wisdom generally unthinkable for an American President. I will bask in the notion that the United States has a President who is not obsessed with demonic forces such as Gog and Magog but seems fully in contact with reality!

Obama's cultural literacy and indeed multicultural literacy and yes understanding of those Abrahamic texts allowed him to wax as we hope
the good King would alway wax, with genuine respect, understanding and compassion in his heart. I want to believe that all this improvement in understanding is not towards some similar or new evil, I want to believe in Obama and those words he spoke today. So I believe will millions and tens of millions.

And if Obama flips and flops or is unable to continue his efforts in the future I believe that those who heard his words today, women of the Abrahamic faiths in particular will change the world, will remake the world with the wisdom of soft but working hands.

Yes the feminist revolution is rising in the United States and the whole world. Women will not be held back. Women will soon rule the world in a way they never have since the earliest times. It is a great hope and a great challenge for those of us attached to patriarchal rule.

His words in support of women was a very politic and powerful idea. One wonders how Bush missed such a simple way to appeal for change, one based on words, mutual understanding and mutual support rather than warfare.

For the devil is also in the details and in the many ommissions. Hopefully this imperfect vessel of some real understanding will help revolutionize the world.

I have to say I see no abandonment of military rulers or monarchs by Obama. Will such a speech intentionally or not undermine such rulers?
If only Obama had a streak of Napoleon he might win the world by love and understanding alone. Yet the rulers are intact, I do not think he plans on replacing them?

Why Egypt? Unfortunately it is probably to fix the creation of a Palestinian state so that such a state is entirely under the control of Abbas and the CIA. The Egyptian military dictator is part of fixing the deal so Hamas is iced out of all power and influence and so that the Palestinians stay on the reservation.

While Israel can be thought of as a semi-autonomous sub-imperialism and European white settler state Egypt is really still a semi-colonial dependency of the United States.

So it is a lot like the election of Obama. Obama offers progressive hope but is he a Judas goat of progressive politics, leading us to oppression and injustice rather than hunting us down and fighting us as an open opponent. In other words, "Is he a Democrat?"

OBAMA HAS DONE LITTLE TO SIGNAL PROGRESSIVE CHANGE

As we wait impatiently for the Obama administration to begin we can say that we are at once relieved and prepared to be profoundly disappointed. On the one hand Obama could hardly be worse than the Bush regime. Yet he has appointed a gaggle of Clintonites to his new White House staff. Is the Obama administration going to be some peculiar version of Clinton III?

Of course we will have to wait for deeds in order to see if Obama is any less in the back pocket of the fossil fuel industries. Will he, in fact support a genuinely green energy configuration for the United States or will he push such nonsense as "clean coal", continuing dependence on oil for transportation and we already know he likes nuclear power. Of course all of these choices make it possible for a few investors to make a killing charging most of us for our energy usage. What weneed is a return to public utilities that are controlled by scientific minded citizens who want to see the public get the necessary power they need without destroying our climate through global warming.

He seems to be realloy in big with the financial capitalists. Just about everyone in his administration is a financial capitalist or has been at some time in their careers. I don't see how anything progressive can come out of that.

If Obama is waiting to signal progressive reforms he is doing a good job of hiding his intentions. So far he sounds like he thinks the political campaign is still underway, continuing to evade the real policies he will seek to implement. Yet at the end of the day flowery rhetoric without substance will satisfy no one. He doesn't even talk the talk.