BMEWS
 
Sarah Palin is the reason compasses point North.

calendar   Sunday - September 24, 2006

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

This Venezuelan “diplomat”, Mr. Maduro, shows up late, without a ticket, scrambles to get one, then starts raising hell at the security checkpoint, so the TSA folks decide he needs a more thorough checkout. Yet our government apologizes for this “regrettable incident.”

You know ... there used to be a time when we didn’t take crap off of slimey lizards from third-world banana republics. Back then other countries treated us with a little respect. Whatever happened to change all that?

I’ll tell you what I think happened and when this current disrespect started. It all started in 1976 when too many of you voted for Jimmy Carter (I didn’t) and we wound up four years later looking like complete jerks with no cojones or brains. The world has laughed at us behind our back ever since. Carter’s legacy is that of a man with no grasp of geopolitics ... a total fool.

Ronald Reagan fixed a lot of that and we were gradually regaining our dignity and respect around the world. Then along came Bill Clinton with his stained blue dresses, interns and cigars. His behavior may not have been all that derelict ... at least until he lied to a grand jury. Clinton’s legacy is merely an extension of Carter’s ineffectiveness in international affairs. Think Somalia or Bosnia.

You may not realize it but the rest of the world sees our President as the symbol of America. He is the icon out front representing all of us and if he is naive, confused and easily manipulated like Carter or distracted, unattentive and uncaring like Clinton what do you expect the world to think of us? Is it any wonder that petty tyrants like Chavez and certifiable lunatics like Ahmadinejad feel free to dance around on the world stage and stick their tongues out at us?

Now, you might think that with a strong-willed President like George W. Bush, we’d be shown a little more respect wouldn’t you? You would be wrong ... and it’s not entirely Bush’s fault, believe it or not. Look at it from an outsider’s viewpoint. They witnessed firsthand the disarray and confusion of Carter and Clinton’s policies overseas and only barely managed to keep their mouths shut during the Reagan-Bush years.

They saw the November, 2000 election with the whining Democrats contesting the results all the way up until September 11, 2001. The Democrats tried their best in those eleven months to castrate President Bush with constant backbiting. Then they had to shut up after 9/11 ... for a little while. Gradually they have returned to the hatred and bitterness over that election showing total disrespect for the office of the President.

So you see, to the typical Frenchman, German, Italian, Venezuelan, Indian, Spaniard or Egyptian the President of the United States is a joke. As if Carter and Clinton weren’t enough to convince them, they see high-profile Hollywood actors and musicians verbally spitting on the President publicly. They see and hear the venom coming from Americans like Cindy Sheehan, Sean Penn, Natalie Maines and yes, even Al Gore visiting overseas and telling them what an idiot the President is.

None of this is George W. Bush’s doing ... all he did was win an election that was closely contested. Since then, he has steadfastly tried to make sure there is not another 9/11. Has he done everything right? Probably not, but neither has he done everything wrong like the naysayers pronounce. Does he deserve all the name-calling and childish criticism he has received over the last five years from these “critics”? Absolutely not.

Nobody’s perfect and Bush would probably be the first one to admit that he has made mistakes. In fact, I think he did just that several months ago. Regardless, we stand to lose a lot more than our dignity as a nation if this continues. We are losing the respect of the world and it is demonstrated quite well by Chavez and friends like the one in the story below.

This is not about George W. Bush. It is about the office of the President of the United States. Our bad choice in two previous Presidents and the current internal disrespect shown by Bush-bashers only serves to chip away at our national identity and reduce the power of the President.

I sincerely hope those who have spent five years hating Bush will remember this when their man or woman gets elected one day and they realize the world is no longer listening to us and the office of President of the United States Of America carries no weight overseas at all.

Leader of the free world? Not a chance. We are fast losing all respect anyone overseas may have had for us and future Presidents will pay the price. Those who are obsessed with a blind hatred of George W. Bush don’t know it yet but in their attempts to bring the man down, they are bringing the office down as well. Goodnight America ... and Good Luck.

Venezuela: U.S. Held Foreign Minister
NEW YORK (AP) - September 24, 2006

imageimageVenezuela’s foreign minister said he was illegally detained for 90 minutes at a New York airport Saturday by U.S. authorities whom he accused of treating him abusively and attempting to frisk him.

U.S. and U.N. officials called the incident regrettable but said Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro had been identified for “secondary screening” — an added security check that can kick in for a variety of reasons.

“We were the object of an illegal detention by the U.S. government,” Maduro told reporters at Venezuela’s mission to the U.N. “We were detained during an hour and a half, threatened by police of being beaten.”

Maduro said the authorities at John F. Kennedy International Airport at one point ordered him and other officials to spread their arms and legs and be frisked, but he said they forcefully refused. He said his passport and ticket were retained for a time, and finally given back to him. But he said the incident prevented him from traveling home Saturday.

Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke denied that Maduro was mistreated. “There’s no evidence to substantiate any sort of abnormality in the screening process.” Knocke said in Washington that Maduro was referred for further screening but never reached that section of the airport. “He began to articulate his frustration with secondary screening right after he went through the magnetometer,” he said, referring to the walk-through metal detector. “Port Authority officials confronted him when the situation became a ruckus.” Knocke did not elaborate.

Airlines check passengers names against watch lists and apply certain criteria — such as paying for a ticket with cash — to direct passengers to a more intensive, or “secondary,” screening process. A U.N. diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said that Maduro’s trip was delayed because he had showed up late without a ticket, prompting the screening.

“We can confirm that a regrettable incident occurred at John F. Kennedy airport for which the U.S. government has apologized to Foreign Minister Maduro and the government of Venezuela,” U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said. Maduro told the reporters that his government has been in touch with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan about the incident and was gathering a team of lawyers to challenge a detention that he said violated international law.


avatar

Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 09/24/2006 at 01:00 AM   
Filed Under: • InternationalPolitics •  
Comments (7) Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  
Page 1 of 1 pages

Five Most Recent Trackbacks:

Once Again, The One And Only Post
(4 total trackbacks)
Tracked at iHaan.org
The advantage to having a guide with you is thɑt an expert will haѵe very first hand experience dealing and navigating the river with гegional wildlife. Tһomas, there are great…
On: 07/28/23 10:37

The Brownshirts: Partie Deux; These aare the Muscle We've Been Waiting For
(3 total trackbacks)
Tracked at head to the Momarms site
The Brownshirts: Partie Deux; These aare the Muscle We’ve Been Waiting For
On: 03/14/23 11:20

Vietnam Homecoming
(1 total trackbacks)
Tracked at 广告专题配音 专业从事中文配音跟外文配音制造,北京名传天下配音公司
  专业从事中文配音和外文配音制作,北京名传天下配音公司   北京名传天下专业配音公司成破于2006年12月,是专业从事中 中文配音 文配音跟外文配音的音频制造公司,幻想飞腾配音网领 配音制作 有海内外优良专业配音职员已达500多位,可供给一流的外语配音,长年服务于国内中心级各大媒体、各省市电台电视台,能满意不同客户的各种需要。电话:010-83265555   北京名传天下专业配音公司…
On: 03/20/21 07:00

meaningless marching orders for a thousand travellers ... strife ahead ..
(1 total trackbacks)
Tracked at Casual Blog
[...] RTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPL [...]
On: 07/17/17 04:28

a small explanation
(1 total trackbacks)
Tracked at yerba mate gourd
Find here top quality how to prepare yerba mate without a gourd that's available in addition at the best price. Get it now!
On: 07/09/17 03:07



DISCLAIMER
Allanspacer

THE SERVICES AND MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE HOSTS OF THIS SITE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS.

Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:
  1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
  2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
  3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
  4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere
It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

THE INFORMATION AND OTHER CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE DESIGNED TO COMPLY WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS WEBSITE SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ALL PARTIES IRREVOCABLY SUBMIT TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE AMERICAN COURTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPLICABLE IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY, THEN THIS WEBSITE IS NOT INTENDED TO BE ACCESSED BY PERSONS FROM THAT COUNTRY AND ANY PERSONS WHO ARE SUBJECT TO SUCH LAWS SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO USE OUR SERVICES UNLESS THEY CAN SATISFY US THAT SUCH USE WOULD BE LAWFUL.


Copyright © 2004-2015 Domain Owner



GNU Terry Pratchett


Oh, and here's some kind of visitor flag counter thingy. Hey, all the cool blogs have one, so I should too. The Visitors Online thingy up at the top doesn't count anything, but it looks neat. It had better, since I paid actual money for it.
free counters