December 30, 2006

ow that the world we inhabit, far from uniting, appears to be more and more Balkanized, with newly independent states being added to the roster of the United Nations, it's becoming more and more complicated for a mere mortal from the Western world to commit to memory the names of their leaders. Just as I'd learned that the leader of Turkmenistan was Sapamurad A. Niyazov, along comes his probable successor, now acting President, Gurbanguly Berdimukhamedov. Trained as a dentist, formerly the country's health minister, he was the deputy prime minister. That was the position he held when President Niyazov died. Niyazov could certainly teach us about winning elections. He last received 99.5% of the vote (though it is possible that there were some irregularities in the counting!)

As we all know the media mogul Rupert Murdoch's Fox news channel is "Fair and balanced" in its reporting; except they are not. I'd like to thank Norman Soloman and Jeff Cohen for reporting the following, "Echoing an Iraq war talking point heard regularly on Fox News, Murdoch said, on the eve of the November election; 'The death toll, certainly of Americans there, by the terms of any previous war are quite minute'. As the men noted, U.S. deaths in Iraq exceed those of the War Of 1812, the Mexican-American War and the Spanish-American War, not to mention the combined U.S. deaths in all of this country's other military actions since Vietnam - including Lebanon, Grenada, Panama and the first Gulf War, Somalia, Haiti, Kosovo and Afghanistan.
With the execution of Saddam Hussein, who knows how much more violence will be unleashed in Iraq and how much larger the casualty lists are likely to be.

I've heard him described as "The Reconciler-in-Chief". His death was not a surprise; he'd lived a full, honorable life, and served his country well. Gerald Ford, not seeking the presidency, was handed the office when Richard Nixon resigned in disgrace. At a time of political uncertainty and deep division within the land, he determined to bridge the broad chasm developing in the United States. He strove to bridge division in a time of deep division and political uncertainty in America. He lost, narrowly, to Jimmy Carter in a campaign for the presidency. He and Carter became friends. He, to the surprise of many, was the right man for the job. His pardon of President Richard Nixon was most controversial but with the passage of time many of his critics, myself included, believe that it was the right thing to have done.

More later...
Happy New Year to one and all.