The JackB

"When you're in jail, a good friend will be trying to bail you out. A best friend will be in the cell next to you saying, 'Damn, that was fun'." Groucho Marx

Politics

Will Smith- Hitler Tried To Do The RIght Thing

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I have been a fan of Will Smith for a long time. I think that he is a fine actor and he has always seemed to be a good guy. Until today I don’t remember ever reading anything about him that made me shake my head in disgust.

But the comments he made in a recent interview make me wonder what the hell is wrong with him. Take a look at this interview:

Remarkably, Will believes everyone is basically good.

“Even Hitler didn’t wake up going, ‘let me do the most evil thing I can do today’,” said Will. “I think he woke up in the morning and using a twisted, backwards logic, he set out to do what he thought was ‘good’. Stuff like that just needs reprogramming.

I agree that most people are good. I don’t believe in original sin or the idea that we are all naturally sinners. But I also believe that there are evil people in the world and Hitler ranks right up there.

It is patently wrong to try and excuse Hitler’s actions by saying he did what he thought was right. You don’t excuse the rapist by saying that she asked for it and you don’t excuse mass murderers by saying that they thought that they were doing the right thing.

Annapolis Part II

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Earlier this week I voiced my concerns about Annapolis and Condi and company’s desire for a legacy. That is a scary way to try and conduct diplomacy. Anyone who knows anything about negotiations understands that one should negotiate from a position of strength and not weakness.

There is nothing remotely profound in that statement, but it bears repeating over and over. To begin with I am done with asking the Palestinians or any other Arab to recognize Israel. It is narishkeit. It is foolishness. It reminds me of my three year-old. She puts her hands over her eyes and says “daddy you can’t see me.”

Ok, you are right. I can’t see you. Screw Haniyeh, Abbas, Assad and anyone else who wants to play this game. Keep walking in the dark. I hope you trip over a table and break your necks. Because it has become glaringly apparent to me that they see this request for recognition as being a sign of weakness. Take it off off the table. We have what you want, not the other way around.

This is not going to be seen as being popular, especially not within the U.S. As Ralph Peters writes in the New York Post Bush and Co. are starting to look a lot like the Clinton administration.

“In the Middle East, you can’t buy peace. You can only buy time. If we want to help at all, the fundamental requirement is to have realistic expectations.

At present, the situation is aggravated by the Bush administration’s desperate quest for a headline-worthy foreign-policy success – mirroring the Clinton administration in its closing years. But desperation’s a poor basis for dealing with a geopolitical problem of near-infinite complexity, with ill will on every side except our own.

What happens in the course of Middle East “peace” talks under such circumstances? Whether the American administration is Republican or Democrat, it pressures Israel for concessions – since the Arabs won’t make any. Prisoner releases precede each summit; territorial handovers come under discussion.

For their parts, Arab leaders and their representatives assume we’re sufficiently honored if they just show up. We hear no end of nonsense about the great political risks they’re taking, etc. We’re suckers for any fat guy in a white robe with an oil can.”

So in my non professional opinion we need to rethink and restructure. Besides let’s take a moment to look at what is going on here. CNN has some of the interesting news.

The official said some of the 40 nations represented at the summit have offered Israel a chilly welcome, but their participation alone is encouraging.

“The Saudis won’t shake our hands; the Syrians won’t say nice things about us,” the Israeli official said. “But they’re here.”

It warms the cockles of my hearts to read this. The good old Saudis who punish victims of rape and fund terrorists all the while shaking their fingers at Israel as if they really were arbiters of morality.

The fine Syrians bolstered by their pipsqueak leader who are only in attendance because baby Assad is desperately trying to make a name for himself. I never thought that I’d say this, but I would have felt differently had his father been in Annapolis. The man didn’t need to prove that he didn’t wear diapers. But I digress.

Did you see that Iran is holding its own peace conference.

Elham indicated the Tehran meeting would be a riposte to the conference bringing together Israeli and Palestinian leaders which started in Annapolis outside Washington on Tuesday.

“It means that the Annapolis conference is not representing the Palestinians and not talking on their behalf, but on the contrary is moving against their rights,” he said.

The good old Iranians, benefactors of that other Palestinian group. You know the ones I am talking about, Hamas. Remember the guys who currently control Gaza.

“Hamas parliamentarians in Gaza signed a petition declaring their opposition to Palestinian “concessions” in Jerusalem and on the refugee issue, Israel Radio reported Monday.

“Any settlement that does not include the return of the refugees, [Israel’s] ceding of the land and the holy sites, and the release of the prisoners is ridiculous,” Ahmad Baher, deputy chairman of the Palestinian parliament said at the signing of the document. “The attempt to force such a solution led to the second Intifada.”

Among the signatories was Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.

“The people believe that this conference is fruitless and that any recommendations or commitments made in the conference that harm our rights will not be binding for our people,” Haniyeh said as he entered the Palestinian parliament building in Gaza. “It will be binding only for those who sign it.”

In simple terms Israel isn’t negotiating with representatives of all of the Palestinians, just some of them. And that my friends is just one of the 1,876,098 reasons why Annapolis as currently constructed is doomed to fail.

There is going to be more bloodshed, more pain, more death and more harm and for what? A chance for a lame duck president and company to claim space in a history book. It is just shameful.

Rice’s legacy on the line at Annapolis

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Five minutes worth of surfing the headlines brought up a half dozen stories about the upcoming Annapolis “peace” conference and its relationship to Condoleeza Rice’s legacy as Sec. of State. Here is a brief sample:

Rice’s legacy on the line at Annapolis conference
Can Rice save her legacy with ‘Hail Mary’ pass?
Rice at center of peace talks

I don’t know about you but the term legacy in regard to a peace process makes me very uncomfortable. In theory diplomacy should be conducted dispassionately and without concern that any of those involved are doing so for anything but altruistic reasons.

The term legacy makes me question that. I don’t want the players to be worried about how history is going to view them. I don’t want to be worried that they’re trying to win awards or a place in the history books.

Legacy just rubs me the wrong way. It is a bit like the doctor saying “this might sting a little” right before they shove a six inch needle into your spine.

I just hope and pray that the legacy of Annapolis isn’t written in our blood.

Saudis Punish Rape Victim Part II

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Part one of this story can be found here. Our good friends the Saudis, champions of human rights continue to provide the sort of role model we can do without.

The AP is running a storyabout how the Saudis are defending their actions against a rape victim.

“The Shiite Muslim woman had initially been sentenced to 90 lashes after being convicted of violating Saudi Arabia’s rigid Islamic law requiring segregation of the sexes.

But in considering her appeal of the verdict, the Saudi General Court increased the punishment. It also roughly doubled prison sentences for the seven men convicted of raping the woman, Saudi news media said last week.

The reports triggered an international outcry over the Saudis punishing the victim of a terrible crime.

But the Ministry of Justice stood by the verdict Tuesday, saying that “charges were proven” against the woman for having been in a car with a man who was not her relative.

The ministry implied the victim’s sentence was increased because she spoke out to the press. “For whoever has an objection on verdicts issued, the system allows an appeal without resorting to the media,” said the statement, which was carried on the official Saudi Press Agency.”

Such compassion is heart warming is it not. CNN has additional informationin which we learn that the victim’s attorney had issues with the judge. Not to mention the victim’s husband who suggests that this was an isolated incident.

“If this sentence is based on the law then I would’ve welcomed it,” he said. “But it is harsh and the Saudi society I know and belong to is more sympathetic than that. I do not expect such harshness from Saudis, but rather compassion and support of the victim and her rights.”

Saudi society, he said, is “is very respectful to women in general.”

“If a woman raises her voice to a man in public, it would be very unusual for the man to respond or argue,” he said. “When a woman enters a bank for instance and there is no women’s section, all the men make way for the woman to go ahead of them and get her business first. I would think that putting seven men in jail for rape shouldn’t be difficult.”

Despite the treatment given his wife by the Saudi judicial system, he believes his society respects human rights and he is optimistic about the future.

“Through this case, as a citizen and stemming from my sense of security and patriotism, I believe in the future… And I have faith and trust in the system,” he said.

Sorry, I can’t buy into any of this. The Saudis are among the worst violators of human rights and common decency. It sickens me to see the U.S. lie in bed with them.

Deadly Force- Can You Use It to Protect Your Neighbor

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Would you consider this a crime?

“A so-called “castle doctrine” law recently passed in Texas allows people to use deadly force to protect their homes and property. However, a case in which a Houston-area man in his 70’s killed two apparent burglars he observed breaking into his neighbor’s house has raised new questions about how far that doctrine might extend.

The man called an emergency dispatcher when he first saw the alleged burglars, saying “I’ve got a shotgun, do you want me to stop them?”

“Nope, don’t do that,” replied the dispatcher. “Ain’t no property worth shooting somebody over, ok? … I’ve got officers coming out there. I don’t want you to go outside that house.”

“I understand that,” the caller replied, “but I have a right to protect myself too, sir, and you understand that. And the laws have been changed in this country since September the 1st, and you know it and I know it.”

After five minutes, the dispatcher was no longer able to restrain the caller, who stepped outside and shot both men, reporting, “Here it goes, buddy. You hear the shotgun clicking and I’m going. … Boom, you’re dead. … I had no choice.”

A grand jury will decide whether the man can be charged with a crime. He will probably be found to have acted legally if it is determined that the neighbor whose house was broken into had asked him to protect his property, but not otherwise.”

Saudis Punish Rape Victim

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Our dear friends the Saudis are beacons of friendship, tolerance and human rights. It is a wonder why they don’t have a permanent collection of Nobel Peace Prize winners.

“(CNN) — A court in Saudi Arabia increased the punishment for a gang-rape victim after her lawyer won an appeal of the sentence for the rapists, the lawyer told CNN.

The 19-year-old victim was sentenced last year to 90 lashes for meeting with an unrelated male, a former friend from whom she was retrieving photographs. The seven rapists, who abducted the pair and raped both, received sentences ranging from 10 months to five years in prison.

The victim’s attorney, Abdulrahman al-Lahim, contested the rapists’ sentence, contending there is a fatwa, or edict under Islamic law, that considers such crimes Hiraba (sinful violent crime) and the punishment should be death.

“After a year, the preliminary court changed the punishment and made it two to nine years for the defendants,” al-Lahim said of the new decision handed down Wednesday. “However, we were shocked that they also changed the victim’s sentence to be six months in prison and 200 lashes.”

The judges more than doubled the punishment for the victim because of “her attempt to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media,” according to a source quoted by Arab News, an English-language Middle Eastern daily newspaper.

Judge Saad al-Muhanna from the Qatif General Court also barred al-Lahim from defending his client and revoked his law license, al-Lahim said. The attorney has been ordered to attend a disciplinary hearing at the Ministry of Justice next month.

Al-Lahim said he is appealing the decision to bar him from representing the victim and has a meeting with Justice Minister Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Ibrahim Al Al-Sheikh on Monday.”