Who’s Welcome At The House Of Lords?

5 Comments so far ↓

• Bulldoglover100 // Apr 22, 2009 at 10:42 am

  and Reagan meeting with, shaking hands with the Russians was what? LOL O.K then but not now? How childish our party has become and how embarrassed our parents would be if they could see us now.

  Log in to Reply

• sinz54 // Apr 22, 2009 at 1:54 pm

  I keep trying to remind folks like Bulldoglover100 and krove that there is a VAST difference between shaking hands from a position of strategic strength, versus shaking hands from a position of strategic weakness. It just keeps falling on deaf ears.Reagan did not meet with Gorbachev until much of his huge military buildup was completed, and his missile defense program received major funding. Reagan had also revived the U.S. economy, which by the time he met with Gorbachev was looking better and better. Russia came off looking second-rate by comparison.In contrast, Obama went to shake hands with Chavez, while the entire world knows that the U.S. imports 10% of its oil from Venezuela; and that an oil embargo by Chavez would send the U.S. economy into a depression at this point. Obama looked like a man desperately begging for favors.The world does not respect bullying. But the world does respect quiet strength. They know that the U.S. is in trouble, its influence waning; and any negotiations entered into by America can only result in thinly disguised surrenders.

  Log in to Reply

• HHomer // Apr 23, 2009 at 2:44 am

  The stupid decision was to prevent Wilders going to the UK. If we believe in free speach then even unpleasant thoughts have to be allowed to be expressed. Preventing his meeting at the House of Lords gave him lots of publicity. If it had gone ahead he would have been ignored.Whatever one’s view on how to resolve the Israel/Palestine conflict I’d be amazed if Hamas aren’t involved if there’s ever an agreement. There would have been no peace in Northern Ireland if the extremists on both sides hadn’t been engaged. Hamas is a terrorist and political organisation in exactly the same way that IRA/Sinn Fean were.

  Log in to Reply

• sinz54 // Apr 23, 2009 at 7:45 am

  HHomer: HAMAS is *not* (exactly) like the IRA. The IRA’s goals were to kick the British out of Northern Ireland. They never intended to wipe England out of existence and take over 10 Downing Street.The goal of Hamas is *not* to kick the Israelis out of Gaza and the West Bank. It’s to wipe Israel completely out of existence. And there are strong hints that the Jews are to be annihilated:”The prophet, prayer and peace be upon him, said: The time will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews (and kill them); until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: O Muslim! there is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him! This will not apply to the Gharqad, which is a Jewish tree (cited by Bukhari and Muslim)….”The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine has been an Islamic Waqf throughout the generations and until the Day of Resurrection, no one can renounce it or part of it, or abandon it or part of it. ….”[Peace] initiatives, the so-called peaceful solutions, and the international conferences to resolve the Palestinian problem, are all contrary to the beliefs of the Islamic Resistance Movement. For renouncing any part of Palestine means renouncing part of the religion….”Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.” — Hamas CharterHamas is like al-Qaeda. Its goal is to lead a worldwide revolution that puts Islam in charge of everything, everywhere. And Israel should no more negotiate with Hamas, than the U.S. should negotiate with al-Qaeda. In both cases, this is a fight to the death.BTW, Hamas acts locally but thinks globallly. They aren’t just interested in Palestine:”….This is the status [of the land] in Islamic Sharia, and it is similar to all lands conquered by Islam by force, and made thereby Waqf lands upon their conquest, for all generations of Muslims until the Day of Resurrection.” This is exactly what we heard from Osama bin Laden: All lands that used to belong to Muslims (including Spain, which they called Andalusia) must be returned to Muslims–else there will be jihad to reclaim them by force.

  Log in to Reply

• mlindroo // Apr 24, 2009 at 4:58 am

  Sinz54 wrote:> In contrast, Obama went to shake hands with Chavez, > while the entire world knows that the U.S. imports 10% > of its oil from Venezuela; and that an oil embargo by > Chavez would send the U.S. economy into a depression at this point. > Obama looked like a man desperately begging for favorsConservative WSJ columnist Peggy Noonan disagrees:: Though the controversy was that Mr. Obama shook Hugo Chavez’s hand at the summit last week, : the news was the desperation with which Mr. Chavez tried to get in the picture with him. : It’s not terrible when they want to be in the picture with you.: It all depends on what you do with the proximity and in the ensuing conversation.At least from my vantage point here in Western Europe, it seems Noonan is correct. While Bush was still around, the overall impression conveyed by the local press was often that he was a loud and aggressive talker but that the stick he was carrying wasn’t as big as he claimed.As evidenced by the frequent setbacks shortly before and during his second term … the preferred rhetoric was ‘dead or alive’, ‘axis of evil’, old Europe’, ‘you are either with us or against us’ etc. but the performance did not match the words. With Obama, the overall feeling in Europe is he is trying to clean up the mess and I do not think there are many who would like to see him fail.—The reality is that just about every nation in the world has severe economic problems right now. We’re in this together, and the United States is a very important market to all of us.MARCU$

  Log in to Reply