From American Corespondent Gibbs Burke…

While the debate rages over whether or not America should remove the, “under god” from The Pledge of Allegiance, I have a substitution that would fit perfectly, “under government.” Don’t get me wrong I am totally against the removal of, “under god” from The Pledge of Allegiance for two main reasons: I am a traditionalist, and that such actions destroy our Nations History by turning a blind eye to the beliefs that got us to where we are today. If you’re trying to make an omelet without breaking any eggs, then you are just going to end up with a hot pan.

In regards to being under government, however, is no laughing matter. Since the recessions beginnings the private sector has expanded a mere 1%, while our beloved government has expanded a whopping 17%. In addition it is unlikely that those of you, which are 20% of employees in the United States, will ever lose your beloved government job. Why is that you ask? It’s simple, because you are more likely to die then lose your government job.

Recently Obama went on tour promoting his “common sense” job plan looking to gain support for this $477 billion plan. So let the liberal propaganda begin and polluting the American public with how they are the party of hope. Remember they have had nearly four years to turn the economy around. Holding steady with a 9~10% unemployment, and the last recovery act they promised that would bring us out of this spiral worked so well. I seem to remember something like 2.5-3.5 million jobs to be created by this new bill, however even there own statistics have to be skewed to show merely 550,000 jobs. How are they skewed? They include any job that uses money from the bill, not just new jobs created.

So we spend more money, while we create a net loss in jobs. Our credit rating goes down, and our debt goes up. Our job creation is zero, and our unemployment is high. Government employment rises, private sector falls. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. This repeat of a failed bill seems like insanity to me, but then again thats a Liberal’s plan for you.

So while the Liberals continue with their self patronization and their beliefs that Obama is somehow the messiah of Presidents, the reality is that not only is the Liberal agenda running America into the ground, but Obama is the one leading the charge under the guise of bi-partisanship. But if you would like to find your heads I will even give you the roll you will need to find it, however if you think this bill will work just like the last one you will need a whole case.      

From Tanzania Corespondent Lute Wa Lutengano…

Late Monday afternoon I left office and was rushing to a downtown shop to fetch rims of my eye glasses. You see at my age I need the services of extra eyes to be able to see like a normal human being. My mobile contraption, that is my car, rattled along Seth Benjamin a.k.a. East Africa road towards the roundabout with mounted elephants near the DC’s office.

But I could not reach it.

The place was jam-packed with thousands of seemingly very angry Arushans. They had overtaken all the open space and the ‘desert garden’ between the roundabout and the Municipal Council offices and spilled onto the Boma road to the Clock Tower area.

Fearing for the unknown I made a sudden u-turn and drove back to office where I securely parked my un-insured contraption. Knowing that I can never abandon my routine of reading my papers in the evening I decided to make a second attempt to reach the opticians shop, but now using a taxi.

I hailed one just outside my office and boarded it. It was in worse shape than my contraption. But Juma, the cab driver, told me not to worry. Even when I pointed to him the huge and now hysterical masses in the area, Juma was unperturbed. He actually explained that, in case of unrest, the angry masses would go for the sleek and posh cars because they believe those belong to those who want to snatch from their jaws the victory of their Member of Parliament for Arusha.

Apparently Juma was also a supporter of the assembled group for he went on to loudly complain why it was taking more than 18 hours to compile and announce the winner for the Arusha seat. He wondered why it had taken only a few hours to do the same for the elections of Ward Counsellors.

He likened the impasse to a time bomb which may unleash bloodshed in the centre of Arusha if for one reason or another foul play was suspected to have been committed in the whole process by the authorise and thus denying their candidate’s victory. He was of the view that they may even physically attack their candidate and his family if he consents to having lost the elections. No surrender, he concluded gloomily.

I had nothing to add but mumble something to the effect that I was in total agreement with all his views.

To make matters worse I could not collect my spectacles from the optician as his shop like many others in downtown Arusha was closed. Apparently most of shops had not opened last Monday for fear of the unknown.

Driving back we had to again pass through the huge mass of people. My heart jumped a beat, pumped faster and I felt some butterflies fluttering in my stomach when I noticed some of those in the group had hidden machetes, long knives and clubs inside their garments.

It could feel the tension in the air. It seemed all of Arusha was about to go up in flames. I swore I will immediately sneak out with my contraption and using back roads rush back home and go straight to bed.

Juma parked his cab and told me in almost threatening words that I had to part with 7,000/- for the trip. In appreciation of the mood I could not haggle as is always the case. I was on the verge of fishing out the ‘msimbazi’ note when the car radio spluttered out some news flash; the Election Returning Officer for Arusha has just announced that Godbless Lema of Chadema has won the Arusha seat!

Suddenly Juma waved me off saying he did not need my cab fare and instead urged me to go and buy myself a beer and ‘nyama choma’ with it. Honking loudly he zoomed off. Somehow his ramshackle of a cab had also suddenly come to life.

Given the high-stakes ideological wars being fought in modern American politics, and with such intense levels of rhetoric, it’s interesting to consider what the Presidential election of 2012 might look like. Three scenarios present themselves: an extension of the current situation, a Republican Congress for the coming two years (or at least half of Congress), or a Democratic Congress

Assuming for the moment, no matter how improbable it is, that Congress stays in essentially the same form of seat-based gridlock, a curious situation arises: if Congressional Republicans, and the GOP at large, continue the path they’ve begun of obstruction, rollbacks, repeals, and “how far can we move to the right”, they will have essentially handed the Presidency to President Obama for his second Term of Office. Contrary to the belief of some, a policy of obstruction and extreme conservatism is not what the majority of America wishes to see, and it places the members of such a party in an unelectable position. More importantly, however, is the gift they give to their opponent: talking points.

Even if nothing else is passed in Congress over the next few years, President Obama will have healthcare reform, financial reform, the beginning of Iraqi withdrawal, an Afghanistan military timetable, and considerably more to speak about. Additionally, the GOP’s “Pledge to America” and well-documented behavior will give him the ability to point toward the actions of Republicans over the preceding four years, and ask America if this is truly what they want more of. It’s easy to see how, no matter who the Republican candidate is, this would be another landslide election for President Obama – no matter personal opinion of his time as President, he truly shines in a competitive campaign environment, and hard data will only strengthen his position.

Similarly, a Democratic Congress for another two years is merely an extension of the aforementioned situation, as it would both give Republicans the ability to continue to obstruct and generally fail to govern, without actually handing the government over to them. Therefore, the presentation of a Republican Congress is the only truly different scenario, as there would be a period of two years for President Obama to reference, using their failed control of Congress against them. It’s not difficult to imagine a Republican Congress refusing to cooperate with President Obama’s policy goals, just as it’s not difficult to imagine President Obama handily vetoing many of the pieces of legislation passed under such a Congress.

If, however, a Republican Congress manages to achieve some of their stated goals, such as a repeal of healthcare reforms, continued protection of Big Business, or a version of “fiscal conservatism” that results in an even greater national deficit, they will have once more walked into a corner. Two years of Republican policies, perhaps even ones that negatively effect the country, will be far easier set of talking points for a Democratic Presidential candidate to use on the campaign than the obstruction of a Congressional minority. When President Obama can point to the number of ludicrous bills he vetoed, or bills turned into law that were catastrophic in their results, the election will have again been won.

Perhaps Republicans will take some Congressional seats in November, although any form of majority seems unlikely, but this is not necessarily for the net negative – two years of Republican rule in Congress will see President Obama handily re-elected for a second Term of Office, and control of Congress passing once more to Democrats, in a far larger majority than in 2008. The only choice the GOP has to avoid this future is to stop, effective immediately, their continued push to the extreme right of both ideology and religion, but this is, realistically, all but impossible. Having built their existence and negligible growth on the fundamentalist ideology of the Tea Party and other similarly non-mainstream ideas, it would, at this point, be difficult to reverse course, or even slow the process.

Republicans, welcome to your future.

From Kyle Brady…

Kyle can be found on his blog, via email, or on Twitter.

At first, I was weary about the charges of fraud in Iran’s election.  After a decade of living outside my own country,  I’ve seen the Western media rush to judgement on anything to do with the Middle East far too many times - their bias is undeniable.  A week later, however, it’s become obvious . . . the Iranian election was rigged.

On June 23rd, Iranian authorties went so far as to admit the number of votes in dozens of cities across the country exceeded the number of eligible voters by nearly three million. Still, the regime says, election results will stand. That’s kind of like someone slapping you across the face and then saying there’s nothing you can do about it.

To each and every Iranian who has taken to the streets in the name of truth, RELATIVITY OnLine salutes you. What you are doing is valiant and just.  Elections are for the people and not the government, but some seem unaware of this very basic political ideal. Egypt’s Hosni Mubarack “winning” elections by receiving 99% of the popular vote is another prime example of voting irregularities in this region.  

The people of Iran, at least, have had enough and are standing up to leaders to say so. Courage lives on, hope never dies, and despite what many have forgotten, the world is what we make it . . .