EVERYONE - EVEN POLITICIANS - ARE ENTITLED to their opinions. Voters may not LIKE a politician's opinions, but until they express themselves, how are we to judge them?
BEN CARSON & MUSLIMS Dr. Ben raised the liberals' ire and raised conservative eyebrows when he allegedly declared that no Muslim should be president.
- Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson “absolutely would not” support a Muslim president, as he told NBC host Chuck Todd in a “Meet the Press” interview airing this Sunday, according to the The Christian Science Monitor
The entire Carson Meet the Press interview is online, but be prepared to suffer a long commercial before the interview starts. The "No Muslim president" remark comes near the end of the interview.
If Muslims are precluded from the Oval Office, then why not Catholics (John Kennedy) who opponents said he would be a tool of Rome. Likewise those of other beliefs. What about Mormons? They are Christians, but not "main stream." Could a Buddhist be president; the candidate cannot claim a Judeo-Christian religious background?
MARCO RUBIO & CUBA Florida's junior senator is incensed that the incumbent has opened diplomatic relations with Cuba. Rubio is the son of Cuban immigrant parents who arrived in the U.S. in 1956. Neither of his parents was a citizen at the time of Rubio’s birth in 1971 in Miami. They did not become naturalized until 1975; however, Rubio, as a natural born citizen, IS eligible to run for U.S. president under the Constitution.
Rubio is against lifting the embargo - or having any contact at all with Cuba - because of the Castro regime's human rights policies. The question must be asked: What about China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Vietnam, and a host of other nations with human rights records as bad as, or worse than, Cuba yet the U.S. has embargo-less diplomatic relations with those countries. Somehow Sen. Rubio's position re Cuba "does not compute."
Trump on the president's credentials While "The Donald" (Trump) didn't actually SAY it, when asked if the incumbent's was (a) eligible to run for office and (b) was a Muslim, he is said (by the media) to have answered "Yes."
Trump is known for candid speech, and he also is known for saying what a lot of people believe. The incumbent is the son of a Muslim father and, under Islamic law, that makes him a Muslim. Although he claims to be a Christian, his choice of churches - with the anti-American preacher, The Rev. Jeremiah Wright - makes one wonder what "type" Christian. As for the incumbent's claim to have been born in the U.S., it took two years into his first term for a birth certificate to be provided, and according to some document experts, the provided document is "suspect."
Carly Fiorina, who often disagrees with "The Donald's" candid comments, is a candidate with whom I have personal, albeit second hand, experience. She was head of Hewlett-Packard (HP) when my Compaq computer failed. Under her tenure, customer service was more than "just talk." On the other hand, like President Nixon, I think she allowed some of her "trusted few" to do her in and that, as it did with Nixon, cost her her job. That was then; this is now, and I suspect she learned the lesson: "watch your back."
Congressional speeches and presidential welcomes The pope, the Vatican's Chief Executive Officer - as the president is to the U.S. - is to visit the U.S. He is to be welcomed by the president and he is to give a speech before the a joint session of Congress, with the president slated to be in attendance.
How different from how hot under the collar the president got when Israel's prime minister - as the pope, his country's CEO - spoke to a joint session at Congress' invitation. The Israeli was snubbed; no invitation to visit with the incumbent at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue; but this was hardly the first time the president has snubbed the Israeli. (On the other hand, the president traveled to Saudi Arabia where he bowed to that oppressive state's king.)
U.S. response to UN condemnation: silence For the first time, the United States may be willing to accept a United Nations condemnation of the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba without a fight, The Associated Press has learned. " Merely considering an abstention is unprecedented" the article continues.
On the other hand, the U.S. has laws against Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) actions against other nations and it has full diplomatic relations with most of the nations on the lists of human rights violators.
According to the 2014 Human Rights Risk Atlas the following at the "Top 10" of nations that are guilty of human rights violations:
- Syria
- Sudan
- Democratic Republic of Congo
- Pakistan
- Somalia
- Afghanistan
- Iraq
- Yemen
- Myanmar
- Nigeria
Where is Cuba? It failed to make the cut for the "Top 10." There are only three (3) countries with which the U.S. lacks diplomatic relations; two are Iran and North Korea (and relations with Iran probably will be restored in the near future, despite its leaders' rhetoric). The third country is tiny Bhutan; the only embassies in Bhutan's capital are Bangladesh and India.
The Human Rights Watch report covering Afghanistan to Zimbabwe is available as a PDF document at https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/wr2015_web.pdf
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