Ms. Bonner, Mr. Powell and Why I’m Now a Democrat

In recent days, my attention was grabbed by former Secretary of State Colin Powell and Yelena Bonner, the widow of Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov.

The one I applaud is the former Mrs. Sakharov.  In a speech delivered in Norway, she pointed out that the Palestinians are still being referred to as refugees even though only a tiny percentage of them have ever even set foot in Israel.  According to my dictionary, and I assume Ms. Bonner’s, a refugee is someone who has fled from violence and wars.  How on earth can the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of those who left Israel in order to avoid being killed or injured by the invading Arab forces in 1948, 61 long years ago, be regarded as refugees?

It reminds me of American blacks who, 45 years after passage of the Civil Rights Act, continue to benefit from various programs such as Affirmative Action and Operation Head Start.  Is there no such thing as a statute of limitations, no point at which commonsense kicks in and people are permitted to say, “Enough is enough,” without being branded a villain?

Ms. Bonner pointed out that while every do-gooder group in the world seems to be concerned about the comfort level of Islamic terrorists at Gitmo, armed combatants who aren’t even covered by the Geneva Conventions because they don’t wear uniforms, carry a flag or even fight for a specific nation, nobody outside of Israel seems the least bit concerned about Gilad Schalit, the Israeli soldier who was abducted three years ago by Hamas.  She’s right, of course.  Our politicians don’t care, the U.N. doesn’t care, and God knows all those left-wing ACLU lawyers who are lined up eager to defend Islamic terrorists, up to and including Osama bin Laden, should he ever be captured, sure don’t give a damn. (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: Andrei Sakharov, Bo, Colin Powell, Israel, Obama
Posted Jun 5th 2009 at 8:16 am in Politics | 1491386 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bprelutsky/2009/06/05/responding-to-ms-bonner-and-mr-powell/Ms.+Bonner%2C+Mr.+Powell+and+Why+I%27m+Now+a+Democrat2009-06-05+15%3A16%3A45Burt+Prelutsky

Resuscitating the GOP

A popular topic of conversation these days is what ails the Republican Party. Everyone from barbershop pundits and opinion writers to former Bush administration officials have waded in with opinions and cures.

More than a few have proffered that the problem with the Republican Party is that it has moved too far from the political center and given too much sway to the fringe right. They hold that in order to survive and become vibrant again the Grand Old Party must jettison (or at least silence) the far right and must begin appealing to the moderate wing of the party. In other words the party must become even more like Democrats. I suspect this brilliant advice was dreamed up by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid while doing shots of Tequila in some smart bar in Georgetown. They never dreamed Republicans would be so daft as to actually consider it.

Giving voice to a version of this madness, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, spoke to a group of corporate security executives and warned that the ills of the party could be traced to the repeating of the far right mantra. Powell went on to say, “Americans do want to pay taxes for services,” he continued, “Americans are looking for more government in their life, not less.” (more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: 2010, 2012, Colin Powell, gop, Harry Reid
Posted May 11th 2009 at 1:52 pm in Featured Story, Politics | 132362One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jphillips/2009/05/11/resuscitating-the-gop/Resuscitating+the+GOP2009-05-11+20%3A52%3A23Joseph+C.+Phillips