baldilocks

Kenya Roundup: Ban Ki-Moon, Annan in Nairobi

It’s impossible to know who really won the Kenya election.

Official results gave Kibaki an edge of 231,728 votes, or 2 percent, out of about 10 million cast. Initial results of an exit poll by the U.S.-funded International Republican Institute found that rival Raila Odinga had won by an 8 percent margin.

Election officials allowed five accredited Kenyan observers into the tallying center in Nairobi only in the final phase of vote-counting, and three of them shared their accounts with McClatchy [News Service]. All said that the gravest cheating occurred in that room, where commissioners — all appointed by Kibaki — compiled returns before announcing them to the public. [SNIP]

Results were announced even when documents were missing, incomplete, unsigned by officers or party representatives, incorrectly tabulated, photocopied or forged.

"Both sides stole votes," said Julius Melli, a 31-year-old Kenyan radiographer who witnessed the tallying of Maragua [District]. "But Kibaki stole more, and they stole it inside the tallying center."

Again someone wants to know where to locate the leadership—governmental, moral and spiritual.

Another ODM MP dies—this time at the hands of the police. From the details, the shooting may merely be the result of a romantic triangle, but the timing couldn’t be worse.

The killing has led to the postponement of peace talks in the capital, Nairobi.

The first substantive talks between government and opposition began earlier on Thursday.

"We have postponed this afternoon's session and we will work all day tomorrow [Friday] so that the leaders can attend to urgent matters and call their constituents," said former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who is mediating the talks.

(As you may have gathered, I’m not all that jazzed up about Kofi Annan’s arrival to mediate the conflict. It isn’t as though he has an exemplary track record in such matters during his tenure as Secretary-general of the UN. :::cough:::Iraq:::cough:::)

It’s all about the Rift Valley.

Spiritual warfare made flesh? A Catholic Priest falls to one of the mobs.

This past Saturday, Father Michael Kamau of the Nakuru diocese lost his life to the downward spiraling violence in Kenya. A man of faith, kindness and inspiration, Father Michael will be deeply missed.

His death is the terrible result of terrifying ethnic divisions that are splitting Kenya in two. Father Michael was returning from the seminary where he taught, in Kakamega, to his home diocese. Like thousands of other Kenyans, he was stopped at a roadblock by a gang of vengeful youth. He was asked to show his ID, and when his name revealed that he was of the opposing Kikuyu ethnic group, the gang brutally killed him on the roadside.

Unfortunately, I think that this is an answer to the above question regarding moral and spiritual leadership.

Ban Ki-Moon arrives in Kenya.

The Government and ODM negotiators Thursday gave hope to millions of Kenyans deeply hit by a political crisis by agreeing that the ongoing violence must end in seven days.

The talks are expected to be boosted Friday by the arrival of United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon to offer support to his predecessor, Mr Kofi Annan, who is leading the mediation process.

The two teams will today decide on a proposal to bring on board former African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general Cyril Ramaphosa as the chief mediator of the talks.

The six-member team, which will henceforth be called the Kenya National Dialogue Team, emerged from their inaugural meeting chaired by Mr Annan beaming with optimism at progress of the talks.

African Union chairman: "If Kenya burns, there will be nothing for tomorrow.”

The Kenya Crisis

While the Electorate's Attention Is Diverted

…Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.

--Matthew 22:21 KJV

Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” thus building a wall of separation between church and State.

--Thomas Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptist Association, dated January 1, 1802.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…

--US Constitution, Amendment One

While some members of the US Senate are busy running for president and other members are picking sides between them, still others are working behind the scenes for the watchword of the day: change. That change, if successful, will most certainly be dramatic. The question remains, however, is whether the prospective change is good, desirable, or whether it is even constitutional.

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the Senate Finance Committee chair, is heading a investigation into the finances of six Christian ministries. Each ministry must provide the committee with all information concerning its expenses, executive compensation, and amenities given to executives. The investigation started in November.

The inquiry is part of Grassley’s long-standing interest in making sure tax-exempt organizations are accountable to donors.

"I’m following up on complaints from the public and news coverage regarding certain practices at six ministries," Grassley said. "The allegations involve governing boards that aren’t independent and allow generous salaries and housing allowances and amenities such as private jets and Rolls Royces. I don’t want to conclude that there’s a problem, but I have an obligation to donors and the taxpayers to find out more. People who donated should have their money spent as intended and in adherence with the tax code."

Grassley wrote to Randy and Paula White of Without Walls International Church and Paula White Ministries of Tampa, Fla.; Benny Hinn of World Healing Center Church, Inc. and Benny Hinn Ministries of Grapevine, Texas; David and Joyce Meyer of Joyce Meyer Ministries of Fenton, Mo.; Kenneth and Gloria Copeland of Kenneth Copeland Ministries of Newark, Texas; Bishop Eddie Long of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church and Bishop Eddie Long Ministries of Lithonia, Ga., and Creflo and Taffi Dollar of World Changers Church International and Creflo Dollar Ministries of College Park, Ga.

All of these ministries are familiar to me and, except for the Meyers (who have already complied with the Senate's "request"), all either explicitly say or give off the impression that they subscribe to the "prosperity doctrine"--that a Christian should give his/her church tithes and offerings in order to receive something tangible in return, rather than doing so because God commands it. (I would assume that the private aircraft and the Rolls Royces are evidence that the doctrine is sound. Okay, not really.) The deadline to furnish the information to the Senate Committee was December 6, 2007, so the ball is in the Committee's court.

Are these ministries grossly profiting from the tithes and offerings of their followers? Heaven only knows. And perhaps it's necessary for an earthly authority to look into answering that question.

But should that authority be the US Senate?
And how would the Senate be sure that a religious entity is accountable to its donors?
What will happen to the five ministries who have refused to release the requested information?
After the situation is resolved, what precedents would be set for governmental agencies to make further demands on some other church, synagogue, mosque, etc.?

See, we may say "yeah! go get 'em" for at least one of the above-mentioned ministries, but, as always, the short-term satisfaction of seeing suspected charlatans get theirs must give way to long-term considerations: whether this investigation will lead to more fishing expeditions in the Church.

If they can do it to these churches without actual evidence of wrong-doing, who's to say that yours isn't next?

Of the investigation, Pastor Joel Hunter of 12,000-member Northland, A Church Distributed in Orlando said that there's nothing to fear if the six entities are innocent. "Nothing to fear if innocent." Why do those words always seem to herald some intrusion upon liberty?

UPDATE: Walking the line--the Copelands aren't exactly operating as if their tax-exempt status is in jeopardy.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A Christian nonprofit says a Texas televangelist turned a national ministers’ gathering last week into a fundraising opportunity for Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee [that guy again], a newspaper reports.

The Trinity Foundation, a charity that monitors televangelists and viewed a live Internet broadcast of the event, said the fundraiser took in $111,000 and generated pledges nearing $1 million, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported in a copyrighted article Tuesday.

The fundraiser was held at Kenneth Copeland Ministries’ campus in Newark, Texas.

Russ Florence of Tulsa, Okla., a spokesman for Copeland, said in a statement that the event did not amount to an endorsement of Huckabee by Kenneth Copeland Ministries. He said Huckabee’s campaign rented one of the rooms after the ministers’ conference and Kenneth Copeland Ministries did not make a contribution to Huckabee’s campaign.

“No offering was or has been taken for any political candidate by Kenneth Copeland Ministries or at a KCM event,” Florence said. [SNIP]

“Basically, Kenneth Copeland simply asked him how he could pray for him and the governor asked him to pray for physical stamina for the team and the financial resources that they need each day,” she said. “I’m not sure who called who.”

Huckabee’s campaign released a statement saying it rented a room for “a separate event that was hosted by a private individual” and was not affiliated with Copeland’s ministry. The campaign said the event conformed with campaign finance laws and tax regulations.

The Trinity Foundation is helping in a Senate investigation, headed by Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee. Grassley began the probe into spending by Christian television ministries last year.

Copeland’s actions “should raise enormous red flags,” said Trinity Foundation founder Ole Anthony. “This is not appropriate as a part of American church life or American politics.”

Kenya: Weapons and Words (UPDATED)

ODM MP Melitus “Mugabe” Were was murdered by a mob; Obama appeals for peace via a Nairobi radio station.
*****

It is inconceivable how people who have all along lived in harmony, shared resources and common utilities, can turn around and start butchering each other senselessly. [SNIP]

Most surprising, President Kibaki, at whom the buck stops, and his rival Raila Odinga, other than that photo-ops session last week, have not taken the message of peace to the doorstep of their followers.

Is there an echo in here or is that just plain common sense?
*****
Many reasons for the implosion. One result.
*****
US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer says that the situation in Kenya is an example of ‘ethnic cleansing’ rather than of genocide. The difference?

The aim originally was not to kill, it was to cleanse, it was to push them out of the region[.]

Normally, I'm just as much the pedant as the next blogger over, but I doubt that this distinction makes a difference to the dead and their families.
*****

Granted, this was started by politicians. The elections were just the flint that set alight the situation. However I refuse to absolve the participants of the mayhem of their share of the blame. The fact of the matter is that at the end of the day you must take responsibility for your [own] actions.

If you threw stones, hacked people, burnt houses or looted then you are also to blame.

If you didn’t throw stones or hack or burn or loot but you spread hate through your blogs, your text messages, your emails and your conversations, please believe you are just as bad as the panga wielding youths. You are equally to blame.

PERSONAL: I asked my sister whether my father and step-mother wanted to get out and, if so, if there was anything I could do to facilitate them doing so and coming here—with me being the lone American in the bunch. However, the only way out is via land vehicle into a neighboring country--such as Uganda--and then by air. And the initial part of that method is more risky than hunkering down at home—at least for some.

Oh and then there’s this.

Reporters Without Borders urges the Kenyan authorities to use all necessary means to quickly identify and punish those responsible for the death threats sent to leading journalists [via email] in Nairobi yesterday, hours after an opposition Orange Democratic Movement parliamentarian was murdered.

My father’s name wasn’t listed, but I don’t think that he’s reading his email anyway.

To those who are praying for my family, I thank you and I urge you to keep doing so for them and for all of the others.

UPDATE: State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack on Frazer's words:

...he would let Jendayi Frazer’s comments stand but did not say they represented Washington’s official position.

He stressed that the State Department’s Office of War Crimes Issues continues to closely monitor the post-election violence between Kenya’s ethnic groups for “any incidence of atrocities” and is documenting all cases being brought to its attention.

The Kenya Crisis

Snub on This

I rose and shined early this morning only to catch the consistent refrain on the news regarding last night’s SOTU address. It isn’t about the president’s speech, of course; it's all about the “Snub.”

They call that a snub? Clinton has been "recklessly eyeballing" Obama the whole campaign. Then her husband starts recklessly wagging his tongue. (Ew.) So when Obama doesn’t grin and say “I’se ain’t mad atchoo Miz Hill’ry” all of a sudden it’s a frickin’ snub. (Oops! Did I just play the Race Card there? Entertainment value, nothing more.)

Seriously speaking, Brian Kilmeade of Fox and Friends mentioned that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recently received similar treatment at the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin. But because the secretary is a Republican, she has forfeited all the victim chits to which she has “rights.” Therefore, to the Usual Suspects, that was ‘all in the game.’ Well guess what? So was the fact that Senator Clinton got a chance to look at Senator Obama’s back side. After the campaign-sanctioned behavior of her husband, Clinton’s lucky that she didn’t get an invitation to kiss it.

End Question: Will the Usual Suspects holler “You Chauvinist Beasts!!! Respect the Vagina!!!” every time that someone doesn’t kiss the next President Clinton’s ring on cue? Feminists! :::rolls eyes:::

Comment on GWB's Final SotU

Would it kill Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives, to at least pretend as though she's paying attention to the speech? How unprofessional.

UPDATE: Is Pelosi reading the speech in that pamphlet? If so, I retract my venom.

So It's All About the Sisterhood, NOW?

The Great Identity Politics War is like the Mother of all Pile-ups; I just can't look away!

The latest salvo sees Ted Kennedy's endorsement of Barack Obama cause New York's NOW chapter to flip out.

Women have just experienced the ultimate betrayal. Senator Kennedy’s endorsement of Hillary Clinton’s opponent in the Democratic presidential primary campaign has really hit women hard. Women have forgiven Kennedy, stuck up for him, stood by him, hushed the fact that he was late in his support of Title IX, the ERA, the Family Leave and Medical Act to name a few. Women have buried their anger that his support for the compromises in No Child Left Behind and the Medicare bogus drug benefit brought us the passage of these flawed bills. We have thanked him for his ardent support of many civil rights bills, BUT women are always waiting in the wings.

And now the greatest betrayal! We are repaid with his abandonment! He’s picked the new guy over us. [SNIP]

This latest move by Kennedy, is so telling about the status of and respect for women’s rights, women’s voices, women’s equality, women’s authority and our ability – indeed, our obligation - to promote and earn and deserve and elect, unabashedly, a President that is the first woman after centuries of men who “know what’s best for us.”

I suppose that the 70+% of black women who voted for Obama in the South Carolina primary aren't really women. Or perhaps black women are too stupid to figure out that Hillary Clinton has their best interest at heart while Obama couldn't possibly have that, being a tripod and all. And see how these tripods stick together?

Somewhere, Mary Jo Kopechne (pictured) is laughing uncontrollably.

(Thanks to Hot Air)

I'm Confused

Toni Morrison, author of Tar Baby and the black woman who dubbed Bill Clinton "the first black president," endorses Barack Obama for president. But if Bill Clinton was the "first black president," doesn't that make Hillary Clinton half-black just like Obama? (Think about it.) And if Obama wins would he be the second black president? So many questions in need of answering. (Not really.)

BTW, if I read just one more person asking the stupid question of why Obama is thought of as black when he has one white parent, I'm going to send that person a load of US History links...or perhaps I'll just ask them how they think all we millions of not-jet-black black Americans came out not-jet-black. (Hint: not through osmosis.)

(Thanks to Dan Collins at Protein Wisdom)

Kennedys Claim Their Own

In the wake of Senator Obama's landslide primary victory in South Carolina, the Kennedys have made a big to-do of formally endorsing him for president. First it was JFK's daughter Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg over the weekend. Today it's Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and his son, Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI). Considering the questionable state of sobriety at a given moment for those last two, I'm not so sure that they won't regret it in the morning, but I am sure that Obama will make the most of their seal of approval.

Says Allahpundit:

Having him and Caroline endorse as a pair will go a long way towards sidetracking the post-Carolina “black candidate” narrative Team Hillary’s trying to jump-start, so either Obama’s the luckiest pol alive or this is a master stroke of media management by him and his campaign

A dead-on assessment, but what I find interesting is the convergence of the Kennedy family and Obama's existence. Don't forget; the Kennedy Foundation is directly responsible for Obama being here. (Of course, the foundation is responsible for me being here also but I'm not exactly "on-message." Story of my life.)

Do you wonder what's going on behind the scenes at Team Clinton? These lines from the Politico article might give some indication:

Rejecting a personal entreaty from President Bill Clinton, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy plans to endorse Barack Obama for president in a joint appearance on Monday, Democratic sources said. [SNIP]

“This is the biggest Democratic endorsement Obama could possibly get short of Bill Clinton,” said a high-level Democrat.

:::snort:::

UPDATE: Obama has an uphill battle in the big states with the exception of Georgia and, of course, Illinois.

That the Kennedys, Senator John Kerry--you remember him, don't you?--and several other Democrat senators are going out of their way to give Obama a push in the face of these numbers says more than their estimation of him as "the face of hope"--it says that there's some bad blood between Senator Clinton and some of her colleagues. Juicy.

[Re-edited]

(Thanks to Gabriel Malor at Ace of Spades HQ)

Kenya Descends

I'm tired.

After a month of bloodshed, Raila Odinga and President Mwai Kibaki finally met face-to-face last week for that proverbial photo op. It was the first time the two had met since the country fell into ethnic violence as a result of Kenya's December 27th election.

The meeting didn't do anything to stop the violence, which, of course it wasn't meant to. Good thing too.

At least 19 people were killed here on Sunday in battles between members of President Mwai Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe and Luos and Kalenjins who backed his rival Raila Odinga in disputed elections a month ago.

A Reuters reporter heard screams late into the night. Mobs stopped cars on the main highway and demanded passengers' identity cards. One man was beaten before being kicked under the wheels of a minibus as it sped to safety.

At least 750 people have died since the December 27 polls plunged Kenya into a spiral of violence, battering its image as an east African trade and tourism hub and one of the continent's more stable nations.

And the backlash has begun in earnest.

Kikuyus torched the homes of Luo rivals in the center of Navaisha. Police, apparently overwhelmed, did not intervene. Gunshots rang out into the evening.

Looters used iron bars to smash the windows of shops belonging to non-Kikuyu businesspeople, and made off with television sets, groceries and clothing.

One woman came screaming down the road from a blazing house.

"They set it on fire, they are killing my brother and sister," Alice Okoth said.

Mike Aringo, a 27-year-old resident, said hundreds of men swarmed the area Sunday morning.

"They told us if you are a Luo, you will be killed today," Aringo said. Odinga is a Luo.

PERSONAL: My father was fine as of yesterday. His English grammar/usage column and his political column ran on successive days. However, I am under no illusion that his renown or his age would grant him permanent immunity to the blood lust of murderous gangs were they able to catch up with him, my step-mother or anyone else in my family. But I pray and I hope.

Here's the best from Father's political column, in which he tells the story of a low-ranking Kenyan police officer talking a mob down from their intended actions:

Said he: “Listen, my brothers and sisters. This is our country. We have built it together for many arduous years. What can we possibly gain by destroying it with the same single ‘stroke of havoc’ with which uncaring people once ‘unselved’ the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins’ “aspens dear’?”

The words are mine. But the message was the policemen’s. [SNIP]

And it showed that the mob is not always completely deaf to reasoned appeals. As soon as my hero finished his words, I saw the crowd balk and turn back. I saw a number throw away their “crude weapons”...[SNIP]

This was where [Kibaki and Odinga] let the nation down. [SNIP]

Even when they finally made the appeal, it left a great deal to be desired. For, as I say, appeals which are not didactical are almost always worthless.

An appeal must be explanatory. It must teach Kenyans why it is useless and dangerous to kill one another for the sake of parochial politicians.

The reason we kill one another as tribes at critical political moments is that none of our institutions of governance and moral upbringing has done anything serious to demystify and demonise the tribe as a vehicle of politics.

We usually lay the blame on the Government, the Church and the university.

We should. But, in my opinion, the living room is the chief culprit.

It is there that we introduce our children to some of the most grotesque tribal stereotypes. As they say, prevention is cheaper than cure.

UPDATE: Ninety dead over the weekend.

The Kenya Crisis

The President Stands By Saddam WMD Claim

...on this day in 1998, and, um, it's not the president you thought it was.

(Thanks to Gateway Pundit and to the Anchoress)

Puzzle Pieces

A few years back, veteran editor Tina Brown opined that “bloggers were the new Stasi.” In response, I opined that if our journalistic betters were going to hurl epithets at us that it wasn’t too much to ask that they know what those epithets mean so that they could be sure that the epithet was appropriate before hurling it.

“Stasi” is German shorthand for Staatssicherheit— literally ‘state security,’ the late East Germany’s infamous and feared secret police force. Think of all the images and concepts conjured by the phrase “secret police force in a communist country.” The Stasi not only embodied those images and concepts, it defined them. As far as I know, bloggers have not banded together to kick down doors and drag ideological enemies away for interrogation and/or confinement. Banding together to fact-check and trade information on the public writings of our betters as we imbibe adult beverages is another story, however.

But now, I can see where Brown’s comparison made some semblance of sense; the Stasi watched the every move of every citizen and visitor in German Democratic Republic* and bloggers watch every move of professional journalists. One might also argue that with all of the personal cameras and microphones lurking around every corner to capture images of everything happening that some bloggers are fast approaching the Stasi’s level of nosiness. But Brown’s metaphor was still a very imperfect one that shouldn’t have been used. I thought that journalists wanted their offerings read and dissected. :::snark:::

Anyway, that’s a setup to point you to the fascinating story of the Stasi’s legacy, dark-sided as it is and the attempts to preserve that very tangible legacy as a reminder. Embodying stereotype of German efficiency, the Stasi kept meticulous records of everyone they surveilled. In the wake of the fall of the Berlin Wall, they succeed in destroying roughly 5% of it.

That might not sound like much, but the agency had generated perhaps more paper than any other bureaucracy in history — possibly a billion pages of surveillance records, informant accounting, reports on espionage, analyses of foreign press, personnel records, and useless minutiae. There's a record for every time anyone drove across the border.

Which means I have one.

In the chaos of the days leading up to the actual destruction of the wall and the fall of East Germany's communist government, frantic Stasi agents sent trucks full of documents to the Papierwolfs and Reisswolfs — literally "paper-wolves" and "rip-wolves," German for shredders. As pressure mounted, agents turned to office shredders, and when the motors burned out, they started tearing pages by hand — 45 million of them, ripped into approximately 600 million scraps of paper.

There's no way to know what bombshells those files hide. For a country still trying to come to terms with its role in World War II and its life under a totalitarian regime, that half-destroyed paperwork is a tantalizing secret.

The machine-shredded stuff is confetti, largely unrecoverable. But in May 2007, a team of German computer scientists in Berlin announced that after four years of work, they had completed a system to digitally tape together the torn fragments. Engineers hope their software and scanners can do the job in less than five years — even taking into account the varying textures and durability of paper, the different sizes and shapes of the fragments, the assortment of printing (from handwriting to dot matrix) and the range of edges (from razor sharp to ragged and handmade.) "The numbers are tremendous. If you imagine putting together a jigsaw puzzle at home, you have maybe 1,000 pieces and a picture of what it should look like at the end," project manager Jan Schneider says. "We have many millions of pieces and no idea what they should look like when we're done."

The wholesale destruction of the files was prevented by the East German citizens themselves.

In several small cities, rumors started circulating that records were being destroyed. Smoke, fires, and departing trucks confirmed the fears of angry Germans, who rushed in to their local Stasi offices, stopped the destruction, and spontaneously organized citizen committees that could post guards to secure the archives. Demonstrators spray-painted the walls with slogans like "The files belong to us" and "Stasi get out." Finally, on the evening of January 15, 1990, thousands of demonstrators pushed in the front gate of the Stasi's fortified Berlin compound.

It's long, but very interesting--especially in light of the fact that some of our betters seem to be forgetting the inefficiencies and abuses inherent in socialist/communist governments--or hoping that the average citizens forgets. Read the whole thing.

(Thanks to Instapundit)

*In an important tie to my ongoing Kenya series, Kenya’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) opposition leader Raila Odinga received a degree in mechanical engineering from what is now Otto von Guericke University of Magdeburg in Magdeburg, Germany. Magdeburg was part of East Germany when Odinga was a student there.

Kenya: This Should Set the Tongues to Wagging

Barack Obama writes an editorial for Kenya's Daily Nation:

Clearly, Kenya has reached a defining moment. It is up to Kenyan leaders and the Kenyan population to turn away from the path of bloodshed, division, and repression, and to turn towards reconciliation, negotiation, and renewed commitment to democratic governance. There is no doubt that there were serious flaws in the process by which presidential votes were tabulated. There is also no doubt that actions taken by both sides in the aftermath of the election have deepened the stalemate.

But Kenya’s hard-won democracy and precious national unity can be salvaged. Now is the time for all parties to renounce violence. And now is the time for President Kibaki, Raila Odinga, and all of Kenya’s leaders, to calm tensions, to come together unconditionally, and to implement a political process that peacefully addresses the controversies that divide them and restores the Kenyan people’s confidence in their political system.

WHEN I RECENTLY SPOKE WITH Opposition leader Raila, I urged him to enter into talks with President Kibaki without preconditions — mass protests and violence are not the way out of this crisis. I have also reached out to President Kibaki in order to encourage him to refrain from further steps that would exclude meaningful opposition participation in the government.

The rule of law and the rights of the Kenyan people — including freedom of the media and the freedom of peaceful assembly — must be restored. The negotiated solution to this crisis must be peaceful and political. It must take account of past failures and seek to prevent future conflict.

Americans stand together in our friendship with the people of Kenya. I have spoken to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and I support the message delivered by assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer during her visit to Nairobi.

Please read the whole thing not because it's all that exciting, but because there seem to be some misconceptions floating around the American political blogosphere regarding Obama's communication with Odinga. I just wanted to be sure that the information is noted.

On a lighter note, the Kenyan newspaper takes time to note Obama's hurdles.

Click to EnlargeThe Kenya Crisis

Good News

Glenn Reynolds has the word that Australian blogger Tim Blair is "out of surgery and doing fine." Blair was diagnosed with colon cancer.

A Country's Suicide

Another of Kenya's famed runners is felled by his countrymen.

Wesley Ngetich, the 2006 Chevron Houston Marathon runner-up who pushed the race's three-time champion David Cheruiyot to a then career-best time with a personal best, has been killed in the spreading tribal violence that is rocking his native Kenya. [SNIP]

Ngetich had planned to run the P. F. Chang's Rock 'N' Roll Marathon in Phoenix the same day as the Houston race a week ago but was unable to get a flight out of Kenya because of the fighting.

What is there to add?

UPDATE: Save the Children accepts refugees in Uganda--old people and their orphaned grandchildren.

With one baby strapped to her back, another in her arms and a posse of other grandchildren clinging to her skirts, Mary Nyawera stood in line for food rations.

The explosion of violence over Kenya's disputed election has cost Nyawera her home, her livelihood and all four of her sons. She is now the sole provider for 22 grandchildren, all refugees at a border camp in neighboring Uganda.

The 74-year-old was lucky to be called to the front of the line here recently, where she received some ground corn and dried beans. SNIP]

John Karanja, 76, has used what little money he was able to salvage from his looted home to buy his orphaned grandchildren — he fled with 10 of them — milk and other food.

"It is not easy to feed the children. They don't want to eat the food supplied by the charities," he explained.

Three weeks ago Karanja lived in comfort, raising pigs, cows and goats on his farm.

Then a mob armed with machetes arrived. "They destroyed everything, and looted everything. They cut the animals (down) and set fire to what they could not carry with them," he says.

And the cash he managed to escape with is running out. [SNIP]

"If I met Odinga today I would tell him that 'You are a killer,'" Karanja said. "And Kibaki, I would tell him to improve on the security, especially in areas where his supporters are hunted."

The Kenya Crisis

New Baldilocks Page: The Kenya Crisis

Today’s high traffic has spurred me up from my natural state of procrastination into creating a page for my coverage of the crisis in Kenya. I realized that it would become necessary to create when the post count went past ten and I began to get more a more emails asking what the heck is going on over there and began to have people responded to individual posts as if the other twenty-plus didn’t exist.

My answer to “what’s going on”: I don’t know first-hand, or even second-hand. My male progenitor being a well-known Kenyan journalist confers no natural knowledge upon me--a woman born and raised American and one who has never set foot on the African continent. All of the information presented here—from both Mainstream Media and New Media sources--is information gathered by me. I cannot vouch for any of its accuracy or even vouch that any of my own analysis is accurate.

My purpose here is to present the information, give it some semblance of narrative, drop in some opining here and there (and take my lumps), let the reader make up his/her own mind and, hopefully, spur the reader to look into the situation further. And I hope that the interest in this crisis does not spring solely from the fact that one of the Democrat presidential candidates is also descended from a Kenyan. There are people murdering each other. Yet again.

There are those who will never be interested in the violence that plagues Africa—those who believe that the perennial ethnic conflict stems from a brutality that is genetic in the black African. These posts aren’t for them. Then there are those who view any advocacy for Africans as a plea for intervention—monetarily, humanitarianly or militarily. To them I say, step outside of your own assumptions.

The posts on the page are listed from the most recent to the earliest, dated from New Year's Day. If I get enough feedback from those who prefer the opposite, I’ll change it. Maybe. :-) Meanwhile, I’ll be adding posts at the top.

The Kenya Crisis

Not Shocked (UPDATED)

Bob Owens publicizes the written statements made during the military investigation related to Scott Beauchamp's "Shock Troops" series.

Observation: these guys have the worst handwriting! Casualty of the keyboard.

UPDATE (January 22, 2008): Bob now has two of Scott Beauchamp's written statements posted.

What He Said

John McCain in a nutshell:

He's a jerk. He's a hero, too? Fine. I guess some heroes are jerks. I'll be happy to sign a petition saluting him for his courage and determination. Just keep his crazy ass out of the White House. I don't believe that collaboration BS known fruitcake Ross Perot has been spouting, but while McCain was probably loyal back then, he's definitely a collaborator NOW. The country would be a hell of a lot better off if it were the other way around. It wouldn't have hurt us in the slightest if he had accepted a few prison upgrades from Charlie. Opening the borders [McCain-Kennedy] and repealing the first amendment [McCain-Feingold]...THAT is real damage.

--Steve Graham of Hog on Ice

Day of Dreams

Chicago Tribune: Black and white congregations come together to honor Martin Luther King Jr.

Public Broadcasting System: Protest over MLK statue goes against king's dream

Atlanta Journal Constitution: This Martin Luther King Jr. goes by the name 'Marty'

Daily Nation (Kenya): Do not dishonour Martin Luther King Jr.

National Public Radio: Photographer chronicles Martin Luther King murals

Associate Press: Historians fear MLK's legacy being lost

Dallas Morning News: In Arkansas, MLK shares holiday with Gen. Robert E. Lee

It's On! (UPDATED: Video)

Other that the Kenya post--set last night to automatically post early this morning--I wasn't going to post today. However, this is bit of politicking is too delicious not to comment upon. In an interview that will run on ABC's "Good Morning America" tomorrow morning, Barack Obama says that Bill Clinton "...has taken his advocacy on behalf of his wife to a level that I think is pretty troubling."

"He continues to make statements that are not supported by the facts -- whether it's about my record of opposition to the war in Iraq or our approach to organizing in Las Vegas. This has become a habit, and one of the things that we're going to have to do is to directly confront Bill Clinton when he's making statements that are not factually accurate.

In short, Obama is saying that the former president is a lying sack. So what else is new, Senator?

The remarkable thing about the statements as a tactic is this: it changes the nature of this war--a war called the 2008 Democrat nomination process, but is one that may be dubbed the Great Identity Politics War when we look back on it.

Obama has--wisely--changed to a more vulnerable target. No longer does the battle pit Man against Woman--one in which the woman is perceived to be the underdog even if the man is black and the woman is white. Now it's Black Man against White Man--and you know who the alleged underdog is in this battle.

Just remember the nature of Identity Politics Wars; the "weaker" opponent is always the victor.

"Fascinating."

(Thanks to Memeorandum; photo lifted from Gateway Pundit)

UPDATE: Related evidence of the nature of Identity Politics Wars: Benedict Oprah!

UPDATE: Welcome Instapundit and Captain's Quarters Readers!

UPDATE: Video at Hot Air.

UPDATE: Here's another salvo from the video. Obama:

President Clinton went on the...in front of a large group [and] said that I'd claimed that only Republicans had had any good ideas since 1980. And then he added "I'm not making this up." He was making it up and completely mischaracterizing my statement.

I'd say that the truce has ended. Just a guess.

Power to the People?

Let's not forget that a disputed election started this--a condition with which we Americans are quite familiar. Here is a Kenya Crisis Chronology from Reuters

Some Common Sense Commentary

Philip Ochieng at the Daily Nation:

Whether the rage [against the Kibaki government] is justified or not is not the point. The reality is that it is pent-up. So I agree that the task is to defuse it. Yet, by attacking it only with tear gas, bullets and barricades, the government is doing just the opposite. It is simply intensifying the rage.

That is the puzzle. Instead of trying to cool the tempers and thus turn the situation to its own advantage, the government seems determined to make the rage much more difficult to deal with. Yet to blunt its edges would be by far the more cost-effective option.

Consider it. If you had allowed the mass to gather and express itself freely in Nairobi and other urban areas, the mass would have let off all the steam. The mass would have been deflated completely. And you would have bagged much needed political capital into the bargain.

Instead, you have played right into the hands of some very powerful national and international detractors. They include not only the opposition – the chief complainant – but also the human rights organisations and the entire international liberal community. They will point out, quite rightly, that you have abused the people’s constitutional right to peaceful and orderly demonstrations to protest against whatever they may see as injustice. Though you have expressed your own view of what happened after the elections, it cannot be the only view.

Nick Deverell at Kenya Cricket (normally a sports blog):

What we can be sure of is that in the days since, both men have done plenty to show Kenyans and the World that neither deserve to be president of our beloved country. Kibaki's actions in accepting a dubious result and then being sworn in immediately after the election and Odinga's in the manner of his protests and refusal to even attempt to address this in an adult or legal manner have only lead to bloodshed, not to sorting out of a problem that should have been addressed in a sensible and straightforward manner. [SNIP]

A question for these 2 so called 'honorable' gentlemen: How many INNOCENT Kenyans have to die before you see sense? How many deaths can you justify on your path to State House? If the answer was even 1, you do not deserve to be president and yet the death toll stands at over 500. Even as more Kenyans die, you still have not met face to face.

Here's an example of the "democracy" and the short-sightedness that the two men above are railing against.

"Jan. 16: Kenyan riot police officers on horseback chase photographers in central Nairobi, Kenya."

(Photo and quote courtesy of Joseph Karoki of Insight Kenya)
The death toll resulting from the most recent wave of protests stands at 33; the total toll stands anywhere from 500 to over 1000--people killed by the police or by their neighbors. So what does Odinga do? He calls for more protests to start on Thursday.

The Kenyan people have the power to do this the right way. Can they use it? Will they? A ray of hope here:

I have been expecting many of the younger voters to come and express their anger at me for getting their hopes up that their vote was as powerful as anyone else’s vote. Instead what I have seen is very encouraging; people are engaged in the political process as never before.

For example, earlier on Tuesday a group of youth were busy calculating how many votes you need to be elected Speaker of parliament. At petrol stations you hear debates about whether Nominated MPs are nominated before or after the speaker is elected, people come up to me and ask if there is anything that can prevent Kibaki from stealing all the Nominated MP positions for his own party in defiance of tradition which states the nominated positions are given out in proportion to the number of seats won, and the most requested document request I receive by email these days is for the Constitution.

Tuesday’s parliamentary proceedings were broadcast live on TV and the whole country was watching and taking note. When Marende [opposition candidate] was elected speaker we could hear shouts of celebration from Kibera and Kawangware [Nairobi slums]. This engagement is not exclusive to the middle class. It looks like stealing an election is a fantastic way to get the public engaged in civic education. Now that is a massive silver lining!

(Thanks to Paul Canning)

For all previous Kenya coverage, click on the 'Africa' category.

End of the Protests (UPDATE: Video of Police Shooting Men in the Back)

The Kenyan death toll stands at 24 due to three days of government-banned protests during which the police shot live rounds and tear gas at the participants. Now the famed Maasai join the fray.

Kenya’s Muslims also get a little taste of "Democracy” when they join the protests in Mombasa.

From the second link:

A statement by envoys from nine countries including Britain, the Netherlands and Australia, urged Kibaki and Odinga to meet for direct talks without delay or preconditions, and called on Kenya's security forces to show restraint.

"We have seen clear and disturbing footage of the use of lethal force on unarmed demonstrators," it said.

The Kibaki government let this happen by maintaining the ban and Odinga’s ODM let this happen by allow the protest to go forward--he knew this would happen. He knew that going forth in the face of the protest-ban would produce deaths at the hands of the police and, as a result, produce international condemnation on the government. Now Odinga is “calling for an end” to the three days of protests as if they were meant to last longer; as if they weren’t scheduled to last only three days; as if he's calling them off due to the casualties.

And you thought American politicians were good at this stuff.

Kenyan columnist Lucy Oriang notices. This is a “read the whole thing” type of op-ed.

There are many ways to brutalise a nation, and political manipulation tops the list. We have been subjected to this ever since Kenya became a modern state. Some people may even want to blame it on the colonial divide-and-rule policy that allocated special status to some groups and dismissed others as being of no consequence.

But there is a generation or two of Kenyans who did not live the colonial experience. What’s their excuse? At some point, we will have to grow up and own up to our mistakes. We chose to go the business-as-usual way with tribal politics because it suited our prejudices.

Meanwhile, my father maintains his Stiff Upper Lip as he puts forth his weekly column "Mark My Word." The column is designed to improve the English language usage of his countrymen--for whom English is a second, third or fourth language. As always, I'm glad to "see" him.

UPDATE: The video shows the Kenyan police shooting two men in the back and kicking one afterward.

(Thanks to Thinker's Room)

For all previous Kenya coverage, click on the 'Africa' category.

Justice Served

Remember the lovely Jay Grodner? He's the anti-war Chicago lawyer who was able to key a Marine's car (equipped with veteran's plates), verbally insult the Marine, verbally insult the USMC and still remain vertical.

Well, Grodner's had his day in court today. His fine is light in dollars (for a lawyer) and heavy in symbolism.

1 year Social Service Supervision, restitution of 600 dollars to be paid to Social Services and which would go to the Injured Marine Semper Fi fund, to be paid by February 25th, 2008, and $50/month in supervision fees.

If Grodner fails to meet any of the provisions, he will spend 364 days in jail. Most observers think he'll fail since the man seems to have a problem with showing up to appointments on time--even today!

The only member of the MSM that Matt of Blackfive was able to get to publicize the story was John Kass of the Chicago Tribune. (The New York Times didn't take it? Imagine that.) Well done, Mr. Kass. (Column one, column two.)

However, others came to see justice done.

About 25-35 marines and assorted military were there.

Can you imagine what it was like for Grodner, surrounded by a bunch of unhappy GIs in that courtroom? The judge was even a Marine.

As for Sgt. Michael McNulty--the Marine in question--he's either in Kuwait or Iraq right now. God Speed, Jarhead, be well and, most of all, thanks.

(Thanks to Michelle Malkin)

Downfall in Pictures

Anne Holmes, yet another self-styled Vigilante Journalist, is in the thick of things in Kenya. A sample of her work (fair warning--some of the photos are far more disturbing):

Click image to see the restObservation: the police are carrying out a counterinsurgency against their own citizens.

(Thanks to Noah Shachtman at Danger Room)

For all previous Kenya coverage, click on the 'Africa' category.