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.

Getting Jobbed

I've toiled in hostile work environments (mostly civilian). So I feel for this poor guy.

I'm constantly being corrected, chastised, and punished for using the wrong words.

He's a young man who works at a non-profit in an office full of women. The Chastiser is his boss, a radical lesbian feminist; the words he uses are those dreaded tools of the patriarchy: girl, lady, etc.

However, I'd like to say this: the political/social demographics under which his boss falls are not the problem. Working in any female-dominated office is the problem--that means the vast majority of offices. In female-dominated offices, one person--the one who is "different"--is singled out for correction or to be driven into resigning. Often whisper campaigns are started to that end.

I'd rather be a Figueroa "street merchant" than work in such an office again.

IMO, this phenomenon is merely a distaff version of the gang-mentality. Whenever you read of someone going "postal," it's probably someone who was ganged up on at work in such an environment and didn't know how to handle it constructively.

I'd suggest that the young man in the "Dear Prudence" letter document the date, time and particulars of every incident and keep that documentation at home. Here's an even better suggestion: start your own business, kid.

(Thanks to one of Amy Alkon's guests who commented on a funny post; a post which lets me know what I have to do to get my next Instalanche!)

War is Hell

Recently, the New York Times ran a misleading, much-bashed and discredited series on the " widespread violent actions" perpetrated by Iraq and Afghanistan veterans subsequent to their return home.

Iowahawk, however, documents the widespread violent actions rampantly committed by veterans of another sort.

These people could snap at any minute!

...claims one expert. I'm scared!

(Thanks to Blackfive)

Another Day in the Crazy House

Clashes between Kenyan police and ODM protesters occurred today in Nairobi and Mombasa, along with Eldoret—the site of the mob-perpetrated church burning in which around 30 people were murdered--and Kisumu. Two have been killed in the latter city.

Odinga blames the police and, therefore, Kibaki's government:

"The government and the police have turned this country into killing fields of the innocent, executing at will in an unprecedented bloodlust that began long before elections took place."

He said the government had "issued its police force with a shoot-to-kill order. And police officers all over the country have followed that order to the letter."

A police spokesman, Eric Kiraithi, said officers had killed two "criminal" protesters - one in western Kenya and one in Nairobi.

He said police were acting "with restraint", and that protesters were being "used by politicians".

The last report puts the total death toll at four, but Odinga and others dispute that.

Mr Odinga's claim that seven people had been shot dead in Nairobi's Mathare slum was backed up by residents.

The official US position is to place blame on both of the leaders. For the European Union's part, it just voted unanimously to suspend aid to the country. The UN will fill the humanitarian gap.

Kenyan-born USA-based journalist Edwin Okong’o provides some more background on the conflict and on how these politicians, in their slyness, keep the old hatreds burning in order divert the attention of their desperately poor constituents from the despotism and demagoguery of the leaders. (No, Mr. Okong’o and I are not related as far as I know; you’ll understand that comment when you click the link.)

What Kenya does suffer from are some politicians who use the poor for political gain, including the two men on top of the current political gridlock. Raila Odinga, a Luo and the man who says the presidency was stolen from him, is a loudmouth tribalist not afraid to utter ethnically divisive remarks to advance his career. The other, a Kikuyu, Mwai Kibaki, the man who is said to have rigged his victory to a second term as president, is a soft-spoken tribal chieftain, but who is just as lethal.

And this part makes me fear for them all:

The perception of chieftains as messiahs is based on the false belief that their reign would rescue entire tribes from poverty. Most Kenyans think they would do better economically if a leader from their tribe were in power. That's why Luos, who come from one of poorest regions in Kenya, feel that Kibaki's apparent rigging of the elections robbed them of a ticket to prosperity.

Unfortunately, their rage is directed at people who are just as poor as they are. They have also attacked people of tribes that did not vote as a block for Odinga, increasing chances of civil war. I have spoken to police officers in Kisumu, who say that the Gusii, my tribesmen who share a border with the Luo, have also been chased out of the city. The animosity toward Gusiis arises from the fact that although a majority of them voted for Odinga, more than 200,000 of them preferred Kibaki. As a result, the Gusii, who have generally lived in peace with Luos since Kenya became a republic, are threatening to withhold the food they produce in their fertile highlands. A relative I spoke to recently told me that they were ready for a bloody confrontation with the Luos.

"We are sharpening our weapons to chop them up and throw them in the lake [Lake Victoria]," he told me.

And what will come after that? Retribution. And after that? The same, from the other side--until there are no more left.

Is Africa accursed? Between my father’s country, Zimbabwe, Congo, Sudan and Rwanda—to name the most prominent examples of human evil and stupidity on that continent-- it’s difficult to not believe that this is so.

(Thanks to iVoryTowerz, to Mshale and to NPR)

UPDATE: Accursed.

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

Brüderkrieg

With all that has been publicized about the civil war in Kenya, a blind man could have foreseen how the beginnings of the three-day country-wide ODM rally has turned out.

NYT:

NAIROBI, Kenya - Opposition protests resumed in Kenya on Wednesday, and as many people here feared, violence erupted across the country once again.

The worst clashes were in Kisumu, Kenya’s third largest city and an opposition stronghold, where mobs of furious young men hurled stones at police officers, who responded by charging into the crowds and firing their guns.

One of Kenya’s television stations aired footage of a police officer in Kisumu shooting an unarmed protester who was dancing in the street and making faces at security agents. After the protester fell to the ground, the officer ran up to him and kicked him several times. Witnesses said the protester later died.

An example of why the Kenyan government has a ban on live coverage of events.
Euronews:

Fresh clashes between police and opposition protesters in Kenya have left at least two people dead.

Trouble flared nationwide as demonstrators defied a ban on rallies against President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election.

The fatal shootings occurred in the western opposition stronghold of Kisumu. In Nairobi, security forces wielding batons fired teargas and live rounds in the air.

Daily Nation:

A man was shot dead and two others injured as police battled demonstrators during Day One of marches called by ODM to protest against the outcome of the December presidential election.

In Nairobi ODM MPs William Ruto, Najib Balala and Joseph Nyaga assembled on the Kenyatta Avenue-Kimathi Street junction, but were dispersed with tear gas. [SNIP]

The group had included ODM leader Raila Odinga who did not alight from his vehicle. He was driven off when police used tear gas to disperse the MPs.

As Mr Balala sprinted away from the cloud of tear gas, he tripped and fell, but was quickly pulled up by his aides and shoved into his car.

CSM: And the real culprit is...tada!...Strong Man politics on the parts of both Odinga and President Kibaki, says Jacqueline M. Klopp:

Sadly, this anti-Kikuyu campaign gained supporters among unemployed youth who learned to project their problems onto a Kikuyu face. Poor men were given weapons and paid to kill and displace. In return, they were promised or sold vacated land. Ultimately, in the 1990s, thousands of people died and almost half a million were displaced. This violence helped [President Kibaki's predecessor Daniel Arap] Moi's small group of corrupt "big men" stay in power for a decade. In the deeply flawed elections of 1992 and 1997, displacement became a form of gerrymandering.

Not one person has been tried, let alone convicted, for these killings and displacements. The international community at the time seemed quite ready to forget as well.

Since his election in 2002, Kibaki has collaborated in this deliberate forgetting. Part of the reason was that he had brought into his ruling coalition many of the worst perpetrators of violence. They could deliver votes in key areas and were willing to drop their anti-Kikuyu rhetoric once in power.

Mr. Odinga, the opposition leader, has also brought notorious ethnic cleansers into his coalition. Their anti-Kikuyu rhetoric is a useful political tool against the Kikuyu incumbent.

Two more days of rallies to go.

I haven't heard from my father since this weekend, but I am not worried. I look for him on Fridays at 2:00 PM USA-PST.

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

The Democrat Race Summed Up

(Thanks to The Politburo Diktat 2.0)

Kenya Rallies Go Forth

...in spite of the government ban.

An on-going live-media broadcast ban exists in the country also. Democracy?

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

Another Racial Divide? (UPDATE: Hopefully Not; Video; Hopes Dashed)

Did anyone see the Luntz focus group session of the Democrat Debates last night? I saw a portion during which a Hispanic man asserted that absolutely none of the lower level restaurant employees--read: young Hispanics--would ever vote for Obama. When the other focus group participants asked him why not, the man evaded the question and merely reasserted his point.

My first thought was that none of those young Hispanics would vote for Obama because of Obama's race. However, I am open to the notion that there could be other reasons.

UPDATE: I think that the focus group was composed of members of the Culinary Workers Union in Nevada which has endorsed Barack Obama. That union is almost 40% Hispanic and I don't doubt that the man in question knows what he knows, but I'm wondering whether what he knows will have any effect on the Democrat vote in that state or others. Young men of any race spout off; they also aren't generally politically active. Especially not so are young black and Hispanic men.

UPDATE: Bryan has the video. Will comment after reviewing it.

UPDATE and CORRECTION: The focus group was composed of Nevada Democrat voters in general but the subject was the clash between Nevada’s Teacher’s Union, which endorsed Clinton, and the state’s Culinary Worker Union which endorsed Obama.

The man who commented on the Hispanics in the Culinary Workers’ Union was talking about more than just the prospective votes of the young men who are the busboys, etc. However, he seemed to know that he was stepping into a racial minefield, especially after the other participants kept asking him to explain his conclusion.

UPDATE: Screwed. Obama’s controversial preacher/mentor Jeremiah Wright said that the Clintons treated black people the way Bill treated Monica Lewinsky! Well…yeah.

More in the last link about Wright’s close ties with Louis Farrakhan. Obama repudiated Farrakhan’s anti-Semitism in a statement yesterday.

Civil Unions of Church and State

I had to go out—via the bus—after posting that last one, but before I did, I heard this from Mike Huckabee:

[W]hat we need to do is to amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards rather than try to change God's standards.

Is there something about the Constitution that isn’t up to God’s standards and/or does it contain a mandate to change God’s standards?

Yes I know that the governor was talking about circumventing the Constitution in order to ban same-sex marriage and abortion--two issues that I do not advocate either. But this rhetoric smacks too much of the unconstrained vision (thanks, Dr. Sowell)--a way of viewing the world in which any means are allowable to reach a certain goal. "Don't like the rules of the Constitution? Just change them, so we can get rid of that nasty same-sex marriage and abortion."

Any means necessary, indeed.

Huckabee’s assertion reminds me of something equally alarming that Barack Obama said in October:

I am confident that we can create a Kingdom right here on Earth.

A kingdom. Here on Earth. And that kingdom would belong to whom exactly? Jesus Christ already said that the Kingdom of God is not an earthly one and that governmental matters were just that and are to be differentiated from metaphysical matters (“Render unto Caesar…”).

Which Christians are being pandered to by these politicians? These two are frightening.

Oh and congratulations to Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney for his win in the Michigan GOP primaries. And congratulations to Senator Hillary Clinton for her hard fought symbolic victory in that state’s Democrat primary over “uncommitted” (long story).

Jim Treacher says that these primaries have several things in common with the Special Olympics. I'll let the reader decide what those things might be.

(Thanks to ExUrban League and to Ace of Spades HQ)

Dueling Profiling in Los Angeles

So I’m coming home from church via a Los Angeles MTA Bus Sunday because the brakes on my hoopty are gone. In LA, using the Metro is perceived to be only for the “underclass” and it’s a shame too because if more used public transportation there would be more money to expand it.

I’d give up my vehicle if the public transportation were like that in East Coast cities. Maybe.

Anyway, I’m on the one of the accordion-style busses, sitting in the seats located in the “accordion.” (As far as I can tell, all of LA’s MTA busses are of this style.) The seats right next to and further to the front of the bus than the accordion seats are roughly a foot above them. And on this day, seated in such seats right next to me are two young Muslim men. They’re medium brown–skinned--around the same complexion as the youngest of my American sisters and as the two young Hispanic men sitting across from me—and, at first, the only way that I can tell that they are Muslim is that they are both wearing the little white knit caps similar to a yarmulke. (Any assistance as to what that type of cap is called is welcome.)

At first I barely notice the men. Being bored makes me nuts, so I carry a book everywhere I go in order to fill the times of expected or incidental waiting. On this day I happened to have two books, one being a Bible, of course. But I was reading the other one, a thick hardback from the library.

Then, something one of the young Muslims did caught my attention. He was wearing a thick leather jacket and he hugged himself for a long time with his hands hidden. (It was one of those warm days that occur during LA winters, around 75 degrees Fahrenheit.) I began to silently pray.

Please God, not now, not today.

The man then relaxed and began to chat with his friend in a language that I did not understand. At the next stop the friend exited the bus. The one wearing the leather jacket then moved closer to me so that he was sitting right next to me but a foot above me. Then he began to pray too--aloud and in Arabic. From (possibly faulty) memory, here’s the English:

In the Name of Allah the Most Beneficent the Most Merciful
All praise is due to Allah the Maker of Worlds.

I nearly got up and jumped out of the window of a moving bus. Instead I opened up my Bible to Matthew 21:21.

Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done.

I wasn’t up for withering fig trees that day. All I asked was that the guy not be a jihadi or if he was, to not be at “work” on that day. But of course I acknowledged that “God’s will be done.”

Just then a shapely young black girl walked done the aisle in front of us. The Muslim guy and the two Hispanic guys were staring at her with open mouths. I relaxed a bit because surely he wouldn’t want to blow up the pretty girl, right? (Okay, I understand that that does happen a lot sometimes, but cut me a break; I was grasping at straws.)

Then the Muslim decided to try out his Spanish on the other men. One cannot grow up in LA and not understand at least the rudiments of the language. And, in this case, even though the Spanish was accented, I understood every word.

I heard those n*gger b*tches are hot in bed.

I was angry now instead of afraid. Then I remembered the other book that I was carrying—the large hardback. I closed it so that the Muslim would be able to read the book’s emphasized subtitle should he look down over my shoulder. He noticed the subtitle--and the photos--as soon as I closed the book because I saw him do a double-take.

The book was this one.

No words were exchanged between us and the man exited the bus a couple of stops later. I thanked God.

Please contribute to my brake fund.

Planned "Resettlement" (UPDATE: Kenyan Gov't Tells Annan to Go Home)

At Voice of America, Nick Wadhams echoes the whispers of information which started to become public last week--that the massacres in Kenya were planned. You can listen to Wadhams' podcast here.

Some high/lowlights:

David Njenga is a 25-year old student. He recounts what happened to him on New Year's Eve when boys with their faces painted red attacked his village outside Molo.

"After the announcement of the elections, they started that day, on Monday, chasing us, and they killed four men from our village," said Njenga. "We hid in the bush, then they came and burned the house. They paint their face with reddish colors so you cannot notice the person although those people, we know them because some of them we are living together in that village. We are friends." [SNIP]

People described a pattern that was echoed by many victims.

Young men, often with their faces painted red or white, arrived by truck and sheltered for a time at the home of a loyalist. [Loyal to whom?] They then fanned out and relied on neighbors of their victims to point out the homes to be torched. Those belonging to Kikuyus were destroyed, those belonging to others were left standing. [SNIP]

Based on the accounts he has heard, [Apostolic Faith Church Pastor Samuel] Ciuga says he has no doubt that the attacks were planned.

"They are young men, very small boys, and they are in thousands, they are brought in trucks, and they are set out to go and invade certain communities, invade the Kikuyus, invade the farms," said Ciuga. "And they have been told to torch the houses because when you torch the houses, that person will not have anywhere to live."

"These young boys, we don't know them but they are trained. They just follow instructions, torch that house, even some have been promised, if you torch that house, you get 500," he added.

If true, the question I asked in this post is answered and another is bidden: who did the planning?

UPDATE: Kibaki government minister wonders why Kofi Annan is bothering:

John Michuki, minister of roads and public works, has rejected any mediation from the international community.

He says his party's leader, Mwai Kibaki, won the recent, disputed presidential election and that a government is now in place.

"We won the elections ... We do not see the point for anyone coming to mediate power-sharing," Michuki, a member of Kibaki's inner circle, told reporters.

Is Michuki saying what Kibaki can't say?

UPDATE: Apparently, yes.

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

Higher Ground

And some say we're inferior...

RENO, Nevada (CNN) — Barack Obama is calling for a truce of sorts with rival Hillary Clinton following days of a heated back-and-forth between both the Democrats' presidential campaigns over Clinton's record on civil rights.

“I may disagree with Sen. Clinton or Sen. Edwards on how to get things done or how to get there, but we share the same goals, we're all Democrats, we all believe in civil rights, we all believe in equal rights," Obama said told reporters in Reno, Nevada.

Speaking Monday, Obama said he wanted to end the current "tit-for-tat" with Clinton. [SNIP]

"I don't want the campaign in this stage to degenerate into so much tit-for-tat back-and-forth that we lose sight why all of us are doing this," he said. "If I hear my own supporters engaging in talk that I think is ungenerous or misleading, or in some way is unfair, then I will speak out forcefully against them, and I hope the other campaigns take the same approach."

Shortly after Obama's comments, Clinton released a statement saying it's time to "reach common ground."

"We differ on a lot of things. And it is critical to have the right kind of discussion on where we stand. But when it comes to civil rights and our commitment to diversity, when it comes to our heroes - President John F. Kennedy and Dr. King – Senator Obama and I are on the same side," the New York Democrat said. “And in that spirit, let's come together, because I want more than anything else to ensure that our family stays together on the front lines of the struggle to expand rights for all Americans.”

And what can the Clinton camp do but accept? Then when if they break it the truce, they're dead in the water. Seriously, one has to admire this move. Even if he is still PO'd--and he is PO'd--Obama will win either way.

Political theater at its best.

(Thanks to Hot Air)

Tim Blair Needs You

Send some love across the Pond to Tim Blair, who will have cancer surgery next week.

Send in the Dirty Old Men

Now this bit of news from yesterday is…is…help me find a word for this…this news.

BET Founder Slams Obama in South Carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Robert L. Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment Television, who is campaigning today in South Carolina with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, just made a suggestion that raised the specter of Barack Obama’s past drug use. He also compared Mr. Obama to Sidney Poitier, the black actor, in “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.”

At a rally here for Mrs. Clinton at Columbia College, Mr. Johnson was defending recent comments that Mrs. Clinton made regarding Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. She did not mean to take any credit away from him, Mr. Johnson said, when she said that it took President Johnson to sign the civil rights legislation he fought for.

Dr. King had led a “moral crusade,” Mr. Johnson said, but such crusades have to be “written into law.”

“That is the way the legislative process works in this nation and that takes political leadership,” he said. “That’s all Hillary was saying.”

He then added: “And to me, as an African-American, I am frankly insulted that the Obama campaign would imply that we are so stupid that we would think Hillary and Bill Clinton, who have been deeply and emotionally involved in black issues since Barack Obama was doing something in the neighborhood –¬ and I won’t say what he was doing, but he said it in the book –¬ when they have been involved.”

Moments later, he added: “That kind of campaign behavior does not resonate with me, for a guy who says, ‘I want to be a reasonable, likable, Sidney Poitier ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.’ And I’m thinking, I’m thinking to myself, this ain’t a movie, Sidney. This is real life.”

The Clintons got Robert Johnson to talk them up? BET’s Robert Johnson? Black Entertainment Television’s Robert Johnson? The founder of that abomination which has perpetrated sustained damage on the image of black Americans with its rump-shaker/gangster rap videos? That same joke of an organization that doesn't even have a news division?

And the Clintons picked this guy to come to the senator’s aid against her rival? (Yeah, Johnson tried to clean up his remarks later. Whatever.)

Oh wait. A few months back, Senator Clinton did also get an endorsement from Dr. King follower and former US Ambassador to the UN Andrew Young who said that the senator had more black “bona fides” than Senator Obama because Former President Clinton had hit boned gone with more black women than Obama had. (The verb "to go with" is an old-black-folk euphemism.) I don’t recall hearing much from Andy since then. Somebody ought to check on the guy.

What’s next? The Mumia endorsement?

This stuff just gets funnier and funnier. And we definitely need some laughs around here. As I keep reminding everyone, Obama is too much of a Leftist for my taste (at least he’s honest about it), but I can’t help but feel a bit smug as the Clintons show not only just how black they aren’t but how much contempt they have for the black Americans--especially black men--who have embraced them.

Told ya so.

(Thanks to Memeorandum)

UPDATE: Across the board...

Baratunde Thurston at Jack and Jill Politics (emphasis mine):

Of all the black people in the world who would attack Obama on behalf of the Clintons, it would be Bob Johnson, founder of Black Exploitation Television. Gimme a break!

Michelle Malkin:

Hillary’s black supporters are old-school race-hustlers–not embarrassed to show bigoted contempt for non-militant, achieving blacks. Whatever you think of Obama’s politics and qualifications to be president, he is a successful person and he has led an impressive campaign.

Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo:

We seem to be at the point where there are now two credible possibilities. One is that the Clinton campaign is intentionally pursuing a strategy of using surrogates to hit Obama with racially-charged language or with charges that while not directly tied to race nonetheless play to stereotypes about black men. The other possibility is that the Clinton campaign is extraordinarily unlucky and continually finds its surrogates stumbling on to racially-charged or denigrating language when discussing Obama.

I pick both options.

And lastly, Victor Davis Hanson at The Corner:

She and Bill obviously think that they've so cemented the issue of the Clintons as our first Black Presidents that their racial fides is above suspicion. It isn't; and the Obama the soul speaker vs. Hillary the brainy insider is a lose / lose / lose /lose proposition. I'm surprised that her handlers haven't muzzled altogether the Clintoni on this issue.

UPDATE: John Hawkins theorizes that the Clintons may be intentionally goading Obama and his supporters.

[W]hat the Clintons may be doing is getting Obama's supporters to tarnish him by proxy on this issue. Even if Obama doesn't do it personally, if there's a tsunami of people around him playing the race card -- even if there's some validity to it -- a lot of white voters who are warm to Obama may assume that he's another Jesse Jackson after all.

We will see who is the best triangulator.

Olympian Error

Who was Lucas Sang?

Lucas Sang was a Kenyan athlete who participated in the 1988 Summer Olympics, held in Seoul. He was a member of the Kenyan 4 x 400 metre relay team, reaching the final and finishing eighth. He also competed in the 400 metre individual race, but failed to make the semifinals.

He was also a Kalenjin farmer. He was stoned to death by a mob on New Year's Day in Eldoret, his home town; he was 46. His murderers mistook him for a Kikuyu.

Kenya, what are you doing to your heros, your treasures?

Another Civil War Brewing (UPDATE: Not So Funny--Assassination Musings)

O RLY, Miss (Rose)anne?

I have decided that having a woman president before any man of any color is what these times call for.

--Roseanne Barr, who is endorsing Hillary Clinton for president.

But by Thursday morning she assured she “liked Obama, too.”

Um Hum.

(Thanks to Hot Air)

UPDATE: More seriously, in largely black South Carolina, the conflict between Clinton supporters and Obama supporters seems to be taking on racial overtones.

The comments, which ranged from the New York senator [Clinton] appearing to diminish the role of Martin Luther King Jr. in the civil rights movement — an aide later said she misspoke — to Bill Clinton dismissing Sen. Barack Obama’s image in the media as a “fairy tale” — generated outrage on black radio, black blogs and cable television. And now they've drawn the attention of prominent African-American politicians.

“A cross-section of voters are alarmed at the tenor of some of these statements,” said Obama spokeswoman Candice Tolliver, who said that Clinton would have to decide whether she owed anyone an apology.

I will admit to having giggled at the senator’s innocent “spade work” comment the other day, but feared that things might get more tense—and divisive--as time wore on. Laughter is one thing. Escalating the issue beyond that is another.

What do ‘fairy tales’ have to do with race? Nothing, of course. As with the Steinem and Barr statements, tribalism is on display here--this time in its more traditional sense.

Even more seriously, Bob Owens of Confederate Yankee notes that some Leftwing bloggers and pundits are pointing to a pre-perpetrator in a theoretical Obama assassination attempt. Why? Because you know “they” will try it.

Let's be clear. I'm not saying that such a thing is outside to realm of possibility. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't put it past the supporters of one presidential candidate in particular--one with an 'R' behind his name. But these "warnings" of assassination are merely fuel to urge on BDS/anarchy fantasists--ideological kin to the author of The Turner Diaries. Interesting that they come from the Left.

Fellow Americans, here’s a suggestion: how about we not fantasize about this country turning into Kenya or Pakistan or reverting to the 1968 version of the USA just yet. That’s the only horse I have in this particular race.

(Thanks to Instapundit)

Kenya Braces Itself

Odinga’s ODM calls for three days of protest while Kibaki’s government reiterates the ban on public protests. Rock plus hard place equals…

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

Kenya: Rumors and Shenanigans (UPDATE: African Union Talks Fail)

I have familial duties to attend, but I wanted to get this out...

Kenya's Electoral Commission Chairman--the one who is tasked to present presidential election results to the country--now says that he did not approve the results in question.

[Samuel Kivuitu] blamed “outside forces” for making public the controversial presidential tallies, which appeared in three pages of paid-for advertising in Daily Nation and The Standard Thursday.

“I did not submit this report or authorise my name to be used for its publication. The use of my name is a falsification,” the besieged Electoral Commission chairman said in statement.

His complaint will once again raise questions over who really is in charge of the commission, which has been accused of doctoring presidential results in President Kibaki’s favour and announcing figures different from those read out at the constituencies, plunging Kenya into a political crisis.

More in a bit.

UPDATE: The AU-led talks failed so they're bringing in :::drumroll::: Kofi Annan! You, of course, remember Annan.

Before he left, [AU Chairman] Kufuor highlighted the fact the two sides had at least "agreed to an end to violence".

Two weeks, hundreds of dead Kenyans and Kibaki and Odinga are just now getting around to addressing the violence, eh?

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

American Huckster

The victory of Former Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR) in the Iowa GOP Caucus has had various sectors of the opining Right reeling with shock, dismay and, often, anger.

It’s the shock that is the most revealing; not revealing of the winner but of many of the pundits. Pundits seem to have forgotten—or had never considered—the proclivities of human nature when considering who appeals to the average person. Two factors of that nature played key roles in the governor’s victory.

Starting with the charisma factor, Huckabee is a smiling, pleasant individual who talks with a sweet, measured voice adorned with the soothing Southern cadence and style of the preacher that he is. He uses the language of hope, change and unification of Americans of both parties. And that’s what people like. For better or worse, people are tired of the polarization which the Bush and Clinton families seem to evoke. People want to feel good about their president and want him (yes, him) to make them feel good. And Governor Huckabee does indeed do that—if you’re not looking too closely.

If you are looking closely, you’ll notice that the governor is utilizing another tool that is made more palatable to some by his dulcet tones and that tool is… tribalism. Yes, I said it--tribalism. Even more disconcerting, the governor is using that tribalism to cover for the fact that his gubernatorial record is anything but that of a conservative.

“What’s the composition of Huckabee’s tribe,” I hear you ask. That “tribe” is composed of Christians. As it happens, I happen to be a member of this “tribe” also, but I’m under no illusion that I am supposed to agree with or vote for another other member of that “tribe” simply because of shared membership--any more that I agree with the words and deeds of all Luos; or all Americans. Others members of the Christian “tribe,” however, have noticed Huckabee’s label—Christian and former Baptist minister-- and aren’t bothering to read the list of ingredients.

Huckabee says to Republican Christians, “I’m one of you; vote for me” and enough Republican conservative (?) members of our “tribe” in Iowa said “okay, we will.”

Does any of this sound familiar? Okay, this analogy is a very imperfect one to the situation in Kenya in that there are no allegations of voter fraud and no dead bodies. (I might be forgiven for stating these obvious disclaimers because if I didn’t, some screaming Mimi is always lying in wait to twist the words of an ideological opponent. Ask Glenn Reynolds and Jonah Goldberg.)

Now some of the Republican “tribal outsiders” are preparing to blame the “Christian Right” if Huckabee become the GOP’s nominee for president even if the vast majority of those on the Right who are Christian find Governor Huckabee to be a totally unacceptable candidate for president; a sort of reverse tribalism, if you will. (Or maybe it’s a form of profiling. Or some other concept created to designate bad stuff. Heck, all this infighting of various sets of brethren makes me want to build my desert bunker.) This is what is being stirred up by Huckabee’s wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing candidacy.

*****

I began to write the above missive right after Governor Huckabee won the Iowa Democratic Caucus. Today we read from a Daily Press article (via Bryan Preston at Hot Air) that the governor used to use a term for his “fellow” Republicans—“Shi’te Republicans”—to refer to a

species of Republican true believers […] in Arkansas who've always suspected his bona fides as an honest-to-goodness fiscal conservative and social reactionary.

Says Bryan:

He’ll say conservative things in order to win approval from some part of the party’s base, but when push comes to shove he instinctively goes for the non-conservative side of the argument. I’m not just talking about calling Republicans “Shiites,” a quote that’s sure to get played over and over again if he’s the nominee, or about his raising taxes rather than cutting spending as the Arkansas “Shiite Republicans” wanted him to do, but about his swift shifts on issues like Gitmo and using the leftish “bunker mentality” slam on the Bush administration.

Christians, he’s a liberal in Christian Right clothing. One might as well vote for Clinton or Obama.

One more thing: am I the only one that is insulted on behalf of the Iraqis that an American politician running for president is using the religion of the majority of their citizens as a pejorative?
I'm sure that will do wonders for our Iraq policy. :::insert rolling eyes here:::

Wait A Minute!

$3,014,170,389,176,410? You all want the country and then some? (Count your places; yes, that's quadrillion.)

New Orleans, please. How does 'no' sound?

Kenya: Plot Thickens

What the heck is this? From London's Financial Times:

A confidential memo from the World Bank's Kenya office that supports President Mwai Kibaki's claim of victory in the country's disputed elections plunged the Washington-based lender into controversy yesterday.

The leaked January 1 briefing note, originating from Colin Bruce, the World Bank's representative in Nairobi, lays out the case for accepting Mr Kibaki's victory on the basis of "oral briefings and documents from senior [United Nations Development Programme] officials" who "monitored the overall electoral process".

The memo claims that "the considered view of the UN is that the Electoral Commission of Kenya announcement of a Kibaki win is correct".

However, Michele Montas, a spokeswoman for the UN secretary-general, denied that the UN had adopted that position. UNDP officials said they had neither monitored the elections nor provided any assessment suggesting a Kibaki victory.

Given the widespread irregularities reported in last month's elections, the leaked briefing note is likely to trigger accusations that the institution, which lends heavily to Kenya, has lost its political objectivity.

European Union election observers, whom Mr Bruce criticised, yesterday stood by their conclusion that the election was impossible to call.

Mr Bruce's memo has created discomfort among some senior World Bank staff who fear the bank's analysis of the Kenyan crisis has been influenced by too close a relationship with Mr Kibaki. Mr Bruce lives in a house owned by the Kibaki family. The bank said Mr Bruce's tenancy was inherited from its previous country representative and had been chosen on security grounds.

The World Bank has been criticised for maintaining its large development programme in Kenya in spite of evidence of high-level corruption in Mr Kibaki's government. The bank says its projects are vital for the country's poor.

Mr Bruce told the Financial Times the bank had no position on the result of the elections and he "was simply reporting the information that was available to me to headquarters".

World Bank officials in Washington backed Mr Bruce and released a series of other communications from him, stating these showed his balanced approach to the elections. None of the other briefing notes regarding the Kenyan crisis revisits the question of whether Mr Kibaki won the election.

Marwan Muasher, head of external relations at the bank, said: "The bank does not take political positions. Neither Colin Bruce nor the bank has a position on Kibaki or [opposition leader Raila] Odinga."

Separately, Kenya's opposition ODM yesterday called for the withdrawal of Mr Bruce.

After the Oil-for-Food scheme, is anything outside of the realm of possibility for the UN? Oh, this is some intriguing stuff, but more research is in order. In the meantime, break out the conspiracy theories!

I think I need a 'WTF' category.

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

Old Problems, New Solutions

Kenya Bloggers White African, Kenyan Pundit and Mental Acrobatics have created a technical tool with which witnesses to violence in Kenya can report the instances to the world.

It isn't 1994 anymore.

And don't have a cow about the name "Ushahidi." You know who you are.

UPDATE: Separately, Kibaki and Odinga met with Ghanian President and African Union Chariman John Kufuor, which began the mediation regarding the election results.

The talks came in the shadow of protests from the United States government after President Kibaki named part of his Cabinet.

Upset the US

The timing of the Cabinet announcement appears to have upset the US, coming a day before the launch of mediation by Ghana’s President John Kufuor, and resulted in an unscheduled meeting between President Kibaki, on the one hand, and the US assistant secretary of state for African Affairs, Ms Jendayi Frazer, accompanied by [US] ambassador [to Kenya] Michael Ranneberger. [SNIP]

President Kibaki was referring to the invitation he sent three days ago to Mr Odinga and unnamed ODM leaders to go to State House Friday for talks on the situation in the country alongside leaders from the Christian and Islamic faiths. [SNIP]

“To hasten national healing, the President informed (the mediator) that he had embarked on consultations with all Kenyan leaders of goodwill aimed at promoting political dialogue and reconciliation — with a view to ensuring a united, stable and peaceful Kenya,” said PPS.

Mr Odinga has rebuffed the invitation describing it as a sideshow meant to cloud international mediation efforts aimed at ensuring that Kenyans have in place a government of their choice. “We want him to focus on the mediation efforts by President Kufuor,” he said.

PREVIOUSLY:

Pull Your Head Out

Pull Your Head Out

I have noticed that few people on the Right are talking about the situation in Kenya and those few who are talking about it are shaping the conflict into a Religious War Narrative with the primary objective being to discredit Senator Obama as a US presidential candidate.

Actually it's an objective I'm not opposed to, since I disagree with just about every aspect of Obama's politics and like most others, I think that he is too much of an unknown quantity to be president. And, of course, I'm all for combating Islamism. (After all, isn't that a part of our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan?) However, I do have a few questions for those of you using Kenya's woes to take down Obama:

Had any of you even heard of the Luo before Obama stepped into the picture?
Had you heard of the Gikuyu/Kikuyu, the Luhya, the Kalenjin before a few weeks ago?
What does GEMA stand for?
When did Kenya get its independence?
Who were its colonial masters?
How many presidents has Kenya had?
What are their names?
Who were the Mau-Mau?
What are the Mungiki?

Don't look at Wikipedia.

Do you know any of this information and if so, do you know how to interpret it? Do you know how all it fits into the conflict at hand in Kenya? Or have you discarded/disregarded it because it doesn't fit into the Narrative?

Would you even give a f**k about hundreds of dead Kenyans if you couldn't find a way to spin it into a war between Islam and Christianity?

If not, stop making yourselves and the Right look like ghouls fools.

The ends don't justify the means. Friends, I've warned you about this before.

Here. Read it if you're really interested in getting insight into Kenya's problems. Otherwise, stop frontin'. The use of dead bodies in this manner is becoming...unseemly.

PREVIOUSLY:

A whole hell of a lot more research than some of you are doing

Kenya: Old Habits and New Ones (UPDATED: Obama and Odinga Related?)

--President Kibaki names his cabinet—including Stepen Kalonzo Musyoka as vice-president, who was a presidential candidate and is the head of a faction of the ODM (Odinga is the head of the larger faction).

The folks at Thinker’s Room are aghast at Kibaki’s timing and at the continued tribal cronyism demonstrated by his cabinet choices.

--From my stats: Odinga’s party says death toll is around 1000. Also, former heads of other African states arrive in country. "It's like seeing a neighbor's house on fire," [Mozambique Former President Joachim] Chissano said. "We are shocked by the events."

--With the blessing of the Bush Administration, Obama uses his growing influence to try to end the violence. From Joe Klein at TIME magazine:

In the days since his Iowa victory, Obama has had near-daily conversations with the U.S. Ambassador in Kenya or with opposition leader Raila Odinga. As of late this afternoon, before his rally in Rochester, N.H., Obama was trying to reach Kenyan President Kibaki.

Not trying to promote Obama’s candidacy, but if he could have some influence in this situation, it would silence quite a few of those who point out his lack of foreign policy credentials.

One of the commenters to the post, however, rips Klein thusly:

I guess what bothers me is the idea that the death of hundreds of Kenyas only becomes worth mentioning here because Joe got what appears to be an exclusive about Obama making a few phone calls.

Klein’s not the only one guilty of this, but with presidential primaries traditionally dominating Americans news reporting during the time period in which they occur, it’s understandable. Obama’s ascendancy will change this and I along with millions of others will be happy when the mass violence ends, no matter how this is achieved.

Personal: As of 1:00 PM US-PST, my father and step-mother are still fine. Here was my sister’s response when I asked why didn’t Odinga and Kibaki just straight-forwardly call for an end to the violence: “Thank you!!!” She did, however, get the word from my step-mother that the situation is calming down.

(Thanks to The New Republic—yes)

UPDATE: According to Odinga, he and Obama are related.

Odinga, a Luo, told British Broadcasting Corp. radio that Obama's father was his uncle, and that Obama called him "in the midst of his campaigning ... to express his concern and to say that he is also going to call President Kibaki so that Kibaki agrees to find a negotiated, satisfactory solution to this problem."

UPDATE: I keep reading various reports that Odinga has rejected meeting with Kibaki without the presence of African Union leader John Kufuor along with other mediators and, alternatively, that Odinga has rejected the meeting under any circumstances unless Kibaki steps down. I'm guessing that it's the former, but we'll see.

PREVIOUSLY:

Other Kenya Posts

Dueling Identity Politics Banjos

"Hos before bros" (content alert)--or so contends feminist icon Gloria Steinem in defense of a Hillary Clinton presidential nomination as opposed to one for Barack Obama. Steinem attempts to demonstrate this by taking Obama's biography and turning it into that of a female.

THE woman in question became a lawyer after some years as a community organizer, married a corporate lawyer and is the mother of two little girls, ages 9 and 6. Herself the daughter of a white American mother and a black African father — in this race-conscious country, she is considered black — she served as a state legislator for eight years, and became an inspirational voice for national unity.

Be honest: Do you think this is the biography of someone who could be elected to the United States Senate? After less than one term there, do you believe she could be a viable candidate to head the most powerful nation on earth?

No. And, as Captain Ed points out, Steinem is doing the Republican nominee a favor by making his case for him against both Clinton and Obama: neither has enough experience to become president, regardless of race or gender.

Steinem goes on to try to explain why her missive isn't a "get behind the white woman, Negro" exhortation--even though it is--then ends with this:

This country can no longer afford to choose our leaders from a talent pool limited by sex, race, money, powerful fathers and paper degrees. It’s time to take equal pride in breaking all the barriers. We have to be able to say: “I’m supporting her because she’ll be a great president and because she’s a woman.”

'Cause that historic first more important than all of the other serious issues that face this country, dontcha know. One wonders what Steinem has to say about the age-old manner in which Clinton has used to rise to her high perch--a manner that is the very personification of sexism: Clinton slept with the right person.

(Thanks to Hot Air)

UPDATE: The break-up of the Clinton love affair with black American Democrats won't be pretty--but it will be entertaining.

Leaving the Door Open

Douglas Farah doesn't think that Kenya's new instability is due directly to Islamism, but does think that it leaves the nation uniquely vulnerable to al Qaeda and the like-minded. After all, Kenya

has been an al Qaeda operational center in the past and sits in a bad neighborhood where the Islamists have a strong interest. [SNIP]

Given the previous, large-scale activities of al Qaeda in Kenya (the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombing, where the investigation revealed a sophisticated al Qaeda infrastructure), they know the lay of the land.

The Mombasa bombing of 2002 showed that al Qaeda-related groups maintained structure there, including cadres with the capacity to acquire and use, albeit unsuccessfully, surface-to-air missiles.

Farah notes the West's Stage One Thinking regarding failed African states.

Policymakers and strategists tend to ignore or dismiss the seriousness of unrest and the weakening of states in sub-Saharan Africa because the region seems far away and of little threat.

But if one reads al Qaeda’s works, where they specifically describe their strategy of creating small wars and conflicts that bleed the non-Muslim world of resources and political will, the shortsightedness of this thinking becomes clear.

(Thanks to Counterterrorism Blog)

PREVIOUSLY:

Kenya: Covering the Coverage And More
As If This Changes Anything
Is Odinga a Muslim?
No Rest for the Wicked
Ganging Up
Uhuru Park Up Close
Six Degrees
Slaughter Postponed
Dreading Tomorrow
Kenya: Up in Smoke
Winds of Kenyan War
Kenyan Tribal Violence

Black Celebrities Yet to Bring Obama's Tribute

Are all black celebrities supposed to endorse the surging Barack Obama and contribute to his campaign? According to the tone of Roger Friedman's Fox News Article, the answer is: yes.

Oprah Winfrey’s backing of Barack Obama for president hasn’t influenced a lot of other heavy hitting black celebrities to join her yet.

Her two most favorite authors, Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison, have not opened their pocketbooks yet for Obama. (Angelou has traditionally been a Clinton supporter.)

Yet. Because it's just a matter of time, so the thinking goes.

Neither has Spike Lee nor Denzel Washington, although the latter’s wife Pauletta sent Obama $2,300. Motown founder Berry Gordy, Jr. has put his bucks in Hillary Clinton’s campaign, as has Quincy Jones. [SNIP]

Obama’s celeb donors include the recently controversial Will Smith, but not Chris Gardner, the multi millionaire whom Smith played in "The Pursuit of Happyness."

With Gardner's well-known bootstrap story, one wonders whether he is even a member of the Democrat Party.

Of course, nearly all black Americans of voting age are Democrats and, following onto that, it would be difficult to imagine how those black Democrats--especially the monied ones--could resist giving the first viable black American candidate for president his chance.

However, it would have been nice had Mr. Friedman not left so many assumptions unexamined in the piece.

(Thanks to Booker Rising)

Kenya: Covering the Coverage And More

Daily Nation (Kenya): Foreign Media’s Harsh Verdict of Disputed Election

In one span of a week, Kenya has made the dubious journey from a prospering democracy to a tribal battleground, said the [Financial] Times online. [SNIP]

Jeevan Vesaga of The Guardian described Kenya as an African exception and a role model.

“Kenya’s economy is one of Africa’s best. Its highlands are blessed with the ideal blend of sunshine and cool altitude for growing tea, coffee and flowers — it’s the world’s biggest exporter of tea and supplies Britain with many of its Valentine’s Day roses. It has a hardworking, educated workforce, many of whom speak good English. Mombasa is one of Africa’s finest harbours and Nairobi is an air transport hub for the continent.”

The two journalists warned that if Kenya descends into anarchy, one of the continent’s brightest lights would have flickered out.

Guardian (UK): Condescension and Ignorance are No Help to Kenya

Africans played no part in the creation of their nation states. Their boundaries were drawn on maps in Europe by Europeans who had never even been to Africa and with no regard for existing political systems and boundaries. Half a century later, Africans were given flags and national anthems, airlines and armies and told they were now independent; Kenyans, Nigerians or Chadians. [SNIP]

So while tribalism is an issue in Africa, it is not some weird atavistic African sentiment but a logical result of Africa's imposed history. Most Africans I have met speak three or four languages, intermarriage is common and there is, in normal times, little personal conflict between people of different ethnicity. What always astounds me in Africa is how well people of completely different cultures, customs and languages get along with one another.

Al Jazeera (Qatar): Odinga Changes His Mind, Cancels Rally Scheduled for Tuesday, Toll Climbs

Speaking to Al Jazeera's Africa bureau chief Andrew Simmons after his meeting with Frazer, Odinga said: "There has been a major breakthrough ... I have talked to [African Union chairman and Ghana] President [John] Kufour, who has confirmed to me that he is on his way and that he will arrive [in Nairobi] tomorrow evening. [SNIP]

Amid the nascent signs of political reconciliation, Kenya's government said that more than 480 people have been killed and 255,000 displaced by the post-election violence.

But aid workers say the toll could go much higher.

And so it does continue to climb…

AFP: Kenyan opposition cancels protests, unrest toll soars to 600

Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga on Monday called off protests over disputed presidential elections, as mediation efforts accelerated and the death toll from post-poll violence surged to at least 600.

The opposition announcement came ahead of the arrival Wednesday of the chairman of the African Union, Ghanaian President John Kufuor, who is expected to push for a compromise between re-elected President Mwai Kibaki and Odinga, his defeated challenger.

All Africa: Kenya Crisis Hobbling Uganda

Landlocked to the west of Kenya, Uganda suffered the biggest shock of countries that rely on the Mombasa sea route for imports and exports. [SNIP]

Traders in Kampala's trading hub of Kikuubo told this news paper that, "We are suffering, business is not good, we do not have fuel." One trader who preferred not to be named also posed the tricky question: "they are talking about fuel coming, but will our goods come?"

This was in reaction to reports that the Uganda government has negotiated with the Kenyans to provide armed escort to fuel tankers through the volatile western Kenya so as to replenish stocks in Uganda.

You know, of course, that there will be updates.

(Thanks to Charlie Beckett)

PREVIOUSLY:

As If This Changes Anything
Is Odinga a Muslim?
No Rest for the Wicked
Ganging Up
Uhuru Park Up Close
Six Degrees
Slaughter Postponed
Dreading Tomorrow
Kenya: Up in Smoke
Winds of Kenyan War
Kenyan Tribal Violence