Republicans’ Jan. 6 Responsibility The GOP has a duty to condemn the riot and those who refuse to acknowledge it.

Mr. karl Rove is a staunch Republican who has masterminded campaigns of past Republican presidential candidates. – Gaurang

Wall Street Journal

OPINION •

COMMENTARY

By Karl Rove

Jan. 5, 2022 6:15 pm ET

We’re in an acrimonious period of partisan tribalism and have been for some time. Both parties are guilty of overwrought denunciations of their political opponents. My criticisms are often aimed at Democrats; on the anniversary of Jan. 6, I’m addressing squarely those Republicans who for a year have excused the actions of the rioters who stormed the Capitol, disrupted Congress as it received the Electoral College’s results, and violently attempted to overturn the election.

These apologists say those who stormed the Capitol were innocent patriots, tourists visiting the seat of the national government to petition their elected representatives peacefully. We’re told that these harmless, ordinary Americans are being persecuted as political prisoners. Let’s stipulate that while the thousands who went to the Capitol a year ago were wrong to insist the election was stolen, most weren’t violent as they exercised their First Amendment rights to gather peacefully on the Mall—just as I had seen liberals gather to protest both inaugurations of President George W. Bush.

But last year there were several thousand protesters willing to use force to disrupt Congress in its constitutional duty to receive and certify the electoral vote. Some went to Washington with that purpose in mind. Others were swept up in the moment’s savagery, led astray by stronger wills with dangerous motives. The leaders of this group were intent on committing violence, some having planned to do so for weeks. Many wore tactical gear. Some came armed with chemical agents, flagpoles, batons and sticks.

They broke through barricades and assaulted approximately 140 police officers, in some cases with an officer’s own shield or gear. They smashed doors and windows, illegally entered the Capitol, ransacked offices and searched for leaders of Congress, and made dire threats about what would happen if they found them. More than 725 people have been charged so far, and law enforcement is searching for hundreds more suspects who appear on video or social media, some recorded attacking police officers. At least 163 people have pleaded guilty, and 71 have been sentenced. Only one defendant’s charges have been dismissed. Many of the most serious trials have yet to be held, as lawyers prepare defenses or negotiate plea deals.

So, on this anniversary, here’s a simple thought experiment: What if the other side had done it? What if in early January 2017, Democrats similarly attired and armed had stormed the Capitol and attempted to keep Congress from receiving the Electoral College results for the 2016 presidential election? What if Democrats claimed that Donald Trump’s razor-thin victories in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin resulted from extensive voter fraud and should be rejected, despite having failed to establish in a single court that extensive fraud had actually occurred? What if some of these Democrats breached the Capitol defenses and threatened violence against the Republican speaker, Paul Ryan, and Republican Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell? What if they insisted that in his role as Senate president then-Vice President Joe Biden had sole authority to seat Hillary Clinton’s electors from any contested states and thereby hand her the presidency?

If this happened, would some of my fellow Republicans have accepted it as merely a protest? Would they have called patriots those charged with violent acts against our country, its laws and Constitution? Would they have accepted such extralegal means to change the outcome of a presidential election?

No they would not. I’m certain of that. If Democrats had done what some Trump supporters did on that violent Jan. 6, Republicans would have criticized them mercilessly and been right to do so. Republicans would have torched any high official who encouraged violence or stood mute while it was waged and been right to do so. Republicans would have demanded an investigation to find who was responsible for the violence and been right to do so.

To move beyond Jan. 6, 2021, we must put country ahead of party. For Democrats, that means resisting their leadership’s petty habit of aggravating partisan fault lines by indiscriminately condemning all who came to Washington that day.

We Republicans have a heavier burden. I’ve been a Republican my entire life, and believe in what the Republican Party, at its best, has represented for decades. There can be no soft-pedaling what happened and no absolution for those who planned, encouraged and aided the attempt to overthrow our democracy. Love of country demands nothing less. That’s true patriotism.

Mr. Rove helped organize the political-action committee American Crossroads and is author of “The Triumph of William McKinley” (Simon & Schuster, 2015).

https://apple.news/AtCQZ0gAKShGe9HZuBZAkTA

Why I will vote for the Democratic Slate this Election by Gaurang G. Vaishnav (Part 3 of 4)

Continued from Part 2: Why I will not Vote for Trump

Now let me state briefly why I will not vote for Trump or any other Republican in the coming election.

I will vote for a total Democratic slate because I believe that when we elect a leader, we should not only look at his policies but also at his character. Two cannot be divorced. Just because one is promising to do good work, does not mean that we give pass to his severe character flaws.

These are my core Hindu values from which I cannot separate my actions. (1) Compassion for the less fortunate (2) Respect for women (3) Worshipping and nurturing environment (4) Dialogue with the opponent, not demonization (5) Equality of all human being (6) Full faith in Democracy (7) Integrity of character

Let me evaluate Trump on this seven-point matrix.

• (1) Compassion: Trump disdains poor people. His record as a landlord in New York is self-evident. Putting children of asylum-seeking people and illegal migrants in cages says it all. His disparaging remarks about soldiers who gave their lives at Normandy and then at the Arlington cemetery shines a light on a person who is unable to have any empathy.
• (2) Respect for Women: A person who boasts that he can grab a woman by her private part, who walks on women contestants in the nude or in process of undressing in the dressing room at a pageant, one who pays off prostitutes to keep his extramarital affairs a secret, one who has been accused of sexual attacks and rape by several women, obviously has no respect for women. For him, they are simply a thing to use and discard.
• (3) Environment: Trump does not believe that the environment needs protection or nurturing. He has refused to consider any scientific evidence. He is blind to catastrophic floods and  fires engulfing USA with more severity every year. He has weakened all rules governing pollution by industries. When the whole world is going towards solar power, he is actively promoting coal mining. He believes that the USA is the boss, it has the first right on all world resources and unbridled consumption and the world may go to hell.
• (4) Dialogue: The whole Hindu philosophy is based on dialogue. The six philosophies of Darshana (Sankhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mimamsa and Vedanta) came into being and exist today only because we respect differing viewpoints .The famous story of the dialogue between Adi Shankaracharya and Pundit Mandan Mishra further exemplifies importance of dialogue. Trump has insulted, ridiculed and demonized everyone not only from the Democratic Party, reporters and the world leaders but his own colleagues and people who once worked for him. He has no patience for any dialogue because he is incapable of digesting thoughts. With him it is my way or highway. He is a classic example of a delusional and deranged mind.
• (5) Equality: Trump first demonized all Latin American illegal immigrants as rapists and murderers. Then he showed his true colors after death of George Floyd at under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer. Resulting nationwide Black Lives Matter protests, violence and riots which included many white Americans besides the black community gave him only a license to spew more venom against the Blacks and incite his racist base to retaliatory violence. He is mean to the core; his hatred of people of color is so intense that he did not care to pay final respects to a Civil Rights Movement giant John Robert Lewis. His characterizing of Ku Klux Klan members at the Charlottesville rampage in 2017 as “fine young men” leaves no doubt about his White Supremacist mind. 

One may disagree with the BLM movement. Like one of my friends, one may label Blacks as Lazy, living on government dole, obese, irresponsible as parents and with no morals- all of which is mischaracterization of a whole race and that too without looking at the historic context, but one cannot ignore that Blacks do not have a level playing field. I find it very disturbing when I sense the streak of racism in my Hindu friends; they froglet that we are only one shade above the Blacks when it comes to the skin color. If today Trump can go after the Blacks, Latinos or Muslims,  tomorrow, it could be turn of Hindus too. To feel secure because we are highly educated and in the upper echelons of income brackets (as compared to other minorities) is to fool ourselves. Just ask the dead professors, scientists, entrepreneurs and successful businessmen in Mao’s China, Stalin’s Russia, Pol Pot’s Kampuchea (Cambodia), Idi Amin’s Uganda and Hitler’s Germany.

• (6) Democracy: Democracy is a very fragile concept. It endures so long as all participants value it and abide by norms meant to preserve and protect it. Moment one gets impatient especially a leader and short circuits it to achieve desired results, democracy dies. Death of a democracy is always a slow process. what was unacceptable becomes acceptable today as a stop get measure because of some exigency, decay creeps in, and one after the other pillars of democracy erode and fall. Anyone who does not take notice of acts that weaken the democracy, does not protest it and does not work to restore it, is as guilty as the person who is destroying the democracy. 

Out of 195 countries in the world hardly 55 have functioning democracies. Economist Intelligence Unit, a UK based company has developed a Democracy Index which is based on 60 indicators grouped in five different categories, measuring pluralism, civil liberties and political culture. It indexes 166 countries (rest are countries that came into being after the Democracy Index was developed.)  USA is at number 25 with a score of 7.96 out of 10 and Bharat is number 51 with a score of 6.9.  Thus, in a sea of undemocratic world, it is all the more important for us to protect and preserve our democracy.

But Trump fails on all counts of democracy.

(A) Trump has made the Senate and the Congress his own pocket bureau. All senators have been rendered spineless. Anyone who raises voice against him is publicly pilloried and threatened with a Primary.  When the impeachment proceedings began in the House, the Republican majority leader in the Senate Mitch McConnell shamelessly said that he will coordinate Trump’s defense with the White House. The Senate and the House ate supposed to be independent branches of the government and are meant to act as  checks and balances on the government and the president. Senator Susan Collins and Mitt Romney who make a show of their independence also proved who they really are- tools in the design to make the Supreme Court completely partisan to implement the racist, anti-women,  anti-minority  White Supremacist agenda of the Evangelical Christians by voting for the confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh and supporting nomination for the Supreme Court just before the election respectively.  This depraved, spineless genuflecting in front of Trump again and again by every Republican Congressman and senator has proved beyond doubt that the independence of the legislature  has been killed by Trump.

(B)Trump has terrorized the bureaucracy into abject submission.  He has fired Inspector Generals at will when their findings were harming him personally. He has put people with questionable past in important positions. In some cases, he has appointed a fox to guard a chicken coop. He has destroyed public trust in FBI, CDC, etc. by vilifying them to serve his own interests. No president before him has done that. Thus, Trump has decimated the Executive branch.

(C) Trump has packed judiciary with rightwing judges who do not even show pretense of being impartial. His haste to fill the position on the Supreme Court vacated by Ruth Bader Ginsburg while her body lies in rest at the supreme Court building is nauseating, especially when the same cabal of Republican senators refused to bring for discussion a nominee of President Obama when judge  Anthony Scalia died full eight months before the presidential election.  Trump taking cues from the Federalist society in selecting extreme rightwing judges for the Supreme Court is an affront to democracy where there are opinions severally opposed to the Federalist View. So, Trump  has hit the third nail in the coffin of democracy by weakening and polarizing the highest court of the Land.

(D)Trump  has discredited the media by labeling anything unfavorable to him as fake news. He views media as his enemy. He singles out reporters and urges their bosses to fire him/her. He demeans women reporters. He gives insulting nicknames to reporters. He has killed the spirit of journalism and thereby Trump has destroyed the freedom of the press. 

Thus, Trump has effectively damaged the four  pillars of a democracy- The Legislature, The Executive,  The Judiciary and The Free Press.

• (7) Integrity of Character: After all that I have mentioned above, not much needs to be said about Trump’s  lack of character. He is a person with no morality or conscience. He is a pathological liar. He is a cheat and corrupt to the core. He promotes nepotism and sycophancy. He does not think twice to betray his associate/friend if he can make a buck or save his skin. He is foulmouthed, condescending and uncouth. He exhibits all the traits of a Mafia Don. He is too selfish, and his world revolves around himself. He surrounds himself with criminals. Many of his close confidantes have ended up in prison and others are facing court trials. He himself is under investigation in a number of cases in New York. His charity was fined heavily and was ordered to shut down for malpractices. Same was the case with Trump University. The latest revelations about his financial status, his deals with Turkey, Moscow and Philippines, etc. create serious doubts about his ability to put the interests of USA above his personal interest. That is a security threat for the country, if a President is compromised because of financial pressures in his personal life. He is known to stiffing his vendors and lenders. Between 2010 and 2018, he has shortchanged his lenders to the tune of $287 million. Would you do  a business with such an individual? Worse, would you put him in a position where he could decide your and country’s future? He interferes with the Justice department when his crony friend is up for sentencing. He pardons criminals like Roger stone who now parrots the idea that Trump should not accept a defeat and send in troops in the streets and declare a Marshall law.  What else one needs to know that the country and the democracy can never be safe in the hands of such a person?

How could I who claim to be a proud Hindu vote for a person who scores a big Zero on all the values that I hold dear and talk about to others, unless I am a total hypocrite? . (To be continued to part 4 OF 4)

Gaurang G. Vaishnav,   Tampa, FL

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Why I will vote for the Democratic Slate this Election by Gaurang G. Vaishnav (Part 2 of 4)

Continued from Part 1: charges against Biden-Harris and the Democratic Party

(4) Biden is pro-Islam: Everyone bends out of shape on this issue. We have very bitter experience of Islam than USA and therefore, anyone having anything to do with Muslims automatically becomes a suspect. That is natural but not right. I have been a volunteer of VHPA for 48 years and as you know have held positions where I have come in close contact of the thought leaders of VHP (Bharat), RSS and BJP. I do believe that more than being a religion, Islam is a political construct for imperialism and hegemony of a rigid and inhumane thought process.  I am strongly opposed to Islam and to the Muslims as a community (because of herd mentality) but not to an individual Muslim. An average person, a poor or lower middle-class person, a Hindu or Muslim has no time for religion. His worries are next meal or paying school fees for children.  To me Hindus who represent Congress, Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress, etc. are more dangerous than average Muslim.

I have objection to Biden talking about teaching Islam in schools (though his words have been distorted by pro-Trump Hindus) but for a different reason. He said that Islam is a confessional faith and therefore, it should also be taught  (like other confessional faiths- Christianity and Judaism.) He should have said, all religions should be taught but it is a fact that in USA, Hindus do not count. This is a Judaic-Christian country and will remain so. 

Trump has created so much hatred for Islam that it is natural for his political opponents to cash on it and attract the Muslims to his/her side. In the process, they have to, and will make statements to please them.

But there is a fundamental question that we can ignore only at our own peril. Should everyone have an equal opportunity in a society to aspire and advance irrespective of their caste, creed, religion or sexual orientation? If answer is No, then we will produce more Joe McCarthys and Trumps and create permanent fissures, resentment and violence. If the answer is Yes, then why should Muslims be not given a fair chance? There is no question that Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar represent the true face of Islam but in a democracy, you cannot wish them away. You have to defeat them politically or censure them when they cross the line. The dance of democracy is very difficult- it is like dancing barefoot  on a floor full of glass shreds, but the alternatives are worse. 

Islam and terror spawned by its adherents is an age-old problem. Christians and Muslims have fought wars; Hindus and Muslims have fought wars; Jews and Muslims have fought wars. Yet, Islam has survived and expanded.  No single country or a leader, least of them Trump, can vanquish Islam. The reform has to come from within for a sustainable change. Any externally imposed changes will not last. USA and France tried hard and USA lost thousands of its men in Vietnam, but they failed to impose their way of thinking (capitalism) on Vietnam and when they were defeated, both Vietnams became one and became a Communist country. That is true of any society or religion. That does not mean that we ignore the elephant in the room. There should be vigilance and enough efforts to educate voters to defeat radical candidates but denying a section of society right to get involved politically is not a solution.

If Trump is truly anti-Islam, why does he do business with Saudi Arabia, the fountainhead of Islamic terror? Why did he not own reports form his own intelligence agencies that Jamal Khashoggi’s assassination was ordered by the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia himself and acted against Saudi Arabia? For Trump, everything is transactional. Then, he had said, Saudi Arabia is our big business partner. For Trump, money is the only thing that matters and therefore all his pronouncements against China hold a little value. If Chinese leaders offer him a good deal (especially, if it benefits his own businesses), he will change his anti-China rhetoric in no time.

Finally, on this issue my fellow Hindus have no faith in the designs of the Supreme. In darkest times, things have changed suddenly. Those who have lived during Indira Gandhi’s emergency rule of 19 months, will remember that  it seemed that we were doomed forever. No one thought that she would call for an election, but she did, lost it and the democracy was re-established. In her second stint, her son Sanjay Gandhi, essentially a street thug became all the more powerful and it seemed he would take Indira Gandhi’s place and become a ruthless dictator but then suddenly he died in a plane crash. When election fraud was rampant, a T. Sheshan came as the Chief Election Commissioner, used powers that no one before him had dared to use, and cleaned up electoral malfeasance. When people, especially Hindus were totally demoralized after BJP’s stinging ouster from power in 2004 and subsequent anti-Hindu policies of Congress government and its rampant corruption, a Narendra Modi came up to change the course of the history. You can look around the world and find several examples that changed the course of history whether it be the fall of Berlin Wall or end of Apartheid rule in South Africa. Destiny works in miraculous ways. We have to do our share but I do not believe in the dooms day scenario painted by many Hindu social media activists (you already know the difference between on-the-ground activists and social media variety) in which Hindus will be extinct tomorrow unless we throw all Muslims in the sea or bomb them out. One has to be active but not carry a chip on the shoulder.

(5) Socialism: Those who criticize the Democrats for their policies throw in words like socialist, communist and Leftist at will while each is a distinct ideology. But I will not get into a debate on that. Capitalism in its pure form means survival of the fittest, exploitation of resources including human beings, and each for his own self. Socialism, in theory wants the “Haves” to share their wealth with “Have nots.”  Both systems are imperfect. Late Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay proposed Integral Humanism, which is rooted in Hindu thinking of बहुजन हिताय, बहुजन सुखाय (for the wellbeing and happiness of maximum number of people) and अंत्योदय (upliftment of the last man.) This is also the policy of BJP in Bharat and creed of RSS; Almost all my friends are supporters of BJP and RSS in Bharat and of Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA) and Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) in USA.   Needless to say, Integral Humanism is closer to socialism than to capitalism. 

One argument is that social welfare schemes are misused. Able bodied people are on welfare, Medicaid is being taken advantage of, etc. This is true of any public program anywhere in the world. Those who make this argument have no answer for the doctors and other medical professionals (including NRIs) who fraudulently bill Medicaid and Medicare to the tune of millions of dollars. They keep quiet when mega banks and industry CEOS skim off billions of dollars of the general public through unethical means (e.g., Wells Fargo Bank, Bank of America, and there are many more). Who is more culpable- a person who cheats the system for may be $500 a month or these multi-million dollars scamsters? Checks and balances have to be built into the system and rules have to be enforced but shutting down safety net for millions of needy because of misuse by a small percentage is akin to throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

I hear people saying, “look I came here with only eight dollars and succeeded without any handout, why can’t others do the same?”  This is a heartless argument. Everyone is not endowed with same ability. There are people who just cannot cut it in a competitive environment. Some have physical deficiency, others mental. Then there are millions of senior citizens who have worked whole their lives and are yet struggling to stay afloat on paltry social security payments and some savings. Should we just pretend that they do not exist? Should we let them die a miserable death just because they were not as smart and lucky as you and I are? Where is the Hindu compassion? What is the point of donating and raising funds for programs such as Support A Child, Ekal Vidyalaya and Akshaya Patra? Let those people also fend for themselves; tell them, too bad,  it is survival of the fittest. Republicans disparage Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid as entitlements; they very well know that people pay into them all throughout their working life to have assurance of a steady stream of income and health benefits in their golden years when they need them the most. Successive governments have dipped in the till and left funds for Social Security and Medicare in precarious condition. Is asking those funds to be restored a call to socialism?

It is easy to pontificate others when you are financially secure and have come out ahead in the rat race. One has to put himself/herself in the shoes of the less fortunate people to understand their pain and anguish .It is patently wrong to assume that every person who gets benefit of government assistance is a cheat and a fraud. If my heart bleeds for the poor and disadvantaged in Bharat, it must bleed with the same intensity for the poor and disadvantaged  in my adopted country. Otherwise, I am nothing but a big hypocrite parading around as a Hindu social worker. . (To be continued to part 3 OF 4)

Gaurang G. Vaishnav, Tampa, FL

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Indian Democracy Dead- Funeral

Courtesy: Kiran Kumar S. (@KiranKS- on Twitter)

A still from Youtube video : Funeral of Indian Democracy, by UPA!

How the “civil” society got its groove back

Reproduced from http://barbarindians.blogspot.com

Most of us have heard this fable in one form or another: A patient came from afar to see a doctor. After a thorough examination, the doctor asked him to come back the next day for his prescription. The patient was a bit peeved – “Doctor, couldn’t you give me my prescription today? I come from far away”. “Nope”, said the adamant doctor. The next day, when the patient arrived, the doctor prescribed him some ordinary vitamins – and oh, by the way, he must go on a strict sugar free diet. The patient was visibly rueful that just for this he had to make a second trip, but he thanked the doctor anyway, and left. The doctor’s assistant felt curious about this, he had known the doctor to be a very reasonable man. “Doctor, I am curious, why did you make him come back again? Couldn’t you have prescribed this yesterday? Poor fella had to make the long trip twice”. The doctor smiled enigmatically. “You see, yesterday I had several boxes of sweets sent by my classmate right here in the chamber. It would be a bit odd to ask the patient to go on a sugar free diet, wouldn’t it?” After successfully subverting the democratic process of elections and converting the entire policy debate into a “civil” society led agit-prop movement for over a decade, the Congress party now expects the people to suddenly become fond of democracy and constitutionalism and start hating “civil” society. Right. That is working really well. Let’s take a brief look at the dangerous road to anarchy the Congress party has led us down: A “civil” society body called the NAC – completely illegal and extra-constitutional, now runs major policy decisions. The members of this NAC are hand picked from a group of Sonia Gandhi loyalists and dangerous subversionists, with manifest links with both the Maoists and now as it has come to light recently, even Pakistan’s ISPR. Just check out news reports – NAC is everywhere. Sonia Gandhi is the self-styled permanent chairman of this body, with no term limits and no provision for her removal. => The constitutional experts who sprouted after Anna Hazare’s fast started ostensibly had no reason to worry about this dangerous subversive institution. After 2004, the Congress party led state Governments and not to mention the Central Govt has indulged in a massive orgy of loot. While #2G, CWG and the Adarsh remain the iconic scams against which public ire is directed, a brief look at the situation at Andhra Pradesh provides a worrying picture of hidden scams from which Congress has successfully dissociated itself. Former star CM of AP and the late YSR’sson’s house is being raided by CBI, this sordid chapter has revealed just how much the Congress party looted from Andhra Pradesh. The whole state now resembles a Jesus camp. => Media and public intellectuals simply did not find it worthwhile to dig into the AP story and nail the lies while camping out in non-Congress states for sniffing out even minor transgressions. Try convincing the Anna Team why we don’t need a Lok Pal? Despite their self-proclaimed and oft repeated claims of love for Dalits, the contempt they have shown for Mayawati simply boggles the mind, including planted stories of rape. The Congress party and its media contingent descended in full force (accompanied by a small battalion of “civil” society activists) in a quaint UP hamlet and tried to scuttle a land deal. The Gandhi dynasty scion did his second best impression of Naavi Prince after Odisha and needless to say got completely friendly coverage in the media and hailed by activists. Meanwhile, the Congress run state Govt in Maharashtra was shooting at agitating farmers. The latter news was mostly blacked out. => We would like to hear from the suddenly democratic Congress intellectuals exactly why is politics of agit-prop bad? What would they like to tell Team Anna about why Rahul Gandhi defying 144 is constitutional and a-okay while Team Anna wanting permission to hold a rally dangerous? A famous Diva journalist of a top news channel enthusiastically covered the “Arab Spring” earlier this year. She was nowhere to be seen at the Ramlila grounds. Overnight she had become a champion of stability, democracy etc. Too bad for her, because her credibility had been shot to pieces in the Radia tapes controversy. The entire MSM seemed to be completely depressed over the whole affair. Unfortunately for them, they had already been exposed for hunting with the foxes and running with the hare. Too late. => It would be interesting to see these morally compromised and corrupt individuals of media do a debate with Team Anna about why media should or should not be under the Lok Pal. Let us take a look at the Bills the Congress party itself has in the pipeline. These include the Right to Education (RTE), Right to food, Communal Violence Prevention (CVB) and Land acquisition bill. Each of these bills were written unilaterally by the NAC. Each of these bills suffer from the same problems – amorphous and skewed selection process, massively anti-reform, creates gargantuan bureaucracies, hands out enormous powers into the hands of a select few individuals, destroys federal structure, has the potential to create major communal rift. All these bills also contain a spawn clause – i.e. the commissar can create new rules as he deems fit. The CVB does not even entertain the possibility that Hindus can be victims of communal violence. It also does not specify the conditions under which the extra-judicial powers can be exercised. If boys playing street cricket breaks a Church window, Harsh Mander can walk in and take over that district. Worse, if the minority community feels peeved at some movie or book (which they often do), even then Harsh Mander can walk in. Prevention, see? Does not matter who initiates or starts burning trains. The gist of the Right to Food bill is to divvy up foodgrains into communal quotas and don’t you dare touch the minority pot! => Now, what were the points again about the Lok Pal being too powerful, can undermine democracy etc.? The Congress party has led us down the garden path and converted the country into a giant NGO, a carnival of continuous discontent, intrigue and subversion. They have been completely aided and abetted by country’s top intellectuals who have not spoken up even on a single instance of countless transgressions of their favorite political outfit – worse, they actively cheered them on. Now that the shyte has hit the fan, Congress intellectuals should just hold their Padmashris in their hands and spare us the sanctimony. http://barbarindians.blogspot.com/2011/08/how-civil-society-got-its-groove-back.html

The President Surrenders- PAUL KRUGMAN

 

 

 

 

Click below to read the article from New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/01/opinion/the-president-surrenders-on-debt-ceiling.html?_r=1&src=ISMR_HP_LO_MST_FB

Excerpts:

“And then there are the reported terms of the deal, which amount to an abject surrender on the part of the president. First, there will be big spending cuts, with no increase in revenue. Then a panel will make recommendations for further deficit reduction — and if these recommendations aren’t accepted, there will be more spending cuts.”

“In fact, Republicans will surely be emboldened by the way Mr. Obama keeps folding in the face of their threats. He surrendered last December, extending all the Bush tax cuts; he surrendered in the spring when they threatened to shut down the government; and he has now surrendered on a grand scale to raw extortion over the debt ceiling. Maybe it’s just me, but I see a pattern here.”

“In the long run, however, Democrats won’t be the only losers. What Republicans have just gotten away with calls our whole system of government into question. After all, how can American democracy work if whichever party is most prepared to be ruthless, to threaten the nation’s economic security, gets to dictate policy? And the answer is, maybe it can’t.”

Response to comments on: Kasab’s Birthday Gift

In response to my write up: Kasab’s Birthday Gift to US- Mumbai Blasts,  in a discussion group which also appeared on this blog on July 14,  one Mr. Chauhan, supposedly a Major General representing <Sainik Sangh> made several incidery remarks. Here I reproduce his comments with my responses. (His comments are in bold. My response start with >>>. are in italics and in navy blue color.)

Gaurang G. Vaishnav

—Those who think BJP is the salvation are nothing but bania brahmin caucus in another demoniac form

 >>> Who said anything about BJP? Your prejudice starts with your fist sentence. Can you prove with figures that BJP= Bania+Brahmin? Are Advani, Bangaru Laxman, V. Naidu, Modi, Rajnath Singh, etc., Bania/Brahmin? How would you define demonic?

What does Modi know about running a modern State  He may have delivered for the fat profiteers and Hindu Jews which doesn’t make a State 

>>> You must be living in la-la land to make such a stupendous statement. Of course, you have not lived in Gujarat so your ignorance can be forgiven. What fits your definition of modern state? Bihar, UP, Orissa? 

What does BJP know about nationalism which is not obscurantism and building temples  ? The masses are in grip of renegade capitalism  which must be replaced by nationlism not Jews .

>>> I do not know why you keep harping on BJP when I have suggested that Congress be thrown out? Capitalism is an economic system, nationalism is not. Capitalism can be replaced with socialism, communism, etc. but not with nationalism. Are you aware that BJP  believes in Integral Humanism as an economic system? Do you even know what it mans and who propounded that concept? Please Google and study it. Suffice is to say that capitalism, socialism, communism, etc. have inherent weaknesses because they are not built around needs of human beings. Integral Humanism aspires to build economic system keeping human beings at the center.

 Does BJP know about nationalism? Who has stood for total integration of Kashmir with Bharat? Who has stood for uniform Civil Code? Who has maintained that there are hundreds of national heroes (who have been ignored by design) of freedom struggle besides Nehrus and Gandhis? Who had the guts to conduct nuclear explosion and stand up against mighty USA?

What a small vision hanging of Afzal Will this deliver the nation from every day shame? Just diversion

>>> Hanging one individual will not solve all problems, but then you can make that argument for any step that the government takes or does not take. Afzal Guru is a convicted terrorist. Terrorism is meant to sap a society of its confidence and lead it into submission. Keeping Afzal and Kasab alive despite court orders is hastening that process of submission. Therefore, it is not a small vision, but an effective prescription for one of or serious national maladies, i.e., the feeling of helplessness against abject terror. 

 In any case, unless you are against the rule of law, or have some personal affinity for Afzal, you would not question hanging of Afzal. 

Afzal is already a martyr with his poeple MANY MORE ARE READY TO FOLLOW HIM.

>>> Osama bin Laden was a hero too to millions of Muslims in Pakistan, Yemen, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Malaysia, USA, UK, Bharat, etc. Where is he now? He was gunned down like a rabid street dog and is at the bottom of an ocean. Those who are ready to follow him will meet the same fate or worse. It is only a matter of time before present rulers in Bharat are replaced with a government that will not tolerate and mollycoddle terrorists- mind you, I am not saying BJP, it could be any party or combination of parties that will come to power and take the initiative.’ Then so called martyrs will be sent for a meeting with their creator because of the pressure that will build up from the suffering populace. Congress can do the same and win people’s hearts but to do that it has to first purge itself of its entire leadership which is anti-Bharat, anti-Hindu, pro-Muslim and corrupt to the core.

Is Modi ready to field his in retaliation?

>>> Why do you pick on Modi? When I am raising issue of fighting terrorism and asking that guilty be hanged, which is a central government issue, how does Modi figure in the discussion? Mr. Modi has proved his credentials by catching would be terrorists before they could inflict harm on the innocent. Compare Gujarat with Maharashtra and see the difference in number of terrorist attacks. Ishrat Jahan and Soharabuddin would have been garlanded and given ministerial posts, had they been in a Congress ruled state.

 Modi does not have to retaliate because he is proactive. he does not weigh his actions against how a particular community would feel or vote before he takes a step that he feels is in the interest of Gujarat and the nation.

Why cant BJP send out sallies  in return.

>>> Why is it BJP’s burden to send out “sallies” (I do not know what this word means but I assume you mean retaliating force”)?  Who is in power? Congress or BJP? Suppose, BJP were to take up your suggestion, you will be the first one to blame it as a Hindu terrorist party supported by Jews.

The French President  visited Kabul the other day and gloried the role of NATO in foighting terrorism. The next day ficew French soldiers were killed. BJP AND ITS BANIAS  Learn from PASHTUNS! 

>>> I will take your argument and turn it on its head to show its hollowness.. BJP or Congress can take the killing of the French soldiers to man that any action against terrorists would mean killing of Bharatiya soldiers and civilians. So, it would be better not to act.

 Further, we have a history of brave men and women, who have given their lives and fought on the battlefield within the bounds of Dharma. We do not need to learn from Pashtuns or terrorists who are nothing but modern day asuras and  rakshasas.

PEOPLE ARE NOW GETTING WISE AS TO WHO  SIT SNUGLY MAKING MONEY AND FIELD OTHERS TO FIGHT . GERMANS WERE RIGHT ABOUT THE JEWS WE HAVE SO MANY VARIETY OF THESE !

>>> Apparently you are a big fan of Hitler. That should preclude you automatically from this discussion because this group is for people who believe in democratic norms and  meaningful discussion.  

 You are right about people getting wise. They now know that it is the Congress and UPA that sit smugly and make billions through Commonwealth Games, 2G, Adarsh Housing Society and multitude of scams. Kalmadis, Rajas, Kanimozhis, Marans, Chidambarams, etc. are the glaring example of this rot and they do not belong to BJP. People are wizened to the fact that while these Congress demons are looting the nation, they feed the common man to the wolves, i.e., terrorists.

Mumbai walas are fools They listen  to perverted politicians such as the Home Minister and  do not demand his dismissal .

>>> In past, Mumbaiwalas have  taken scalps of their Chief Ministers and they will do it again. Have you watched 2008 film, “Wednesday” with Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher in lead roles? There is a telling dialogue where Naseeruddin Shah, the common man says: “we are resilient, not by choice but by force because we have to go out next day and earn our livelihood.”  That is exactly why people go on with their routine even after the bomb blasts. But once this reaches a flash point, all bets will be off.

 The same happened last time and the sam w will happen again!

>>> So, what you as an individual will do about it to change the course? That “same will happen again” is a given, but the end results may not be same. Even a goat gets up on its hind legs when totally cornered or its kids are threatened. Once the patience runs out, events take unpredictable course and no politician or police force would be able to contain them. People in Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Syria, Tunisia, etc. are much more suppressed than people in Bharat. yet, they came to a point where they shed their fears and either brought down, or are in process of doing so, sitting government/dictator.

People get the rulers they deserve .

>>> That is a good dose of opium. You may be OK with the Government that you have gotten, millions of  Bharatiyas and I are not.

HINDU history is replete      

>>> A jaundiced person can see nothing but yellow. Perhaps, you have had no chance to read real history of Bharat. Like many others you might have been taught Macaulayian and Nehruvian history. This is a subject of entirely another discussion.

 Our history is of people who have wished well for the entire humanity, kings who gave away their kingdoms for upholding Dharma, soldiers who obeyed all dharmic rules of warfare even when fighting against those who had no concept of Dharma. Ours is the history of Rama and Krishna, of Arjun and Abhimanyu, of Mahaveer and Buddha, of king Puru and Pruthviraj, of Shankaracharya and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, of Chankaya and Chandragupt, of Mirabai and Narsinh Mehta, Of Kabir and  Thiruvalluvar, of Shivaji and Rana Pratap, of Nanak and Guru Govind Singh, of Maharani Laxmibai and Tatya Tope, of Bhagat Singh and Madan Lal Dhingra, of Khudiram Bose and Jatin Das, of  Shyamji Krishna Varma and madam Cama, of Veer Savarkar and Subhashchandra Bose, of Lala Lajpatrai and Chapekar brothers, of Ramakrishna, Vivekanand and Aurbindo, of Sardar Patel and Gandhiji. This is just a sampling. Remember,  our is not the history of Jawaharlal, Indira, Sanjay, Rajiv, Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka. They are an aberration and a blot on our history.

chauhan, maj general   <gs@sainiksangh.org>

>>> With an organization named Sainik Sangh, last name  Chauhan and a title like Major General, one would expect from you valor, courage, indefatigable  confidence and deep love for motherland. One would expect you to lead from the front and not discourage those who are fighting. One should be excused if he/she is led to believe that the organization as well as your name and title are phony.

 

 Finally, you may not realize but Internet etiquette dictates that all CAPS or all bold text be not used in any correspondence. All bold is akin to shouting. I am sure that you wanted to discuss and not shout.

You seem to have pathological hatred for BJP, Modi and Hindus which is abundantly clear from your writing. Your disdain for Jews is a disease that led to Hitler’s massacre and second world war. You may think in narrow terms of Brahmin and Bania, I believe that we are all Hindus, first and last. I will gladly accept the intelligence of Brahmin, courage of Kshatriya, pragmatism of Vaishya and sense of selfless service from Shudra because, according to Purush Sukta, they are all parts of same body. We are all Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra; our real caste is whatever quality out of these four is predominant in our life at a given time.

 It is the Congress culture to divide the society in the name of caste and religion. Rise above it and join those who have come forward to end the misgovernance rather than standing on the sides and making baseless, derogatory statements.

 Gaurang G. Vaishnav

SC asks Delhi Police to Explain use of Teargas on Baba Ramdev’s Yoga Camp

Express news service  Posted: Tue Jul 12 2011, 03:17 hrsNew Delhi:

The Supreme Court on Monday sought an explanation from the Delhi Police regarding the midnight crackdown at a camp organised by yoga guru Baba Ramdev against corruption. The court also questioned the need for resorting to teargas shells and lathi-charge in a closed enclosure, where people were sleeping.

A bench of Justices B S Chauhan and Swatanter Kumar asked for responses from the Delhi Home Secretary and the Delhi Police, while posting the case for hearing on July 25.

Referring to Ramdev’s reply in support of his claim that a yoga camp was on at Ramlila Maidan, the bench observed that there are documents and DVDs to show that yoga was undertaken.

The court said it may even view over 30 hard disks of footage to help determine what really happened at the site.

Ramdev had, in his reply, blamed Home Minister P Chidambaram for the entire incident, saying the decision to arrest him was taken well in advance. The yoga guru asked the court to issue a notice to the Home Minister personally.

While the court asked for a reply from the Home ministry, no clarification has been sought from Chidambaram personally.

The government had said that instead of a mass-yoga class for 5,000 people, for which the permission was sought, there were close to 65,000 people present on the grounds.

Senior advocate Ram Jethmalani, appearing for Ramdev, said a detailed response was required from the police on why they used water-cannons and teargas, putting Ramdev’s followers at the Maidan in harm’s way. He termed the police action as “murder of democracy”.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/explain-use-of-teargas-force-sc-to-police/816272/

An Expose of Hazare and his Team-Must Watch

An explosive revelation about Anna Hazare and his team in this 27 minute video in Hindi.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQDKDvkGvz4

Find out answers to these troubling questions:

1. Is Anna Hazare  planted by Congress?
2. Where did Hazare collected Rs. 8,200,000 for his movement?
3. Did 70% of that money come from Congress people on the instructions of higher ups?
4. Why did Jindal, a Congress person give Rs. 4.2 million for the movement?
5. Why was a clause added to include Megasaysay award winners (Hazare, Kejriwal, Bedi) in the Lokpal team? Were they securing jobs for themselves?
6. What is the role of Agnivesh?
7. If Hazare and team is part of the public movement, why did they become part of a Government team?
8. Why were Subramanian Swamy, Vishwabandhu Gupta and 17 others were black listed by team Hazare from attending the “drama” at Rajghat?
9. Why did Santosh Hegde leave today’s meeting halfway?
10. Was Baba Ramdev beat up?
11. Did the Prime Minister come to know about the police crackdown only when he woke up on 5th June?
12. Is the democracy in Bharat already dead but the announcement is not made yet?
13. Is there any hope for the future of Bharat?

These are serious and disturbing questions and one hopes there is an explanation. However, we the people, especially those who are involved in the movement have a right to know answers to these questions. One should not be afraid that this would lead to disunity among us because we need to make sure that there are no foxes guarding the chicken coupe.

UPA needs to drop arrogance and get real

The Sunday Standard (Indian Express Group)

 Prabhu Chawla

Last Updated : 13 Jun 2011 11:21:42 AM IST

Offence is not always the best defence. Delhi’s ruling establishment is learning it the hard way. For the past few weeks, the UPA, the Congress and its megaphones have gone cacophonic with questions over the colour of the movements led by Anna Hazare and Ramdev against black money and corruption.

The reaction of the Government and the party to civil society’s champions defies not only logic but also consistency. They decided to defame and deride the same leaders whom they treated like manna from heaven until last week. Both Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had written personal letters to both the reformers, praising them for their relentless drive against the same cause to which, both claimed, the Congress is equally committed. Over a dozen ministers were deputed to plead and pray together with Baba and Anna. No doubt, Manmohan Singh and Sonia later put together a very effective team comprising spin doctors, legal eagles, filibusters and sagacious leaders to deal and tame the rising revolt against the establishment. The team led by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee was expected to rein in both the crusaders by dialogue, debate and database.

They were also under instructions that if they failed in their endeavour, they should not spare any page in the rulebook to derail and demoralise the civil society groups through the use and misuse of the ever-ready investigative agencies. As the public outcry against the system acquires monumental proportions, the Government has devised a dangerous mechanism of dealing with dissent in a democracy. The message is clear: Join Us or Perish.

Once Anna and Baba refused to fall in line, the ruling establishment dubbed them as communal, corrupt, thugs and agents of unknown enemies of the state. But the Government fell into yet another trap for which they weren’t ready. Those who oppose both Anna and Baba chose to ask some questions like:

● Who were the donors who provided huge funds to both these campaigners?

● How are they spending their money?

● Why don’t civil society leaders declare their assets to the public?

● Are civil society leaders divided on many issues?

● How can a few selected people be allowed to dictate the nation’s agenda?

● Why do they want a live telecast of the proceedings of the panel on the Lokpal Bill?

● Why have they taken the support of organisations like the RSS and other allegedly communal organisations?

Interestingly, none of these issues were raised by any of the senior ministers who spent over 50 hours with Anna and Ramdev at the cost of government functioning, pleading for the agitation to be called off. As the Government and opinion-makers it sponsors mounted a tirade against Anna and Ramdev, they received an equally powerful rebuttal to each of the doubts raised about their motives. Team Anna turned the tables on the Government by putting out the assets of each key team member on their website.

Anna also ensured his website was brought to date by uploading the names of the movement’s donors, money spent on each rally, travel and so on and so forth. An earlier attempt to tar the image of Shanti Bhushan and his son by circulating a fake CD fell flat when two contradictory reports were handed over about the veracity of the discs. The Delhi Police have conveniently chosen to forget all about the case. Some prominent Government leaders issued veiled threats, promising reprisals against those who were part of the civil society movements. In Baba’s case, the threats were implemented; the Government selectively leaked reports on his business empire. It also sent out clear signals to all its departments to dig deep into the yoga guru’s past and present to try sabotage his future.

If the Government’s moves were aimed at silencing and demoralising both Baba and Anna, it failed miserably. Instead, it only brought them together.

Allegations of a division among civil society ranks were exposed by a massive protest fast at Rajghat by Anna and his team. They argue that when Parliament proceedings are telecast live, what is the problem with doing the same with the Lokpal Bill meetings? Civil society leaders were particularly upset with the way the Government treated Baba. Questions posed by the establishment were answered to with more inconvenient questions to the Congress and the Government. The most devastating question was on the legitimacy of the National Advisory Council led by Sonia. If, as the Government points out, unelected leaders like Anna and Baba are forcing it to set the tone for legislative business, then why is the NAC, with unknown members, being allowed to summon government files and officials for a brief on every law that the Government proposes to enact? The prime minister and all political parties are under pressure now to force ministers and leaders to declare assets on regular basis. Now, the public will ask the leaders to declare how much money was spent on each rally and also the names of donors who contributed towards these political shows.

Even the Election Commission that has failed to take any serious action against political parties for not filling their annual returns correctly will have to pull its socks. No political party has ever given out the names of those who give them money to run their political establishments and fight the elections.

According to credible estimates, over Rs 80,000 crore is spent by parties every five years on contesting polls and meeting their running costs. Most leaders now travel only by chartered planes.

It is now time to come down to earth. If the Government continues with its strong-arm tactics, it should be ready to confront a tsunami. After all, arrogance does bring agony.

– prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com

http://expressbuzz.com/thesundaystandard/upa-needs-to-drop-arrogance-and-get-real/282690.html