http://kurtnimmo.com/?p=487
Kurt Nimmo
Friday July 28th 2006
It is certainly a myth that Nero played a fiddle while Rome burned-since the violin was not invented for a full fifteen centuries after his rule-but it is true Condi Rice, Bush's Secretary of State, played the piano in Kuala Lumpur as Lebanese continue to die under a hard rain of Israeli bombs and apparently chemical weapons, a situation allowed to continue after Condi nixed the "false promise" of a cease-fire and thumbed her nose at the Syrians and Hezbollah.
"In keeping with her 'serious' mood the Secretary of State performed two pieces from the brooding repertoire of Johannes Brahms-a solo Intermezzo number two, and Brahms Sonata for violin and piano, opus 108, with a Malaysian guest soloist," reports the Gulf Times. "She arrived at the Istana hotel in downtown Kuala Lumpur for the annual gala dinner wearing a glamorous red dress and red jacket made of traditional Malaysian batik material.... Regional ministers swooned over the performance as they left the dinner. 'Oh, beautiful, beautiful. She's a great pianist. She's a concert pianist,' said Philippines Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo, who insisted that despite the geopolitical realities a good time was had by all."
How utterly disgusting.
Of course, the Lebanese, facing "the geopolitical realities" of Israeli aggression and indiscriminate murder, are not having a good time, but then they hardly matter, as became obvious the moment Rice's plane touched down and she engaged in "discussions" with the Israelis, talks designed to do little more than provide the Israelis with more time to kill Lebanese civilians.
Once upon a time, U.S. officials at least put on a somber face when engaging in peace talks during international crises, but Condi simply could not be bothered-she smiled and joked at every turn, even yucked it up during photo ops with Kofi Annan.
Meanwhile, over at the New York Times, the terror transformation is in full swing. According to Neil MacFarquhar, so-called analysts believe "by taking on Israel, Hezbollah had instantly eclipsed Al Qaeda," in other words, the two groups-or one legitimate resistance group, since "al-Qaeda" is a black op designed to scare the pants of weak-kneed and half-witted Americans-are in a race of sorts to see who is the baddest terrorist.
Over at Fox, they are involved in race of their own-to blur the lines between Hezbollah and "al-Qaeda," the terrorist group nobody can demonstrate actually exists.
"The latest dispatch from the Al Qaeda killers urges all Islamic fascists to travel to the Middle East and kill Jews. Bin Laden's second in command, Zawahiri, issued that order on videotape yesterday," avers Fox News loudmouth Bill O'Reilly, who has "been telling you all along that these jihadists are joined together by hatred of Jews and Americans. The World War III concept is that Islamic fascism has to be confronted in all its forms."
Problem is, though, most Americans are not onboard with this "Islam as fascism" paradigm-more accurately a crude and absurd propaganda device-trotted out like a gaudy frat house float during a homecoming parade now that Hezbollah is kicking IOF tail.
"But many Americans do not yet get that, as the CBS poll demonstrated," continues the arrogant one, puffed up grotesquely with poisonous neocon hubris. "If anybody thinks we can sit out the jihad, they're wrong. Right now, Israel is doing us a favor by attacking Hezbollah. We Americans are fortunate we have an ocean between us and the Islamic killers. If we didn't, we'd be facing this in the good old USA.... So bottom line, whoever is fighting the terrorists is our friend. Whoever is helping them is our enemy."
Need he say more?
Kurt Nimmo
Friday July 28th 2006
It is certainly a myth that Nero played a fiddle while Rome burned-since the violin was not invented for a full fifteen centuries after his rule-but it is true Condi Rice, Bush's Secretary of State, played the piano in Kuala Lumpur as Lebanese continue to die under a hard rain of Israeli bombs and apparently chemical weapons, a situation allowed to continue after Condi nixed the "false promise" of a cease-fire and thumbed her nose at the Syrians and Hezbollah.
"In keeping with her 'serious' mood the Secretary of State performed two pieces from the brooding repertoire of Johannes Brahms-a solo Intermezzo number two, and Brahms Sonata for violin and piano, opus 108, with a Malaysian guest soloist," reports the Gulf Times. "She arrived at the Istana hotel in downtown Kuala Lumpur for the annual gala dinner wearing a glamorous red dress and red jacket made of traditional Malaysian batik material.... Regional ministers swooned over the performance as they left the dinner. 'Oh, beautiful, beautiful. She's a great pianist. She's a concert pianist,' said Philippines Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo, who insisted that despite the geopolitical realities a good time was had by all."
How utterly disgusting.
Of course, the Lebanese, facing "the geopolitical realities" of Israeli aggression and indiscriminate murder, are not having a good time, but then they hardly matter, as became obvious the moment Rice's plane touched down and she engaged in "discussions" with the Israelis, talks designed to do little more than provide the Israelis with more time to kill Lebanese civilians.
Once upon a time, U.S. officials at least put on a somber face when engaging in peace talks during international crises, but Condi simply could not be bothered-she smiled and joked at every turn, even yucked it up during photo ops with Kofi Annan.
Meanwhile, over at the New York Times, the terror transformation is in full swing. According to Neil MacFarquhar, so-called analysts believe "by taking on Israel, Hezbollah had instantly eclipsed Al Qaeda," in other words, the two groups-or one legitimate resistance group, since "al-Qaeda" is a black op designed to scare the pants of weak-kneed and half-witted Americans-are in a race of sorts to see who is the baddest terrorist.
Over at Fox, they are involved in race of their own-to blur the lines between Hezbollah and "al-Qaeda," the terrorist group nobody can demonstrate actually exists.
"The latest dispatch from the Al Qaeda killers urges all Islamic fascists to travel to the Middle East and kill Jews. Bin Laden's second in command, Zawahiri, issued that order on videotape yesterday," avers Fox News loudmouth Bill O'Reilly, who has "been telling you all along that these jihadists are joined together by hatred of Jews and Americans. The World War III concept is that Islamic fascism has to be confronted in all its forms."
Problem is, though, most Americans are not onboard with this "Islam as fascism" paradigm-more accurately a crude and absurd propaganda device-trotted out like a gaudy frat house float during a homecoming parade now that Hezbollah is kicking IOF tail.
"But many Americans do not yet get that, as the CBS poll demonstrated," continues the arrogant one, puffed up grotesquely with poisonous neocon hubris. "If anybody thinks we can sit out the jihad, they're wrong. Right now, Israel is doing us a favor by attacking Hezbollah. We Americans are fortunate we have an ocean between us and the Islamic killers. If we didn't, we'd be facing this in the good old USA.... So bottom line, whoever is fighting the terrorists is our friend. Whoever is helping them is our enemy."
Need he say more?
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=99571&version=1&template_id=45&parent_id=25
Rave reviews for Rice's gala peformance
Friday, 28 July, 2006
KUALA LUMPUR: US top diplomat Condoleezza Rice won rave reviews yesterday for her musical performance at Asian security talks, despite skipping the traditional rowdy skits in favour of a sombre piano recital.
With North Korea firing off missiles, carnage in Lebanon, rockets raining on Israel and killings convulsing Iraq, Rice was in no mood for the kind of frivolity staged in previous years.
In keeping with her "serious" mood the Secretary of State performed two pieces from the brooding repertoire of Johannes Brahms - a solo Intermezzo number two, and Brahms Sonata for violin and piano, opus 108, with a Malaysian guest soloist.
She arrived at the Istana hotel in downtown Kuala Lumpur for the annual gala dinner wearing a glamorous red dress and red jacket made of traditional Malaysian batik material.
The dress was designed by Faisol Abdullah, a friend of the Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and was custom-made for Rice.
Regional ministers swooned over the performance as they left the dinner. "Oh, beautiful, beautiful. She's a great pianist. She's a concert pianist," said Philippines Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo, who insisted that despite the geopolitical realities a good time was had by all.
"I don't think it was a sombre mood. We were in a happy mood, we had a lot of fun," he said.
Other acts ranged from the bizarre to the hilarious. The Australians usually bring the house down but were curiously absent this year, leaving it to the Russians to deliver a self-deprecating skit that drew gales of laughter.
The Japanese meanwhile put on a sci-fi act that styled Foreign Minister Taro Aso as a Bogart-style time-traveller who saves the world from disaster and heralds a new era of regional cooperation.
Ong Keng Yong, secretary-general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) which is hosting this week's Asean Regional Forum, applauded Rice's efforts which came after a marathon week of diplomacy.
"The mood was very good," he said. "It was a good, symbolic performance by her. I thought that she has made an extraordinary effort to be here," he said, referring to her dash from Rome where she attended Middle East crisis talks.
Rice's decision to take the stage alone was a relief to some of her entourage. Karen Hughes, former spin doctor for President George W Bush, now czar of US public diplomacy, admitted she had been let off the hook.
"I can't even hum," she confessed on the eve of the Asean Regional Forum (ARF) gala.
Last year, Rice rumpled Asean feathers by skipping the foreign ministers' meeting and sending her then deputy Robert Zoellick.
Previous US secretaries of state, however, have caused a splash at Asean.
Two years ago Colin Powell, initially wary of lampooning himself at his first ARF in 2001, had them rolling in the aisles with a version of the Village People hit "YMCA."
Bill Clinton's secretary of state Madeleine Albright relished the occasion - once donning a bowler hat and tuxedo for her star turn.
"When you're not so sweet, I call the Seventh Fleet, That's the American Way," she crooned, jabbing at her Chinese counterpart one year, to the tune of Bob Hope's "Thanks for the Memories." - AFP
