You can tell that a war zone has really gotten out of control when Geraldo Rivera shows up—and that's exactly what just happened in Libya. On tonight's Daily Show, Jon Stewart examined—and heartily mocked—Rivera's role in the conflict.
Seif al-Islam Qaddafi has reportedly been floating the idea that he will kick his father to the curb and personally lead a "transition to constitutional democracy" in Libya, which no one in their right mind believes would actually happen. That includes rebels from Libya's east who, according to the Telegraph, said through a spokesman today: "Gaddafi and his sons have to leave before any diplomatic negotiations can take place." He added that, "People thought [Seif] was a reformer but since the revolution began, he has shown his true colours. He is a carbon copy of his father." Nice try, Seif.
While Libyan rebels can't seem to hold any ground in a protracted fight with forces loyal to Muammar Qaddafi, the Brother Leader's slimy son Seif al-Islam has come up with an ingenious proposal: to put himself in charge of a "transition to constitutional democracy," according to the Times, speaking with diplomats in the know. That's pretty rich coming from a guy who last month said of the rebellion, "We will not be tolerant. We will fight to the end," and blamed terrorists for the unrest as opposed to his family's four decades of repression. But hey, he's gotta try something, right? And we're sure he'd be willing to relinquish whatever power he gives himself once that "transition" happens, too.
The Central Intelligence Agency is a fundamentally lawless organization that secretly influences events around the globe on behalf of the U.S. It turns out Obama has deployed its agents to Libya, and for some reason liberals are up in arms about it.
Thanks to Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), one of the most widely debunked, and far-out conspiracy theories about the health care law found its way into the Congressional Record late Wednesday — with a twist.
On tonight's Daily Show, Jon Stewart opened with a segment about President Obama's address to the nation (given last night) about America's mission in Libya. Apparently, Stewart isn't too keen on Obama's explanations—or the timing of them.
Every once in a while, President Obama has to explain to the nation why he's doing stuff. He doesn't want to do it, because you guys annoy him, and you don't want to listen to it, because Dancing With the Stars is on. But this is how democracy works! And we are currently dropping bombs on Libya, a country (?) in Africa (?), and it is important that you know why we are doing such a thing, because otherwise George Will or someone will whine forever and ever, and also, your tax dollars something something.
President Obama will finally deliver an address tonight on the current bomb-everything campaign being waged in Libya. It may just be vague rhetoric about the moral need to prevent a massacre without addressing the more granular elements of day-to-day strategy and on which one of those specific days it will end. But if you start bombing a country, you should give a single address of any sort to the folks who pay for those bombs.
Click to viewThis morning a Libyan woman rushed into the Tripoli hotel where foreign press are staying and told the assembled media she had been raped and beaten by Col. Qaddafi's forces, even as security guards tried to physically prevent her from speaking. After a scuffle where hotel staffers threatened her and the press with knives and call her a traitor, the woman was dragged out of the hotel, stuffed into a car and whisked away. (Foreign press are largely confined to the hotel in Libya.)
Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich acquired plenty of attention this week when he floated the idea that President Obama committed an "impeachable offense" by starting a war in Libya without congressional authorization last week, before flying to Brazil for a few days. Where in the Constitution, Kucinich asked, does it allow the president to jaunt off to Rio without even inviting Dennis Kucinich? And what about the "starting a war without telling anyone" thing, too?
Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi can be forgiven for his physical appearance these days. After all, his country is being bombed, rebels are fighting an increasingly bloody war with his army, and his "voluptuous blond" Ukrainian nurse left him. But things weren't always this way. Back in the heady days of 1995 Qaddafi, now 68 years old, gave a Brazilian plastic surgeon an envelope "full of U.S. dollars and Swiss francs" to halt the appearance of aging. The AP spoke to the doctor:
NATO agreed on Thursday night to take complete command of military operations in Libya. Psych! NATO is only leading the part that involves flying jets around, while the U.S., France and the UK are stuck doing the "actual war stuff" (technical term).
The obsessive semantic argument over what the United States and certain U.N. allies are "doing" in Libya really needs to stop. "War," "limited military operations," "freedom fighting," "paying off the defense industry," whatever. "We are shooting targets in Libya with missiles," is what the White House should say if it doesn't want to say anything. It's phrases like these, though, that just keep the confusion alive:
No channels in the United States are as riveting as Libyan state television, based on this one short clip we've watched and nothing else. Check out this guy, this anchor. Does he "like" Qaddafi? We'd guess yes, since he pulls out an AK-47 in the middle of his broadcast and says, "In the name of Almighty God, I pledge to you, my Dear Leader, that I will sacrifice my last breath, my last bullet, my last drop of blood, last baby and child for you." Don't forget your wife!
"Flip-flopping" can be a pretty weak charge, because sometimes politicians change their minds as more information comes through. Still: C'mon, Newt Gingrich.
