The Spiritual Ladder And Democracy

Humanity is a chain, only as strong as its weakest link. To you personally every single human being matters. Heaven On Earth is not possible unless every single human being is on board.

The big picture is, I am for a total spread of democracy, and I am for using every possible weapon of nonviolence to that end.

God is the one authority. And since the only place a human being can connect with God is in his/her personal space, the people collectively are the only legitimate source of earthly power.

That political proposition is urgent and global. If that means Arab countries need to switch to constitutional monarchies, then so be it. If that means the Chinese Communist Party needs to offer the people two candidates for president, governor and mayor, then so be it.

Every human being has a right to free speech. Free will is a gift from God to people. Every human being has a right to religious freedom. You can pray to God the way you choose to. Peaceful practice of religion is a political right.

Violence is not allowed. A legitimate state curbs possibilities of violence through threat of force.

This global political infrastructure with the right to free speech, and the right to peaceful religious practice firmly in place makes room for advanced spiritual undertakings. Advanced spiritual undertakings, as well as advanced economic and social processes.

Kumar: Wake Up To God

The Unconventional Thinking On Making Fun Of Prophet Muhammad

Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglican Church http://www.stjohnsashfield.org.au, Ashfield, New South Wales. Illustrates Jesus' description of himself "I am the Good Shepherd" (from the Gospel of John, chapter 10, verse 11). This version of the image shows the detail of his face. The memorial window is also captioned: "To the Glory of God and in Loving Memory of William Wright. Died 6th November, 1932. Aged 70 Yrs." (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It is not the cow. It is what the cow means to the Hindu.

It is China's tragedy that free speech is not in its arsenal. Free speech is the most fundamental tenet of democracy. Everything else flows from it.

But when was the last time I saw someone make fun of Jesus? When I was the last time I saw cartoons of Jesus?

Black people getting stereotyped is considered bad. Free speech but bad speech.

Islam is a religion like Christianity. And it deserves an equal pedestal of respect.

Western democracies are Christian countries. It is so obvious when you walk around. Islam is going to have a major presence in the Arab democracies, and I am talking democracies with rights for women, democracies with space for opposition. Modern democracies.

Talking shit about Islam has to be put in the same category as talking shit about black people. Muslims should not be made to feel out of place just because they are Muslim. Most Muslims, like most Christians, just want to share cat videos online.

Don't make fun of the Muslim religion if you are not making fun of your own. Have respect.

There is an Islamism that rhymes with fascism, and there is an Islamophobia that rhymes with homophobia.

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Non Intervention In Syria Has Been A Mistake

Special report: The Arab spring: A climate of change

Non intervention in Syria has been a mistake.

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Saudis Going Into Bahrain Like Saddam Going Into Kuwait

Image via WikipediaJust because the autocratic regime in Bahrain extended an invitation does not mean the move was legitimate. This Arab wave of democracy does not end with the nefarious regime in Iran ending up with much more regional power. This wave will sweep away the Iranian mullahs from power. That has to be the outcome we have to work towards.

The Saudi king has to go. The mullahs in Iran have to go.

Gaddafi tried to tell the world it was the Al Qaeda playing tricks on him in Benghazi. Should we have believed him? There were people who said if you kick out Mubarak, the Muslim Brotherhood, a party of Islamists, will take over that important country?

And now there are people who are thinking in terms of a scenario where the Saudi king is still in power a few months from now, and the mullahs are still in power in Iran several months from now.

The whole idea is to sweep them from power. The whole idea is to start afresh. This is not a Shia Sunni fight like the Saudi royals are pressing hard for the world to believe. If the Saudi king tells you he is the person standing between you and Bin Laden, do not believe him. He is the person standing between the people of Saudi Arabia and their democratic aspirations. To that add the people of Bahrain as well.

Wall Street Journal: The New Cold War: For three months, the Arab world has been awash in protests and demonstrations. ...... a dramatic spike in tensions between two geopolitical titans, Iran and Saudi Arabia. ...... On March 14, the Saudis rolled tanks and troops across a causeway into the island kingdom of Bahrain. The ruling family there, long a close Saudi ally, appealed for assistance in dealing with increasingly large protests. ...... shows how easily the old Middle East, marked by sectarian divides and ingrained rivalries, can re-emerge and stop change in its tracks. ...... There has long been bad blood between the Saudis and Iran. Saudi Arabia is a Sunni Muslim kingdom of ethnic Arabs, Iran a Shiite Islamic republic populated by ethnic Persians..... Iran holds in its sway Syria and the militant Arab groups Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Palestinian territories; in the Saudi sphere are the Sunni Muslim-led Gulf monarchies, Egypt, Morocco and the other main Palestinian faction, Fatah. The Saudi camp is pro-Western and leans toward tolerating the state of Israel. The Iranian grouping thrives on its reputation in the region as a scrappy "resistance" camp, defiantly opposed to the West and Israel..... As far away as Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, the Saudis have watched warily as Iranian clerics have expanded their activities—and they have responded with large-scale religious programs of their own there. ...... Spurred on by televised images and YouTube videos from Tunisia, protests broke out across much of the rest of the Arab world. Within weeks, millions were on the streets in Egypt and Hosni Mubarak was gone, shown the door in part by his longtime backer, the U.S. government. The Obama administration was captivated by this spontaneous outbreak of democratic demands and at first welcomed it with few reservations...... In Riyadh, Saudi officials watched with alarm. They became furious when the Obama administration betrayed, to Saudi thinking, a longtime ally in Mr. Mubarak and urged him to step down in the face of the street demonstrations. ..... The Saudis were further agitated when the protests crept closer to their own borders...... As for the U.S., the Saudis saw calls for reform as another in a string of disappointments and outright betrayals..... The Saudis believe that solving the issue of Palestinian statehood will deny Iran a key pillar in its regional expansionist strategy—and thus bring a win for the forces of Sunni moderation that Riyadh wants to lead. ....... the ramping up of regional tensions has another source: fear of democracy itself. ..... Long before protests ousted rulers in the Arab world, Iran battled massive street protests of its own for more than two years. It managed to control them, and their calls for more representative government or outright regime change, with massive, often deadly, force. Yet even as the government spun the Arab protests as Iranian inspired, Iran's Green Revolution opposition movement managed to use them to boost their own fortunes, staging several of their best-attended rallies in more than a year..... Saudi Arabia has largely avoided protests during the Arab Spring ..... "The problem is a political one, but sectarianism is a winning card for them" ...... Iran and Saudi Arabia are, uncharacteristically and to some observers alarmingly, tossing direct threats at each other across the Gulf. ...... the understanding that the kingdom works to stabilize global oil prices while the White House protects the ruling family's dynasty. Washington has pulled back from blanket support for democracy efforts in the region. ....... While Saudi troops guard critical oil and security facilities in their neighbor's land, the Bahraini government has launched a sweeping and often brutal crackdown on demonstrators. ....... forced out the editor of the country's only independent newspaper. More than 400 demonstrators have been arrested without charges, many in violent night raids on Shiite villages ..... In Yemen, the Saudis, also working under a Gulf Cooperation Council umbrella, have taken control of the political negotiations to transfer power out of the hands of President Ali Abdullah Saleh

This is not a Shia Sunni fight. This is a fight between autocracy and democracy. This is a fight between the Arab peoples and their autocratic rulers. Just like the autocrats in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain see common cause, the peoples of Saudi Arabi and Bahrain have to see common cause. They have to rise together.

America has no love affair with the House of Saud. America's love affair is with democracy. It always has been, always will be. But it is for the people of Saudi Arabia to rise, it is for the people of Iran to rise all over again. I remember 2009.

Related articles

• "Saudi Arabia vs. Iran" and related posts (pomed.org)
• Gulf troops to stay till Iran threat gone: Bahrain - msnbc.com (news.google.com)
• Bahrain escapes censure by West as crackdown on protesters intensifies (independent.co.uk)
• Arab uprisings scramble regional power structure of Saudi Arabia, Iran (theglobeandmail.com)
• The New Cold War (online.wsj.com)
• Bahrain to Keep Saudi Troops Because of Iran Threat (abcnews.go.com)
• Ahmadinejad calls for Middle East unity (nationalpost.com)

The Anatomy Of Revolutions For Democracy

Image via WikipediaThe roadmap is as follows. You get people out into the streets in the largest numbers possible to shut down the country completely. You keep it shut down until the regime makes way for an interim government. That interim government has a year to hold elections to a constituent assembly. That constituent assembly then elects a new majoritarian government. And the assembly gets two years to write a new constitution. That is the roadmap.

As long the elected constituent assembly is part and parcel of the roadmap, I would not worry about Islamists coming to power after the fall of Arab dictators. But if there is no constituent assembly part of the roadmap, then the outcome is more iffy, and the transitions more treacherous.

Many non westerns probably think the Republican Party in America is pretty much a Christian party and America has had more than 200 years to polish up its democracy. Islam is a social, religious reality across the Arab world. All that is good on earth and in heaven, a lot of Arabs think, is due to the Allah. That reality of Islam is not necessarily a good or bad thing. The important thing is to put democratic processes in place and let the churns happen.

Democracy is good news. Not to worry.

America's role is to stay deeply engaged and to aid the process as much as possible, through the revolutions, and through the transitions, and through Arab country after Arab country turning into modern democracies.

A democracy movement is science. It can be made to work every single time.

Friday Prayer: Let A Million Libyans March In Tripoli
Democracy With Lowest Possible Losses Of Human Lives
Gaddafi Is No Simon Bolivar
No Fly Zone Or Surgical Strikes
If Gaddafi Is Not President, It Should Be Easier For Him To Leave
Sound Military Options
Nicaragua, Ortega On The Radar
Make Surgical Strikes, Take The Guy Out
Kick Ortega Out
The Fuck With Mugabe
The Chinese Communist Party Can Keep The Power If They Agree To Pluralism, Federalism
This Is Also About Women's Rights
The Saudi King Is No Exception, He Has To Go Too
Democracy: An Israeli Plot?
China: 2 PM, Sunday
Bomb Gaddafi's Tent
Khameini, Gaddafi, Caecescu
Et Tu, China?
When They Open Fire
Iran: Brute Force Does Have An Answer
Iran, Bahrain and Yemen, Jordan, Syria, Libya, Saudi Arabia
Arab Democracy: What The US Needs To Do: Stay Deeply Engaged
Arab Dictators Are Shaking
Egypt: A Revolution, Not A Reform Movement
How Many People Could Mubarak Kill?
Arab Dictators Will Fall Like A House Of Cards

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Make Surgical Strikes, Take The Guy Out

Image via WikipediaEconomic sanctions would be stupid. This butcher has declared war on his own people. Don't declare war on Libya, economic, military or otherwise. Make a few surgical strikes and take the guy out. Decapitate the regime and the game is over. You know where he is.

That would fit the definition of nonviolence. Violence is to stand by and watch as this guy sends warships and gunships to shoot at crowds like they were shooting at dogs. The guy crossed the line about a week ago.

Take the guy out. This game will be over within an hour of this guy's departure.

He has already killed 1,000 people. He will kill a few thousand more. There is no point at which he will say enough. Because vacating the throne or leaving the country are not options for him. He has already made up his mind to commit suicide.

End the game. Enough. It is getting uglier by the day.

A regime has the option to not accept the demand of peaceful protesters. But it does not have the option to unleash animal brutality upon peaceful protesters. A regime that viciously attacks peaceful demonstrators has no claim to sovereignty upon the land it might be laying a claim on.

Gaddafi is illegitimate. He does not rule any country. He is a mad dog. Take him out. If you don't take him out, you are being violent upon the peaceful people of Libya. The first 1,000 deaths might be on Gaddafi's hand, but the second thousand deaths will be on your hand. Don't wait no more. Take him out. You know where he is. Make the surgical strikes.

This guy will not stop on his own. Just like a mad dog has to be put to sleep, this guy has to be put to sleep. That fits the definition of non-violence.

Kick Ortega Out
The Fuck With Mugabe
The Chinese Communist Party Can Keep The Power If They Agree To Pluralism, Federalism
This Is Also About Women's Rights
The Saudi King Is No Exception, He Has To Go Too
Democracy: An Israeli Plot?
China: 2 PM, Sunday
Bomb Gaddafi's Tent
Khameini, Gaddafi, Caecescu
Et Tu, China?
When They Open Fire
Iran: Brute Force Does Have An Answer
Iran, Bahrain and Yemen, Jordan, Syria, Libya, Saudi Arabia
Arab Democracy: What The US Needs To Do: Stay Deeply Engaged
Arab Dictators Are Shaking
Egypt: A Revolution, Not A Reform Movement
How Many People Could Mubarak Kill?
Arab Dictators Will Fall Like A House Of Cards

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• Latest in Libya: Gaddafi forces Military Men to strike back at Libya Unrest (genzpad.com)
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The Saudi King Is No Exception, He Has To Go Too

Image via WikipediaGaddafi is about to fall. Then it is going to be the turn of the king of Saudi Arabi. The monarchy in Saudi Arabia has to come to a total end. Monarchies everywhere need to be ended. This is the time to do it.

This is not the time for reform, this is revolution time. Revolution means big, fundamental change. 

What is going on in the Arab world has never before happened in the Arab world. The scope of it all is breathtaking. Nothing like this has happened in Arab history in two thousand years. This is a millennial shift. This is tectonic. 

Let no one be mistaken. This tide will only subside after every single autocracy in the region has been toppled. The Arab street has spoken. That is the clear verdict. 

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Democracy: An Israeli Plot?
China: 2 PM, Sunday
Bomb Gaddafi's Tent
Khameini, Gaddafi, Caecescu
Et Tu, China?
When They Open Fire
Iran: Brute Force Does Have An Answer
Iran, Bahrain and Yemen, Jordan, Syria, Libya, Saudi Arabia
Arab Democracy: What The US Needs To Do: Stay Deeply Engaged
Arab Dictators Are Shaking
Egypt: A Revolution, Not A Reform Movement
How Many People Could Mubarak Kill?
Arab Dictators Will Fall Like A House Of Cards

Et Tu, China?

Image via Wikipedia

Washington Post: China cracks down on call for 'Jasmine Revolution': Chinese authorities cracked down on activists as a call circulated for people to gather in more than a dozen cities Sunday for a "Jasmine Revolution." ..... Activists seemed not to know what to make of the call to protest, even as they passed it on. They said they were unaware of any known group being involved in the request for citizens to gather in 13 cities and shout "We want food, we want work, we want housing, we want fairness." ...... in the footsteps of recent protests in Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain, Yemen, Algeria and Libya. ..... Authorities appeared to be treating the protest call seriously. ..... Tensions were already high in recent days after a video secretly made under house arrest by one of China's most well-known activist lawyers, Chen Guangcheng, was made public. .... The call for a "Jasmine Revolution" came as President Hu Jintao gave a speech to top leaders Saturday, asking them to "solve prominent problems which might harm the harmony and stability of the society." ..... The ruling Communist Party is dogged by the threat of social unrest over rising food and housing prices and other issues. .... The call to protest was first posted on the U.S.-based Chinese-language website Boxun.com. ...... "This is the most serious denial of service attack we have received," it said in a statement. "We believe the attack is related to the Jasmine Revolution proposed on Feb. 20 in China."

When the people rise, empires fall. China is but one country.



The Arab world, Africa, China: all are fair game.



China needs political plurality, China needs federalism, China needs freedom of speech, China needs religious freedom. China needs democracy and human rights as much as any other country.

When They Open Fire
Iran: Brute Force Does Have An Answer
Iran, Bahrain and Yemen, Jordan, Syria, Libya, Saudi Arabia
Arab Democracy: What The US Needs To Do: Stay Deeply Engaged
Arab Dictators Are Shaking
Egypt: A Revolution, Not A Reform Movement
How Many People Could Mubarak Kill?
Arab Dictators Will Fall Like A House Of Cards

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Iran, Bahrain and Yemen, Jordan, Syria, Libya, Saudi Arabia

Image via WikipediaArab Focus, Microfinance Focus

Los Angeles Times: In Iran, Bahrain and Yemen, protesters take to streets: protesters inspired by the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia take part in street marches..... The tumult in a region normally kept tranquil under the heavy-handed security of conservative Gulf regimes underscored the widening reverberations of new pro-democracy movements in the Middle East ...... the protesters' numbers have been small ..... thousands more people who turned out for the main scheduled march were walking quietly along the sidewalks toward Azadi Square ...... clashes that in some cases involved young demonstrators beating security personnel ...... west of Imam Hussein Square ..... "The police support us, the Iranians support us." ...... "We would like to stress that Feb. 14 is only the beginning. The road may be long and the rallies may continue for days and weeks, but if a people one day chooses life, then destiny will respond." ...... Yemen, meanwhile, was undergoing its fourth straight days of protests ..... Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen's president for more than 30 years 

A political revolution is all about momentum. Right now there is momentum. The right thing to do is to stoke the fire. Get the people out into the streets. An amazing regional level political clarity has been achieved. This can not be let go to waste. 2011 is 1989. Two successes in a row are a lot of momentum. This has to be put to good use. Finally Iran's time has come too.

Arab Democracy: What The US Needs To Do: Stay Deeply Engaged
Arab Dictators Are Shaking
Egypt: A Revolution, Not A Reform Movement
How Many People Could Mubarak Kill?
Arab Dictators Will Fall Like A House Of Cards

Los Angeles Times: Egypt military dissolves parliament, suspends constitution: calling for elections within six months ..... the military, the most respected institution in the nation, was edging toward forming a credible democracy ..... the army left intact the ex-president's Council of Ministers to run the government. ...... Cars honked and drove around the city hub for the first time in more than two weeks as scores of soldiers fanned out into the remaining tent cities on the square and unceremoniously tore them down...... several hundred police officers held a protest of their own in front of the Interior Ministry demanding higher salaries, access to government medical care and rehiring of officers fired for disciplinary or administrative violations.

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Image via Wikipedia

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• Mideast nations brace for Egypt spillover (msnbc.msn.com)
• Factbox: Reaction to fall of Mubarak around Middle East (reuters.com)
• You: Middle East nations scramble to contain unrest (latimes.com)
• Fallout from Egypt being felt in region (salon.com)
• Analysis: Fallout from Egypt being felt in region (sfgate.com)
• Other Arab Nations Taking Cue From Egypt - NPR (news.google.com)
• Iran next? (politics.ie)

Arab Dictators Will Fall Like A House Of Cards

Image via Wikipedia

New York Times: Violent Clashes Mark Protests Against Mubarak’s Rule: Tens of thousands of people demanding an end to the nearly 30-year rule of President Hosni Mubarak filled the streets of several Egyptian cities on Tuesday, in an unusually large and sometimes violent burst of civil unrest .... Protests also flared in Alexandria, Suez, Mansura and Beni Suef. ..... the protests represented the largest display of popular dissatisfaction in recent memory, perhaps since 1977 ..... opposition to Mr. Mubarak’s rule spreads across ideological lines and includes average people angered by corruption and economic hardship as well as secular and Islamist opponents. ..... a spreading unease with Mr. Mubarak on issues from extension of an emergency law that allows arrests without charge, to his presiding over a stagnant bureaucracy that citizens say is incapable of handling even basic responsibilities. Their size seemed to represent a breakthrough for opposition groups ..... Twitter, the social networking tool that helped spread news of the protests. .... The organizers framed the protest as a stand against torture, poverty, corruption and unemployment....... Asked about their political affiliation, Ms. Khalil’s mother, Mona, said, “We’re just Egyptians.”

When the Soviet Union collapsed, it collapsed like a house of cards. Something similar is going to happen across the Arab world, and the world owes it to the Arab people to not betray. This is not the time to side with Arab dictators, be they in Egypt or Saudi Arabia. The masses deserve nothing less than liberation.

I thought it might start in Iran, but started in Tunisia. But once one house collapses, the domino effect takes over. Every successive collapse gets easier. The masses will rise. The world has to not betray. People and governments across the world have to stand shoulder to shoulder with the rising masses. That is the only way to genuine peace in the Middle East. Only liberated peoples are capable of governments that are capable of peace.

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• UPDATED: Members of Mubarak Family Flee Country? Egypt Rocked by Violence as Nationwide Protests Rage Against US-Backed Dictator (alternet.org)
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