My cat is a Buddhist. I think. She seems to exhibit a lot of Zen characteristics, but maybe she's a Taoist. It's hard to tell...

:-)

-CW

And, you made a very good point.

Thank you. Coming from you, that is very high praise indeed..

First NYPoet and now you. Ya'all are being really very nice to me..

What?? Am I dying or something? :D

Michale.....

Just didn't want you to think I was coming down on you regarding this...

I would never think that, Michale. And, you made a very good point.

Are we counting apes or cats or something? Current world HUMAN population is just shy of 7 Billion and currently there are more christians than muslims. The current count is a little more than a billion and a half are muslims.

DOH!!!

Did I slip a B in there?? I got the numbers from Matt's site a while back...

I see now that I added a couple extra 0s in there..

http://www.islamicpopulation.com/

According to that site, the Muslim population is 1.82 Billion..

Well, adjust my figures, but the point is still valid..

Meh. The same could be said of many, many groups including christians, the political right or left et. How did Timothy McVeigh exist if 99.9% of the American political right are against terrorism?

Ahhh, but no one claimed that we can completely rid the world of terrorism. Nor can we completely eliminate racism or hatred...

While tragic, nutballs like McVeigh don't have an impact on society...

I am referring to ORGAINIZED terrorism, IE terrorist groups......

Tell me.. How big of a threat is the KKK these days??

Nearly non-existent..

Why?? Because the vast majority of Americans rose up and opposed such vile and perverted hatred...

Because of that, the KKK has been rendered impotent as a threat to society..

So, why is Al Qaeda et al such a threat WORLDWIDE if the majority of Muslims oppose terrorism??

Answer.. The vast majority of Muslims around the world do not oppose terrorism....

That is the ONLY logical explanation that fits the facts...

If you have a better explanation that fits the facts.....

"....I'm all ears."
-Ross Perot, 1992 Presidential debates

Michale.....

Are we counting apes or cats or something? Current world HUMAN population is just shy of 7 Billion and currently there are more christians than muslims. The current count is a little more than a billion and a half are muslims.

Now, I ask you.. How the HELL can a Muslim terrorist organization even EXIST if 99.99% of Muslims are against the terrorist organization??

Meh. The same could be said of many, many groups including christians, the political right or left et. How did Timothy McVeigh exist if 99.9% of the American political right are against terrorism?

You must maintain your power through consent, not coercion; you must respect the rights of minorities, and participate with a spirit of tolerance and compromise; you must place the interests of your people and the legitimate workings of the political process above your party. Without these ingredients, elections alone do not make true democracy.

What a much better country this would be if our own politicians, Republicans *AND* Democrats, would follow this very wise advice..

Michale.....

If the people in Egypt and throughout the Arab world were not so accommodating with terrorism and terrorists, there wouldn't BE any issue between Israel and the Arab world..

That is not to say that I think you agree with that particular accommodation.

I think we would all agree that terrorism is bad and should never be acceptable or accommodated...

Just didn't want you to think I was coming down on you regarding this...

Michale.....

That says it all about where Obama is taking this country..

And it is not a very good place for the US of A...

Liz,

the people in Egypt and throughout the Arab world may not be so accommodating.

If the people in Egypt and throughout the Arab world were not so accommodating with terrorism and terrorists, there wouldn't BE any issue between Israel and the Arab world..

There are 8 to 10 BILLION Muslims on the planet. Of those (let's call it 10 Billion for ease) 10 Billion, approx 10,000 are radical terrorists..

So, it's fair to say that something like .01% of Muslims are terrorists...

Now, I ask you.. How the HELL can a Muslim terrorist organization even EXIST if 99.99% of Muslims are against the terrorist organization??

The fact is, it couldn't...

Muslims hold the key to the issues of the Middle East... As long as terrorism is accepted and acceptable against Israel, then Israel will always have the moral, ethical and legal high ground in everything they do up to, but not including, terrorism itself..

CW

You may be right. My timing, versus Obama's timing, has always seemed to be a bit more pressing, on any number of issues. Later, looking back, I have been forced to admit (more than once!) that Obama was right to hold back and I was wrong to push the issue prematurely. This may be another case of that, I fully admit. But would you agree that "Cairo II" (aside: Man, I wish I had thought of that moniker...) would, eventually, be a good idea?

I think Obama has groveled enough and prostrated the US enough for one presidency.

All Obama does is strengthen our enemies at the expense of US power and prestige.

Say what you want about the US under George Bush, but no where, no how did you have countries like Iran and NK and Russia ignore and dismiss the US as they have under Obama...

Michale.....

dsws -

You may be right. My timing, versus Obama's timing, has always seemed to be a bit more pressing, on any number of issues. Later, looking back, I have been forced to admit (more than once!) that Obama was right to hold back and I was wrong to push the issue prematurely. This may be another case of that, I fully admit. But would you agree that "Cairo II" (aside: Man, I wish I had thought of that moniker...) would, eventually, be a good idea?

Liz -

The US veto of the UN settlement resolution was fully expected by all. Of course, the US (the Obama administration currently, but this is longstanding US policy) is going to back Israel in the Security Council, but they did so stating that we didn't approve of the settlements, but thought that the UN was the wrong venue. Weasel language, to be sure, but it goes back quite a ways in US foreign policy, you have to admit.

I doubt Obama will wax lyrical on the past, as he said in his previous speech (while -- for the first time EVER -- admitting what the CIA did in Iran in the 1950s):

I know there are many -- Muslim and non-Muslim -- who question whether we can forge this new beginning. Some are eager to stoke the flames of division, and to stand in the way of progress. Some suggest that it isn't worth the effort -- that we are fated to disagree, and civilizations are doomed to clash. Many more are simply skeptical that real change can occur. There's so much fear, so much mistrust that has built up over the years. But if we choose to be bound by the past, we will never move forward. And I want to particularly say this to young people of every faith, in every country -- you, more than anyone, have the ability to reimagine the world, to remake this world.

Obama returned to this theme again and again -- we cannot be trapped by the past. So I would look for more talk about the future than the past in a Cairo II speech, personally.

Osborne -

Excellent "big picture" point.

-CW

You must maintain your power through consent, not coercion; you must respect the rights of minorities, and participate with a spirit of tolerance and compromise; you must place the interests of your people and the legitimate workings of the political process above your party. Without these ingredients, elections alone do not make true democracy.

That's the narrative thread of health care, finance reform, etc.

I recently revisited Obama's Cairo speech. It really seems like a different speech today.

As to when he should deliver the second 'Cairo' speech, whether from the White House or elsewhere, I think he needs to set the record straight on a few fundamental issues first, if only to increase his credibility, in particular, and that of the US, in general, on the Arab street.

First up ... the recent US veto over the latest UN resolution condemning Israeli settlement activity as being illegal. Now, while I understand some of the dynamics that compelled both the Palestinian leadership to press forward with a resolution they knew was going nowhere and the US to veto it, the people in Egypt and throughout the Arab world may not be so accommodating.

President Obama will probably need to do more than a little explaining about why the US was odd man out at the UN Security Council on this issue.

Beyond that, he'll need to wax lyrical, at some great length, about why the US has been so inclined to support the very regimes that are now being ousted and threatened throughout the region for so long, up to and including when these Arab street protests began to take shape.

It has pained me to hear the comments of many of the pro-democracy protesters speak of such little faith in America standing up for its ideals when the pan hits the fire, so to speak.

I agree that this wave of change sweeping across North Africa, the Middle East and even the Gulf states presents an unprecedented opportunity to bring to life many of the themes Obama talked about in his 'first' Cairo speech. But, it seems to me that he has a lot of groundwork to lay before he gives another address to the youth of the Arab world.

That's a good thing, too ... because that speech will take a good deal of time and effort to pen.