I’d like to dedicate this boner to you

And many more where that came from…

Disproportional Representation

The 2006 mid-term elections were hailed as an ushering in of a new era turned against the Bush administration and politics as usual, and statistically speaking, the 110th Congress is the most diverse in US history. Yet there remains a serious disparity between the demographics of the United States population and the demographics in the Congress, which will be explored below.

Over Representation

Males – As of the 2006 congress, 83.7% of the Congress is male, while the percentage of males of the voting age population (18 plus) is only 48.4. If this is further evaluated to include the over-representation of white males, the figure is even more staggering: 36.3% of the voting age population are white males, yet there are 79 White Male senators making up the Senate (79%).

Older age groups (55 and older) – The average male and female age in the United States is 35.9 and 38.4 respectively compared to the average age of Congresspeople at 56 years old — 55 in the House of Representatives and 60 in the Senate. The age demographic breakdown in the United States is as following: 20-34: 20.9%; 35-44: 16%; 45-54: 13.4%; 55-64: 8.6%; rounded out by people of age 62 years and over in the US population at 14.7%. In the US Senate, 63% of the members are over 62 years old, topped off by Robert Byrd of West Virginia who is 90 years old.

The Wealthy/Educated – In the Senate, fifty-six senators hold degrees in the law, seven have MBA’s, and four have MD’s. The majority of COngress members come from upper-middle class to upper class income backgrounds, and the jobs themselves as Representatives and Senators pay $165,200 per year putting them in the top 5 percent of American household incomes, which does not reflect spouses income either (top 5% is deliniated by $157,000 per household).

On a similar note, the front-runner candidates for President in both parties (many of whom are currently serving in the Senate) had incomes that placed them in the top 1% of the population. Rudy Guiliani made 16.1 million dollars in 2006 with $45 million in assets, John Edwards $1.25 million in income and $29.5 million in assets, Barack Obama reported $938,000 in income and over 1 million dollars in assets, and possible third party candidate Michael Bloomberg has over 6.5 billion in his personal fortune.

Jews – While comprising 1.8% of the total United States population, Jews make up 7 percent of the Congress. This disproportional representation is extended higher in the Senate, where 13% of senators are Jewish.

Under Representation

Women – Women of voting age represent 51.6 percent of the voting age population yet are 16.3% of the Congress, putting America below the global average of 17% female representation at parliamentary level. As of 2007, the US ranks 68th in terms of women holding office in the legislature — this puts the US just above Turkmenistan, and just below El Salvador and Panama.

Latinos – Hispanics represent over 14% of the U.S. population, while their Congress representation is 3% in the Senate and about 5% in the House.

African-Americans – The Senate is 1% African American and the House is roughly 9.2% African American compared to the 12.3 percent of American population that are of Black or African-American descent

Sources & References

http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RS22007.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Census%2C_2000
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_States
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/QTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-qr_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U_DP1&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_States_Congress
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-070416obama-tax,0,445005.story
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/05/17/candidates.finances.ap/index.html

The Saudi Initiative- A Genuine Opportunity

The famous Israeli diplomat Abba Eban once quipped that “the Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity [for peace].” With Israel’s refusal to-date to accept the recently re-tabled Saudi Peace initiative offering Israel peace with the entire Arab World, it seems that it may be Israel this time that is guilty of Abban’s charge. For years there has been no substantive progress concerning the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The Israeli position has been that there is no “viable” partner from the Palestinian side to negotiate with. It seems as though the tide has changed in dramatic fashion over the course of the past few months.

Much of this is due to the assertion of the Saudis as the regional diplomatic powerhouse. In February, Saudi King Abdullah helped facilitate the Mecca agreement between Fatah and Hamas that put an end to the internecine factional violence between the two parties. The Arab League summit, hosted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, reinvigorated the previously inert Saudi Initiative.

This is a window of opportunity that Israel must seize; all 22 Arab countries are willing to normalize relations with Israel in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal from the Arab territories it occupied since 1967.
So what is the problem? Israel is not willing to negotiate with the new Palestinian Unity Government that includes Hamas because it has yet to meet the Quartet’s (composed of the E.U, U.N., U.S., and Russia) conditions (recognize Israel, renounce violence, respect all previous agreements). Furthermore, despite some positive pronouncements, Israel refuses to accept the Saudi Initiative because of clauses regarding the Palestinian refuges and borders.

This refusal is unwarranted because while the Initiative does call for a sovereign, independent Palestinian state with its capital in Arab East Jerusalem, it does so on the basis of the internationally recognized 1967 borders. In terms of the Palestinian refugees, it calls for a “just” and “agreed upon” solution to the refugee problem. Equally critical, the Arab League Initiative has stated that as long as Israel accepts the Initiative “In Principle”, then everything is open for negotiations

Israel’s refusal to negotiate is contradictory to American economic interests and Israeli security interests. By achieving regional peace, Israel can finally be fully integrated into the Middle East. The Palestinians will have their state and the Israelis the security they have been unable to achieve since Israel’s establishment. One need only look at the Recent G.C.C. (the Gulf Cooperative Council) involvement in major economic outreach programs with Asian countries, such as India and China, to realize the economic potential of peace. Billions of dollars are flowing back and forth between the oil rich Gulf States and Asia.

Instead of exploiting the new opportunity for peace presented by the Saudi Initiative, for peace in the region and a new epoch of economic prosperity for all parties involved, Israel is sitting on its diplomatic hands waiting for the ever important “pre-conditions” to be met. The onus is often put on increasing weakness of the Olmert administration and its lack of political capital. Yet, a majority of Israel citizens desire a two-state solution. There is no other act that an Israeli Prime Minister could perform to galvanize more internal support.

For the U.S., a serious and meaningful role as an honest mediator in the peace process could repair its dwindled and demonized image in the Middle East and Muslim world, with all the attendant benefits of Arab cooperation on Iraq. King Abdullah is not calling for the Israelis to simply sign the Saudi Initiative. Negotiations are expected over the Palestinian refugees, East Jerusalem and final borders before a final agreement is reached.

Israel’s continuous claim that it wants peace stands tested by whether it accepts the Saudi Initiative in principle as the framework for a regional peace agreement. The U.S. stands at a fork in the Mid-East and the path it chooses will have serious ramifications on its national security and future economic opportunities in the region. Using our influence with our number one ally in the Middle East to reconsider the Saudi Initiative is our best hope today for securing both our interests and peace.

Written by Adam from TOFYH.

Related Readings

Israel’s Prime Minister Says He is Ready to Discuss Saudi Peace Plan

Jerusalem and Peace

Arab peace initiative: Hopes & concerns

Saudi peace fraud

Egypt And Jordan, White Knights

The EU and the Palestinians

The Pro-Israel Lobby and US Middle East Policy – The Score Card for 2007 by James Petras

Israel’s Peace with the Arabs by Mitchell Bard

If you like torture, you’re electable. If you look like Mr. Magoo, not so much.

After the second Republican debate, we had the pleasure of reading a plethora of reviews of who did and didn’t do well. And none managed to do it as biased as Time, who put all the front runners (McCain, Guiliani, Romney) as their top 3 performers of the debate and classified Ron Paul as unelectable because he looks like Mr. Magoo. Check out the pictures below and notice the lack of mentioning of foreign policy or anything else worthwhile for the candidates, unless of course you consider comparisons to cartoon characters an objective part of political reporting:

Keep up the good work, Mainstream Media!

Update: If you’re interested in where this story was placed on CNN, look below:

Yay, politics is barely above the best American Idol performances — this is in goddamn Time, for christs sake. But in the end, I should be thankful, because my two hands are already occupied plugging up my ears, so it’s nice to have the extra Mainstream Media appendage to put the complimentary thumb up my ass.

With Manipulative Friends Like These

The Article: If you didn’t get a big enough erection from Jerry Falwell dying or the 40th Anniversary of Fucked Up Religious Zealots Taking Over Jerusalem, then you can try this on for size: Christians to train in Israel advocacy by Michael Landon in the Jerusalem Post (also known as ‘if you’re Jewish and don’t believe in blowing the shit out of brown people in the Middle East, you probably are a Holocaust denying terrorist’).

The Text: As the American Jewish community debates the pros and cons of a growing relationship between Jews and Christian supporters of Israel, the courtship is quietly growing more intimate.

On college campuses across the United States, Christian students are asking to join efforts to “make the case for Israel” alongside their Jewish counterparts, and this week their requests will begin to materialize.

A group of Christian Zionist students at a California university, will be trained this week in how to defend Israel in the face of campus attacks.

The training at California State University, Bakersfield is the first step toward establishing a college chapter of Christians United for Israel, a year-old organization based in San Antonio, Texas started by Evangelical Pastor John Hagee to rally Christians around support for Israel. The chapter will be the first of its kind. The hope is to establish similar “CUFI on Campus” chapters on college campuses across the United States.

Over the last few years, Hagee, author of several books about biblical prophecy and an opponent of territorial concessions to the Palestinians on biblical grounds, has a the face of the Christian Zionist movement, building close ties with several key Jewish organizations such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

Still trying to build itself nationally, Christians United for Israel leaders did not intend to work with colleges so soon. But an influx of calls from students at several campuses wanting to establish chapters to combat anti-Israel sentiment convinced them to speed up the process.

“The last thing we want to do is turn away students,” said CUFI executive director David Brog. “We want to build the next generation.”

Christians United for Israel will be partnering with organizations such as the David Project, a Boston-based pro-Israel group that works extensively with students at colleges and beyond, to help with their campus outreach.

This week Andrew Summey, Christian Outreach Manager for the David Project, is coming prepared to tackle even the most radical rhetoric used against Israel. The curriculum was developed by the David Project, producers of Columbia Unbecoming, a controversial movie about Jewish students on the Columbia University campus.

He will teach the group how to respond to accusations about Israel as “colonizer” or Israel as an “apartheid state” that have become commonplace at US colleges.

Defending Israel comes naturally to Summey, who remembers his mom “taking time from out of breakfast to pray for Israel” in 1982, during the First Lebanon War.

“I grew up a Christian Zionist, thinking Israel has the right to exist as a Jewish state and that Jews have the right to decide how to run it,” said Summey.

Judging by March’s AIPAC conference in Washington, where Hagee was met with enthusiastic applause, many Jews are supportive of a growing alliance with Christian Zionists. Hagee drew standing ovations as he told the 6,000 delegates, “It is 1938, Iran is Germany and Ahmadiejad is the new Hitler.”

But at the same time, a growing number of critical voices are coming to the forefront. An article in New York’s The Jewish Week prior to the AIPAC conference included several Jewish voices skeptical of growing ties between pro-Israel forces and the Christian Zionist movement.

But many Israeli leaders continue to view Evangelicals as important partners. “The State of Israel finds the Christian community an important base of support, and we cooperate with them on many projects,” said David Saranga, Israel’s consul for media and public affairs in New York.

The consulate has an ongoing partnership with Evangelical organizations such as Eagles’ Wings to send Christian students to Israel. “Friends can be friends and have different opinions. When it comes to support for Israel, we have a lot of things in common,” said Saranga.

The course, “Understanding the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict” will be offered twice over the coming week to students on the Bakersfield campus.

Though unwilling to reveal specifics about the course, part of the hour-long program includes a video clip of Palestinian children being taught to fight Israel. But Summey said the David Project does not mean to suggest that the video is reflective of all Palestinians. “The class does not take a political stance on the conflict,” said Summey.

The David Project curriculum, which teaches history and politics, will be new territory for many Christian Zionist students who are used to justifying Israel’s existence via the bible.

“We will teach them how to respond so that they can say more than just God gave Israel the land,” said Charles Jacobs, director of the David Project. “We will teach them how to understand the conflict, not as a border war, but as a regional conflict between Arabs and Jews, as the centerpiece of a global war.”

The Analysis: You know what the irony here is? Evangelical Christians think that by supporting Israel, they’re facilitating the second coming of Jeebus. And you know how Jesus comes back? By Israel blowing up and the remaining living Jews converting to Christianity. Boy, with friends like these, who needs enemies!