When Every Page View Matters

This blog receives but a few hundred hits each month. Of them, the majority of these visitors link in from a photo of opera singer Giuseppe DiStefano I published over two years ago. Sometimes I wonder who exactly the words here reach, but sometimes stories emerge that demand to be published regardless of how many people, if anyone, reads them.

Yesterday morning a woman entered a hotel in Tripoli used as a compound for foreign journalists and told a disturbing story of being raped and assaulted by Libyan militiamen. Within moments the security apparatus that sustains the Gaddhafi regime revealed itself as plainclothes officers and supposed hotel employees attempted to subdue the woman and separate her from the journalists eager to hear her story.

After a few minutes and numerous attempts by journalists to keep the woman from being hauled away she was finally shuffled into an unmarked vehicle and rushed away.

Should a single individual be made aware of the frightening states of fear, propaganda, and intimidation that exist in our world, this brief post will be the most important ever posted to this space.

Investigate the story, photos, and videos below:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1370288/The-moment-woman-arrested-tried-tell-world-gang-rape-hands-Gaddafis-troops.html

Unraveling

“They’re not going to go back to their homes,” said Issa Abed al-Majid Mansour, an exiled opposition leader in Oslo. “If they do, he’ll finish them off. They know the regime very well. There’s no to way to go back now. Never, never.”

(per NYTimes, on Libya)
_____

a dangerous new dynamic is introduced to Middle East. if a revolution loses steam, entire nations could find themselves at the mercy of true dictators enraged by the actions of protesters.

unlike the political chess match that was Egypt, those in Libya and Bahrain may find themselves going head to head with military forces increasingly emboldened to stand their ground. what happens if soldiers feel it is their 'patriotic' duty to demonstrate superior stability of their nation by mitigating chaos as they see it, and dig in against protesters & stand with their leaders?

A New Project Between Elections

The Political Courier is back for the long march to November 2012, but some serious time has passed since Obama carried the day in '08, and I've been up to a lot, too.

I spent a year working on across three continents: in South Africa, the UK Parliament, and a voter education non-profit in the Rockies. I've also transferred schools, making the move from Baltimore to New York.

For snapshots of my continued travels, as well as ongoing non-political projects and poetry, visit Uncover the Grail HERE.

Otherwise, The Political Courier is back, and it's time for politics.

Bush Enters History

I spent ten minutes this morning watching President Bush's farewell speech. It only took me a few of those to realize that the majority of the accomplishments (or "accomplishments" to those of you who can't avoid sarcasm when talking about the President) Bush listed are in fact what history will remember him by.

Changes enacted by the Bush administration that many of us overlook—the new Department of Homeland Security, to name one—are in fact institutions and government policies that will continue in the Obama administration and for decades to come. Rather than disregarding the Bush years as a dark period into which Obama will restore order and harmony through a thorough cleaning, we should remove Bush himself from the picture and consider the changes over the past eight years at face value.

Conceived by the recommendation of the 9/11 Commission, the Department of Homeland Security was seen as a safeguard against further, future intelligence failures. The agency that was once an embarrassment to the Bush administration now serves as a great opportunity for future improvement of our defense and intelligence agencies.

On a less tangible level, Bush has also written his long-term policy legacy. Now clearly visible are Bush personal convictions with regards to the war on terror, America's role in spreading democracy around the globe, AIDS relief, and the importance of faith-based charities. Ten, twenty, or fifty years from now those attitudes will place alongside Eisenhower's warning against the "military-industrial complex" and other major philosophical/political precedents.

Bush's speech may have afforded leftist pundits like Arianna Huffington a great and final opportunity to hold failures above the President's head, but it was Bush who revealed the most about his legacy last night.

Just a Few Days

No need to get excited, but I've created a new blog. This time I'm changing things a bit.

Less politics. (That will stay here)

More everything.

The Political Courier and it's predecessor, Vargas2040, have been a blast to update, but while politics is a major part of what I do and what I'm interested in, it's not the only thing going on. As I travel, explore, learn, experience, and move towards college, the new blog will cover aspects of my life apart from campaign updates and political commentary.

I will post the link to the new site later this week once I've kicked it off with articles, pictures, and laid down a nice format.

Be back soon!

Change of Format

Since our election is over and my access to campaign events and coverage has evaporated, I've decided to approach blogging with a new attitude and perspective. College is looming nine months away and my academic interests of the moment have gravitated from political science to history.

We'll see what's next.

Just Me?

Is it just me or are the advertisements appearing on the right bar of this page now generating South African ads? If so, that's what three months here will do to you (or your blog!).

Sweeeet.