Tag Archives: mahmoud

Is ‘Aliens in America’ Launch Bad Timing, Worse?

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Aliens in America Photo Today, I learned that the CW Television Network (a.k.a., “CW”) launched a new show, Aliens in America, Monday that features a 16-year-old Muslim character (“Raja”) from a small village in Pakistan. The storyline centers on Raja coming to the United States to live with the Tolchuck family in Medora, Wisc., as an exchange student.

Immediately, I found myself intrigued by the coincidental timing of the show’s debut (on a cable channel I rarely watch), taking place as Pakistan’s leadership teeters on the brink of overthrow and U.S. troops are waging the War on Terror in Afghanistan and Iraq. My second reaction was to find out as much as possible about the program.

On the show’s web site, I found a music video, What’s so funny ‘bout peace, love and understanding, by P.J. Olsson & Salman Ahmad from their American Scream CD on CBS Records. The words of the song on the video reminded me of the words uttered — according to a recent TIME Magazine article — by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during his recent visit to Columbia University and the United Nations:

“I believe that Almighty God created the universe for mankind. Man is God’s most important creation and it is through him that we appreciate the beauties of the universe. God has sent man here on a mission.” That mission, he says, is to pursue love, justice, kindness and dignity. In fact, he repeats those works so often that it begins to sound like a mantra: Love. Justice. Kindness. Dignity. He speaks with the quiet zeal of a not-very-flamboyant televangelist. “The pursuit of justice through love and kindness and human dignity can end all conflicts on earth,” he says. “Inshallah.”

Digging further, I found this in the “show info” section of the web site:

(Raja is described as) …thoughtful, responsible and wise beyond his years. To the Tolchucks and everyone else in Medora, he’s also just about as foreign as a foreigner can be. While the rest of the family is slightly freaked out by the Muslim in their midst, Gary (the father) is comforted by the fact that the host family receives a monthly check to help with expenses. This fits right in with Gary’s money-making schemes, and when he sees how hard-working and respectful Raja is, he’s totally on board.

Maybe I’m being too sensitive in being critical of the show’s timing and the selection of music/lyrics to promote it. And maybe I’m being too sensitive when I take issue with the Raja character being described as “wise beyond his years” while members of the host family are “slightly freaked out” or portrayed, in the case of the father, as viewing the relationship solely in economic terms. Before I publish a review of Aliens in America in this space, I plan to watch the next episode Monday night.

If you get an opportunity, watch next week’s episode of Aliens in America. Then we’ll compare notes.

Did Columbia Hurt Itself by Inviting Ahmadinejad?

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Did Columbia University hurt its reputation and future prospects of attracting top students by inviting — and not uninviting — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak at its recent World Leaders Forum? Many, including SAM and GMAN, believe they did as highlighted in the comic below:

SAMandGMAN 10-01-07

Hill, Bill, Hugo and Mahmoud: Four Peas in a Pod?

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I noticed on Drudge this morning that two photos appeared side by side. One featured two of the most dangerous people living in the United States, while the other featured two of the most dangerous people living outside of our borders. I couldn’t resist asking the question that appears between the images of Sen. Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton (left) and Presidents Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran (right) shown below:

Four Peas in a Pod Photo

Iran Enforces Immigration Laws, Why Can’t We?

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More than 70,000 Afghans who were in Iran illegally have been deported during the past month, according to the United Nations, and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government plans to deport one million more by March. That news, from Agencé France Press today, caused this blogger to wonder why, if Iran’s cash-strapped and technologically-impaired government can can enforce immigration laws, why can’t we? Then I had an idea!

Maybe, I thought to myself (tongue firmly in cheek), a trip to the Middle East might be in order for members of the U.S. Senate who worked so hard to hammer out the immigration reform package that has met with such “rave” reviews during the past several days.

In the spirit of true bipartisanship, Democrat Senators Harry Reid and Ted Kennedy can invite as many of their Senate colleagues as possible — including Republicans Arlen Specter, Jon Kyl and presidential hopeful John McCain — to accompany them on what should best be described as a “fact-finding mission”. To ensure smooth passage of any legislation that results from the trip, members of the House leadership should probably accompany them on the trip as well.

During the trip, which should last at least 18 months in order to qualify as a productive use of taxpayer dollars, the senators can learn all of the “ins” and “outs” of how a federal government like Iran’s, operating on what must be a shoestring budget, succeeds in enforcing the country’s immigration laws.

Surely, after 18 months of learning from the “experts” in Iran, our elected officials in the Senate and the House, will be able to come up with something better than SHAMNESTY for dealing with illegal immigration. If they can’t, we’ll have to attribute their failure to a collective lack of will and start voting them out of office, beginning with the 2008 elections!

Carter Forgets Own Failures, Blasts G.W. Bush

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Can you believe Jimmy Carter has the nerve to blast President George W. Bush about his prowess in the area of international relations? That’s definitely a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

As evidenced in a Bob McCarty Writes post yesterday, I’m not the biggest fan of “W” at this point in time. But after I read the Associated Press article, Carter Blasts Bush on His Global Impact, published this evening, I had to take issue with the liberal peanut farmer from Plains, Ga.

Carter, the 39th president of these United States and a one-term president at that, is quoted as saying the 43rd president’s administration is “the worst in history” in international relations and also bashed Bush’s environmental policies, the Iraq war and the much-ballyhooed faith-based initiative.

Apparently, Carter has Partzheimer’s (a.k.a., Convenient Memory-Loss Syndrome), as evidenced by the fact that he has conveniently forgotten that it was his administration that allowed 52 American hostages to be held hostage for 444 days? Furthermore, Carter’s bare-bones approached to national defense resulted in a botched — and deadly — rescue attempt. Bush hasn’t let something like that happen.

And Carter has conveniently forgotten that it was his during his administration that the Iranian revolution took place. Yes, thanks to good ‘ol Jimmy, we now have the Iranian madman, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad threatening to use nuclear weapons against Israel, the United States and the West in general. If memory serves me correctly, Bush got rid of a dictator (Saddam Hussein) instead of allowing one to surface under his nose.

And, finally, did I mention that Carter…oh, forget it! I could go on forever.

The only good thing President Jimmy Carter can be remembered for is the fact that his poor performance helped usher in the era of our 40th president, Ronald Reagan, who returned this country to its proper position in the world as he saw it — as a “Shining City on a Hill.”