GMA interview on OTV (10/6/2009)

[Kibitzer]

Originally Posted by TTT1

Good words Kibi.
That is true, I think we needed some time to digest it all. The main issue is that we feel that our dream has been taken from us. It is not about what FPM won (and it did) but about the national perspectives.
FM and Hariri represent just a continuity of what was here since 1992 in our eyes. A real change was needed . Just like what most Americans felt with Obama. Just hope for a change!
IT has been taken from us by playing on fears and instincts and by the money power. Of course this is democracy but it makes things more difficult to swallow .
And what is so deceiving is the perception of the western world when they simplistically relate the elections as Hezbollah v/s pro western while they don't dig further to see the micro issues in this country! For example, the last editorial of Thomas Friedman was so deceptive as if he got nothing from this country!
We shall move forward surely and we will have only way:
Try and build a better LEBANON.
This is a heck of a country. Unique in many aspects !

I would only say that nobody call steal your dream, you can throw it away but it can't be stolen.

As GMA said, C&R improved but didn't get the majority and the main loss is the Lebanese people as there will be NO CHANGE whatsoever at all levels.

C&R block has the second largest block in the Parliament - that is enough to start "change". I would think that supporters would not be satisfied to see no change (no action) at any level. It's not enough to take all power but sometimes you have to work a bit harder to make that "change", you don't give up on it.

Make those MP's work FOR you. Get those elected MP's in your block to ally with others to pass some good reform laws, hold the Ministers and the Executive accountable. I know that's not the way it has been done in the past but it can be a way in the future. Citizens expect their elected officials to work for them - time to make them do that work. This is the real way to win elections - prove yourself every chance you get and look for those chances to do so. Walk the Walk.

Don't throw away your dreams - remember that they can never be stolen.

[Youchka]

Originally Posted by SeekNirvana

Why would the people that voted you in now trust you would actually turn back to being "good" if you win using such means?

They do not need to trust, I will do as hariri, Joumblat do, I flip flop, I lie, and I make them swallow whatever I want them to. See ya Seek I guess lying is much easier than telling the truth, and preaching hatred and vilonece much easier than preaching unity and understanding.
We tried the latter, let's try the other way, maybe it will make us more likable?

By the way, this photo you have as avatar, it breaks my heart. I look at GMA in that photo, he was young, they took from him the best years, only to admit later on what he was preaching the whole time, but that was not enough, they had to steal his struggle and ours, and they never stop, now they want to steal the last years of his life, they want to break him, that was the whole point of these elections. And you guys still talk to me about principles, Seek you can't talk principles to someone who does not know what the word means.

[SeekNirvana]

Originally Posted by Youchka

They do not need to trust, I will do as hariri, Joumblat do, I flip flop, I lie, and I make them swallow whatever I want them to. See ya Seek I guess lying is much easier than telling the truth, and preaching hatred and vilonece much easier than preaching unity and understanding.
We tried the latter, let's try the other way, maybe it will make us more likable?

But what's in it for you then? Unless you are promised a ministry in case FPM wins, there's no point for you to get all excited about this.

By the way, this photo you have as avatar, it breaks my heart. I look at GMA in that photo, he was young, they took from him the best years, only to admit later on what he was preaching the whole time, but that was not enough, they had to steal his struggle and ours, and they never stop, now they want to steal the last years of his life, they want to break him, that was the whole point of these elections. And you guys still talk to me about principles, Seek you can't talk principles to someone who does not know what the word means.

Don't worry about him, he's got a nice life story.

[Youchka]

Originally Posted by Kibitzer

I would only say that nobody call steal your dream, you can throw it away but it can't be stolen.

Kibi, it is easier for the person to "yetfalssaf" (talking philosophy) than living it. We have seen our dream shattered in 1990, we have lived through hell for 15 years, paying the bills of these idiots calling themselves the new patriots today while they were making billions and sleeping with the enemy. We have regained hope in 2005 just to see our dream shattered again with the 2005 elections and how we were treated. We suffered for 4 long years, and we had this tiny light at the end of the tunnel, a hope for change, reform, making this country a country rather than a zoo, and our dream was once again taken away from us, by the exact same players who took it from us the very first time.

So I personally am tired, it's over, i do not want to spend my life fighting,
I hope I will have the courage to give up.

C&R block has the second largest block in the Parliament - that is enough to start "change". I would think that supporters would not be satisfied to see no change (no action) at any level. It's not enough to take all power but sometimes you have to work a bit harder to make that "change", you don't give up on it.

Make those MP's work FOR you. Get those elected MP's in your block to ally with others to pass some good reform laws, hold the Ministers and the Executive accountable. I know that's not the way it has been done in the past but it can be a way in the future. Citizens expect their elected officials to work for them - time to make them do that work. This is the real way to win elections - prove yourself every chance you get and look for those chances to do so. Walk the Walk.

Don't throw away your dreams - remember that they can never be stolen.

I love all this, but as you claim and since you should know better, things do not work this way in this country. Look at us, we have a huge scandal pertaining to a supposedly elected MP, we have so many breaches in the elections, and we know beforehand that we can do nothing about it. What dream are you talking about?

[tattwa]

In Lebanon, the Saudis gave massive financial support to the victorious coalition of Saad Hariri. As long ago as March, one well-connected operative from Riyadh was telling me privately but with evident pride that his country had spent more in Lebanon, a nation of 4 million, than the record-breaking $715 million Barack Obama's campaign spent in the United States."

more at:

Needed: A Nuanced Middle East Policy | Newsweek International | Newsweek.com

[tattwa]

"A well-placed source (who does not want to be identified at all) sent me this: "There are credible rumours that Samy Gemayel is...supported by the IRI (International Republican Institute) and the NDI (National Democratic Initiative). Apparently, the US is training him to play the main role in the coming years. One of Samy's main advisors, a pro-federalism Christian fanatic by the name of Jean-Pierre Katrib was given training sessions at WINEP." I have no way of verifying this information although I trust my source."

The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب

[tattwa]

(Perhaps the only thing Carter hadn’t found time for, of late, was an epic e-mail from Jeffrey Feltman, the State Department’s envoy to Syria—“It’s this long,” Carter said, spreading his hands wide as if he were taking measure of a prize fish. Carter, who has been outspoken in his support for more American engagement with the Syrian regime, and groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, which are on the State Department’s list of terrorist organizations, has a particular disdain for Feltman, who as Ambassador to Lebanon during the Bush Administration, consistently antagonized Syria. “For some ungodly reason, when Hillary decided to send some representative to Syria they picked out Feltman,” he said.)

more at at:
Jimmy Carter Visits Lebanon: News Desk: Online Only: The New Yorker