Republicans who want to escape Trump - seeking political asylum at DNC by Borowitz

Any Borowitz always writes cutting edge political satire, but his August 4th blog in The New Yorker.com, could be a harbinger of GOP reality. Republicans who can't abide what candidate Donald Trump is doing to destroy their political party, might want to test out what it means to be an asylum seeker. Maybe, then, they can learn what desperation feels like.  But, will their hypothetical request for refuge at the Democratic National Committee headquarters be granted?

D.N.C. HEADQUARTERS MOBBED BY REPUBLICAN REFUGEES SEEKING ASYLUM
By Andy Borowitz , AUGUST 4, 2016

WASHINGTON, D.C. (The Borowitz Report)—

A humanitarian crisis has been unfolding over the past week as Republican refugees seeking asylum have overrun the Democratic National Committee headquarters, in Washington, D.C.

D.N.C. staffers have confirmed that they were woefully unprepared for the masses of desperate Republicans who have shown up at the D.N.C.’s door, looking for safe harbor.

“These people have been brutalized for months and have decided to risk everything to save themselves and their families,” D.N.C. staffer Tracy Klugian said. “When they tell you their stories, they are absolutely heartbreaking.”

Meg Whitman, who is sixty, said she left her entire life as a Republican behind after witnessing unspeakable horrors under the new G.O.P. regime.

Taking comfort from a blanket and a cup of coffee provided by D.N.C. staffers, Whitman appeared to be in a state of shock about where life under a failed state had brought her.

“I never thought I’d find myself in a place like this,” she said as she took in the unfamiliar surroundings of the D.N.C. headquarters. “Still, anything has to be better than where I came from.”

When asked if she had any regrets about her decision to flee, Whitman choked back tears before responding. “I had no choice,” she said. “There is no respect for human life there.”

Andy Borowitz is a New York Times best-selling author and a comedian who has written for The New Yorker since 1998. He writes the Borowitz Report for newyorker.com.

Unfortunately, there may be more truth than satire in this tongue in cheek Borowitz story. Is there a special room at the DNC where Speaker Paul Ryan and Senator John McCain can hide until the Canadians of Argo fame can smuggle them out?

Obituary - Argo: The Canadian who helped Americans escape Iran

Published in The Week, Ocboer 30, 2015 and elsewhere:

Ken Taylor (1934-2015) the former Canadian ambassador known for his role in the Iran hostage crisis, died.

Belatedly, I learned about this important Canadian's contribution to the safety of our American embassy personnel when we saw the wonderful movie "Argo".  

Ambassador Ken Taylor (1934-2015)

Taylor played a key part in what became known as the "Canadian Caper," a covert operation by the Canadian government and the CIA to rescue six American diplomats who eluded capture during the 1979 seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

The episode was made famous again by the release of the 2012 hit movie "Argo," loosely based on the real-life drama.
Ken Taylor 1934-2015

When Islamist radicals stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979, nobody could have guesssed that Canada's ambassador  to Iran would become a hero of the ensuing crisis. He was a 45 year old diplomat, on his first ambassadorial posting who had spent much of his career as a trade commissioner, negotiating grain deals. But, when Taylor learned about six Americans who had fled the embassy phoned him and asked for help, he didn't hesitate. As portrayed in the 2012, film Argo, Taylor and his deputy secretly harbored the four U.S. officials plus two of their wives in their diplomatic residences for almost three months, while arranging a daring operation to spirit them out of the contry. He was, as fellow Canadian diplomat Roger Lucy put it, "the right man in the wrong place at the right time."

Born in Calgary, Alberta, Taylor joined the Canadian Foreign Service in 1959, "and had postings in Karachi, Pakistan, and London before going to Tehran," said The Washington Post.  When the Iranian students overran the U.S. Embassy and took more than 60 Americans hostage, they didn't realize that six others were missing and moving from one hiding spot to another in Tehran.  

After considering various ways of sneaking the American out of the country, Taylor eventually agreed to the CIA's (Central Intelligence Agency's) bold plan. As told in the movie, they used false passports. The fugitives managed to leave Iran by pretending to be location scouts for a science fiction movie called Argo.  In fact, Taylor played a much bigger role in the "Canadian Caper" than Ben Affleck's film suggested, said the Toronto Globe and Mail.  He pushed his government to provide the Americans with false Canadian passports and sent his staff to test airport security. "We received some help from the CIA," taylor said. "But quite honestly, it was a Canadian-based and Canadian-executed operation."

The plan went off without a hitch, and the same day the Americans left, "Taylor and his remaining staff quickly closed the embassy and fled Iran themselves," said The Ottowa Citizen.  

Ambassador Taylor retired from diplomacy in 1984, and moved to the U.S., where strangers oftn shook his hand to thank him.  "I enjoy that, of course," Taylor said.  "It is a sense of saying to Canad: This is what you did.".

His son said, "He always liked to say that anybody else would have done exactly what he had done. On the other hand, he did it," Taylor's son, Douglas Taylor, told CBC News. "And I don't think it was just simply a fact of his being there. It was, you know, a reflection of his character, and how he was able to handle an extremely difficult situation."

Thank you Ambassador Taylor.  May you rest in peace.

Defending the Syrian Rebels: Iran Behind the Curtain

Syria's civil war presents the US with a bone chilling opportunity to fight against Iran.  

Let's face it, Iran is the enemy complicit in the Syrian government's atrocities toward the rebels.  Likewise, Iran is certainly a long standing source of angst against America. Potentially, it's about time we confront Iran, once and for all, as their anti-American intentions have been evident since 1979, with the take over of the US Embassy in Tehran, a situation described in the Academy Award winning movie, "Argo".

Although I sadly admit to being reticent about assisting any side in

the bloody Syrian civil war, it seems like America's involvement is now inevitable.  

Human carnage of unimaginable proportions must be stopped.  

The Syrian civil war is an ongoing armed conflict between forces loyal to the Syrian Ba'ath Party government and those seeking to oust it. The conflict began on 15 March 2011, with popular demonstrations that grew nationwide and forced a humanitarian catastrophe. 

Anti-government demonstrations were part of the wider Middle Eastern protest movement known as the Arab Spring. Protesters demanded the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad, whose family has held the presidency in Syria since 1971, as well as the end of Ba'ath Party rule.  And the bloodshed continues.

Sadly, the anti-government rebels have endured tens of thousands of deaths and both side report enormous losses.  Civilians are bearing the brunt of the fighting.  As many as 92,000 people have died and the number is climbing, reports The New York Times. More than 5,000 deaths are reported every month.

It's entirely likely this devastating conflict will grow, yet again, when the US in openly involved.  American military aid will support the anti-government rebels, but our participation, also, will put our nation in direct confrontation with Iran. This is because Syria and Iran are strategic allies.  Fighting Syria means confronting Iran.  Moreover, due to the nuclear pressure Iran is exerting on Middle East security, it's, probably, just a matter of time until armed engagement with the US becomes a reality.  

Therefore, the US might as well engage with Iran through assistance to anti-government rebels in Syria. This tactic makes military sense because, apparently, Iran is already supporting the pro-government forces. When the US provides military assistance to the Syrian rebels, the aid can enhance our ability to keep Iran's military tactics under closer surveillance.

Defending the Syrian Rebels, in my opinion, is an American armed confrontation with Iran, whereby President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the evil intended leader who lurks behind the military curtain of Syrian President Assad's army.  

Although Senator John McCain (R-AZ) has called for military assistance to support the Syrian rebels for a long time, his clarion call has fallen flat with war weary Americans.  

Clearly, America don't have enough money to sustain another war, especially on the heels of the Iraq and Afghanistan military campaigns.  (Where's the Tea-Party on the Syrian appropriations?)

Perhaps, this confrontation with Syria is a delayed reaction to the retaliation we should have initiated against Iran, but didn't, following the 1979 hostage crisis.  Iran had absolutely no right, whatsoever, to allow a take over of our US embassy in Tehran, where Americans were held hostage for 444 days, terrorized by the threat of death by firing squad. Indeed, it's probably time to hold Iran accountable for illegally holding Americans hostage for no reason, even 44 years after the event.

Obviously, the world cannot stand by and ignore the massive genocide in Syria, regardless of who is the "real" enemy.

But, a war weary American public might be inclined to support our engagement in Syria if we are better informed about who the "real" enemy is behind the curtain.  In spite of the massive number of casualties, the real enemy to be confronted, the evil behind the curtain, is Iran.

Hollywood Oscar Night - And Spotlight on President Jimmy Carter Shines Bright

President James "Jimmy" Carter, was the 39th leader of our nation, but his legacy is forever linked to his thwarted re-election to the White House in 1980, caused by the Iranian hostage crises.  Many  unfairly portrayed Carter as being ineffective during this crises, but "Argo" the movie helps to set the real history straight.

As the nation's oldest living past president, Carter may have survived long enough to fulfill the proverbial "what goes around comes around" in history.  Tonight's annually anticipated Academy Awards, or the "Oscars", will highlight the film "Argo", and may turn a spotlight to Jimmy Carter's valiant efforts to save the hostages lives - and, indeed, all of them did come home.  "Argo" the movie is a "goes around" proverbial validation of President Carter's challenging times.  Historians can't really blame President Carter for the entire Iranian crises, but he was determined to bring those hostages home, unharmed, regardless of who caused the problems in the first place.  According to events explained in "Argo", the Iranian events leading up the crises resulted from years of a dictator Shah, who received safe haven in the USA during his end of life illness. This humanitarian act led to the turmoil that reigned terror over our nation, causing violence in Iran, while captured American embassy hostages lived in daily threat of execution.

But, 6 Americans who worked in the Tehran embassy immigration managed to escape into the chaotic streets, when the other employees were seized and terrorized

President Carter's popularity during this international crises eroded badly as a result of the precarious state of the hostages. While the focus was justifiably on their fate, the other, less told story, was about 6 who managed, by a miracle, to escape and take refuge in the sympathetic Canadian Ambassador's home, in Tehran.

Now, Ben Affleck's film "Argo", about the historic humanitarian rescue of the 6, finally sheds a realistic spotlight back on Carter's administration, providing a more balanced view of the President's overwhelming challenges during 1979-80, during the 444 day reign of terror.  In a turn around of history for President Carter, during his lifetime, "Argo" might win the Oscar for best film of the year, in spite of fantastic competition from productions like the spectacular Spielberg's "Lincoln" (because of an amazingly accurate, eerily retrospective doppelganger, performance by Daniel Day-Lewis as our 16th martyred President.)

Regardless of what film finally receives the Oscar, "Argo" is, nevertheless, a well deserved and appropriate gift to those who lived through this tumultuous hostage history. For those who felt President Carter deserved more credit for bringing all the Iranian hostages home alive, including the 6 whose stories are portrayed in Ben Affleck's now classic historic film, we appreciate living long enough, with President Carter and his wife Roslyn,  to know the entire Iranian Hostage incident will be available on film for future generations to study and appreciate.

As a result, Carter will be discussed as being a leader during this crises, rather than "labeled" wrongly as a "weakened" President. In fact,  President Carter deserves an Oscar for leading our nation through this terror, with dignity.