Where's Ron White? And what does he have to do with Kareem Amer? Nothing...

The new blog uses Google Analytics, rather than Blogpatrol, to track blog activity. Yesterday, I got hits for both Ron Paul (because of my Ron Paul post) and Ron Dellums (because of my Ron Dellums post - actually a Mahree Bok post, but who's counting?).

(Allow me to shift gears.)

But I did find one "similar names" story in which two people, despite their differences, were able to unite on one topic.

Two congressmen - one a very conservative Republican and one a very liberal Democrat - have co-signed a letter to Nabil Fahmy, Egypt’s Ambassador to the US. The letter demands Kareem’s release.

The letter is signed by Trent Franks and Barney Frank. Franks (Trent) has said more about the imprisoned Egyptian blogger.

If Egypt is to be considered a vibrant and tolerant society, it must be a pluralistic one that protects freedom of speech and tolerance of religious diversity.

Of course, some will allege that we are imposing our own values on non-Western societies. Too bad.

Every year I am forced to make the difficult decision as to how I will vote on the foreign operations bill that authorizes the way American tax dollars are spent to aid our friends and allies.

Perhaps that got someone's attention. I'll grant that we are often accused of "meddling in domestic affairs," but those who make the allegations perhaps shouldn't take our dirty infidel money and thus compromise themselves.

Some of the countries in that bill, including Israel and Jordan, meet those standards that protect basic human rights, and I wish I could vote separately for their aid; however, I have time after time voted against final passage of the bill because of instances in which countries receiving aid, stifle basic human rights and fail to seriously combat terrorism.

Hmm...a Congressional line item veto. Interesting concept.

As I write this, a young champion for freedom, Abdelkareem Nabil Soliman, sits in an Egyptian prison for ridiculing violence in the name of Islam. Surely, a country that sincerely values the dignity of every individual will immediately release this young man who is facing years of captivity for voicing opposition to the notion of violence in the name of religion.

Yes, but he is also charged with ridiculing the President - and that meets tough criticism in any country, even the so-called "enlightened" ones.

kareemamer

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