The Case for Sonia Gandhi!

AlephNull

“Some of my strong opinions (‘prejudices’ if you will) are out in the open. The ones I’m embarrassed about are very well hidden. You have no idea what they are.”

All I did was pointed you to what your prejudices are and you are upset about it. I understand your prejudices are “well hidden” I don’t need to explore them either. There is nothing I can do if ``your prejudices`` come out in your post. Obviously, your misplaced confidence in your cranium is so much that you just don’t accept fallacies in your own arguments. That is okay.
All I got to say is that if somebody has to rely on Maneka’s testimonials then clearly their logic is at best fuzzy.
In your opinion, Maneka is not stupid because she supports animal rights, vegetarianism, and environments and she is just eccentric. Sonia is flakey despite being the leader of opposition and head of a major national political party. Only Maneka has caught Sonia’s flakiness along with some diehard communalists on this board.

Just how many politicians in this world are geniuses?

So that is where the Sonia opposition lies:
1. She was not born Indian.
2. She is a Christian
3. She is stupid because Maneka says so.

I can think of couple of more reasons that would slowly come out. 1) She is a woman. 2) Congress is communal because some of its local leaders said something about “Gao mata”. 3) In the end Congress is not perfect and if we don’t support BJP it may question our loyalty or may actually cause mischief if congress wins election.

We look down on Pakistanis as we think they don’t know democracy.
We support communalism in India because it is Indian and outsiders don`t know the wisdom behind it.

Even fuzzy logic doesn`t get this fuzzy!!!!

I agree with AlephNull`s assessment of Arun Shourie. He has a insular attitude/blind spot about some things, visible right from his journalist days. The problem with Arun Jaitley is that he was one of Modi`s big defenders within the party along with Pramod Mahajan.

btw, it is surprising that the Congress (I) doesnot utter even a squeak about the unwholesome duality/ cohabitation of `cultural organisations` like RSS/VHP with the BJP, which BJP shrugs off saying `we are a separate organisation` as and when they wish. Either RSS/VHP should be accountable through election or they should stop interfering in governance. What prevents the Congress from bringing this up?

Will I sleep better if Sonia Gandhi becomes the Prime Minister? Will I be more hopeful for the future of all Indians with her at the helm of national affairs?

No. That`s the end of the story for me.

Faruk #78
On www.censusindia.net, there is no religion-wise breakdown of literacy for the 2001 census, which is why I asked.

Satish #77

{{It probably is going to be one of the Aruns 5 years down the line.}}

Arun Jaitley, Arun Shourie?

Jaitley would be a good choice. Shourie seems to be someone of absolute integrity. I’ve read some of his books though. There is an admirable intransigence to the man. Its flip side is a remorselessness, a complete lack of empathy (I am somewhat embarrassed to use the word, since I suspect that emotion myself). In a politician, that can be calamitous. Intellectuals who are absolutely sure of themselves are very dangerous people when they have power, capable of doing enormous harm to others in the inflexible pursuit of what they think is right.

Aleph.. thanks ... you are right. I heard Hersch speaking on the radio last week, promoting his new book on CIA and he talked briefly about this topic

Previous post

Correction: It was a Seymour Hersh interview about his recent article on new yorker about pak nukes prolifiration.

jang #81

{{Morarji was accused by Tom Friedman}}

I think you`re referring to investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, who claimed that Moraji Desai had been on the CIA`s payroll. Desai sued Hersh for libel and lost.

Chowkies

Any idea how campaigns get financed in India amongst various parties? I get a feel that the voting folks dont think of it as an important enough issue. But long time back, Morarji was accused by Tom Friedman of accepting finance from CIA (he claimed to have shown evidence), and it was a (minor) issue then. Their indirect misuse of govt infrastructure, but then that is available only to ruling parties and is under a lot of scrutiniy.

On foreign origin,

I personally think we should hire Jack Welch as minister of trade and commerce (and pay him $20 million a year).

But I dont quite see what skills we are getting with Sonia (how to make good fettuchine Alfredo?)

AlephNull

Dont worry about Uma or MM Joshi. It probably is going to be one of the Aruns 5 years down the line.

But who knows? The ``hindoo nationalists`` may spring a surprise and may make Georgie bhai the PM, solving a lot of problems. I`ll personally relish the idea - a christian ``hindoo fascist`` PM, with a muslim ``hindoo fascist`` prez!

Satish

Re: Sadna # 55
The figures are from the 2001 Census


Regards,

Faruk

Re : Jang # 66
I don’t know how much the Gulf Gold rush was a factor. But its true that in the 70’s a peon in the Middle East made more money than an officer in the Indian govt. But those opportunities evaporated with the steady decline of the Middle East economies.

Regards,

Faruk

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Nasah #48

{{my issue is only with Sonia foreignness not her leadership --}}

Nasah sahib, perhaps you meant that the other way around? Your intent is clear, though. In any case, I personally don’t have any problem with Sonia’s foreignness (no, really). I’m enraged because she is taking up a vast amount of political space and not doing anything constructive with it, which more capable people certainly could. I also have slightly more personal reasons to fret.

{{regarding being Chief without history -- don`t you think the Indians should be the arbiter}}

If the Injuns want to choose a Paleface as Chief that’s their absolute prerogative – just as they may elect Vinay Katiyar. They’ll have the last laugh and may prove every Chowk pandit hopelessly wrong. Living outside India, I’ll never second-guess their choices. I just don’t relish the prospect of Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharathi getting an easy ride five years from now.

gujju,
I wuz startin to think mayB my friend wuz wrong coz o` Ur puerile outpourings. Now I gotta say U aint muggin for any exams coz U R spendin all Ur time trollin the net.