Jehan Sadat - Another important figure in my Women of the World History Month

Former first lady Jehan Sadat talks to interviewer Gamal Nkrumah about the poignant influences on her politics and the release of her latest bombshell on the 30th anniversary of the monumental signing of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty

As we near the end of this month in which the world is honoring and giving attention to the contributions and issues that women face all over the globe, I visited one of my favorite websites for news on the Middle East.

Upon learning that Israel's premier-designate Benjamin Netanyahu had selected Avigdor Lieberman, --- a firebrand who once told Egyptian president Hosni Mubarek to "go to hell",--- as his foreign minister, I quickly turned to Egypt's English news publication, The Al Ahram Weekly, to see what they had to say about this development.


I mean afterall, Egypt is the only nation in the region with a peace treaty and a decent relationship with Israel. So a selection such as this is highly suspect, if establishing a Palestinan nation and achieving peace in the region is the prayer of humanity. Netanyahu himself is one of the most right-wing and hawkish Israeli leaders that I can personally recall.


The years when he had his first attempt at leading the nation were brief, but dramatic. He declared that he would not give up land for peace, but then did just that, twice.

Anyway....I'll save him for a later skewering, as I'm sure there will be many opportunities in the days to come.

I'm here really to bring to your attention a book, written by the widow of a man whose principles and courage I greatly admired. His committment to his stance for peace in the region, inevitably cost him his life. And this man was Anwar Sadat.



This is a long interview, but I do think it's worth your time. Mrs. Sadat's comments are rather like my blog.
All inclusive.

The interview weaves threads of history, spirituality, and ofcourse, the heated politics of the Middle East. She is anchored thru it all by her love and devotion to her husband, so we see the form of Islam that is her guiding light, and that directed her very involved partnership with her husband.


She has just released a new book, and if you find the interview interesting, I urge you to purchase the book. We are always open to new perspectives, to feed our desire to grow into expanded ways of Being in the world.


This lady is a worthy role model, which women and men, can definately gain from.


Enjoy....
Kentke



A light flickering on and off in Jehan Sadat's sunlit sitting room is bugging one of her numerous cats, Jerry, I think the chubby ginger cat is called. He soon bores of the insubstantial and turns to me. Purring softly, as I stroke him, he eyes my notepad with curious suspicion.



"I love my cats," her brilliant emerald eyes sparkle with delight. She clicks her thumb and index finger, hunting for the right expression and apologises when he flies off at a tangent. "Cats are full of character. Small wonder the ancient Egyptians deified them."


And, the conversation smoothly shifts towards the spiritual. "To include faith as a principle for peace in the Middle East seems at best counterintuitive. How can religion, which seems the source of so much misery in the region, do anything other than prove a divisive, countervailing influence to efforts towards peace? For me, the answer is simple: God, whether according to the Muslim, Christian, or Jewish tradition, enjoins us to treat others as we would ourselves be treated, to be compassionate, to be forgiving, to love our fellow human beings. God does not need to lead us to confrontations or brutality in his name. These actions represent the formulations and frailties of humankind." We chatter, touching further on the subject of personal faith, deep religious conviction as opposed to superficial ritualistic religious lore -- and above all God.


For Jehan Sadat religion is no abstraction: it is practical, functional and yet she confesses that she is instinctively drawn to the mystical. "I believe that events in our lives happen for a purpose, and yet sometimes marvel at the circumstances that have brought me, in some ways, full circle -- face-to-face with a part of my life that I find most painful," she smiles faintly without a trace of remorse.


"When my husband was slain by Islamic extremists, I never imagined that I would one day be living in America, speaking out in an effort to counter the idea that extremists speak for Islam. It would not have occurred to me in 1981 that the example set by my husband's murderers could one day be seen as representative of my faith." For her, there is no compulsion in religion, as Islam so explicitly makes clear.


"For me, being a good Muslim does not mean abjuring criticism or silencing dissent within our own communities." Her dramatic rise from a cloistered childhood in the then leafy island suburb of Manial to the distinction of first lady is something of a fairytale.


Jehan is no shrinking violet. She has faced down many moments of despair with dignity and poise. She recalls forbidding moments that altered the course of her life, especially the assassination of her beloved Anwar. "Our nation seemed poised at the very edge of fiery conflagration, with fanatics on both sides fanning the flames."


Sadat, defying the entire Arab and Muslim world, broke the taboo of entering the lair of the beast. "Such were events leading up to Sadat's detention of Egypt's dissidents. I say this not as a means of excusing it, but rather to place it in context." She does not defend, but explains, the circumstances that led to her late husband's arrest on 5 September 1981 of 1,500 religious figures and political activists.


She shifts in her seat. I ask somewhat peevishly whether such numbers were warranted. "In Anwar's mind, such extreme action served as a protective and precautionary move. He saw no other way to keep the peace train on track."


Mrs Sadat is jealously protective about the man she calls "the love of my life". She blindly believes in his cause, not because he was her hero, but rather out of conviction. Many of the stories about Sadat have fantastical aspects that lend themselves well to political commentary. The result of her reminiscing is an enjoyable ode to her sweetheart My Hope for Peace. Her sharp memory and attention to detail are astounding assets. She gauges important cultural differences between Westerners and Muslims, but what is truly remarkable about her is the concise candidness with which she elucidates her arguments.


"As the widow of Anwar Sadat, I cannot count myself an objective analyst of his policies," she concedes. "Sadat pursued peace because he knew it was what most Egyptians, exhausted by war and desperate to turn their energies towards less destructive pursuits, wanted," she stresses.

"And he knew it was in his nation's, and the region's, best interests. He put peace before his own political position, personal popularity, physical safety, or relationship with fellow heads of state." Presumably, Mrs Sadat was referring to her husband's poisoned relationship with a majority of Arab leaders at the time.


My Hope for Peace is a compelling book written by a zesty woman of Egypt who has been more than 50 years in the public eye. Delivering historical accuracy is paramount for this punctilious woman. Memories of the October war are starting to fade for the younger generations of Egypt.

The scars linger, however.


Detractors, of whom there are many, view her as an appendage of her husband. Almost three decades after his assassination, she remains devoted to her husband's cause but infuses it with a feminine touch. "I could not retreat into Anwar's shadow."


Jehan Sadat left an indelible mark with her introduction of the so-called "Jehan laws" that laid the foundations of women's rights in Egypt. "At first, I was not even aware that they had nicknamed these laws after me." She laughs. But on a more serious note, she delves into the challenges facing contemporary women. "Being open about it rather than sensationalising it," she argues, "is a way of bridging the cultural divide," she tells Al-Ahram Weekly.


The new book, then, stands every chance of being as quizzical and provocative as her earlier work The New York Times best-selling autobiography, A Woman of Egypt.
Her latest work, a slim but significant volume, tackles not only women's rights but also the political future of the country and even more daringly her own interpretation of Islam. "Although I am not a religious scholar, I hope to set the record straight and correct what I see as the most persistent and prevalent misconceptions about Islam."


The story opens by focussing on the nebulous nexus between the "Eleventh of September and the Sixth of October". The two events are radically different, but for the author there is a common thread. The Arab victory on 6 October 1973 paved the way for Sadat's magnanimity. 9/11, on the other hand, represented for her the culmination of Arab and Muslim fury.


Sadat's October was the very antithesis of Al-Qaeda's September. For the author, the onus should always be on forgiveness, in the spirit of Islam, not vengeance. Set between the outbreak of the 1973 War and 9/11, My Hope for Peace tackles familiar themes.


Jehan Sadat is convinced that Muslims are peace-loving people. "Although the details of the Arab-Israeli conflict have changed, this fundamental truth -- that people want peace -- remains the same." According to her, those who preach violence are detested not only by the West, but by the Muslim masses themselves.


"Although I have dwelled much on the angry minorities in Egypt and the Arab world who opposed Sadat's dialogue with Israel, it bears repeating that most Egyptians supported their president's initiative," she asserts. The Suez Canal cities used to be haunted by their ruins. People neither forget the tragedies, nor do they disregard the triumphs.


The subject matter, she assures me, is how people relate across cultures. And, it is not about pleasing the American crowd.


Peace only came to Egypt as a result of its victory over the Israelis. The outbreak of the Sixth of October War was greeted in startlingly different ways by the Arab and Western public. Some not surprisingly responded with foreboding.


She believes certain Arab regimes thrive on the Palestinian predicament and have no interest in real peace. Those, she claims, are the ones responsible for her husband's death. They are even prepared to sacrifice the Palestinian cause to maintain their grip on power. "To the leaders of some Arab countries, solution of the Palestinian problem signals the downfall of their rule. The question of Palestine has become the convenient hanger on which they display their internal problems. The same holds true for some of the Israeli leadership," she expounds.


Sadat was criticised for dealing with and thereby putting his trust in the hands of Likud. She herself didn't understand it at the time. Later, she came to appreciate his foresight. "Nor did he let ideological considerations determine his perception of his one-time adversaries. There were many, including myself, who believed that making peace with a Likud leader would be all but impossible."


"I did not believe that Begin had the political will and personal determination required for making peace with the Arabs. Anwar, however, assured me that Begin would be a workable partner. He was right."


This prompts the question of whether the likes of Netanyahu and Avigdor Lieberman can pull off an agreement that the spineless Kadima and Labour couldn't. She would not be drawn into a discussion of Israeli domestic politics. For her, the problem lies with current Arab weakness.

"The Palestinians have to be one delegation to negotiate properly with Israel," she notes.


"That Sadat himself took a long view of history was something that he demonstrated again and again, and not only in his certitude that his fellow Arab leaders would one day return to Egypt. This view fuelled his relentless efforts to make peace with Israel and kept him focussed when he encountered stumbling blocks."


Regional concerns preoccupy her thinking, but domestic politics animate her.
"I try to share this holistic, big-picture approach to history. Speaking as someone who has felt the barbed point of the revisionist pen, I know all too well that the cycle of vilifying and lionising according to political fortunes has little foundation in reality."

She married young, very young. "Two months exactly before I turned 16 I married, on 29 May 1949," she says and it was her late husband who taught her politics. She remains indebted to him, she insists.


"The summer of 1981 was a crucial time for Egypt as our financial, social and political institutions were being sorely tested. Sadat was determined to weather the storm -- to give us a more stable economy and peace."


A tense silence follows. It is great to wave a flag, but those who hoist it must understand what it's all about: development, risk and protecting the younger generations.


We swerve back to the question of democratisation that still dogs Egypt. "Sadat allowed protests on the university campus, fostered a free press, and established a multiparty system. For a time, Egypt seemed to be moving closer and closer to democracy, even though fundamentalists were now within their rights to deliver messages contrary to Egypt's tradition of tolerance," she notes.
And, this is the dilemma facing Egypt and other predominantly Muslim nations: what is the precise relationship of democracy and Islam? Indeed, can Western-style democracy incorporate Islam? Are democracy and Islam compatible? At this point, Sadat harkens back to the chain of events leading up to her husband's assassination in 1981.


"They were insisting that Sharia be our only code of law; that Egypt no longer accept imports from the West; that the Quran forbade peace with Israel; that Copts were enemies of Muslims; and that men and women could not attend university together."


"Granted their positions were abhorrent to the vast majority of Egyptians; however, their hate-filled rhetoric did fuel sectarian violence between Muslim and Copt. It was a frightening time, not least because the peace process hung in the balance," she says.


"Although he could have silenced his critics and reinstated the old restrictions, Anwar did not."
She presses her message that we are rushing into the future, unheeding of all that is lost. She is a woman that does not grow restive when all does not go perfectly under the considerate scrutiny of both her admirers and her adversaries. "I was aware of the dangers that surrounded us. He was aware, too."


The husband and wife team as the wellspring of his success presented progress. But her husband's gruelling death still haunts her. "I was afraid he would not return every time he left the house, every time he left the country. I was afraid, and my worst fears were realised." She doesn't flinch or recoil. "Yes, I was afraid. Towards the end, I was very afraid."


But then, that has always been the case -- and it didn't stop her from living her life.
In the intervening years, women have gained some rights. As this timely biography reminds us, we need to consider carefully where we are going, and what kind of Egypt will our great-grandchildren experience.


Sadat chronicles the post-story of contemporary Egypt in vivid narrative non-fiction. Readers will no doubt learn a thing or two. They will be in turn captivated by triumphs and dismayed by lost opportunities.


"Today such breakthroughs are nowhere in evidence. Realism has been replaced with empty rhetoric on the part of political leaders, who claim they want peace but impose unrealistic preconditions for achieving it, or they continue to act in ways that threaten the viability of the two-state solution they endorse," she pointedly contends. Peace with Likud was possible in Sadat's day. Not that anyone at the time expected it to happen.

The author purports that her book answers a set of three challenges: Sadat's faith; the role women play in that faith; and whether or not peace in the Middle East is just an unattainable dream.

"Since 1985, I have been lecturing, teaching and fund- raising to further that dream," Sadat who lectures at University of Maryland extrapolates. "I teach a class about the status of women in the Middle East, mainly about Egypt."


"Part memoir of her husband's courageous initiative to recognise Israel's right to exist which earned him the Nobel Peace Prize, but cost him his life," Henry Kissinger aptly put it.


"I have been both praised and excoriated for being a 'feminist', hailed as a pioneer for women's rights in the Arab world and deplored as a destroyer of families, accused of being a mere mouthpiece for my husband and also an undue influence on him. For better or worse, I have been a polarising figure, primarily for my ideas about and work on behalf of women and the family."


By the time Sadat was assassinated in 1981, his widow had demonstrated remarkable political acumen in her own right.


It has not all been smooth sailing. "In the wake of my husband's death all my 'progressive' ideas have been put to the test." It is still a man's world, she chuckles. "I'm the proverbial eternal optimist."

The book is also testament to that truism that terrorism is repudiated by the overwhelming majority of Muslims. There was jubilation in many quarters when Sadat was gunned down. Such displays of naïve enthusiasm proved short-lived.

The Muslim Brotherhood, oiled by Gulf wealth and remittances, came to fill the political void created by the erosion of the revolutionary fervor of Arab nationalism cum socialism in the wake of the devastating defeat of 1967.


"Gamal Abdel-Nasser was a great nationalist leader. We all loved him. We fondly remember him." But, she hastens to add, "He incarcerated many of the Brothers, some say he tortured them."


"Sadat accepted government in line with Islamic Sharia law. Yet he was an enlightened ruler. He was not a religious zealot. He was not fanatical."

"They did not kill him because he was irreligious. Nor was it because he hounded the Brothers. They assassinated him because he espoused the path of peace."
She pauses. "That is why they had to get rid of him."

Jehan Sadat is a strikingly attractive woman, bint balad -- a bubbly and buoyant daughter of the land. So what is the secret of her beauty? She swims daily and walks one hour in the morning, she says laughingly.

And then she turns dead serious. "It is my faith." She is not fanatical, though. She herself doesn't wear the hijab, but neither would she object if her daughters or granddaughters don the hijab. She says that her niece is veiled, but that as long as that is her personal choice that is no business of hers. She abjures the participation of her children in politics, especially her son Gamal.

But for a savvy cosmopolitan modern woman, she discloses her deference to kismet. "During my hajj, the temperatures in Mecca soared above 105 degrees. Nothing, however, could have prepared me for the emotions I felt the moment I took my first step as a hajj pilgrim into the confines of the most sacred sanctuary of Islam," she expounds on her deepening faith.

"As I stepped slowly and effortlessly into the Grand Mosque, I was lifting my heart and soul in praise of God. Tears of joy were running down my face as I whispered my prayer of devotion. For the first time in my life, I felt as if every ounce of my being was completely at peace."

She pauses ponderously. "I was just a speck in that sea of humanity."

And here's the new baby.....5 day old Ko Raya

Here's 1 photo for each day of her life.

Five days old Asian elephant Ko Raya is presented to the public for the first time at the Berlin Zoo, March 20, 2009. Her mother is Pangpha.

I'm shy......

My Favorite Elephant Story

Pictured: Elephants march through hotel lobby after it was built on their migration trail

Last updated at 5:54 PM on 01st October 2008

These amazing pictures show why you shouldn't get between an African elephant and its favourite food.

Mfuwe Lodge in Zambia happens to have been built next to a mango tree that one family of pachyderms have always visited when the fruit ripens.

When they returned one year and found the luxury accommodation in the way, they simply walked through reception.

Let the porter grab your trunk: An elephant wanders through Mfuwe Lodge, in the South Luangwa National Park, Zambia

Now the family group, headed by matriarch Wonky Tusk, return every November to gorge on mangos - up to four times a day.

Andy Hogg, 44, director at the Bushcamp Company that runs the Lodge, has lived in South Luangwa National Park since 1982. But in all his years of dealing with wild animals he has never seen such intimate interaction between man and beast.

'This is the only place in the world where elephants freely get so close to humans,' says the 44-year-old. 'The elephants start coming through base camp in late November of each year to eat the mangos from our trees. (Our trees....is he crazy??!)

'When they are ripe they come through and they stand about for four to six weeks coming back each day or second day to eat the mangos.'

Living in the 5,000 square mile national park, the ten-strong elephant herd are led to the lodge each day by Wonky Tusk.

Migration route: The hotel was built directly in the path of the elephants' route to one of their favourite foods - mangos

'The most interesting thing about this is that they are wild animals and are certainly not tame,' explains Andy. 'They come through the lodge to eat the fruit. 'There are ten in that herd and it is only that herd that comes through. It is a strange thing. 'The matriarchal in the herd is Wonky Tusk, and she brings the nine others through and they come and go as they please.'

Mfuwe Lodge consists of seven camps and the base camp where the elephants come through.
Employing 150 staff, the management of the lodge are happy to report that there have been no incidents involving the elephants to date.

'The elephants do get reasonably close to the staff as you can see with the pictures of the elephants near the reception,' he explains.
'But we do not allow the guests to get too close.'

Check-in: But it's unlikely the lodge has a room big enough for its elephant guests.

'Guests can stand in the lounge are but as long as there is a barrier between the elephants and the guests that is okay,' he added. 'The elephants are not aggressive but you don't want to tempt anything as they are wild animals.

'It is the elephants choice to come into base camp and they have been doing it for the last ten years. 'There are other wild mango trees around and they seem to prefer this one.'
And even thought the lodge was unwittingly built upon the path, Andy says they had no idea the elephants would insist on returning.

'It wasn't a design mistake - no-one really knew they were going to come through,' he says.
'The lodge was built and then the elephants started coming through afterwards.

Gentle giants: The leader of the ten-strong herd is matriarch Wonky Tusk

'We keep people at a safe distance. They are obviously close enough to see what is going on from pretty close quarters but we also make sure we have staff around to make sure the elephants don't get too close.

'But as I said they are still wild and still dangerous. They are huge beasts and untamed.
'We have bricks and walls between the elephants and the guests such as the counter and other barriers to stop them getting to people and if they try to there is enough time for people to get away.'

Naturally, the lodge becomes a busier attraction for both elephants and guests during November time. 'We find that we get more people visiting us during the elephant migration because of the unique experience of being so close to wild animals in an unusual environment,' says Andy.
'But as I said this is a totally natural phenomenon, the elephants come here of their own accord and it is certainly a rare but magnificent sight.'

Mfuwe Lodge: The hotel is set in an idyllic national parkland

Somali Cerics Reject Bin Laden Call

Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed

By MOHAMED SHEIKH NOR, Associated Press Writer Mohamed Sheikh Nor,

Fri Mar 20, 11:40 am ET
MOGADISHU, Somalia – A group of influential Somali Islamic clerics has rejected Osama bin Laden's call to Somalis to overthrow the country's new president, the group's leader said on Friday.

Bin Laden issued a statement Thursday that outlined al-Qaida's ambitions in Somalia, which the United States has long feared to be a haven for the terror network. In the audiotape, bin Laden called Somali President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed a turncoat and tool of the United States.

U.S. counterterrorism officials have warned of al-Qaida's growing ties with Somalia's powerful al-Shabab militants, who frequently battle government troops and attack African Union peacekeepers in the country. Last year, the U.S. State Department added al-Shabab, which means "the Youth," to its list of foreign terrorist organizations.

Somalia has been torn apart by warlords and Islamic militant groups for nearly two decades. In January, parliament elected Ahmed, a moderate Islamist, in hopes that he would unify the country's factions.

"Somalis are tired of war and want law and order", said Sheik Bashir Ahmed Salad, leader of the Council of Correction and Reconciliation.

"We clearly condemn Sheik Osama's statement. It was unfair that he (Osama bin Laden) ignored the role of the ulema (clerics)," Salad told The Associated Press.

"We as 'ulema' (clerics) are the eyes and ears of the entire Somali population and we emphasize that we are tired of wars and violence. We want and support the government led by (President) Sheik Sharif (Sheik Ahmed)," Salad said. "This country belongs to Somalis, who are 100 percent Muslims. ... Our interest is law and order."

The Council of Correction and Reconciliation is an influential group of Islamic clerics that is not allied to any Islamic militia. It has in recent months been mediating among the rival Islamic groups to get them to stop fighting each other as the ensuing violence puts civilians in more danger.

Most Somalis are moderate and chafe against rules prohibiting music, sports and even chewing qat, a narcotic leaf popular in Somalia.

The United Nations and Washington have welcomed Ahmed's election as president. His predecessor, Abdullahi Yusuf, resigned in December over his failure to stop the Islamic insurgency and went into exile.

Ahmed is from the Islamist opposition and has succeeded in drawing several other groups out of the insurgency. The aim is to isolate Somalia's hard-line militants, particularly al-Shabab, which controls large chunks of the country and has been blamed for imposing a harsh brand of Islam on the regions it controls.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.

Pink elephant is caught on camera- Follow it's lead

The little pink calf was spotted in amongst an 80-strong elephant herd

By Rebecca Morelle Science reporter, BBC News
A pink baby elephant has been caught on camera in Botswana.

A wildlife cameraman took pictures of the calf when he spotted it among a herd of about 80 elephants in the Okavango Delta. Experts believe it is probably an albino, which is an extremely rare phenomenon in African elephants. They are unsure of its chances of long-term survival - the blazing African sunlight may cause blindness and skin problems for the calf.

Mike Holding, who spotted the baby while filming for a BBC wildlife programme, said: "We only saw it for a couple of minutes as the herd crossed the river.

"This was a really exciting moment for everyone in camp. We knew it was a rare sighting - no-one could believe their eyes."

Documented evidence
Albino elephants are not usually white, but instead they have more of a reddish-brown or pink hue.
While albinism is thought to be fairly common in Asian elephants, it is much less common in the larger African species.

Elephants Without Borders
Ecologist Dr Mike Chase, who runs conservation charity Elephants Without Borders, said: "I have only come across three references to albino calves, which have occurred in Kruger National Park in South Africa.

"This is probably the first documented sighting of an albino elephant in northern Botswana.
"We have been studying elephants in the region for nearly 10 years now, and this is the first documented evidence of an albino calf that I have come across."

He said that the condition might make it difficult for the calf to survive into adulthood.

"What happens to these young albino calves remains a mystery," said Dr Chase.
"Surviving this very rare phenomenon is very difficult in the harsh African bush. The glaring sun may cause blindness and skin problems." However, he told BBC News that there might be a ray of hope for the pink calf as it already seemed to be learning to adapt to its condition.

Dr Chase explained: "Because this elephant calf was sighted in the Okavango Delta, he may have a greater chance of survival. He can seek refuge under the large trees and cake himself in a thick mud, which will protect him from the Sun.

"Already the two-to-three-month-old calf seems to be walking in the shade of its mother.

"This behaviour suggests it is aware of its susceptibility to the harsh African sun, and adapted a unique behaviour to improve its chances of survival."

He added: "I have learned that elephants are highly adaptable, intelligent and masters of
survival."

The baby elephant seems to be sheltering under its mother

to protect itself from the sun.

Now Darlings ~ If a baby pink elephant is intelligent enough to realize his situation and adapt in order to survive in the harsh Botswana bush....guess what that says about you and your capabilities during these challenging times of change?

It just astounds me, how humans want to forget our amazing abilities to adapt, and expand into greater options, and demonstrate our flexibility.

On this point we really differ from our teachers the elephants. For they don't forget what's important in the scheme of Life.

Yes!!! You too. Just like these wonderful creatures, in the words of that song from Third World ~ You've Got the Power!

We can adapt, and flow into new ways of Being with ease, if we choose to.

Rest in that awareness, and demonstrate it.

Don't join the pity parties, and the moanin' choirs of mass ignorance. Speaking despair and dismay, will keep you in that state.

This ain't nothin' to us....

Follow Nature's example offered here, and BE like the elephants. Just keep on crossing those rivers, until you look up and realize, you are deep within the shady valley of your 'Promised Land'.

love u~

Kentke

Long may they live~One for the Nature at It's Best File

Our thanks go out to our herding mentor and best friend Judy, who shared the sweet story below.

Black bears typically have two cubs; rarely, one or three.

In 2007, in northern New Hampshire , a black bear Sow gave birth to five healthy young. There were two or three reports of sows with as many as four cubs, but five was, and is, extraordinary.

I learned of them shortly after they emerged from their den and set myself a goal of photographing all five cubs with their mom no matter how much time and effort was involved. I knew the trail they followed on a fairly regular basis, usually shortly before dark. After spending nearly four hours a day, seven days a week, for six weeks, I had that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and photographed them.

I used the equivalent of a very fast film speed on my digital camera. The print is properly focused and well exposed, with all six bears posing as if they were in a studio for a family portrait.

I stayed in touch with other people who saw the bears during the summer and into the fall hunting season. All six bears continued to thrive. As time for hibernation approached, I found still more folks who had seen them, and everything remained OK.

I stayed away from the bears as I was concerned that they might become habituated to me, or to people in general, as approachable friends. This could be dangerous for both man and animal.

After Halloween I received no further reports and could only hope the bears survived until they hibernated.

This spring, before the snow disappeared, all six bears came out of their den and wandered the same familiar territory they trekked in the spring of 2007.

I saw them before mid-April and dreamed nightly of taking another family portrait, an improbable second once-in-a-lifetime photograph.

On April 25, 2008 I achieved my dream.

When something as magical as this happens between man and animal, Native Americans say, 'We have walked together in the shadow of a rainbow.'

And so it is with humility and great pleasure that I share these photos with you.
Sincerely Tom Sears

We all say Thank you Tom for your respectful capturing of Nature at her Best and sharing it with those of that can not witness such beauty with our own eyes.

Kentke

Happy Happy Happy Women's History Month 2009

Once again, we lead humanity to new heights,

confirming that evolution

still seeks to embody

a

Divine Ideal

~Hail to the New Standard~

First Lady of the United States of America

Michele Obama

Light into the Darkness

View from my window, taken 02/22/09.

Beloveds~

May this be a part of the foundation that keeps you grounded, inwardly focused, and moving ahead with joy, fun and confidence as you see these truths manifest in your Life. Practice knowing this. Test what is presented here. Print it out, carry it with you and apply it, for your heart's fulfillment.

These are all the main points which I underlined reading from this article. You might want to pick up the March issue of Science of Mind Magazine. You can then make your own interpretations as it specifically relates to your thinking and situation. I have loved receiving this publication thru subscription for almost twenty years. You can also pick one up at Agape in L. A., or a Science of Mind Church or Spiritual Living Center near you.

Love, Kentke

From Light into the Darkness

By Ernest Holmes

We are not going through a harder time today...It only seems darker because we have lost faith---
Faith is built up from belief, acceptance and trust.
Our mind must be steady in it's conviction that our life is some part of God, and that Spirit is incarnated in us.

The foundation for correct mental treatment is perfect God, perfect man (Me), perfect Being. Thought must be organized to fit this premise, and (all) conclusions must be built on this premise.

If we believe that Spirit, incarnated in us, can demonstrate, shall we be disturbed at what appears to contradict this? We shall often need to know that the truth that we announce is superior to the condition we are to change.
In other words, if we are speaking from the standpoint of the Spirit, then there can be no opposition to It. It is only when we let go of all human will, and recognize the pure essence of the Spiritual Principle incarnated in us, that thought rises above a belief in duality.
We should constantly vitalize our faith by the knowledge that the Eternal is incarnated in us; that God Himself/Cosmic Consciousness/Divine Love Intelligence goes forth anew into creation through each one of us; and that in such degree as we speak the Truth, the Almighty has spoken.

It is wonderful to contemplate the menatl attitude of peopel who are not afraid to believe their prayers will be answered, and who are not afraid to say, "I know".

There is nothing in the universal order that denies the individual's good, or self-expression, so long as such self-expression does not contradict the general good, does not contradict Good Itself.

The Universe remains unlimited, though the whole world has suffered a sense of limitation.

Because we fail to realize the Principle is not bound by precedent, we limit our faith to that which has already been accomplished......When through intuition, faith finds it's proper place under Divine Law, there are no limitations, and what are called miraculous results follow.

If we are to have an active faith----the faith of God instead of merely a faith in God---our thought must be centered in Universal Mind. We are convinced that under Divine Law all things are possible, if we only believe, and work in conformity with the principles of that Law. Such a faith, does not spring full-orbed into being, but grows by knowledge and experience.

No matter what the outside appearance, we must cling steadfastly to the knowledge that God/Cosmic Mind is good, and God is All (there is), underneath, above, (within) and round about (us).

EXTRA !!! EXTRA!!! Africa is HOT today!!!!

Dear Readers~

Below I bring you four articles of today's news from the continent of Africa. I present them because you might have missed them in your busy world of responsibilities and duties. I do also, think these are important stories to keep an eye on as they develop and unfold. Skim if you must, but I saved the best for last.

We're catching up first with Sudan, where the International Criminal Court just issued an arrest warrant for Omar al-Bashir. We have have a post in the archives when the possibility of these proceedings was first made public, last year.


Next we go to Zimbabwe, another nation we've followed here, as Mugabe and his military have caused havoc on that once rich nation, in their refusal to allow the democratic process to be carried out. The old fool just won't go, so a compromise has been reached. Well...somewhat. Read the article, but the last line rather tells it all.

Tiny former Portuguese colony Guinea-Bissau was the site of the assassination of the president, and his opposition, the head of the military this weekend. The internationally popular British author Frederick Forsyth, happens to be in the country doing research for his next novel. The article is fascinating, in his descriptions one of the world's most wretched sites. Also interesting is how this man always seems to be right in the thick of things when Africa heats up.

Last, I bring you news of the coronation of a new African king. Do take time to read how tradition, the present and the future are showing up in a 36 year old Ethiopian monarch, that will serve his people for 8 years.

I ask you to forgive me that with the exception of the article on the Ethiopian king, I am mainly highlighting one side of what's going on in Africa today. Yet it's evident that the wisdom in some of the ways mentioned about the Borena culture, that Africans too, know how to 'get it right'. I recently saw a moving and awesome documentary film about women judges on the Continent, which I promise to bring to your attention in the next few days.

Always remember Beloveds, especially in these days when the media and talking heads are full of negative projections for our existence ~ whether it's violence in our communities, politicians ignoring the will of the people, global warming, the loss of species, or the collapse of the capitalist system, there is an effort afoot to hypnotize the public into despair.

A characteristic of our natural world is to express in forms of duality. Therefore, for every negative thing you hear, see or know about, there is unequivocally something that is as powerfully positive happening in our world. We just unfortunately live in a culture that is programmed to focus on that which is disturbing, negative to life, unpleasant and sensational. So we don't see the Good that's always present, and we tend to become warped, and think that that is the 'way Life is'. This is not true. We just aren't putting our attention on the Good sufficiently to become balanced in our understanding of how Life works.

When Bob sang, "Free yourselves from mental slavery. None but ourselves can free our minds", this is what he was referring to. The mental slavery of only seeing, focusing and giving one's attention to the negative or to one side of a situation. Let us not allow ourselves to only think that idiots, despots and greedy power hungry mad men run the world, and Africa. I promise to continue to seek out balanced concepts and ideals, images and instances of Life to share with you. And you can help me do so, by continuing to send me emails of what you discover that is good, noteworthy and can be inspirational to us all.

Okay....take a deep breathe... Just so that you are informed, you're about to take a swim through some of the shit, that reeks of humanities' 'stinkin' thinkin!'

Court issues war crimes warrant for Sudan's Bashir

Mar 4, 11:56 AM (ET)

By MIKE CORDER

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant Wednesday for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. He is the first sitting head of state the court has ordered arrested.


The three-judge panel said there was insufficient evidence to support charges of genocide in a war in which up to 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million have fled their homes.
Al-Bashir's government denounced the warrant as part of a Western conspiracy aimed at destabilizing the vast oil-rich nation south of Egypt.


African and Arab nations fear the warrant will destabilize the whole region, bring even more conflict in Darfur and threaten the fragile peace deal that ended decades of civil war between northern and southern Sudan. China, which buys two-thirds of Sudan's oil, supports the African and Arab positions.


Some African nations reportedly threatened to pull out of the court in retaliation for a warrant. Thirty African countries are among the court's 108 member states.


In a show of defiance Tuesday in anticipation of the decision, al-Bashir told supporters at a rally, "We are telling them to immerse it in water and drink it," a common Arabic insult meant to show extreme disrespect.


Hundreds of Sudanese waving pictures of the president and denouncing the court quickly turned out in a rally at the Cabinet building in Khartoum. Security was increased around many embassies, and some diplomats and aid workers stayed home amid fears of retaliation against Westerners.


"He is suspected of being criminally responsible ... for intentionally directing attacks against an important part of the civilian population of Darfur, Sudan, murdering, exterminating, raping, torturing and forcibly transferring large numbers of civilians, and pillaging their property," court spokeswoman Laurence Blairon said. If al-Bashir is brought to trial and prosecuted, he faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.


Blairon rejected accusations that the warrant was part of a political plot and said the decision was made purely on legal grounds.


Al-Bashir denies the war crimes accusations and refuses to deal with the court, and there is currently no international mechanism to arrest him. The main tool the court has is diplomatic pressure for countries to hand over suspects.


Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo suggested al-Bashir could be arrested if he flies out of Sudan.
"As soon as Mr. al-Bashir travels in international airspace, his plane could be intercepted and he could be arrested. That is what I expect," the prosecutor said.


"Like Slobodan Milosevic or Charles Taylor, Omar al-Bashir's destiny is to face justice," Moreno Ocampo said referring to the former presidents of Yugoslavia and Liberia who were indicted while in office and ended up on trial in The Hague.




Sudan does not recognize its jurisdiction and refuses to arrest suspects. U.N. peacekeepers and other international agencies operating in Sudan have no mandate to implement the warrant, and Sudanese officials have warned them not to go outside their mandates.


Asked why judges, in a 2-1 split decision, did not issue the warrant for genocide, Blairon explained that genocide requires a clear intent to destroy in part or as a whole a specific group.
"In this particular case, the pretrial chamber has not been able to find there were reasonable grounds to establish a genocidal intent," she said.


She said prosecutors could ask again for genocide charges to be added to the warrant if they can produce new evidence. Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo said he would study the ruling before deciding whether to keep pursuing genocide charges.


The war in Sudan's western Darfur region began in 2003, when rebel ethnic African groups, complaining of discrimination and neglect, took up arms against the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum. In 2005, the U.N. Security Council asked Moreno Ocampo to investigate crimes in Darfur.


The Rome statute that set up the International Criminal Court allows the Security Council to vote to defer or suspend for a year the investigation or prosecution of a case. It also gives the council authority to renew such a resolution.


The 52-member countries of the African Union and 26 states of the Arab League make up about a third of U.N. member states and they have said they would call for such a suspension.
But the council is sharply divided on suspending the case and is unlikely to take any action.
Some African nations reportedly have threatened to pull out of the court in retaliation for the warrant. Thirty African countries are among the court's 108 member states.


The Sudanese ruling party leadership will meet later Wednesday to decide its course of action, al-Bashir's foreign affairs adviser Mustafa Osman Ismail told state TV after the court announcement.


"This decision was not a surprise to us, but all the mechanism of the state will react. We in the Cabinet will meet tomorrow to see what steps are to be taken," Ismail said.
Rights groups welcomed the decision.


"With this arrest warrant, the International Criminal Court has made Omar al-Bashir a wanted man," said Richard Dicker, director of the International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch. "Not even presidents are guaranteed a free pass for horrific crimes. By ruling there is a case for President al-Bashir to answer for the horrors of Darfur, the warrant breaks through Khartoum's repeated denials of his responsibility."


Sudan's ruling party announced that it plans a "million man march" in Khartoum on Thursday to protest any warrant.

And in Zimbabwe~

Zimbabwe's premier makes first parliament address

Mar 4, 11:25 AM (ET)

By ANGUS SHAW
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - Zimbabwe's former opposition leader called for an end to political oppression and police violence in his first address to parliament as prime minister Wednesday, saying donor countries won't help Zimbabwe unless its image improves.

Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai also called for greater freedom of assembly and the press and for more open governance - priorities likely to put him on a confrontation course with President Robert Mugabe.

"No donor country or institution is going to offer any meaningful assistance unless our new government projects a positive new image," Tsvangirai said in reference to his government's desperate appeals for foreign aid to save Zimbabwe from the economic abyss.

"Brutal suppression, wanton arrests and political persecution impede our ability to rebuild our economy, to generate wealth for all, to rebuild our hospitals and schools and to put a currency of value into our savings accounts."

Zimbabwe has the world's highest official inflation rate, a hunger crisis that has left most of its people dependent on foreign handouts and a cholera epidemic blamed on the collapse of a once-enviable health and sanitation system. Cholera has sickened more than 80,000 and killed more than 3,800 people since August.

The longtime opposition party blames Zimbabwe's economic collapse on mismanagement and corruption by Mugabe's party. Under pressure from southern African leaders, Tsvangirai joined a unity government with Mugabe earlier this year but it remains unclear how much authority he will wield as prime minister. He has so far proved powerless to secure the release of detained senior members of his party and Mugabe has made a string of unilateral appointments.

Members of Mugabe's party listened respectfully to Tsvangirai's parliamentary speech on Wednesday even though he was worlds apart from the president, especially on issues such as executive powers, security and land reform. Tsvangirai said there was no intention to reverse land redistribution but to control it and restore the farming sector to the "jewel of southern Africa."

Mugabe's seizure of white-owned farms starting in 2000 decimated agriculture and contributed to the economic collapse of Zimbabwe where about two-thirds of the population now need food aid. But he remains unrepentant and invasions of white owned farms have accelerated since the unity government was sworn in. At his lavish 85th birthday party last Saturday, Mugabe declared that the "few remaining white farmers should quickly vacate their farms as they have no place there."

Tsvangirai took a radically different approach: "All Zimbabweans ... shall be considered for allocation of land irrespective of race, gender, religion, ethnicity or political affiliation," he declared. He said the government would conduct a "comprehensive, transparent and nonpartisan land audit," and eliminate multiple farm ownership - this in apparent reference to Mugabe's cronies who have grabbed a string of prime farms for themselves.

But the limits of Tsvangirai's powers are illustrated by the continued detention of Roy Bennett, the party's nominee for deputy agriculture minister. Bennett was arrested Feb. 12, ostensibly on weapons charges, and has so far not been released on bail despite repeated court orders.
Bennett's lawyers had hoped he would be freed from detention Wednesday, after the High Court ruled Tuesday that the state had no right to oppose bail. But the local magistrates office claimed it had no authority to do this.

Several other former opposition officials also remain in detention, including Tsvangirai's security chief. Tsvangirai said this smacked of "political persecution."

"This will not be tolerated under our new government. Justice must be done and must be seen to be done now."

"The days of the police wantonly and violently breaking up peaceful demonstrations and gatherings and needlessly imprisoning innocent Zimbabweans must now come to an end," he continued, warning that those responsible would be prosecuted.

Tsvangirai long held out for control of the Home Affairs Ministry, which is responsible for the police. But in the end he agreed to joint control with Mugabe's party and he remains deeply mistrusted by security chiefs.

The prime minister also said the government would restore freedom of the press by allowing registration of media houses. Draconian media laws wiped out most independent journalists in recent years and accredited media have to pay exorbitant fees.

He told parliament that in the new unity government, "executive authority rests with the President, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet," and that there could be "no difference, dissent or debate" on the power-sharing agreement.

At his birthday party, Mugabe had a different take:
"I am still in control and hold executive authority, so nothing much has changed."

From Guinea-Bissau~

Thriller king Forsyth stumbles into Africa mayhem

Mar 4, 1:22 PM (ET)

By TODD PITMAN
BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau (AP) - It could have been a scene right out of one of his own thrillers. And when his next novel is published, it may very well be.

British author Frederick ("The Day of the Jackal") Forsyth jetted into coup-prone, cocaine-plagued Guinea-Bissau this week to research his latest novel, and found real life trumping fiction.
Hours before he touched down in the West African nation, a bomb hidden under a staircase blew apart the armed forces chief. Hours later the president was gunned down, and according to Forsyth, hacked to pieces.

The double assassination of President Joao Bernardo "Nino" Vieira and his military rival, Gen. Batiste Tagme na Waie, shocked Guinea-Bissau and clouded this sweaty equatorial capital in the kind of mystery and intrigue often detailed in Forsyth's own fiction about assassins, spies and coups.

Forsyth's presence here inevitably raised the association with his hit novel, "The Dogs of War," about mercenaries trying to stage a coup in a mineral-rich, African backwater.

"I didn't come for a coup d'etat or regime change, but that's what I ran into," Forsyth said over coffee at his hotel, where The Associated Press found him.

He said he couldn't sleep and was in his hotel bed reading when he heard a boom before dawn Monday and thought, "that wasn't a car door slamming." The explosion was blocks away at Vieira's modest downtown villa - the beginning of the president's end.

Forsyth went out that day and saw army troops patrolling the streets. They left him alone.
That night, he had dinner with the Dutch pathologist who autopsied Vieira and had spent the morning "trying to put the president back together again."

According to Forsyth's sources, the 71-year-old ruler survived an initial rocket attack, got up, was shot four times, then was "slung into the back of a pickup truck ... and cut to pieces with machetes" by soldiers bent on avenging their own chief's death.

Forsyth said he came here for "the flavor, the odor, of a pretty washed up, impoverished, failed West African mangrove swamp."

"I thought, what is the most disastrous part of West Africa, and by a mile, it's Guinea-Bissau," he said. "If you drive around you'll see why: one wrecked building after another, one mountain of garbage after another. A navy with no ships, an air force with no airplanes. No infrastructure, no electricity. Everything is purchasable."

Forsyth was a Royal Air Force pilot in the late 1950s, then spent 12 years as a foreign correspondent for the Reuters news agency and the BBC.

His first attempt at fiction, "The Day of the Jackal," was about a plot to assassinate President Charles de Gaulle of France. Published in 1971, it was an international best-seller.
In 1974 came "The Dogs of War," set in the fictional nation of "Zangoro," which he said was modeled after the oil-rich Central African dictatorship of Equatorial Guinea, some 1,700 miles southeast of Guinea-Bissau.

Forsyth's next novel, which he expects to publish next year, will be set in Guinea-Bissau.
He said he has stopped inventing fictional places "because the world is so weird and so scary, you might as well use the real ones."

Forsyth was long rumored to have financed a 1973 attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea. But he dismissed the claims as "imaginary fantasies" spurred by people who saw him interviewing mercenaries for "The Dogs of War" around the same time.

Dressed in khaki pants and a loose white shirt, the sprightly, 70-year-old author said he always works the same way: story idea, then research, travel and interviews with people who have experienced the things he wants to write about.

He spent much of his three days in Bissau talking with expatriates, who he said can speak more freely than government officials and see the nation's history "from an outsider's point of view."
At 10 pages a day, he figures it will take him October and November to write the novel.

It will be another "international thriller involving the usual mix of forces of law and order, criminality, special forces, U.S. Green Berets, a coup d'etat, and a lot of money," Forsyth said. "But there will be surprises. It's not going to be what you just read about in the news."
Asked if he misses the life of a foreign correspondent, Forsyth said: "Investigative journalism is like a drug. When you write, it's very hard to walk way."

"If push comes to shove I could still cover a story. But in Guinea-Bissau, there is no need to exaggerate," he said. "This place is for real."

Hail the new Ethiopian Borena King

Guyyoo Gobbaa sits surrounded by people shortly after he was crowned the 70th king of the cattle-herding Borena people, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2009 in Badhaasaa in southern Ethiopia. Guyyoo Gobbaa became the ing of the Borena people this Tuesday in a secret ceremony considered so sacred it has the power to kill unauthorized observers. Like his predecessors, he was chosen from birth to serve an eight year term in a system that rotates power between the tribe's top clans and is as difficult to explain to outsiders as the American electoral college.

(AP Photo/Anita Powell)

Mar 4, 11:07 AM (ET)

By ANITA POWELL

BADHAASAA, Ethiopia (AP)

A cattle-herding tribe in southern Ethiopia has crowned a new king in a secret ceremony considered so sacred that the Borena people believe it has the power to kill unauthorized observers.

Guyyoo Gobbaa is spending the three days following his inauguration Tuesday drinking warm beer under an acacia tree and eating goat meat with various elders and government officials, some of whom walked hundreds of miles to his village.

Like his predecessors, Guyyoo was chosen from birth to serve an eight-year term in a system that rotates power between the tribe's top clans and is as difficult to explain to outsiders as the American electoral college.

"If you see them exchanging power you'll die," said Mohammed Nur, a member of the Borena tribe who is also a local government official. "You'll spit blood. It is totally sacred."

The Borena king is recognized as an Ethiopian government official and his duties will include mediating in land disputes between tribes.

Traditional rulers exist alongside formal government in many African countries, and their behind-the scenes influence can help or hinder vital national interests. In the oil-rich Niger Delta, chiefs in top hats and coral beads have sponsored peace talks between rival militant gangs and helped free foreign hostages. In Uganda, the government has legally limited the traditionally independent kingdoms to cultural custodians, but they can use their influence to encourage people to take part in campaigns like the one trying to limit the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Guyyoo, a 36-year-old cattle farmer, has promised to fix his 1 million people's ailing economy by improving access to livestock markets and patching up relations with other tribes.

Desertification and punishing droughts are gradually pushing Guyyoo's people to seek pasture for their cattle and camel herds further and further from home, bringing them into conflict with other tribes already settled on those lands.

Guyyoo's official seal of power is a whip made of rhinoceros and giraffe parts, but he says he does not intend to use it, preferring diplomacy.

"My main aim is to uphold this traditional culture," he said. "Not only for Borena. For the whole of Ethiopia."

The Borena say their system, which dates back more than 550 years, relies on co-operation between the clans to ensure peaceful transitions and limits the potential damage caused by a bad king to eight years.

But even as they hail their new king, perhaps the advantages of a different form of governance have not been entirely lost on the Borena.

The 2-month-old son of Mohammed, the government official, is not eligible for the Borena kingship under traditional rules. But little Barack's father - so named after Mohammed's wife lost her plea to name the boy Obama - demurred before ruling him out.

"I don't know," he said when asked about the future. "Maybe we won't want the traditional power. Maybe we'll want the democratic one."

All citizens of the realm of Meroe West send blessings of love, peace, regional harmony and prosperity, to imbue King Guyyoo, his ministers and his people with the enlightened wisdom to actualize his reign as an era of great accomplishment.

Kentke

No Need to Read Between the Lines Here

Limbaugh has repeatedly stated he wants President Obama to fail.

Angry Rush Limbaugh Strikes Back at RNC’s Steele

Monday, March 2, 2009 6:52 PM

Rush Limbaugh on Monday fired back at critics of his fiery weekend speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference, and his biggest target was not on the left.

The conservative talk host saved his sharpest words for Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele. The barbs came in response to Steele's assertion that Limbaugh's challenges to the GOP are "incendiary" and "ugly."

"I hope [Steele] realizes he is not a talking-head pundit," Limbaugh said on his show Monday afternoon in a 20-minute response to Steele's criticism. "It's time for you to go behind the scenes and start doing the work you were elected to do, instead of trying to be some media star, which you're having a tough time pulling off."

"Why do you claim to lead the Republican Party when you seem obsessed with seeing to it President Obama succeeds?" Limbaugh asked.

In an interview with CNN's D.L. Hughley aired over the weekend, Steele said: ""He's an entertainer. Rush Limbaugh — his whole thing is just entertainment. Yes, it's incendiary. Yes, it's ugly."

Steele took particular issue with Hughley's assertion that Limbaugh had become "the de facto leader of the Republican Party." The RNC chairman insisted that he, not Limbaugh, was leading the GOP.

"Rush will say what Rush has to say. We'll do what we have to do," Steele said.
On Monday, Rush said Steele appears more supportive of President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi than of his own party.

Limbaugh also accused the RNC chair of disloyalty, since he'd appeared as a guest on Limbaugh's show during his failed 2006 Senate run in Maryland.

"My parents taught me when I was growing up that you always stood behind people who defended you, that you never abandon people who stood up for you and defended you against assault," Limbaugh said.

Steele, for his part, is backing down on his comments.
"My intent was not to go after Rush – I have enormous respect for Rush Limbaugh. I was maybe a little bit inarticulate . . . There was no attempt on my part to diminish his voice or his leadership….," Steele told Politico Monday.

He added: "I went back at that tape and I realized words that I said weren't what I was thinking. It was one of those things where I thinking [sic] I was saying one thing, and it came out differently. What I was trying to say was a lot of people … want to make Rush the scapegoat, the bogeyman, and he's not."

Asked by Politico if he was apologizing to Limbaugh, "I wasn't trying to offend anybody. So, yeah, if he's offended, I'd say: Look, I'm not in the business of hurting people's feelings here . . . My job is to try to bring us all together."

Much of the dust-up between Rush and some Republicans came after his rousing CPAC speech in which he railed against the Obama administration for spreading fear in order to promote a liberal, big-government agenda. In the speech he repeated his controversial remarks from January that he hoped Obama failed.

"What is so strange about being honest and saying I want Barack Obama to fail if his mission is to restructure and re-form this country so that capitalism and individual liberty are not its foundation?" he asked an enthusiastic crowd at CPAC.

"I frankly am stunned that the chairman of the Republican National Committee endorses such an agenda. I have to conclude that he does because he attacks me for wanting it to fail," Limbaugh said on his show Monday.

But not everyone in the GOP was on board with Rush's comments. Joining Steele in his criticism of Limbaugh was House Republican Whip Eric Cantor.

"I don't think anyone wants anything to fail right now," Cantor said during ABC News' "This Week" on Sunday. "We have such challenges. What we need to do is we need to put forth solutions to the problems that real families are facing today."

The RNC, for its part, spent Monday trying to deflect attention from the infighting among conservatives.

"Rahm Emanuel and the Democrats know they lose an argument with the Republican Party on substance so they are building straw men to attack and distract," RNC spokesman Alex Conant said in a statement.

"The feud between radio host Rush Limbaugh and Rahm Emanuel makes great political theater, but it is a sideshow to the important work going on in Washington," Conant said. "RNC Chairman Michael Steele and elected Republicans are focused on fighting for reform and winning elections. The Democrats' problem is that the American people are growing skeptical of the massive government spending being pushed by Congressional leaders like Nancy Pelosi."