Whey, blaitantly made by a Republican.

Antwoine

If you can try to get hold of a BBC 3-part series available on DVD called “The Power of Nightmares - The Rise of the Politics of Fear” written by Adam Curtis; it goes a long way to explaining this “war on terror” that the neocons, i.e., “leocons” [*Leo Strauss “Straussian philosophy” disciples] have the world currently embroiled in.  It’s available at Amazon.com though it’s not exactly cheap; maybe your local library has it for free.  (It’s available for free download at this Wikipedia site; not to keep, just to view.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_of_nightmares

From TPM Cafe, On February 1, 2007 - 10:59pm Tim said:

“It’s the power of corporations that need to be hemmed in.  The modern limited liability corporation was invented during the years of the Civil War - and the problems we have today are the same ones that existed in the post civil war era.  Republicans like Bush dream of taking us back to that era, where the rich got really rich, and is not interested in moving us forward.”

http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/2007/feb/01/a_first_response#comment-202652

On January 31, 2007 - 8:19pm Tim said:

““As Churchill stated in his “Finest Hour” speech, Republican policies in the 1920s nearly lead directly to a new dark age in the 1940s.  Simply put, they are at it again.  At some point they should become discredited.  A huge clean up of Rooseveltian proportions awaits the next Democratic president [Obama].  Hopefully he’ll have the modesty to replace the hub and spoke system of our international commitments to a network one based upon “monetism” that is the basis of the European network community.”“

http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/2007/jan/31/empire_v_democracy

“monetism”? Try: “monetarism”

http://www.yourdictionary.com/

*Noble lies and perpetual war: Leo Strauss, the neo-cons, and Iraq

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5010.htm

Barack Obama is the man to lead the US from the current wilderness. Make sure you all vote for him.

Why is there always so much demand on the Democrats and no demand on the Republicans to stand and deliver? How in the hell can Republicans go bipolar on everything, flip-flop, contradict themselves at every point, villify any and every American who questions their motives, their positions, their stance on the matters at hand and the best they can give is some irrational statement that proves they are making this crap up as they go along!!!!!!
What Republican has come forth and given us anything concrete that the nation as a whole can stand on together???!!! All this talk about experience or inexperience…...BUSH WAS A C STUDENT AND WAS ONLY ADMITTED BECAUSE OF THE SCHOOLS LEGACY PROGRAM THAT ALLOWED HIM TO ATTEND AN IVY LEAGUE SCHOOL!!!! BUSH HAS ALWAYS BEEN A PUPPET OF HIS FATHER’S CRONIES AND APPEARS TO BE A MODERN DAY PUPPET FOR CHENEY, ROVE, AND RUMSFELD!
PUTIN HAS SAID WHAT I HAVE BEEN A WITNESS TO MY WHOLE LIFE AS A BLACK MAN IN THESE UNITED STATES….THE ONES TEACHING DEMOCRACY, TRUTH, LIBERTY AND FREEDOM ARE THE SAME ONES WHO DO THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF THOSE TEACHINGS IN YOUR FACE AND DARE ANYONE TO CALL THEM ON IT!!!! OUR CIA AND FBI ARE THE TERROR SQUADS FOR OUR GOVERNMENT JUST LIKE THOSE MUSLIM MILITIAS BEING USED IN IRAQ AND APHGANISTAN. OUR CIA AND FBI ARE THE MODERN DAY KGB AND GESTAPO!!! REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS ARE IN THE SAME BOAT, AND WE THE PEOPLE ARE THE SEA THEY RIDE ON. THE REPUBLICANS REACH OUT TO THE UPPER CRUST WHILE THE DEMOCRATS DIG DEEPER TO THOSE THAT MAY NOT EVER GET CLOSE TO THE UPPER CRUST. DO NOT RULE OUT THE FACT THAT IF WAR IS STILL RAGED IN IRAQ OR IRAN THE SITTING PRESIDENT CAN SUSPEND ELECTIONS AND SEEK TO EXTEND HIS PRESIDENCY. DO NOT RULE OUT THE FACT THAT ANY IMPEACHMENT COULD LEAD TO PARDONS FOR ALL THESE BASTARDS THAT HAVE BLOOD ON THEIR HANDS!!!! You idiots that are wasting time demanding accountability from the Democrats are hypocrites for not demanding the same thing from the Republicans because the Republicans have lead us into this mess whether you like the role played by the Democrats or not, least you forget….it is the Republicans who are responsible for this mess!

Retraction of comment #53410 below.

Retake.

What exactly is this cartoon above implying?  Taken at face value Barack Obama’s no better than Bush?  But read the transcripts of Obama’s 60 Minutes appearance aired Feb. 11, 2007 and you gain a whole new perspective into the man. 

Poster Tony Wicher below asks:

“I want to know where he stands on Israel/Palestine. That will be a true test of his commitment to peace, democracy and human rights. Will he be like all Democrats have been up to now, and be in favor of democracy only provided it does not interfere with plans for world hegemony? Or will his commitment be real? Let him be tested.” 

(Refer to page 4 of the 6-page interview)
Transcript Excerpt: Sen. Barack Obama
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/11/60minutes/main2458530.shtml

KROFT: “Do you have solutions for the Palestinian/Israeli conflict?”

OBAMA: “Well, probably not solutions that I can lay out in the next two minutes. Look, I think that both the Israeli people and the Palestinian people are weary of the ongoing conflict. I think they want to see solutions. What we don’t have right now, particularly in the Palestinian community, are a set of leaders who have both the will and the capacity to renounce violence as a strategy to resolve the problems and to actually enforce any agreement that might be reached with the Israelis. And that is something that we can’t do single-handedly, but if we’re much more active than we’ve been, if we’re paying attention, if we’re deploying special envoys, if we are indicating to the Palestinians that we are ready and willing to work with them and the Israelis in finding an agreeable two-state solution, then it is possible that that leadership will emerge.”

On the question of “no real plan for universal health care”, also in Part 4 of the interview Obama states: “Solving our healthcare crisis ... you know I’ve said previously that by the end of my Presidency I would want to see a plan to provide healthcare to all Americans.”

Concerning the future of Iraq: 

Obama (page 2 of interview): “...we should initiate a phase redeployment. Start taking our combat troops, deploying them in the region, deploying them in Afghanistan, focus them on the broader war on terror. What happens is dictated by conditions on the ground and what the commanders say. We set a target goal of getting our combat troops out, leaving logistics and training and counter-terrorism forces on the ground, and we set up some benchmarks, benchmarks that were laid out by the Iraq Study Group, benchmarks that were laid out by the President himself for the Iraqi government to meet.”

He also talks about (on page 3) of having an “over-the-horizon force” stationed in the Middle East should “some sort of conflagrations that necessitated immediate U.S. action” breakout, such as Iran or Syria taking advantage of the Iraqi situation.

It’s all there in the 60 Minutes interview and so it’s clear that Barack Obama is the best candidate for president of the United States with Hillary as his Vice.  Vote this man in - he’s deserving of the presidency.

Candidate Obama’s Sense Of Urgency
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/09/60minutes/main2456335.shtml

Reply to Comment #53377 by Big Al on 2/13 at 12:49 pm

Big Al,

From what I can tell, Obama has been accused by the usual right-wing crowd of being a closet Moslem. See the article below from Tom Paine, Common Sense. Now you are already accusing him of being a puppet of Israel. Do you have any more grounds for this that Rush Limbaugh? Please, give the man a chance!
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/02/13/cue_the_smear_machine.php

“Consider the first of what will no doubt be many false stories spread about the Democratic candidates: the lie that Barack Obama attended a fundamentalist madrassa when he lived in Indonesia as a boy. When insightmag.com, a website owned by the right-wing Washington Times, put out a breathless report trumpeting the fantasy, Fox News immediately jumped on board, as did Limbaugh, Hannity and the rest of the talk radio bile spewers. “Why didn’t anybody ever mention,” asked “Fox & Friends” co-host Steve Doocy, a man who makes Larry King look like Oscar Wilde, “that that man right there was raised—spent the first decade of his life, raised by his Muslim father—as a Muslim and was educated in a madrassa?” This sentence contained no fewer than five falsehoods: Obama wasn’t raised by his father, his father left the family when Obama was two years old, his father wasn’t a practicing Muslim, Obama wasn’t raised as a Muslim and he didn’t go to a madrassa . “Well, he didn’t admit it,” chimed in co-host Brian Kilmeade. “I mean, that’s the issue.”

But then, perhaps spurred by their more or less constant feud with Fox, CNN sent a reporter out to—get this—check to see if the story was true. ABC and the AP followed suit, and all reported to their audiences that what Obama had attended was nothing more than an ordinary public school. In other words, they did what journalists are supposed to do when confronted with a potentially scandalous story about a candidate: investigate before reporting it, then tell the public the facts. That those news organizations doing the right thing seems so remarkable is a testament to how debased American journalism has become.

Reply to Comment #53377 by Big Al on 2/13 at 12:49 pm

“The Israel lobby loves him, because he’s signed onto their party line concerning Iran and everything else Israel wants”

************************************************
Big Al,

I have joined the Obama campaign. I am hoping to form a coalition of peace and human rights advocates who will persuade the campaign to adopt the One Democratic State solution to the Israel/Palestine conflict that I advocate. As far as I know, Obama has not really defined himself on this issue. I think your criticism may be premature. Can you cite specific statements by Obama indicating that he is ready to “give Israel everything it wants”, as you say? I would like to see them.

The thing is, if you want to be POTUS, and you have money, and can get nominated, you have a chance to be elected regardless of whether you are qualified or unqualified for the office.

I think this is the simple truth of democracy in America. It’s all really a little silly.

A country so wealthy and powerful by merely being what it is, apparently doesn’t need any real depth of character in the Pres. The country can survive. We can still maintain our usual lives of freedoms and privileges regardless of the venality of a
G.W.Bush or R.Reagan.

This is the way we live. The only thing that can change us is a real challenge from somewhere in the world: a united Europe or a future China. Then we might find that we have to seriously reflect on how smart and how competent we need our leaders to be.

Why hold him to a higher standard than all the other just as “vague” politicians?

Perhaps he is just being cautious? Certainly not a “bad” trait this early in the game.

I think people are expecting to much, too soon from Obama.

You know, I have long advocated term limits for an elected representative, congressman, senator, governor, and the reason is that power corrupts and those lobbyists who are enabling a lifetime representative or senator, are, “in office” as long as that representative or senator sits.  We need fresh voices in government and we need to rid ourselves of/or relocate many of the “experienced” law makers.

“...and so, I would like all my aging hippie friends to do what they did in 2000; throw all their support towards a truly principaled and completely unelectable Dennis Kucinich, who won’t make it past the primaries, so we can all watch Hillary go down in flames in the general election in ‘08.”

PEOPLE PLEASE. Watch the interviewers when Dennis is talking. They are literally trying to keep from laughing. Of course it isn’t right. No, it’s not fair. But it is so.

“...this is not America.” Deal with it!

1. No real plan for universal health care.

Real reassuring, but no doubt military defence spending will continue to skyrocket out of control as once again pressing domestic issues are placed on the backburner indefinitely.

2. Not clear on what to do on Iraq.

At least Hillary has said she’ll bring the troops home, and that’s what’s most needed at this point. “But in 2003 she was for the invasion.” Yeah, well now it’s 2007 and she no longer is.

3. Not opposed to a strike on Iran.

And who’s next?

4. Against gay marriage.

But not against endless war. Terrific.

5. Pro anything Isreal wants.

Well the Repugs may as well remain in office for another couple of terms and see how much more damage they can inflict around the world. Putin’s comment the other day was timely:

“People are always teaching us democracy but the people who teach us democracy don’t want to learn it themselves,” he told the gathering of security and defence officials.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/putin-accuses-us-of-wanting-to-dominate-the-world/2007/02/11/1171128816667.html

In some places around the world Obama’s now qualified himself as a “useless git”, and in other’s as a “useless arsehole”.

The Democrats are looking down the barrel if contenders such as this visionless twit is the best it has to offer.

Unlike Clinton and Edwards, Senator Obama had the courage to speak the truth at a time when the conventional wisdom was to go along with a popular president.
Clinton and Edwards are now saying if they knew then what they know now they would have never voted for the resolution.
    Senator Obama is saying I knew then and I know now that the invasion of Iraq was a war that would require a U.S. occupation of undetermined length, at an undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences.
    So with all the revered experience that Clinton and Edwards have, they granted a psuedo president the right to commit our brave men and women to a war, so that they would look like they were “Progressive Hawks” and “Not Liberal Doves”.
  If truth be told (The Obama Way!), I expect my President to have intellectual foresight, intellectual fortitude, and an ability to intellectually convey his thoughts both orally and with his actions.

Vote Barak Obama for President!

Actually, if you go to http://www.barackobama.com and click on issues, you’ll see something called Plan to End Iraq War (http://www.barackobama.com/issues/iraq/) and another called Creating a Healthcare System That Works (http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/), among other things.

The Israel lobby loves him, because he’s signed onto their party line concerning Iran and everything else Israel wants.

He didn’t go for the Iraq war, which Israel of course wanted - but that’s past and done. Iraq is destroyed, hundreds of thousands of Arabs are murdered - mission accomplished.

Now, for Presidential candidates, it’s politically advantageous to have opposed the Iraq war. This makes Obama an easier sell than Hillary.

Israel’s lobbyists and agents know that Hillary has destroyed her reputation by supporting their push for a war against Iraq. These pro-Israel parasites need a fresh, undamaged host, and Obama will do.

After the new Iran war fiasco is well underway, Israel will move on to support another “fresh” candidate who opposed the last war for Israel—but favors the next one.

obama is an extremely dangerous inexperienced candidate…

I watched his interview on “60 Minutes”. It was the perfect platform for him. He had sympathetic interviewers. I saw the rock-star rallies, the starry-eyed fans, mostly young, the autographs signings.

And you know what?

I was completely underwhelmed.

I like him.

He reminds me of Reggie Miller.

Interesting comments so far.  Amazing how people have made up their mind on a particular candidate 18 months ahead of time, with no real idea of what they stand for, what they believe, what their pros and cons are.
How about a debate or two before making judgements? 
But I guess there’ll always be those who won’t vote for Hillary because she’s a woman, or won’t vote for Obama because he’s black, or won’t vote for Edwards because he lives in a big house.  You know, all the important things.

As for John Lowell’s comment: “And the irony: That Bush just might save us from the depradations of any of them through the timely suspension of elections and rule by decree.”

Is that really what you want, John?  A full-blown dictatorship?  Martial law?  King George?  Stop living with your head in the sand.

“....I’m not really clear on what to do about Iraq….”

Let’s be honest, Obama opposed the war on Iraq before it started and he wants out of Iraq by 2008. In all honesty, this cartoon should be titled “Hilary’s same ole direction”.

Peace.

cont’d
Barack Obama’s 2002 Speech Against the Iraq War

On Saddam Hussein

“Now let me be clear: I suffer no illusions about Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal man. A ruthless man. A man who butchers his own people to secure his own power…. The world, and the Iraqi people, would be better off without him.
But I also know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors…and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history.
I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a U.S. occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences.
I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaeda.
I am not opposed to all wars. I’m opposed to dumb wars. So for those of us who seek a more just and secure world for our children, let us send a clear message to the president.
You Want a Fight, President Bush?
You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s finish the fight with Bin Laden and al-Qaeda, through effective, coordinated intelligence, and a shutting down of the financial networks that support terrorism, and a homeland security program that involves more than color-coded warnings.
You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s fight to make sure that…we vigorously enforce a nonproliferation treaty, and that former enemies and current allies like Russia safeguard and ultimately eliminate their stores of nuclear material, and that nations like Pakistan and India never use the terrible weapons already in their possession, and that the arms merchants in our own country stop feeding the countless wars that rage across the globe.
You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s fight to make sure our so-called allies in the Middle East, the Saudis and the Egyptians, stop oppressing their own people, and suppressing dissent, and tolerating corruption and inequality, and mismanaging their economies so that their youth grow up without education, without prospects, without hope, the ready recruits of terrorist cells.
You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s fight to wean ourselves off Middle East oil through an energy policy that doesn’t simply serve the interests of Exxon and Mobil.
Those are the battles that we need to fight. Those are the battles that we willingly join. The battles against ignorance and intolerance. Corruption and greed. Poverty and despair.”

Barack Obama’s 2002 Speech Against the Iraq War

“I don’t oppose all wars. What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war. What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other armchair, weekend warriors in this administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne.
What I am opposed to is the attempt by political hacks like Karl Rove to distract us from a rise in the uninsured, a rise in the poverty rate, a drop in the median income, to distract us from corporate scandals and a stock market that has just gone through the worst month since the Great Depression.
That’s what I’m opposed to. A dumb war. A rash war. A war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics.
After September 11, after witnessing the carnage and destruction, the dust and the tears, I supported this administration’s pledge to hunt down and root out those who would slaughter innocents in the name of intolerance, and I would willingly take up arms myself to prevent such tragedy from happening again.
Opposed to Dumb, Rash Wars
I don’t oppose all wars. What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war. What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other armchair, weekend warriors in this administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne.
What I am opposed to is the attempt by political hacks like Karl Rove to distract us from a rise in the uninsured, a rise in the poverty rate, a drop in the median income, to distract us from corporate scandals and a stock market that has just gone through the worst month since the Great Depression.
That’s what I’m opposed to. A dumb war. A rash war. A war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics.

If Barack can supply a little morphine or mescaline to the inevitable doomsday, I’ll take it.

Funny bit.

I mean where do they get these candidates? Think of them, Clinton, Obama, Edwards, Mc Cain, Giuliani, Romney. And these are considered “top tier”? Oy! And the irony: That Bush just might save us from the depradations of any of them through the timely suspension of elections and rule by decree.

John Lowell

I have just joined the Obama campaign. I have a good feeling about him. He has not taken a strong stand on many critical issues yet. I want to know where he stands on Israel/Palestine. That will be a true test of his commitment to peace, democracy and human rights. Will he be like all Democats have been up to now, and be in favor of democracy only provided it does not interfere with plans for world hegemony? Or will his commitment be real? Let him be tested.

Oh that was hilarious.

Dear Mr. Obama,

Only one Bush’s circus will be enough. We don’t need any more scarecrow in our chaos political drama. You’re still underqualified at present position, so stop trying to climb on a tree which you’re unable to reach its foot ! Don’t make us laughing and shedding tears in the same time !

Barack Obama is the man for this nation, forget the experience needed for the job of president, this man has the experience of life, Bush has not a clue as to what the world is like, Obama has lived in other countries, he has lived on the poor side of Chicago, has interrelated with the dispossed, this man has a handle on what this country, he has passion he has brains, he has guts. 

Maybe the man may not fit the ideal American, but he is America, he has lived in Illinois to know what America is like, the midwest is what America is about. 

Ellect this man for president, or if you think he is not ready elect him to be vice president, the team of Obama and Clinton would be a team that cannot lose.

Maargaret from Vancouver, Washinton

This is PERFECT!