I told you so!

President Barack Obama - The Next President of The United States of America.
And, almost as important, we are finally coming to the end of the Bush Error!

Barack Obama in Berlin

Here are some links to articles that respond to the speech;
nymag.com
latimes.com
telegraph.co.uk

The Obama Plan

“Conventional thinking in Washington lined up for war. The pundits judged the political winds to be blowing in the direction of the President. Despite - or perhaps because of how much experience they had in Washington, too many politicians feared looking weak and failed to ask hard questions. Too many took the President at his word instead of reading the intelligence for themselves. Congress gave the President the authority to go to war. Our only opportunity to stop the war was lost. I made a different judgment. I thought our priority had to be finishing the fight in Afghanistan. I spoke out against what I called "a rash war' in Iraq. I worried about, ‘an occupation of undetermined length, with undetermined costs, and undetermined consequences.’ The full accounting of those costs and consequences will only be known to history. But the picture is beginning to come into focus.” —Barack Obama, Clinton, Iowa, September 12, 2007

The Problem

The Surge: The goal of the surge was to create space for Iraq's political leaders to reach an agreement to end Iraq's civil war. At great cost, our troops have helped reduce violence in some areas of Iraq, but even those reductions do not get us below the unsustainable levels of violence of mid-2006. Moreover, Iraq's political leaders have made no progress in resolving the political differences at the heart of their civil war.

Military Strain: The military is being severely strained by repeated and lengthy deployments. The Army and Marine Corps are facing a crisis as 40 percent of their equipment is either in Iraq or being repaired. This crisis has led many of our generals to conclude that current demands make our forces unable to rapidly respond to the contingencies we may face in the future.

Barack Obama's Plan

Judgment You Can Trust

As a candidate for the United States Senate in 2002, Obama put his political career on the line to oppose going to war in Iraq, and warned of “an occupation of undetermined length, with undetermined costs, and undetermined consequences.” Obama has been a consistent, principled and vocal opponent of the war in Iraq.

• In 2003 and 2004, he spoke out against the war on the campaign trail;
• In 2005, he called for a phased withdrawal of our troops;
• In 2006, he called for a timetable to remove our troops, a political solution within Iraq, and aggressive diplomacy with all of Iraq’s neighbors;
• In January 2007, he introduced legislation in the Senate to remove all of our combat troops from Iraq by March 2008.
• In September 2007, he laid out a detailed plan for how he will end the war as president.

Bringing Our Troops Home

Obama will immediately begin to remove our troops from Iraq. He will remove one to two combat brigades each month, and have all of our combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months. Obama will make it clear that we will not build any permanent bases in Iraq. He will keep some troops in Iraq to protect our embassy and diplomats; if al Qaeda attempts to build a base within Iraq, he will keep troops in Iraq or elsewhere in the region to carry out targeted strikes on al Qaeda.

Press Iraq’s Leaders to Reconcile

The best way to press Iraq’s leaders to take responsibility for their future is to make it clear that we are leaving. As we remove our troops, Obama will engage representatives from all levels of Iraqi society – in and out of government – to seek a new accord on Iraq’s Constitution and governance. The United Nations will play a central role in this convention, which should not adjourn until a new national accord is reached addressing tough questions like federalism and oil revenue-sharing.

Regional Diplomacy

Obama will launch the most aggressive diplomatic effort in recent American history to reach a new compact on the stability of Iraq and the Middle East. This effort will include all of Iraq’s neighbors — including Iran and Syria. This compact will aim to secure Iraq’s borders; keep neighboring countries from meddling inside Iraq; isolate al Qaeda; support reconciliation among Iraq’s sectarian groups; and provide financial support for Iraq’s reconstruction.

Humanitarian Initiative

Obama believes that America has a moral and security responsibility to confront Iraq’s humanitarian crisis — two million Iraqis are refugees; two million more are displaced inside their own country. Obama will form an international working group to address this crisis. He will provide at least $2 billion to expand services to Iraqi refugees in neighboring countries, and ensure that Iraqis inside their own country can find a safe-haven.

Barack Obama's Record

• Barack Obama opposed the war in Iraq from the beginning. In 2002, as the conventional thinking in Washington lined up for war, Obama had the judgment and courage to speak out against the war. He said the war would lead to "an occupation of undetermined length, with undetermined costs and undetermined consequences." In January 2007, Obama introduced legislation to responsibly end the war in Iraq, with a phased withdrawal of troops engaged in combat operations.
• Obama has a plan to immediately begin withdrawing our troops engaged in combat operations at a pace of one or two brigades every month, to be completed by the end of next year. He would call for a new constitutional convention in Iraq, convened with the United Nations, which would not adjourn until Iraq's leaders reach a new accord on reconciliation. He would use presidential leadership to surge our diplomacy with all of the nations of the region on behalf of a new regional security compact. And he would take immediate steps to confront the ongoing humanitarian disaster in Iraq.

Yes, We Can! - Video

The Untimely Demise of the Edwards Campaign

John Edwards ran a valiant campaign and he championed a great cause, but apparently he just is not what the American people are looking for in a President. That being said, I think John Edwards will make an awesome Vice-President with Barack Obama and I fully anticipate Barack Obama choosing John Edwards as his running mate.
I think that perhaps John Edward's campaign was too narrowly focused on the poor and this was a limitation for his campaign and it sort of pigeon-holed him and kept him from garnering a wider base of constituents. His cause was a necessary and noble cause and we definitely need someone in the Oval Office to help the poor in this country, and I'm hopeful that Barack Obama will carry that torch to the White House when he is elected President.
John Edwards lived about a mile from my house in Raleigh for many years and I felt like I should be supporting John Edwards, but I think John did not play his cards right, I think he should have stayed in the Senate for several terms and waited before throwing his hat into the presidential race. You have to admire his courage and ambition, you know what they say; no guts, no glory.

HillBillary

The Hillbillery scheme of spinning mud into gold just simply has not worked out as planned (the third party mudslinging was not an accident, hellooooooo!). Just as I predicted, Hillary Clinton(s), the Teflon Candidate, has had to call off the attack dogs, reign in the rhetoric and put a muzzle on her main mudslinging partner in slime (see this editorial - Question for the Clintons). Slick Willie's dream of reliving the glory days is fading fast, let's face it there is just too much baggage associated with Bill Clinton (can you say Lewinsky? I knew that you could!) for him to be a significant asset to her campaign. That is why Hillary Clinton will not win the nomination.
On a more positive note, there is more good news for the Obama campaign this week, on top of the BIG win in the moderately deep south, and the good news is that Senator Edward Kennedy now endorses Barack Obama, a big time endorsement by a big time Senator.
Now it's on to Super Tuesday, where we will see Barack Obama break away from the peleton and get a big stage victory!

Thats it for now,
Ciao.

Barack to the Future!

The future is Now, Barack Obama is the future. Barack Obama is the nerdy black John F. Kennedy of 2008 and Barack Obama is the future of the United States of America. Barack Obama is not the "black candidate", he is simply "the candidate".
Also, from now on I'll be referring to Hillary Clinton as "The Clintons" or maybe just Hillary Clinton(s). It's obvious that the Teflon Candidate's campaigning tactic of letting her cronies do her mud slinging for her (and then not taking responsibility) has backfired big time on her campaign and has set her campaign back a notch. It's obvious that voters are not as stupid as she thinks they are and they can see through her transparent second and third party mudslinging scheme. Hillary Clinton(s) will clearly have to go back to the proverbial drawing board and come up with a new scheme, one that is intelligent and a scheme with maybe just a hint of honesty and integrity.
Until then, it's Barack to the Future! With Barack Obama's big win in South Carolina today the future is so bright Barack may have to start wearing shades.

Hillary Clinton - The Teflon Candidate

Barack Obama is running against the Teflon Candidate - Hillary Clinton.
We all remember the Teflon President, Ronald McDonald Raygun. Ronald McDonald had a problem remembering all the bad stuff he did whilst he was running the country (down the drain) and that was why he was dubbed the Teflon President, the blame for his crazy shenanigans would not stick to him.
Hillary, on the other hand, is the Teflon Candidate and for an entirely different reason, nothing sticks to her because she gets her overly passionate hubby (sic) and her overly passionate cronies (barf) to sling mud for her. When called for foul play the Teflon Candidate claims she can't be held responsible because she had no knowledge of, or complicity in the slinging of mud.
Holy Teflon, Batman!
Gag me with a Hillary for President bumper sticker.

For a more factual and detailed look into the Clinton's campaign shenanigans see this New York Times editorial -
Question for the Clintons

Democratic Debate in Nevada

I was very impressed by Obama's performance in the recent Nevada debates. After an initial reconciliation with Hillary Clinton, all three candidates kissed and made up the real debate began. I was only able to catch the first third of the debate and I think I missed the real action, but the part that I saw was enough to get a good impression of the candidates attitudes, character and ideas. I have to add that this is the first time I have really sat down in front of the electronic fireplace and watched the candidates debate. My favorite part of the debate was when Obama gave a scathing critique of President Bush's lack of ability to listen to other peoples opinions when he has made decisions on all the issues that have arisen during his years in office, he has mostly done things based on his own predetermined beliefs and ideas. You can see how that's worked out - not too good! Barack Obama seems to have the character and charisma to win the election and be a solid leader as president of this country.

Plan for Ending the War in Iraq

“Conventional thinking in Washington lined up for war. The pundits judged the political winds to be blowing in the direction of the President. Despite - or perhaps because of how much experience they had in Washington, too many politicians feared looking weak and failed to ask hard questions. Too many took the President at his word instead of reading the intelligence for themselves. Congress gave the President the authority to go to war. Our only opportunity to stop the war was lost. I made a different judgment. I thought our priority had to be finishing the fight in Afghanistan. I spoke out against what I called "a rash war' in Iraq. I worried about, ‘an occupation of undetermined length, with undetermined costs, and undetermined consequences.’ The full accounting of those costs and consequences will only be known to history. But the picture is beginning to come into focus.” —Barack Obama, Clinton, Iowa, September 12, 2007

The Problem

The Surge: The goal of the surge was to create space for Iraq's political leaders to reach an agreement to end Iraq's civil war. At great cost, our troops have helped reduce violence in some areas of Iraq, but even those reductions do not get us below the unsustainable levels of violence of mid-2006. Moreover, Iraq's political leaders have made no progress in resolving the political differences at the heart of their civil war.

Military Strain: The military is being severely strained by repeated and lengthy deployments. The Army and Marine Corps are facing a crisis as 40 percent of their equipment is either in Iraq or being repaired. This crisis has led many of our generals to conclude that current demands make our forces unable to rapidly respond to the contingencies we may face in the future.

Barack Obama's Plan

Judgment You Can Trust

As a candidate for the United States Senate in 2002, Obama put his political career on the line to oppose going to war in Iraq, and warned of “an occupation of undetermined length, with undetermined costs, and undetermined consequences.” Obama has been a consistent, principled and vocal opponent of the war in Iraq.

• In 2003 and 2004, he spoke out against the war on the campaign trail;
• In 2005, he called for a phased withdrawal of our troops;
• In 2006, he called for a timetable to remove our troops, a political solution within Iraq, and aggressive diplomacy with all of Iraq’s neighbors;
• In January 2007, he introduced legislation in the Senate to remove all of our combat troops from Iraq by March 2008.
• In September 2007, he laid out a detailed plan for how he will end the war as president.

Bringing Our Troops Home

Obama will immediately begin to remove our troops from Iraq. He will remove one to two combat brigades each month, and have all of our combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months. Obama will make it clear that we will not build any permanent bases in Iraq. He will keep some troops in Iraq to protect our embassy and diplomats; if al Qaeda attempts to build a base within Iraq, he will keep troops in Iraq or elsewhere in the region to carry out targeted strikes on al Qaeda.

Press Iraq’s Leaders to Reconcile

The best way to press Iraq’s leaders to take responsibility for their future is to make it clear that we are leaving. As we remove our troops, Obama will engage representatives from all levels of Iraqi society – in and out of government – to seek a new accord on Iraq’s Constitution and governance. The United Nations will play a central role in this convention, which should not adjourn until a new national accord is reached addressing tough questions like federalism and oil revenue-sharing.

Regional Diplomacy

Obama will launch the most aggressive diplomatic effort in recent American history to reach a new compact on the stability of Iraq and the Middle East. This effort will include all of Iraq’s neighbors — including Iran and Syria. This compact will aim to secure Iraq’s borders; keep neighboring countries from meddling inside Iraq; isolate al Qaeda; support reconciliation among Iraq’s sectarian groups; and provide financial support for Iraq’s reconstruction.

Humanitarian Initiative

Obama believes that America has a moral and security responsibility to confront Iraq’s humanitarian crisis — two million Iraqis are refugees; two million more are displaced inside their own country. Obama will form an international working group to address this crisis. He will provide at least $2 billion to expand services to Iraqi refugees in neighboring countries, and ensure that Iraqis inside their own country can find a safe-haven.

Barack Obama's Record

• Barack Obama opposed the war in Iraq from the beginning. In 2002, as the conventional thinking in Washington lined up for war, Obama had the judgment and courage to speak out against the war. He said the war would lead to "an occupation of undetermined length, with undetermined costs and undetermined consequences." In January 2007, Obama introduced legislation to responsibly end the war in Iraq, with a phased withdrawal of troops engaged in combat operations.
• Obama has a plan to immediately begin withdrawing our troops engaged in combat operations at a pace of one or two brigades every month, to be completed by the end of next year. He would call for a new constitutional convention in Iraq, convened with the United Nations, which would not adjourn until Iraq's leaders reach a new accord on reconciliation. He would use presidential leadership to surge our diplomacy with all of the nations of the region on behalf of a new regional security compact. And he would take immediate steps to confront the ongoing humanitarian disaster in Iraq.

Janet Napolitano's Endorsement of Barack Obama

Arizona Governor, Janet Napolitano, one of the most prominent female elected officials in the country, announced this morning her endorsement of Barack Obama's presidential candidacy.
"I think we need fresh voices and fresh messages of unity and coming together," Napolitano told the Post in a telephone interview. "I think he's a new young voice who has new appeal, particularly for those of us in the West." Napolitano praised Clinton as a strong candidate, but said, "This is not about Senator Clinton. This is about what is the unique freshness. He does bring the unique ability to excite, to bring young people into the process ...and to attract independent voters. The Napolitano endorsement could help Obama in Arizona's Feb. 5 primary, but its larger significance is to signal that Clinton does not have a lock on support from top female Democratic elected officials. Napolitano said her endorsement came after lengthy deliberation and several meetings with Obama, the first of which took place last February. "He is a powerful persuader," she said. "He really is. As good as he is at motivating a large hall, he's as good or better one on one." Clinton spoke with Napolitano several times during the course of the campaign, but the two never met face-to-face, the Arizona governor said. Napolitano said westerners see Washington as a city "where good ideas go to die," and argued that Obama has a special capacity to break the gridlock. She also said she believed Obama would be a strong general election candidate in western states that could prove decisive in a close race. The Arizona governor, who is a past chairman of the National Governors Association, was easily reelected to a second term in 2006.

Barack Obama Endorsed by John Kerry

It's an endorsement that could be a blessing or a curse.
John Kerry, the former Democratic presidential candidate, announced his support for Barack Obama yesterday as part of the Illinois Senator's effort to seize the momentum back from his rival Hillary Clinton.
Mr. Kerry, who narrowly lost to George W. Bush in 2004, invoked the memory of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and predicted Mr. Obama, 46, could "lead a transformation, not just a transition" in U.S. politics.
"Martin Luther King said that the time is always right to do what is right," Mr. Kerry said at a rally in Charleston, S.C., where Democrats will hold their first Southern primary on Jan. 26.
"How easy it is to forget that Martin Luther King was just 26 when he led the Montgomery bus boycott. And how easy to forget that he was just 34 when he inspired America with a dream, a powerful dream," said Mr. Kerry, who helped launch Mr. Obama's political career when he selected him to deliver the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic convention.
"My friends, when we choose a president, we are electing judgment and character, not years on this Earth."
His remarks were aimed squarely at Hillary Clinton, the New York Senator and former first lady, who made a surprise comeback from third place in the Iowa caucuses to win this week's New Hampshire primary. Mr. Obama's success in wooing one of the Democrats' elder statesmen was designed to show his appeal extends beyond the young people and independents who have fuelled his success in the party's presidential race.
But it may also be a double-edged sword. Mr. Kerry provokes emotions ranging from ambivalence to anger among many Democrats, who were deeply disappointed he narrowly lost to Mr. Bush.
And big-name political endorsements have a history of going sour. Al Gore backed Howard Dean for the Democratic nomination in 2004, but the former Vermont governor's campaign unravelled anyway.
"The Kerry endorsement helps Obama some, but Kerry is not a beloved figure among Democrats," said Cal Jillson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. "Many blame him for running an ineffectual race in 2004."
By endorsing Mr. Obama, Mr. Kerry also snubbed John Edwards, the former North Carolina senator who was his vice-presidential running mate in 2004 and is struggling to remain a viable Democratic candidate this year.
But his target yesterday was Ms. Clinton, who has said Mr. Obama is raising "false hopes" of dramatic change in the United States if he wins. "Don't let anyone tell you to accept the downsizing of the American dream," Mr. Kerry said.
Before his move, Ms. Clinton had the support of 10 Democratic senators and Mr. Obama just two.
Ironically, the one endorsement that could count for something among Democrats is one neither candidate may get --from Mr. Gore himself.
The former vice-president's political stock has risen dramatically in the past four years, primarily because of his advocacy for action on climate change and his Nobel Peace Prize. "Gore's endorsement would be valuable and it is not clear to whom it would go," Mr. Jillson said.