Obama outside his ritzy vacation rental in Kailua, HI
Auto Workers outside a closed Chrysler Truck plant in Warren, MI
Obama ready for his golf swing
Americans ready for a Chinook ride in Afghanistan
Apparently, the "I feel your pain" line is too 1992. Welcome to the celebrity presidency!
It's not just Rahm Emanuel who is hiding the details about his connection to America's least favorite governor. Apparently Attorney General nominee, Eric Holder, was hired by Hot Rod for $300K to preside over investigations of some shady casino deal in Illinois back in '04. Holder conveniently left this transaction out of the vetting process to the Senate Judiciary Committee. From the Chicago Sun-Times: Eric Holder has given hundreds of press interviews," Obama transition spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said in a statement. "He did his best to report them all to the committee, but as he noted in the questionnaire itself, some were undoubtedly missed in the effort to reconstruct a list of them."For the folks "proud of their country for the first time" since Obama got elected, this whole Blago thing has to be a huge turd in the punchbowl. What a pity.
Holder signed the questionnaire on Sunday -- five days after Blagojevich's arrest for allegedly putting Obama's U.S. Senate seat up for sale. The Judiciary Committee asked him to provide lists and "copies of transcripts or tape recordings of all speeches or talks delivered by you" and "all interviews you have given to newspapers, magazines or other publications."
The March 2004 Chicago news conference where Holder and Blagojevich spoke was widely covered because of a controversial 4-1 Gaming Board vote earlier that month to allow a casino to be built in Rosemont. That vote defied the recommendation of the board's staff, which had raised concerns about alleged organized-crime links to the Rosemont casino's developer.
Arne Duncan w/Fancy Suit and Haircut: No Stand and Deliver Here!In Chicago, Fryer helped public schools CEO Arne Duncan implement an incentive program for about 3,750 high school freshmen in 20 schools because Duncan expressed concern about the high rate of students who drop out in ninth or 10th grade. At the end of every five-week marking period, Green for Grades participants can earn $50 for every A, $35 for every B, and $20 for each C they receive in English, math, science, social studies, and physical education.Knowledge can prevent our nation's youth from drooling all over themselves and future generations getting eaten alive by the Chinese in today's competitive world, and you would think that would be enough of a motivating factor to keep these ungrateful youngsters in class. But in a state where even the Senate seat if up for grabs with cash, it's only natural that the youth will expect a monetized value attached to everything.
As hundreds of parents, teachers and supporters of public education descended on the State Capitol today to rally for more education dollars, Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich met with Chicago Public Schools’ CEO Arne Duncan, Chicago Board of Education president Michael Scott, former Chicago Board of Education president Gery Chico, and several Chicago area lawmakers to discuss his Higher Standards, Better Schools Plan. The Governor’s proposal would boost school funding by $440 million without increasing the sales or income taxes, and increase high school graduation standards so students are better prepared for higher education and the workplace.Because Hot Rod's got a "really big fucking thing" with these education dollars! I'm sure Arne Duncan was not involved with any of sleaziness in the cesspool of Chicago.
File Photo of Bill Richardson Shaking Down a Youngster for Campaign CashThe inquiry is part of a long-running nationwide investigation into "pay-to-play" practices in local government bond markets. In other cities, federal investigators are questioning whether financial firms have lavished politicians with money and gifts in exchange for fee-paying work advising municipal and local governments on investments. Authorities indicted the mayor of Birmingham, Ala., this month on charges of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts and loans from a firm that led the city into toxic investments and massive bankruptcy.A few weeks back Obama only offered praise for the New Mexico Governor. From NYT:
In the New Mexico case, the FBI and federal prosecutors are investigating how CDR, based in Beverly Hills, Calif., won lucrative fees from the New Mexico Finance Authority in 2004 soon after donating $100,000 to two Richardson organizations.
“Bill has seen from just about every angle what makes our economy work and what keeps it from working better,”Awarding contracts based on the company's political contributions may not be what's best for "the economy", but it sure is best for "the campaign". With all the funny money that's up for grabs in our bailout bonanza, there's going to be a lot of people getting cozy with the new administration.
Obama Promises Full-Scale Nuclear Annihilation! U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's administration will offer Israel a "nuclear umbrella" against the threat of a nuclear attack by Iran, a well-placed American source said earlier this week. The source, who is close to the new administration, said the U.S. will declare that an attack on Israel by Tehran would result in a devastating U.S. nuclear response against Iran.
Uh-oh, Gateway Pundit has dug up some articles and press releases that indicate Obama did indeed meet the much maligned Illinois Governor after he won the election. This kind of shatters Obama's claim that he had "no contact" with the soon-to-be-imprisoned governor. The media and prog-blogs are already trying to downplay their messiah's involvement, and Obama has just publicly admonished the corruptocrat governor (under the bus...and on his birthday!).
And, it should be pointed out, Mr. Obama has a relationship with Mr. Blagojevich, having not only endorsed Blagojevich in 2002 and 2006, but having served as a top adviser to the Illinois governor in his first 2002 run for the state house.I doubt The Obama is dumb enough to get involved with something so...criminal, but sometimes the ACORN doesn't fall far from the tree (wakka-wakka!).
That 2002 endorsement came at the same time that Axelrod had such serious concerns about whether Blagojevich was ready for governing he refused to work for his one-time client.
According to Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., Mr. Obama's incoming White House chief of staff, Emanuel, then-state senator Obama, a third Blagojevich aide, and Blagojevich's campaign co-chair, David Wilhelm, were the top strategists of Blagojevich's 2002 gubernatorial victory.
That's a screenshot from the newest internet sensation for people bored at work: Super Obama World. It's a parody of Super Mario Brothers 4 interspersed with enough advertising blitzes in between levels to make you grind your teeth. In this level, our hero Obama is in Wasilla to stop those darn book-burning Republicans (a stale reference to Sarah Palin that was debunked months ago). Overall, the game gets boring after about 15 seconds and deserves some space in Something Awful's notorious "ROM Pit".
Because America Hasn't Gotten Enough Al GoreToday, I am announcing a few key parts of my plan. First, we will launch a massive effort to make public buildings more energy-efficient. Our government now pays the highest energy bill in the world. We need to change that. We need to upgrade our federal buildings by replacing old heating systems and installing efficient light bulbs. That won’t just save you, the American taxpayer, billions of dollars each year. It will put people back to work.Nothing wrong with energy-efficiency, but requiring extorted tax-payer dollars to carry it out implies that the whole process is probably going to be unprofitable, inefficient, and mired in endless bureaucracy. Obama's announcement is great news for feel-good greeny businesses that don't stand a chance in the free market. This idea sounds suspiciously like Al Gore's 501 group (We Can Solve It) that has been sucking up commercial time on the major networks. The group is worth at least $300M and might be able to sponsor businesses in the future. From their FAQ:
How do I submit a business proposal or request for funding?Just like sheister T. Boone Pickens attempting to rip off Americans so he can get water rights in Texas, Obama is paving the path of the bleeding heart with gold in guaranteed public funds for green businesses. No one liked my previous idea of dumping nuclear waste at Al Gore's house I suppose.
We may consider partnerships with organizations and companies. At this time we are not able to provide funding for product development or scientific research. If you would like to suggest a partnership, please complete the form here.
A Sweaty Mess of a Man Needs a Public Makeover From The ObamaDemocrats are growing impatient with President-elect Barack Obama's refusal to inject himself in the major economic crises confronting the country. Obama has sidestepped some policy questions by saying there is only one president at a time. But the dodge is wearing thin. "He's going to have to be more assertive than he's been," House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., told consumer advocates Thursday. Frank, who has been dealing with both the bailout of the financial industry and a proposed rescue of Detroit automakers, said Obama needs to play a more significant role on economic issues.Of course, Barney might have trouble schmoozing with a beloved public figure like The Obama, since the guy is apparently a serious asshole according to the Washington Post. But, just getting a head nod from Obama will mean that incompetent yutzes like Frank continue to get elected. A good deal for those in inner DC circles, shitty for the rest of the country.
Whether it be mass famine, a zombie holocaust, or some new civil war, it's always best to be ready for the unexpected. Thanks to Sith by Sithwest for the de-motivator.
Samantha Power, the Harvard professor who was forced to resign from Barack Obama's presidential campaign last spring after calling Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton "a monster," is now advising the president-elect on transition matters relating to the State Department -- which Clinton is slated to head.Indeed, Samantha Power once called Hillary a "monster", but that is hardly controversial and occasionally appropriate. However, an examination of issues she has brought up in public indicates an overly-peaceniky agenda in a time of terrorism and rogue states. She spoke at Pitzer-Claremont's graduation this year, and after shamelessly plugging her 2002 book, she implied America has been a disgrace so far:
Power is listed on Obama's transition Web site as part of the team reviewing national security agencies. Her duties, according to the site, will be to "ensure that senior appointees have the information necessary to complete the confirmation process, lead their departments, and begin implementing signature policy initiatives immediately after they are sworn in."
...and your kids will ask you, "what did you do to meet those challenges?" I hope you can claim prouder ancestry than we can.Of course, this was better than her spiel against the U.S. military at Santa Clara's graduation two years ago (also involving a shameless book plug):
...none of my yammering was making the US government even a tad more willing to act morally abroad. We had invaded Iraq, which was falling to bits; our soldiers and guards had been revealed to be torturing detainees and, despite the pattern of abuse, only minor "bad apples" were being punished.Hopefully, Ms. Power understands that working for the State Department involves putting a "happy face" on American foreign policy, and she will drop the tired old arguments preached at institutions of higher education about America being the source of all evil dating back to the days of the woolly-mammoth. Her blog indicates that she did an interview with Democracy Now!, the same group that made apologies for the RNC protesters that wreaked havoc and vandalized the Twin Cities. Perhaps she will ensure that unemployed, low-life hooligans get appointed to key ambassador positions around the world. Now that's the hope and change we were looking for!
It remains unclear whether or not the sock puppet from Pets.com will get his bailout with the incoming administration, but he's got a pretty good shot. Also, Matson forgot to include sleazebag Matthew Lesko in the line up:
Some top legal advisors and supporters of Barack Obama, whose name detainees chanted on election night, are now rethinking the President-elect’s absolutist campaign position on shutting the center down and flooding our mainland courts with every last enemy combatant designee. Yes, reality bites – and Democrats must now grapple with the very real possibility that an Obama administration could potentially release a Gitmo denizen who would turn around and commit mass terrorist acts on American soil or abroad.
Salim Hamdan, the first man to go before a U.S. war crimes trial since the end of World War II, was flown from the U.S. Navy base in Cuba to Yemen.
Hamdan was convicted on Aug. 6 of providing material support to terrorism, and the military said it could keep him locked up indefinitely if it considered him to be a continued threat. Instead, he was sent home early.
A Pentagon official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter, said the decision was made by the White House.
Hamdan was sentenced at the war-crimes trial to 5 1/2 years in prison. Being credited with five years and one month for time already served means his sentence ends on Dec. 27, according to the Pentagon.
“As part of a transfer agreement with the United States, the remainder of Hamdan’s sentence will be served in Yemen,” the Defense Department said in a statement.
President-elect Barack Obama's pledge to close the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, faces a major obstacle: Yemen.
The Bush administration has transferred hundreds of Guantanamo prisoners to the custody of their home countries, but it's been unable to win assurances from Yemen — whose approximately 100 prisoners are the largest group still jailed at Guantanamo — that the men, if they're returned, won't pose a threat to the United States.
However, divisions have emerged among Obama allies on how to proceed. The civil libertarians, legal scholars and lawyers who were united in condemning the Bush administration's policies differ on what to do with the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
All agree that a crucial first step is to review each detainee's case thoroughly to see how many could be put on trial in US courts and how many could be released to their home countries.
"There are 20 to 30 people in Guantanamo that present serious, serious problems," said Donald J. Guter, a retired rear admiral who formerly served as the Navy's top uniformed lawyer and was an adviser to the Obama campaign. "If you can't take them to a court and get legitimate convictions, what do you do with them? Do you hold them, or do you release them?"
President-elect Barack Obama is vowing to watch spending carefully even as he plans to push for a stimulus package of $500 billion or more.The article expounds on Obama's rhetoric that he's going to cut "wasteful spending" and hold back "special interests", but never provides an example. Cruising over to the NYT, they can't even justify their guy's politician-like distractions:
Mr. Obama cited, as an example of the sort of cuts he expects Mr. Orszag and Mr. Nabors to find, a recent government report showing that farmers whose incomes exceeded $2.5 million had probably wrongly been paid some $49 million in government subsidies over a three-year period.$49 million is no small chunk of change, but considering that Obama's entitlement obligations are wracking up well into the trillions, he's going to have to start slashing and burning government spending a little further.
But he did not offer any other specific targets, and by itself, correcting the problem with the farm program would make only a trivially small dent in the budget deficits the federal government will face for years.
President-elect Barack Obama's campaign promise to cut spending has been waylaid by the reality of the economy, and he warned Monday that the deficit is going to grow and spending cuts will have to take a back seat now to stimulating the economy.See, that's fine with me, tax increases should be postponed in any economic climate. If tax increases would hurt the economy now, why was he still promising them just a scant three weeks ago? What has changed? Other than the fact that he was elected by mouthing the platitude about tax cut for 95% of Americans and raising taxes on the 5% who make too much money in his estimate? Of course, it was just rhetoric three weeks ago, 21 months ago, and I warned that the tax cuts would be the first thing he threw under the bus.
He also signaled he may forgo immediate tax increases on high-income families and instead wait for the Bush tax cuts to expire.
He also said he would announce "meaningful cuts and sacrifices," though it was not clear whether that would include specific line items or broad principles.Yeah, well, I expect that that Obama's backers don't have much to worry about. When a Democrat talks about "cuts and sacrifices", it means the military is about to pay the price. It's easier to waylay defense advances than it is to cut truly useless government programs that buy votes in the inner cities - that's why Republicans get called "big spenders" because they have to make up for the cuts of their Democrat predecessors in the military spending area. Up-armored HMMVs should have been a priority after Mogadishu, not after Baghdad. Fielding M1s and M2s should have started after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan not four years later.
The plans brought a quick retort from House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio. He said lawmakers "should start listening to the American people, who do not believe increasing government spending is the best way to put our economy back on track." He proposed eliminating the capital gains tax, which is currently 15%, as well as other tax cuts.Yeah, well, we already know that answer. The Democrats aren't interested in building a constituency in the Pentagon.
Other Republicans said some large-scale economic intervention is inevitable. "We clearly need a stimulus initiative, and it's clearly got to be a big one," said Sen. Judd Gregg (N.H.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee and a budget hawk. "The question is, 'Is it just going to be walking-around money for the usual liberal constituencies that does nothing?"'
Melody Barnes, VP of the progressive think tank Center for American Progress, has been selected to chair the Domestic Policy Council. As the name implies she will be in charge of things like dishing out free housing, welfare, and education so that the new administration can stay in power. She survived being plunked in the drink while she was Ted Kennedy's adviser, so socialized health care is probably going to be one of her big issues. A review of some of her pre-Obama publishings may reveal what type of plans she has in store. She wrote a mock "State of the Union" address in January 2007, blaming everything wrong with America on the Iraq war (a popular sentiment at the time), before revealing her socialized health plan. From WaPo:To restore fairness to our system, I will embark on a multi-faceted approach including increasing our investment in public education, promoting genuine health care reform, and backing a higher minimum wage.Just like when you asked Santa Claus for a pony, Americans put their confidence in Obama for outrageous promises, like free health care, that the government does not have the money to pay for. But there's not just going to be disappointed faces like on Xmas morning when The O takes power, it's probably going to be a whole lot worse. Get ready for a wild ride.
Domestically, no need is more urgent than fixing our broken health care system. Today, nearly 47 million Americans have no health insurance. And those lucky enough to be insured are seeing the cost of their premiums soar. At the same time, the uninsured cannot afford screening for heart disease, diabetes, cancer, or even get a flu shot -- and our health care system as a whole places far more emphasis on treatment than it does on preventing disease in the first place. As a nation, we dedicate only three percent of our health dollars to health promotion, but over 20 percent of our health care dollars to care in the last year of life. We must guarantee affordable coverage for all Americans.
Your Awkward Adolescence to come Full Circle Diaries: If you keep or have ever kept a diary that contains anything that could suggest a conflict of interest or be a possible source of embarrassment to you or your family, or the President-Elect if it were made public, please describe.It's understandable that the Obama team is trying to prevent websites like Wonkette from soliciting teh lulz by digging in the dirt, but is it really necessary to have this as a job qualification for The O? Who had a diary that wasn't embarrassing? At 13 years-old, I bet you never thought that writing about your fantasy where you gallop off on a unicorn with Joey Lawrence would ever prevent you from getting a job. Welcome to the Twilight Zone.
In addition, U.S. Attorney Eric H. Holder Jr. said in an interview that he is considering not only prosecuting more marijuana cases but also asking the D.C. Council to enact stiffer penalties for the sale and use of marijuana.Ever since Richard Nixon declared the War on Drugs, we have seen the explosion of meth and crack, continuous erosion of our civil liberties, and a string of lousy federally-funded PSAs of McGruff jamming out to 80s music. Our War on Drugs goal has even hampered the fight against terrorism as President Bush actually gave the Taliban federal aid to halt heroin traffic prior to 9/11. Don't expect Obama's pick for Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, to distinguish between the high-priority War on Terror as opposed to the War on Pink Floyd as evidenced to a press release he issued back in 2006:
"We have too long taken the view that what we would term to be minor crimes are not important," Holder said, referring to current attitudes toward marijuana use and other offenses such as panhandling.
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Representative Rahm Emanuel released the following statement in response to reports that Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez’ called the war on terror a real war, not like the war on drugs.To help out Obama's Chief of Staff, here's a couple of photos to emphasize the priorities based on the current threats to our democratic society.
“Thanks for the white flag. From the United States’ most senior law enforcement official, the man who should be leading the war on drugs, this white flag of surrender will not be reassuring to the millions of parents trying to protect their kids.”
Islamic Terrorists, seeks to wipe out Western civilization, a high-priority
Marijuana Users, seek to eat a whole bag of Doritos while watching Scooby-Doo, a low-priority 
Menacing Zombie Hordes is one optionPresident-elect Barack Obama will not move for months, and perhaps not until 2010, to ask Congress to end the military's decades-old ban on open homosexuals in the ranks, two people who have advised the Obama transition team on this issue say.
Repealing the ban was an Obama campaign promise. However, Mr. Obama first wants to confer with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and his new political appointees at the Pentagon to reach a consensus and then present legislation to Congress, the advisers said.
Easily Fooled Citizens Dragging in the Horse That Will Be Their DemiseMarin Cogan has a great piece on the right-wing’s mobilization against the phantom menace of the fairness doctrine...It’s very strange. Political movements mischaracterize the other side’s general goals all the time. But I’ve never heard of anything like the current conservative mania for blocking a particular legislative provision that nobody is trying to enact.A phantom menace? It doesn't take a tin-foil hat to be concerned with Obama hiring the head of the Center for American Progress as a leader in his transition battalion, and the case for more regulations of free speech still being up on the CAP website. The fact that a writer employed by the same think-tank calling us Cassandras for dreaming up conspiracies of the collapse of the 1st Amendment is creepy. Just like all this newfound outreach of hugs n' kisses from the left, it seems to be a big ruse to float a bunch of turds through congress while we're off getting shitfaced like Troy.
Currently, Metro plans to sell them for $10 per card, with no value added to the card at the time of initial purchase, which would make them $5 more expensive than regular SmarTrip cards. They may also be hard to come by, as Metro will only have an initial order of 35,000 on hand to begin with, though Taubenkibel said the agency hopes to have more available as time permits.
The activists are uneasy not only about signs that both Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates could be in the Obama Cabinet, but at reports suggesting that several other short-list candidates for top security posts backed the decision to go to war.
"Obama ran his campaign around the idea the war was not legitimate, but it sends a very different message when you bring in people who supported the war from the beginning," said Kelly Dougherty, executive director of the 54-chapter Iraq Veterans Against the War.
The activists -- key members of the coalition that propelled Obama to the White House -- fear he is drifting from the antiwar moorings of his once-longshot presidential candidacy. Obama has eased the rigid timetable he had set for withdrawing troops from Iraq, and he appears to be leaning toward the center in his candidates to fill key national security posts.
...an IVAW contingent already embarrassed themselves publicly in Denver. They staged a protest at the Democratic Party convention. They were getting press attention inside the convention because -- as the press gas bagged -- wasn't Barack the alleged 'anti-war' candidate and here was IVAW protesting him. Phones were buzzing, it was going to be the big story. And Team Obama was being asked to comment. So Team Obama sent Tall Tales from Texas out to the protest to make a lot of meaningless remarks that sounded like promises but were nothing more than standard 'rap session' b.s. ("I know where you're coming from," said Barnes.) They bought into that crap hook, line and sinker. And gave interviews where they were excited about Barack (the War Hawk!) and he was going to do this or that and maybe they'd be onstage tonight during his big speech and . . . . It was all so thrilling people might pee their pants!
Reality check, they were punked and everyone knew it right away (including the press -- not always notorious for grasping reality immediately) except IVAW.
They stopped their protest and there was no story (certainly nothing that would embarrass Barack). Barack turned them into props for the 2008 election.
"It's astonishing that not one of the 23 senators or 133 House members who voted against the war is in the mix," said Sam Husseini of the liberal group Institute for Public Accuracy.
Kevin Martin, executive director of the group Peace Action, said that although Obama had campaigned as an agent of change, the president-elect is "a fairly centrist guy" who appears to be choosing from the Democratic foreign policy establishment -- "and nobody from outside it."
"So, in the short term, we're going to be disappointed," he said. "They may turn out to be all pro-war, or at least people who were pro-war in the beginning."
A source familiar with transition planning said Mr. Cleland, a Vietnam veteran and triple amputee, is under consideration for either secretary of Veterans Affairs or secretary of the Army in an Obama administration, and liberal grass-roots support is building for his selection.
Death of Blogging Imminent "We're not doing at all well for reasons that mostly have to do with the fact that we failed to have a US industrial policy pushing forward high-speed internet access penetration, and there's been completely inadequate competition in this country for high speed internet access," she said.
And in a final introductory statement during her talk (that's likely to send shivers down the spines of telecom company executives) she said that she believes internet access is a "utility."
"This is like water, electricity, sewage systems: Something that each and all Americans need to succeed in the modern era. We're doing very badly, and we're in a dismal state," she said at the time.
Salon was once a decent internet journal that had insight into current cultural trends. But, after 8 years of BDS and its newfound religion of Obamunism, it just ain't what it used to be. Let's take a look at their latest top piece "First Lady Got Back": Compromise, bipartisanship? Don't think so. Here was one clear signifier of blackness that couldn't be tamed, muted or otherwise made invisible. It emerged right before our eyes, in the midst of our growing uncertainty about everything, and we were too bogged down in the daily campaign madness to notice. The one clear predictor of success that the pundits, despite all their fancy maps, charts and holograms, missed completely? Michelle's butt.While Obama continues appointing former Clinton operatives (and Hillary herself) and Soros-funded wonks to his team ensuring that havoc is wreaked on America, political commentators seemed completely mired in the inane details. This would include Michelle Obama's wardrobe, Ariana Huffington lavishing disgusting praise for her Dear Leader during primetime, and now the rump of the first lady. Get used to 4 years of this crap.
Young People: Too Cool For Getting A Haircut, But Are They Cool Enough To Criticize Obama? After grumbling and groaning for years, we are suddenly dusting off our pom-poms and waving them in favor of the government. Will we step up to the plate when it comes time to call out our hero on any of his mistakes (he won’t make any of course, not Obama, not him) or when policies don’t go as planned?
This is a strange mantle of responsibility for us. We are soon going to be a part of the work force – the actual world where bills, mortgages and babies exist. Can we still be the same Generation Y that had everyone slightly intimidated by our attitude? USA Today featured an article about Gen Y in the workplace and pegged us as the ones who were groomed to take over corporate America.
In this interview for the CFR, Parsi actually argues that the Iranians don’t have nuclear ambitions, they just want to look like they do…then stop developing the nukes just short of the actual warheads;To get the full dose of delusion from this young scholar, you have to read both of my posts on TAH. It's no wonder that Obama has been half-assed on his proposals to talk with Iran without preconditions if this is the kind of advice he's getting.
Well, I think they definitely are looking for a nuclear option, being — as you mentioned — like Japan or Sweden or Belgium — having the capability to be able to go for a nuclear weapon, but stopping short of that. And that is exactly the same approach that the Shah took during the 1970s. He wanted to have the option, but he also recognized the strategic disadvantage for Iran to actually go for a weapon.So I guess we just cross our fingers and hope that even though they go through all of the motions, they stop short of the goal. I guess that’s part of that “Hope” mantra from the Obama campaign.
[...]
So the Iranians do have strong incentives not going for a nuclear weapon, but because of them living in a very tough neighborhood, they definitely want to have the option. And I think that’s what they’re aiming for now. I don’t think they have made a strategic decision to go for a weapon, but if tensions between the United States and Iran were to increase further, then that decision would probably be reassessed.
In this interview on CNN, Parsi waves away Ahmadinejad’s letter to the UN last year condemning liberal western democracies in an attempt to bully the West to delay sanctions. Parsi says it’s a plea for negotiations with the US, when it’s clearly not. He goes on to blame the US for Iran’s nuclear ambitions, when there are a 160 other nations in the UN - why does the US have to talk with everyone?
Iraqis and an American Soldier Dancing as SOFA is Announced, which Obama had nothing to do with [h/t MadTom]The removal of our troops will be responsible and phased, directed by military commanders on the ground and done in consultation with the Iraqi government. Military experts believe we can safely redeploy combat brigades from Iraq at a pace of 1 to 2 brigades a month -- which would remove all of them in 16 months. That would be the summer of 2010 -- more than 7 years after the war began.Under the Obama-Biden plan, a residual force will remain in Iraq and in the region to conduct targeted counter-terrorism missions against al Qaeda in Iraq and protect American diplomatic and civilian personnel. They will not build permanent bases in Iraq, but will continue efforts to train and support the Iraqi security forces as long as Iraqi leaders move toward political reconciliation and away from sectarianism.This plan sounds closely analogous to the SOFA, and no doubt The Obama is going to be the hero to anti-war lefties who have been clamoring for an end to the Iraq war ever since it began. The original Change.Gov Iraq Agenda called the Iraqi government a bunch of imbeciles for not making enough political progress. I guess "going with the program" and taking credit for other people's hard work is a step up. But, why does Obama feel like he has to cater to MoveOn.Org types who have been feeding us talking points about Iraq that conveniently ignore reality? At least he's not pushing that dumbass Biden plan from 2007 that went over like a lead balloon throughout the Middle East.
One good thing for a progressive majority is that when they control the media and the three branches of government, they are able to easily subdue criticism by saying that the opposition are a pack of paranoid liars. Obama's Change.Gov agenda is back online after "retooling", and making the Assault Weapons Ban permanent is still there. Obama is no friend to gun rights, evidenced by his lackluster support for the Supreme Court D.C. vs. Heller ruling and the NRA having to rile up cash on behalf of responsible gun owners this election cycle. But knucklehead Bill Maher is already pointing out that anyone who isn't concerned with Obama's 2nd amendment positions is some kind of yokel. The latest clip from his show he speaks in a spooky monotone to joke:The one part of the economy that is doing well I swear to god is the gun industry. Since Obama got elected gun sales have shot up because there's a, you know, this is, I read this in USA Today, a survey of Americans, how they felt about Obama's election, 67% proud, 59% excited, 30% pessimistic, 27% afraid. So we'd like to f#%k with those people right now. The people who are afraid. A little something we call Obama World. In Obama World all guns will be confiscated and melted down to make a giant statue of Allah.Another example of Obama surrogates erroneously labeling the opposition as paranoid is progressive blogger Yglesias, member of the Center for American Progress, stating that no one on the left is pushing to limit free speech via the Fairness Doctrine. This is despite the fact that the Center for American Progress agenda states:
The new president and the Federal Communications Commission should restore the primacy of the public interest standard and our national commitment to diverse voices and diversity of ownership. The FCC should also prioritize including all of our rapidly diversifying population in the mainstream of the technological revolution so that women and members of minority and immigrant communities are not just consumers of technology, but also owners, producers, and creators of content, applications, and facilities.Obama's agenda is also calling for "diverse" viewpoints in media ownership, which implies shutting down troublesome critics to publicly fund more "politically friendly" outlets under the guise of media ownership looking like a multi-ethnic Burger King Kids club. I have to hand it to Team Obama, they have effectively found a way to squash dissenting viewpoints by denying that their own positions are not really what they seem. At this rate, we'll be hearing about a Soylent Green ration policy for the huddled masses and the Obama surrogates will be denying that its people.
IVAW has been working to hold a face-to-face meeting with now President-elect and members of his staff. Our hard work has paid off! We’ve recently been contacted by a member of President-elect Obama’s veteran staff and will be meeting with representatives of both his Veteran and Foreign Affairs Committees this month. This is a huge opportunity for IVAW to assert our voice and perspective at a new level and to continue to demand accountability for ending the occupation.
We have been witness to the horror and violence of war and we are determined to give Americans a real eyewitness account of the occupations.
