Obama, McCain and Georgia

Expect the next line of attacks against Obama to be related to foriegn policy. With the Georgia-Russia issue flaring up and over-shadowing the Olympics, McCain is getting super excited. He's finally getting what he wants and when he told voters, "My friends, there will be more wars", he is hoping that he was telling the truth.

First of all, if we elect McCain, there will be more wars. That's certain. This guys mind is framed around the concept. He has never won one or had anything to do with a successful one, but he wants them. After all, war scares people and when people are scared they vote for the guy claiming protection. So, if the Media allows McCain and Bush to dictate the narrative like always, then we can guarantee more wars.

Obama should use this opportunity to stress a few points:

1) There is no way that the US can even consider getting involved in this because of our unnecessary depletion of military resources in Iraq.

2) America is not the the police of the world.

3) For once, America needs to look at what the ramifications of such an offensive would be.

Anyone still agree with me about Clark?

Clark Does Not Back Down

This is beautiful. They keep proding, but he just stands strong. I think I have a man-crush.

Clark on "Face the Nation": Dead On!

A commentor posted this on my the previous post,

"I was actually watching Face the Nation when Bob (Slimebag) Schieffer bated Wes Clark with the question, almost taunting him, along the lines of "how can you say that John McCain is not more experienced" (Jimmie Hendrix was "Experienced" also) because of his military/POW service/confinement. Wes Clark replied with great aplomb and equanimity that flying in a jet, being shot down, and being a POW is not a requirement to be a good president. Again, context is all, and if folks had just heard the line of questioning leading up to that fair response, they would not be beside themselves, and that includes Barack Obama!"

I had not been able to find the clip up until today and the previously available text just didn't suffice, but after watching the entirity of the interview or at least the segment in question, I am shocked by how little Schieffer understands his role as a journalist and how the much St. McCain still is the media darling. The media has blindly accpeted the McCain camps flawed interpretation of this interview to create contravesy where there is none.

Here you go. I title it, "Barack Obama is more ready to be President than Barack Obama." You'll see why.



Again, Obama would be so foolish not to ask Clark to be his VP. Obama often claims that he has superior judgement, well, here's his test.

Clark Attacks

Yet again, Wes Clark is proving that he wants the VP position and he's got the balls to attack McCain on his only strong point.

“I don’t think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president.”

Keep them coming Clark.

My question: While I agree that McCain uses his service and time as a POW to somehow justify his credentials, will this kind of attack usher in a new theme to this campaign? Specifically, if these attacks continue, will this campaign become less about the issues and concerns of the voters and more about patriotism?

Korean War

Today is the 58th Memorial of the beginning of the Korean War.

ROK Drop has some great pics and will have several posts and images all day today. Check them out.

43% is too high and I'm scared

Apparently, 43% of Americans believe that torture can be justified.

"More than four in ten Americans (43%) say that the use of torture can be justified to gain key information sometimes (31%) or often (12%), according to a 2007 Pew Research survey. However, a 54%-majority say torture is never (29%) or rarely (25%) justified. The number of Americans saying the use of torture against suspected terrorists is at least sometimes justified has been fairly stable since 2004, though the percentage saying torture can often be justified has dipped from 18% in October 2006."

I was not surprised to see that "more African Americans than whites say the torture of suspected terrorists is never justified (37% vs. 28%)".

Then again, that number makes sense when you factor in the amount of people who identify themselves as Republicans.

Does this qualify as "important"?

While St. McCain is busy saying this, there is another grim tale that is lurking in the depths of this wars reality. If McCain is not worried about bringing the troops home, I wonder if this is a concern. Judging by the condition of Walter Reed (where I recommended he donate his 58K yearly disability check), I doubt that he cares too much about the soldiers after they come home. After all, he ditched his first wife for a rich blond, why can't these guys?

From NPR,

"Suicides among active-duty soldiers rose to 115 last year, a 13 percent increase over the previous year, say top Army officials. The overall increase in numbers is troubling to Army officials, who are grappling with how to respond. They are offering more training to soldiers, sergeants and chaplains to help them spot the warning signs that a soldier is considering suicide."

Any amount of suicide is too much. It's time we start paying attention to our vets.

Blood loss is "not important"

It seems to John McCain simply does not understand the concerns of the voters and he proved that again in an interview on NBC. Here's a snippet.



Here he goes again. He loves to make these claims that Iraq will be like Korea and Japan. He loves to go from point A to point C without mentioning how he will get through part B. When asked the very reasonable question if he had a better estimate as to when the troops can come home since life is apparently wonderful on the ground in Iraq, he responds

"No, but that's not too important. What's important is the causalities in Iraq. Americans are in South Korea. Americans are in Japan. American troops are in Germany. That's all fine."

People want the troops home because they don't want causalities, right? What about the fact that we have lost nearly 4095 people during this war? What about the lives that will most definitely be lost while we're trying to make Iraq like Korea or Japan? I'm shocked that he STILL does not get it. He still thinks that this is what we want. People will not wait for the slim chance that Iraq might become a stable nation.

It costs blood and lives to get there. It is important to those families.