Barack: Strength And Judgment

Strength? What Strength? Experience? What Experience

Groupthink is not strength, and if it is experience, it is bad experience.

Hillary messed up on Iraq big time. And, more important, she has not learned from her mistake.
There were many mistakes made in the war on Iraq.

First, it was looking Tokyo, going London. It was like Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, so the US went ahead and invaded Indonesia in return. The counterattack on the Taliban and the Al Qaeda in Afghanistan was just. But instead of focusing to uproot the Al Qaeda, W, Hillary and the others decided to take their eyes off and go somewhere else. They did what Bin Laden wanted them to do. Some secret Al Qaeda meetings at the time have Bin Laden telling his comrades it was important the US stopped its focus on Afghanistan and went elsewhere, perhaps Iraq. If Bin Laden were to have his say, W, Hillary and the rest will also attack Iran and make Bin Laden's day.

The invasion of Iraq was a militarily dumb move. The Al Qaeda is stronger today than it ever was before. After half a trillion dollars, thousands of American lives, and tens of thousands of innocent Arab lives, if the enemy is stronger than it was before the war was launched, is that a failing grade or what?

The problem with Hillary also wanting to end the war just like Obama is she is not admitting her mistake, and in not admitting, she is exhibiting she has not learned from the mistake.

So, first, wrong war on the wrong battlefield.

Second, costs. Half a trillion dollars is a whole lot of money. I think you could send everybody in the Americas to college for that kind of money. Or what? Now America has debts and deficits as far as the eyes can see. W, Hillary and the rest of them swiped your children's credit cards, stolen credit cards.

War time sacrifices are not unheard of. But Roosevelt never gave trillion dollar tax cuts while taking the Americans to war with Hitler.

Imagine it is 1947, and in 1940 Hitler only had some of Eastern Europe, some other parts of Europe, and in 1947, he has all of Europe, big chunks of Russia and most of North Africa, and he is getting interested in heading into Asia like Alexander The Great. Would you have given Roosevelt a failing grade?

Third, costs in innocent lives. America can not become Al Qaeda and strike Al Qaeda. The 100,000 innocent Iraqis who have lost their lives to the American invasion have been a wronged bunch of people. Wars are always ugly, true. That is why war always, always has to be the weapon of the last resort, not first, like it was for W and Hillary and the rest of them.

Fourth, losing Arab street credibility. You can not be best friends with Musharraf, and act like the Saudi King is extended family to you, and then go tell the poor Arab masses that you are for democracy.

Fifth, and my number one gripe, and here not only Hillary but many anti-war activists are guilty in my book, is that there has to be a progressive way of spreading democracy. The neocons have showed their ugly, ineffective way. The progressive way has to be Nepal's magical April Revolution way, and it is science. It can be replicated country after country after country. Bush, the neocons, the Republicans and Hillary have spent $500 billion in Iraq. The Democrats, the progressives should have a $50 billion plan to go into all countries that have dictators to fund democracy movements, to help build the basic institutions of democracy and a market economy. We can do this. (The First Major Revolution Of The 21st Century Happened In Nepal)

Ending the war is not enough, which is Hillary's sole new mantra. Coming back home is not an option. The idea is to reinvent the engagement, to make the engagement total. The idea is to wage a war of communications technology the grassroots way to ensure a total spread of democracy by 2020. It can be done.

The only way to win the so-called War On Terror is to turn every Arab country into a democracy. Spreading democracy is a science. It can work like clockwork. It can be done. You do it the right way, the progressive way. The neocon attempt has been inhuman, and costly, and ineffective, and utterly wasteful.

Strength? What Strength? Experience? What Experience

In The News

For Clinton, 2000 Fund-Raising Controversy Lingers Wall Street Journal
Clinton Dismisses Lobbying Criticism The Associated Press
Why Barack Obama makes sense to me, a lot of sense The Villager the desire on the part of so many from my generation to want to turn the world upside down and rid it of war, racism, poverty and the power of material greed. Having kids didn’t change that for me; it made change more imperative, because I was bringing life into a world which was full of problems. ...... to look at the electoral arena as part of the battlefield for social change. ...... efforts to wrest control of the party from the party bosses and give it to the rank and file. ..... It is amazing, in many ways, how little progress we have made in 40 years. We are more aware of the issues and problems and debate them more intellectually. Racism is almost as pervasive, but far more subtle. ...... Women have moved further up the professional ladder, but still largely hit an economic glass ceiling in every other respect. ..... One reason that things did not change is that the movement of the 1960s did not march on. ....... But something different is quietly happening this year. Barack Obama, a man who graduated from Columbia and decided to go back to Chicago to organize poor people around issues, is running for president. He has approached his campaign as an opportunity to build a movement — a movement based in communities around issues that matter. Using the power of the Internet, he has promoted the growth of local Obama support groups in local communities — in New York City there are already 20 — and these groups keep reaching out and out and keep bringing more and more people into the most multiracial, upbeat, positive campaign about hope, and about the future, that this country has seen since the 1960s. ...... Obama hasn’t had to “move to the left” or discover that he was wrong about Iraq. Obama didn’t discover unions and the rift between rich and poor after losing an election in 2004. ...... Unlike Hillary Clinton, Obama has been consistently solid on the key issues — and unlike Hillary, we know, if Obama is elected, where he will be on the issues. (Do we really need a second Clinton presidency, framed by lots of progressive hype, which delivers so little in the way of progressive legislation, and so much to Wall St?) And, perhaps most important, Obama’s followers have the potential — with the support of their candidate — to build a new progressive movement in the U.S. and a new reform movement in the Democratic Party. Obama speaks about his candidacy, and even his possible election as president, as part of the launching of a new movement to change America. The president of the United States encouraging a movement for progressive social change? Now there’s a thought! ........ We can look to elect a president who not only looks different, but who thinks and acts differently, a progressive champion who boldly reasserts government’s role as protector and uplifter of the people at home, and who can reinvent American foreign policy as a force for peace, not coercive power, across the globe. ........ Unlike most elected officials in New York, I have not hitched my wagon to Hillary Clinton’s campaign. And I doubt that most of the “liberal,” “progressive,” “activist” politicians from Manhattan who are publicly supporting Hillary can say to us, with a straight face, that their candidate is a force for progressive change in the U.S. ..... Having chosen to support Barack Obama, I challenge my colleagues — whether they be congressmembers, state senators, assemblymembers or city councilpersons — to rethink their support for Hillary and what it means. ...... I promise you that politics will never be the same again.
Former ABC News consultant allegedly faked interviews with Obama ... WQAD
'Opie' had a tough comment for Obama Baltimore Sun "I think we should end this war," said Clayton, a second-grader from nearby DeWitt, Iowa. .... "You ever seen Mayberry?" Obama asked. "You look just like Opie…He's a cute kid. That's a good thing."
Clinton open to re-collecting tainted funds Baltimore Sun
Giuliani: Clinton Smeared Gen. Petraeus The Associated Press
McCain and Giuliani lob verbal rounds into Clinton camp Los Angeles Times

Google to call for web privacy shake-up Financial Times
Google promises to lead crusade for international privacy rules The Canadian Press
Google proposes global privacy standard CNET News.com

Obama Offers Most Extensive Plan Yet for Winding Down War New York Times “What’s at stake is bigger than this war: it’s our global leadership,” Mr. Obama said. “Now is a time to be bold. We must not stay the course or take the conventional path because the other course is unknown.” ..... about 20 combat brigades in Iraq, which General Petraeus has committed to reducing to 15 next summer. ..... “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,” Mr. Obama said. ...... “I come from a new generation of Americans,” Mr. Obama said. “I don’t want to fight the battles of the 1960s.”
Candidates split over Iraq strategy Chicago Tribune "Flee-in-the-face-of-success strategy," former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said of Obama's exit plan. Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani criticized Democratic front-runner Clinton for the way she questioned Petraeus earlier in the week. ....... Obama suggested the nation has lost its way because of the war
Democratic 2008 contenders bicker over Iraq pullout Reuters on the eve of a speech to the country on Iraq by President George W. Bush.
LDP Secretary General Aso to run for party president Mainichi Daily News Shinzo Abe, who shocked the nation on Wednesday by announcing he would resign as prime minister.
Clinton Leads; Giuliani, Thompson Close The Associated Press
Indonesia, India call off tsunami alerts Inquirer.net
Clinton and Obama, At War Over War's End Washington Post Barack Obama returned to Iowa today to lay out his newest plan to end the war in Iraq -- and to step up his sparring with Hillary Clinton. The question is whether the new policy adds up to a surge strategy for his campaign. ..... Today they were circling one another again. As Obama prepared to speak in Iowa, Clinton's office released a letter she was sending to President Bush. Clinton sought to preempt both Obama and the president. ...... Obama blamed "conventional thinking in Washington" for the support Bush received from Congress in 2002. Clinton of course was among those alleged conventional thinkers who backed the 2002 war resolution. "Despite -- or perhaps because of how much experience they had in Washington -- too many politicians feared looking weak and failed to ask hard questions" .......... he is the lone candidate who has out-muscled the mighty Clinton fundraising machine in the first two quarters of the year ........ among war critics, she leads the Democratic field. ...... The Los Angeles Times-Bloomberg survey showed Obama behind both Clinton and Edwards in Iowa and tied with Edwards in a distant second to Clinton in New Hampshire. Other polls have shown Iowa to be a competitive three-way contest, which is why Clinton, Obama and Edwards are investing so much time and energy in the state. ...... Obama's campaign looks at the post-Labor Day phase of the campaign as the time to turn a page. The caucuses are still well off and Iowa voters famously examine the candidates for a long, long time before beginning to make final decisions about whom they want as their nominee. Obama needs to be at his best as that time approaches.
With veiled shot at Clinton, Obama unveils Iraq plan Boston Globe
Front Row: Obama, Clinton target each other Baltimore Sun
Barack Obama Struggles To Establish A New Face In Politics TransWorldNews he is proposing some rather unorthodox approaches to foreign policies .... Once within striking distance of Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire, he is tied with John Edwards and going down in the polls