OBAMA CUTS THRU the BS AROUND IRAQ

TOM BARNETT at TED

If you've been here before you already know what my opninion of Dr. Barnett is and those who haven't should watch the above TED presentation and judge for themselves. You may also want to check out Barnett's PopTech presentation.

THE THREE, NO FOUR AMIGOS

Governor George Pataki (R-NY) who’s clearly been putting some thought into making a run in 2008 and whose eldest son is a Marine facing possible deployment to Iraq has taken up residence in the Brownback/Hagel/Warner anti-surge camp (and by the way, is it just me or is Chuck Hagel quickly becoming the most dangerous potential republican in 2008) as opposed to the McCain/Giuliani/Romney pro-surge camp when he delivered a major speech on the Iraq war at Georgetown University. You can read the Associated Press story HERE.

Take a closer look at Senator Chuck Hagel below ... and ask yourself if he'd loose to Hilary in a general election.

CAN I GET an AMEN!?!

I can only think of one way to put one here … THANK-GOD! Now that this month has seen well over a half-dozen of the Democratic Party's most politically formidable players (read: Biden and Clinton), most gifted retail politicians (read: Edwards and Obama) and best resumed nice guys (read: Vilsack and Richardson) announce their intention to seek its presidential 2008 nomination--creating some concern that the coming debates will be far too crowded for words or to be contained on any conventional television screen—the man the party foolishly ran for the presidency in 2004 tells us: He will not try again!

CAN I GET an AMEN!?! NO REALLY, SAY AMEN?!?

That’s right, we will all be spared the torture if an online video announcement feature the stone-faced Junior Senator from Massachusetts John Kerry, who been tormenting us ever since conceding his last try with the prospect that he might be preparing for another run at costing democrats the White House. One can only thank the pagan media gods who gave is Obama’s best seller’s and Al Gore’s likely Oscar Winning film (which is not to say that he should make another run by the way) for Kerry’s plan to announce he does not plan to challenge 2008’s early frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards.

I for one would like to thank Kerry for his wisdom and foresight while pointing out that if he thinks signing the drop out song is going to give a shot at that soon to be open Secretary of State job …he can the hell over it already (That’s Bill Richardson’s tune). For some time now, even among democrats who’d welcome a run similarly charisma impaired Al Gore – despite their laudable capacity to spawn hot daughters – even the mention of a second Kerry run has provoked groans. Democrats like myself rightly believe that Kerry lost in 2004 on his own merits while the feeling that Al Gore was robbed is widespread.

Never a favorite among either MoveOn democrats or what Samantha Power has started calling the Empiricist camp of the party …Kerry got the nomination back in 2004 mainly because the MoveOn camp is basically populated by pussies too timid to nominate either of the guys they really wanted and were too easily impressed by Kerry’s—soldier, state official, senator—resume to notice the fact that he was pretty darn boring and came off as even more of an effete Easter intellect snob than Gore had, to say the least. I won’t even go into his freakin’ wife. Meanwhile, the empiricist crowd tried and failed to with Wesley Clark (Who will either be Clinton’s running mate or Obama’s Sec Def … and remember you read that here first).

But that’s a whole other story. In the end neither group got what they wanted … because they got John Kerry. But, unlike Gore, (who really deserves be vilified for selected Joe Leiberman as his running mate), Kerry may never be forgiven by the base. His …uuhhh rhetorical stumbles in 2006 worked to remind even naïve Democrats of everything that should have warned them away from Kerry and these days polls from early primary and caucus states showed Kerry trailing Edwards, Obama, Clinton and Gore who has not even expressed an interest in 2OO8 today – though Oscar night seems like a good time to do it if he’s gonna – not that he should – no seriously – don’t run AL, don’t run.

In all seriousness, I wish John Kerry well, he’s decent and brave man …presidential politics just isn’t his thing.

SNL HARDBALL's HILLARY

Here’s your chance to take a look at SNL’s much talked about, and truly funny take on Senator Clinton vs. Chris Mathews. ENJOY!

BORN FIGHTING, STILL FIGHTING part two

Here's the full Transcript of Senator Webb's remarks (Courtesy of The Grey Lady) :

Good evening.

I’m Senator Jim Webb, from Virginia, where this year we will celebrate the 400th anniversary of the settlement of Jamestown—an event that marked the first step in the long journey that has made us the greatest and most prosperous nation on earth.

It would not be possible in this short amount of time to actually rebut the President’s message, nor would it be useful. Let me simply say that we in the Democratic Party hope that this administration is serious about improving education and healthcare for all Americans, and addressing such domestic priorities as restoring the vitality of New Orleans.

Further, this is the seventh time the President has mentioned energy independence in his state of the union message, but for the first time this exchange is taking place in a Congress led by the Democratic Party. We are looking for affirmative solutions that will strengthen our nation by freeing us from our dependence on foreign oil, and spurring a wave of entrepreneurial growth in the form of alternate energy programs. We look forward to working with the President and his party to bring about these changes.

There are two areas where our respective parties have largely stood in contradiction, and I want to take a few minutes to address them tonight. The first relates to how we see the health of our economy—how we measure it, and how we ensure that its benefits are properly shared among all Americans. The second regards our foreign policy—how we might bring the war in Iraq to a proper conclusion that will also allow us to continue to fight the war against international terrorism, and to address other strategic concerns that our country faces around the world.

When one looks at the health of our economy, it’s almost as if we are living in two different countries. Some say that things have never been better. The stock market is at an all-time high, and so are corporate profits. But these benefits are not being fairly shared. When I graduated from college, the average corporate CEO made 20 times what the average worker did; today, it’s nearly 400 times. In other words, it takes the average worker more than a year to make the money that his or her boss makes in one day.

Wages and salaries for our workers are at all-time lows as a percentage of national wealth, even though the productivity of American workers is the highest in the world. Medical costs have skyrocketed. College tuition rates are off the charts. Our manufacturing base is being dismantled and sent overseas. Good American jobs are being sent along with them.

In short, the middle class of this country, our historic backbone and our best hope for a strong society in the future, is losing its place at the table. Our workers know this, through painful experience. Our white-collar professionals are beginning to understand it, as their jobs start disappearing also. And they expect, rightly, that in this age of globalization, their government has a duty to insist that their concerns be dealt with fairly in the international marketplace.

In the early days of our republic, President Andrew Jackson established an important principle of American-style democracy—that we should measure the health of our society not at its apex, but at its base. Not with the numbers that come out of Wall Street, but with the living conditions that exist on Main Street. We must recapture that spirit today.

And under the leadership of the new Democratic Congress, we are on our way to doing so. The House just passed a minimum wage increase, the first in ten years, and the Senate will soon follow. We’ve introduced a broad legislative package designed to regain the trust of the American people. We’ve established a tone of cooperation and consensus that extends beyond party lines. We’re working to get the right things done, for the right people and for the right reasons.

With respect to foreign policy, this country has patiently endured a mismanaged war for nearly four years. Many, including myself, warned even before the war began that it was unnecessary, that it would take our energy and attention away from the larger war against terrorism, and that invading and occupying Iraq would leave us strategically vulnerable in the most violent and turbulent corner of the world.

I want to share with all of you a picture that I have carried with me for more than 50 years. This is my father, when he was a young Air Force captain, flying cargo planes during the Berlin Airlift. He sent us the picture from Germany, as we waited for him, back here at home. When I was a small boy, I used to take the picture to bed with me every night, because for more than three years my father was deployed, unable to live with us full-time, serving overseas or in bases where there was no family housing. I still keep it, to remind me of the sacrifices that my mother and others had to make, over and over again, as my father gladly served our country. I was proud to follow in his footsteps, serving as a Marine in Vietnam. My brother did as well, serving as a Marine helicopter pilot. My son has joined the tradition, now serving as an infantry Marine in Iraq.

Like so many other Americans, today and throughout our history, we serve and have served, not for political reasons, but because we love our country. On the political issues— those matters of war and peace, and in some cases of life and death—we trusted the judgment of our national leaders. We hoped that they would be right, that they would measure with accuracy the value of our lives against the enormity of the national interest that might call upon us to go into harm’s way.

We owed them our loyalty, as Americans, and we gave it. But they owed us sound judgment, clear thinking, concern for our welfare, a guarantee that the threat to our country was equal to the price we might be called upon to pay in defending it.

The President took us into this war recklessly. He disregarded warnings from the national security adviser during the first Gulf War, the chief of staff of the army, two former commanding generals of the Central Command, whose jurisdiction includes Iraq, the director of operations on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and many, many others with great integrity and long experience in national security affairs. We are now, as a nation, held hostage to the predictable—and predicted—disarray that has followed.

The war’s costs to our nation have been staggering. Financially. The damage to our reputation around the world. The lost opportunities to defeat the forces of international terrorism. And especially the precious blood of our citizens who have stepped forward to serve.

The majority of the nation no longer supports the way this war is being fought; nor does the majority of our military. We need a new direction. Not one step back from the war against international terrorism. Not a precipitous withdrawal that ignores the possibility of further chaos. But an immediate shift toward strong regionally-based diplomacy, a policy that takes our soldiers off the streets of Iraq’s cities, and a formula that will in short order allow our combat forces to leave Iraq.

On both of these vital issues, our economy and our national security, it falls upon those of us in elected office to take action.

Regarding the economic imbalance in our country, I am reminded of the situation President Theodore Roosevelt faced in the early days of the 20th century. America was then, as now, drifting apart along class lines. The so-called robber barons were unapologetically raking in a huge percentage of the national wealth. The dispossessed workers at the bottom were threatening revolt.

Roosevelt spoke strongly against these divisions. He told his fellow Republicans that they must set themselves “as resolutely against improper corporate influence on the one hand as against demagogy and mob rule on the other.” And he did something about it.

As I look at Iraq, I recall the words of former general and soon-to-be President Dwight Eisenhower during the dark days of the Korean War, which had fallen into a bloody stalemate. “When comes the end?” asked the General who had commanded our forces in Europe during World War Two. And as soon as he became President, he brought the Korean War to an end.

These Presidents took the right kind of action, for the benefit of the American people and for the health of our relations around the world. Tonight we are calling on this President to take similar action, in both areas. If he does, we will join him. If he does not, we will be showing him the way.

Thank you for listening. And God bless America.

IN THE RACE

Here's Senator Obama's exploratory announcement. You can hear more HERE and see more HERE. By the way, has anyone else noticed that Chris Dodd has only entered the race to act as Clinton's Obama attack shill?

BORN FIGHTING, STILL FIGHTING

Virginia’s Freshman Senator, and my pick for the man most likely to be Senator Obama’s running mate if he happens to snag the democratic nomination, namely …Jim Webb has been tapped to deliver the Democratic response to President Bush's State of the Union Address.

Webb’s spokeswoman issued a statement saying that the selection was made by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, but I for one, sense that hand of Obama rabbi Dick Durbin (D, IL) at work.

Webb's upset victory over one time Republican presidential hopeful Senator George Allen was the decisive race in giving the Democrats control of Congress in last year's midterm elections.

Senator Webb will speak for around five minutes shortly after President Bush's address to a joint session of Congress on January 23rd.

This will be the 2nd year that a Democrat from Virginia has been selected to rebut the president's annual address to Congress. Last year, newly elected Governor Tim Kaine delivered the response live from the Executive Mansion in Richmond.