Month: April 2008

No end in sight…

Hmmmmm… I guess that movie was correct.

The Article: Frustrated Senators See No Exit Signs (via washingtonpost.com)

 

Asked repeatedly yesterday what "conditions" he is looking for to begin substantial U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq after this summer’s scheduled drawdown, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus said he will know them when he sees them. For frustrated lawmakers, it was not enough.

"A year ago, the president said we couldn’t withdraw because there was too much violence," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.). "Now he says we can’t afford to withdraw because violence is down." Asked Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.): "Where do we go from here?"

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said: "I think people want a sense of what the end is going to look like."

But the bottom line was that there was no bottom line. In testimony before the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees, Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker echoed what they said seven months ago in their last update to Congress — often using similar words. Iraq’s armed forces continue to improve, overall levels of violence are lower than they were last year, and political reconciliation is happening, albeit still more slowly than they would like.

That’s because with this Presidential Administration, there is no exit sign!

 

That’s the way his Neo-Conservative planners wanted it. To keep us in that war forever! That’s because Neo-Conservatives believe in perpetual war! Even at the expense of the Nation’s Military.

 

That’s Neo-Con Game, and we’re playing it…. At our Tax Expense.

 

A good Movie:

 

 

Buy the Movie:

 

Others: Washington Wire, Slate, Times of London, Christian Science Monitor, Los Angeles Times, MSNBC, Real Clear Politics, New York Times, SWJ Blog, Sister Toldjah, New York Post, Connecting.the.Dots and Intel Dump and more via Memeornadum

Oprah stumps for Obama, Popularity nose dives….

This is living proof of why it is not smart for celebrities to get involved into Politics.

The Politico Reports:

Oprah’s favorability ratings also remained consistently — and unusually — high. In November 2003, Gallup found that 73 percent of Americans held favorable views about Oprah. Seventy-four percent of Americans reported favorable impressions of Oprah in a January 2007 Gallup/USA Today poll.

And then, seemingly out of nowhere, Oprah announced on CNN’s “Larry King Live” on May 1, 2007, that she would officially endorse her longtime friend Barack Obama for the presidency — the first time she had ever thrown her support behind a political candidate. “I think that my value to him, my support of him, is probably worth more than any check,” Oprah told Larry King. At the time, Oprah did not indicate whether she would campaign for Obama.

Almost instantly, Oprah’s popularity in America plummeted. An August 2007 CBS News poll showed only 61 percent of Americans were favorably disposed to her — a considerable drop of 13 percentage points from a similar survey conducted just seven months prior. An October 2007 Gallup/USA Today poll that showed Oprah with a slightly higher 66 percent favorability still reflected a drop.

Ouch. I guess she must have felt that little jolt in the pocketbook or at least from her producers.

Still, a lesson celebrities may extract is that political endorsements carry the risk of alienating fans, often without the reward of considerably boosting support for the candidate. While celebrities are certainly entitled to express their political beliefs — just like every other American — it is possible that the public prefers high-profile entertainment personalities to stay on the tube and off the stump.

I can understand that, especially if many of her viewers are a-political or not active in Politics, they may have been turned off by the show being turned into a Political infomercial.

As an extra bonus, Check out this article here on Oprah.

Others: Sister Toldjah, Tami, the One True, The Democratic Daily, Taylor Marsh, Political Machine and The Moderate Voice

Neo-Con Michael Goldfarb proves he's an Idiot….

Hey Goldiefarb!

Has it really been that long?

Goldfarb drops this turd….:

They Need More White people (via The Weekly Standard)

Quote:

The Tartan, Carnegie Mellon’s student newspaper, reports on a campaign event featuring Michelle Obama:

While the crowd was indeed diverse, some students at the event questioned the practices of Mrs. Obama’s event coordinators, who handpicked the crowd sitting behind Mrs. Obama. The Tartan’s correspondents observed one event coordinator say to another, “Get me more white people, we need more white people.” To an Asian girl sitting in the back row, one coordinator said, “We’re moving you, sorry. It’s going to look so pretty, though.”

“I didn’t know they would say, ‘We need a white person here,’ ” said attendee and senior psychology major Shayna Watson, who sat in the crowd behind Mrs. Obama. “I understood they would want a show of diversity, but to pick up people and to reseat them, I didn’t know it would be so outright.”

The Obama campaign discriminates against people of color, and their own supporters no less, in what is presumably a misguided pander to white voters. Very strange, but perhaps Obama’s candidacy really has transcended race in America (surely this is a first). Alternatively, the campaign may just plan to stage-manage it out of public view. Go balloons!

Has this feckless idiot forgotten, this?:

stagecraft

Typical moron Neo-Con, Can’t remember past yesterday.

Others: TBogg and The New Editor and more via Memeornadum

Sen. Jay Rockefeller Endorses Obama, Insults McCain and then says He's Sorry…

Oy….

Go Read.

Why can’t people just endorse the guy, and keep their opinions to themselves?

Rolling Eyes

My obligatory Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker Congress briefing Post

I really didn’t want to Blog about this, because everyone else and their uncle is. plus, there’s so, much partisan nonsense involved with this.

I just don’t think this issue should be treated Politically, Liberal or Conservative.

Having said that, go read the stories from various news agencies and Bloggers.

From the "What the?!?!?!" File….

A East Texas Teenager was attacked for a sign she made for a class assignment.

Quote: (via KLTV-TV)

Melanie Bowers, 13, and her parents walked into Athens High School Monday afternoon to talk to campus police.  They were hoping to get some answers.

"It never should have happened in the first place.  The whole assignment was a silly assignment and they should have contacted us immediately after it happened," said J.R. Bowers, Melanie’s father. 

It was an assignment for history class–to make a protest sign for or against an issue, and Melanie said she chose illegal immigration.  Her sign read, "If you love our nation, stop illegal immigration." Somehow, Melanie said the sign got passed around lunch and angered a group of Latino students. 

"I didn’t know any of these people," she said.  One young, she claimed, jumped on her back and he put her in a choke hold.  "We have brick walls in the middle school and he slammed my face on the bricks."

Melanie said a group of boys also threatened to rape and kill her.  Eventually, the boys let her go and when she went for help, she was ordered back to class, and told she could not call her parents, she said.

"They handled this wrong, you know, they put a child back in danger," said J.R. Bowers.  "It was a very racially motivated crime."

Athens ISD gave KLTV 7 a statement, confirming there was a disturbance in the hallway, Friday between two to three students.  "We have a camera system in the building," said Louis DeRosa.  "We are collecting other information and statements from witnesses and this is all the information we have at this time," he said. 

Melanie and her parents said they just hope the right thing is done…and quickly.

"I won’t be happy until the kids that did this are out of school," Bowers said.

All the more reason for more alternatives for Public School for kids. Of course, I don’t think this teacher had any business allowing kids to do something like this.

I also think there should be some kids going to Juvenile Detention for this as well. 

Others on this: Stop The ACLU, Wake up America, The Other McCain, Michelle Malkin

Cross-Posted @ The Christian Nationalist

Once again, Huffington Post recycles old McCain News….

Contrary to what the Liberals want you to believe, The story of McCain going to blows with another senator is old news, that has been reported a few times already.

Quote:

Perhaps the most remarkable story of McCain’s temper involved Arizona Congressman Rick Renzi. Two former reporters covering McCain, one who witnessed the following events and one who confirmed the facts provided by the first, relayed it to me as follows: In 2006, the Arizona Republican congressional delegation had a strategy meeting. McCain repeatedly addressed two new members, congressmen Trent Franks and Rick Renzi, as ‘boy.’ Finally, Renzi, a former college linebacker, rose from his chair and said to McCain, "You call me that one more time and I’ll kick your old ass." McCain lunged at Renzi, punches were thrown, and the two had to be physically separated. After they went to their separate offices, McCain called Renzi and demanded an apology. Renzi refused. Apparently this posture made McCain admire him, as they became fast friends.

Seriously, do these people do any kind of research at all??? This story is older than dirt.

Research gents, It could only help!

Other idiots who Blogged about this: The Politico, New York Times, Crooks and Liars, MotherJones.com, Booman Tribune, The Campaign Spot, The Raw Story, DownWithTyranny!, Brilliant at Breakfast, Cliff Schecter …, Open Left and Wonkette

A good Book: