Democrats Will Not Even Allow For Drilling In The Outer Continental Shelf If Gas Prices Reach $10

Watch Senator Salazar object to a resolution calling for the drilling if gas prices reach $10. Amazing:

Obama Plays The Race Card Again

Barack Obama played the race card again today saying "nobody thinks that Bush and McCain have a real answer to the challenges we face. So what they're going to try to do is make you scared of me," Obama said. "You know, he's not patriotic enough, he's got a funny name, you know, he doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills." He made this stupid dollar bill comment in three seperate speeches. This is not the first time that Obama has implied that his race is an issue that Republicans will attack him on. John McCain nor anyone else has attacked Obama because of his race. Why does Barack Obama feel like he is a victim of some conspiracy to foster racism against him? Obama needs to stop these senseless lines about Republicans making race an issue. It makes him look like a petty fool with a victim complex. Perhaps he feels if he says it enough times people will actually start to believe that Republicans are attacking the color of his skin. Either way, it is inexcusable. Does anyone out there really believe this narrative that Obama is trying to create has anything to do with reality? I can already predict that if Obama loses the election they will say it was because of his race.

In case your wondering why I say Obama is playing the race card "again" it is because he has. Earlier in the campaign he had this to say. “They’re going to try to make you afraid of me. He’s young and inexperienced and he’s got a funny name. And did I mention he’s black?”

The New York Times jumped into the racial nonsense and falsely attacks the McCain campaign for racism. They make believe that McCain had actually done something that was racist. In an online editorial they wrote that the McCain "celebrity" ad "gave us an uneasy feeling that the McCain campaign was starting up the same sort of racially tinged attack on Mr. Obama." The ad had nothing at all to do with race. This is crazy. The New York Times also commented on Rick Davis, McCain’s campaign manager, and his condemnation of Obama's racial rhetoric. The NYT says Davis had a "snappy answer" when he said “Barack Obama has played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck. It’s divisive, negative, shameful and wrong.’’ I agree with everything that Davis said, Obama was being divisive and wrong playing the race card as he did. But in the eyes of the NYT "the retort" was "not only contemptible, but shrewd. It puts the sin for the racial attack not on those who made it, but on the victim of the attack." Cry me a river for Barack Obama, who has been the victim of racism. Give me a break. There was no racial attack! How dare the NYT try to paint Obama as the victim of some racial attack by the McCain camp. It is utter and complete nonsense. The NYT continues and says that "it also — and we wish this were coincidence, but we doubt it — conjurs up another loaded racial image. The phrase dealing the race card 'from the bottom of the deck' entered the national lexicon during the O.J. Simpson saga. Robert Shapiro, one of Mr. Simpson’s lawyers, famously declared of himself, Johnny Cochran and the rest of the Simpson defense team, 'Not only did we play the race card, we dealt it from the bottom of the deck.'" Does anyone out there really believe that this was some hidden reference to O.J.? For a phrase that "entered the national lexicon" I have never heard it before, nor have I heard of anyone else that has ever heard it. Do you think that Rick Davis actually was drawing some hidden subliminal parallel between Obama and O.J. Simpson? This is conspiracy theory nonsense. This is a repulsive article that the NYT should feel ashamed of. It exposes the Times as being unbelievably biased mouthpiece for the Obama campaign, and not even a good mouthpiece either. Barack Obama was wrong for claiming McCain is making race an issue and Obama needs to cut that rhetoric out of his speeches. There is no excuse for what Barack Obama said, even if the New York Times works as hard as they can to conjure one up.

Here is the McCain "celebrity" ad that the NYT claims is "racially tinged":

President Bush: Lowest Level of Violence in Iraq Since 2004 Due To "Success Of The Surge"

July had the lowest monthly death toll since the 2003 invasion, according to Pentagon figures, highlighting what US commanders say is a marked drop in violence. The downward trend began in the middle of last year after a US troop "surge," although there were two spikes in bloodshed in March and April when fierce fighting erupted between Shiite militiamen and US-led forces.

Son Of "The Most Popular" Hamas MP Converts To Christianity And Is Speaking Out Against Palestinian Terror

Haaretz tells the story of the son of a "the most popular" Hamas member of parliament who has converted to Christianity and is risking his life to speak out against the Islamoterrorist organization that he had been a member of for years. Masab, who now calls himself Joseph, is the son of West Bank Hamas leader Sheikh Hassan Yousef. The following is a picture of Hassan Yousef:

"Send regards to Israel, I miss it. I respect Israel and admire it as a country," he says. "You Jews should be aware: You will never, but never have peace with Hamas. Islam, as the ideology that guides them, will not allow them to achieve a peace agreement with the Jews. They believe that tradition says that the Prophet Mohammed fought against the Jews and that therefore they must continue to fight them to the death." Discussing suicide bombing he says it is "more than that. An entire society sanctifies death and the suicide terrorists. In Palestinian culture a suicide terrorist becomes a hero, a martyr. Sheikhs tell their students about the 'heroism of the shaheeds.'"

Here is the link to the Haaretz story: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1007097.html

National Republican Congressional Committee Ad: “The Not-Quite-In-Motion Picture"

Barack "We Can't Drive Our SUVs" Obama Drives In An SUV

Just another unsurprising example of global warming hypocrisy:

Ehud Olmert Finally Pledges To Step Down From Prime Ministership

Ehud Olmert said Wednesday evening that he will not run in the upcoming Kadima party primary. Kadima's election committee decided on Tuesday to set an August 24 deadline to join the race, which it scheduled for September 17. The bad news is that this means there is stil going to be over six more weeks of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. The bad news is also that there may not actually be a new election as to who should replace him, but Kadima may decide to mantain the current coalition propping them up in the Knesset and replace Olmert with Tzipi Livni or Shaul Mofaz. The departure of Olmert should be a chance for Israelis to decide who their leader will be, not for Kadima to choose for itself.

Ehud Olmert should have resigned and called for new elections ages ago. The 2006 summer war against Hezbollah was a complete debacle, both tactically and also in its failure to achieve stated objectives. Israeli soldiers were kidnapped by Hezbollah and Hamas in Israeli territory and they were never retrieved as a result of that war. The Prime Minister vowed that Hezbollah would be finished, but Hezbollah is even stronger now than they were two years ago. Hezbollah faced the IDF and lives to tell the tale. Hezbollah only a couple months ago achieved complete veto power over decisions of the government of Lebanon after killing dozens and dozens of fellow Arabs in Beirut. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was never killed during the 2006 battle, and now lives to continue his leadership and rant and rave in front of thousands of his loyal followers. It was also on Ehud Olmert's watch, as a result of the withdrawal from Gaza, that Hamas won the most seats in the Palestinian parliament and went on to forcibly take over all of Gaza. Gilad Shalit, one of the three Israeli soldiers kidnapped in the summer of 2006 while in undisputed Israeli territory remains in Hamas captivity. Olmert's responses to bloodthirsty terrorist attacks such as the attack by an Israeli-Arab on the young Jerusalem yeshiva students earlier this year were so weak as to be sickening. During his tenure rockets and mortars have fallen on cities in undisputed Israeli territory from Gaza in huge numbers. For example, rockets have fallen not only on the city of Sderot on the border near Gaza but also on Ashkelon, Israel's largest southern city. In March of this year Ehud Olmert had the gall to tell Ashkelon's City Council that "this is the reality of the past 60 years and we must show restraint and strength." Restraint in the face of a enemy dedicated to your destruction is weakness. Olmert further negotiated a cease fire with Hamas. Shin Bet Chief Yuval Diskin recently described the cease fire by saying that "we are not attacking them and we have lifted the blockade, while they have not taken upon themselves a commitment to stop their arms buildup. From the point of view of Hamas, it is the winner in the conflict, as the side that managed to hold its ground during the Israeli blockade. The lull in fighting is depicted as an impressive achievement for it." He described temporary calm as "an illusion. In our assessment, the rocket firing will start again at some point in the future." Negotiating with Hamas and allowing it to build up its arms and prepare for the next assault is a very dangerous policy for Israel, yet the Olmert government has done just this. The Israeli government under Olmert have also negotiated with Hezbollah. As you no doubt remember, Israel recently made a prisoner exchange with that terror group. In exchange for the bodies of two dead IDF soldiers the Israeli government handed Hezbollah a child killing terrorist named Samir Kuntar along with four of Kuntar's terrorist cohorts. The insanity of exchanging live terrorists for dead bodies can only seem rational in the mind of someone like Ehud Olmert. In fact, Olmert described this exchange as somehow showing "the moral and ethical power of Israel." Samir Kuntar was welcomed in Lebanon as a hero, vowing on Al-Jazeera to join Hezbollah and kill more Israelis. He was greeted by Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut in front of a crowd of thousands of cheering Arabs. Nasrallah declared after being kissed by Kuntar that "the age of defeat has passed and the age of victory is upon us." Ehud Olmert is responsible for providing incentive for the future kidnapping and killing of Israeli soldiers. Olmert has also been dogged by corruption charges for quite some time now.

His legacy is one of immense failure and weakness in the face of a radical Islamoterrorist enemy. This is what Ehud Olmert will be remembered for. No rational person could possibly bemoan the future loss of a leader whose poll numbers in Israel make Dick Cheney look like a rock star, poll numbers so low that his supporters must be made up of only his immediate family and staff. I hope that in six weeks time the new Israeli Prime Minister will be one dedicated to confronting and not cowtowing to the terrorist enemies that constantly threaten Israel.

The following picture was taken very recently. It shows Hamas terrorists marching in a training mission conducted in Gaza City:

The following links you to the "wedding-funeral" of the first female suicide bomber broadcast on Lebanon Al-Jadid TV on July 26. This is the mindset, the death cult, that Israel faces: http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1824.htm

Obama Ad On Energy Policy And His Comments About Inflated Tires

In the Barack Obama ad the narrator says to the images of windmills that Obama will "fast-track alternatives so we stop spending billions on oil from hostile nations. What Barack Obama has proposed is not a "fast-track" at all, but rather spending $150 billion over 10 years for research into alternative energy. How could a decade long program be considered a "fast-track"? Mere research does not in and of itself gaurantee breakthroughs. Drilling at home needs to be a key aspect of any energy plan and Barack Obama and the Anti-Drilling Democrats in Congress oppose all new drilling. Just thought that was worth pointing out.

Just to give a sense of Obama's position on energy, here is a comment he made in a speech today that is extremely stupid. He says that everyone should inflate their tires and that would be just as useful as drilling:

Obama
by krs601

Meanwhile CNN reportst that "President Bush on Wednesday continued the Republicans' full-court press on congressional Democrats to force a vote to lift a ban on offshore drilling. 'American drivers are counting on Congress to lift the ban, and so are American workers,' he said at a meeting with his cabinet." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has proposed tapping into the strategic petroleum reserve. But as Bush countered, "If you agree that we need more oil, it makes no sense to say you're for draining our nation's limited strategic reserve but against tapping into the vast resources of the outer continental shelf." The president further argues that offshore drilling could produce up to 18 million barrels of oil. More than two-thirds of Americans say they favor increasing drilling efforts off America's coasts, but the Obamas and Pelosis of the House and Senate are blocking it tooth and nail. In fact, today Nancy Pelosi ridiculed the President's drilling proposals as a "hoax."

Ludacris Raps About Hillary Being A "Bitch", Bush Being "Mentally Handicapped," And McCain Being "Paralyzed"

In an interview with Rolling Stone Barack Obama admits that he knows Ludacris and says maybe he’ll take Luda seriously when he lobbies for the role of Vice President in the song. Here are a few lines from this piece of poetry:

"Hillary hated on you, so that bitch is irrelevant."

"McCain don't belong in ANY chair unless he's paralyzed
Yeah I said it cause Bush is mentally handicapped
Ball up all of his speeches and I throw em like candy wrap
cause what you talking I hear nothing even relevant
and you the worst of all 43 presidents."

Here is the ode to Obama if you would like to listen to the masterpiece for yourself:

STEVELACKNER.COM Creates Facebook Group

STEVELACKNER.COM has created a facebook group as a forum to discuss and debate issues on the website. Feel free to join and be a part of it. Tell your friends and tell your enemies. Here is a link to the group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=34751343520

Los Angeles Blocks New Fast-Food Restaurants In Poor Areas

The AP reports that the city council of Los Angeles has unanimously approved Tuesday a one-year moratorium on new fast-food restaurants in a low-income area of the city. It is interesting to point out that South L.A., where the ban is taking effect, is largely composed of minorities. This measure taken by the City Council specifically targets poor minorities. It is government infantilizing their constituents. This is complete utter nonsense. How does the City Council believe it is any of their business to regulate how many restaurants there are in any neighborhood? Does the City Council believe poor minorities are too stupid to make their own decisions as to what they eat? It is not the role of city government to regulate their constituents eating patterns or ban new fast food chains. This is paternalistic government taken to extremes. This delusional Daddy day care government has crossed the line. It is liberal nanny state nonsense. Why does the City Council believe they should end their little crusade against poor fat minorities with this? What is to stop them from banning fast-food restaurants in these communities or any other part of the city all together? What is to stop them from banning something like ice cream at the grocery store? The City Council should deal with real problems that L.A. faces not where poor Angelenos want to eat.

Scott McClellan Says He "Messed Up" When He Said O'reilly Recieved White House Talking Points

Bill O'reilly confronts former Press Secretary Scott McClellan on his radio show about statements last week when answering a question on Chris Matthews's show. Matthews asked if he ever sent talking points to Bill or Sean and McClellan answers "certainly." It gets pretty heated and O'reilly raises his voice at some points as the two argue.

House Majority Whip Says Global Warming Impacts Blacks More

Apparently global warming is racist. I did not know that African-Americans owned a majority of beach front properties. “It is critical our community be an integral and active part of the debate because African-Americans are disproportionately impacted by the effects of climate change economically, socially and through our health and well-being,” House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., said July 29. Isn't it nice that even climate change has somehow become a race issue? Does identity politics need to be a part of every political conversation these days? Here is the link to the article and the video is on the side of the page: http://www.businessandmedia.org/articles/2008/20080729130950.aspx

Dick Durbin: Let's Spend Money Vs. We're Not Spending Money

Mahmoud Ahmadenijad Blames AIDS On The West

"The big powers are going down. They have come to the end of their power, and the world is on the verge of entering a new, promising era," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told foreign ministers of the Nonaligned Movement meeting in Teheran. He also criticized the indictment of Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir on charges of genocide in Darfur and said that charges instead should be brought against Israeli leaders. He accused the great powers of "fomenting discord .... to intensify the military and arms race" so they can feed their arms industries. AIDS, he said, also was the result of world conditions "imposed by big powers."

It's good to know that Reverend Jeremiah Wright and Mahmoud Ahmadenijad see eye to eye on AIDS being imposed by the West.

RNC Ad: What An Obama German Ad Might Look Like

Not that funny, but I'll post it anyway:

One Of Al Qaeda's Top Chemical/Biological Weapons Experts Killed

CBS News reports that Pakistani officials have confirmed that one of al Qaeda's top chemical and biological weapons experts was killed in an air strike by a CIA pilotless drone in a remote Pakistani border region. Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar, also known as Abu Khabab al-Masri was one of six men killed and his remains had been positively identified. Al-Masri, an Egyptian national, became notorious for developing chemical and biological weapons for al Qaeda. He was known to have used a variety of animals, including dogs, cats and frogs in brutal experiments which often left the animals dead. Those killed also included Sheikh Ibrahim, a mid ranking al Qaeda operative believed to be either Egyptian or Jordanian. The other four victims were described as ordinary foot soldiers.

Nancy Pelosi Says "The Purpose Of The Surge" Has Not Been Fulfilled

When good news becomes not good enough news, when success becomes not enough of a success. That's essentially what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is saying when it comes to Iraq and the surge. She, like Barack Obama, finds it very hard to just give the surge credit for the major accomplishments it has achieved because she was against it. Accomplishments like avoiding an all out civil war, minimizing the threat of the Sadr militia, creating immense security gains, reducing Iraqi civilian and American death tolls, and supporting the Anbar awakening.

Obama Believes If Palestinians Get A State Then It Will Be Both "Easier" For Arab States To Support America And To Weaken Iran

Barack Obama holds the position that the Israel-Palestinian conflict is the root cause of problems in the Middle East. It is an attitude that essentially places blame on Israel for the radicalism, terrorism, despotism, anti-Americanism, and Jihadism found in the Arab states. Yesterday Barack Obama was interviewed by Tom Brokaw on Meet The Press and specifically asked about Israel. Obama said that if the US can "solve" the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, "then that will make it easier for Arab states and the Gulf States to support us when it comes to issues like Iraq and Afghanistan. It will also weaken Iran, which has been using Hamas and Hizbullah as a way to stir up mischief in the region. If we've gotten an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, maybe at the same time peeling Syria out of the Iranian orbit, that makes it easier to isolate Iran so that they have a tougher time developing a nuclear weapon."

I believe that this is an extremely naive view of the problems that confront America in the Middle East. Obama seems to think that if you could wave a magic wand and create a peaceful Palestinian state willing to live with a Jewish State next door, and that would have to be a very magical wand, then America would be able to confront the problems with rest of the region. The idea that the Iranian nuclear issue will become easier to solve if there is a Palestinian State is ridiculous and makes the assumption that Iran is seeking weapons for self-defense against the evil Israelis. Hamas and Hezbollah have been doing more than merely "stirring up mischief." Hamas has taken over Gaza and Hezbollah has veto power of the Lebanese government. They are bent on Israel's destruction and seek no state. I think it places too much credence on Arab propaganda to believe that Israel is the central reason for Jihadism around the world. Furthermore, whenever a politician with the outlook that the Israel-Palestinian conflict must be solved for any other Middle East issue to be resolved, they are immediately talking about forcing Israel to make further concessions in the face of a dangerous terrorist foe. This idea that every problem in the region is somehow linked to Israel should not be one that we want the future president to take with him to the White House.

1/3 Of British Muslim Students Support Killing In The Name Of Religion

The Jerusalem Post reportst that "nearly a third of British Muslim students polled in a new report to be published on Monday said that killing in the name of religion could be justified. The report by the London-based Center for Social Cohesion (CfSC), entitled 'Islam on Campus: A Survey of UK Student Opinion,' showed that 32 percent of Muslim students said killing in the name of religion could be justified, while 60% of active members of on-campus Islamic societies said the same. Only 2% of non-Muslims polled felt this way...
Forty percent of Muslim students polled supported the introduction of Sharia into British law for Muslims, and a third supported the introduction of a worldwide caliphate based on Sharia law; 58% of active members of Islamic societies supported the idea."

Remember, these are students in British schools. They are in the West and they are being educated. The typical "root causes" or excuses for these attitudes such as poverty, lack of education, or dictatorial regimes cannot apply to students being educated in Britain. Yet there are a troubling and high number of Muslims that believe in killing in the name of Islam, introducing Shaaria to Britain, and a worldwide Shaaria-based caliphate. This is truly scary. If these are the statitistics when it comes to students in a western country, can you imagine what the statistics are in Islamic countries?!

Shock Poll: McCain %49, Obama %45 Among Likely Voters

I am not usually one to put too much focus on the polls especially this early in the game, but this may very well be the first poll that puts McCain ahead of Obama. The USA Today/Gallup Poll reports that "the Friday-Sunday poll, mostly conducted as Obama was returning from his much-publicized overseas trip and released just this hour, shows McCain now ahead 49%-45% among voters that Gallup believes are most likely to go to the polls in November." Of course this is only one poll, and other polls such as Rasmussen that puts Obama ahead by %3. This still comes as a surprise because this poll seems to suggest that the Obama world tour and the media circus that gave it all the attention ended up not helping the Democratic candidate. This is also shocking because I have always thought that this was the Democrat's election to win. President Bush has a disapproval rating hovering around seventy percent and you would think that the Democratic candidate would be able to tap into that frustration and gain a strong lead. This does not seem to be the case. We are now in the 100 day stretch to the election and this race may end up being tighter than people imagined. I think Obama should be somewhat worried if all-consuming attention and speeches in Berlin do not even end up helping him in the polls. I repeat, however, that polls are very often unreliable and the only poll that truly counts is the vote in November.

Former Wisconsin Democrat Delegate "Finished With The Party" And Supporting McCain

Debra Bartoshevich was a duly elected Democratic Party delegate for Hillary Clinton in Wisconsin. She was extremely loyal to Clinton and has since been kicked out by the state party and barred from attending the Democratic National Convention in Denver next month. I'm not sure what the rules are when it comes to kicking out an elected Wisconsin delegate to be able to judge whether the Wisconsin Democrat party were within their rights to do this. Either way, the following clip from a recent interview might give you a sense of what motivated the Democratic party. She says she has "respect for Senator McCain" and delcares, "I'm finished with the party, the Democratic party." Take a look:

Gallup Poll: Political Ideology And Belief In God Or "Higher Power"

Gallup conducted a very interesting poll measuring belief in God or a higher power people who identify as conservative, liberal, and moderate. What is perhaps somewhat surprising is that only %2 of conservatives do not believe in God or a higher power. Moderates interestingly fall inbetween conservatives and liberals on every measure, but that might be expected. Looking at the liberals on this question is interesting. Only %62 (versus %89 with conservatives) believe in a God, though %24 more believe in a higher power. A full %13 of liberals do not believe in a God or higher power. The only stat that is actually surprising is the virtual nonexistence of atheists among conservatives. Make of this what you will, I merely felt a poll comparing ideology and religous belief to be interesting and should be brought to your attention.

Egyptian Muslim Preacher 'Amr Khaled: "Within 20 Years, The Muslims Will Be A Majority" In Europe

Follow this link to watch the video: http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1821.htm

John McCain Hammers Away At Obama For Not Visiting Wounded Troops In Germany

Moon Walker Edgar Mitchell Says Aliens Exist

UK Columnist's Fox News Video Sharing His Column That Mocks The "Light To The World" Messiah From Chicago Trip Abroad

The AP Admits "The United States Is Now Winning The War That Two Years Ago Seemed Lost."

The following (according to the bios at the bottom of the article) was written by Robert Burns, the Associated Press's chief military reporter. It was also written by Robert Reid, the AP's chief of bureau in Baghdad. The AP says that Reid has covered the war from his post in Iraq since the U.S. invasion in March 2003 while Burns based in Washington has made 21 reporting trips to Iraq. On Burns's latest trip in July, he spent nearly three weeks in central and northern Iraq, observing military operations and interviewing both U.S. and Iraqi officers. Naturally, these AP journalists are not working for Dick Cheney but are providing an unbiased portrait as they see it. The following links you to what these guys had to say:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jzxqARN0Huv38n5pgDfdBRwuoiZgD925HT7G0

Ret. Lt. Col. Joe Repya Slams Obama For Not Visiting Wounded Troops In Germany

Army Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Joe Repya served 30 years of duty and three wars, Vietnam, Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was born in 1946 in Gary, Indiana. He was the oldest son of a disabled combat wounded veteran of the European Campaign of World War II. Awarded an ROTC scholarship he attended Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI, graduating in 1969. Upon graduation he was appointed to the Regular Army as a Second Lieutenant in the Infantry. His 30 years of service in the US Army (12 years Active and 18 years in the National Guard & Reserves) lasted from 1969 until 2006. He served as a Combat Infantry Rifle Platoon Leader in Viet Nam in 1970/71 with the 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment (Band of Brothers “Currahee’s”), and an Aero Rifle Platoon Leader with A Troop, 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment. In Desert Storm 1990/91, he served as a Combat Helicopter Pilot and Staff Officer with the 4th Brigade (Aviation), 1st Infantry Division (The Big Red One). He initially retired in 1998. After the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, he was one of 12,000 US Army retirees who volunteered for Retiree Recall to Active US Army duty for Operation Iraqi Freedom. LTC Repya was selected as one of only 350 retirees who were returned to active duty status. At 58 years old on October 1, 2004 he returned as an Aviation Branch Officer for two more additional years of active duty service with the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, KY. He served for nine months as the G-3 Air for the Division. In 2005 he served as the Senior Liaison Officer for the 101st Airborne Division with the Multi National Corps Headquarters at Camp Victory, Baghdad, Iraq. He reentered retired status at the end of September 2006 at the age of 60. He had this to say:

“The most solemn duty of a commander in chief is to fulfill his responsibility to the men and women who serve this country in uniform. Barack Obama had scheduled a visit with wounded American troops who have served with honor and distinction in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but he broke that commitment, instead flitting from one European capital to the next. Several explanations were offered, none was convincing and each was at odds with the statements of American military leaders in Germany and Washington. For a young man so apt at playing president, Barack Obama badly misjudged the important demands of the office he seeks. Visits with world leaders and speeches to cheering Europeans shouldn’t be a substitute for comforting injured American heroes.”

McCain Ad: "Country First" Part Two

Some music was also added to the McCain ad about the media love affair with Barack Obama:

McCain Continues To Slam Obama For Opposing The Surge Calling It The "Audacity Of Hopelessness"

Speaking to an audience of Hispanic military veterans, McCain continued to slam Obama for opposing sending more troops to Iraq in the "surge" that McCain supported and he claims would have led to defeat there and in Afghanistan. "We rejected the audacity of hopelessness, and we were right," McCain said, a play on the title of Obama's book "The Audacity of Hope." He said that had Obama gotten what he wanted and there had never been a surge then "America would have been humiliated and weakened. Terrorists would have seen our defeat as evidence America lacked the resolve to defeat them. As Iraq descended into chaos, other countries in the Middle East would have come to the aid of their favored factions, and the entire region might have erupted in war." McCain said: "Sen. Obama told the American people what he thought you wanted to hear. I told you the truth." Obama even joined only 13 other senators in voting against funding the troops after Bush had vetoed a previous bill making funding conditioned on withdrawal.

Also, while in Colorado, McCain had a 45-minute meeting with the Dalai Lama

Analyzing Obama's Berlin Speech

Barack Obama is not a JFK or a Ronald Reagan, even if he seems to think he is. For one, even if you hated those presidents, you could not deny that they were the leaders of the free world. It takes an immense amount of arrogance for Obama to act like he is already president giving speeches to large German crowds in Berlin. This same type of arrogance was displayed when he created a version of the presidential seal for his campaign which was quickly abandoned after criticism. All Obama was doing was giving a campaign speech to Germans. It belittled the important "Ich Bin Ein Berliner" and "Tear Down That Wall" speeches given in the context of the struggle for civilization that was the Cold War. It trivialized the speeches given in the midst of the showdown between capitalist Democracy and Communist tyranny. Obama was giving a stump speech that he hoped would help him become president, and that's about it. Furthermore, not only does his speech demonstrate unhealthy amounts of narcissism, it was very short on actual substance. At this point that is expected. It comes as little surprise that his speech in Berlin has not helped him at all in the eyes of the American people. Gallup places Obama at %45 and McCain at %43 after this speech in front of hundreds of thousands of European sycophants.

I shall now analyze certain parts of what Obama actually said in Germany's capital. He starts out with a lie when says that "tonight, I speak to you not as a candidate for President." He is not fooling anyone because that is exactly what he was speaking to them as. Obama said he was speaking as "a citizen -- a proud citizen of the United States, and a fellow citizen of the world," whatever a citizen of the world even is.

Obama goes on to discuss Harry Truman's famous Berlin airlift of food and supplies in response to Joseph Stalin's blockade of that city. Obama says that "retreat would have allowed Communism to march across Europe. Where the last war had ended, another World War could have easily begun. All that stood in the way was Berlin." Why is it that Barack Obama claims the Berlin airlift teaches us today to not retreat in the face of a dangerous evil, yet he has preached retreat from Iraq no matter the conditions on the ground since long before the surge successes. Would unconditional "retreat" from what Osama Bin Laden calls "the world’s millstone and pillar...the capital of the caliphate” not allow for Jihadist terrorism to march across Iraq? Had we followed Obama's advice and began withdrawal instead of a surge could we not have said that where the Iraq war would end another war could easily begin? How come Baghdad does not stand in the way of a victory of Jihadism today as Berlin could have stood as an ultimate victory for Communism in past years had we not stood our ground? Obama says the airlift to Berlin was "the largest and most unlikely rescue in history" that "brought food and hope to the people of this city." Yet he fails to explain why he does not believe that the United States should work toward hope for Iraqis? He says that "the odds were stacked against success" in Berlin yet he claimed the failed policies in Iraq warrant retreat.

He discusses some of the problems in today's world and how as members of a "global citizenship" we must stand together. He does bring up serious issues, though of course there is nothing in terms of actual substance as to how to confront these problems other than saying we should all be united. Being united behind no specific action is incredibly easy. Right after mentioning the September 11th attacks he says in the very next sentence that "cars in Boston and factories in Beijing are melting the ice caps in the Arctic, shrinking coastlines in the Atlantic, and bringing drought to farms from Kansas to Kenya." I guess Obama is against anyone who owns a car in Boston. I guess Obama is not too worried about losing the Boston vote. I am glad to hear Bostoners are apparently as unfriendly to the environment as Beijing factory owners. I understand that environmentalist rhetoric plays well in that neck of the woods, but should he really lump in Boston drivers for the sake of some alliteration in a speech? I notice that Berlin is a city that starts with the letter "B" yet he did not say anything about cars in Berlin.

Barack Obama then went on to to make endless wall metaphors in reference to the fall of the Berlin wall. "That is why the greatest danger of all is to allow new walls to divide us from one another. The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand. The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes; natives and immigrants; Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down." Meaningless metaphors and cliches. Rational people are not erecting pointless walls. They oppose illegal immigration and Islamic fanaticism and I would hope this is not what Obama means by these vague wall metaphors. As a matter of fact, I can't give you all the meaningless cliches in this speech or I would bore you to death. Of course the Berlin wall was an actual wall dividing free West Berlin from Communist East Berlin, not some metaphorical cliche. When Reagan defiantly proclaimed that Gorbachev should tear down the wall he was declaring U.S. policy and showing strength in front of the Soviet Union. People even criticized him for it at the time, even though it is one of his very finest moments as President. He was not making fuzzy feel-good declarations that have no real meaning or impact.

This is the moment. This is the moment. This is the moment for Barack Obama to get off the stage and go campaign in the country where the election will actually be held. Obama went on with a string of "this is the moment" statements. Many of his "this is the moment" statements express sentiments that no sensible American would argue with, though you never know with some Europeans. Though I can't even figure out what the moment of building on "the wealth that open markets have created" and sharing "its benefits more equitably" because "we will not be able to sustain this growth if it favors the few, and not the many" even means? It is such nonsensical socialist sounding vaguery that you cannot tell what at all the man is specifically talking about. He also says that "this is the moment we must help answer the call for a new dawn in the Middle East. My country must stand with yours and with Europe in sending a direct message to Iran that it must abandon its nuclear ambitions." Has Bush not been sending that message to Iran with the Europeans for some time now and the Iranians have repeatedly rejected it? What if Iran continues to say no to American and European messages? Will that be the moment that President Obama takes out Iran's nuclear facilities? Obama states that "despite past differences, this is the moment when the world should support the millions of Iraqis who seek to rebuild their lives, even as we pass responsibility to the Iraqi government and finally bring this war to a close." How are you supporting the Iraqis if you are bringing the war to a close? What do you think the troops are there for? They are there to "support the millions of Iraqis" with a strong enough Iraqi army and secure enough Iraq so that the Iraqi government can take responsibility for their own future. How does "bringing this war to a close" no matter what the situation was or will be on the ground have anything to do with those objectives? Of course Obama says it is the moment for America to "reduce the carbon we send into our atmospheres," though I doubt he will demand that nations like China or India self-impose any restrictions on productivity. It is fairly simple for this to be "the moment to stand as one" if standing as one requires no concrete action from Europe itself. He then goes on to say that "sixty years ago, the planes that flew over Berlin did not drop bombs; instead they delivered food, and coal, and candy to grateful children. And in that show of solidarity, those pilots won more than a military victory. They won hearts and minds; love and loyalty and trust -- not just from the people in this city, but from all those who heard the story of what they did here." If I remember my history, were there not quite a few bombs falling on Berlin just a few short years earlier? If my memory suits me, I even recall a couple of planes sending a very powerful "direct message" to Japan. It is unfortunate that the pilots that dropped bombs on Nazi Germany were winning only a "military victory" instead of "hearts and minds; love and loyalty and trust."

There was also a few paragraphs toward the end where Obama for some reason felt he had to preempt a little praise for American ideals with America bashing. "Will we acknowledge that there is no more powerful example than the one each of our nations projects to the world? Will we reject torture and stand for the rule of law? Will we welcome immigrants from different lands, and shun discrimination against those who don't look like us or worship like we do, and keep the promise of equality and opportunity for all of our people? People of Berlin -- people of the world -- this is our moment. This is our time. I know my country has not perfected itself. At times, we've struggled to keep the promise of liberty and equality for all of our people. We've made our share of mistakes, and there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions." So America is a band of lawless bigoted xenophobic torturers now? Why does he feel the need to bash America in front of a foreign audience?

Unlike Kennedy or Reagan this speech will not go down in history. It will be a footnote about a campaign stump speech made by a guy who was not even President but acted like he was. It had no memorable lines unless you consider "this is the moment" memorable. (The video below demonstrates that "this is the moment" is not even unique to his speech in Berlin but a verbatim repeat of his stump speeches in America). It will be forgotten. America was not impressed by Obama's world tour as the polls show no increase in popularity. Some people, especially those in the media, are far too easily impressed by Barack's stump speeches. His oratory in prepared speeches before adulating fans cannot hide that he says so little of substance.

Perhaps this is the moment. The moment for America to send the Democratic party and the rest of the world be they freinds or enemies a message by electing John McCain as the next president.

Obama Cancels Visiting U.S. Troops In Germany But Has No Problem Spending Time Giving Speeches To Germans

SPIEGEL ONLINE has learned that "Obama has cancelled a planned short visit to the Rammstein and Landstuhl US military bases in the southwest German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The visits were planned for Friday. 'Barack Obama will not be coming to us,' a spokesperson for the US military hospital in Landstuhl announced. 'I don’t know why.' Shortly before the same spokeswoman had announced a planned visit by Obama." Obama obviously believes Germans take precedence over American soldiers. Not only did he skip visiting American soldiers but he skipped visiting wounded American soldiers. The Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC) is an overseas military hospital operated by the U.S. Army and the Department of Defense. LRMC is the largest military hospital outside of the continental United States. It is located near Landstuhl, Germany, and serves as the nearest treatment center for wounded soldiers coming from Iraq and Afghanistan. For a presidential candidate Barack Obama's priorities are very aschew. It is more than outrageous that Obama felt giving a speech to some of his German fans was more important than the American soldier.

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Obama Flips On Meeting With Leaders Of Terrorist States "Without Preconditions" In First Year

Obama was specifically asked in a primary debate whether he would meet with the leaders of Iran and other rogue terrorist states in his first year in office without preconditions and his answer was that he would. Now he has fliped and changed that to "at my time and choosing" and conveniently claimed that "without preconditions" does not mean "without preperations."

Katie Couric Interviews Both Obama And McCain On The Surge

Obama is obviously uncomftorable admitting that the surge has been very succesful beca