So the Shia leadership of Iraq think that they no longer need American training wheels? Big Brother over in Iran will take care of them? It is by no means clear what this may indicate for the Sunnis and the Kurds.

I hope that Iraq has indeed coalesced as a country rather than a collection but this is by no means clear. Nor whether Iraq acting as a country would promote American interests generally.

America has a very good record about ultimately leaving conquered countries to their own devices but usually only after breaking undesirable cultural movements -- Nazism in Germany and militarism in Japan. It is not clear whether sectarianism in Iraq has been sufficiently ameliorated or not. One could argue that the Sunnis were enabled to discard Al Quaeda as would be 'protectors' (and would be tyrants) because the Sunnies had American protection against Shia extremists.

Posted at July 22, 2008 10:45 AM in response to L.A. Times Gets It Right: Iraqi Leaders Agree With Obama

The way Obama and his supporters dealt with Hillary and her supporters disqualifies him from the Oval Office.

The only thing that Hillary personally owess Obama is a suite for slander.

If I can't trust a Democratic candidate to count votes fairly and to put the interest of the country over his own political advantage I do not want him in office.

Anybody care to guess which state I live in? It's one of the battlegrounds.

Posted at July 20, 2008 1:54 PM in response to Top Dem Party Officials Send Sharply-Worded Email Demanding That Hillary Donors And Supporters Get Behind Obama

What Obama takes in this month is not what is critical. What is critical is whether his ATM machine at the Internet is still working -- the folks who sent him the price of two movie tickets without giving it much more thought than that may have stopped giving.

This may account for his sudden decision to hold high dollar events.

Posted at July 13, 2008 4:10 PM in response to Obama Campaign Slams Story Reporting $30 Million In June As "Way Off"

I'd rather have McCain have that power -- the Dems would watch him far more closely than they would watch Obama.

Posted at July 13, 2008 3:42 PM in response to Election Central Morning Roundup

Aw, gee. How many positions can Obama reverse and how important can they be before Democrats can legitimately be upset in your opinion?

I predicted Obama would cave on practically anything and everything way early -- Collins had this right -- this is what is meant by uniting us and his lying about his failure to pass nuclear leak legislation and his pandering to Exelon and watering everything down is typical of a guy who has to be loved by everybody -- or at least by whole stadiums full of people. Ever heard the term personality cult?

But I have to say I did not expect the telecom cave.

Best way to support those issues is to support people who support the issues -- give to known Democratic candidates and ignore Obama.

Posted at July 13, 2008 3:30 PM in response to Donating to Obama IS NOT ABOUT Obama

So glad to hear that Obama filibustered the FISA bill because it contained retro-active immunity for the telecoms.

Oh, right -- plus I am now expected to believe all Obama's promises.

Does it ever occur to you that there may be many delegates who made a commitment to a politician who does not actually exist?

Obama does not have the nomination yet -- he claimed it not because he got the required number from pledged delegates chosen by the people but because the super-delegates judged him the best candidate.

I wonder how many still do? Anybody talked to Chris Dodd recentlY?

Posted at July 13, 2008 2:48 PM in response to Whining Crybaby Clintonite Losers

Obama needs to realize that the reason that he didn't grow up with his father is that a white woman, his mother, chose to marry a man from a polygamous culture who planned to reside in Africa and when the time came for her to go to Africa she flinched and didn't go with her husband.

I'm not saying Obama Sr. was any type of paragon -- according to Obama's mother Obama Sr. lied about being divorced from Kezia his first wife and also he chose to go to Harvard rather than to a school which would have paid for Obama's mother's living expenses leading to the first separation -- but Obama's mother is the one who ended the marriage and chose not to live with her husband.

Givine Obama Sr.'s temper and the conditions in Africa at the time it may well have been the right decision but for Obama to claim that he was fatherless because of his Father's lack of personal moral responsiblity is ridiculous.

Posted at July 10, 2008 12:36 PM in response to A Short, Brieft, Terse, Snide Thank You Note to the Reverend Jesse Jackson

I want someone who will keep his promises. I want someone who will not support immunity for telecoms. Someone who will not back corn ethanol. Someone who will trust women to make moral decisions in the third trimester.

I don't want McCain and I don't want Obama but on the current evidence I will take McCain over Obama. In part because Obama moves the new unDemocratic Party right -- Obama's Supreme Court picks would not be blocked and McCain's might. Obama's attempts to water down choice would be groveled to and McCain's attempts to block choice would be fought.

With McCain we are apt to more quickly get less ideal solutions which work. With Obama you will get pie in the sky proposals followed by caves which don't work. Google Obama and Nuclear Leaks and NY Times. Sorrowfully, this looks more and more like Obama's standard operating proposal.

McCain opposed corn ethanol in Iowa while Obama supported it.

Posted at July 10, 2008 12:19 PM in response to What Do Women Want?

Obama didn't have a father because of a white woman: Obama's mother refused to follow her husband to Africa and divorced him. This was her decision -- not Obama Sr.'s. In fact, Obama's father returned when Obama was ten attempting again to persuade her to join him. From 126-129 Dreams of My Father.

For Obama to turn this into a false morality play about why black males should show more personal responsibility is ridiculous.

Obama Sr. was not a saint -- he lied about being divorced from his first wife Kezia claiming that he was divorced but he could have no divorcepapers because it was a village wedding.
He had already had a child with Kezia and continued the relationship even after marrying a third woman in Africa. It is unlikely that he would have ended the relationship with Kezia even if Obama's mother had chosen to return to Africa with him. You have to remember that polygamy was accepted and moral in his culture. Obama senior did intend to form a family and take care of his children with Obama's mother

Posted at July 10, 2008 10:00 AM in response to Obama Accepts Jackson's Apology -- And Stands By His Statements On Personal Morality

If you don't have the sense to come in out of the rain, what does that say about your judgment? About your ability to plan rather than simply making optimistic assumptions which may or may not pan out?

Obama has used rock start theatrics to good effect, he is nowhere near as glamorous in a one on one interview or without a teleprompter. In fact he often soudns like a loose canon in impromptu situations -- bittergate, mental health exceptions, Pakistan, undivided Jerusalem, nuclear leaks etc.

Posted at July 7, 2008 9:44 AM in response to Election Central Morning Roundup