Israel's Security Cabinet will vote Saturday night on an Egyptian proposal for a truce to end the 3-week-old offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers, a senior government official said.

The official said a vote to approve the truce would amount to a "unilateral" cease-fire, though Israeli forces would only leave Gaza after an official declaration that the fighting was over

The truce would begin a phased process in which Israel stops the assault and gauges the reaction from Hamas militants. Israel would resume the offensive if the militants continue to fire rockets, the government official said....

The Israeli vote was set hours after the U.S. agreed to provide assurances on ending weapons smuggling into Gaza as part of a cease-fire...

 

In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Livni signed an agreement Friday intended to assure Israel that Hamas militants will not be able to rearm if it agrees to a cease-fire in Gaza.

 

 

Exactly how will we accomplish this?  Go to war with Hamas?

Polls show that most Americans, perhaps even foreigners, are glad to see President George W Bush leave office.  According to CNN:

As President Bush prepares to leave office, three quarters of Americans have a parting thought: "Good riddance."

Asked their view of President Bush at the end of his presidency, 75 percent said they are glad he is leaving, according to a CNN-Opinion Research Corporation poll taken in December. Only 23 percent said they will miss him.

I happen to be one of the 75% group.  However, I'm not fooled into believing that 'what you can't see can't hurt you' proposition either.  Although 'change' is coming, what's happened is still here.

Americans as a whole, those that voted for Barack Obama especially, are hoping to 'turn the page' or walk away from the past 8 years.  Problem is, they can't at least not yet.

While the men and women that were part of the Bush administration are leaving the building, (the gasoline and matches that started the fire are smoldering) -- the fire itself is still burning and in several areas it's spreading.

It's going to take the whole nation of volunteers, hard workers, sacrifice and a long time to put this fire out and clean away the mess.

I just had a lovely thought.  Wouldn't it be great if President Bush and VP Cheney were forced to experience what Ebenezer Scrooge did;  The ghost of the past, present and future?

The story could be told by creating a movie drama.  

I'm by no means a movie producer/writer but I'm sure somebody out there could come up with a very 'interesting' movie about these two men having to face the 'TRUTH' finally.

So come on you wild imaginative people out there -- get started on that movie of the year!  I'll even help sell the tickets.

While President George W Bush makes his last televised statement tonight what will our allies and enemies be saying or doing?  Will they listen?  Will they be celebrating or crying? 

While President Barack Hussein Obama is being inaugurated on Tuesday, what will our allies and enemies be saying or doing?  Are they watching?  Do they feel happy, ready for a new day, sad or disillusioned?

I remember watching our 24 hour news stations like CNN, MSNBC and FOX reporting from overseas after 9/11.  We saw how others felt about what had happened to the U.S..  We saw tears, sadness and people praying for us.

I hope the news stations will air similar broadcasts, both tonight and on Tuesday.  I would like to hear and see what 'others' are thinking during these major events in our history.  Are they bored with it, do they care?  Are they delighted or saddened?

Some of you will most likely say, "Who cares what others think of us."  Well, to you folks I say -- I do.  As we've been told many times in the past, we are a global economy.  Our neighbors may be miles away but in today's world, they are in reality as close as next door. 

We need everybody on this earth to help keep her yearning for a 'brighter future' in order to save her.

My mom used to tell me the people the boast the most are usually the ones that are the most guilty of wrong doing.

President Bush and Vice President Cheney have spent the last two months trying to revise history by being willing to be interviewed by every TV and Radio station they can get onto.

Why do they feel the need to 'revise' their legacy?  Usually, if you are in the 'right' there is no need to explain why you did what you did.  It's just plain obvious by the results of what you did.

If the President and Vice President had done things on the up and up, Americans wouldn't need to be brainwashed into believing something else.

This observation of mine may tick a few supporters off (I happen to be one of them) but I just noticed something about Barack Obama and Osama Bin Laden after looking at the two of them together in a picture on HuffingtonPost.com. 

I don't want to feed the Obama haters but am I nuts to think.....

If you remove the beard, hat and add a small mole near Osama Bin Laden's nose, he would look almost exactly like President-elect Barack Obama.

This is wierd!

I wonder if supporters of Osama Bin Laden see this resemblance too?  Will it influence them in anyway?  Could Obama actually gain their trust seeing as how Osama is no longer showing his face to the public?

Something to think about anyway as we elect our new President next Tuesday.

Seeing Congress demand for oversight for President-elect Obama to receive the remaining funds that were approved last year is like having a bank demand to know what you did with the money they approved and loaned you six months ago.

So,  Hillary supporters, how did she do this morning at the confirmation hearings?

I thought she did just fine, course I never heard any actual 'hard' questions, only those that she was able to say "we don't know yet"l  Like the one on what you will do different with respects to Iran - will you go there? 

I did feel that she 'struggled' to give the Obama 'take' on the issue of diplomacy and one on one talks.  She also seemed a bit uncomfortable discussing Iraq and getting out in 16 months.  She was able to claim Bush's agreement with Iraq would confine them to a certain extent.

What's your opinion? 

Should Chelsea had been there?  Do children and other family members normally attend a confirmation?  I honestly do not know.  Should Kerry have invited her behind the Senate table?

What's your opinion?

We hear about all sorts of things President-elect Barack Obama plans on doing for those in the Washington DC area during the inauguration to thank his supporters for standing with him these past two years.

 

Perhaps the President-elect should do something for his email supporters as well.  We email supporters have worked hard to help Obama to get elected.  We deserve a "Thank you too".

 

Perhaps sending each and every one of us a signed photo of the President and Vice President through our email would please most of us.  I'm sure even our names could be added to the signatures.  Something like:

 

Thanks for your support Joe Smith,

 

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden

 

Or perhaps they could send a special invitation or thank you card signed by both the President and Vice President through the mail (without asking for more money).

 

I predict that after President Obama gets his stimulus package passed which involves his energy plan, some of his health care plans (records system), his jobs plan, his infrastructure plans, his environment plans, etc..., and after the 2010 congressional election (seeing who gets voted on and if Dems gain in their majority), and after the majority of our troops have been withdrawn from Iraq, President Barack Obama will begin to release his administrations exstensive investigation results on the abuses toward our nation and it's constitution by the Bush administration during 2000-2008.

By 2010, if Obama is successful in getting most of what he promised Americans during his campaign passed, he will have the approval of the majority of Americans to do what he feels is in the best interest of our nation.  Protect our Constitution and our rights. 

To do that, he will inform Americans that we must find out why we got we were in 2008.  Why were we in two wars, why did we have such a deep recession, why did 3 million people lose their jobs, why did we torture prisioners, what else did we do?  Most importantly, why did we lose the respect of our allies?  We must know these things so that we do not allow them to happen again.

Barack Obama taught the Constitution in college.  He respects and trusts it.  He will want to preserve it.

Barack Obama on This Week:

"I think my general view when it comes to my attorney general is that he's the people's lawyer. Eric Holder's been nominated," said Obama. "His job is to uphold the Constitution and look after the interests of the American people, not be swayed by my day-to-day politics. So ultimately, he's going to be making some calls. But my general belief is that when it comes to national security, what we have to focus on is getting things right in the future as opposed to looking at what we got wrong in the past."

I asked Fertik to share his thoughts on the president-elect's answer. This is what he had to say:

It's absurd to talk about "upholding the Constitution" and say "no one is above the law" if you refuse to look "back" at those who have subverted the Constitution and broken the law. And you can't have one set of rules for "national security" and a different set of rules for everything else.

So if there's any hope for prosecution in Obama's answer, it is that Attorney General Eric Holder will truly be "the people's lawyer" and fully represent us by prosecuting torturers, wiretappers, and other criminals who committed their crimes from secret undisclosed locations hidden within the Bush-Cheney administration.

One more thing that is worth noting. As pointed out by Think Progress, Dawn Johnsen, Obama's choice to lead the Office of Legal Counsel, has said that the next president should avoid "any temptation to simply move on." Here is the relevant quote:

We must avoid any temptation simply to move on. We must instead be honest with ourselves and the world as we condemn our nation's past transgressions and reject Bush's corruption of our American ideals. Our constitutional democracy cannot survive with a government shrouded in secrecy, nor can our nation's honor be restored without full disclosure.

I have to admit, I agree with Fertick and Johnsen, unless we look at our past in depth, we'll never know the truth.  Were there crimes committed or were the stories just made up to hurt the Bush administration.

I don't think our attorney general should spend his every waking moment investigating the past eight years but I do think he should at least touch base with everything that's been questioned over the years.  If something comes up that sounds a bit fishy then and only then dig deeper.

Obama is correct however, it will be Holder's job to, "uphold the Constitution and look after the interests of the American people, not be swayed by my (Obama's) day-to-day politics".

I would suggest however that Obama allow Attorney General Holder the option to hire more help to do the digging.  The past 8 years have resulted in a great deal of harm to Americans and their allies -  in money, privacy, jobs, trust and last but not least, many treasured lives.

The past 8 years did not resemble a 'normal' two term presidency.  They were not just about one family's marriage and any infidelity involved.  And they were not about one political party sneaking into another political party's office.  All Americans suffered for what happen over the past eight years.  Did they need to?