Do all republicans hate America or just the bush and fred republicans? The Iraq war is good for the giant oil companies.It has helped to inflate oil prices and keep them artificially high.Anyone supporting these policies has to hate America.

Man, after reading all of your statements about the president and presidential canidates, makes me sick. This is not about Obama, Clinton, Edwards or Bush. It's about this country and what we stand for. No man is perfect, and no man is going to save this country. It's up all as one people. One thing we can all agree on is to end this war in IRAQ, impeach bush, get universal health care, and better education for our children the future leaders of this country. If you look at all the speeches that bush gives you can tell that he does not care about anyone but himself. We need to help Obama and the other democratic canidates end this war, including Ron Paul...lol

"Look, the concept here is principle. "

I don't think they grasp, or want to grasp this point. Let them grasp at straws.

All who did or did not vote for the war , MOOT.

The funding to keep this war going must be stopped.  I want ALL to vote against funding. Congress must stand against this corrupt group of Repukes and not put any bill on the floor that funds the WAR.

Congress has the duty to stop this terrible failed policy.  They must take control and lead us out of the waste and destruction. Their job  and the power
they have can get it done.

If the drumbeat to go to war drowned out all dissent for not going, then were is the thunder to end it?
Where are the media and journalist, where is their outrage and voice? We need to be dependent on MOVEON ads to speak the truth!  Who will speak for us now?  How quiet are the drums now?
Why are we blowing in the wind??

Is this all about how to put a pillow case over your head?? The reverse of the KKK, Poor man and the Queen of day time T.V trying to buy the White House.

Lets see, $3,000,000 dollars, its just paper. Like all the Paper Hanging S.O.B's in Washington!!! The tell you ""What is Wrong"" and who is the Bad Guy!! All these Washington Paper Hanging S.O.B's are liars and self serving ego driven circus clowns! But are we not the real clowns??????? We sent these Air Heads to Washington to be our """VOICE"", And they turned the whole circus into one big side show!!!

It is your worst mistake .  ""You sent these homesteaders back to Washington and now your paying the Price of Failure,, Even with the lives of our armed forces!!!

But Remember, It was your VOTE that approved these wars, it was your vote that 12 million Illegals remain on our streets ,, it was your vote that our prisons are filled with Illegals which have committed crimes against our laws, it is your vote which continues to support war!!

Is this not the land of the FREE?? Then why is it just a hand full who have taken the right to use your vote and self destruct the moral being of this nation.

This Nation demands a Leader ""NOT A PAPER HANGER""

Carrie, I'd like to take a crack at your question, if I may.

What you fail to take into consideration is that politics is based upon the strategy of perception. It often does not matter what the reality of the situation is. All that matters is that the perception is what the politicians want it to be. Allow me to start my explanation of that by saying that your description of the situation at that point in time misses a couple of things:

First is the fact that we were still in a post 9/11 recovery phase. By which I mean that we were still in shock over the vicious attacks and were committed to getting those responsible. It's like holding back on punching someone back after they've punched you in the face. It's pretty hard, right? You may choose to disagree, but we were not exactly as reasonable as we could have been then, and any argument near cogent would be enough to send us off running.

Secondly, we were the victim of some masterful positioning work by Karl Rove and the Neo-Cons in the White House. They were the ones who exploited the feelings we were experiencing post-9/11. They aggressively painted anyone who threatened to oppose the legislation as being anti-patriotic.  As a matter of fact, they used that tactic fairly successfully until 2006.

So what you essentially have here is a chess match. And the set of politicians at the Federal level on the Democratic side were outmanoeuvred in this case by the politicians on the Republican side. The Republicans used the Democrats' reelection fears to get what they wanted.

I will close with one last thought for everyone: Please be careful in painting all politicians' votes and choices as black/white issues. Often there are more subtle and nuanced issues that must be taken into consideration. They often go unreported, but they are there nonetheless. Take the time to make sure you understand the entire situation and you will end up a calmer, more educated, and more informed voter.

Every voter should read Obama's speech; every voter
should study world history in order to select a world leader. Obama shows Presidential insight, understanding and careful interpretation of international affairs. Hope he will choose Biden or
someone close to his mind-set for Vice-President.
It is time for Americans to celebrate our cultural diversity and 'employ' the best from all dimensions.

Every voter should read Obama's speech; every voter
should study world history in order to select a world leader. Obama shows Presidential insight, understanding and careful interpretation of international affairs. Hope he will choose Biden or
someone close to his mind-set for Vice-President.
It is time for Americans to celebrate our cultural diversity and 'employ' the best from all dimensions.

Molly, your arguement cannot be substantiated with facts. If you read his pre war speech posted by Toris above, you'll realized that it takes a gut to go against huge public opinion - most especially if you're running for an office.

The arguement that he wasn't in the senate to make the hard decision cannot hold either. The question is, why can't this moron read the intelligence as Bob Graham suggested.

Lets take the nuance out of it, they all voted for the war for political reason and even when the case for the war was not justified. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that the case for the war was bogus, yet, they all went ahead to vote for it.

FYI: There are some senators that was courageous and defile the public opinion by voting against the war. Some even spoke out on the senate floor against the authorization, yet, these moron authorize it.

How many lives have we lost as a result? ~4000 lives have been lost since then and billions of dollars have been spent, yet the end site is not near.

As far as i know, Clinton voted for the war for political reason - she want to looks tough, same goes with Edward, Biden and Dodd. In fact, Kerry did the same thing, we all know what happen. Although Edward apologize for his vote, how about the families that have lost a loved one for life.

I want a President that has the gut to speak out when others are not. This is what this election is all about. It is not about experience without gut, it is about the future of the young Americans that could be send to another war that is baseless.

Carie, we elected them to make the tough decision on our behalf. We expect our leader to make decision based on truth and facts. We don't expect them to make a political decision but a right decision that is good for America. Nearly 4000 lives have been lost because some of our elected officials make a political decision.

If the few senators can see the caveat in the war case, why can't other see the same? I know some senators and representatives spoke against the war on the floor of the senate.

Obama had it dead on in his pre-war speech. Unfortunately, neither the American people nor senate were prepared for our Master of Deception and more importantly Self-Delusion and his crew of neocons who were hot to have a war with Iraq and correct "dad's" mistake. The Idiot in Baghbad played into their hands bluffing that he had WMDs.
So Bush got the war he wanted badly pulling the pin from the hand grenade we now call Iraq. The people and senate gave him the benefit of the doubt.  At the moment Sadam was toppled we LOST the war. The counter balance to Iran was eliminated, the real threat, was lost. Unfortunately, his  crew of incompents, unmanned and unprepared totally blew it by not quickly handing over the reign to Sistani or quickly partitioning the country and bailing out. Even then we would have in a mess but it would been a lot easy to wash our hands. Al Queda was given a training base and recruiting tool they never had.  The shining beacon of democracy, a wonderful day dream. was a total self-delusion that he conned the people and senate into sharing.

Since that time, Bush has excelled in burning every bridge to keep us in until the clock runs out. If only his skill in getting us into trouble, and keeping us in trouble, ratcheting the cost up when we do depart was matched by skill in getting us out and solving real problem.
The senate always did and still has the power to cut off funding and be branded as traitors for "betraying the troops" and "surrending to terrorist."  There is no doubt in my mind that had they shown that kind of suicidal courage, Bush would have gleefully ignored them, disregarded the constitution, even more than he already has, and would have effectively sold his bill of goods in the 2004 congressional races and elected pro-war and subservient Republican majorities in both houses.
I do have sympathy for those in office who went along however reluctantly and do see how withdrawal cannot be done over night. They are not disqualified in my book for their mistake.

It is clear to me by reading most of these comments that more people than the national polls seem to confirm are really taking notice of Obama being the real deal.

As I stated before and will restate again why in this nation of 300 miilion people would we want to keep the White House in the hands of 2 families for 28 years by the time it is over.  

I also think all of Hilliary's so call experience is overblown.    That vote to authorize the war without reading the NIE Report gives me trememdous reason to pause.   I also was against the invasion of IRAQ and I work for the defense industry.  There was really no good reason to attack IRAQ, and I see Dick Chaney himself agreed in 1994.  

OBAMA '08

Obama's the man. He's probably the only candidate out there who can bring back together the foreign alliances we once had--and help bring people together at home. All the rest of them are walking stiffs, including Hillary.

Must read:  War Critics Question Obama's Fervor
Some Say Actions Don't Match Talk
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/14/AR2007091402254.html

Washington Post today

Gee I didn't vote on the authorization to use force either, can I run for President based on what I didn't do?

The Yah-Butt tactic the Democrats used for so long seems to have run out of steam entirely. Back then it was "Yah Sure Saddam was evil and had to be deposed , BUT" and then a string of pie in the sky methods of getting rid of him and the Ba'ath Party without using military force, none of which would have worked in the real world.
Had saddam remained in power not only would sanctions have been lifted by now his plans to produced battlefield quantities of Mustard gas using home manufactured precursors and disposable crucibles would have dovetailed with his proscribed long range missiles and even longer range missiles he had contracted for from North Korea to menance not only the entire middle East but a large portion of Europe as well.
Had he kicked off from natural causes his two psycho Sons would have seized power. One of those wackos had already tried to transfer Chemical weapons technicians and equipment to palestinian Terrorists based in Syria.

While the IIS did a pretty good job of cleaning up just before and to some extent immediately after the invasion enough evidence remained to prove that the IIS themselves had active Chemical weapons programs up to the day of the 48 hour ultimatum, right under the nose of UN Inspectors.

"How many Al Qaeda terrorists did they say have been killed or captured since the "SURGE" began? They could not recall!
How many Al Qaeda terrorists did they say are still in Iraq? They do not have a current estimate! "
Last time al-Queda ( as far as I know anyway) sent out a list of "Martyrs" killed in Iraq was in 2005 when they admitted to over 4,000 AQ foreign fighters killed up until that time.

The military doesn't like to publish body counts because of previous mis use of such figures. Also its best to keep the enemy as much in the dark about its losses as possible. No need doing that much of their work for them. Let em sweat when calls aren't returned or personel don't show up when planned.

Congress no longer has the full confidence of the military, anything congress hears ends up being "leaked" for political gain, regardless of how sensitive the information might be.

Theres no horse that can't be rode nor no cowboy that can't be throwed. The situation in Iraq is winnable, and it disgusts me to hear these political hacks wailing the defeatist mantra thats become the DNC platform.
Its easy to predict defeat if you are working day and night to ensure that defeat.
All this Tokyo Rose blather will bite the Democrats in the hind quarters for generations to come.

It seems to me that some of the comments are missing the point on the fact that some of the candidates voted for the war without doing their homework.  But, they want to knock Sen. Obama on his experience, etc.  
How do they look so smart and intelligent with all of that collective experience and they still got it wrong and did not do their homework, but yet, they want us to keep things the same.   Obama represents true change.   I hope that the electorate can break through all of this rheteric as well as the mainstream media trying to call the election for us by giving all of their blessings to Hilliary Clinton.   I will state again why does this country want the Presidency in the hands of just 2 families for 28 years by the time it is all over with.   I think we deserve better and different!!

And he will have to drop his support for any gay rights and free choice for women.  I think we will see and hear  him talking the religious message they want to hear just so he can gain their support.  And as for John Edwards. . well he got one two many $400 hair cuts.So yea I will give and support Hillary..even though she seams a bit too entrenched in Washington. It would be great to see a great  women president. All I can say is guys don't be afraid..we still control this country.

Shadow, Hamden, CT  and LEK,

I'm not claimimg Obama didn't speak out against the war, he did. I was correcting those who claimed he was running for the US Senate at the time, he was running for re-election to the Illinois state senate in Springfield in 02. Also while a majority of American's were in favor of the war prior to the final invasion. In 02 when Obama made his first speech the public support was not as high. Sen. Durbin (who wasn't up for re-election in 02) voted against the authorization, even if he was up for re-election he might have been one of the handful of Senators voting against it. The war authorization was not as popular in October of 02 as many seem to remember, or at least it wasn't in all areas. Jim Leach a moderate GOP voted against authorization (one of 3-4 congressional GOP's to do so) He was in a tight re-election bid against a MD, who was vocally opposed to the war. Whether he would have voted against the war if she hadn't made Iraq an issue no one will ever know. But if the public opinion was so high in favor of the vote in 02 I doubt either Dr. Thomas or Jim Leach would have both been against the war.

I do think it is easier to be in favor (Edwards re:cutting off funding) or against (Obama war authorization) when you aren't called upon to vote on the measure. That isn't to say that Obama doesn't deserve credit for his position in 02.

However, I do think that both he and Hillary played politics in May when they refused to devulge how they would vote on the war supplemental, didn't speak before the Senate Floor either for or against the supplemental as Biden and Dodd did (and Hillary rarely passes up an opportunity to be on record prior to a vote), and both waited until after the supplemental passed to vote against it. That is playing politics, not leadership.

I put forth last spring, though my universal health care plan would go further in reducing the punishing cost of health care than any other proposal that's been offered in this campaign. www.expressdefense.com But the real key to passing any health care reform is the ability to bring people together in an open, transparent process

Hey, "Let's Think", perhaps you need more practice at it.   I would surmise that you are rather young.  Nevertheless, we do not all expect to make a hundred thousand a yr.  Still, every citizen that gets up and goes to work for a salary, should be guaranteed a living wage.  I guess that you are young.  I made $145. 00  bring home pay in the early '70's, while residing in High Priced NYC.  I supported my wife and son.  My wife did not have to work, but stayed home and raised our child.  Things were tight and I did odd jobs to supplement, but there was always enough and I had money to save and a little to invest.  That was on  just little more than minimum wage.  Try it now on twice minimum wage, w/o food stamps or other supplements from the government, you'll starve to death.  we need a change.  The government is supposed to secure the general welfare, not just the welfare of the rich and well to do.

If the statistic that 90 percent of the wealth is in the hands of 10 percent of the people is correct that is immoral, because we all or at least most of us contribute to the society, in one way or another. Wer should all reap.  Moreover, if the distribution was more like 50 percent in the hands of 10 percent of the people and the other 50 percent in the hand of the other 90 percent, I think that the rich would still be very rich and the citizenry would feel very secure.  Thus there would be less crime, people on the dole and a more educated populace.  Moreover, the entire economy would be better stimulated, because people would have more income.  Com on, lets think about maaking things better for all Americans, or don't you think thatthe guy sweeping floors deserves a descent living because he could not afford or complete college??

Hank  

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