The gift gap

Are All People In Virginia As Naive As This Guy? — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:39:54 GMT

This worn-out Republican mantra has gotten so old and fatiguing. Its almost as old as the worn-out wartime rhetoric thrown around about intoxicants. I'm still waiting for the surrender ceremony in the war on drugs. Which plant, by the way, is going to sign that one?
Paul Miller, Woodbridge, VA

I am so tired of the leftists/liberals with brains the size of peas not knowing what is at stake in the middle east. People like this person above think having troops in Iraq today is the same as not having troops there today. Liberals like this have taken moral relativism to the level that everything is the same, and nothing is different.

If you can't figure out why peace in Iraq and the middle east is important, I certainly can't explain it to you in a few lines here. In fact, it's probably a hopeless endeavor best left to someone with a bigger sense of humor then mine.

The gift gap

Ira, Freehold, NJ — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:42:47 GMT

A gift gap!

Missed in all this huge change in administration policy on Iraq is the fact that, yesterday, the US announced that we are sending State Dept. officials to IRAN to begin talks on the normalization of relations.

So much for Obama being an appeaser. So much for Obama being naive for wanting to engage foreign governments not friendly to us in talks. So much for the McCain talking points on this issue. We are taking the first steps in re-establishing relations with Iran. This is a long standing Obama policy which was widely criticized by the Administration and McCain. Talk and engage our enemies on negotiation. Beats bombing first and talking later. The President has tossed John McCain under the bus twice today.

Taken together, these two policy changes have had to make this a terrible week for the McCain message. These shifts in U.S. policy are so significant, so diametrically opposed to the McCain position, that taken together with the events of this and last week, they should have effectively ended his candidacy. It won’t because the media is obsessed about inflammatory quotes made by Jesse Jackson the latest gotcha statement someone made. It’s about a gift gap. That’s what sells papers. That’s what keeps ratings up on cable news.

Additionally, a video surfaced today in which Senator John McCain in 2003 says we can just “muddle through in Afghanistan”. It was discovered by Jon Soltz, chairman of VoteVets.org.

The video offers a glimpse into the true thinking of those, like McCain, who backed launching the war in Iraq and committing our forces there indefinitely. Particularly, they believed that Afghanistan wasn’t a concern and we didn’t need to take it seriously. In fact, just a year earlier, on CBS’ Face the Nation, McCain said capturing Osama bin Laden wasn’t “that important.”

Five years later, we now see where that poor judgment and lack of insight has gotten us. The Taliban has regained large swaths of Afghanistan, al Qaeda has reconstituted itself, Osama bin Laden still is free, and Afghanistan is in crisis. All of that lends itself to our nation being that much less secure, and in much greater danger of another terrorist attack from extremists from the Pakistan/Afghanistan region.

Now McCain gets another chance to get this right. Unfortunately, while it’s laudable that Senator McCain has suddenly discovered there’s a war in Afghanistan, his hands are tied. A couple of days ago, he called for more combat brigades to be sent there. A few minutes later, the Washington Post reported he pulled back on that and said NATO would have to supply the troops, because we would have to keep our forces in Iraq. The McCain commitment to endless war in Iraq and its political unpopularity throughout Europe is what caused our NATO allies to pull troops from Afghanistan in the first place. That’s unlikely to change in a McCain administration.

Finally, today NBC's John Yang reports President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki have agreed that a new agreement setting the parameters for US-Iraqi relations after the current UN mandate expires at the end of the year should include non-binding language--"a general time horizon" and not "an arbitrary date"--about the withdrawal of US troops. This should free-up at least 3 brigades that can be deployed to Afghanistan.

Maybe now we can fight the war on terror that should have begun 5 years ago. Maybe now we can go after the people that were responsible for the deaths of 3000 Americans. Maybe now we can show the world that no one kills Americans for sport and gets away with it. No one.

The gift gap

Pat, Boston, MA — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:42:51 GMT

We still have a ways to go - the second half of the baseball season just started; we still have to go through a pennant race, the playoffs and the World Series.

Speaking of Germany and the exciting trip Senator Obama is about to embark on -

If Mel Brooks isn’t the most brilliant writer/comic we have ever come across I don’t know who is.

Can you imagine - just imagine - him having the audacity to not only make the movie The Producers, but to actually write the song Springtime for Hitler (referred to in the movie as a love letter to Adolph Hitler) back in 1968, a mere 23 years after the end of WWII?

So if you find yourself getting tired of the media or the Republican Party and their bag of Halloween tricks, one suggestion is to go out and buy the CD to the Broadway musical. It has to be the funniest song every written. It’ll lighten up your mood considerably.

Same goes for the movie Blazing Saddles.

What a funny, funny man Mel Brooks is.

Barack Obama WILL be the next President of the United States. We just need to do a good job of dismantling the Ronald Reagan image. With a sledgehammer.

Reagan worshippers - beware of them. They never ever stop.

The clock is ticking.

Candy gram for the neo-cons.

The gift gap

NoMcCain — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:43:46 GMT

No McCain schlock for me either. ugh. It's bad enough having to watch him on TV, and attempt to speak.

Obama 08

The gift gap

Sara Miller, Oklahoma — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:44:32 GMT

This is the "rock star" mentality at work again. College age kids, with brains that are still made out of mush, seem to think wearing the Obama Team Gear makes them belong and be accepted by their peers. What they'll find out later is that they wasted their money, and they'll try to dump the crap on eBay next year. They'll get pennies on the dollar, if that. Next time, they'll be more productive with their money, and just buy a keg of beer.

The gift gap

Class Warror, D.C. — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:45:41 GMT

As the t-shirts go, so goes the nation. After 9/11, Bush told us to shop, and we're finally doing as he says. Knowing the nation has obviously made its choice this far from election day, I feel securer already!

The gift gap

Keep The Change — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:46:28 GMT

Here is a story that makes you know why CraigsList exists.

The gift gap

Howie — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:46:39 GMT

"Oh it's just the kids" is a great response. Sure, there's enough old people to keep McCain afloat, but if our younger generations are inspired by Obama, then we have a bright future indeed.

The gift gap

58 and Proud Of My Candidate! — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:48:19 GMT

So only young people are wearing an Obama T-shirt, eh? Well, this 58 year old (almost 59), white woman proudly wears one, too!

The gift gap

rosie, crestview, fl — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:50:13 GMT

McBush is too old and wrinkeled to put on a T-Shirt. By the time you wash it once, you would not be able to recognize McBush with all the wrinkels in it.

The gift gap

Jantella McCormic, Justice MS — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:50:31 GMT

Just like the losing team in the Super Bowl, all the "Barack Obama Wins!" t-shirts will be given away and be worn by some kids in Africa that don't even know who the heck Obama is.

The gift gap

Nashville_fan — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:53:58 GMT

The McCain Campaign - the gift that keeps on giving! :)

Phil Gramm - soft-core porn promoter and engineer of both the energy AND mortgage crisis! Talk about talent!

Carly Fiorina - Disgraced former CEO transformed into a close advisor with no idea what the candidate actually believes!

Charlie Black - In charge of campaign spin during all terrorist attacks, domestic and foreign!

Joe Scarborough - In charge of agitating Obama supporters into a frenzy to divert their attention from all the stupid things coming out of John McCain's mouth!

It's like Christmas in July!

The gift gap

A Latte Lover, Seattle, WA — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:56:24 GMT

It's true that there is much more pro Obama merchandise out there. I have yet to see a McCain bumper sticker. I live in Washington state and see many Obama bumper stickers on WA cars as well as on OR cars. I myself possess an Obama bumper sticker as well as an Obama sweatshirt. I'm almost 49, so it isn't true that it is just the younger generation, far from it!!!

Obama/Biden or Clark, 08

The gift gap

Diane from Illinois — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:02:05 GMT

If you can't figure out why peace in Iraq and the middle east is important, I certainly can't explain it to you in a few lines here. In fact, it's probably a hopeless endeavor best left to someone with a bigger sense of humor then mine.
Are All People In Virginia As Naive As This Guy?
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I doubt that you can explain it at all. No one from the GOP has YET to define what "winning" means. The people from the Middle east have been at war with one another for 800 years......why do Republicans think America has to ram "democracy" down their throats? Who are WE to tell the world ANYTHING? We should be busy taking care of our own instead of worrying about them. Are YOU better off now than you were 8 years ago? Most of us aren't.

The gift gap

Man-sized Safe, Corpus Christi, Texas — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:07:52 GMT

And this coupled with news yesterday that the RNC is suing CafePress for selling items with the GOP and elephant logo's, even though they are being marketed and purchased by republicans. Could they be any more out of touch with modern society?

The gift gap

camie — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:16:27 GMT

heck yeah i have obama t shirts and buttons and i make my own and sell them and they are selling out

what a surrogate said about muslims
http://sensico.wordpress.com/2008/07/18/guess-whos-surrogate-said-the-muslims-are-going-to-kill-us/
or
http://sensico2.blogspot.com/2008/07/my-blogs.html

The gift gap

Feisty Redhead Roselle, IL — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:22:40 GMT

"It's not that we're favoring one candidate over another," Benovitz said. "I just know how fast the re-orders come in for Obama."
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All I know is I had to wait 3 weeks for my T-shirt that was on back order as well as many of the other items on his web-site! And as you see below I'm not exactly a 'teenager'... so I don't think their analysis is quite accurate!

40 something educated white woman for Obama!

ps: for the first time in my life I put a bumper sticker on my car - let alone 'Women for Obama 08!!'

Could it be that I feel this election is the most important one in my lifetime?? Stakes are HIGH this year folks!! It's sink or swim because we're out of time!

The gift gap

Teri Irwin, Australia — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:27:38 GMT

I use my Barack Obama tshirt to line my birds cage!

The gift gap

College Grad Conservative — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:31:12 GMT

Next time, they'll be more productive with their money, and just buy a keg of beer.

Sara Miller, Oklahoma (Sent Friday, July 18, 2008 2:44 PM)

Just another one of lifes lessons. It's amazing how fast liberal college students turn into conservatives once they enter the workforce. Usually takes about one paycheck for them to make the conversion.

The gift gap

Judy,San Diego, Calif. — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:37:19 GMT

"Just like the losing team in the Super Bowl, all the "Barack Obama Wins!" t-shirts will be given away and be worn by some kids in Africa that don't even know who the heck Obama is."

Judging by the response Obama got on his trip to Africa, those kids wearing Obama t-shirts proudly bought them. He is greatly admired there and this type of statement is a back handed slap at Africa.