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Showing posts from July 13, 2008

Obama Shakes Up Iraq Policy

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Senator Obama has manged to change the Iraq Policy without even securing the Democratic Nomination yet. In Interview conducted by Mathias Müller von Blumencron and Bernard Zand in Baghdad for SPIEGEL Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, the Prime Minister all but endorsed a 16 month time table for withdrawing the U.S. Troops from Iraq. al-Maliki went so far as to say, "US presidential candidate Barrack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right time frame for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes." Later he disclaimed that he had any preference for either U.S. Presidential Candidate. The implications of the comments throughout the interview are that the Iraqi Government feels that the occupation should end sooner rather than later. This is diametrically opposed to the policies of the White House. It has been reported that the Bush Administration is trying to sign an agreement that would leave permanent U.S. Military Bases in Iraq, even th

McCain Fears Obama Reception

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While Senator Obama was locked in a heated primary race with Senator Clinton, Senator McCain was hitting the stump with criticism of Senator Obama for not going to Iraq. In fact the McCain Campaign even put up a counter on the Web Site which added how many days it has been since Senator Obama went to Iraq. So now the Obama Campaign has announced a rather extensive foreign tour which will include Iraq and Afghanistan. The McCain Campaign reaction? They have already started putting out propaganda that the Obama trip is campaigning on foreign soil and that heartland America will not take kindly to Senator Obama drawing massive crowds in European Countries. They have even gone so far as to claim that McCain goes overseas for fact finding mission even though they have used film clips of McCain in Iraq and Mexico and Israel in their campaign ad spots. It seems that the McCain Campaign is very worried that Senator Obama will receive a welcoming reception throughout the world. The McCain Cam

The Gore Speech

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Former Vice President Al Gore gave a speech calling for America to produce every kilowatt of electricity through renewable,sustainable alternatives within ten years. That is definitely the direction in which the next President must lead the Country. A fully funded policy leading towards 100% renewable, alternative, sustainable energy sources is a sure way to correct a lot of the National problems that the Republican Bush Cheney Administration will leave to this Nation upon their welcomed departure. The Republican response to the Al Gore speech was summed up in one word by Republican Senator George Voinovich of Ohio, "ridiculous". That is the typical Republican response when looking at the future. The Republican Platform will call for more drilling, more refineries and more coal production because the Republican Party can not see the future, they want to cling to the past. Both Major Political Parties must realize the importance of ushering in a fossil free age. The Era of Fo

Bush Claims Executive Privilege

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The Valerie Plame case goes on. Now President Bush has claimed Executive Privilege in response to a subpoena for the Attorney General Michael Mukasey to testify before a House panel. Remember when this case first came to light President Bush told the American People that he wanted to get to the source of any leaks and if they were from within his Administration appropriate action would be taken. Well since then only I. Lewis Libby took the fall for the entire Administration and was swiftly pardoned. Since the release of the Scott McClellan book has shed new light on the events surrounding the leaking of Ms. Plame's name and the new leads are being pursued by the House Committee chaired by Congressman Waxman. However the White House refuses to let the Attorney General testify or release the interviews of Mr. Cheney by the FBI. So again we have the Bush Doctrine of opposites, he claims he wants the answers and then he roadblocks the truth. One Day the truth will be told, and hope

Bush Fiddles While America Burns

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In today's Press Conference (July15,2008) President Bush again maintained his position that the policies of his Administration have been good for the American Economy. Mr. Bush fails to see the reality of the situation. Banks are failing, small businesses are closing, unemployment is rising, inflation is taking hold, energy prices are skyrocketing and the American Family is sinking into desperation, all as a result of the Bush Policies. The current Banking Crisis is directly tied to the deregulation and and purposeful lack of oversight of the industry by the Federal Government. Since the Reagan Administration the Republican Party and their officials have tried to dismantle the agencies and laws of the Federal Government that provided oversight to the Financial Industries. The result of years of chipping away at the oversight of the Financial Industry has come home to roost. Bank Failures in the United States of America should be a distant memory, but here we are in 2008 and we ar

Generation Kill

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Last night, July 13,2008, HBO presented the first hour of their new mini series titled "Generation Kill". "Generation Kill", will follow the first 40 days of the invasion of Iraq as seen through the eyes of the First Recon Battalion of The United States Marines. Based on a book by Evan Wright, the series will take the viewers into the minds of the Marines as they invade a Country that they don't understand why they are invading and shows the ineptness of the High Command of the Invasion. In last night's episode there were some telling moments of what the viewer will witness in this seven part mini series, realistically produced by HBO. In the first episode we see the Marines gearing up for the invasion and trying to scrap together the proper equipment that they were not provided by the High Command. At the PX, the Marines are limited in what they can purchase so they have to send an embedded reporter from "Rolling Stone Magazine" in to the PX to do

The Oilman Mantra

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In the July 12,2008 President G.W. Bush, using the current energy price surge as an excuse, called on Congress to to take four steps to open up more oil and gas exploration as a means of dealing with the energy situation in America today. In his first point Mr. Bush stated that," For the sake of our economy and American consumers, Congress must move quickly to expand exploration". Even if more exploration was approved right this second, it would have absolutely no effect on the price of energy and it would not do anything to change the direction of the energy policy of this Country. Exploration and development of new sources of Fossil Fuels will take years to reach the market place, therefore "new"oil wells will not alleviate the current energy crisis in any way. But the real question is, why is the President not calling on Congress to enact and fully fund a program that will put America on a path towards independence from Fossil Fuels. Just as Brazil was able to