Presidential Hopeful ...

[PITH]

Cathy you're so funny

[animalaw]

A masseuse in a Zen garden. A big pool. Fantastic desserts. P.I.N.K. Vodka.

I've to admit the P.I.N.K Vodka was a nice touch!

[unexceptionable]

Imagine the three of them in the White House: Hillary, Bill and Barack...

You forgot Michelle

[Lady in Red]

[...] During the Revolutionary era, more than half of all African-Americans lived in Virginia and Maryland. Most of these blacks lived in the Chesapeake region, where they made up more than 50 to 60% of the overall population. The majority, but not all, of these African-Americans were slaves.

[...]

What do you expect from Chesapeake -- even these days they do crazy stuff, case in point, in the summer of 2005 the Chesapeake Public Library removed a painting by Karen Kinser, "Morning Dreamer," from the walls of its Central Branch. The painting displays a single bare female breast. Isn't that an attack on intellectual liberty? And doesn't the Virginia state flag also display a female figure with a bare breast?

[Vila Gold]

Angry at Barack Obama's recent threat to attack their home country, members of Chicago's Pakistani-American community will protest a scheduled visit by Obama tomorrow to the Devon Avenue neighborhood. The protest began assembling at the corner of Devon Avenue and Rockwell Avenue (3400 W.) in advance of Obama's visit to Mysoor Restaurant at 12.


Pakistani protesters burn a U.S. flag to condemn U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama's remarks, Friday, Aug. 3, 2007, in Karachi, Pakistan. Pakistan criticized Obama for saying that, if elected, he might order unilateral military strikes inside this Islamic nation to root out terrorists.

By now everyone has heard the infamous quotes from Barack Osama…oops…Obama about the possibility of invading Pakistan:

"Let me make this clear. There are terrorists holed up in those mountains who murdered 3,000 Americans. They are plotting to strike again. … If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf will not act, we will."

Barack Obama, the "only candidate for President who was opposed to [the Iraq war] from the beginning", is advocating taking going in and taking out terrorists in an ally nation. Now, don't get me wrong, I use the term "ally" when referring to Pakistan quite loosely. But, let's analyze Obama's comment. "If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets" we will act to prosecute them, he says; i.e.: we will strike...somehow. Oddly enough, we have proof that Iran is doing just what Obama claims is attack worthy -- murdering Americans. There are numerous reports, stories, and evidences suggesting such. Yet, Obama does not sing the same tune there (probably because Iran is too close to Iraq, which he has staked his political career on).

"We can rattle our sabers all we want but, realistically, we don't have troops for an invasion [Iran] and surgical strikes aren't going to work."

Why would an invasion and/or surgical strikes work on Pakistan, an ally, and not Iran? After all, Pakistan is doing a HELL of a lot more than Iran in helping us combat terrorism. Iran is a state sponsor of the practice!! Al Qaeda has made Iraq the central focal point of their war on America and Obama wants us out of there. Exactly where does he stand on this war on terrorism anyway? Or has he bought into John Edwards' line of thought that this is just a "bumper sticker war"?

The recent voice-over of Obama said:

"I'm Barack Obama, and I approve this message. We are a beacon of light around the world. At least that's what we can be again. That's what we should be again. When we break out of the conventional thinking and we start reaching out to friend and foe alike, then I am absolutely confident that we can restore America's leadership in the world. We're going to lead with our values and our ideals by deed and by example. I want to go before the world and say: America's back. America is back."

Without naming names, the spot confronts a line of attack from the Clinton campaign: that Obama, a first-term senator, lacks the experience to be president, and it tries to turn that argument on its head by implicitly suggesting that such experience does not foster bold thinking. Clinton has called Obama "naïve and irresponsible" for saying he would be willing to meet with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran. Obama, meanwhile, has criticized Clinton for making what he said were conflicting statements on meeting with hostile leaders, and for voting recently to classify the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization. By saying in the commercial that the United States should "start reaching out to friend and foe alike," he is restating his position on negotiating with countries unfriendly to the United States, while highlighting a foreign policy approach that may be tonally different from Clinton's.

[nexto]

He doesn't have the composure, doesn't project the manly image needed -- he looks likes those skinny hyperactive kids in elementary school that run around and stumble on words when reading too fast.

He does not talk too fast, in fact he makes long pauses at times..

With the passing of time ADD/ADHD kids become like that due to the medication they take -- their vocabulary consists of some 200 words and they have serious difficulties describing the most basic ideas and situations. 

Don't forget that that may well be the effect of too much pressure on a person.

[serendipitous]

The recent voice-over of Obama said:

"I'm Barack Obama, and I approve this message. We are a beacon of light around the world. At least that's what we can be again. That's what we should be again. When we break out of the conventional thinking and we start reaching out to friend and foe alike, then I am absolutely confident that we can restore America's leadership in the world. We're going to lead with our values and our ideals by deed and by example. I want to go before the world and say: America's back. America is back."

Without naming names, the spot confronts a line of attack from the Clinton campaign: that Obama, a first-term senator, lacks the experience to be president, and it tries to turn that argument on its head by implicitly suggesting that such experience does not foster bold thinking. Clinton has called Obama "naïve and irresponsible" for saying he would be willing to meet with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran. Obama, meanwhile, has criticized Clinton for making what he said were conflicting statements on meeting with hostile leaders, and for voting recently to classify the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization. By saying in the commercial that the United States should "start reaching out to friend and foe alike," he is restating his position on negotiating with countries unfriendly to the United States, while highlighting a foreign policy approach that may be tonally different from Clinton's.

Indeed! On Thursday, October 11, he criticized a recent vote by Clinton as helping to give Bush a "blank check" to take military action against Iran. "We know in the past that the president has used some of the flimsiest excuses to try to move his agenda regardless of what Congress says," Obama said. In September, Clinton voted to support a resolution declaring Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, an elite part of the Iranian military, a foreign terrorist group. (The non-binding amendment to the Defense Authorization Act passed by a 76-22 vote.) Obama said he would have voted against the measure but didn't because he was campaigning in New Hampshire at the time. He said it was impossible to know when votes will be scheduled in the Senate. "This is a problem" related to running for president, he said. Obama said Clinton also had shown "flawed" judgment during the vote to authorize the Iraq war 5 years ago. "We know that there was embodied in this legislation, or this resolution sent to the Senate, language that would say our Iraqi troop structures should in part be determined by our desire to deal with Iran," Obama said. "Now if you know that in the past the president has taken a blank check and cashed it, we don't want to repeat that mistake."

Clinton defended her vote on the resolution during an interview on New Hampshire Public Radio, saying "what I voted on was a non-binding resolution. It's not an amendment. It's not a law." While Clinton was campaigning Sunday in New Hampton, Iowa, an audience member at a town hall-style meeting pressed her on why she voted for the Iran measure and asked why she hadn't learned from past "mistakes." Calling "the premise of the question" wrong, the senator from New York argued the resolution calls for the terrorist label so that sanctions can be imposed. The sanctions, Clinton said, will in turn "send a clear message to the leadership" and lead to stronger diplomatic efforts. Earlier in October, Clinton also co-sponsored legislation with Sen. Jim Webb, D-Virginia, that would prohibit military operations against Iran without congressional approval.

[a l g o l]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7jSFrKL7-0

Because of his intangible leadership appeal, Obama has been wildly successful selling his idea that we need to "change our politics." In announcing a presidential exploratory committee this past January, Obama posited, "Politics has become so bitter and partisan, so gummed up by money and influence, that we can't tackle the big problems that demand solutions." Of course! It's so simple! The solution to ineffective government is if we just get over our differences and do the business of the people! Until now, Obama's approach to actually governing has been rather light on the details. In fact, his biggest "policy proposals" have been largely squabbles with other candidates. When he said that he would meet with leaders of rogue states like Iran and North Korea, Hillary Clinton challenged him as being too naive for foreign policy - ignoring the fact that she didn't rule out meeting with those same leaders. When he made a health care proposal, Elizabeth Edwards claimed Obama "stole" the idea from her husband.

Obama opposed the Lieberman-Kyl amendment on Iran, which reads very much like the authorization of force in Iraq. However, Obama missed the vote on that amendment, which passed. He offered support for Chris Dodd's filibuster of telecommunications immunity but only after Joe Biden had already agreed to participate - something Obama hasn't committed to himself. While the Senator certainly talks a good game, he has punted in the leadership department. But dedicated aficionados have been willing to give him a pass to date, apparently wanting to believe words rather than actions. After all, the Facebook Election '08 application has Obama winning easily with 24% of respondents voting, compared to runner-up Rudy Giuliani's 9%. However, Obama's newest foray towards "reaching out" shows that he is nothing but an empty suit and deserves no support. In an effort to raise support in South Carolina, Obama's campaign is running a gospel tour called "Embrace the Change," and one of his headlining acts is country artist/minister Donnie McClurkin. McClurkin is an "ex-gay" preacher, meaning he claims that he was gay formerly but the power of prayer made him become heterosexual. And you thought that nothing could be more ridiculous than Larry Craig.

[IMI]

A masseuse in a Zen garden. A big pool. Fantastic desserts. P.I.N.K. Vodka.

I've to admit the P.I.N.K Vodka was a nice touch!

Zygo is better! Differently from P.I.N.K. it is flavored with natural orange, peach, vanilla and juniper. P.I.N.K and Zygo do share guaraná as a common ingredient, though!

[imam]

I see Obama as a strong running mate to one of the other candidates. I suspect that he has his eye on 2012 or 2016, not 2008. This is just meant to get him some national recognition as a major player and, if his running mate’s campaign is successful, a foot in the door as VP.