Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki Backs Obama's Exit Plan (UPDATED x2)

iraqi prime minister al-maliki

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Well, I thought I would lounge around a bit today, but it is turning out to be a pretty busy news day.

First off, the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki dropped a bomb shell by giving an interview to a German magazine, by stating he backs Barack Obama's plan of withdrawal of American troops in 16 months.

This is putting a huge dent in the McCain plan of "winning the war", when the country is telling you politely to get the hell out. Because that is exactly what the PM is telling the United States.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told a German magazine he supported prospective U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's proposal that U.S. troops should leave Iraq within 16 months.

In an interview with Der Spiegel released on Saturday, Maliki said he wanted U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq as soon as possible.

"U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes."

Then another zinger by al-Maliki:

"So far the Americans have had trouble agreeing to a concrete timetable for withdrawal, because they feel it would appear tantamount to an admission of defeat," Maliki told SPIEGEL. "But that isn't the case at all. If we come to an agreement, it is not evidence of a defeat, but of a victory, of a severe blow we have inflicted on al-Qaida and the militias."

I don't care what anyone says, that throws out the Bush/McCain frame for staying in Iraq.

Dr. Susan Rice, Obama Campaign:

Senator Obama welcomes Prime Minister Maliki's support for a 16 month timeline for the redeployment of U.S combat brigades. This presents an important opportunity to transition to Iraqi responsibility, while restoring our military and increasing our commitment to finish the fight in Afghanistan.

Then the Bush Administration's intern (who is probably fired now) performed a no-no, by sending the initial story to the press instead of the internal distribution list.

The White House this afternoon accidentally sent to its extensive distribution list a Reuters story headlined "Iraqi PM backs Obama troop exit plan - magazine."

The story relayed how Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told the German magazine Der Spiegel that "he supported prospective U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's proposal that U.S. troops should leave Iraq within 16 months ... ‘U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes,'" the prime minister said.

The White House employee had intended to send the article to an internal distribution list, ABC News' Martha Raddatz reports, but hit the wrong button.

I agree with the analysis by turneresq, being that before this story hit the fan everyone was going to get their talking points together. Well, so much for talking points when the country you invaded is telling you to get the hell on in 16 months. What talking points can the Bush Administration possibly come up with?

Then it gets even better:

Via e-mail, a prominent Republican strategist who occasionally provides advice to the McCain campaign said, simply, "We're fucked."

Yes, the McCain Campaign is. His whole campaign is hanging on a thread of national security and terrorism. If your main man in Iraq is complementing and agreeing with your rival, what can you do or say?

Oh, and we are smack dab in the middle of listening sessions with the Iranians. Yeah, the ones on that axis of evil list.

My take. Stay tuned. I expect a reversal of words, or my words were misunderstood by al-Maliki. Meaning, the Bush Administration will attempt to twist his arm.

Remember the only breathing room the Republicans have is Iraq. If al-Maliki says, "screw you" to the Bush Adminstration, McCain is a done deal.

Wow, all that and Obama in Afghanistan and Kuwait, too.

[UPDATED]

McCain's response:

"His domestic politics require him to be for us getting out," said a senior McCain campaign official, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "The military says 'conditions based' and Maliki said 'conditions based' yesterday in the joint statement with Bush. Regardless, voters care about [the] military, not about Iraqi leaders."

and the Obama Campaign:

"So given that al-Maliki said today that it’s time for an official timetable and that Obama “is right when he talks about 16 months,” will McCain honor that commitment and call for withdrawal or change his position that we should leave Iraq if asked?"

And another McCain statement by Tucker Bounds:

"Let’s be clear, the only reason that the conversation about reducing troop levels in Iraq is happening is because John McCain challenged the failed Rumsfield-strategy in Iraq and argued for the surge strategy that is responsible for the successes we’ve achieved and which Barack Obama opposed. Unlike Barack Obama, John McCain has never ignored the facts on the ground in Iraq, he’s never avoided the warzone before proposing new strategy, and he’s never voted against funding our troops in the field. If John McCain was following Barack Obama’s lead on foreign policy, the United States would have already withdrawn from Iraq in a humiliating defeat at the hands of al Qaeda.” ---Tucker Bounds, spokesman John McCain 2008.

Great, throw it on Rumsfeld, who is GONE. But it is a plan Bush backed to the hilt. The McCain Campaign got to come with something stronger than this.

And voters don't listen to Maliki. Get ready that is the framing that McCain is going to use.

Josh Marshall's take on this is WEAK and I agree. Remember, McCain is NOT FOR US LEAVING IRAQ. Keep this in mind. Read it, here.

[UPDATE]

Apparently, Britain Prime Minister Gordon Brown is on the same page as Obama for troop withdrawal:

Gordon Brown prepared the ground for a historic realignment in the "war on terror" yesterday by setting out a four-point plan for withdrawal of British troops from Iraq by the end of next year.

Although he is refusing to set a detailed timetable for withdrawal, it is clear Mr Brown is in agreement with the US presidential candidate Barack Obama on the need for military action in Afghanistan to take priority. Both appear to be working to a 16-month timetable.

The Bush/McCain regime is "frackked", and I am being nice here.

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Obama in Afghanistan and Kuwait (UPDATED WITH PICTURES and VIDEO)

Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama started a campaign-season tour of combat zones and foreign capitals, visiting with U.S. forces in Kuwait and then Afghanistan _ the scene of a war he says deserves more attention and more troops.

The Illinois senator arrived Saturday in Kabul as part of an official congressional delegation and then flew to eastern Afghanistan. Staff. Sgt. David Hopkins said Obama and two other senators were making a brief stop in Jalalabad airfield, in Nangarhar province, to visit with soldiers stationed there.

The delegation also met with top military leaders and troops at Bagram Air Base, the main U.S. military base in the country, according to a U.S. military officer who spoke on condition of anonymity because the officer was not authorized to release the information.

Obama's first visit to Afghanistan, coming less than four months before the general election, was rich with political implications. Republican presidential rival John McCain has criticized Obama for his lack of time in the region. Obama is also expected to stop later in Iraq.

En route to Afghanistan, Obama stopped Friday at Camp Arifjan, the main U.S. military base in Kuwait and a major gateway for U.S. soldiers moving into and out of Iraq.

Lt. Col. Bill Nutter, a spokesman for the U.S. military in Kuwait, said, "He talked to soldiers and constituents and met with senior military leadership."

During the two-hour visit, Nutter said, the officers gave him an overview of operations. Obama shook hands, answered questions, posed for photos and played a little basketball during the visit.

Continue Reading Here

Obama Sited in Kuwait
NY Times
Al Jazeera
Ben Smith
BBC News
CNN


obama along with Sens. Chuck Hagel and Jack Reed in Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul


Jalalabad east of Kabul


with the troops in Jalalabad east of Kabul


in conference in Kabul


obama in kuwait


obama in kuwait


obama in kuwait

h/t al rodgers

and more video in Kuwait







and the AP take...



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Evening Wrap Up with McCain Running Scared of Obama

republican 'presumptive" nominee, john mccain

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Well, it has been a very busy day.

First off, John McCain performed a very bad, "NO-NO" by breaking the embargo on Barack Obama's Iraq/Afghanistan trip. By stating that Obama is in Iraq this weekend is a security issue and John McCain, of all people, should know better than this. Weak. turneresq runs it down, here.

Next, the McCain Campaign is running scurred of the Obama middle east/european trip. The McCain Campaign complied a dossier of questions for reporters who will be on this Obama Trip. This dossier is oppo research and attempts to call to task for reporters to perform their jobs in asking the right questions of Obama, while he is on this trip.



I have never seen or heard of the absurdity just described above.

The McCain Campaign is surely shaking in its shoes to make this trip a "nothing". They are further angered that the three leading evening news anchors will be traveling with Obama, interviewing him and reporting on this trip.

Can we say, "Utter Confusion", on the McCain part.

Lastly, the new attack ad from the McCain Campaign.



This ad hits Obama on foreign policy experience, or lack of it. It is playing in 11 battleground states, starting today, along with the cable networks.

This ad is about Obama's lack of gravitas and uses the Clinton framing of Obama did not schedule or hold any sub-committee meetings on Afghanistan, since he is the chairman. This is stupid, because McCain has a worse Afghanistan hearing record than Obama.

It turns out that presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain has attended even fewer Afghanistan-related Senate hearings over the past two years than Obama's one. Which is a nice way of saying, McCain, R-Ariz., the top Republican on the Senate Armed Service Committee, has attended zero of his committee's six hearings on Afghanistan over the last two years.

Meanwhile, Obama attended the full Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Afghanistan in March 2007, although he used the opportunity to ask Gen. James L. Jones, then the commander of NATO, about Pakistan. continue

Can we say, "Welcome to the General Election?"

The Obama Campaign responds:

Obama spokesman Bill Burton: “While Barack Obama wants to change American foreign policy to wind down the war in Iraq and address the grave threat posed by a resurgent Al Qaeda and Taliban in Afghanistan, John McCain offers this patently misleading negative ad. Given his calls for a civil campaign, it's disappointing that Sen. McCain has slipped so easily into the same, tired campaign tactics that have become so familiar to the American people."

My take.

All of this is bull*hit. Period. This is all about diminishing the Obama Trip and brandishing him as a nothing.

Obama will be looked upon as the "future face of the United States of America". And he is.

This is a hard time to be a Republican. George W. Bush and Dick Cheney have destroyed our image worldwide and bankrupted this country. The economy is in shambles. Jobs are becoming less and less in this country. The Iraq War is sucking us dry. And the list is endless. All of this happened under the Republican regime.

The public has woken up. You get what you vote for. And we don't want anything ELSE to do with the word "Republican" for a very long time to come.

My final word: OBAMA IS BIG NOISE, INTERNATIONALLY, PERIOD



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Vetting VPs

Personally, I will be glad when the pick is announced. The rumor changes on the daily.



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Rumor: Al Gore to host high dollar fundraiser for Obama

Good, we need all the cash we can get to win in November.

In a sign that Al Gore is gearing up to lend a big assist to Barack Obama, reps for Gore are in the midst of talks with the Obama campaign about a planned high-dollar fundraiser for Obama at the Gore home in Tennessee, according to the Nashville Post.

The preliminary plans also call for a more public event in addition to the private big-money one, the paper says. Gore, who is obviously a huge fundraising draw, already hosted one "unity" fundraiser on behalf of the DNC in May, but this would be his first for Obama since he clinched the nomination. continue

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and....

Candidate Brain Trusts...interesting take on the candidate's inner circle....

Details of Obama's Trip is here....

Why Karl Rove Should Go To Jail....

McCain Campaign has started to spider Obama's website for any word changes........no sh*t....

Evans/Novak believes to defeat Obama is to go all out basically, negative....

Phil Gramm, the economic McCain "guru' who coined "Americans are whiners" on the economy is officially, gone...a true asshattery of the n'th degree....

Obama targeting Alaska and pouring money in the state....

Afternoon Break, here....

have a great weekend folks, back on line with 'This Week With Barack Obama' on Sunday....but if any photos or video comes out with Obama this weekend, I will post...peace...

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New McCain Attack Ad, Hits Obama on Foreign Policy

This ad starts running today in 11 battleground states and cable networks, source here.

If you have not given to the Obama Campaign, please do so. This is why money is needed to respond. No money, no response.

All this "niceness" has been thrown out of the window. Also, notice that this ad states Obama never called a sub-committee meeting for Afghanistan. Using language of the Clinton Campaign from the primaries. just sayin'....

cross-posted @ Daily Kos

Afternoon Break. Obama is in Iraq or enroute.

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No pictures or video footage has emerged, yet. As soon as it is available, I will post it here. But news correspondents are reporting from Baghdad, so the assumption is that Obama is there or enroute. Due to the high security of this trip to Iraq and Afghanistan, information is pretty much mute at this point.


today show


msnbc, andrea mitchell

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A Cast of 300 Advises Obama on Foreign Policy

This is a lot of folks in your ear.

Every day around 8 a.m., foreign policy aides at Senator Barack Obama’s Chicago campaign headquarters send him two e-mails: a briefing on major world developments over the previous 24 hours and a set of questions, accompanied by suggested answers, that the candidate is likely to be asked about international relations during the day.

One recent Q. & A. asked, for example, whether Mr. Obama supported the decision by Iraq’s prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, to include a timetable for American troop withdrawal in any new security agreements with the United States. The answer, provided to Mr. Obama with bullet points, was yes — or “a genuine opportunity,” as he put it in a speech on Iraq this week.

Behind the e-mail messages is a tight-knit group of aides supported by a huge 300-person foreign policy campaign bureaucracy, organized like a mini State Department, to assist a candidate whose limited national security experience remains a concern to many voters.

“It is unwieldy, no question,” said Denis McDonough, 38, Mr. Obama’s top foreign policy aide, speaking of an infrastructure that has been divided into 20 teams based on regions and issues, and that has recently absorbed, with some tensions, the top foreign policy advisers from Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign. “But an administration is unwieldy, too. We also know that it’s messier when you don’t get as much information as you can.” continue

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Ready to be "scurred" to death from the GOP, again?

When you are behind in most polling. When your age is a hindrance and not a help. When your 25 year plus man is plowed under the truck for calling Americans "whiners" about the economy. When you are perceived as being clueless of the economy. And when your main albatross around your neck is a man by the name of George W. Bush. What are you going to do?

This is easy. Scare the public to death.

We already understand the drill of what is going on here. First off, Bush and revitalizing the drilling for oil is nothing more than a political ploy to help McCain. When Bush signed the G.I. Bill he publicly thanked John McCain, but the fact is that McCain was against this bill, stated so publicly and did not vote for it.

The economy is so fractured by the run of the mortgage crisis, who knows when the bottom will fall out. The jobless claim is up over 360K, inflation is rising, and consumer confidence is at its all time low.

How can the GOP/Republicans fight this? They have been in charge. Bush has sunk all of our assets into this war in Iraq and we are printing paper money with practically no value. The U.S. dollar is vastly weakend abroad, many from around the world are coming to the United States for shopping, travel deals because of this. And China is right dab in the middle of our economy because they are our banker, we owe them a lot of money folks, alot.

So, what do you do if John McCain?

You play the only card you have left. The perception that you are aces in foreign policy and to use the terror trick, to scare the American public to the polls in November. Remember, John McCain Campaign said a terror attack would be good for the GOP. Sure, in this age of surrogates gone wild, they denounced that statement, but none the less, that is what they think and believe.

Now, McCain just stated the following:

"Al Qaeda is on their heels they are not defeated," he told auto workers in Warren, MI, speaking of Iraq. "I also predict that they will make an attempt as we get into the election season to make more of these spectacular kinds of attacks which they’re still capable of doing. The suicide bombers, et cetera. Would not surprise me and we’ve already found out that they’re going to try and step up their attacks and try and do things in a more spectacular fashion so that they can erode the support of the Maliki government."

This brings me back to 2004 and the weekend before the election when the Bush Administration released the Osama bin Ladin tape. Remember that one? That folks, pushed many undecides to vote Bush.

This is 2008, it is time for this trick to be retired for good.

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Battleground State Fight



Obama on criticism of Michelle....



and....

Who is being vetted for VP? read here...

Obama Goes Global: Visibility in Over 35 Countries.....

Obama's meetings: Heads of state, and opposition

Rumor, Obama speech at Victory Column in Berlin...

and, last night's Evening Wrap Up, here....

ok, I am in slo-mo today, how is the day going? it is hot and humid in the chicagoland area.....

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McCain's "Rape Joke" Have Come Home to Roost

Evening Wrap Up with Obama, GOP after Michelle, and McCain Camp Whining

michelle in washington state raising money for governor chris gregoire

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The GOP will not let up on Michelle Obama

Now the Washington State Republican Party is running an ad against Michelle's "patriotism statement".

Well, you take a look and decide, but this is my take, obviously whatever the GOP is doing it is not WORKING. To bring yourself to mock or attack the Democratic candidate's wife is weak. Meaning, you must not have much of a leg left to stand on.



Bill Burton, Obama Campaign Spokesman says this:

With our economy in shambles, our nation at war and our challenges mounting by the day, it is beyond sad that the Republican Party of Washington would spend its time launching shameful attacks on the wife of a candidate--attacks our current First Lady Laura Bush has decried . Michelle Obama has lived the American Dream, and it’s love of country that leads Michelle and Barack to make this race. But how does it strengthen our country to pollute our politics with false and mean-spirited attacks? John McCain promised us better. It's up to him to curb these tactics, or take responsibility for them.

Barack Obama tells Glamour: "Debate me, not Michelle"

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First, McCain Camp criticizes Obama not going to Iraq, now criticizing he is going to Iraq

John McCain, the minute Obama was the 'presumptive' nominee, was demanding townhall meetings. In fact, McCain was demanding townhall meetings once a week up to the conventions.

The Obama Campaign put McCain on ignore and was correct to do so. I wrote that Obama does not need to share any stage with John McCain, giving McCain free media, giving the elder senator from Arizona a chance to improve himself and his image against Obama. Many was for this, many stated that this would be good for America, for that point I agree, but politically the tip is to Obama.

Why should the Obama Campaign help John McCain? Why would Obama even go to Iraq with McCain giving a photo op to McCain as the elder statesman and Obama, well the kid? And all this time as the McCain Campaign has been pounding Obama about not going to Iraq and Afghanistan, they are now bracing for what the Obama overseas trip will be.

The McCain Campaign is now complaining that the media is bias to Obama, they are now whining and complaining about Obama's trip.

GOPers and McCain aides are seizing on the fact that a huge media retinue is planning on following Obama to Europe in order to argue that the press is favoring Obama:

The coverage also feeds into concerns in Mr. McCain's campaign, and among Republicans in general, that the news media are imbalanced in their coverage of the candidates, just as aides to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton felt during the primary season.

"In every campaign, time is a finite resource, so it is unproductive to spend it worrying about the way Obama is covered," said Jill Hazelbaker, a spokeswoman for Mr. McCain. "That being said, it certainly hasn't escaped us that the three network newscasts will originate from stops on Obama's trip." continue

My take, the GOP have a very weak candidate who is unexciting, period. You can not blame Barack Obama for the media that he has gotten thus far and will get through the general election. That call is on the networks, period.

Obviously, the major networks believe Obama is more of a story to follow through the middle east and europe that they are sending Katie Courac, Brian Williams and Charles Gibson to follow Obama on this overseas trip. McCain had his tour in the middle east, south america and it was a bust. In fact, at a press conference in Iraq, McCain had to be corrected several times on misstatements thanks to Senator Joe Lieberman and Senator Lindsey Graham.

Don't blame this one on Obama. It was the McCain Campaign crying that he does not know what he is talking about with reference to Iraq, pounding him to go to Iraq. Guess what? He is going and making a few additional stops, too.

Lastly, we understand the McCain Campaign is bracing itself for the outpour of citizens of these countries who will line the streets for just a glimpse of Barack Obama. For Americans, this should make us feel better, proud. Finally, someone on the national stage that will be respected and can bring our good name back from the tarnish of the Bush years. That is something McCain FAILED to do.

Remember McCain, you always have FOX NEWS, for whatever that is worth.



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The Obama Iraq Documentary

This is being put out by the McCain Campaign. They are attempting to get into the "youtube" game.



Obama Campaign response:

Obama spokesman Hari Sevugan replied to the video, “All John McCain has ever looked for in Iraq are reasons to stay there indefinitely. He has stubbornly championed a strategy of fighting an unnecessary war in Iraq regardless of the shifting facts offered to justify it, regardless of the levels of violence and political progress in the country, and regardless of the gathering strength of the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan."

"And now," Sevugan continued, "as he advocates a policy of staying in Iraq indefinitely, it is clear that he is going to continue to adhere to George Bush’s ideological agenda even as every other critical national security challenge is neglected, and our troops continue to fight tour after tour of duty and our taxpayers spend $10 billion a month in Iraq,” said Obama campaign spokesman Hari Sevugan.

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Nevada is really in play

New Rasmussen poll has Obama 47, McCain 45. But here is a take on many of these state polls, below:



and with poll numbers, is the money....



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Obama opening offices in Montana and Colorado. This movement is real....

Bill Clinton ready to campaign for Obama. About time.

Some Clinton supporters, just can't let it go. sigh....

Countdown for Change application for iphone....totally cool....

Former Clinton Campaign Manger, Patti Solis Doyle, finally talking and on the O-Train...

Missed the Morning Brew? Here.....

and the Planned Parenthood Ad, encore...



so, how was your day?

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Daily Show says it all about the "New Yorker Magazine"

h/t why we need obama

Morning Brew....All About the Benjamins....

obama returning to chicago

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All About the Benjamins, Ends, Cheddar or Money....

There is one thing about the Obama Campaign, when they don't want you to know something, you don't.

The campaign conveniently leaked that they only raised 30M for June, or inconveniently, to the press and they bit. It was all over the internet that the campaign raised not only just 30M but that McCain was not far from nipping at the heel.

Well, put all that to rest. Obama raised a whopping 52M for the month of June. And 50M of it earmarked for the primary. Meaning he can continue to spend this money up until the convention when he accepts the nomination.

The Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee ended June with a combined total of $92.3 million in the bank. The figure represents a notable fundraising jump, especially for the DNC.

Obama reported $72 million cash on hand and the DNC $20.3 million. But the Democrats still lag Republican John McCain's presidential campaign and the Republican Party.

We are still off the mark here.

Since Obama is not accepting public funding, he really has to raise an average of 50M a month. So, let's keep giving. We all know the drill and what the GOP/Republicans are about. We also know how a divisive campaign they are going to run against Obama. To respond, you need money. Please give. Thanks.



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Obama is Overseas Bound

This trip had to be made, period.

As the primary lagged forever, I was wondering how Obama was going to pull the party together, raise all the money needed and make this overseas trip.

There is a reason that Obama is lagging behind the "commander in chief" role, because he is the new kid on the block. McCain is a well traveled suitcase, he has been in politics for over 25 years a fixture in Washington, DC. So, Obama must make this trip.

Now, the world is preparing for the enigma of "Obama". As well as the United States media stars.

As he prepares to embark on a journey that will take him to Iraq and Afghanistan as well as Israel Jordan and three major European capitals, opportunities and risks lie ahead for Senator Barack Obama.

“Conflicting emotions” are likely to greet Mr. Obama when he arrives in Iraq, the Times’s Sabrina Tavernise and Richard A. Oppel Jr. report. The reporters survey Iraqis to detect some of the undercurrents of public opinion about the presumptive Democratic nominee: continue

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In Iraq, Mixed Feelings About Obama and His Troop Proposal

A tough Iraqi general, a former special operations officer with a baritone voice and a barrel chest, melted into smiles when asked about Senator Barack Obama.

“Everyone in Iraq likes him,” said the general, Nassir al-Hiti. “I like him. He’s young. Very active. We would be very happy if he was elected president.”

But mention Mr. Obama’s plan for withdrawing American soldiers, and the general stiffens.

“Very difficult,” he said, shaking his head. “Any army would love to work without any help, but let me be honest: for now, we don’t have that ability.”

Thus in a few brisk sentences, the general summed up the conflicting emotions about Mr. Obama in Iraq, the place outside America with perhaps the most riding on its relationship with him.

There was, as Mr. Obama prepared to visit here, excitement over a man who is the anti-Bush in almost every way: a Democrat who opposed a war that many Iraqis feel devastated their nation. And many in the political elite recognize that Mr. Obama shares their hope for a more rapid withdrawal of American forces from Iraq. continue

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obama in lafayette, in

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Deep Economic Worries

Are we surprised at this?

Americans are deeply worried about their economic prospects and they want government to invest in expanding economic opportunity and assisting those in need, according to a new poll released today.

The Rockefeller Foundation/Time magazine poll of 2,008 Americans, conducted between June 19 and 29, found significant increases in economic anxiety, especially among young people and minorities, and dissatisfaction with the federal government’s response.

The percentage of Americans concerned with their own economic situation, at 47 percent, has nearly doubled from 24 percent in January 2007 when the Rockefeller Foundation conducted a similar study. The percentages of Americans who fear losing their job and have failed to pay a bill in the past year also rose since last January. continue

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and McCain's Official Flip-Flop list is here...

ex-obama aide cashing in on 'change'....in other words, dude just didn't give a DAMN who knew....

mccain off colored jokes, offensive and not funny, especially if you are a woman....

forget about fighting the last war...

a must read, one face at the NAACP, another in the senate...

obama blames the right for attacks on michelle....no shit....


finally, indiana senator evan bayh, a man who wants to be veep

so, how is your day going?

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"McDumb As Bush" Video

digg it here

Evening Wrap Up with Obama, McCain, Polls, Ads and Howard Dean

michelle greeted by the first lady of colorado jeannie ritter

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hardball take on the new national polls

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Obama ramping up in Virginia

As Obama is sending hundreds of field workers to Missouri, he is opening up 20 offices for the general election in Virginia.

Here's another real sign that the Obama campaign is dead serious about making a real play for Virginia.

The Obama campaign plans to open 20 new field offices in the state -- and at least five of them are in very red areas where Dems have traditionally feared to tread, Obama's Virginia director of communications, Kevin Griffis, confirms to me.

The Obama team is setting up shop in Winchester and Bristol, both of which are in areas that voted for Bush in 2004 by at least 25 points. Camp Obama is also adding an office in Harrisonburg, which went for Bush by 13 and is in the reliably-red Shenandoah Valley. continue

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new moveon.org ad, "timeline"

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Unity is a word that is still hard to swallow

Some of the Hillraisers, turned PUMAs, turned ugly heads just can not swallow or fathom a "Barack Obama".

When you look at the positions of Obama and Clinton, the difference is sparse. They look and mirror the same, on paper with exception of Clinton's disastrous Iraq (AUMF) Vote, which in the end really did do her in.

So why the hate?

Look, we saw racism raise its ugly head in this primary season. We have democrats, some that are bigots and racists that will not vote for Barack. Even though, the Democratic Party is the big tent, we have some running around the tent that feel that way. That is a fact. What we don't need is Hillary Clinton's name introduced on the floor for POTUS in Denver and all hell breaking loose.

There are still many out there who believe they can change the minds of these super delegates and Clinton clinches the nomination. But in this backwards and unrealistic thought is that this is the most disastrous thing that could possibly happen.

Read it, here.

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BELOW IS SATIRE.

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!

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Obama Campaign goes after New York Times

Basically the article states Obama is not closing the racial divide with white americans. The point is this, no democrat has won the white vote since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. Carter did not win it, nor Bill Clinton. How they won is by having strong African-American block with a coalition of other groups to win.

Why is it that John McCain addressed the NAACP Convention in Cincinnati today? Because he need to improve his numbers for the African-American vote. Right now by polling he is barely getting 5%, when Bush in 2004 got 11% of the African-American vote. Now you understand how Bush won in 2004.

Barack Obama will win by heavy African-American vote, new voters, the Hispanic vote must come his way, and just enough of the moderate and independent to win this in November.

Here is the rebuttal on the NYT article. And the NYT admitting the title was misleading, here. Below is the McCain address to the NAACP today and here is Barack's from July 14th, here.



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and naming an aids bill after JESSE HELMS??? Ah, Hell to the Naw, on that one...

new vets for freedom, a pro war group, ad stating the surge is working, view here...

fbi investigating indymac for fraud...good luck on that one...

management secrets of barack obama....two words from me, it works...

planned parenthood hits mccain hard, view it here.

obama is the third term of george w. bush? are we kidding here? this is too stupid to respond.

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second national security ad

and howard dean.....




So, did you get your groove on today?

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New JibJab Campaign Video

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!

Planned Parenthood Goes After McCain in New Ad

h/t Muzikal203

The ad is running in Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Washington, D.C.

Morning Brew...Obama, McCain, Economy, Larry King Video

barbershop time

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Analysis: GOP, Dems using wars to define Obama

CHICAGO - Democrat Barack Obama wants to prove he's ready to be a wartime commander in chief. Republican John McCain hopes to sell the idea that his rival is not.

The return of Iraq and Afghanistan to the forefront of the presidential campaign illustrates how both sides increasingly seem to view the race as largely a referendum on Obama, a first-term Illinois senator trying to become the first black president.

"I will end this war as president," Obama said of Iraq and promised anew that he would redirect U.S. efforts to Afghanistan. The likely Democratic nominee struck a stately pose Tuesday as he delivered a lengthy foreign policy address ahead of an upcoming overseas trip. He spoke from a podium that said "Judgment to Lead" set up before an array of American flags. continue

Video of Obama and McCain Iraq/Afghanistan Speeches, here.

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obama on larry king, tuesday, july 15th

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Europe awaits Obama with open arms

From prime ministers to college students, Europeans want to cloak Barack Obama in a warm embrace when he arrives on the continent next week. But they're also aware that anything that looks or smells like elitist Old Europe could hurt the Democratic contender with voters back home.

Obama has yet to finalize his itinerary for Europe. However, he is already set to skip Brussels, the capital of the modern united continent, for the traditional symbols of economic and military power: London, Paris and Berlin.

All those European capitals' leaders have expressed a willingness to adapt their schedules to see the American politician whose sky-high approval ratings in their countries are at least as good as their own. Polls reveal that if they could vote in the United States, between 53% and 72% of the British, French and German public would pull the lever for Obama.

"If Britons elected American presidents, Barack Obama would have no worries," began an editorial in the left-wing British newspaper, the Guardian.

Yet the editorial also recognized that his popularity in Europe would not help at home: "To be seen as Europe's pet is the last thing a presidential candidate needs -- especially one who wants to shed his elitist image with white working-class American voters."

In France, where Obama's liberal profile appeals to both Socialists and members of President Nicolas Sarkozy's center-right party, pundits recalled that four years ago most of Europe gushed over Democrat John F. Kerry (who spoke impeccable French).

"Look at what good that did him," a Sarkozy friend noted dryly during this week's swanky Bastille Day celebrations in the garden of the presidential Elysee Palace. continue

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today show: economy, iraq

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Is WAMU and National City Banks, Next?

After the fall of IndyMac and the video of angry and upset customers, one can only imagine what bank is next?

I mean, come on, all these banks were in bed with this mortgage mess. Many just as guilty for riding the high tide only to come crashing to the ground.

I once worked at Washington Mutual and on the mortgage side. They were booming, opened up retail banking and wholesale banking all over the country.

I was surprise they came here to Illinois, this is a northwest bank out of Seattle. The growth nationwide was astounding. Now they closed all their wholesale banking here in Illinois, most of the retail banking (customer banking) with exception of Cook County and left the mortgage industry.

And what happened to all those jobs and boom? That is history, all gone. So, I am not surprised at the struggle that this bank is currently going through.

All I can write is this, watch this economy and especially these banks. I don't care what Bush attempted to state about the soundness of these banks nationwide, IndyMac was not a fluke and will not be the only bank to topple before this mess is totally exposed.

As hundreds of customers lined up at IndyMac bank branches Monday, investors and customers took stock of the health of other banks -- and they showed their concern

IndyMac became the seventh bank to fail since the credit crisis began last summer, and the second-largest bank to fail in the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s 75-year history when it was seized Friday. On Monday, stocks in nearly all the nation's banks and thrifts were clobbered as the market bet that there will be more failures.

''IndyMac's failure has people worried about others,'' said Mark Fitzgibbon, a principal at Sandler O'Neill & Partners LP. ''The mindset is, 'throw the baby out with the bathwater.' ''

Two that took the greatest hits, Washington Mutual, the largest U.S. savings and loan, and National City, which last year bought Clarendon Hills-based MidAmerica, issued statements on their viability.

WaMu, which slid $1.72, or 35 percent, to $3.23, said it exceeds all regulator minimums for so-called well-capitalized lenders and will provide more details when it reports earnings on July 22.

Cleveland, Ohio-based National City said there was ''no unusual depositor or creditor activity'' and that as of Friday's close it had more than $12 billion of excess short-term liquidity. Before the statement was issued, trading was halted after the stock fell more than 30 percent. Shares closed the day down 65 cents, or 14 percent, to $3.77 after trading resumed. continue

Read, "Who's the Next IndyMac?"
Read, Downgrade of IndyMac
Read, What Saving Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will cost you.
And read, Inflation jumps 1.1%, largest jump in 26 years

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New National Security Ad



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CBS/NY TIMES NATIONAL POLL

Obama 45, McCain 39

Crosstabs and specs here.

and McCain raises $62.5 million through public finance loophole

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today show's take on the economy

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John McCain: I graduated fifth from the bottom of my class

Evening Wrap Up Here

So, how is your day going?

Home Page

Evening Wrap Up...IndyMac Panic, Iraq, Obama, McCain and Economy...

Barack Obama introduced prior to Iraq Speech at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, DC

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A Tale of Two Economies

Man, oh man, is this the truth. After listening to President Bush, attempting to trump up this economy as it is crumbling around him, Bernanke's message was totally different.

FIRST UP, BUSH:

President Bush said Tuesday the nation's troubled financial system is "basically sound" and urged lawmakers to quickly enact legislation to prop up mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He also called on the Democratic-run Congress to follow his example and lift a ban on offshore drilling to help increase domestic oil production.

Amid soaring gas prices, the toughest real estate market in decades, falling home prices and financing that's harder to come by, Bush said: "It's been a difficult time for many American families." But he also said that the nation's economy continues to grow, if slowly.

Bush said that despite the woes of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the recent government takeover of California bank IndyMac, U.S. depositors should not worry because their deposits are insured by the government up to $100,000

bush on the economy

NEXT BERNAKE:

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Tuesday the fragile economy is facing "numerous difficulties" despite the Fed's aggressive interest rate reductions and other fortifying steps.

At the same time, Bernanke, testifying before the Senate Banking Committee, sounded another warning that rising prices for energy and food are elevating inflation risks. This problem looms even as officials try to cope with persistent strains in financial markets, rising joblessness and housing problems.

bernanke, fed chief's take on the economy

AND WANT TO KNOW HOW WORRIED INDYMAC CUSTOMERS ARE....



THESE PEOPLE WANT THEIR MONEY, ANGRY AND THE LINES ARE OFF THE HOOK....

Lastly, if you think this is the only bank, THINK AGAIN. All these banks are in trouble and mired in the mortgage, melt-down mess.

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Obama gave a speech on Iraq and McCain ran behind him to RESPOND...

In separate speeches Tuesday, presidential contenders Barack Obama and John McCain clashed sharply over Iraq war policy, but stressed a need to shift attention to deteriorating conditions in Afghanistan.

Obama's remarks came in a major foreign policy speech in which he called for a "new direction" in international relations and a change in focus from Iraq to fighting terrorism in Afghanistan.

It was delivered in Washington only days before he leaves on a trip to Europe and the Middle East.

McCain, speaking in Albuquerque, said conditions were getting worse in Afghanistan and called for a "comprehensive strategy for victory" there.

Both differed markedly over Iraq policy.

"George Bush and John McCain don't have a strategy for success in Iraq — they have a strategy for staying in Iraq," Obama said. "They said we couldn't leave when violence was up, they say we can't leave when violence is down.

The Illinois Democrat accused McCain of concentrating on tactics in Iraq instead of a broader strategy to fight terrorism.

"At some point, a judgment must be made," he said. "Iraq is not going to be a perfect place, and we don't have unlimited resources to try to make it one." continue

Video of Obama's speech and McCain's response of "I know how to win wars..." here.


hardball's version

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McCain is still defending a country that does not exist any longer, Czechoslovkia

Yes, he must have made this gaffe about three or four times. Read it all, here. And view it below.



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Read Al G over at The Field, "If"...great read....

Imagine if Michelle Obama said this:...read it here....

Note to media: John McCain is a disgusting misogynist by Geekesque....makes every woman shake her head....

McCain's Organization Gap Persists by Jonathan Singer

Want to see what Guantanamo torture does to a boy? by Bob Telecaster

Watch former Governor Sanford, McCain Supporter unable to answer a question of the difference between Bush and McCain, stunning. Link, here.

Is Obama in a money crunch? If so, you know what to do, to the left please.

And ABC/WAPO National Poll, Obama up by 8

Home Page

Obama's Iraq Speech (Video) & McCain's Response to Obama on Iraq

washington, d.c., today


mccain's response at a townhall mtg to obama's iraq speech

Imagine if Michelle Obama said this:

posted @ Daily Kos


"In Arizona the only way to get around the state is by small private plane"

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Wow, Cindy actually said that.

As we trod through the muddied waters called, "campaign season", we must endure some of the ridiculous.

I wrote a diary a while back called, "For the Love of Money. The McCains."

This diary focused on the money facet of the McCains. Well more Cindy than anyone else's, especially her 750K monthly AMEX bill and eight houses, but okay we won't go there.

After reading this diary it is not hard to believe or hear Cindy state the following:



The only way to get around the state is by small private plane? And Cindy's private plane? Along with her jet? etc., etc., etc.....

Ok, did you drink your morning cup of elitism yet?

While we are at it, looks like Cindy will reap a financial windfall with the sale of Anheuser-Busch to the Belgian brewer InBev:

Cindy McCain, the wife of Senator John McCain -- who inherited a Phoenix beer distributorship that is worth hundreds of millions of dollars -- will reap a tidy windfall from the $52 billion sale of Anheuser-Busch to the Belgian brewer InBev.” More: “Hensley & Company ... owns a minimum of $1 million in Anheuser-Busch common stock, according to Mr. McCain’s most recent Senate financial disclosures. No maximum is given, but last year’s dividend income on that stock was between $50,001 and $100,000 in Anheuser-Busch stock, the disclosures show. And since Anheuser-Busch paid out dividends of $1.25 a share in 2007, it appears that Hensley owned between 40,000 and 80,000 shares. That, in turn, suggests that the $70-per-share price InBev is paying will give Hensley a gain of roughly $1 million to $2 million compared to February, when speculation about the deal surfaced ­ and two-thirds of that would pencil out as the McCain family’s windfall.”

That is no small peanuts folks, and this:

Mrs. McCain, who’s been known to zip around Phoenix in a car with “MS BUD” vanity plates, also owns $50,001 to $100,000 in A-B stock through her corporate retirement plan, and her dependent children own $15,001 to $50,000 of the stock, the disclosures show. They’ll of course enjoy much smaller gains from the InBev deal.

On the other hand, if the children were to cash out, they’d only have to pay capital gains tax at a rate of 15 percent under President Bush’s 2006 tax cuts, which Mr. McCain initially opposed but which he now supports. (Hensley & Company would presumably be subject to the corporate capital-gains rate of 35 percent, which was not lowered.)

If this was the Obamas the media would be all over this, especially if Michelle Obama would have the nerve to state, "the only way to get around Illinois is by small plane."

Wonder what happened to cars or buses?

Oh well, most of us would never know because when you have hundreds of millions of dollars, this is the norm, not the exception.


h/t to Rachel Maddow for calling Cindy out!!!

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This Week With Barack Obama

Morning Break....Obama, Economy, Iraq, Banking Crisis and NAACP Speech

obama addressing the naacp in cincinnati

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Major Iraq Speech This Morning

Barack Obama may be making major news this morning with a big speech on Iraq in Washington, D.C., and excerpts from the speech have just been released by his campaign.

The speech will be closely watched at least in part what he says about his proposed 16-month timetable. The just-released excerpts contain no mention of the specific timetable, so we'll have to wait until he delivers the speech to see what -- if anything -- he intends to say about it.

In the excerpts, however, Obama does re-commit himself to a broader foreign policy vision that is a clean break with that of George Bush and John McCain, both of whom say they see an extended presence in Iraq as central to American national security. Obama, by contrast, argues in the speech that this extended presence is harmful to our security and endangers our future in multiple ways. At the same time, he presses his case for more aggressive engagement in Afghanistan. Key excerpt:

This war diminishes our security, our standing in the world, our military, our economy, and the resources that we need to confront the challenges of the 21st century. By any measure, our single-minded and open-ended focus on Iraq is not a sound strategy for keeping America safe...

"As President, I will pursue a tough, smart and principled national security strategy - one that recognizes that we have interests not just in Baghdad, but in Kandahar and Karachi, in Tokyo and London, in Beijing and Berlin. I will focus this strategy on five goals essential to making America safer: ending the war in Iraq responsibly; finishing the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban; securing all nuclear weapons and materials from terrorists and rogue states; achieving true energy security; and rebuilding our alliances to meet the challenges of the 21st century." continue

obama addressing naacp convention, cincinnati, oh

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Watch Washington Mutual. This Banking Issue is REAL.

TPG Inc.'s plan to profit from Washington Mutual Inc., the biggest U.S. savings and loan, may be sinking with the housing market.

The private-equity firm, led by David Bonderman, anchored a $7 billion cash injection into Washington Mutual in April by purchasing stock at a discount. The Seattle-based lender's share price has since plummeted, wiping out two-thirds of the investment's value.

Washington Mutual tumbled to the lowest since 1991 yesterday on the New York Stock Exchange, leading the drop in home lenders after IndyMac Bancorp Inc. was seized last week by U.S. regulators. Bonderman's firm, which invested $2 billion in Washington Mutual for a 13 percent stake, has been stung by record foreclosures, particularly in California, home to half of the bank's loans.

``What he's got to work through are these problem loans, through a tough housing market,'' said analyst Gary Gordon of Portales Partners LLC in a Bloomberg Television interview, adding that Bonderman can still make a profit. ``What he got was a very good branch franchise, which is worth a lot of money,'' said Gordon, who has a ``hold'' rating on Washington Mutual.

Three months ago, with Washington Mutual's shares at $13.15, a group of investors led by Forth Worth, Texas-based TPG agreed to buy $7 billion of stock at $8.75, a 33 percent discount. The stock slumped 35 percent yesterday to $3.23, leaving TPG's investment down 63 percent. TPG also has warrants to buy 57.1 million shares at $10.06 a piece. continue

First hand account on panic and run on IndyMac Bank in California.

Got a message from my brother. He saw the run on the IndyMac Bank in Duarte, California.

Let me introduce this with dueling headlines. From the Pasadena Star-News:

IndyMac appears close to collapse: US regulators may not be ready to protect bank

And from the LA Times:

IndyMac denies that it's close to collapse: "Depositors have been pulling money from the Pasadena-based thrift, whose share price is down 90% this year."

Today, my brother saw a crowd at the Duarte IndyMac Bank desperately trying to get their savings out. Many elderly people were claiming that they are being offered dollar for dollar on the first $100,000...after that only fifty cents on the dollar. continue

Well, we saw what happened to IndyMac. The Feds seized and took over the trouble, money riddled bank on Friday and you see what happened on Monday.

Many of these banks are in deep with the mortgage crisis. It was just not financial firms, but many of our neighborhood banks.

My take, many more banks to come tumbling down before we know the full picture.

President Bush will go down in history as the worst chief executives in American History.

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david plouffe, campaign manager, strategy update

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GM Announcing Major Lay-Offs

General Motors Corp. said Tuesday it will lay off salaried workers, cut truck production, suspend its dividend and borrow $2 billion to $3 billion to weather a severe downturn in the U.S. market.
ADVERTISEMENT

GM said the moves will raise $15 billion to help cover losses and turn around its North American operations.

"In short, our plan is not a plan to survive. It is a plan to win," GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner said in a broadcast to employees.

Chief Operating Officer Fritz Henderson said GM wants to reduce its total salaried costs in the U.S. and Canada by 20 percent.

A large chunk of the reduction, he said, would come from cutting health care benefits for salaried retirees. Those people would get a pension increase from the company's overfunded pension fund to help compensate for Medicare and supplemental insurance, the company said.

Several thousand jobs will be cut through normal attrition and retirements, and through early retirement and buyout offers, Henderson said. The company could resort to involuntary layoffs but does not want to, he said. continue

Retirement in this country at one time meant something. Working for a company for 30 years, meant something. Now, it means nothing.

Inflation and RECESSION are real.

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chuck todd, msnbc

And new Quinniapiac National Poll, Obama 50, McCain 41. Details here.

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Some on the Hill are complaining about Obama

• Until a mailing that went out in the past few days, Obama had done little fundraising for Democratic candidates since signing off on e-mailed fundraising appeals for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee immediately after securing the Democratic nomination.

• Obama has sometimes appeared in members’ districts with no advance notice to lawmakers, resulting in lost opportunities for those Democrats to score points by appearing alongside their party’s presumptive presidential nominee.

• The Obama campaign has not, until very recently, coordinated a daily message with congressional Democrats, leaving Democratic members in the lurch when they’re asked to comment on the constant back and forth between Obama and John McCain — as they were when Obama said earlier this month that he would “continue to refine” his Iraq policies after meeting with commanders on the ground there.

• Coordination between the Obama campaign and the House and Senate leadership is so weak that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) — who will chair the Democrats’ convention in August — didn’t know of Obama’s decision to move his final-night acceptance speech from the Pepsi Center to Invesco Field until the campaign announced it on a conference call with reporters. continue

Well, what have I been typing about, TIME.

All that is being whined about deals with not enough time for Obama. Yes, some is logistics and miscommunication but much of it is not enough TIME.

When you are the nominee it is important to do all the above, especially fundraise for the down ticket ballot. But when the primary was over in March and was extended unnecessarily until June, what is one nominee to do?

That is why the attitude of clearing Clinton's debt is not important to many. Many already knew that Obama had to take an Iraq Trip and European Trip. Many knew that he had to reintroduced himself to the country. Many knew that he would have to continue to raise money for the Obama Campaign to sustain through the convention. Many knew that the DNC was riddled with lack of money and bills and Obama had to raise the funds.

So, next time Democrats if you want TIME on your side to do all the bullet points above and there is a clear cut leader earlier than later? Have some spine and end it sooner.

Lastly, I am sure some of the politicians whining are those in some contentious races across this country and NEED Obama by their side.

Oh, well.

Why the New Yorker cover hurts Obama



Finally, Obama on Larry King tonight. The interview was taped, here is a transcript of what to look for tonight, here.

So, how was/is your morning brew this morning?

This Week With Barack Obama

Off Topic: Batman - "The Dark Knight"

(L-R) Chin Han, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Christian Bale, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Aaron Eckhart and Morgan Freeman

I have not been to many movies this year.

I love the industry and when it does put out a few good movies, I do go to see them.

My sister loved "Iron Man". And I saw the buzz movie, "Wanted". Yes, GO SEE IT.

I could not get my dither up to see "The Incredible Hulk", redo, even though, Edward Norton is one of my favorite actors.

But, Batman the "new and improved" version, for me, is better than the Tim Burton version because of Christian Bale. Enter, "Dark Knight". (and yes, I plan to go see this movie)

See, back in the late 80s when Burton's version appeared, the comic book to tv show to movie hit was still an enigma. Now it is not. So, to revitalize Batman you needed to have a committed actor and damn good script(s). That is why director Christopher Nolan's version works.

Everyone is back, minus Mrs. Cruise, (rolleyes) sorry just not missing her. Added to the mix is another favorite actor Aaron Eckhart as "Two Face/Harvey Dent" and unfortunately missing is the late Heath Ledger as "The Joker", who from all accounts gave a swan song performance. The Heath Ledger Family attended the premiere this evening.

So, tonight in New York is the premiere. And here are some photos in a slide show. Enjoy.

Evening Wrap Up with Obama, New Yorker Magazine, Cindy McCain's Bud Money, NCLR and Iraq

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A somber, Barack Obama returning to Chicago today.

Do you blame him? After being supposedly, satirized by The New Yorker Magazine?

Today it appears The New Yorker Magazine is playing defense for its cover. They should, it is the outrage right now and feeds into all the stereotyping and internet smearing of Barack and Michelle Obama.

I said, long ago that this campaign would be about defining Barack and Michelle Obama, even if it means going racist, sextist and totally negative.

Thank You, New Yorker Magazine for opening the door here.

Yes, we understand you said it is satire, but you are a bunch of folks, sitting in an office in Manhattan who think people will get this. Sure, you are targeting your sophisticated clientele, but in the meantime everyone one else is either applauding the, "I told you so" or scratching their heads for a truly, "WTF" moment.

Now for those playing catch up:

NPR: New Yorker Editor Defends Obama Cover

NPR: Obama And The Chicago Establishment


msnbc


nbc's nightly news

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Which Bank Will Fall Next?

All EYEZ on Washington Mutual.

Let's get this out of the way right now: Your money is safe if it's in an institution insured by the FDIC. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. covers up to $100,000 per institution, and even may provide additional coverage for IRAs in those banks. So, don't head for the mattress store.

That said, it's an ominous sign that I can buy a share of Washington Mutual for about the same price as my morning tall, nonfat, no-whip, stirred mocha at Starbucks. The sour taste from a week of more market turmoil, ending with the federal seizure of big mortgage lender IndyMac Bank, sent Washington Mutual shares down 34.7 percent today to $3.23. Those same shares fetched nearly $43 a year ago.

I don't care what you SAY, there are more banks that will FALL.

After IndyMac being taken over by the feds, do you think that this was the only bank entrenched and deeply involved with the mortgage mess that has taken many down? Including many millions of American home owners?

Think again.

Washington Mutual Inc. posted the steepest retreat ever and National City Corp. tumbled to a 24-year low after last week's collapse of IndyMac Bancorp Inc. spurred speculation that regional banks are short of capital. The companies said they've seen no unusual depositor activity. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac erased an earlier rally fueled by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's plan to help rescue the largest U.S. mortgage lenders.

If you have over 100K in the bank, you better spread it around. I expect more of what happened to IndyMac coming to another bank, soon.

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obama's speech at nclr conference in san diego

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My Plan for Iraq

The call by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki for a timetable for the removal of American troops from Iraq presents an enormous opportunity. We should seize this moment to begin the phased redeployment of combat troops that I have long advocated, and that is needed for long-term success in Iraq and the security interests of the United States.

The differences on Iraq in this campaign are deep. Unlike Senator John McCain, I opposed the war in Iraq before it began, and would end it as president. I believed it was a grave mistake to allow ourselves to be distracted from the fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban by invading a country that posed no imminent threat and had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks. Since then, more than 4,000 Americans have died and we have spent nearly $1 trillion. Our military is overstretched. Nearly every threat we face — from Afghanistan to Al Qaeda to Iran — has grown.

In the 18 months since President Bush announced the surge, our troops have performed heroically in bringing down the level of violence. New tactics have protected the Iraqi population, and the Sunni tribes have rejected Al Qaeda — greatly weakening its effectiveness.

But the same factors that led me to oppose the surge still hold true. The strain on our military has grown, the situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated and we’ve spent nearly $200 billion more in Iraq than we had budgeted. Iraq’s leaders have failed to invest tens of billions of dollars in oil revenues in rebuilding their own country, and they have not reached the political accommodation that was the stated purpose of the surge.

The good news is that Iraq’s leaders want to take responsibility for their country by negotiating a timetable for the removal of American troops. Meanwhile, Lt. Gen. James Dubik, the American officer in charge of training Iraq’s security forces, estimates that the Iraqi Army and police will be ready to assume responsibility for security in 2009.

Only by redeploying our troops can we press the Iraqis to reach comprehensive political accommodation and achieve a successful transition to Iraqis’ taking responsibility for the security and stability of their country. Instead of seizing the moment and encouraging Iraqis to step up, the Bush administration and Senator McCain are refusing to embrace this transition — despite their previous commitments to respect the will of Iraq’s sovereign government. They call any timetable for the removal of American troops “surrender,” even though we would be turning Iraq over to a sovereign Iraqi government.

But this is not a strategy for success — it is a strategy for staying that runs contrary to the will of the Iraqi people, the American people and the security interests of the United States. That is why, on my first day in office, I would give the military a new mission: ending this war.

As I’ve said many times, we must be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless getting in. We can safely redeploy our combat brigades at a pace that would remove them in 16 months. That would be the summer of 2010 — two years from now, and more than seven years after the war began. After this redeployment, a residual force in Iraq would perform limited missions: going after any remnants of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, protecting American service members and, so long as the Iraqis make political progress, training Iraqi security forces. That would not be a precipitous withdrawal.

In carrying out this strategy, we would inevitably need to make tactical adjustments. As I have often said, I would consult with commanders on the ground and the Iraqi government to ensure that our troops were redeployed safely, and our interests protected. We would move them from secure areas first and volatile areas later. We would pursue a diplomatic offensive with every nation in the region on behalf of Iraq’s stability, and commit $2 billion to a new international effort to support Iraq’s refugees.

Ending the war is essential to meeting our broader strategic goals, starting in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where the Taliban is resurgent and Al Qaeda has a safe haven. Iraq is not the central front in the war on terrorism, and it never has been. As Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently pointed out, we won’t have sufficient resources to finish the job in Afghanistan until we reduce our commitment to Iraq.

As president, I would pursue a new strategy, and begin by providing at least two additional combat brigades to support our effort in Afghanistan. We need more troops, more helicopters, better intelligence-gathering and more nonmilitary assistance to accomplish the mission there. I would not hold our military, our resources and our foreign policy hostage to a misguided desire to maintain permanent bases in Iraq.

In this campaign, there are honest differences over Iraq, and we should discuss them with the thoroughness they deserve. Unlike Senator McCain, I would make it absolutely clear that we seek no presence in Iraq similar to our permanent bases in South Korea, and would redeploy our troops out of Iraq and focus on the broader security challenges that we face. But for far too long, those responsible for the greatest strategic blunder in the recent history of American foreign policy have ignored useful debate in favor of making false charges about flip-flops and surrender.

It’s not going to work this time. It’s time to end this war.

Barack Obama, a United States senator from Illinois, is the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

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Cindy McCain is about to make a financial killing on her stock/investment in Anheuser-Busch Company a.k.a. Budweiser. If you need to catch up on Cindy and her money dealings, click here.

Meantime, here is the crux of it:

Cindy McCain, wife of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, is set to get a huge payout from the sale of Anheuser-Busch Cos., brewer of Budweiser and hundreds of other brands, to Belgian beverage giant InBev NV.

McCain, the heiress to the third-largest Anheuser distributor, owns at a minimum $1 million in the American company, according to John McCain’s Senate financial disclosure forms, which don’t offer any more information for large assets held by his spouse. Under the deal, she and other stockholders will get a cash payout for the stock, which is owned through her company, Hensley and Co.

Anheuser’s stock price opened at $67.55 today, almost a 50% gain over the near $47 price in February when the possibility of a deal was made public. Cashing out could leave the McCains with hefty capital gains, which would be taxed at a rate of 15% under the Bush tax cuts that John McCain opposed and now supports. (Barack Obama has proposed raising the capital gains tax.) continue

A guess of what she could make is about:

If Cindy were to sell off the 2006-era number of shares, as estimated above, at today's $70 price, she would make $17,545,780.

No wonder there's no problem having 8 homes. Damn, I need a cup of that elitism!!

Oh, Cindy also said the only way to get around the State of Arizona is by small plane. Yes, she said that. See the video, here.

And folks have the nerve stating the Obamas are elitists???

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Obama is in Cincinnati tonight to give a speech to the NAACP.

Obama to give major Iraq Speech in Washington, D.C., tomorrow.

Is O'Bama Ireland bound?

Obama's feature article in Newsweek on Finding His Faith.

If you missed the weekly, 'This Week With Barack Obama', read it here.

And new state polling show Obama improving, not dropping here.

finally, a pick me up....



This Week With Barack Obama