"...If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from. You make a big election about small things..." ~ Barack Obama
This campaign is the first campaign that I've paid attention to . And now I understand, how Bush got elected TWICE, and why our country has not marched forward with the vigor that it should. I first blame myself and all of the other cynical, apathetic individuals out there who believe that one white man in a suit is just as good as the next. That couldn't be further from the truth.
But now that I am paying attention I am mystified by the lack of intelligence demonstrated by not just Bush, but too many of the people who are in charge - selected and elected. I'm dismayed and frankly terrified by what I see as extreme disdain and an animosity towards the American people. These talking drones on TV and the politicians that they interview sit there stoically and LIE TO US. The latest LIE that I know the American people are falling for is "The surge is working". Oh Really? Is it?
This weekend in the midst of the Palin madness, Sen. Lindsey Graham said to George Stephanopoulos on ABC This Week: "Barack Obama, who got it incredibly wrong in Iraq, ... would sit down with Ahmadinejad and change the whole dynamic of the Mideast by empowering a nut and sending every wrong signal to extremists and moderates," Graham said. "His judgment in these areas has been terrible, proven to be terrible. I would be proud to call her as my president. I think she could step in and fulfill the agenda domestically and internationally that John McCain wants to set for the country. Compared to Barack Obama, I think she'd make one hell of a commander in chief."
And George said nothing, so I will.
(Back in the day before the GOP took over the FCC, news agencies were required to report the FACTS, with very little commentary. The rules were so stringent that the president of the news department for the networks did not report to the entertainment CEO, but directly to the board of directors. They wanted to make sure that the integrity of the news agencies remained intact. This is no longer the case; which is why opinions are passed off as news and Faux News can call itself a news agency.)
That said let's get the record straight - and I'm depending on all progressives to set the record straight at each opportunity.
For those new to the Kos this is what Obama said in 2002:
"But I also know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors, that the Iraqi economy is in shambles, that the Iraqi military a fraction of its former strength, and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history. I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a US occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of Al Qaeda. I am not opposed to all wars. I'm opposed to dumb wars."
BARACK OBAMA WAS RIGHT, JOHN MCCAIN WAS WRONG. Gov Palin was too busy running a state the size of Colorado Springs, Co to notice what was going on and what her own party's plan were regarding the war. (her words - paraphrased) More than 1000 days since President Shrub and his handy side-kick Sen. McClone claimed "VICTORY", we are still occupying Iraq with no definite date of withdrawal, the costs are undetermined and 100x the amount we were told it would cost, the terrorists factions have regained momentum and that tall guy with the chin beard and dialysis machine is still chillin' in the caves between Pakistan and Iraq -- oops they don't touch do they? Shouldn't listen to that McClone guy. That is, between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Let me repeat. BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA WAS 100% RIGHT AND MCCAIN WAS WRONG!
John McCain has said: "The surge is working"
Really? The surge is working? Hmmmm – as opposed to opening the GOP playbook why don’t we do something novel – LET’S LOOK AT THE FACTS.
DATE COUNT
8/30/2008 5 dead
8/29/2008 13 dead
8/28/2008 7 dead
8/27/2008 16 dead
8/26/2008 49 dead
8/25/2008 9 dead
8/24/2008 42 dead
8/23/2008 17 dead
8/22/2008 5 dead
8/21/2008 10 dead
8/20/2008 13 dead
8/19/2008 74 dead
8/18/2008 13 dead
8/17/2008 20 dead
8/16/2008 7 dead
8/15/2008 11 dead
8/14/2008 39 dead
8/13/2008 12 dead
8/12/2008 13 dead
8/11/2008 20 dead
8/10/2008 36 dead
8/9/2008 25 dead
8/8/2008 30 dead
8/7/2008 23 dead
8/6/2008 9 dead
8/5/2008 30 dead
8/4/2008 23 dead
8/3/2008 37 dead
8/2/2008 11 dead
8/1/2008 7 dead
TOTAL 626
626 DEAD IN IRAQ, mainly from suicide bombers - NEARLY 5 YEARS AFTER BUSH CLAIMED VICTORY and at least 4 months after McCain started spouting that the surge is working. IT IS NOT WORKING. Just in case you didn’t read that correctly – I wrote 626 DEAD IN IRAQ 5 YEARS AFTER BUSH CLAIMED VICTORY. That's an average of about 20 people killed per day.
THE SURGE DID NOT AND IS NOT WORKING
Barack Obama was RIGHT – JOHN MCCAIN WAS WRONG!. He’s been wrong on the war, wrong on the surge, wrong on health care, wrong on the economy and wrong with his first presidential decision (Palin)! Just WRONG. DO NOT LET THE GOP FLIP THE SCRIPT AND WRITE THE NARRATIVE. THE TRUTH MUST BE A PRIORITY