Please do not confuse this to ambulance chasing. I do not at all in the least celebrate that dozens have been killed in Iraq by four suicide bombers  in order to prove a point.

However, the sad reality, and what pisses me off about the Obama campaign, by turning over and playing dead - on the question of the surge - among other issues, is that "the surge has worked" is a myth in the fantasy land that was Iraq of the garden of Eden, but certainly not the Iraq of July 2008. Sadly the media has not only allowed this untruth to fester unchallenged, but they have continued to perpetuate it. This morning's headlines only highlight this lie, and it would be nice to say "I told you so", except, it is actually the lives of real human beings that were involved and that were destroyed in today's tragic incidents!

Suicide Bombers Kill Dozens in Iraq today

(I re-edited this in a hurry as I hold my stomach about to throw up, but read on, I think it is now coherent - despite my rage!)

It makes me sick to the stomach to read about the stupid press people at camp Obama reiterating how both McCain and Obama both love the troops, support the troops, and all that bullshit. This stupid press department did the same during the primaries, leaving me wondering exactly which candidate they were working for. While the primaries involved battling against fellow Democrats, and a delicate balancing act indeed that was, particularly when battling a woman, this is the general, and the Rethugs need us never, not once be their spokesperson for any of their virtues (if there are indeed any)
cnn's skewed coverage

This staying above the fray will just never work with Rethugs, and this is the perfect example of why this should never have been allowed to happen! I honestly don't know that the Obama candidacy can survive this onslaught!

I have no idea who came up with the brilliant idea of covering up for Condi, Gates, Bush and Co! I can just picture the Clintons and all Clintonistas now saying, "I told you so! He couldn't battle the Rethugs and this is an example! "

I am taking the liberty to quote Gregg Heackock in his post below due to the seriousness of this matter. I am also cross-posting this Blog or variations thereof across several blogs starting of course with mybarackobama.com, as well as but not limited to Daily Kos. I felt strongly about the furor over FISA, not so much because I am in such blind adherence to each and every word and policy position of Obama’s but rather because the argument is particularly harmful for several reasons. Read Gregg’s post in full below, followed by my own two cents on why I created this group, and more about what it is specifically that bothers me about this purist egomaniacal nonsensical protest, not least of all being that if we are indeed supposed to judge men by their actions, and not just their words, Obama has proven that he is a leader for the people, who listens, and who espouses true progressivism. Get involved and to help spread the word, so we can increase our membership, and rid the mainstream media off their current meme regarding the "so called grassroots Obama supporter revolt"! So read on my fellow Obamaniacs, and get inviting. Let’s grow this group!

Breaking: Karanja is ready to call it! And I call today a victory for common sense, democracy, senator Obama and ultimately the American people. Why I'm I ready to call this now? Well quite simply because in handing a seeming victory to HRC on Florida, albeit insignificant, Obama leaves camp Clinton looking like the a*holes if they refuse to accept the Michigan resolution. While camp Clinton has already earned that and many other epithets, and this is obviously nothing new, the significance is that the Rythym and Blues committee will be hard pressed to favor them while getting no trouble from Camp common sense! (team Obama if you're wondering) Little more after the fold

As a New Yorker, I do not feel at all in the least that Hillary Clinton represents me as a left leaning Independent – and btw, her husband is the reason I opted out of the pseudo Rethug Democratic Party of his day – and for that reason, I am determined to work hard to have her primary’d out of her senate seat.

Talk of her running for Governor and ousting David Patterson, apart from being highly obnoxious and dismissive of David Patterson, was clearly misguided at the least, as Patterson is proving himself quite clearly to be a man of action, and action on the right side of leftwing politics. I look forward to having him re-elected, and would not abide Hillary over him any day!

Just to flog the appeasement dead horse a bit more, because the GOPers seem determined to keep trying this against Obama with the hope that it sticks. It certainly does nothing to help that Joe Liarbemen (hint - letters jumbled) is trumping that to try and add credence to the GOP attacks on our most likely nominee and most likely next POTUS! Below is part of the article on NPR.

An Israeli official says two of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's senior advisers are currently in Istanbul with their Syrian counterparts; they have been holding indirect talks through senior Turkish diplomats since Monday.

Israeli officials say the goal is to restart direct talks and reach a comprehensive peace deal with Syria. A statement released simultaneously today in Israel and Syria said the two sides are committed to "serious and continuous" talks.

Talking of Lie berman, didn't senator Reid say that there was a threshold he could cross to lead Reid to strip him off his duties. Surely has he not now certainly crossed that threshold, dear sir Mr. Reid? Link to story on UN secretary General's appeasement of the military Junta in Myanmar below the flip
NPR Israel Appeasement story

I have been troll rated, and had my comments hidden and accused of being a Rethug, despite my left of Dems inclinations and staunch support for Obama by left wing nuts who in their behavior like those air headed wingnuts they so love to hate - never bothered to read my diaries simply cuz they couldn't get past the titles, which actually were usually either snark'd, (although it was before I knew about snark tagging) or simply meant to be eye catching.

I have experienced intolerance, of Tucker Carlson's variety from people on my very same political divide, and just had to point out that a Left wing nut is still a nut and I have certainly encountered my fill of those right here! It proves what Obama said in his speech, that there are the worst as well as the best characteristics in the best and worst of characters on every side of every divide, and I have certainly experienced the worst characteristics of among what I consider the worst characters among people on my same political divide as well as my fellow Obama supporters. We support the same guy, and have the same values but there are still a bunch of A*Holes in here, including all those who troll rated labeled me (before I even had any idea what that meant) just from my diary titles without reading the contents of my diaries.

Disclaimer: I wrote this two nights ago before the speech! (I saw some of it and had goosebumps all over!) I still think this is still not invalid. Obama has set the team on track with the speech, but I still think this applies with regard to the team. So here goes, still pretty unchanged but with an Update written after the speech...
Team Obama, I hate to have to be the one to break it to you, particularly at this late stage, but you do realize that YOU ARE THE FRONTRUNNER! Right? Team Obama, I have three words for you SPIN, SPIN, SPIN! Well, I could put it nicer and call it COMMUNICATION, but ultimately, spin is what it comes down to. Your communications department right now sucks, because for two weeks if not in fact, three now since before TX and OH, team Clinton, which is the campaign that’s behind has been shaping the narrative, and has had your campaign battling on their turf the whole time. Some other bad news team Obama, when you are playing politics on team Clinton’s turf, guess what? You lose! Which is where your communications team comes in?
tip jar: cuz change matters

Dear Mrs. Clinton, Let me start off by saying that I am honored, truly honored to be sitting here alongside your campaign as part of this historic campaign thrashing your now flailing and increasingly desperate campaign. It is a real honor. No, I will not follow this with a "shame on you comment" as many would expect. See, that is why I am part of this inspiring, hope-mongering campaign for change, that is seeking to rid this race off those old style politics of yester-year that are now as tiring as they are tired.

I understand that you Hillary Clinton apologized to me if any offense was taken by remarks associated with your campaign.  Well, Dear Mrs. Clinton, I would like to say to you that there is really nothing to apologize for. While indeed, your campaign tactics are offensive, they however, fail to offend me in any personal way.  Your campaign tactics have attempted to insult my intelligence, but you see, they have failed. Because you see, Dear Mrs. Clinton, I have drunk the Kool Aid. I am filled with HOPE, with inspiration, by a new kind of politics for change. Yes, I am, yes I have come to have faith in a true change that I am believing in. I have answered the call to believe, not just in the power of Obama to bring about change, but in my own as well.

Started this for comments, but I also felt I should add my own commentary. Keith Olbermann in his Special Comment on the Clinton campaign, I feel fell somewhat short. He gave Clinton so much benefit of doubt suggesting that somehow she is a separate entity from her campaign?!

If Obama were to whine and seek sympathy in playing the race card the way Hillary has played the gender card, and then go on to use sexist sentiments as some sort of tactical tool, not only would he be held personally responsible, but all media would eat him up alive and his campaign would have been over by now. So much for that "black male advantage" here in these here United States! Hillary Clinton is using race as a campaign tactic, to stoke the sentiments of all those blue collar white folk who will be voting in PA, and who may not watch Olbermann, and Mathews etc etc – btw I have now joined them in no longer watching Chris Mathews, I yell too many times at the TV – and whose sentiments may not necessarily be too far off Ms Ferraro’s that the black guy takes their jobs from them through affirmative action.

And I believe they will get to the nomination without it. I think we all need to relax a little bit and not overstate our frustration at not achieving the KO we all so desperately wanted to see last week.

David Axelrod put me at peace this morning during his phone interview with Joe Scarborough. He put paid to the idea of the dream ticket and he reminded me of just how well we/they have done in the face of serious stiff competition to rival any Machiavelli’s! And it’s true! That said, I can’t hold back my last piece of advice to team Obama! CHANGE THE NARRATIVE TODAY! IT’S THE MATH STUPID!
More below after this juicy article on Michigan and Florida in the Chicago Tribune today.

"It's clear, this election they're having is not going to count for anything."

-- Sen. Hillary Clinton, on New Hampshire Public Radio, dismissing the Jan. 15 Michigan presidential primary

Isn't this the subtext of that whole MSM's four-letterization of BHO's middle name, Hussein? Why otherwise, would an ignorant Rethug Rep claiming that Barack's election would be cause for Islamofascists, to celebrate even more than they did on 911 - be merely decried by the MSM, for his use of Barack's middle name, Hussein. In fact the real issue is the idea that the election of a perfectly qualified and most likely the next POTUS is equivalent to the tragedy that was 911. For the record, I am a 1000% Barack Obama backer, and I will not back Hillary, and refuse to be beholden to any party, Dem, Rethug or otherwise.

My support for Barack would not change if he were indeed Muslim, and his candidacy should not be affected if indeed he were. That should be not only the MSM's stance on the issue, but America's as a whole. Granted, the reality  is that he would lose votes if he were indeed Muslim, but that should not affect the main message. The Now Famous Rethug Rep Story

Clearly, camp Obama needs an injection of something. Barack himself is brilliant, of course but I don't think that even Machiavelli could have won an American Presidential election all by himself despite his almost Clintonian smarts in monstrous politics!

Camp Obama promised to come out swinging from Wednesday Mar 5th, but while the dog barked quite loud, we are yet to see any teeth! We all agree that camp Obama needs to fight and be seen as strong enough against the Rethugs in Nov. This will require a strong astute communications program, and hence my suggestion of Roland Martin. I don't know too much about him, and frankly I have often found him annoying in his analysis on CNN, but today he said one thing that even I hadn't jumped on, and it made me think he would be a brilliant pick to run Obama's communications department. There is not much I hear from the pundits that I respect, and there are few I pay attention to including CNN's Bill Schneider, NBC's Chuck Todd, Newsweek's Dana Milbank and Newsweek's Howard Fineman.

With Gov Ed Rendell, the PA HRC campaign chair having already made his stance known that he thinks that voters will be voting along racial lines, despite nearly all past primary states evidencing the exact opposite, we are seeing the beginnings of what the Clinton Campaign is going to look like in this new battle ground. HRC in an interview yesterday afternoon also made it a point that Mississippi would go to Obama because he will get the black vote there.

I can already see you HRC supporters coming at me with questions about why this is controversial, being that it is true that he has overwhelming black support. I will simply not grace that discussion with any comments, because we all know what the subtext is, and if you don't you are either plain dumb, highly naive, or simply a bully who agrees that exploiting racism is fair game as a political tactic.

wsj article on Ed Rendell's Statements

(Disclaimer: I am a 1000% Obama supporter, just for the record, and I am prepared to soldier on all the way to Puerto Rico! This is just my two cents)

Hillary has over the last couple of weeks really come into her own. She has set, not just the tone, but also the agenda for the debate on the Dem party nomination, and it is no surprise at all that she is winning in her own debate.  The debate she has set forth is one whereby she is questioning the resilience and the ability of team Obama to weather, withstand and survive negative attacks. And all this with hardly a sighting of Bill, and thats the real "come-into-her-own" part.

Now her next argument to both super delegates as well as the electorate will be; if he couldn’t withstand her attacks, which are minor (arguable) compared to what the Rethugs will throw our way in the fall, how can he weather theirs come the general?

Your children are sleeping safe and sound. When the phone rings at 3 AM, you  would hope that both their father and mother can pick up. Unfortunately for all those US soldiers' lives lost in Iraq, as well as those serving there in an ill conceived war that should never have been neither authorized nor waged, many of America's children are without either one and in some cases even both parents to answer that early morning phone call.

Further when your pone rings, any time of day or night, if your spouse, or any loved one is in Iraq, you are constantly hoping against all hopes that it is not that dreaded phone call informing you that your loved one will not be coming home.

The stock market is looking forward to a Hillary or McCain WH in particular as far as Healthcare Industry stocks are concerned. Komal Sri-Kumar, chief global strategist at TCW Group, a subsidiary of the French bank Société Générale

..."conceded that he may not have to worry all that much if Clinton were to win because what she wants might far exceed what she could achieve. That was clear a decade and a half ago when she tried to restructure the health care system on behalf of her husband, President Bill Clinton, and achieved very little."

I had been wondering if I was the only one who can see as clear as day that Clinton's promises of universal healthcare are disingenuous quite simply because of the lack of the political will due to the losses for the healthcare industry that such a plan would entail

Herald Tribune article

This morning on Morning Joe, when asked about HRC’s recent seeming schizophrenia (not my words, but Chris Mathews’ guest last night (2/25)), Tim Russert, said that he just didn’t know which HRC would show up to the debates tonight. This to me quite simply sums up what I have felt for a long time about HRC, and what I now suspect many voters are also asking themselves.

I mentioned the other day in a comment that this viewpoint would be the basis for my diary on a post-mortem of the train wreck that the Billary campaign has now become. It seems my diary will be coming sooner rather than later, and I sincerely can’t wait!