‘I Will Listen to My Commanders’ on Iraq, Says Obama

What a difference an election makes. Not only is president-elect Barack Obama now saying that the U.S. need take into account the consequences of a U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq, but he is now saying he will listen to his commanders on the ground!

REPORTER: Do you still intend to withdrawal all U.S. forces from Iraq in 16 months after inauguration? Did you discuss the possibility of that with secretary of Gates before selecting him?

Obama’s response included these points:

• On the campaign trail Obama saidhe would remove combat troops from Iraq within 16 months WITH THE UNDERSTANDING that is likely to be necessary to leave a residual force
• Obama will meet with joint chiefs fo staff and commanders on the ground to determine how ‘we proceed’ with the withdrawal
• “I believe that 16 months is the right time frame, but as I have said consistently will listen to the recommendation of my commanders”
• #1 priority is to ensure troops remain safe AND Iraqis are well served by their government
• “We will have to remain vigilant in making sure that any terrorist elements that remain in Iraq do not become strengthened as a consequence of our drawdown.”

Bravo! What a great impersonation of George W. Bush! Barack Obama is finally concerned about Iraqis and will listen to his commanders on the ground! It must be a dream sequence….

The left wing base of the Democratic party will not be happy about this continuation of a 3rd Bush term, but it sounds like the worst fears of Republicans about Iraq won’t come to fruition after all.

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Obama: Forget All That Stuff I Said About Hillary in the Campaign

During a press conference announcing his new National Security team, a reporter asked Barack Obama how he could nominate Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State when during the campaign he ridiculed her qualifications. Watch Obama squirm:

REPORTER: Going back go the campaign, you were asked and talked about the qualifications of your now nominee for Secretary of State and you’ve belittled her travels around the world, equating it with having teas with foreign leaders and you’re new White House council said her resume was grossly exaggerated when it came to foreign policy.

I’m wondering whether you can talk about the evolution of her credentials since the spring.

OBAMA: Look, I mean….I think…..this is fun for the press to stir up whatever quotes were generated during the course of the campaign….

REPORTER: (inaudible)

OBAMA: No,I understand, and you’re having fun. But, the uh, and there’s nothing wrong with it, I’m not faulting it….

So Barack Obama lied during the campaign to say whatever he needed to get elected? No, he exploited Hillary’s vulnerabilities and now needs as much experience as he can get since his resume is so short.

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Obama Unveils National Security Team

Oh, boy. This is scary.

President-elect Barack Obama showed off  his national security team. Here are the main players:

*SECRETARY OF STATE: Hillary Clinton…despite ties with India that could hurt U.S. diplomatic relations with Pakistan, she is the best the Democratic party hasto offer. Last year Hillary insulted the elected Prime Minister of Iraq Nouri al-Maliki by calling for his replacement, which resulted in verbal retaliation from the PM.

*ATTORNEY GENERAL: Eric Holder…former deputy attorney general in the Bill Clinton administration who facilitated the seizure of little Elias Gonzalez at gunpoint and had him sent back to Cuba with then Attorney General Janet Reno (remember Waco Texas and David Koresh?)

Under Bill Clinton, Holder facilitated the 2001 pardon of Marc Rich after Rich’s wife made hefty contributions to the Clinton campaign. It is arguably the most controversial pardon in history.

Marc Rich was a fugitive from justice for 2 decades after fleeing the U.S. because he was guilty in the biggest tax evasion case in history and made illegal oil deals with Iran during the 1979-80 hostage crisis…benefitting from Iranian oil while they held U.S. hostages for over a year. Marc was on the FBIs Most Wanted list.

*HEAD OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Janet Napolitano, Arizona Gov…once said the Elias Gonzalez seizure facilitated by Eric Holder “was more than executive overreach. This is contempt of the circuit court of appeals order. This is a high class kidnapping is what it is, sanctioned by no law, sanctioned by no judge…”

Napolitano is a friend of illegal aliens….as governor she “conspired to take away … money that the state Legislature and the (county) Board of Supervisors approved specifically to enforce human smuggling laws, money my office needs to fight illegal immigration.”

*AMBASSADOR TO UNITED NATIONS: Susan Rice….served for 8 years in the Clinton administration and worked for the failed campaigns of Kerry-Edwards in 2004 and Hillary Clinton in 2008.  As a member of Bill Clinton’s National Security Council, Rice chose inaction in Rwanda while hundreds of thousands werevictims of genocide, a decision that she now regrets.  Rice also mischaracterized the war in Iraq as a “raging civil war”.

The one bright spot:
*SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Robert Gates…replaced Donald Rumsfeld and worked as a a member of the dream team…Gates (Sec. Def.), Petraeus (commander of U.S. forces in Iraq until recently) and Crocker (U.S. Ambassador to Iraq) to win the war in Iraq.

With the exception of Robert Gates, this hand-chosen crew has demonstrated poor judgment regarding foreign affairs and foreign policy throughout their careers. 

Is anyone else nervous?

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Obama: ‘My Cabinet is the Experience, I am the Change’

Barbara Walters asked Barack Obama how hiring current Defense Secretary Bob Gates and former Bill Clinton cronies constituted the “change” he pimped during the course of his presidential campaign.

Obama’s answer: his cabinet will bring the experience he lacks while he will ‘represent’ change.

Oh, goodie. Bait and switch, anyone?

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Rosie O’Donnell’s Variety Show Tanks

Tuesday, December 2, 2008 at 12:05 am        *UPDATE

Rosie’s Show Canceled

 Good Riddance.

NBC’s decision to air ‘Rosie Live’ is an indicator of the network’s losing streak as only 5 million viewers tuned in to watch Rosie O’Donnell’s variety show.

But why does Rosie’s show suck?

Maybe it was the Liza Minnelli and strip tease, the gay jokes by Rosie or the lame geese flying-into-the-sunset skits. Maybe America has had its fill of angry lesbian feminists. Maybe it was the dancing food….

Whatever it was, this ultra liberal show was a turkey.

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Al-Qaeda: ‘Success in Iraq is Temporary’

Al-Qaeda’s top leader, 2nd only to Osama bin Laden, said in a video today that the gains in Iraq are temporary and that the Sunni Awakening Councils will fail.

Ayman al-Zawahiri also accused the United States of giving phony reports of success in the turbulent region, maintaining the Americans are doomed to fail in Afghanistan and the tribal areas of Pakistan.

Zawahiri spoke out against charges Al Qaeda has killed innocent civilians, calling the reports Western propaganda.

Zawahri also blamed the current economic crisis on a delayed reaction from 9/11.

There’s bipartisanship for you. Al-Qaeda, not Bush or the Democrats, are to blame for the economic crisis. Maybe the left and right can find commonality after all.

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Press Gives Obama's Economic Plan a Pass

Ed Henry of CNN followed Barack Obama’s press conference yesterday announcing the addition to his economic staff with two new budget directors. Henry noticed that Obama offered no specifics and that his accomplices in the media didn’t press the president-elect on the details, essentially giving him a pass.

Obama has been clever about saying there is “only one president at a time”, giving him more time to come up with a game plan, allowing him to place more of the blame on the Bush administration. But we can only hope that when Barack Obama takes the oath of office the press will treat him like any other president and be tough on him. If not, it’s clear they know Obama cannot defend his own strategies and his inexperience needs to be veiled by his party base in the media.

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