Like everyone else here I am totally against this war and I want it to end as quickly as possible. I have been extremely frustrated with the inability of the Democratic party to make good on their promise to end this war. It is demoralizing watching attempt after attempt shot down and shut out by republican obstructionism. It makes the Democratic majority seem like a footnote rather than the preface and table of contents it should be.

Tuesday something wonderful will be happening. After more than a year of promoting his political plan to end the Iraqi civil war and allow a responsible draw down of our forces to end our occupation at last, Joe Biden's political solution will finally be coming to a vote.

Over a year ago, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE), along with President Emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations Leslie H. Gelb, announced a detailed plan for promoting a political settlement in Iraq that would allow our troops to leave, without leaving chaos behind. The plan called for a decentralized, federal system in Iraq which would give its people local control over the fabric of their daily lives, including police, jobs, education and government services. A limited central government would be responsible for protecting Iraq's borders and distributing its oil revenues.

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I realize that this isn't much of a diary but could someone tell me where I might watch the live feed of Hillary's Health Care speech today? I have looked all over the web and can't find a clue. I would greatly appreciate someone's assistance. Help!

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At yesterday's hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Obama made it very clear that he is using the stage of the Senate to further his personal ambitions at the expense of the voters of Illinois and the citizens of our country that expect their elected representatives to take their Constitutional responsibilities seriously. Rather than use the allotted amount of time to actually question General Petraeaus and Ambassador Crocker, Obama used that time to rehearse a campaign speech. It sounded good, but he wasn't elected to the Senate to run for President. In fact, at one point I thought Obama had to catch himself before he reminded Petraeus and Crocker that he was against this war from the start. For someone so opposed to this war he sure as hell isn't doing a whole lot to bring it to an end. You know, you might expect someone that makes such a big deal about his opposition to the war to take the time to actually question the people responsible for executing that war.

Such action from Obama is not new. After all, he was only in the Senate two years before he announced his intentions to use the stage of his Senate spotlight to launch an effort toward the Presidency. And he wrote two biographies just to make sure everyone knew who he is. He even made shit up to enhance his stature and give people the impression that he is someone that he isn't. And he laughed off and justified the fiction as if it were something everyone did and it was cool. It's easy to "have game" when all you have to do is imagine it and lie about yourself. And if lying about himself to make it appear like he some political messiah wasn't enough he took the opportunity in Selma to lie about his parents too, telling the crowd that his parents got together and created him BECAUSE of what happened in Selma. Never mind that he had been born 4 years earlier. The people just ate the shit up hook, line and sinker. Who needs the truth when fantasy sounds so much better. Maybe we are all just a little dense and his parents were psychic and knew what would take place in Selma four years into the future and therefore decided to have Barack as a result of their premonition. Yeah, that sounds good. Edit. Whatever else one thinks about Obama, he sure has the audacity. He didn't have to make that up.

Senators have a Constitutional responsibility of oversight. And in case Obama forgot while he was busy fund raising and being on Oprah, we are in the middle of a war in Iraq. As American citizens I think the very least we should expect from our elected representatives is that they take their responsibilities seriously especially when many of our soldier citizens are in harms way. And this is especially true when it comes to Senators like Obama that constantly remind people that he was against this war from the start. One might expect that he might actually take the time to ask the people responsible for executing the war a few frickin questions. But no, Obama didn't do that. Instead he talked about the audacity of having the hearing on September 11th and proceeded to lecture the General and the Ambassador on the inappropriateness of their testifying on that date. And when he had finally used up all of his time lecturing and giving a speech the only question he asked had been asked by another Senator just a few minutes previously. Yeah, that Obama was right on top of his Senate Constitutional responsibilities. But I guess from his perspective and from the perspective of his supporters he did everything he was supposed to do. He used the limelight to campaign for President. He and they don't want to be bothered with those pesky little things like Constitutional responsibility and the like. They are an irritating inconvenience in the way to bigger and better things. I don't know about the rest of you but I have had it with a President that doesn't take the Constitution seriously and I sure as hell am not going to allow a Senator that has the same apparent disregard for Constitution to be elected to the Presidency, even if he claims to be a Democrat.

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I've been watching the testimony of Petraeus and Crocker for the past two days. Something happened just a few minutes ago that I just have to share. The words are from Senator Robert Byrd of the Armed Services Committee while addressing Ambassador Crocker. My transcription may not be perfect but it's fresh off the presses so to speak.

"You are saying that we can't have a political solution until we have security and we can't have security until we have a political solution. This sounds an awful lot like a dog that is chasing it's tail. A breeder would tell you that this isn't the puppy to pick."

Whatever else you might think about Robert Byrd, he is one of a kind. And I am proud that he is a United States Senator.

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Last night Hillary appeared on the 14th anniversary show of David Letterman. Quite honestly I couldn't wait for the first commercial to come because I was laughing so much it hurt. Hillary was HILARIOUS. And I am not saying this because of some preconceived bias toward her because as should be obvious I have had a few issues with her campaign over the past week or so. She was funny. VERY FUNNY. Like pee your pants funny.

Last night's appearance should dispel the rumor that she has a likability problem once and for all. Unless someone is completely brain dead or a republican there is no possible way that you could not like her after this appearance. For those of you that missed it here is a link:
 http://www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/da ve_tv/highlights/index/php/bigshowhighli ght.phtml
Enjoy the show!

As for my issues with Hillary consider them gone. Bookgrl was kind enough to take my request for clarification seriously and provided me with exactly what I requested and needed. I cannot thank her enough. So for all of you Hillary haters out there be put on notice, I am back. And as one of my favorite bands might say, I'm Back in Black.

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I received this video from MoveOn.org. It is an interview Cheney gave in 1994 about going into Baghdad. It is amazing how right he was back then. Just contrast that with the maniacal idiot we know now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YENbElb5- xY

Enjoy the show. I apologize in advance that it takes you to a fund raising page. Just watch it.

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It seems Barack Obama has been out demonstrating again that he is the least experienced and least prepared and the least capable person to become our next President. This time Obama opened his mouth and said something that was clearly a mistake. And I am not going to pretend otherwise even though doing so would make for a delightfully entertaining diary. Nope, this time I am just going to discuss what Obama said and how it is wrong and why he should fess up to making a mistake, clarify the error and move on.

This particular huge screw up happened last night in New Hampshire. Someone asked him about his plan to move more troops into Afghanistan and this is how he responded:

"We've got to get the job done there and that requires us to have enough troops so that we're not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous problems there,"

Now on the face of this it is obvious that Obama made a huge mistake. If you look at his sentence the word just implies that killing civilians is all the troops are doing in Afghanistan. I mean, don't take my word for it, read the sentence for yourself. Here, let me repeat it for you and show you how this reads: "...so that we're not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians..."

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Barack Obama is apparently frustrated with all the endorsements received by his chief rival, Hillary Clinton. He tried to casually laugh off his lack of endorsements stating: "We haven't been in Washington all that long and we haven't traded that many favors." But apparently Obama has been in Washington just long enough to understand the old fashioned method of getting endorsements, you just buy them.

According to Andrew Bolton of The Hill, Obama has been targeting politicians in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Obama showered lawmakers from Iowa and New Hampshire with contributions while other presidential hopefuls turned their focus to raising money for their presidential campaign accounts, records show.

I am not suggesting that Obama has broke any rules or that the lawmakers he targets are offering a quid pro quo endorsement. Even if it were true I couldn't prove it. But as Bolton points out:

Presidential campaigns covet the endorsements of lawmakers from these two states because they will host two of the first contests of the 2008 presidential primary.

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John Edwards has made a big point of his claim that he doesn't take money from "Washington" lobbyists. But a fair examination where he raises money reveals a different John Edwards. A John Edwards that says nice sounding things that rile people up and at the same time a John Edwards accepts money from the Insurance Industry ($83,737), the Pharmaceutical Industry (6,758), from Heath Care Professionals ($254,297), from Hedge Funds ($218,290), from Securities and Investment Professionals ($668,590), from Commercial Banks ($131,876) and from the Real Estate ($500,870).

Yes John, you'll never see me on the cover of Fortune 500 magazine, Edwards doesn't seem to have a problem accepting money from these same Fortune 500 companies he criticizes other candidates for taking money from. You might ask: Are you saying that John Edwards, the golden boy, poverty champion, picket walking when it is convenient to his presidential aspirations, I'll sick my wife after you millionaire is a hypocrite and a liar? Did I say that?

Let's examine the facts.

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I read the title of one diary here, Biden and Dodd Carrying Hillary's Jock Strap, posted by someone that has earned Trusted Poster credentials. This title is blatantly sexist. I mean this is vile. It is one thing to criticize a candidate but quite another than to demean their gender. The last time I checked Democrats stood up against such characterizations.

It is wrong to allow someone that is obviously a sexist to be a trusted poster at this or any other blog. We Democrats don't put up with that kind of shit. So I implore the owner and the managers of this site to reconsider the trusted poster status of this particular individual. I am sure that having a sexist as a trusted poster was never your intention.

I would personally criticize this individual on the offending diary but since this person can make someone's comments just disappear it would be a waste of my time. And my time is valuable. Clearly many people that dislike Hillary are sexists. This has been the not so secret secret. And it is rarely discussed. But I did not think anyone here would be so bold as to demonstrate their blatant sexism for everyone to see plainly.

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