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In any partnership, the coin of the realm is trust and responsibility - in other words, saying what you mean and doing what you say. In the dramatic rescue on July 2 of 15 hostages, including three Americans, held captive for many years by guerrillas and terrorists, deep in the Colombian jungles, we saw a powerful reminder that the United States has no better partner in South America than the government and people of Colombia. Colombia's leaders, especially President Uribe, had promised us that our three abducted citizens would be treated no differently than the many Colombian men and women...

It is one of the most audacious promises in a campaign that has been thick with them. In speech after speech, Senator Barack Obama has pledged that he will lower the country's health care costs enough to "bring down premiums by $2,500 for the typical family." Moreover, Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, has promised that his health plan will be in place "by the end of my first term as president of the United States." Whether Obama can deliver is a matter of considerable dispute among health analysts and economists. While there is consensus that the U.S. health care system...

Guys we have to make this an issue. This guy is not a citizen according to some pretty good investigating. Check out these links about his fake Birth certificate. Maybe this is Hillary's ace in the Hole! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBgkDSw-wQ0 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2050103/posts http://www.nowpublic.com/world/barack-obama-birth-certificate-dubbed-fake

American Jewish leaders yesterday predicted a big turnout among Jews in November's presidential election in favour of Barack Obama, in spite of suspicions about his views on Iran and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Ira Forman, executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council, an advocacy group with strong links to the Democratic party, said: "I think Obama will win the Jewish vote by a large margin. The question is how much?" Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Centre of Reform Judaism, said American Jews' political affinity with African Americans, born of a shared experience of discrimination, could outstrip concerns...

WASHINGTON (AdAge.com) -- It's official. Sen. Barack Obama's campaign will be among the TV sponsors of NBC Universal's Olympics coverage. In the first significant network-TV buy of any presidential candidate in at least 16 years, the Obama campaign has taken a $5 million package of Olympics spots that includes network TV as well as cable ads.

John McCain and Barack Obama have both changed positions in this campaign. That's OK. Voters understand that politicians can and, sometimes, should change their views. After all, voters do. Witness the wide swings in their answers to opinion polls. But before accepting the changes, voters typically ask themselves three questions: Does the candidate admit he's shifting? What's the new information that altered his thinking? Does the change seem reasonable and not calculating?

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Rep. Roy Blunt, the House Republican whip, on July 8 introduced a resolution demanding that the Defense Department better enable U.S. military personnel overseas to vote in the November elections. That act was followed by silence. Democrats normally leap on an opportunity to find fault with the Bush Pentagon. But not a single Democrat joined Blunt as a co-sponsor, and an all-Republican proposal cannot pass in the Democratic-controlled House. Analysis by the federal Election Assistance Commission, rejecting inflated Defense Department voting claims, estimated overseas and absentee military voting for the 2006 midterm elections at a disgracefully low...

Washington - In a campaign week dominated by Barack Obama's trip abroad, the pro-John McCain camp has made headlines by complaining about coverage of Senator Obama's trip abroad. For Senator McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, crying foul on the news media represents a double-edged sword. On the plus side, he plays into the longstanding narrative that asserts reporters are rooting for Obama, the likely Democratic nominee, to win in November. Hillary Rodham Clinton played that card during the primaries, to some effect, but ultimately unsuccessfully.

The media already have gone over the top with their coverage of Sen. Barack Obama's international man-of-mystery tour. The endless photo sessions with the troops, foreign leaders, waving crowds -- it's just the most contrived pack of junk I've ever seen. But shame on the folks running the McCain campaign. They knew this week of endless glory for Obama was coming. Their response? They tell McCain to attend a baseball game, hold another boring town-hall meeting, have his photo taken with another Bush, and visit an oilrig. Sounds like the work of strategists bound and determined to destroy their candidate....

Squeezing his thumb and forefinger together in the back of a Manchester bar last night, Libertarian presidential nominee Bob Barr told a crowd of 80 that when it counts, there's that much difference between the Republicans and Democrats. Americans, he argued, are looking for something new. "The definition of throwing your vote away is to go into that voting booth and vote for one of two parties that will not change the direction this country's going in," Barr told a crowd of about 80 at Murphy's Taproom. "And that's the Republicans or Democrats."

At Hearing, Official EIB Clown Attacks Official EIB ClimatologistJuly 22, 2008 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: The official climatologist of the EIB Network, Dr. Roy Spencer, a brilliant independent climatologist and scientist, former NASA, he's now at University of Alabama at Huntsville, testified before Senator Boxer's committee on climate change research, and they had the following exchange. SPENCER: In conclusion, I am predicting today that the theory that mankind is mostly responsible for global warming will slowly fade away in the coming years, as will the warming itself, and I trust you would agree, Madam Chair, that such a result deserves to...

Political reporters have long been obsessed with conflict between presidential candidates and their running mates, at least since the days of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. That's probably one reason why McCain's joke in Detroit last week that Mitt Romney was "doing a better job for me than he did for himself" sparked a wave of news stories speculating that McCain was seriously considering, for the vice-presidential slot, his bitter rival turned loyal surrogate. But while choosing Romney to be his running mate would make Washington journalists happy, it would be nothing short of political suicide for McCain.

(IsraelNN.com) Israel is facing its worst existential threat since the birth of the State, said Republican US presidential candidate Senator John McCain on Wednesday, McCain said the combination of external threast by Iranian nuclear weaponry and the presence of terrorist groups on Israel's borders, plus the internal threat posed by political upheavel due to the corruption investigations against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, comprises the greatest threat to Israel since 1948. "My feeling about Israel today is that they are probably in many respects under a greater threat... than they've been in since their independence," he in a campaign speech back...

In 15 years the Clintons have never been this far removed from the limelight. Im guessing that Denver will be something special to watch. Here's betting the notorious Michelle tape appears or a super delegate fight breaks out. I don't trust them a one bit! Your thoughts.

As the US Democratic Presidential candidate, Barack Obama has drawn wide attention in the United States and elsewhere in the world from his first-ever overseas tour. During his ongoing trip, he has not been taken as an ordinary US Senator in a "routine" visit but is treated as a promising presidential hopeful. Special coverages filed by his accompanying reporters from mainstream US media organs on the great, high-profile reception he was accorded amid tight security arranged by the Afghanistan government is just an indisputable proof. Why should Senator Obama, who is now so busy and engrossed with his presidential race,...

David Cameron is to launch the biggest shake-up of the Conservative Party for decades as part of a bold plan to win support across the whole of the United Kingdom. The Tories are to forge a new party with the Ulster Unionists to try to secure broader backing for Mr Cameron before the next election. The move to restore a link severed more than 30 years ago forms a central plank in a new Conservative strategy to broaden the party's appeal outside England.

Barack Obama flatly stated in his interview with CBS News' Katie Couric yesterday that North Korea possesses "eight nuclear weapons":"There's a reason why, for example, North Korea, when we weren't talking, developed eight nuclear weapons. And when we started talking, we've now arrived at possibility where we could get those nuclear weapons, and those systems dismantled." I never seen any definitive statement from the U.S. government on the number of nuclear warheads North Korea has, nor have I seen any statement from North Korea on this. In fact, this article published July 11, 2008 by the Asia Times about the...

John McCormack catches Wes Clark in a couple of egregious errors on the surge today on Morning Joe. The lesser mistake is Clark’s insistence that the surge didn’t involve Anbar at all, when as McCormack notes the Marines sent two extra battalions to the hotbed of terrorist activity as part of the increased deployment. Worse, though, Clark tries to tell Scarborough that the surge had nothing to do with the Marines, and everything to do with the Saudis paying off the Sunni tribes: This isn’t exactly a lost history. Actually, 4,000 extra Marines went to Anbar. The extra Marine battalions...

The Drudge Report ran a juicy item about the fact that only one reporter showed up to cover Republican John McCain at a campaign stop in New Hampshire the other day. Just one. The lonely print reporter from the Manchester Union Leader stood on the tarmac, waiting for McCain's plane to land. McCain, obviously upset at being dissed by yet another meager media throng, didn't stop to chat. "Did you ever notice that when John McCain is on TV he's always grumpy?" asked a colleague in the cafeteria who whispered, lest others denounce him for Barackian Thought Crimes. "McCain's always...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Media inquiries: contact@aipnc.com Fenton, MI – July 23, 2008 – In a statement released today by America’s Independent Party, Chairman Tom Hoefling welcomed California’s American Independent Party to the growing ranks of AIP state affiliates. Hoefling, commenting in the wake of a statement from the office of the California Secretary of State recognizing Edward C. Noonan as the rightful chairman of the American Independent Party and the legitimacy of the actions of the July 5th State Convention in Sacramento, said, “We gratefully accept the AIP State Central Committee’s decision to affiliate nationally with us. We share a...

SPIEGEL: It is unusual for a US presidential candidate to travel to Europe in the middle of the campaign. Why is Barack Obama coming? Susan Rice: Senator Obama believes it is critically important for the United States and Europe to cooperate far more effectively than we have in recent years. None of us can tackle the critical global challenges we face in isolation -- be it terrorism, proliferation, climate change, disease, poverty or energy security. Obama will want to discuss in Europe and Germany how we each view these challenges and how we can best address them together. SPIEGEL: Critics...

George W. Bush's overall job approval has dropped to 21% as 76% of American say the national economy is getting worse according to the latest survey from the American Research Group. Among all Americans, 21% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 72% disapprove. When it comes to Bush's handling of the economy, 17% approve and 77% disapprove. Among Americans registered to vote, 22% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 71% disapprove. When it comes to the way Bush is handling the economy, 18% of registered voters approve of...

http://www.blackfive.net/main/2008/07/from-gi-in-afgh.html "FROM G.I. IN AFGHANISTAN - "WE GOT MORE THANKS FROM THE DALLAS COWBOY CHEERLEADERS" THAN FROM SENATOR OBAMA" This is from a USAF friend in Afghanistan: Hello everyone, As you know I am not a very political person. I just wanted to pass along that Senator Obama came to Bagram Afghanistan for about an hour on his visit to ' The War Zone ' . I wanted to share with you what happened. He got off the plane and got into a bullet proof vehicle, got to the area to meet with the Major General (2 Star) who is...

OBAMA VISITS WESTERN WALL IN OLD CITY JERUSALEM... ARRIVES AT 5:08 AM LOCAL TIME [10:08 PM ET]... SUNRISE... SHOUTING MAN: 'JERUSALEM IS NOT FOR SALE, OBAMA'... MOB SCENE... CHAOS... BOWING HIS HEAD IN PRAYER... PLACES NOTE IN WALL... POSES FOR PHOTOS... LOTS OF SHOUTING... LEAVES 5:20 AM... DEVELOPING...

Australia's state and federal governments must invest in training specialist emergency rescue crews to avert severe livestock and wildlife losses caused by climate change, a leading animal welfare campaigner says. The head of disaster rescue operations for the Boston-based International Fund for Animal Welfare, Dick Green, has told a national wildlife conference in Canberra, ''Your big three natural disasters here in Australia are bushfires, floods and wind storms and, as the world's climate changes, you're going to get more of them. You need to plan for that and be better prepared.'' He said the number of natural disasters across the...

Wednesday, July 23, 2008 Email to a FriendAdvertisement While Barack Obama has touted his travel to the Middle East and Europe this week as a “fact-finding” trip, 63% of Americans do not believe it makes the Democratic candidate any more qualified to be president. A new Rasmussen Reports national survey, taken Monday night, also finds that less than a third (32%) think Obama will learn from his trip to Iraq. Forty percent (40%) say his mind is already made up about policies to deal with the war there. The Democrat has been accused by liberals in his party of softening...

Obama's Premature Inauguration Syndrome is still giving him trouble, witness the mass Obama rally scheduled for Berlin's SiegessSaeule or Victory Column, to celebrate his penetrating insight in foreign affairs. Google's top listing of this Ueberphallic Prussian monument has to be seen to be believed: It is a favorite Berlin gay newspaper, as you can see. You have to admit those Germans have a sense of humor. What superficial American tourists never understand, of course, is that just about  all those magnificent European monuments stand for historical massacres. Even the big cathedrals symbolize the religious wars of the Reformation, which killed...

The ethanol industry, until recently a golden child that got favorable treatment from Washington, is facing a critical decision on its future. Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is asking the Environmental Protection Agency to temporarily waive regulations requiring the oil industry to blend ever-increasing amounts of ethanol into gasoline. A decision is expected in the next few weeks. Mr. Perry says the billions of bushels of corn being used to produce all that mandated ethanol would be better suited as livestock feed than as fuel. Feed prices have soared in the last two years as fuel has begun competing with...

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - A Republican state senator from South Carolina is being criticized for a post on his blog that shows photos of Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden wearing similar clothing, along with a line that states the difference between the two is "a little B.S." The image was posted on Sen. Kevin Bryant's blog on Friday without an explanation from the politician. It appears to be a photo of a T-shirt, with images of bin Laden and Obama wearing turbans and the words "OBAMA" AND "OSAMA," with the "B" and "S" each highlighted in red. The American-Arab...

Video. This one is a little unnerving. Either we’re missing something, or Obama needs medication and some quality time with a psychiatrist.

It made no sense when Barack Obama left the country on his nine-day overseas tour for some of my fellow columnists to describe it as a high-risk venture. Foreign leaders, who can read the polls as well as anyone, would go out of their way not to embarrass a man who may, six months from now, be president of the United States. Obama prepares thoroughly for the big occasions. He is almost always well-briefed, and he was traveling in sharp company — with Sens. Jack Reed and Chuck Hagel — so you knew he would be thoroughly ready for these...

ROCHESTER, N.H. -- Far from Amman, Jordan, where the world's news media were fixated on Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. John McCain told a town hall meeting here that U.S. troops "have succeeded, and we will win the war in Iraq." In midday remarks to a lively crowd in the old Rochester Opera House, McCain criticized Obama for sticking to his proposal for a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops. "Now he wants to reverse the success we have had and set a date for withdrawal," McCain said. He did not address recent statements supporting withdrawal by 2010 from the...

As many have been saying all along, Senator Barack Obama is only the presumed Democratic nominee. And that fact has given heart to some of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s supporters, who are investing tens of thousands of dollars to pressure the party to put her name to a binding vote at the convention next month.

Emergency Petition To Congress:“Lift The Offshore Drilling Ban Before Congress’ Summer Recess” Total signers: 103,761  Your Sponsor:  Grassfire.org The gas crisis threatens to cripple our economy because our nation’s leaders have failed to move America toward energy independence. The first vital step is to expand our domestic capacity. The President has lifted the Executive Order banning additional offshore oil drilling, but Congress continues to drag its feet. Grassfire is launching this National Petition demanding that Congress lift the legislative and funding ban on Offshore Oil Drilling BEFORE the August recess. No Summer Holiday For Congress Unless The Offshore Drilling...

WASHINGTON -- The competing tax plans laid out by Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain would both add trillions of dollars to the national debt and could add to the tax system's complexity, a nonpartisan tax research group concluded Wednesday in a newly released report. Both campaigns have asserted that their plans to continue many Bush-era tax cuts and offer new reductions would aid the economy without requiring massive new spending. But the Washington-based Tax Policy Center warned that under either candidate, "the debt would likely continue to rise as it has over the past eight years." Obama's plan --...

The New York Times' refusal to publish John McCain's rebuttal to Barack Obama's Iraq op-ed may be the most glaring example of liberal media bias this journalist has ever seen. But true proof of widespread media bias requires one to follow an old journalism maxim: Follow the money. Even the Associated Press — no bastion of conservatism — has considered, at least superficially, the media's favoritism for Barack Obama. It's time to revisit media bias. True to form, journalists are defending their bias by saying that one candidate, Obama, is more newsworthy than the other. In other words, there is...

Denver officials expect to spend more than $18 million on police equipment for the Democratic National Convention — but the purchases apparently won't include high-tech weapons that use sonic waves to incapacitate protesters or goo guns to immobilize them. That information, provided by the city to the American Civil Liberties Union as part of an agreement to delay a public records lawsuit, marks one of the most detailed looks yet at the super-secret efforts to provide security for the convention, scheduled Aug. 25 to 28. The ACLU sued Denver in May under the state's public records law after city officials...

Politics: Barack Obama's refusal to admit he was wrong on President Bush's successful change of strategy in Iraq is as laughable as it is disingenuous. It also calls into question his qualifications to be president.Obama was clearly opposed to the surge as he courted the Democrats' anti-war base. "I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq is going to solve the sectarian violence," he said in 2007. "In fact, I think it will do the reverse." But when he was confronted this week by ABC News' Terry Moran with the success of the surge, asking if he would...

After Barack Obama's opening day in Iraq this week, the New York Times headline read, "For Obama, a First Step Is Not a Misstep." The story, by Richard Oppel Jr. and Jeff Zeleny, noted, "Mr. Obama seemed to have navigated one of the riskiest parts of a weeklong international trip without a noticeable hitch." That was the big nail-biter: Would Obama, the first-term senator and foreign-policy newbie, utter an irrevocably damaging gaffe? The nightmare scenarios were endless. Maybe he would refer to "the Iraq-Pakistan border," or call the Czech Republic "Czechoslovakia" (three times), or confuse Sunni with Shiite, or say...

Election 2008: Barack Obama's big Berlin rally is being sold to U.S. voters as reason to vote for him. Yes, Germans do love Obama, but a look at what they think of the rest of us raises questions about the cheering.A May-June Gallup poll released July 23 shows that 62% of Germans want Obama elected president over just 27% who would prefer John McCain. It's a German landslide. No surprise. Citizens of the country Obama chose for a big showy overseas campaign rally hold some of the most virulent sentiment against President Bush ever recorded. Five years after the Iraq...

Cheering is guaranteed at Barack Obama's speech in Berlin on Thursday, but his campaign is still frustrated and nervous. His appearance in the German capital will be a major test for Obama -- and 40 American journalists will be there to report any faux pas he makes back to the US. Barack Obama's campaign is frustrated over all the vehement discussions about his speech in Berlin on Thursday. SPIEGEL ONLINE has learned that the recent criticism took the campaign by surprise and frustrated Obama's advisors. At first many Europeans complained about Obama not coming to Europe, but then the criticism...

Help Barack Hussein Obama destroy the USofA! Barack needs to destroy all that America holds dear to complete his conquest!Help Obama burn the symbols of America such as the Flag, Apple Pie, Statue of Liberty and the America’s national treasure herself Bea Arthur! Hint to power up shoot the floating Fist Bump of Power!Click the image to play!

This thread can be used to compile research and Gaffe's on Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama. I've started keeping a file on him. I really hope the McCain people are paying attention. Stupid Remarks Obama says he'll be President for 8 to 10 years. Obama says small town Americans cling to guns and religion and they are bitter. Obama says one bomb on Pearl Harbor. Obama says 9-11 happened because Al-queda lacks empathy Iraqi Prime Minister denies supporting Obama's plan. Obama snubs foreign press Obama says he's on the Banking Committee.Source 2 banking Committee. Obama claimed tornadoes in Kansas killed...

Link only - Pack your bags for Baghdad? Iraq looks to tourism

Sean Hannity will interview Senator John McCain tonight on Hannity & Colmes

You've probably heard the story about the tycoon who wanted to bring out a new kind of dog food. He spent lavishly. He hired the best marketing person, the top PR firm, the best ad agency, the No. 1 packaging expert, the most powerful distributor -- but the sales were flat after six months. He summoned his consultants to a meeting and asked why the food wasn't selling. "The dogs won't eat it," was the answer that came back. And so it is with Mitt Romney. Despite outspending his rivals by huge margins throughout the primaries, the dogs won't eat...

One day after it was revealed that Sen. John McCain was to hold a closed-door meeting with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a Republican, Jindal said Wednesday that there is no way he will fill the bottom half of the GOP presidential ticket. "I'm not going to be the vice presidential nominee or vice president," Jindal told Fox News. "I'm going to help Sen. McCain get elected as governor of Louisiana." "Let me be clear: I have said in every private and public conversation, I've got the job that I want," Jindal said. It's not uncommon for those being considered for...

Who is the real Sen. Obama?By DAN SERNOFFSKY Lebanon Daily News Who is the puppetmaster? Who’s pulling the strings? In six weeks, the Democrat Party, a political party which likes to call itself “the party of the people,” is expected to officially place in nomination the name of Barrack Hussein Obama as its candidate for the presidency of the United States. The question waiting to be answered is who Barrack Hussein Obama really is. Based on what has happened since he began his presidential campaign after having served in national office for a stunning 143 days, that identity is beginning...

DNC concerns: Did protesters plan to throw urine? Posted: July 23, 2008 11:07 AM Updated: July 23, 2008 11:07 AM DENVER (KJCT) -- A new kind of warning has come up about protesters gearing up for the Democratic National Convention. Denver firefighters have learned of a house full of urine being stored to throw at police. An internal memo is warning first responders that disgusting acts are a significant concern. Protesters in other cities have used urine and feces filled balloons to throw at police and there are concerns that could happen during the Democratic National Convention in Denver.