Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Barack Obama, Ted Kennedy , Cindy Sheehan : Rhetoric or Substance

Barack Obama interview Keth Olbermann & Chris Mathews




Anyway here is a commentary by Ted Kennedy about his support for Barack Obama as the leader of the Democratic Party and possibly the next President of the United States:

Huffington Post Barack Obama January 28, 2008

Earlier today I endorsed Barack Obama for president, and I couldn't be more excited for the Democratic Party, the nation -- and the world.

Barack inspires me -- it's that simple. In the words of President Kennedy:

"The world is changing. The old ways will not do... It is time for a new generation of leadership."

In Barack, I see that next generation of American leadership: a figure who can transcend the divisions in this country that my family and I have fought so hard to tear down.

We were all moved four years ago as Barack told us a profound truth: We are not red states and blue states, but one United States. Since then, he has matched that rhetoric with action, traveling the country to inspire record turnouts of men and women of all ages, races, parties and faiths. Barack has forged consensus in the Senate on contentious issues such as immigration and pushed through necessary reforms like the most far-reaching ethics reform in its history.

But I'm not only supporting Barack because of what he has done. What counts in our leadership is not the length of years in Washington, but the reach of our vision, the strength of our beliefs, and that rare quality of mind and spirit that can call forth the best in our country and our people.

That's why I'm most excited about the promise of President Obama:

As president, Barack Obama will break the Washington gridlock to finally make health care what it should be in America.

He will turn the page on the old politics of misrepresentation and distortion and bridge the divisions of race, gender, ethnicity and sexual orientation that plague our country.

He will end a war in Iraq that he has always stood against, that has cost us the lives of thousands of our sons and daughters, and that America never should have fought.

He will close the door on the old economics that has written off the poor and left the middle class poorer and less secure.

He will make the United States the great leader and not the great roadblock in the fateful fight against global warming.

When Barack Obama raises his hand on Inauguration Day a new generation of American leadership will take charge and restore the hope, peace and prosperity the country so desperately needs.

Looking out from the stage today, I realized just how powerful his campaign has become. It's a movement for change -- and one that I'm proud to be a part of.


It all sounds so positive . But is it just more rhetoric. Though I have to admit I have become more impressed by Barack Obama in the last couple of weeks. Part of his appeal though derives from the nasty gutter style politicking of the Clintons. And the glowing endorsement by Ted Kennedy lends credence to the idea that Barack Obama is not merely good at making speeches but is also someone of sincerity and integrity and a candidate of substance.

The question is still whether Barack Obama as president will tackle all of the difficult tasks facing America.

For instance this would mean a reversal in American foreign policy. Will the American People accept that America is to no longer continue with Empire Building.

Will he shut down Guantanamo prison and any of the secret prisons being operated by American personnel.

Will obama take steps to help those detainees or those kidnapped by American personnel and then handed over to countries that engage in torture.

Will Barack Obama stop the Renditions Program and the torturing of detainees.

Will he bring those to justice who participated in these policies. This will be difficult for Obama for it means that Americans have to accept the fact that there are those in th Bush Regime and in the CIA and Pentagon who took part in these crimes. Obama as president could call for the removal and resignations of all those who took part in these illegal and immoral practices.

Will he ensure that Iraq War vets are taken care of and given the best medical and psychiatric treatment possible.

Will Obama stop the hiring of special contractors , also known as Mercenaries such as Blackwater. Will he insists that private contractors be investigated for their practices in Iraq or elsewhere and if need be prosecute the individual employees along with their superiors where it is deemed they have committed crimes or even War Crimes.

Will Obama take a proactive stance to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina so that they can be returned to New Orleans and their other former residences and not just left herded into these makeshift trailer parks .

Will Obama take action to make changes in the various government departments which the Bush Regime have in one way or another illegally interfered with such as the Dept. of Justice, the JAGs , the Environmental Protection Agency etc.

Will Obama take a more positive and sensible approach to practices engaged in by industries which have led to a disregard for impacts on the environment such as the disastrous Mountain Top Mining or allowing the forestry industries and others into National Parks and protected areas within the United States.

But it would be nice if Barack Obama is the real deal.

And here's a message to the Democrats and others to take some form of action against the Bush Regime and it's lies and propaganda from anti-Iraq War activist Cindy Sheehan
Dead For Lies, By Cindy Sheehan



27/01/08 "ICH" -- -- Once, before I camped out in Crawford, Tx, I was speaking at a venue in DC and I called George Bush a "lying bastard." This was in May 2005; right after we discovered the revelations of the Downing Street Minutes which we believed was the smoking gun that would bring down BushCo in short order.

We held hearings in June of 2005 that Congressman John Conyers convened (in a crowded basement room in the Capitol) that exposed the deceit of the "yellow cake uranium from Niger" lie and the fact that Dick Cheney and Scooter Libby made many trips to the CIA offices to "cherry-pick" intelligence. Along with myself, Ambassador Joe Wilson, and ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern: Constitutional Attorney John Bonifaz wrapped up the panel to explain how and why the criminal Bush regime should be impeached and imprisoned.

Since then, I have been hailed or condemned for my strong language and told that if I "framed" my language better, I could be more effective. On the other hand, some people have told me to not dare temper my language because what our government is doing to people is so heinous that someone needs to strongly speak out against it. Now something has again surfaced that alternately angers and sorrows me.

A recent report found that BushCo told 935 lies in the two-year run-up to the war! We all know they lied, and frankly, I am surprised that the number is only 935, but it was an apparently exhaustive study by two media analysis groups.

Calling the President of the USA a "lying bastard" may, on the face of things, seem disrespectful, but there are two definitions of the word that seem appropriate to BushCo: 1) something of illegitimate or dubious origin (stolen elections) or 2) someone mean or nasty.

After nearly four years of living with the horrible knowledge that my son was killed in Iraq for the lies of the lying bastards of the Bush regime, I still mourn him and miss him with all my heart and soul and I don't know if I will ever be able to go through a day without being reminded that he should be alive and well and home with his family. Presidential daughter Jenna Bush will be getting married soon and I can't help but feel that Casey should have been able to have the same opportunity to get married and have his own children and future.

We cannot place the blame solely at the foot of BushCo, though. We have two Senators vying for their party's presidential nomination who are nothing but spoiled Demo-Brats who snipe and bicker at each other instead of calling for the immediate removal of our troops from Iraq and the ouster of the liars who are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and the tragic creation of millions of broken hearts (when we buried Casey, I discovered that the term is not just a figure of speech).

We have a Speaker of the House who has taken impeachment "off the table" and refuses to even consider doing her job because impeachment would be too "divisive" when so many families have been physically, emotionally, and politically divided by Republican and Democratic war crimes and support of war crimes.

It is imperative that BushCo be impeached for past, present and future high crimes and misdemeanors. They have not only lied about the reasons for invading and occupying Iraq, but they have used their war of terror to redefine and lie about torture and commit unspeakable crimes against humanity.

Accountability should not be a politically partisan issue. No one should be above the law in a democracy and this is not a game of power plays or revenge for a past impeachment for lying about oral sex in the oval office.

We know they lied and now we must demand hearings from our dysfunctional employees in DC to find out why they lied so we can prevent it from ever happening again.

What's more obscene? The word "bastard" or the travesty and tragedy of wars based on so many lies told by so many liars?



and so it goes,
GORD.

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