no, Julia, I want to discuss it too... I am not very clear on our strategy in Afganistan and Iraq... are we pullin gout of both? I understand that Obama specifically said that we will not do much "nation building" in Afganistan. So what, we will pull out and leave it as is? So what will that mean for our and the world's safety in the long run?

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you can't always eat lobster, sometimes you gotta have fish (so says my son)

Posted by Frank J. (IMAO)

Excerpts from Obama West Point speech
In case you missed Obama’s speech last night, here are some excerpts from it:
“As a compromise with my left-wing base, I’m going to be holding this anti-war protest sign throughout the speech.”
“War is expensive, and I just can’t see putting a large amount of money into something that doesn’t create a giant government program.”
“I think we can still achieve… what’s that words again… starts with a ‘v’ and rhymes with ‘hickory’?”
“I want you to know we support you. Bill Ayers even promised me he won’t blow you up.”
“Just feel lucky I took time out of forcing a health care bill on the American people to talk to you.”
“The reasons this decision took months wasn’t me ‘dithering’; that was me completely not caring.”
“America has always been at the forefront of… oh, this is more of that ‘American exceptionalism’ boilerplate. I’m just going to go ahead and skip it.”

2. Cont:
“Gitmo. Torture. As a liberal, I’m legally required to mention that any time I talk about the military.”
“And that’s as hawkish as I can sound without causing my base to screech at me in their tiny, high-pitch voice. Really, whenever I stir them up, it’s like I made a bunch of alarm clocks angry at me.”
“While campaigning, I said Iraq was just distracting from the conflict in Afghanistan. Now I kinda see why you’d want to distract from it, because I really don’t want to deal with it either.”
“Oh man, I’m so bored just talking about this. Anyone want to hear about health care instead?”
“I’m not really feeling it with you guys. I should have given this speech at East Point.”
“I want you to know that no matter what happens, no matter how dark things get, I will always be here to remind you that this is all Bush’s fault.”
:-D

and.... what was the point of this?
mockery is ok, but how about discussing?
are we going to see any results of this campaign?
is it going to be not enough?
will it stabilize or further destabilize the region?
How about India?
How will all of this affect India- Pakistan relations?
I am actually concerned about this...

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Happy New Year to all! Virtual hugs!

good speech IMHO (although i only caught first 10 minutes ) .. the only better one would be "you can take this peace prize and shove it, a bunch of brown-nosed assholes".

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Человек, который почувствовал ветер перемен, должен построить не щит от ветра, а ветряную мельницу

***********.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/12/10/obama.transcript/index.html Speech transcript -
I thought that the first half was a coherent, poignant, lucid theoretical framework of a war policy throughout the human experience. If only it could somehow transcend into his policy.
The second half was the usual convoluted self-indulgent nonsense filled with cliches, Bush-bashing, Euro butt-licking trash.
Grade - A for speech writers
B- for the President (I gave extra points for improvement)
F - for the rest of us. Either way we're F@#$-ed

OK speech. ( though I can only stomach short segments -can't stand the way he talks -надувается пузырём). *The annoying part was when he said in his usual arrogant manner : "I prohibited torture".:-S
As if there was torture to start with.

Amazingly, Obama's Ego Continues to Expand
Maybe instead of the "Audacity of Hope," we should call it the "Preposterousness of Megalomania."Our first Affirmative Action president characterizes himself during hisacceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize, which he was awarded out of pureundisguised moonbattery:

I am living testimony to the moral force of non-violence.
Actually,he is living testimony to the destructive force ofpolitical correctnesspushed to the point of gibbering lunacy. DavidFreddoso (whose book TheCase Against Barack Obama is highly recommended) comments:

Onewould hope that his legacy amounts to much more than a president whopraises himself while accepting awards he clearly doesn't deserve, andwho sounds more like George W. Bush with each speech he gives onforeign policy.
Or one could hope that the tragicomedy of this presidency cures us of liberalism once and forever.
Moonbattery.com

Should We Replace Obama with a Cardboard Cutout?
When Obama didn’t show up at an event in Norway, they used a cardboard cutout of him instead. That got me thinking: What an awesome idea! Maybe we should replace our Obama with a cardboard cutout.
Let’s weigh the advantages and disadvantages:
ADVANTAGES OF CARDBOARD CUTOUT OBAMA
* Less deleterious to bipartisanship.
* Would not seek out new spending.
* Would not bow to foreign leaders (if weighted down against wind).
* Does just as much as real Obama to earn a Nobel Peace Prize.
* Does not have radical friends.
* Just as charismatic and inspirational as real Obama.
* Will not walk into doors and windows.
* Doesn’t talk about self all the time.
* As concerned about the economy as real Obama.
* Is neutral on the issue of rough treatment of terrorists.
* As much practical experience as real Obama… even more if the cardboard was a box before becoming Obama.

* Not influenced by corrupt Chicago political practices.
* Not a socialist.
* No desire to be on TV everyday.
DISADVANTAGES OF CARDBOARD CUTOUT OBAMA
* Can’t read from teleprompter.
* Would actually take even longer than real Obama on important decisions like troops for Afghanistan.
* No birth certificate and even more suspicions of being born outside the country due to “Made in China” label.
Looks like it’s worth considering.
(H) (IMAO blog)