Two Faces Of Nancy

Nancy happy: (pre-vote)



Nancy not happy: (post-vote)

What Caused Our Economic Crisis?

This goes by pretty fast so you might want to pause it in spots.



h/t: MidPoint Politics


Shocking Video Unearthed! Democrats in their own words Covering up the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Scam that caused our Economic Crisis:

Odierno Assumes Command

From Multi-National Force - Iraq News:

CAMP VICTORY — Army Gen. Ray Odierno assumed command of Multi-National Force-Iraq from Army Gen. David H. Petraeus during a ceremony at al Faw Palace here Sept. 16.

The change of command occurs after incredible progress in the country, said Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who traveled to Baghdad to participate in the ceremony.

“When General Petraeus took charge 19 months ago, darkness had descended on this land,” the secretary said. “Merchants of chaos were gaining strength. Death was commonplace. Around the world, questions mounted about whether a new strategy – or any strategy, for that matter – could make a real difference.”

Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, noted that a national intelligence estimate in January 2007 doubted whether Iraq could reconcile over 18 months.

“Here we are, 18 months later, and Iraq is a vastly different place,” Mullen said during the ceremony. “Attacks are at their lowest point in four years, 11 of 18 provinces have been turned over – including the once-written-off Anbar province – to Iraqi security forces, who are increasingly capable and taking more of a lead in operations.”

The Iraqi government is providing for its people, the legislature is passing laws and the courts are enforcing justice, the chairman said. “In more places and on more faces we are seeing hope; we see progress,” the admiral said.

Mullen said he looks forward to working with Petraeus as the general takes over the reins of U.S. Central Command next month.

Petraeus put all the credit for the progress in Iraq at the feet of “the men and women of the coalition and with the many courageous diplomats and Iraqis with whom we have served.”

Petraeus thanked the Iraqi civilian and military leaders for their leadership. “You have risked everything to help your country make the most of the opportunity that our forces and yours have fought so hard to provide,” he said.

The Iraqi people also have made the strategy work, standing with the new Iraq against extremism, Petraeus said. more

Here's to a job well done by Petraeus and good wishes to Odierno as he faces what lies ahead.

Democrats Who Put America Last

From Frederick W. Kagan:

This morning, I had the honor of testifying before the House Budget Committee on the situation in Iraq. The discussion was polite and civilized, and was a reminder that even now it is possible for people who disagree about what to do in Iraq to argue without raised voices and disagreeable language (apart from the Code Pink women, yelling for those who think that shouting opponents down is preferable to arguing with them). Congressman Brian Baird once again demonstrated that it is possible even for those who bitterly opposed the war to recognize the importance of doing the right thing now--as well as the possibility of crossing the Republican-Democrat sectarian divide on this issue. One question came up repeatedly in the hearing that deserves more of an answer than it got, however: Why, after all the assistance we've given to Iraq over the past five years, was the first major Iraqi oil deal signed with China and not with an American or even a western company? The answer is, in part, because three Democratic senators intervened in Iraqi domestic politics earlier this year to prevent Iraq from signing short-term agreements with Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total, Chevron, and BP.

The Iraqi government was poised to sign no-bid contracts with those firms this summer to help make immediate and needed improvements in Iraq's oil infrastructure. The result would have been significant foreign investment in Iraq, an expansion of Iraqi government revenues, and an increase in the global supply of oil. One would have thought that leading Democratic senators who claim to be interested in finding other sources of funding to replace American dollars in Iraq, in helping Iraq spend its own money on its own people, and in lowering the price of gasoline for American citizens, would have been all for it. Instead, Senators Chuck Schumer, John Kerry, and Claire McCaskill wrote a letter to Secretary of State Rice asking her "to persuade the GOI [Government of Iraq] to refrain from signing contracts with multinational oil companies until a hydrocarbon law is in effect in Iraq." The Bush administration wisely refused to do so, but the resulting media hooraw in Iraq led to the cancellation of the contracts, and helps to explain why Iraq is doing oil deals instead with China.

Senators Schumer, McCaskill, and Kerry claimed to be acting from the purest of motives: "It is our fear that this action by the Iraqi government could further deepen political tensions in Iraq and put our service members in even great danger." For that reason, presumably, Schumer went so far as to ask the senior vice president of Exxon "if his company would agree to wait until the GOI produced a fair, equitable, and transparent hydrocarbon revenue sharing law before it signed any long-term agreement with the GOI." Exxon naturally refused, but Schumer managed to get the deal killed anyway. But the ostensible premise of the senators' objections was false--Iraq may not have a hydrocarbons law, but the central government has been sharing oil revenues equitably and there is no reason at all to imagine that signing the deals would have generated increased violence (and this was certainly not the view of American civilian and military officials on the ground in Iraq at the time). It is certain that killing the deals has delayed the maturation of Iraq's oil industry without producing the desired hydrocarbons legislation.

CONTINUED

Townhall in Grand Rapids, MI

From the intellectual sponges at CNN:
Palin takes questions from friendly Michigan crowd

Posted: 08:46 PM ET
GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan (CNN) — Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin took questions with her running mate Wednesday night, offering at one point to play “stump the candidate” with a mostly friendly Michigan crowd.

Asked for “specific skills” she could cite to rebut critics who question her grasp of international affairs, she told a town hall-style event at the Gerald Ford presidential library that “I am prepared.”

“I have that confidence. I have that readiness,” Palin said. “And if you want specifics with specific policies or countries, you can go ahead and ask me. You can play ’stump the candidate’ if you want to. But we are ready to serve.”

I wonder if CNN even bothered to show up at this event.

A much more in depth local report from The Grand Rapids Press

To chants of "Sarah, Sarah," Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. John McCain took the stage at Grand Rapids Community College's Ford Fieldhouse Wednesday and echoed similar themes heard in previous stops the past two days.

After making brief remarks from their stump speeches, McCain and Palin opened the floor to questions in their first joint town-hall appearance.

"Governor Palin and I will not raise taxes. It's the worst thing you can do," said McCain, R-Arizona, before he took questions.

A combative questioner began by chiding McCain and saying he disagreed with McCain's past statements and asked what a McCain administration would do to fight terrorism and "radical Islam."

America Proud to Serve With Courageous Allies

President Bush on successes, withdrawls in Iraq; continued committment to Afghanistan:

Joe Biden on Barack Obama

Which Bush Doctrine?

Amazingly, from msnbc.com:

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin seemed puzzled Thursday when ABC News anchor Charles Gibson asked her whether she agrees with the "Bush doctrine."

"In what respect, Charlie?" she replied.

Intentionally or not, the Republican vice presidential nominee was on to something. After a brief exchange, Gibson explained that he was referring to the idea -- enshrined in a September 2002 White House strategy document -- that the United States may act militarily to counter a perceived threat emerging in another country. But that is just one version of a purported Bush doctrine advanced over the past eight years.

Peter D. Feaver, who worked on the Bush national security strategy as a staff member on the National Security Council, said he has counted as many as seven distinct Bush doctrines. They include the president's second-term "freedom agenda"; the notion that states that harbor terrorists should be treated no differently than terrorists themselves; the willingness to use a "coalition of the willing" if the United Nations does not address threats; and the one Gibson was talking about -- the doctrine of preemptive war.

"If you were given a quiz, you might guess that one, because it's one that many people associate with the Bush doctrine," said Feaver, now a Duke University professor. "But in fact it's not the only one."

I'm in shock the editors let this story go to print. Sarah Palin is a threat to their left-wing bias, after all.

President's Radio Address - Sep 13, 2008

Audio

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This week, Americans marked seven years since the terrorist attacks that shook our Nation on September 11, 2001. On that day, we witnessed unspeakable destruction perpetrated by evil men. But we also witnessed selfless acts of valor and compassion performed by courageous citizens. And we saw the strength of the American people as they rallied in defense of the Nation.

On Thursday, I dedicated a new 9/11 memorial at the Pentagon. In the years to come, parents will visit this site to remember children who boarded Flight 77 for a field trip, and never emerged from the wreckage. Husbands and wives will visit the memorial to remember spouses who left for work one morning, and never returned home. And people from across our Nation will visit to remember the heroism of rescue workers who rushed into the burning Pentagon to save the lives of their fellow citizens.

Seven years after the attacks of 9/11, this spirit of heroism lives on. We see it in the courageous members of the United States Armed Forces. These brave men and women have volunteered to defend our Nation during a time of war. Every day, they are confronting our enemies abroad so we do not have to face them here at home. And because of their efforts, our Nation is safer today than it was seven years ago.

In Afghanistan, where the 9/11 attacks were planned, our men and women in uniform toppled the Taliban regime, destroyed al Qaeda camps, and liberated more than 25 million Afghans. In the years since, members of the Taliban and al Qaeda have sought to regain power through acts of terror. The United States and our allies are meeting this challenge head on. We will not allow Afghanistan to once again become a safe haven for terror.

Earlier this week, I announced additional American troop deployments to Afghanistan. In November, a Marine battalion that was scheduled to deploy to Iraq will deploy to Afghanistan instead. It will be followed in January by an Army combat brigade. This continuing commitment to the Afghan people illustrates a stark contrast: While the terrorists and extremists deliberately target and murder the innocent, coalition and Afghan forces risk their lives to protect the innocent.

America is also on the offense against terrorists and extremists in Iraq. Since we launched the surge last year, violence has fallen to its lowest point since the spring of 2004. While the enemy in Iraq is still dangerous, we seized the offensive, and Iraqi forces are becoming increasingly capable of leading and winning the fight. As a result, we've been able to carry out a policy of "return on success" -- reducing the number of American combat forces in Iraq as conditions on the ground there continue to improve.

After reviewing conditions in Iraq, General Petraeus and the Joint Chiefs of Staff have recommended additional force reductions. By February, about 8,000 additional American troops will have returned home without replacement. And if this progress in Iraq continues to hold, General Petraeus and our military leaders believe additional reductions will be possible in the first half of 2009.

In the seven years since the attacks of September the 11th, the men and women of our Armed Forces and their wonderful families have been a source of pride for the Nation. Those who do not wear the uniform also have a responsibility to serve our country. After 9/11, I called on Americans to devote at least 4,000 hours -- or two years over the course of a lifetime -- to volunteering in their communities. This morning, I renew that call. Serving others is more than just a generous act -- it is essential to the health of our society. And as any volunteer can tell you, when you bring hope to the lives of others, the life you enrich most is usually your own.

Thank you for listening.

From WhiteHouse.gov

We Will Not Forget

Lipstick

Sep 9, 2008:

"That's not change," Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., said of what Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is offering. "You know, you can put lipstick on a pig," Obama said, "but it's still a pig."

Nov 2, 2004:

"As we say in Wyoming, you can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig," quipped Vice President Dick Cheney in a stump speech yesterday, with reference to John Kerry's claims he would be a credible war president.

Barack Obama quoting Dick Cheney. Delicious.

McCain: Stand Up & Fight!

It's About Time

From the Detroit Free Press:

Telling Detroiters "I've always said that you need to stand strong for the City of Detroit...but sometimes standing strong means stepping down," Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick delivered a televised speech that was part-apology, part campaign speech.

As his mother, U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick watched, Kilpatrick said, "I want to emphasize tonight that I take full responsibility for my actions ... our challenge now is to put the anguish and the turmoil of recent months behind us."

Kilpatrick then proceeded to take light jabs at Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who he said put his removal above the many other problems facing the state. He said, though, that he would continue to support her.

“I'm stepping down because the new spirit of this city, the new expectations and standards that we've set for excellence in the past six and a half years has been tangled up in what I believe is the pursuit of many people's own political ambitions, even our governor, Jennifer Granholm, who I wish well,” he said. “Rather than focusing on the huge issues that are facing our state, from the record home foreclosures, the lack of affordable healthcare, a record unemployment in our state, Kwame Kilpatrick was at the top of her list,” he said. “I wish her well and hope that the same tenacity, the same professionalism, if you will, and intensity that went around putting together a quasi-administrative court will also be the same tenacity to solve the problem of the people of the state of Michigan.”

The nerve of this guy. My sympathies to Detroit residents for this debacle and my congratulations for FINALLY getting this scumbag out of office.

Remembering Reagan

From the RNC on Sep 2, 2008:

President Bush Stumps for McCain/Palin

Anbar Province Returned to Iraqis

RAMADI, Iraq: Two years ago, Anbar Province was the most lethal place for American forces in Iraq. A U.S. marine or soldier died in the province nearly every day, and the provincial capital, Ramadi, was a moonscape of rubble and ruins. Islamic extremists controlled large pieces of territory, with some so ferocious in their views that they did not even allow the baking of bread.

On Monday, U.S. commanders formally returned responsibility for keeping order in Anbar Province, once the heartland of the Sunni insurgency, to the Iraqi Army and police. The ceremony, including a parade on a freshly paved street, capped one of the most significant turnabouts in the country since the war began five and a half years ago.

Over the past two years, the number of insurgent attacks against Iraqis and Americans has dropped by more than 90 percent. Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia has been severely degraded, if not crushed altogether, in large part because many local Sunnis, including former insurgents, have taken up arms against it.

Since February, as the security situation improved, U.S. commanders have cut the number of marines and soldiers operating in the province by 40 percent.

The transfer of authority codified a situation that Iraqi and American officers say has been in effect since April: The Iraqi Army and police operate independently and retain primary responsibility for battling the insurgency and crime in Anbar. The United States, which had long done the bulk of the fighting, has stepped into a backup role, going into the streets only when accompanied by Iraqi forces.

HOORAH & HOOAH!

Whaat?