Emanuel Quits Ala Palin, Except He Can't Run for Mayor

Poor Rahm Emanuel. He quit his post serving out nation halfway into it to run  for Mayor, reminiscent of Sarah Palin when she ran for Vice President.

Big difference is Palin had people suing her right and left for Alaska related things.

Bigger difference too is that Sarah Palin was legally allowed to do exactly what she did. Emanuel neglected to research fully his concern, and now, the courts say he can't run.

Court: Emanuel's name can't be on mayoral ballot

My best guess is President Obama ran him out politely, that their relationship was good (hence the support for Emanuel's Chicago run), but that our good president wanted someone else in Emanuel's position.

Strange Glee in the White House With Tea Party Victory

Strange glee. The Tea Party crowd won an election in Kentucky. Rand Paul, Ron Paul's son won a primary. It made national news. Why are the Democrats happy?

Meanwhile, our dear President Barack Obama suffers from an all-time low approval rating (42%). While he has pushed the barely supported health care bill forward, nothing has changed. Life in 2010 is pretty much the same as the day before he entered office. He has another year to fix this, but that will come quickly. He cannot delay.

Are the Obama people really concerned Paul's modest victory represents something? Maybe not, but with the gust of wind which blew him into office now a mere breeze, they need to gather up the troops. Since part of the campaign for 2008 was reactionary, they want to grab the antiTea Party movement who do not realize one election in Kentucky is just that.

The Tea Party victory gives the Democrats something to threaten lapsed followers with. "Look, if you don't start lapping at out heels, Sarah Pail will be president. and you know she is not a feminist."

In other words, the antiTea Party movement's energy and fervor needs to be manipulated back into the Obama camp, otherwise the very deft and bright Hillary Clinton will use her increasing influence to steal away the 2012 election. She's already raising interest in her work in China, and her tough talk about Korea.

Iranian (President) Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Has Protestor Killed

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is not a well man.

Besides being a first class loud-mouth thug, apparently he rigged his own election. For all the detractors George W Bush had, most Americans still respected that he won the 2004 and 2008 election, each with record numbers. Only the most partisan American thought otherwise. In Iran, however, Ahmadinejad claimed victory much as Saddam Hussein once did in Iraq. No one seriously thinks of Iran as a democracy.

To help ensure 'victory', Ahmadinejad had his military kill a protester.

Obama will have his hands full.

E Pluribus Obamum: Barack Obama T-shirt

E Pluribus Obamum: out of many, The One The Chosen One has been called to lead. His name is Barack Obama. Voted in by the People, named by the angels -- he is the one who is all.

http://www.cafepress.com/Obamum (mugs, hats, thongs, you name it)

As an equal opportunity blogger, here's a Sarah Palin in 2012 shirt for you.

http://www.cafepress.com/Sarah_Palin2012

Religion in an Obama Era?

Peter Roskam Speaks at Wheaton Academy
How to work in the real world without compromising your faith.
by Anthony Trendl
Chicago Tribune

Peter Roskam, a senator in Illinois most noted nationally for taking over Henry Hyde's spot, spoke at a high school today.

...Talking about his Glen Ellyn roots and path into politics, he also candidly described the basis for his prolife views in the context of remaining consistent with his Christian faith. His theme was ethics, and thinking long-term when it comes to career while not separating faith and vocation, that a Christian is a Christian no matter what the job at hand is.
more

I gotta admit, I hardly expected one Christian Republican to survive this election, with so many Democrats seeking the big O, but this one did. He's not shy or dancing around his faith. He's either making this stuff up, or an actual decent man. This isn't a diss at Barack Obama's religion, but BO is playing all of this close to his vest.

Meanwhile, Sarah Palin has her fans selling t-shirts.

http://www.cafepress.com/Sarah_Palin2012

Even Hillary Would be Better

Look around -- I'm young, educated, suburban and care about issues like the homeless. Most of my friends are voting for Barack Obama. In fact, peer pressure to vote for him has been tremendous. That said, I know others who are so pro-John McCain that they cringe when I suggest that Obama will not ruin our country.

So I voted for John McCain. My writer friends, most whom care more about the homeless than actually spend time with them, think I am unintelligent.

Tomorrow, I will look out the window. If the world is still there, I will go to work. If not, I'll stay home and drink coffee.

January 21, I will repeat the process, if, as one friend suggests, I am not dead. If I am dead, I regretfully will no longer be blogging, nor looking out windows.

So I voted for John McCain. He is not my first choice, nor my second. Possibly, he is my third, but, really, Barack Obama is not on my list. Even Hillary Clinton is higher on my list.

270 electoral votes needed to win, 527 undecided?
Right. Poor old Barack is down in the first quarter, with John McCain up by five. The score is 8-3. The election is over, and was when I voted. Illinois' decisions were made long ago.

The upside is once Obama is run out of town, we can bring in a new senator, one committed to getting the job done.

And so, I voted for John McCain. Tomorrow, I'll be a tiny point in a million point spread, and next week, a minor, soon forgotten statistic for pollsters and analysts.

A Half Century of Presidential Debate History

A Half Century of Presidential Debate History



As Barack Obama and John McCain prepare for the first of three presidential debates, take a look back at previous debates that have helped define elections. (Sept. 20)

Category: News & Politics

Tags: debates history century presidential debate

Palin / Hillary Open (Tina Fey as VP Candidate Sarah Palin)

Palin / Hillary Open

Gov. Palin and Senator Clinton address the nation.

SNL - Saturday Night Live

Barack Obama Ignores Hillary Clinton as VP

Barack Obama is ignoring Hillary Clinton for all the expected reasons, and her supporters are ticked, for all the expected reasons.

A new concern are that the ObamaGlow is getting dimmer. John McCain is nicking away at that, explaining that Barack is not as big as his celebrity shine would indicate. McCain's even suggested Obama is playing the race card.

'Dream Ticket' Meets Reality: Obama Looks Beyond Clinton'
ABC News
By JENNIFER PARKER and SUNLEN MILLER Some supporters of Hillary Clinton are voicing anger that Barack Obama may choose another woman for his vice presidential running mate.

USA TodayPoll: McCain Shrinks Obama’s Lead in Three Battleground States

Bernie Mac Goes Low-Brow Barack Obama event

Is this the course of Barack Obama's campaign?

Why is his campaign finding supporters who are racist (Wright and Pfleger), anti-religious (Jesse "The Reverend" Jackson) and off-color, (the otherwise funny Bernie Mac)?

Yup. The Mac went low: menopause, sexual infidelity and promiscuity, and used occasional crude language.

This was a trendy, $2300 a person event drawing in Chicago's economic elite.

Comedian Bernie Mac makes off-color joke at Obama event

According to the AP story linked above, Barack Obama responded:

"We can't afford to be divided by race. We can't afford to be divided by region or by class and we can't afford to be divided by gender, which by the way, that means, Bernie, you've got to clean up your act next time. This is a family affair. By the way, I'm just messing with you, man."

Let Freedom Ring! The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription

Our early leaders, though war ached their hearts, stood fast against tyranny in favor of freedom. Do our leaders now have the same sober valor?

originally posted here: Let Freedom Ring! The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription

The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in the positions indicated:

Column 1
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton

Column 2
North Carolina:
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton

Column 3
Massachusetts:
John Hancock
Maryland:
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton

Column 4
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean

Column 5
New York:
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark

Column 6
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple
Massachusetts:
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott
New Hampshire:
Matthew Thornton

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence
http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/rolling.html

Like a Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan

Colin Powell: Too Old? Too Military? Too Male? Too Republican? Too Black? Too Uninterested?

Colin Powell: Too Old? Too Military? Too Male? Too Republican? Too Black? Too Uninterested?

Colin Powell is black. I'll get that out of the way. While you probably noticed that, so will the American voter. Since Barack Obama has a few followers voting on his race, this could impact the competition.

Unless, what if, Barack Obama picks Powell? He's military, but Obama is not.

Powell is respected, a true leader. Most of his career we never heard of him, then, wham! He's in the public eye thanks to becoming Ronald Reagan's National Security Advisor followed by appointment as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, then, as George W Bush's Secretary of State. However, he hardly launched into those positions from nowhere, and served in leadership, but quietly.

Wise? Loaded with wisdom. As military people go, he is as diplomatic as you'll find.

What matters in any vice presidential candidate are his views. While in these days, we hardly expect that a VP will step up into the role of president, it can happen. We want a VP to represent what America, on the whole wants. Though Republican, some of his views will appeal to the more liberal side. These could alienate the conservative crowd, as well as evangelicals and Catholics who would prefer an anti-abortion White House.

• Pro-choice
• Supports affirmative action
• Favors some gun-control
• Supports the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy.

Where he stands on the Iraq War is not as simple as for or against. While he seems to agree with Bush that Iraq is a source of future terrorism, and wants a peaceful Iraq, he disagrees that the USA military is capable of getting the job done. However, he'll concede that war will continue when we're gone. All said, I think, if in charge, he would send in a wave of troops to settle what could be quickly settled, then pull out, but leave advisers.

Views are not enough, though.

Race, of course, will be a strength and weakness. As many people out there who, as closet racists, will vote for him because he is black, there are as many, or more, who are equally racist, and not vote for him because of skin color. With Barack Obama running, though, this leaves the KKK crowd (and their subtler brethren) with the choice only not voting, voter for a this party, or voting against what they believe.

Meanwhile, he's 71. Ageism is a factor for some voters. Powell looks very alive, and younger than chronology suggests. He would be 75 after the first term. Two terms seems unlikely.

My guess: if offered, he would turn it down. His life as been the military, not domestic service. He's been a desk leader, as well as in the trenches. Capable as a leader, but his focus has been different. He has not pursued an office since 2005, and, will not this time. He's retired.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Powell

First seen here: Colin Powell: Too Old? Too Military? Too Black? Too Uninterested?

Lemmings in an Era of Individuality: Limbaugh, Coulter, Colbert, Colmes, Stewart

Is there a Limbaugh factor? I could not say. I avoid all talk radio. The liberals and conservatives alike are filled with gassy self-righteousness. Some try to be funny, others are so serious that only bran cereal will fix their problem.

Rush Limbaugh, maybe the best known of all political radio hosts, is smart, but his agenda is not about focused, objective analysis. He is all about being against whatever the Democrats are scooping. One recent campaign was to cause chaos in the Dems primaries, to skew the numbers by convincing Republicans to vote Dem, then switch back. This isn't playing fair, but it is legal.

Easy toss out arguments against Limbaugh influence, "He's been busted for drugs," "He's arrogant," "He's conservative and stupid." Sorry, that just means you dislike him. Just like when Bill Clinton was playing with Monica Lewinsky's cigar, people ignore personal lifestyle choices.

A few days ago, I asked about which celebrity bamboozled you into voting for their guy. The most notable celebs to announce were not Republicans, but two very wealthy Hollywood Democrats.

Say what you will about extremist right-winger Limbaugh using his celebrity voice to influence to impact an election. Look at the highly publicized Jack Nicholson and Tom Hanks endorsements.

We are lemmings.

The Limbaugh Factor (story paste from the Washington Post). Interesting thoughts.

Our Readers Who Comment have also expressed special interest (or disgust) with a story that asked if conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh's "Operation Chaos" -- in which he urged Republicans to vote for Clinton in the Democratic primary -- actually held down Obama's totals. Limbaugh called off the operation yesterday, Alec MacGillis and Peter Slevin report, saying he wants Obama to be the party's pick, because "I now believe he would be the weakest of the Democrat nominees."

Limbaugh is a polarizing figure and has supporters in the comment string today, but most of those who bothered to write are not fans; many remind us that Limbaugh has had drug abuse problems, and several wonder if my colleagues at WaPo have lost their way in even bothering with the story, which I really liked.

Barack Obama Must Have Two Brains (or three?)

With Barack Obama having both found love among the media and the people of North Carolina (not so much love in Midwest Indiana), he's moving on to be the Democratic candidate for presidency.

For Hillary to win, she must have supporters come out of the woodwork, and vote Chicago-style. She cannot spare a remaining state. She has not lost, but she is not winning.

Can she do it? Yes. Will she? No. Her voters are just voters, no more committed to her than an average voter would be.

John McCain naturally prefers Hillary to win, believing fully that he can beat her more easily.

As long as she runs, Obama must continue to fight her. He'll start running again McCain this week, but his attention is divided. He needs two brains, two tongues: ones says to Democrats, "I'm liberal," the other says to Republicans, "But not that liberal," with a third one to independents, "I'm more independent than John McCain." He'll need to be more Bill Clinton than Bill Clinton, but look like Ron Reagan while he does it. He needs all of his charm, but needs now to look sagely, and reduce the criticism that he has not spoke about hard issues with depth.

Appearance is everything.

BBC News
Obama takes big step ahead in Democratic race
Washington Post
By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Barack Obama took a big step toward the Democratic presidential nomination with an easy victory in North Carolina on Tuesday, and Hillary Clinton vowed to keep her struggling campaign ...

Beginning of the End

• 492 delegates remain.
• 218 are decided today via Indiana, North Carolina
• West Virginia, Kentucky, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Montana, South Dakota all have their primaries in upcoming weeks, finishing June 3.
• 274 votes from these remaining states after today.

When will it be decided, really? There's the whole super delegate thing later.

When Tom Hanks delivered his announcement, he knows it will impact voters. Some voters are dumb enough to say, "I like him, so I will vote for hi guy." He spent the money to announce because he knows in some of these states, Hillary Clinton has a chance to win. He's afraid her voters will show up at the polls, and that too many Obama voters will play hooky. Tom looked at his money and decided it was not as well spent giving to a homeless shelter.
.
John McCain is quietly building an infrastructure in the meanwhile

see http://politics.nytimes.com/election-guide/2008/primaries/democraticprimaries/index.html

Which Candidate Does Your Media Hero Support?

Tom Hanks made his call for Barack Obama. Who supports McCain? Hillary?

Support Obama if you like, but remember that if you choose a candidate based on celebrities decisions, you qualify as an idiot. Choose a candidate because what they stand for, you stand for.

Now before I get mail telling me about which candidate I support, know that I am undecided.

Tom Hanks uses MySpace page to announce support for Obama
NEW YORK - Tom Hanks is supporting presidential hopeful Barack Obama.

Hanks has taken to his MySpace page to pledge his support for Obama, who is competing to be the first black president. Obama, who faces rival Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic nomination, has also been endorsed by Oprah Winfrey, Bruce Springsteen and Scarlett Johansson.

also see: A Joker Stumps for Hillary Clinton (and Batman is Ticked Off): Jack Nicholson On Hillary

Score 1 for McCain: Saddam Hussein's deputy PM faces trial

Politics, and its related victories, are often based on perception. John McCain supported our going into Iraq. So did Hillary Clinton. Barack Obama never wanted us in the war.

All that aside, both Obama and Clinton want us to leave the Iraqis to fight Al-Qaeda alone. And John McCain believes America should help them in this fight.

True? Not that simple, but that's a common view. Ask around, and not just your friends (who might already agree with you). We do not keep a scorecard based on nuance, but on ballpark ideas, often based on part of a quoted speech, or the way they gave that speech.

Now, Tariq Aziz faces trial. Saddam Hussein has already hung. People cheered. Expect cheering again if Aziz is found guilty, and if he is killed as a result.

When the evidence is replayed, do not shield your eyes. Whatever sentence Aziz may be given, or if he is delivered into freedom, we cannot ignore reality. For or against our presence in Iraq, one reality is that tens of thousands of people were killed.

Just like watching Holocaust images, or videos of the 1956 Hungarian fight for freedom, it is reality. So are the 9-11 images. We hate it so much we want to turn our head, let it go away. Aziz's trial will force us to watch.

When the trial gets underway, whomever the American voter sees as better able to counter such hideous violence will score points. It could be that Obama, the supposed argent - or agent, as the case may be - for peace, ala a better version of Jimmy Carter and diplomacy. Or Clinton, with her vast experience internationally, may be seen as the one who can foresee the future. Or McCain, who will likely carry on a card saying, "not in my backyard, punk."

My money is that McCain sees a spike in support. He will be seen as part of the reason Aziz is on trial. Clinton, nor Obama can make this claim, having divested themselves of the war's inception.

Saddam Hussein's deputy PM faces trial
CNN
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The trial of Tariq Aziz, one of the best-known faces of Saddam Hussein's former regime in Iraq, and several other former regime officials is scheduled to begin on Tuesday.

Aziz and seven other defendants are standing trial for their alleged role in the execution of 42 Iraqi merchants in 1992.

Chief Judge Raouf Rasheed Abdul Rahman said the proceedings were expected to start 5 p.m. local time (10 a.m. EDT). He said the trial was delayed for a few hours for "procedural reasons," a reference to the process of gathering the defendants and bringing them to court.

One of the seven facing trial is Ali Hasan al-Majeed, also known as Chemical Ali. An Iraqi government official said Chemical Ali was not attending the trial on Tuesday because of health issues and the court was not forcing him to attend.

Al-Majeed, who was a top Baathist official during the Saddam Hussein era, is awaiting execution for genocide in connection with the Anfal campaign.

Below, Saddam Hussein being prepared to be killed. I show this not to horrify, nor to titillate, nor to vindicate. As a matter of record: I morally against willful execution in a cases, whether the most evil criminal or the most innocent unborn child.

Two Will Lose: Inevitability in the 2008 Presidential Race

A friend described to me what he is thankful for, and, what many American voters are struggling with -- there is one certainty in this election: When the election in November is over, when the 2008 Presidential Race has finished, two candidates will have lost.

While many Barack Obama supporters are calling the Hillary Clinton campaign racist, and while many Hillary Clinton supporters are calling the Barack Obama campaign sexist, we see that neither camp respects the other. This means that when they join forces, after the Democrat super delegates are done being kissed on like some New York whore, lies begin.

Which lies? The ones which begin, "Wow, what a tough campaign (fill in name of winner). I (the name of the loser) respect you, trust you, and fully support you." They, then, will bear the other's love child.

Meanwhile, conservatives will be forced to vote for John McCain. They do not want to, but given their choice, whether Hillary or Barack, they are stuck.

Many Christians have found themselves stuck compromising one way or another. Many are choosing Obama if for no other reason his strong leadership reminds them of George Bush, despite his pro-abortion and pro-gay perspectives (Obama promises to dedicate presidency to homosexual activism, the Catholic News Agency quotes Obama, ""As your President, I will use the bully pulpit to urge states to treat same-sex couples with full equality in their family and adoption laws," Obama said.")

Yet, likewise, wanting to remain prolife, who do they vote for? John McCain, a man whose campaign was quoted by the Huffington Post, "In a response to a question about the religious right, an important component of the Republican coalition, he said that it was, indeed "a serious problem...""

So then there is Hillary Clinton, who all but makes love to organizations like Planned Parenthood, who, along with Sen. Barack Obama and Elizabeth Edwards, chased pro-abortion voters.

At least two of the remaining candidates will lose. Well, yes, there's that. So will America. Damned if they vote for (X), and damned if they don't? That depends on what 'damned' means, which no doubt, each candidate would accuse the other of doing.

If USA Is Attacked, John McCain Wins

Would an attack relatively close to the US Presidential Election in November ensure John McCain is elected?

Do Americans really have the confidence that either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama are well-equipped with both conviction and skill-set to extract us from Iraq, and protect us here stateside?

While it appears we Americans are disinclined toward being in Iraq, we felt as we felt before 2004 as well, and yet elected George W Bush for a second term with record popular votes.

This is not 2004, and wannabe John Kerry cannot be compared to today's Democratic candidates. He misses the charm of Obama and the experience of Clinton.

And, also important, McCain is not as hated as Bush. McCain misses the personal, evil bitterness that many Democrats feel against Bush, but he also misses the easy-going "Let's get the bad guys," swagger our current president enjoys. McCain is harder to hate, and harder to love.

Where will it land?
As Al Qaeda pretends that they care about Muhammad (there is no peace upon him), or his teachings, and wipe their sacrilegious excrement across the world, they threaten Western Europe. Europe will barely be noticed by the USA, but the smallest burp in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania will be returned with the fastest six guns in the western world.

See what CNN is saying.

Al Qaeda No. 2: Attacks on Western nations in works
CNN
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- Al Qaeda still has plans to target Western countries involved in the Iraq war, Osama bin Laden's chief deputy warns in an audiotape released Tuesday to answer questions posed by followers.

Hillary Clinton - Barack Obama Philadelphia Democratic Debate (John McCain Won)

Score?

John McCain 1.0
Hillary Clinton 0.0
Barack Obama 0.5

Why? Obama is more skilled debater than Hillary, but so much of his replies were lacking depth. Hillary's also lacked depth, but was less eloquent.

Eloquence will get Obama the nomination, and being relatively clean (if not entirely) of corruption, will keep the motion going. Choosing someone besides Hillary as a running mate might get him serious support. Expect him to choose a straight talking, slightly southern, white male who is viewed as more middle of the road on moral issues.

Both kept calm. That's Obama ace-in-the-hole. He has yet to lose his cool. Hillary often does. Her weakness is she loses it when she gets frustrated. McCain can counter Obama here, but Hillary cannot.

Why did McCain win a debate he had no voice in? While Obama clearly beat Hillary with brilliant punch and runs (like when bringing up her 1992 comment about not staying home and making cookies, then saying he knows she really isn't the way she was portrayed), he did not provide much new to talk about, while Hillary gave the pundits more dirt on Obama. No McCain dirt.

John McCain will face heat soon enough, but tonight, the victory is his.