1. I'm a liberal sort, but I think I will lay out the welcome mat for the cenk-haters...they are sure to come...and come hard!!!

America's Most Gangsta at 3:29PM on Jul 24th 2008

2. mcsame got so confused about his 'surge' that he tried to say it started before the anbar awakening. CBS edited that answer out and substituted one where mcsame calls obama a traitor.

First, that sure as hell isn't 'liberal' media when they give the mcbush a free pass once again on a glaring senior moment, or a just plain out and out lie.

And worse, the mcbush tries to come out and 'clarify' the statement, so now either the awakening was the mcbush's idea or surge means sunnis go first for a few months and then the military strategy is eventually born.

Or there was a 'secret surge'? The mcsame isn't very clear on that, much like the iraqi pakistani border he's defending from the czechoslovakians and Putin and the germans. He never said if al qaeda comes over that border but maybe.

One problem: it can't be called a 'surge' until the troop levels return to pre 'surge' numbers and they are now about 30K above that, so it's an 'escalation' not a 'surge' and it's an 'occupation' and not a 'war'.

Fubar accomplished!

Clif Kuplen at 3:35PM on Jul 24th 2008

3. did you see how painfully pathetic his "explanation" was (in front of the cheese case).....???

it was like pulling teeth....i can't wait for a 1 v 1 debate. this guy's buttons are already half-pushed. i can see him losing it at some point...a real meltdown. he is like a frickin' dream, an alternate universe.

Mccain is LUCKY he is getting less press coverage...the more coverage, the scarier and more pathetic he will become.

America's Most Gangsta at 3:53PM on Jul 24th 2008

4. "Some might think I'm going a bit too far in pointing this out, but we should also remember John McCain crashed five different planes in his time in the service"

Hey, you forgot about the one that was blown up on him while parked onboard his carrier. But then again you and a lot of others have never seen the discovery channel's showing of "Hugging the Deck"
Rather interesting about his real experiences prior to being a POW. But then again that is to be expected.

M2D5 at 5:02PM on Jul 24th 2008

5. When will Barack Obama have the courage to sit down without preconditions and be questioned on issues by someone other than one of his Liberal Media cohorts?

BTW: How pathetic is Barack Obama for stating that knowing now how much conditions in Iraq have improved he would still not vote for the troop surge. Can you say...Liberal Democratic Party Line Pandering Piece of S#!t.

Paul Sparcello at 5:46PM on Jul 24th 2008

6. McCain is a decent enough old fella but he is in over his head.

randy at 5:47PM on Jul 24th 2008

7. 5. When will Barack Obama have the courage to sit down without preconditions and be questioned on issues by someone other than one of his Liberal Media cohorts?

xxx

media is corporate not liberal. When will mcsame submit to ed schultz and Bill Maher? Why is mcsame such a coward? Why does he hate america? Why does he hate women? Why does he hate children? Why did he leave his first wife? Why is every sentence a verb, a noun and surge? Why is it a surge when the troop level hasnt't unsurged? Why doesn't mcsame admit the reduction in violence came months before the surge with the Anbar awakening? Why does mcsame have terrorist lobbyists in his campaign still? where are the snowdens of yesteryear?

Get that acc pathology crankin'. You're pretty much the head attack gerbil now.

Clif Kuplen at 6:06PM on Jul 24th 2008

8. Since we're on the topic of Katie Couric interviews here's ms. Couric throwing the smooth senator an 85 mph curveball in a recent interview taken from the Huffington Post. Forgive me for calling him a senator, I may have missed the coronation already.

COURIC: Before the surge, as you know, Senator, there were 80 to 100 U.S. casualties a month, the country was rife with sectarian violence, and you raised a lot of eyebrows on this trip saying even knowing what you know now, you still would not have supported the surge. People may be scratching their heads and saying, "Why?"


OBAMA: Well ... because ... what I was referring to, and I've consistently referred to, is the need for a strategy that actually concludes our involvement in Iraq and moves Iraqis to take responsibility for the country.

COURIC: But didn't the surge ... help do that?

OBAMA: Let me finish, Katie. What happens is that if we continue to put $10 billion to $12 billion a month into Iraq, if we are willing to send as many troops as we can muster continually into Iraq? There's no doubt that that's gonna have an impact. But it doesn't meet our long-term strategic goal, which is to make the American people safer over the long term. If that means that we're detracting from our efforts in Afghanistan, where conditions are deteriorating, if it means that we are distracted from going after Osama bin Laden who is still sending out audio tapes and is operating training camps where we know terrorists' actions are being plotted. ...

COURIC: All that may be true. But do you not give the surge any credit for reducing violence in Iraq?

OBAMA: No, no ... of course I have. There is no doubt that the extraordinary work of our U.S. forces has contributed to a lessening of the violence, just as making sure that the Sadr militia stood down or the fact that the Sunni tribes decided to flip and work with us instead of with al-Qaeda - something that we hadn't anticipated happening.

All those things have contributed to a reduction in violence. So this, in no way, detracts from the great efforts of our young men and women in uniform. In fact, that's one of the most striking things about visiting Iraq is to see how dedicated they are, what a great job they do - all those things ... are critically important. What I'm saying is it does not solve the broader strategic question that we have been dealing with over the last five, six, seven years. And that is how do we take the limited resources we have, both militarily and financially, and apply them in such a way that we are making America as safe as possible? And I believe that my approach is the right one.

COURIC: But talking microcosmically, did the surge, the addition of 30,000 additional troops ... help the situation in Iraq?

OBAMA: Katie, as ... you've asked me three different times, and I have said repeatedly that there is no doubt that our troops helped to reduce violence. There's no doubt.

COURIC: But yet you're saying ... given what you know now, you still wouldn't support it ... so I'm just trying to understand this.

OBAMA: Because ... it's pretty straightforward. By us putting $10 billion to $12 billion a month, $200 billion, that's money that could have gone into Afghanistan. Those additional troops could have gone into Afghanistan. That money also could have been used to shore up a declining economic situation in the United States. That money could have been applied to having a serious energy security plan so that we were reducing our demand on oil, which is helping to fund the insurgents in many countries. So those are all factors that would be taken into consideration in my decision-- to deal with a specific tactic or strategy inside of Iraq.

COURIC: And I really don't mean to belabor this, Senator, because I'm really, I'm trying to figure out your position. Do you think the level of security in Iraq ... would exist today without the surge?

OBAMA: Katie, I have no idea what would have happened had we applied my approach, which was to put more pressure on the Iraqis to arrive at a political reconciliation. So this is all hypotheticals. What I can say is that there's no doubt that our U.S. troops have contributed to a reduction of violence in Iraq. I said that, not just today, not just yesterday, but I've said that previously. What that doesn't change is that we've got to have a different strategic approach if we're going to make America as safe as possible.

*********
Here's the immediate response from the Huffington Post.

>>>Tis the beginning of a Straw Man argument, which has sadly become the first resort of many in the press. From there, the line of interrogation is rivetingly unconcerned with substantive analysis of Obama's Iraq War position - it's a silly little trap of false logic, in which Couric attempts to get Obama to admit to the obvious - that 100,000+ troops in Iraq have affected the conditions in the country, and hang a false admission of "Surge" efficicacy around his neck.>>>

******
Protect him if you will, the truth is slowly redefining itself....

Bobby at 9:09PM on Jul 24th 2008

9. Protect him if you will, the truth is slowly redefining itself....





Bobby at 9:09PM on Jul 24th 2008

It was an excellent response by Obama and I approve of it 100%!

It debunks mcsame as a phony and blows the hell out of the 'liberal media' myth. Look at the answer Obama gives and then look at mccain on the war - surge, verb, obama's a traitor.

mcsame is all over himself now trying to take credit for the anbar awakening that prompted consideration.

And it's not a surge yet - we're still about 30 thousand troops above the level at the time of the Anbar awakening.

It was an excellent detailed response to the people who forgot the surge had a number of objectives that had to be met to justify it, and the only one met was correcting the level of troops that bush had in place.

And after that, this is the most important part - katy asks in her mccain interview the question that he answers with the statement that the surge brought on the anbar awakening and what happens?

She edits it out and substitutes the answer to a previous question - verb, noun, surge, obama's a traitor.

Liberal media? corporate media.

We have a statesman, a class act revered around the world, and we have a man, and his act.

...that has played the same song and dance routine at the Palace for thirty years.

Clif Kuplen at 9:55PM on Jul 24th 2008

10. Bobby,

Thanks for posting that. It was brilliant. Wasn't it?

It gave me an even more comfortable feeling with Obama being the leader of this great Country.

I bet Couric didn't need to edit out an embarrassing remark that had no thought behind it.

Thanks again.

Botts at 10:20PM on Jul 24th 2008

11. I posted that ambiguously Clif.

I see it differently but I'm not going to impose my opinion.

The interpretation of his policy & demeanor is up to whoever chose to read it....

Bobby at 10:46PM on Jul 24th 2008

12. Katie Couric may have "called him out", but her own ratings suck. She should have stayed in daytime morning show mode where she was much better! She is a middle aged has-been whose days on evening TV are numbered more than McCain's campaign days!

linda at 11:04PM on Jul 24th 2008

13. Sorry Botts,

didn't see your post.

I think I've reached a new high of cynicism for the moment. This particular interview takes on a whole different meaning to me.

I look for character & character flaws that supercede the obvious political presence.

I'll leave it to you guys to formulate your own opinion.

Hope your game was on today,, did it rejuvenate you?

Bobby at 11:14PM on Jul 24th 2008

14. Amazing that Katie Couric managed to keep asking the same basic question and The Messiah was looking for a miracle (intelligent answer) and didn't get it.

Add this to the Obie for President signs put up by Ombamite staffers on the barricades leading to the Western Wall in Yiddish no less. I guess he's looking for the dual citizenship vote?

"Barack Obama's rally in Berlin today will be different in many ways from the ones he's held in America.--- Team Obama insists the speech will not be a campaign rally. "It is not going to be a political speech," a senior Obama foreign policy adviser told reporters in Jordan this week. "When the president of the United States goes and gives a speech, it is not a political speech or a political rally."

"But [Mr. Obama] is not president of the United States," a reporter gently reminded the adviser. After all, this is the campaign that sometimes has to be told the inconvenient truth that the election remains to be held.", John Fund.

Add this to Obies' look-alike presidential seal on his podium and you get someone who is already thinking he's elected. For every gaffe McCain makes, Obie matches it one for one. Why does Obie want every student to learn Spanish? He doesn't speak spanish, french, german or any other foreign language.

That Katie was able to get Obie confused enough that he couldn't give a coherent answer is indicative that Obie will probably try to pick and choose who is asking the questions and maybe get the questions in advance he might be able to pull it off, but given anyone with experience will shred Obie to bits. Like that will happen, but we can always wish can't we? Au revoir.

Ded at 12:48AM on Jul 25th 2008

15. Clif

How pathetic admitting that retreating and losing in Iraq is a good policy decision as long as it would help push forward the Liberal Democratic Political Prostitutes agenda.

BTW: How is that Quisling Useful Idiot Pacifist Disorder working out for you?

Paul Sparcello at 1:10AM on Jul 25th 2008