The dream is gone (for me). What attracted me to Barack Obama when he first ran for Senate in Illinois and later as Presidential candidate, was a "seeming" authenticity. Over the course of the Primary campaign, the singular thing that stood through was a person who was transparent, willing to discuss his flaws as badges of learning and transcendence.   A person of integrity that through positions on the war, the rule of law, the environment he communicated something different.  Something that had not been seen in political circles in a long long time (if ever).  Could this be the key to "transforming" our society?  Many many of us believed it so.

All the might and fury of the United States Armed forces have for years been unable to track and bring to justice the dreaded Osama. Chimpy George even looked all around his little oval office and couldn't find the bad one.  Now we come to find out that Osama has been hanging out in India, terrorizing villages and destroying their food supply.

More below the fold...

SCENE: ITS 3 AM and the RED Phone is ringing.  Its a world leader on the other side of the planet calling urgently to discuss a dangerous disagreement between our countries that threatens to devolve into armed conflict.

A woman's hand fumbles over it and the caller id says "Vladimir" a voice is heard to say "oh its Vladimir, I'm not talking to him he insulted our country and won't do what we demand".

Fade to sound of bombs and explosions.

Announcer says: There is another vision for our future

Fade into Phone Ringing with same caller ID

A black man's hand decisively picks up the phone and engages in a calm conversation and resolves the crisis.
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And if the Obama people want to turn this into a commercial pronto they have my blessing without attribution!

I woke up this morning and turned on the yak box only to have the rude awakening of the Democratic Presidential Candidates talking about not being able to guarantee the removal of our troops from Iraq before... 2013. I went, WHAT!

The Seattle PI is reporting that Canada has dispatched military units to the arctic to assert its sovereignty over the Northwest Passage which the United States has recently claimed as "International Territory".  

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Tammy Duckworth, the decorated Iraq War Veteran who came close to defeating Republican Peter Roskam in the 2006 Congressional elections, has announced that she will not seek that seat in 2008.  She is currently the director of the Illinois Dept. of Veteran's affairs.

This is disappointing news as I felt that she would be swept in on the wave of dissatisfaction that has been building up.  But, she seems to have found her Al Gore momentum in what she is doing now.  

Chicago Tribune Story

The Right wing is at it again. They've started posting in various blogs and on talk radio about a joke that Al Roker made recently about the British Olympic Games commercial that is apparently so garrish that Roker quipped it could give you seizures. Now, this is in my view a rather innocuous statement and I cannot see in any way that it singles out people with epilepsy.

Never the less, the Right Wing has "seized" on this and have tried to tie this to the Imus debacle. I find it disingineous and disgusting.  Of Course, Progressives, in their fair mindedness have more or less ignored this meme and is allowing it to sink into the consciousness of the public.

I posted the following on the Obama blog to tell him that for now, he's lost my support.

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Dear Senator:

Friday has come and gone now and it appears that you have voted nay on the Iraq spending bill which to your small credit was a wise choice.

Unfortunately, the bill did pass and your constituents are plain livid about it.

It just occurred to me this evening that you actually telegraphed this outcome some time ago on a talk show - I believe it was on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.  I recall my reaction was to scoff at the absurdity of such an outcome given the Democratic Majority and the power of the purse.  

An article in the Chicago Tribune (our perennially Red Rag)  this evening notes a wave of Blue Voters in Illinois.  Voters have been disaffected by a series of scandals that have the state Republican party in disarray.

According to a Tribune/WGN poll, about 43% of " voters identified themselves as Democrats while a little more than a quarter of the voters identified themselves as Republicans. The 17 percentage point difference ranks among the most polarized partisan spreads in more than 16 years of Tribune surveys taken prior to an election day."

Of course the Trib tries to spin it hopefully for Republicans but I think the writing is on the wall on this one.  

Article is at: Voters riding a blue wave

Very interesting op-ed by Don Wycliff was published today in the Chicago Tribune -- Our local sour puss conservative rag.

If intellectual dishonesty could be said to have a face, I saw it Tuesday evening as I watched Bill O'Reilly's program on Fox News.

I watched without the benefit of sound--if any was coming from the television it couldn't be heard over the din in the bar where I was in Mishawaka, Ind. But Fox conveniently runs a stripped-down text next to O'Reilly's image as he delivers his opening commentary. And there was, in addition, captioning beneath the picture for hearing-impaired viewers--or people who happen to be in noisy bars.

O'Reilly was burned up about the mutilation and murders of those two American soldiers--Pfc. Thomas Tucker and Pfc. Kristian Menchaca--who were captured in Iraq by insurgents last week and whose bodies were retrieved Tuesday.

I rolled over this morning and clicked on C-SPAN and low and behold a debate between the BBC's Greg Palast and a stooge from "The American Spectator" (R. Emmett Tyrrell).  And they were gettin' in to it. A really spirited debate over a whole range of things.  Of course, Palast is hawking his latest book. "Armed Madhouse". But what I really was getting excited about, was that Mr. Palast was really unleashing a firestorm of facts  that the other guy would just be shrill in his responses and start calling Mr. Palast names like "socialist" etc. Ironic in that Palast is a University of Chicago Graduate and trained under Milton Friedman.

This is what it is going to take if we want to take our country back is people not afraid to say loudly and clearly what is what, wherever and whenever they can. And say it with fire in their bellys.

Senator Barak Obama(D-IL) the junior Senator from the State of Illinois has given a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations here in Chicago.  The speech is classic Obama.  He calls it like he sees it.  Interestingly, he doesn't shy away from recounting the "mistakes" of the administration but as is his character, he looks for the way forward.  

The speech starts out with telling of his experience visiting the Walter Reed Army hospital and talking to the soldiers.  Rather than paint a picture of doom and gloom, he describes both pain and hope.  A few excerpts after the fold.

I've written the following to Senator Durbin of Illinois -- one of my State's Senators.  I hold him in high regard but I take him to task for falling in to the trap set by the opposition.

Letter begins below the fold...

CNN has a poll asking if Network News will survive.   The traditional news has been totatly corrupted by its Right Wing Corporate Masters and can no longer be trusted.  

Lets show them the power of the Blogsphere that will destroy traditional network news.  Right now, its 67% saying it will survive. Lets turn that around...

http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/

I was just wondering if anyone here who might be knowledgeable about the current state of the Public Interest requirement for Broadcast Licenses might be.

I was thinking that given the Main Stream Media's severe reluctance to report truthfully, fairly and accurately on information of significance to the public interest that maybe a case might be made to challenge the renewal or to propose a revocation of such licenses.

I was just reading in another diary about the FOIA documents proving Bush's suspension from military duty have been found and verified. But the MSM still has not reported this.   And this is just one of many stories that have not been covered by MSM.

Of course, if a license challenge possible and then if one surfaces, "Progressive" broadcasters need to stand ready to sieze the opportunity that might arise...

Dear Senator Obama,

This is my second letter to you in a week.  The first one took you to task for your vote on the Secretary of State confirmation.  

Dear Senator Obama,

I am pleased that you are now my elected representative and proud of the way you have conducted yourself during the campaign leading to your election.  I must say though, that I am rather disappointed by one of your first votes of this legislative session.

Can you please explain your rational for voting to approve the appointment of Condoleezza Rice as Secretary of State?  The overwhelming evidence indicates that she was singularly unqualified to hold this position and is quite likely significantly responsible for the formulation of the policies that have led us into the disastrous Iraq war.

Why then would you provide tacit approval of her performance by "promoting" her to the job of Secretary of State?  

(More below fold...)

"What I want to know..." is given the mountains and piles of evidence of criminal wrong doing by these chumps, what could be done to hold them accountable after they've been booted from office?

Further, Bush will likely try before leaving office to pardon a few of his friends such as his Haliburton buddies and maybe even Ken Lay!

More below...