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POPSMcCain's Double Standard on Campaign Visits to Military Bases With Department of Defense rules prohibiting political campaigning on military bases, it was determined that in some cases McCain could visit the installations as a senator but could not engage in any political activity or have news media present. McCain campaign officials said Thursday they intentionally did not campaign on military property. "We follow the rules," said senior McCain adviser Steve Schmidt. Because all three presidential candidates are sitting senators, DoD officials have privately noted for some weeks that the whole matter of drawing the line between Senate business and campaigning is sensitive. A U.S. Army official told CNN there are no pending requests from any of the campaigns to visit Army bases at this time. He noted that Sen. Barack Obama recently visited Fayetteville, North Carolina, but did not go to Fort Bragg; and Sen. Hillary Clinton visited Killeen, Texas, but did not go to Fort Hood.
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POPSSen. Obama Scrapped Plans To Visit Landstuhl Medical Center Obama had been planning to go to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany before a flight to Paris. Gibbs said the stop was canceled because Obama decided "it would be inappropriate to make a stop to visit troops at a U.S. military facility as part of a trip funded by the campaign." Watch video: 4:05
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POPSObama's Idol Status Overseas Many in Washington were scratching their heads while he (McCain) was traipsing through the jungles of Colombia last month. But then came the freeing of hostages held by the FARC Colombian rebels, and McCain looked, well, presidential. And really, that’s the whole point of these “fact-finding” missions – looking good for the cameras. Perhaps these work vacations by politicians are more sophisticated than they first appear. Maybe Americans appreciate the fact that their presidential candidates are traveling beyond the confines of America and seeing the world firsthand. Perhaps, but do not be deceived. These are trips staged to the finest detail, with little left to chance and happenstance. Obama and McCain know this, and they have treated it as such – an extension of their political campaigns. Why do you think the network anchors are along for the ride? It is surely not because of the news quotient that the “surge” is working.
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POPSGreen ‘Peace Party’ positions against the Iraq and Afghanistan wars compared to pro-occupation Clint
“The occupation of Iraq will continue whether a Democrat or a Republican moves into the White House in January 2009,” said Jason Wallace, Green candidate for Congress in Illinois’ 11th District <http://www.electwallace.us> and a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War <http://ivaw.org/index.php>. IVAW has announced ‘Winter Soldier’ (March 13-16), a four-day event bringing together veterans from across the country to testify about their experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan <http://ivaw.org/wintersoldier>. “The ILWU action planned for May 1 is evidence that working people are impatient with vague promises to end these wars. Will Ms. Clinton or Mr. Obama endorse the ILWU protest and pledge to call home all US military personnel immediately?” “By calling the Iraq War a matter of military preparedness and botched strategy, Democrats are sidestepping the premise of the war,” said Bob Kinsey, Green candidate for the US Senate in Colorado <http://www.kinseyforsenate.org>. “While it’s true that
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POPSThe Democrats' Fairy Tale
And the improvements in Anbar could never have been sustained without aggressive American military efforts — efforts that were more effective in 2007 than they had been in 2006, due in part to the addition of the surge forces. Last year’s success, in Anbar and elsewhere, was made possible by confidence among Iraqis that U.S. troops would stay and help protect them, that the U.S. would not abandon them to their enemies. Because the U.S. sent more troops instead of withdrawing — because, in other words, President Bush won his battles in 2007 with the Democratic Congress — we have been able to turn around the situation in Iraq. And now Iraq’s Parliament has passed a de-Baathification law — one of the so-called benchmarks Congress established for political reconciliation. For much of 2007, Democrats were able to deprecate the military progress and political reconciliation taking place on the ground by harping on the failure of the Iraqi government to pass the benchmark legislation
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POPSObama backs Israel strike Just about his first words when he beat off Hillary were pro Israel. He now appears happy with the title of leader of a war machine. Seems happy to follow the Jews demands. Am I getting ahead of myself, as this sort of press doesn't really know what is happening.
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POPSThe Whiner that isn't Whining Sen. John McMad can't make up his mind. The press was against him yesterday but today it wasn't. McCain has all the characteristics of a pathologically angry person. He acts rashly out of anger, then gets regrets about it and enters into a period of denial. He is too much of a loose cannon to be President.
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POPSVanity Fair Cover Satirizes John McCain "We had our own presidential campaign cover in the works, which explored a different facet of the Politics of Fear, but we shelved it when The New Yorker's became the "It Girl" of the blogosphere," Vanity Fair writes. "Now, however, in a selfless act of solidarity with our downstairs neighbors here at the Condé Nast building, we'd like to share it with you. Confidentially, of course."
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POPSMedia "Obamathon" Couric Showcases Obama Over McCain The Media Is In Love With Barack It's pretty obvious that the media has a bizarre fascination with Barack Obama. Some may even say it's a love affair. Watch the video 2:56 http://www.johnmccain.com/ It has been an Obamathon ever since the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee touched down in Afghanistan. At today's press conference in Amman, a throng of reporters recorded his every move. In total, 200 journalists requested seats on “Air Obama” -- 40 of them were accepted. The bill for the trip? About $20,000 each.
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POPSPickens' words more than just wind I heard this man's advertisement and thought "This is what we're looking for." Big Oil is criticized for their massive profits. This man has made $$ and wants to use it to reinvest in "renewable energy". He makes sense. When the Sierra Club supports him you know he must be on the right track. Hopefully Democrats in Congress will recognize a win/win solution and even encourage others.
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POPSObama's Foreign Policy Goes Neocon--Unjust Wars Will Continue
The real Obama policy. Must see video interview (at link) where Obama 1) legitimizes the "war on terrorism" (as necessary and true war); 2) escalate war in Afghanistan (regime change, like Iraq continues); 3) willing to attack targets inside Pakistan--i.e. invade any sovereign country to kill and destroy alleged 'terrorists' (think collateral damage on civilians or wrongly accused from missiles and UAV drones). Watch the interview, Obama does not answer one "why?" question of Lara Logan about the "necessity" of the "war on terrorism", he simply dodges and assumes its legitimacy without reason or debate. UNJUST WAR is the problem here. Where is the protest? The "war on terrorism" is not a true or legal constitutional war, and enabling Obama to do the same as Bush without criticism is hypocritical and partisan blindness. It has always been the goal to finish Iraq and legitimize and spread the war on terrorism. Note the media: War = Patriotism
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POPSRon Paul's GOP Counter-Convention Continues to get his revolutionary message out that the GOP is way off the mark in regard to their own traditional republican principles of limited government and individual liberty which the neoconservatives have trampled entirely. The popularity of the message cannot be overlooked and demonstrates the latent great dissatisfaction with the presumptive party nominees of McCain and Obama (who is continuing the talk of the "war on terrorism" as if it is a legitimate and constitutional war--see comments on Afghanistan). This might be the year of the greatest number of alternative candidates on the Presidential ticket: Constitution Party, Libertarian Party, Green Party, will probably be on every state ballot.
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POPSWhy is it Only About Race and Only About Whites?
To me, this article represents just how ingrained not just racism, but bigotry is in our society. The article focuses mostly on white people, but white people aren't the only ones who are racist. True in America's history, it was white people who enslaved blacks. But today, it's not only about black and white. Yes, some Caucasian-Americans are still racist. However, we can't neglect the fact that some African-Americans are racist, some Latino-Americans are racist, some Asian-Americans are racist. What's the commonality in all of these? "American." And it's not just about race. There are many people in our society (and not just in this country) that are discriminatory against people who are different from them, whether it be religion, sex, sexual orientation, etc. Is racism a problem - yes. But we need to focus on the bigger problem, which is that people in America have become far to afraid of and discriminatory against people who are different from them.