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July 25, 2008 at 05:36:00
Promoted to Headline (H2) on 7/25/08: by Linda Milazzo Page 1 of 1 page(s) |
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In a July 15th appearance on CNN's Larry King Live, Barack Obama announced that as President he would seek the foreign policy counsel of former President Bill Clinton, former President George Herbert Walker Bush, former Bush Sr. Secretary of State, James Baker, former Bush Sr. National Security Advisor, Brent Scowcroft, and former George W. Bush Secretary of State, Colin Powell. Below are the video and text of Obama's pronouncement:
King: "How will you utilize the talents of President Clinton?"
Obama: "As you know, Bill Clinton's one of the smartest people out here and certainly one of the most brilliant political minds we have. He's got extraordinary relationships all across the globe and so I want him as a advisor and I would want him to be involved in implementing strategies on a range of issues -- so he's an enormous resource as all former presidents are. I mean I've said this before. I think on the foreign policy front George Bush, Sr. has a lot of wisdom to impart and his foreign policy team -- people like Jim Baker and Brent Scowcroft and Colin Powell are extraordinary thinkers. So I think you want to utilize all the talents out here and part of what I'm interested in is bringing that tradition of bipartisanship to our foreign policy back to Washington."
If Barack Obama is to be the "change we can believe in," how can he rely on the counsel of those who represented previous failed administrations and failed policies in his own administration? In particular, George Herbert Walker Bush, whose selfish need to perpetuate his dynasty has caused America irreparable harm. He bestowed upon this nation (and the world) his unworthy son, George W. Bush, whose inadequacies he'd clearly known. He knew well the moral and intellectual frailties of his son. He knew he lacked scholarship and statesmanship and experience in foreign affairs. He knew he lacked tact and maturity. He knew he lacked the intellectual curiosity, moral authority, self-control, clarity, judgment, vision, patience, oratory skills and wisdom to be president -- yet he cheered him on.
Where others may have speculated about the challenges of being President, George Herbert Walker Bush knew them intimately, having been 1 of just 43 men to ever hold the job. Still, with full understanding of the rigors of the office, he sanctioned the candidacy of his son, whom he knew was unfit. He could have interceded for the sake of his nation to dissuade his son's campaign, but he did not. Instead the former President lauded his son and lent him credibility -- thrusting him forward to succeed. Shame on this selfish, dynastic and unpatriotic father for the damage he has done.
One would think that Barack Obama, in his quest for "change," would understand that the Bushes and the loyalists from their administrations should no longer serve our government. Surprisingly, Senator Obama does not. Rather than taking the reins and leading a Bush-free nation, Obama plans to involve Bush cronies James Baker, Brent Scowcroft and Colin Powell in his own administration. Baker, former Secretary of State to George Herbert Walker Bush, was the architect of George W's theft of the 2000 election. General Colin Powell, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and former Secretary of State to George W. Bush, presented a false case for war before the United Nations. He is the most egregious of all Bush enablers and holds a greater responsibility for the Iraq war and the resultant deaths of Americans and Iraqis than anyone other than George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.
There have been testimonies from Powell's colleagues, including his former Chief of Staff, Col. Larry Wilkerson, that prior to making his United Nations speech, Powell was skeptical of the "facts" he'd be presenting. Yet he presented them anyway. Were he a man of courage and character, he would never have made claims for which he had doubts. His speech to the United Nations was of monumental importance, and laid the groundwork through false evidence for the Iraq war. Powell has expressed his regrets since the lies in his speech were revealed. But ignorance is not an excuse and regret doesn't guarantee forgiveness -- especially when projections of as many as one million lives have been lost as a result of the war.
As for Bill Clinton -- Senator Obama stated that: "He's [Bill Clinton's] got extraordinary relationships all across the globe and so I want him as an advisor."
Bill Clinton does have extraordinary global connections. Unfortunately, they are mostly corporate, since giant corporations are the core of his organization, the Clinton Global Initiative. Like Bush Sr., Baker and Powell, Clinton represents failed policies. He instituted NAFTA. He didn't produce a healthcare program. He ended the AFDC program (Aid To Families With Dependent Children) that assisted poor families with children. When Bill Clinton ended welfare in 1996, I was working with Community Based Organizations throughout Los Angeles. I spent hours in meetings grappling with the plight of poor mothers who were thrown into minimum wage jobs with no childcare. Now, a dozen years later, I believe that the high numbers of unwed teen parents, school dropouts, drug abusers and prison inmates correlate directly with the thousands of children who raised themselves alone thanks to Clinton's legislation. His political expediency and capitulation to then Republican Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, paved the way for today's burgeoning prison industrial complex, failed education system, and even the childhood obesity Clinton is determined to correct. Without mothers to prepare home meals, children subsisted on fast food and junk food with little nutrition.
Clinton doesn't offer the "change we can believe in." Nor does George Herbert Walker Bush -- a man whose DNA has fractured this nation. Doesn't Obama realize Americans have had enough of Bush power, profit and privatization? We are done! The only places most Americans want to see Bushes and their cronies is in maximum security prisons.
Interesting that presumptive nominee Obama failed to mention former President Jimmy Carter as a potential advisor -- considering that Carter is globally respected as a humanitarian and advocate for human rights. But ever since the publication of Carter's book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," which is critical of Israel, Carter has garnered animosity from AIPAC - the powerful Israeli lobby. Apparently in the administration of Barack Obama, only AIPAC approved advisors are desired.
Obama's pandering is obvious. He's pandering to Republicans by naming Republican advisors. He's pandering to AIPAC by ignoring Jimmy Carter. Pandering is not the change we can believe in!
If Barack Obama is to be the "change we can believe in, he needs to choose associates and advisors who represent that change. George Bush Sr., James Baker and Colin Powell represent failed policies and failed judgement. Americans have had their fill of these. Americans want change!
Obama needs to listen. no Bush, no Baker, no corporate war maker. If Obama is "the change we can believe in" - he has to stand for change!!
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| 21 comments |
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BARKY BARKS THE MILITARY -CORPORATE -INDUSTRIAL YIP!
This dog saw it coming. This dog smelled a bigger dog. The alpha dog in me sensed that the Joker was getting snippity. Who is going to put him on a leash to protect the public? Hillarious is waiting patiently for her crowning. Mitten is looking to pretty himself up for the big ball at the November Cotillion. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss, we did get fooled again. Cynthia Mc Kinney would be like manna from heaven, but we are used to poisonous cane sugar. Let's all become obese and diabetic in front of the telly.We want what we get. We want what we do. This hellacious situation is our self present. Happy trails to you, until we meet again. by Wolfie (9 articles, 0 quicklinks, 33 diaries, 1208 comments) on Friday, Jul 25, 2008 at 11:03:09 AM  (0+)
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The senior idiot
Still, with full understanding of the rigors of the office, he [Bush Sr] sanctioned the candidacy of his son, whom he knew was unfit. Sr himself was as unfit as his idiot scion! Sr was smarter than the lesser Bush but only superficially. Both men are credibly estimated at the 'high grade moronlevel. But of more interest is the fact that both men are UTTERLY without empathy; both are irredemiably evil and without conscience. by Len Hart (134 articles, 175 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 555 comments) on Friday, Jul 25, 2008 at 1:22:23 PM (0+)
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Reply: Nazis
You hit the nail on the head. The Bush family's evil shananigans go back to Prescott Bush who helped finance the Nazis before WW ll. What we have now is not just a neo-Nazi, but the real thing! by Bill Cain (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 434 comments [67 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Jul 28, 2008 at 12:20:41 PM (0+)
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a more complete explanation for Bushes & Clinton, anyway...
Read www.dunwalke.org by Jill Herendeen (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 213 comments [13 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Friday, Jul 25, 2008 at 3:41:13 PM (0+)
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Ex-Presidents, even cosier than the Senate
The image I will always remember is at Nixon's death. They were all there at his library. Attendance may be good protocol, but this seemed plainly collegial. Then came a tsunami and Bush I and his nemesis Clinton held the charitable together. Why the Royal Line? Beats me. Sorriest of all maybe was one trying to outdo the other at Coretta Scott King's funeral. Bruce Fein's idea that sweeping out the White House before allowing the next renter makes sense to me. by Margaret Bassett (45 articles, 2909 quicklinks, 42 diaries, 1851 comments [99 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Friday, Jul 25, 2008 at 3:50:36 PM (0+)
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A NEST OF VIPERS
In Florida -around Hobe Sound/Jupiter Island where the CIA was spawned of the Bushes for the Bushes by the Bushes -we call the Bushes = Vampires. If you live in Florida-there are three things that are very prevalent in your life-the sun, humidity and the Bushes. Three things that you live with nearly every day. The Bushes (like cockroaches) insinuate themselves into places they want to be. They know they have no intelligence and do not fit so they build themselves a prehistoric (a la alien) cocoon in which to nest. I have on occasion run into H.W. in various airports and there is evil there beyond comprehension. If you have the courage to look into those eyes-you are looking into oblivion. And trust me...crossing swords with this spectre will put you there. Since they fit nowhere and cannot assimilate into "society" they ensure themselves a safety by which they drape themselves in money and like all used car salesmen aspire to the greatest office in the land. This is where they and their fellow nestees take up residence and in order to assure themelves that they have that safe haven they perpetuate that guarantee that they will be able to be in that same safety net. The Clintons( although they may appear to be on the other side of things politically) are the back-up team that runs interference for them. They are treacherous, traitorous and grasping and actually very symbiotic with the Bushes. In Florida we consider them a difference species. They are not of this world-either of their coteries. They are an infestation. A plague. The problem is that they know how to play the game. They know how to move the pieces on the chessboard. And they know how to play the American people. They also know that the American people will not spend much (if any) time looking into their diabolical activities-because they cannot afford that time or just don't want to devote their energies to it. Well, what happens then if you go off on vacation and leave the doors to your house open-you'll come home to three things-you will be overrun with pests of all kinds, your belongings will be gone and someone else will be living there and you will have nothing more to do with it and nothing you can do about it. The American people have left the doors open to their house for a very long time. Their apathies are coming home to roost-so to speak. They are now scrambling for the exterminator but the pestilence has taken over. The vampires have settled in and it's hell getting them out. Having been on the edge of politics in Florida for over forty years and having been on the receiving end of both the wrath of the Bushes and the Clintons and having survived it-I can tell you-you will need more than an exterminator. Much more! And Obama-well, he is on treacherous ground. A veritable minefield-has to be navigated and he has to step carefully. You have no idea what this is, folks. Not remotely. by Raffie Azariel (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 61 comments [4 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Friday, Jul 25, 2008 at 4:41:45 PM (0+)
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I changed my mind about Bill Clinton...
... on October 27, 2007. "An inside job? How dare you. How dare you. It was not an inside job." I wish I had the followup: "Mr. Clinton, how many times have you seen steel and concrete buildings VAPORIZE? Don't you think the American people desreve to know how this happened?" If Mr. Obama intends on perpetuating the fascists in power, he will not receive my vote. by Digitboy (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 26 comments) on Friday, Jul 25, 2008 at 4:57:21 PM (0+)
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Reply: Weeded Out
Anyone who doesn't fit the mold, and who appears to not want to play by the corrupt rules is weeded out in the primary process, as what happened to both Kucinich and Paul this time around. This guy Obama not only doesn't represent any real change, he's been fully vetted by those in control and, although they'd prefer McCain to carry the Bush mantle, Obama is as safe a democratic candidate as they were able to manipulate into the Democratic slot for president. by Bill Cain (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 434 comments [67 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Jul 28, 2008 at 12:27:35 PM (0+)
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More right-wing talking points disguised as progressive.
Just more daily right wing talking points to help elect McKill. OEN is becoming infamous for such divisiveness at a crucial time with 100 days left to defeat the war criminals. Don't be a bunch of effing Naders. by James Cordray (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 56 comments) on Friday, Jul 25, 2008 at 5:16:53 PM (0+)
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Reply: LET IT BE, LISTEN TO WORDS OF WISDOM, LET IT BE
No one should tell another how they must vote, who they must marry, where one aught to live, how to spend their money. BACK OFF! I will vote my conscience, and every one else must ask the Spirit within themselves who to vote for or not to vote. Wolfie has spoken, ARF! by Wolfie (9 articles, 0 quicklinks, 33 diaries, 1208 comments) on Friday, Jul 25, 2008 at 5:35:21 PM (0+)
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Reply: Apparently you're willing to accept ANYTHING from your
candidates. I'm not. Obama has my vote - but he doesn't have my blind allegiance. It's the job of the citizens to keep candidates and electeds honest and hold them to their promises. I take that job seriously. Perhaps you should, too. Also - I can assure you the RIGHT won't come to me or you for talking points. They have plenty of their own. They certainly won't chastise Obama for wanting to include their own corporate war-mongering profiteers - like GHW Bush, James Baker and Colin Powell in his administration. As far as Clinton goes - he's already the RIGHT's boy. He's given them NAFTA and he's ended social services to the poor. Clinton has done the Republicans' bidding as well as he possibly could. by Linda Milazzo (128 articles, 1 quicklinks, 18 diaries, 210 comments [3 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Friday, Jul 25, 2008 at 6:07:09 PM (0+)
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Reply: What's Worse
What's worse: To cast a vote in ignorance, or to cast no vote at all? by Bill Cain (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 434 comments [67 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Jul 28, 2008 at 12:31:07 PM (0+)
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Reply: with statements like those
obama's practically giving votes to nadar. how's this for a few bumperstickers: Change! your vote to Nadar Hope--no one notices i'm not a progressive... oh well...i might vote for obama...but i'll be thinking of edwards... by kenshin (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 35 comments) on Friday, Jul 25, 2008 at 10:11:54 PM (0+)
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Reply: What's progressive about George Carlysle Bush Sr as advisor?
"...100 days...to defeat the criminals..." ...and to put in what, the second team? by alan k (12 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 36 comments [6 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Jul 28, 2008 at 12:56:26 AM (0+)
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Change?
So if all the same wonderful people are going to be advising Mr. Obama, then how is that change? Damn scary. by August Adams (11 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 585 comments [11 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Friday, Jul 25, 2008 at 5:38:48 PM (0+)
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Reply: Change
Change is what I have in my pocket after buying a hamburger. It's also a well-worn campaign phrase that should send up a red flag whenever you hear or read about it. by Bill Cain (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 434 comments [67 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Jul 28, 2008 at 12:34:55 PM (0+)
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change...
you can forget about. by larry (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 7 comments) on Friday, Jul 25, 2008 at 8:06:05 PM (0+)
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THINK...
Alright, Already, have we reached the ultimate altitude of chicanery? “People, getting ready for the New?” “New day to dawn?” Let’s get to the Heart of the Matter – the part that matters…Most! By Hook or by Crook we (the People that Matter Who Pay the Taxes to Pay the Bills) see graft, and guffaws, and gratuitous graffiti written all over OUR reality -- Our ever-living livelihoods. By people “elected” to “serve” OUR “wishes”. Yet, we are ISOLATED and IMMOLATED in a strange predicament? Why? Because Heartless, Soul-Less Sub-Humans have somehow slithered into positions of power and are affecting OUR lives in the Most Heartless, Criminal Manner. This has now extended itself World-Wide so that OUR government is the Catalyst for Tremors and Trepidation in many Other Nations. (No apology for the Alliteration). What to DO?! So Far – I haven’t seen any Heart & Soul Empathy Emphasized, have you? Actions do speak Louder than Words (Give Me an Amen on THAT, Brothers & Sisters!). I speak to the FACT, that IF YOU are a Patriot, then you have Empathy for Others, and For Your Brothers & Sisters, and you can equivocate between Right & Wrong, YES, between Rational & Irrational, Oh Yeah…between COMMON SENSE & NONSENSE! WE see it Every Day! We hear the HearSay! We are Inundated with the GainSay! But, it comes back to WHAT the PEOPLE SAY and WHAT THEY FEEL and WHAT THEY KNOW IN THEIR HEART…in THEIR BONES! Guvmint beTrusted? Politicians have Your Best interests at Heart? Wall Street is Watching Out for You, or are they Waiting For U?! WHO is getting Richer? YOU? Who is losing their houses…YOU? Who’s Sons and Daughters are dying in a foreign land for What? Yours? Have you noticed Your Freedoms and Civil Rights have been Taken OUT, while you are told Other Countries’ are being Liberated (except their people are Dead or living in HELL!?) Ohhh …important point – You Are Funding IT by Paying Your Taxes for Every New Bill the Congress OK’S…Is That OK with YOU? Long and Short People – Consider the Source of Those Who Support the Double Speak and Duplicitous Language of This Administration and THEIR ACTS. Or…evaluate the situation with Your HEART. Who’s Dying HERE? Who’s LIVING HIGH ON THE HOG? Who’s asking YOU to sacrifice, while THEY live Deliciously above the fray? Don’t get too technical now – OIL companies have been reaping RECORD PROFITS – who is getting, who is paying… Financial mortgage companies have been SCORING RECORD PROFITS – now, who wants and get s bail-outs…and the TaxPayer Pays IT! (Is this OK with YOU, Do YOU have ANY SAY in the MATTER?!) Get some vision, get some clarity, it is not YOU who is winning. YOU ARE BEING GAMED! What ARE you going to do People?! THESIS – ANTI-THESIS YOU ARE GETTING PLAYED BY BOTH SIDES FOR THE SAME END… by boomerang (0 articles, 7 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 556 comments [215 recommended, 1 rejected]) on Friday, Jul 25, 2008 at 9:42:52 PM (0+)
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Alright Ms. Milazzo! I just re-read your Bio -- Good Stuff!
Have you read Joe Bageant? See his essays and archives at http://www.joebageant.com/ I think YOU would LOVE this GENT's prose, style and angle... Let's toss aside Materialism, because the Metamorphosis of it only leads into Indebtedness...NO? That's what we're all suffering from; is an indebtness of Depth...of heart...of empathy. The greed that has been greasing the wheel of capitalism and growth has proved itself an Anchor to humanity's evolution. NO? We are worse for the wear? Someone, tell me and show me our progress in humanitarian terms? by boomerang (0 articles, 7 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 556 comments [215 recommended, 1 rejected]) on Friday, Jul 25, 2008 at 10:18:24 PM (0+)
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How
It wasn't clear to me from the start how much a politician Obama was. Now am I happy with his health care plan modeled after Massatack's. At least he says he wants to take the BOMB apart. Since I have just read it costs 100 million a day for up keep, there is more reasons than I can count for that mission. WE CAN NOT ALLOW 100-10,000 Years of war with ragtag Militias.-those maybe 50,000 would be happy to give it to US, with more added to their numbers daily. by Michael Dewey (5 articles, 1 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 245 comments [12 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Saturday, Jul 26, 2008 at 3:27:45 AM (0+)
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You gotta CREATE change, stop hoping or pleading for it
All right, Ms. Milazzo. I'm sure we can find a hundred or more willing people to gather and join you in saying what you've said here: That was the carrot. And forgive me if I don't want to hear another word from those who did not oppose Roberts, Alito, and Thomas nor resist the judiciary election coup of 2000, about the importance of the Supreme Court. In what might have been a historic year with both a woman and black man running for the White House, their corporate apron-strings and funding takes a potentially lofty moment and renders it largely campaign rhetoric and tokenism. Obama in the White House, even with a Democratic majority still keeps corporations in control (which we knew, already), but does not even offer any critical stance to that situation so cannot give a needed "course correction," does not suggest that it is the wrong path, does not create the education and growth we need to undo the fact that "Father Earns Best, then sells us down the river." by alan k (12 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 36 comments [6 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Jul 28, 2008 at 12:29:29 AM (0+)
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