Obama in the World

Ah, summertime, time to hit the road or the airport, time to do some serious traveling. Stephanie Miller headed for England and Ireland (courtesy of the U.S. State Department - no joke!), and I just returned from a trip to Oregon (Portland and the Oregon coast). Senator Barack Obama is taking the summer travel time to visit hot spots around the world and in doing so he is exposing the depth of the hatred that has been engendered by the current Bush/Cheney administration. For right wingers, it is anathema to suggest that any American politician follow or even demonstrate the slightest admiration for anything European (such as their universal health care or the way that they manage to take care of their children and their elders), gasp! According to the Fox viewers and dittoheads, we should never look to imitate anything that is done by those socialist (damn-near communist) countries across the pond. Could it be that those who hold those Neanderthal notions are just a skosh jealous?



"Germans have fallen in love with the man many in Europe have come to see as the anti-Bush -- the man who many hope will steer America back toward the path of peace, love and happiness. Almost three-quarters of Germans would vote for Obama were they given the opportunity to do so; in France, that number approaches 90 percent. Berlin authorities are expecting tens of thousands -- maybe even hundreds of thousands -- for his appearance later this week."
Der Spiegel, July 21, 2008

It is more than a skosh ironic that while Senator Obama was busy touring Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine and Israel (and is on his way to Germany to speak in Berlin tomorrow), that the duly-appointed prime minister of the Republic of Iraq stated to a German magazine (Der Spiegel), in no uncertain terms, that it is time for the United States and any and all auxiliary forces to leave his sovereign nation. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki not only endorsed the very same time-table (now renamed by BushCo as a "time horizon" - laughable, if it weren't so pathetic) that Obama has been proposing for months. This development leaves John McCain in the diplomatic dust, as the Bush/Cheney administration was quick to dance around the statement made by the Iraqi Prime Minister.

In my humble opinion, this all should have been done years ago, but I agreed with Mr. Obama that this particular war should never have been fought. But now that we are there, it is way past time for us to leave. So let's get out, already... All of the media coverage of Obama's travels has Mr. McCain crying foul, but his protests that the media is enamored of Obama doesn't hold much water as CBS edited a recent interview to make McCain look much more polished and intelligent than his words might suggest. See coverage of the doctored Katie Couric/John McCain interview here. That's all from me today, folks, talk amongst yourselves, until I am over this nasty respiratory infection that has a hold of me at the moment. Carry on, kids...